Mage: The Indebted

By Benjamin Conno
With thanks to:
greipr, InkyHat Lubaf McCaber Sebmojo State of KungFUSION The kerrins
and special thanks to The Rust

Front cover, a man with pale white skin, deep red lips and slightly wild black hair and a raven on his
shoulder wearing a ne black regency suit stands face to face with an unshaven shifty looking man in a
trenchcoat. Both look as though the sight of eachother oends them.

Contents
1 Introduction

2 The Carnival Obscura

3 Character Creation

4 Playing the Game

21

5 Behind the Curtain

42

6 Mirrors

60

A Sample Characters

65

B Samples of Play

83

C Sample Tricks

86

Chapter 1: Introduction
Theme: Power for a Price
A Mage has an vast sea of power at their ngertips, they can reach in and take their ll. Only magic
comes with a price. Every spell must be bargained for and the Patrons arent playing fair. A Mage
must grit their teeth, smile and say thank you even as their Patron kicks mud in their face and makes
them beg and pay through the noose for the merest scrap of power. Or they can turn around, scam, lie,
cheat. A Mage could construct elaborate schemes and plots to move power towards themselves and the
price away. Schemes to support schemes to support schemes lest the whole edice comes crashing down
because one cheat too far, one debt too many, and you owe your soul.

Mood: Dark Wonder and Mystery

A Mage moves through a vast underground world thats not so much hidden but ignored. Its a world
populated entirely by those who couldnt, or wouldnt avoid it. The desperate with nowhere else to turn,
those too arrogant to care about the risks or too foolish to see them, romantics looking for something
better, outcasts looking for anywhere else, thrill seekers or bored layabouts indulging in the ultimate
taboo and of course those who never had a choice: the ones tricked into this dark underworld.
And then theres magic itself. For every Mage who practices witchcraft, alchemy or even worships
cold alien intellects from beyond the stars. Something that ts nicely into our cultural references, if
perhaps the darker ones, theres another whos magic is beyond anything expected. From spells dredged
up in the most grotesque troll ridden parts of the internet to the secret studies of obscure 14th century
playwrights even the most experienced Mage never knows what hes going to see next. Keep your eyes
open it would be a hell of a shame to miss anything and it just might get you killed.

Sources and Inspiration

Books
Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis
When a mad Nazi scientist unlocks the hidden potential of the human brain the UK is in its darkest
hour. Desperate the wartime government turns to the services of Britains Warlocks whos magic requires
a terrible blood price.
There can be no better example of how to play Mage: the Indebted at its darkest than Bitter Seeds.
Where Patrons demand increasingly heinous Shows that Mages have no choice to accept. Where the
only thing possibly worse than Magic is what happens when you dont use it.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell By Susanna Clarke

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell captures the tone of (one type of) Tier One game although the Magicians are Tier three in power: lled with Wonder and a gentlemanly, scholarly, approach to magic and
the discovery of new spells but also frustration that their abilities impressive though they seem to the
ordinary folks are parlour tricks compared to the great magicians in history.
The relationship between the two magicians and The Gentleman with Thistledown hair, a faerie lord,
sheds great insight on the relationship between Mages and Patrons. Though outwardly friendly and
willing to help his assistance always comes with a great price attached.

Film
Television
Music
Comics

Lexicon
Anchor A focal point of a Territory, removing the Anchors destroys the Territory.
Backstage A pale reection of Earth existing on the fringes of reality or a walled of subsection of
Earths reection ruled by and reecting the nature of a Patron..
Claim An aspect of reality in which a Patron can exercise some magical control.
Club A formal grouping of Mages, aside from the benets of allies a Club is ocially recognised by the
Patrons which allows collective bargaining.
Deal A bargain between a Mage and a Patron, typically one where the Mage bargains for magical power.
Debt An Debt refers to the deal in which a Patron agrees to take on a mage. It is the power stat for
Mages.
Decit Decit is how much the mage owes a Patron. Most Patrons are in no hurry to collect and even
encourage mages to skip payments and go deeper into Decit, that way theyll be in deep when it
catches up to them.
Favour A passive ability granted by a Patron such as a boost to a skill.
Game, The Someone in The Game is a Mage, Rube or otherwise part of the Mage lifestyle..
Interest The Price of maintaining an Debt: Typically A Show that must be performed regularly.
Law The rules a Patron expects a Mage to live under.
Mage A human who has made a Deal with a Patron to acquire magic.
Mystery An Anchor used by a Patron as a source of power..
Prestige A Trick of the third rank..
Price The cost of a deal.

Rank Rank is a rough estimate of the magical power and knowledge of a Mage, Club or Patron.
Advancing to rank two is a major step up for a Mage as it unlocks the ability to haggle when
making a Deal with Patrons. Access to Backstage is usually limited to Mages of the third Rank..
Rube Someone with Decit but no Debt, normally because a Mage tricked them into it..
Sacrice A physical item or blood sacrace used to pay a Price.
Show, Putting on a Show An act of service to a Patron, either as the Price of a Deal or to reduce
ones Debt.
Stake See Claim.
Subject Something that falls under the preview of a Claim.
Taboo Rules aecting how a Mage lives their life that are taken on in order to pay a Price.
Territory An area where the natural laws of Magic have started to overwrite our reality. Territories
are fragile and easily removed.
Tier Tier represents an organisation or persons inuence. At tier one an organisation has local inuence
if any. At tier two an organisation has regional inuence and at tier three international inuence.
Tier and rank are not always equal..
Trick A single ability granted by a patron for example telling the future with tarot cards. Trick may
refer to any magical ability or specically to a rst rank ability..
Turn A Trick of the second rank..

Chapter 2: The Carnival

Obscura
Welcome to the Greatest Show on Earth!
The Rules of the Game
Lets make a Deal
The House always Wins

Chapter 3: Character Creation

Character Creation
In some ways creating a Mage is not that dierent to creating any other sort of character. You need to
dene their motivations, background and beliefs. Mages are still human: Morally, philosophically and
mentally and its regular human concerns and temptations that will set the course through their magical
career. How does your character perceive the duality between human concerns and magical power? Do
they feel as though they morally, intellectually or spiritually are above their fellow man? Perhaps they
feel that might makes right and theyre now entitled to what they want or maybe they dont see a decide
at all: They are a human with magic just like theyre a human with a house and a car.
Although human concerns will form the bulk of the average Mage character dont neglect their
relationship to magic. Do they believe they can escape the Price or are they sure they can resist the
temptations and stick only to what they can aord? Are they right? And how to they view magic
philosophically and aesthetically? Do they believe it is at heart about tricking the universe and the
Rubes so things go your way or do they take a more reverential approach joining magic to spiritualism
and the natural world?
Trying to translate the powers from concept into working Tricks can be dicult and expensive, try
not to get disheartened and pass this feeling to your character. Feelings of temptation or frustration at
the inadequateness of their power are common to Mages.
Step One: Select Concept
The rst step to creating any character is to choose a concept. It can be as short as a few words such as
Scheming Stage Magicianor Weather Wizardor longer and more involved. Simply put the concept
should be seen as a peg to hang your hat; a source of ideas and a easy way to explain your character not
a limit.
Some discussion may be needed between the group to make sure the concepts all t together. A
wizard with his robe and sta can look quite odd next to a devious con artist or a gadget bearing
technomancer, and would the three of them really have enough in common to form a cohesive group?
The answer to that question is a matter of personal taste, before designing characters take a moment
to get everyone on the same page. This goes double if you intend to form a formal Club which would
require one single shared Patron for a Parlour and a themed set of Patrons for a Principle or a Pyramid.
(This can of course be ignored if that is too restrictive for your group).
Step Two: Select Attributes
Youre Mages Attributes demonstrate raw talent and potential. Try to imagine how her Attributes
might inuence the way she approaches problems and the skills or personality traits she is likely to
develop. All Attributes start with one dot, add ve dots to one category (Mental, Physical, Social) in
any conguration you like. Add four to a second category and three to the third. The fth dot in any
Attribute costs double.
Many mages favour Finesse Attributes to better navigate the often Byzantine politics and hidden
secrets of the magical underworld as well as spin their own secrets and lies. Manipulation is often favoured
7

by more experienced Mages to bargain with their Patron while old fashioned Mages, particularly those
in cultures where Mage is a recognised profession often favour Intelligence and Social Attributes to look
and act the part.
Step Three: Select Skills
Divide your skills into primary, secondary and tertiary. Your character has 11 points in the primary
category, 7 in the secondary category and 4 in the tertiary. When creating your character try to imagine
how they learned their various skills as well as what you would like them to be good at.
With Le Cirque Voilee currently the dominant force in Mage culture Social skills are common among
Mages, particularly Subterfuge, Persuasion, Empathy and Streetwise but not all Mages follow the new
model. Others may favour mental skills such as Academics to help with their research while Occult is
naturally common among Mages with experience.
Step Four: Select Skill Specialities
Like most people Mages specialise, a starting mage starts with three specialities which may be assigned
to any skill.
Step Five: Add the Mage Template
Because Mage: The Indebted has the Theme of Power for a Price the Mage Template is intentionally as
light as possible. Mages dont get anything for free when they become a Mage, if they want something
they must Deal for it.
However since most games will begin after the charachters have already become a Mage it makes
sense to assume that a few Deals have already been made. Because you probobly want your party of
Mages to start with enough free time to persue the plot its reccomended that you give them a free dot
in Debt and some credit to spend on pre-game Deals representing Decit that has already been paid o.
For charachters who start with next to nothing +20 is enough to scrape a little magic togeather. For
these pre-game deals the default is that you cannot increase your credit by taking extra payment but
the Storyteller should feel free to make case by case exceptions. Starting with a point or two of Decit
to balance everything out shouldnt cause any issues.
Incidently now is probobly a good time to dene your Characters Patron. For more on creating a
Patron see Playing the Game.
Step Six: Determine Advantages
Willpower: Mages have Resolve + Composure dots of Willpower, the spend it in the usual way.
Morality: Mages are still fundamentally human and though they have aditional ways to compromise
their Morality that the regular population lacks this is not even nearly enough replace their Morality
with something other.
Decit: More of a disadvantge, Decit is a natural risk to all Mages. One of the themes associated with
Decit is that its a self inictd evil. It comes from bad choices and broken promises rather than being
forced upon Mages. Because of this all Mages start with Decit 0 unless they with storyteller approval
accure some during the initial Deals.
Virtue and Vice: Being entirely human a Mage has a Virtue and a Vice just like everyone else, but
pay special attention to Virtues when creating a Mage. Going into Debt with a Patron is a poisoned
deal and on some level all Mages knew this when they signed (most deliberately forget soon afterwords).
All Mages had some reason they ignored their warning: Desperation, love, fear, wonder or something
else entirely. When thinking about why your new charahter chose to accept tieing their reason to their
Virtue or Vice can be a helpful. Here are some examples:
A child has trained to become the next shamen, shes been taught that the spirits are tricky and
decitful and how to use them for the community. When the time comes her Faith helps her make the
decision. A soldier is shot in the line of duty, he walks for miles through the desert to reach safty but
its not enough. When a Djinn ofers aid his Fortitude wont let him die.

Shes a doctor and shes driven but sometimes you just cant ght nature. One day she gets a
telephone call from, something. It feels wrong but at the same time she knows the oer is genuine and
accepts its advice out of a sense of Charity. Hes a police ocer, hes been working on a serial murder
for years. When the ghost of latest victum appeared he nally saw a chance to see Justice done.
He always had an eye for the ladies but they rarely had the eye for him which was probobly why
when a picturesque Mage made a deal he let his Lust think for him. One year later hes no longer a
Rube. Hes tall, dark and hansome and anytime he sees a woman likely to let her Lust do the thinking
hes got a Deal on the table.
She always knew she was better than everyone else, that she never needed to work or try, which is
why she eneded up doing a 9 to 5 in a dead end job. When the ravens started oering magic her Pride
said yes. Now her friends get nervious around her and the other Mages think shes a poser but the
ravens have oered a Deal which should x that.

Example of Charachter Creation

Sarah is creating a character for Mage: the Indebted. This story will focus on a group of new Mages as
they nd their feet as Mages, come face to face with the weirdest parts of the citys underworld and face
the temptations to use magic as a short-cut through the problems of everyday life.
Thinking of these themes Sarah thinks she will enjoy the weird people that make up the citys magical
community and wants to create a character who will spend less time starring in shock and more time
getting to know other Mages. Someone who will be chatting like old buddies to aloof archmages and
talking on the level with crazy prophets.
Step One: Concept
Sarah decides that her character, Roy, will be a used car salesman whos dragged himself out of poverty
with nothing but his wits and his words. This gives him a both a background in meeting dierent people,
his customers and people from the poor neighbourhood where he grew up as well as strong social skills.
When asked why he became a Mage Sarah explains that Roy feels his life is as empty as the fast talk
he uses to close a sale. Hes desperate for some substance to himself and the Patrons took advantage of
this desperation.
Step Two: Attributes
As a used car salesman Social attributes are denitely going to be Primary. Roy is a real expert at
Manipulation, he could sell ice to the Eskimos so Manipulation is at four. Sarah doesnt see Roy as
signicant below average in any area of social skills so she puts one of her remaining dots in both
Presence and Composure.
Next up is Mental, with four dots to spend and again avoiding a one in any Attribute Sarah has too
choose which Attribute gets the extra dot. She chooses Wits, Roy has a real gift for fast talking.
Finally Physical Attributes are left. As a car salesman Sarah feels it makes sense to have a decent
ability to drive so she puts Dexterity at three. This leaves one dot for either Strength or Stamina, she
puts the dot into Strength: the result of an upbringing on poor food and little exercise.
Step Three: Skills
Social skills are primary again so theres eleven dots to spend. Naturally Persuasion will be high at
three dots but Empathy is also at three dots. Sarah explains that hes honed his empathy to see what
customers are interested in, but she also intends to use it to form connections to the weirdest Mages
Roy meets. With ve dots left Sarah puts two in Streetwise from Roys upbringing and another two in
Subterfuge showing the dark side of his career. Finally she puts one in Expression.
For secondary skills Sarah chooses Physical and right of the bat Drive takes three dots. Going back
to Roys upbringing she puts two dots in Survival along with one in Stealth and Athletics.
With only four dots in Mental skills Sarah chooses to spread them around. Occult takes a point
representing catch up study once Roy realised magic was real. Crafts takes another point, hes learned
a thing or two from mechanics. Finally both Academics and Science take a point showing another side
to Roy, the hard work that helped become the man he is today.
9

Step Four: Skill Specialties

With a strong concept for Roy choosing Specialities is easy. Persuasion gets Selling. Fast Talk goes
under Subterfuge and for Crafts Sarah takes Cars.
Step Five: The Mage Template
The rst step to the Mage Template is to construct the Patron. The Storyteller has said with the focus
on the weird everyone is encouraged to choose their own Patron and go wild. If they want form a Club
they can worry about the problems, or hosuerule them, later. For Roy the Storyteller suggests a Patron
that manifests as a Possessed car, as in Steven Kings novel Christinebut Sarah disagrees. Roy would
be more tempted by a Patron which fakes the substance Roy feels his life lacks, she goes for an angel:
The Messenger of the Lord with the Claims Christianity () Faith () Prayer () Magic ().
The Storyteller wants to keep the power levels low to start with and hands out a dot in Debt and 20
points of Decit for everyone to construct their rst Deals. Sarah imediately hones in on the sense of
purpose Roy thinks he lacks as something he would buy: As the spirit of the lord lls him Roy feels a
sense of self hes never known. He gets a dot of Resolve (-3) and Presence (-3) for a week (-2).
With 13 points of Decit Sarah thinks shed like Roy to be able to do at least some actual magic
so she buys a one dot Trick (-6) for a Week (-5), that leaves two points of Decit which she sinks into
+1 on the dicepool (-2). She discusses an idea that Roy can recite Paslm 23 (thats the one which goes
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil) to call God to protect
him. The group agrees that it ts under the Claim of Prayer and debate what exactly this will protect
from. Since Roy is a social character they feel it would be best if it protected during social actions rather
than combat so they decide it will protect Roy from magical inuences. A discussion breaks out when
someone points out that it would be more eective to do this with the Claim of Magic, half the group
thinks its best to just use magic and the other half thinks there should be an advantage to using another
Claim and the other half thinks they should just use the Claim of Magic. Eventually they increase its
power to cover Intimidation too.
Now that Sarah knows what the Trick does she needs to work out the mechanics of it. The eects of
this spell t nicely into the category Protect oneself with Subjects so on to the next step: The dicepool.
Sarahs already using Resolve for divinely granted courage and for the Skill she chooses Expression, the
better Roy is at performing a heartfelt prayer the more eective it will be.
Next Sarah works out the required successes. The Trick works at a range of touch, since it used on
the Mage himself, which reduces the required successes by 1 to a minimum of +0 and it lasts at once
scene, which doesnt change the dicepool at all. Leading to a net +0.
For the action type Sarah chooses that this Trick will be an instant action, the Paslm is only a few
lines long.
Step Six: Merits
Since Roys concept is that he has fought his way out of poverty Sarah immediately homes in on the
Resources Merit spending three dots to show that hes made it. Next she looks at his concept as a car
salesman and buys the Stunt Driver Merit, his unrelated action is usually making a sales pitch. Finally
with one dot left Sarah turns to the part of the chronicle which most interests her and buys the Unseen
Sense Merit. She wants to meet the weirdest Mages out there and this Merit helps make that possible.
Step Seven: Advantages
Roy has a Resolve + Composure of ve so that becomes his Willpower score and like always Morality
begins at seven.
Thinking about Roys Virtue Sarah goes for Fortitude to represent the determination which helped
him rise above his start in life. For his Vice Sarah goes for Envy. Adding a new dimension to Roy she
explains that he denes himself by what he does not have, which contributes to him feeling empty now
that he doesnt lack any major necessity to dene himself by.
Roys Stamina is only one so with his Size of ve he has six health boxes. His Speed is a bit more
impressive, with a Strength of two, a Dexterity of three and the human species factor of ve his Speed

10

comes up to 10. Initiative is only average. A Dexterity of three and a Composure of two gives him an
Initiative of ve.

New Advantage: Debt

In the world of magic humans are paupers, if they want to deal theyll need to take a loan and that going
into Debt.

Benefits of an Debt
The greater your Debt the more Decit you can incur, nothing stops you going over the limit of
course. Patrons are always happy to oer the a larger Debt to lure you deeper.
Debt is rolled in many supernatural circumstances such as dealing with a Patron
The Attribute and Skill maximum from Favours is limited by a Mages Debt.

Drawbacks of an Debt
Your Debt incurs Interest every week, there is no reason a Mage should not negotiate a Deal with a
weekly or monthly clause that pays of their Interest, in fact if they do this with a monthly payment
then as a special benet they will not have to carry their Decit for the intermediate weeks.
The higher your Debt the greater the stricter the Laws you must obey.
Higher Debt incur more Interest.

Renegotiating your Debt

A Mage may make a Deal to increase their Debt. They deal with a penalty equal to the desired
level of Debt.
A Mage can switch Patrons by negotiating for a higher Debt with a new Patron.
A Mage may also negotiate for a lower Debt. Patrons dont really want you to do this so the cost is
rather expensive: 5 + the highest Dot you wish to loose. At the end of the Deal the mage cannot
have more Decit than their new Debt will allow.
Paying o your last dot in Debt is -10 not -5. You also cannot have any Deals that require you to
pay instalments in the future or any Taboos. Deals where you paid upfront are acceptable as are
Tricks which require a Show or a Sacrice at the point of use. These last for the agreed duration
although using a Trick which incurs Decit to perform is impossible to use without an Debt.
If a mage does decrease their Debt they gain a Credit History. A Mages Credit History is equal to
the highest level of Debt you ever had. Credit History can be rolled instead of Debt when a mage
is dealing for a higher Debt. A Mage may buy their way out of the game but Patrons always make
it easy to get back in.

11

Debt
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Attribute / Skill Maximum

5
5
5
5
5
6
7
8
9
10

Maximum Decit / per turn

10/1
12/2
15/3
20/4
25/5
30/6
40/7
50/8
75/10
100/15

Law Level
0
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
3
4

Interest
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
3
3
4

This

represents the maximum that can be Bargained for with Tricks, Favours or similar. A mage cannot
increase past 5 on their own experience.

New Advantage: Deficit

While Debt measures what you owe in the long term Decit is a measure of the short term changes in
your nances. Unlike other energy pools in the World of Darkness Decit starts at zero and rises, this is
purely for thematic reasons an can be reversed to function like normal (in which case it should be called
Credit).

Incurring Deficit
Using a Trick may incur Decit.
Using a Claim will always incur Decit.
A Mage may incur Decit to make a Deal.
If a Mage incurs more Decit than their current Debt allows they have one week to pay it o or
negotiate a higher Debt. Otherwise they suer a Curse and the timer resets to a week.

Repaying Deficit
A Mage may negotiate a Deal to repay Decit. Every point of Decit is a -2 on the Deal.
A Mage may pawn o Decit to another Mage, but they must agree to take it.
For a quick x a Mage may create a Rube.
Having more Decit than your Debts maximum can lead to a Curse. See the section on Curses
under Playing the Game.

12

Morality
Experience Point Costs
Trait
Attribute
Skill
Merit
Skill Speciality
Debt
Trick
Morality
Regaining Willpower Dots
Dots

Experience Point Cost

New Dots x5
New Dots x3*
New Dots x2*
3
Free
New Dots x5
New Dots x3
8

gained from a Deal dont cost Experience

gained from a Deal dont cost Experience

Tricks

New Merits
Unseen Sense (magic) ()
This merit is as printed in WoD Core, however for Mages its cheaper and lacks a Wits perquisite. Simple
exposure to magic is often enough to awaken a dormant Unseen Sense.
Partnership (, or )
For whatever reason your Patron doesnt charge you regular interest, just one or two services over a
life time. One the positive side if you do the numbers youre getting a terric Deal. On the negative
should you ever try to avoid this one service or leave your Patron you will be held accountable for all the
Interest you avoided which almost certainly adds up to a level 4 Curse. Dont worry about the numbers
for this one service, just pick something suitability horric: ensuring the Partnership continues into the
next generation, human sacrice, you will die on your 21st birthday.
The cost of a Partnership depends on the rank of your Patron.
Intuition (to )
Often mages are not like other people, they speak in cant and rhyme and act in ways that make sense
only to themselves. Weather eccentric, mysterious or down to earth and practical a Mage can use their
Intuition as a replacement for mundane logic.
Each dot in Intuition provides one intuition die which is refreshed at the start of a chapter. Players
may roll Wits + a number of intuition dice, minimum of one, to ask a single question of the Storyteller
their character could not otherwise know.
When asking about what something is the mage cannot uncover facts they have never heard of,
instead of a name they will get a description painted in broad strokes. If a mage tries to determine
the family of another mage by intuition and they know about the Conneries they might learn she is a
Connery. If not theyll simply know the mage belongs to an extended family with a history of magic.
Generally getting a proper name requires both existing knowledge and an exceptional success. Specifically asking whether someone is a Connery is also acceptable.
A Mages intuition can go up to ten. Raising it past ve requires buying extra dots as a Favour and
Intuition is capped at the higher of ve and Debt. Mortals can also take the Intuition merit.
Intuition Speciality (requires Intuition )
The mage specialises in one broad area of intuition such as natureor emotions. They gain a +1 to
all intuition rolls in this area. This merit may only be taken once.

13

Crossroad (to )
The Mage has claimed a place of power, a place where entry into this world is easier. Simply standing
upon the crossroads and calling their Patron is enough to earn a Mage favour reducing their Decit by
one for every dot of Crossroads. This may be done once per day, when the day beings varies between
Crossroads. Sunrise, high noon, sundown and moonrise are the most common.
Crossroads may be shared between mages of the same Club, standing together to call Patrons allows
Mages to split the favour between them in any desired conguration.
Crossroads cannot store power from day to day.
Paradigm ()
The Mage has strong beliefs about magic which guide them through their magical career. A Paradigm
need not disagree with the real world or require the Mage to ignore or fabricate hard facts: A Mage who
believes they can do magic because of secret CIA experiments involving water uoridation is more likely
to be demonstrating a mental disorder than a Paradigm.
A healthy Paradigm is a mixture of philosophy and aesthetics, something personal and subjective yet
to a Mage with this merit their Paradigm is everything they want to be true and good about Magic or
the world at large. Because of this Paradigms are vanishingly rare at the third tier; few Mages cunning
enough to climb to the top are vulnerable to the self delusion required to maintain a Paradigm alongside
understanding the true nature of magic.
When creating a Paradigm look at the big list of Deals in Playing the Game and tell the storyteller
what things must be present in your magic or cannot be present in your magic. If there is no notable
disadvantage from your Paradigm then keep it as characterisation but dont buy this Merit or apply any
mechanical eects.
Examples of a good Paradigm include: All deals must be embedded into a physical device that
provides the benet to the holder for runesmiths, articers or technomages or All Tricks are prayers,
which means no casting Tricks without being able to stand still and think for a moment; usually not a
problem but it could easily be fatal in combat.
A Mage with a Paradigm gets +2 on Deals or improvised magic with a Claim if it matches the
Paradigm and they get +1 on a roll to use Tricks. Paying o Decit is an exception, there is no
Paradigm bonus.
Drawback, these bonuses become a penalty if you work outside the Paradigm while something that
betrays everything the Paradigm means, such as a Mage with a Christian Paradigm dealing with a
demonic Patron, gets -10 on deals or -5 for Tricks.

Magical Merits
The following Merits are not available at character creation and cannot be brought with experience, they
must be acquired from a Patron with an appropriate Claim.
Immortality ()
You do not age and thus can live forever although injury, accident or even illness can cut your endless
life short. If you loose your immortality you will begin ageing at the usual rate.
Protection (to )
This merit is available from all Patrons through the Claim of magic. Whenever a Mage would normally
roll one single Resistance Attribute they may add twice their dots in Protection. This is the Mages
equivalent to the automatic defence granted by most supernatural templates.
Natural Armour (to )
Every dot in Natural Armour grants +1/+1 armour to the Mage. At the players discretion they may
trade one (and only one) point of armour between general and ballistic.

14

Unregistered Money (to )

Patrons cannot create the Resources merit at least not with a simple Favour, it would require aecting
government databases up and down the country, forging a paper trail and generally making sure its nice
and legal. Handing you a large sack of unmarked bills or a pile of diamonds, now thats easy.
The Unregistered Money merit means that the Mage has a large stash of valuables o the record.
Their ability to spend it safely is limited to small cash only purchases, and thats if its cash, trying to
sell a ton of gold without proof of ownership just isnt going to work.
Laundering the money is an option of course, at low levels a streetwise mage may simply nd a
fence who will take things of their hands for a cut. Greater levels of this merit require connections with
organised crime if theyre not outright impossible.
Finally even if the Mage dose convert this into the Resources merit they have assets but not income.
A business savvy Mage could use these assets to create income but the rest are working from nite
resources, or you could just handwave that away.

New Flaws
Otherkin
You can trace your genetics back to a Patron, exactly why a Patron decided they wanted human children
is beyond you but you can certainly see its eects. Being an Otherkin is equivalent to a stage two
transformation. In a society of secrets and tricksters this could be a serious handicap, of course play it
right and looking like an elf could be just what you need to convince someone you have more magic than
you really do. Otherkin are considered part of the game by birth and usually do end up as Mages, in
times of trouble their Patron ancestor is likely to show up oering a Deal.

The Magical Underground

Clubs
The Magical world is organised, it has its own culture, lots of cultures actually often violently disagreeing,
organisations and social networks. Weather a world spanning organisation or just a group of friends who
work together an ocial society of Mages is known as a Club.
The benets of allies and condence cannot be overstated but theres another important fact about
Clubs, they are formally recognised by the Patrons and thus can benet from collective bargaining.
Incidentally the only other group Patrons recognise is blood family.
A Club either has one Patron, one Greater Patron and many Patrons or one Grand Patron with many
Greater Patrons and Patrons. A Clubs Patrons are not a random hodgepodge who were bargained with
at some point in its history, there is a clear hierarchy or at least something that looks like a clear
hierarchy. Lesser Patrons also all share their superiors primary Claim.
A Mage does not have to have a Patron to be in a Club but they cannot have an independent Patron,
most Clubs insist that a Mage does sign on with one of the Clubs Patrons which simplies matters.
Example: A Principle enjoys the Patronage of a Faerie Lord, it has two dots in Glamour which allows
it to create emotions such as adoration for itself. Lesser faeries associated with the Principle may have a
dot in Deceptive GlamourEmotional Glamouror if theyre a particularity powerful rank one Patron
Glamourwhich gives them the same breadth of power as their Lord but less Depth

Ranks of Magic
Mages are divided into ranks, these ranks measure how much power you have but more importantly
they govern how you relate to Magic. At the rst ranks a Mage is an ordinary person who happens to
have access to Magic while at the second ranks Magic approaches a full time occupation complete with
a culture and organisation.
While you could start at rank one and work your way up the ladder but as you do so the style of
game will change, theres no shame in deciding that one way of playing particularly appeals to you and
setting the entire game at one particular rank.
15

A Clubs rank is that of their Patron, A Mages rank is that of their Club if they have on or their
Patron if they dont. Ones rank cannot decrease.

Rank zero: Assorted Magical Miscreants

Picture: A goblin warty and wrinkled, wearing overalls, odd tools in the pockets, shows a steampunk
watch to a six year old boy. The kids expression sends a clear message Cool!
At rank zero a Mage, if they can truly be called that is an ordinary folk who has learned a Universal
trick, acquired a magical item or more rarely found a Patron. The division between a rank zero Mage
and a rank one Mage is one of intent: If someone regards themselves as a Mage and seeks to increase their
Magical knowledge theyre considered to be rank one, if they consider their Magic to be only something
they have rather than part of who they are theyre at rank zero.

Rank one: The Parlour

Picture: A group of teenaged girls dressed in black with lots of popculture-occult silver jewellery sit around
an ordinary kitchen bowl lled with water. One of the girls holds a knife and has cut her thumb. Above
the bowl oats a dashingly handsome man made of vapour who looks like a classical Prince Charming,
surrounding the prince, made of much thinner vapour, is a portrait of a Beast.
A mage at the rst rank is above all a regular person who has magical power. Their abilities are turned
towards solving lifes little day to day issues. A condence charm here so they can ask the boss for a
raise. Spells to hide from the school bullies or a quick healing spell to remove the common cold. Rank
one Mages cannot deal, they simply name what they want and the Patron selects an appropriate Price.
At the lowest level a Club is little more than a group who happen to share the same patron, typical
Parlours are small with around three to ve members and no formal structure, though a single master
with a clutch of apprentices is also common. Though local Clubs may know of each other and typically
theyre unaware of the greater occult world.
All members of a Parlour must share the same Patron, though in Parlours which follow the master
and apprentice model it is quite possible that the apprentices are entirely unaware they even have a
Patron.

Rank two: The Principle

Picture: A group of Orthodox Rabbis sit in a coee house around a table, on the table is an open leather
bound book showing an anatomical diagram of a golem. The Rabbis are engaged in a lively but non-hostile
debate.
At the second rank knowledge is the watchword of the day. A second rank Mage is not lost in an
unfamiliar world but understands at least the basics. They may not have the answer to every problem
but they have what they need to start seeking that answer and they know the rules of the Deal well
enough to create strategies for staying ahead of Debt. Some play it safe other have high risk high payout
systems.
A Mage with a Greater Patron is signicantly more adapt than those of the rst rank, at this level
it becomes possible to bargain with the Patron.
Clubs at the second teir are known as a Principle, at this level Clubs are extremely diverse some may be
active on an national or international scale, or they may wield no inuence at all living as hermits or as
average joes content to use their magic only in their daily life.
Aside from their greater size and ability to work magic the key dierences between Principles and
Parlours is in their structure and their philosophy. A Principle has formal rules, codes of conducts,
ranks and oces. Some are relatively straightforward others delight in Byzantine rules with access to
Tricks and magical knowledge strictly regulated. The other dierence is in Philosophy, which is to say a
Principle has one: almost every Principle has a codied philosophy stating what the Patrons are, what

16

magic is and how it ts into, or supersedes the worlds dominant social, religious, moral or scientic
frameworks.
If any group is going to be makeing real changes to the world its a Principle, Parlours lack the magical
skill and the organisational size while Pyramids have their own concerns.

Rank three: The Pyramid

In a sandy desert stands a man with a Pharaoh headdress, cheap suit and a huge smile, his white teeth
visibly ting. This man gestures towards the beaten up used car hes trying to sell. In the background the
sun rises above a huge Pyramid; the pyramid is decorated with a large fresco of people doing the walk
like an Egyptianeach row stands on the hands of those below them.
When a Mage hits the third rank knowledge about the rules of magic becomes understanding. If the
Mage hasnt gured out that the rules are designed to tempt them into Debt at the Principle level theyll
learn it now, but more than that: A Mage at the Pyramid level has a good idea what Magic really is.
Theres no higher truth, no path to enlightenment, just something from outside this world that wants
in. The spells were real but everything else was smoke and mirrors. It can be hard to accept but its time
to face the facts and make a choice.
Some scale back, they quit their Club and rejoin the regular world: Shave the beard, throw away
the pointy hat and get a real job. If they keep any magic at all its used carefully and only what they
can aord: Rank three in knowledge, rank zero in ethos. Others come to feel that the system they were
using to keep ahead of Debt have worked so far, and higher truth or not the healing Tricks save lives or
the pile of gold is a pile of gold and carry on as before.
And some do it dierently. They accept that power is all that Magic can oer and theyre quite
happy with that. The techniques they used to manage Debt are expanded to cope with more, bigger,
Deals while entirely new methods (pyramid scams are common) are introduced. New sources of power
hidden Backstage become available for exploitation. These Mages form the Pyramids.
The Pyramid is where things change. A Parlour is regular people combining their day to day lives with
a thirst for magic. A Principle often is a powerful magical organisation but theyre still tied to the real
world; they have goals like protect the rainforest, promote traditional values or just get really rich and
live a life of luxury.
A Pyramid is divorced from real concerns. A worldwide group with money and reality bending magic
will dedicate itself to invading the Backstage owned by The Judge of the Dead and replacing Anubis
with an automated computer system.
This wont change the real world because nothing Backstage is reected here, computers wont suddenly gain the power to judge morality. No computer programmer will make a remarkable breakthrough
and electronic judges wont become the new popcultural icon. Pyramids do it for a more simple reason:
Power. If power was money a Pyramid would be an old miser counting their money while gaining nothing
from it.
Oh of course they claim to have grand goals from the real world, but on a practical day level they
dont work towards them. Theyre too busy plotting to capture a unicorn or most often planning against
other Pyramids. Thats why power is such a common focus for the Pyramids, once a deal is signed
with a Grand Patron the Pyramids take notice. Soon the new group nd themselves under siege and its
downhill from there; they need to pay o the Debts they took to survive. They probably want to ght
back and to do that theyll need power.
Sometimes, rarely, a Pyramid escapes: Maybe they remain unnoticed. Perhaps they put up such a
good ght the rst time someone tests them that by the time anyones ready to try again theyve become
old news, why turn a neutral party into your enemy? Some are just plain weird: The Court of the Bird
and the Book hasnt had a Patron for centuries, The Cult of Isis is under a taboo to only use magic for
the benet of others. They dont t, they dont draw attention and no one picks a ght.
These Pyramids are out there working on their own projects; some are just as focused on the Backstage
for dierent reasons others stay within the real world. Few draw upon the full power of their magic to
make large scale social change. Its a good way to get noticed and loose your neutrality with no guarantee
of success.

17

Cross Rank Clubs

Is every Mage in a Pyramid at the third rank, even the new recruits? Well yes and no, whenever it
would have a mechanical eect a Mages rank is that of their Club, if they dont have a Club its the
rank of their Patron. It cant ever decrease as far as the mechanics are concerned, once youve been in
a Principle you can negotiate with Patrons.
But theres more than just mechanics to the ranks, theres the attitude. These attitudes are generalisations; like all generalisations not always accurate but they ow from the nature of that rank: Rank
one Mages keep things small and personal because thats the nature of individuals.
If anyone has signicant real world inuence its the Principles. They have the numbers, the magic,
the wealth and crucially not too many other Mages breathing down their throat, everything a well
organised Principle with a vision and leadership needs to make their voices heard. Of course a lot of
Principles dont have a leadership, or any vision beyond Magic.
And Pyramids are Pyramids mostly because of other Pyramids. Their shadow wars of espionage and
occasionally outright warfare strike out at any Club who gains enough power to be noticed and traps
them. Over time the Pyramid life pushes out Mages: Those disillusioned with war, those who are more
interested in real issues than pointless games, those who feel what they gain isnt worth the way the
higher ups take advantage of them. Basically everyone who isnt sucently motivated to join the power
games, and so the system reinforces itself.
When the generalisations break down you have all sorts of oddities, its rather common for new
recruits to a Pyramid to understand less than a Parlour. They learn a few Tricks available to the club
and perform rituals to recharge their manawhich actually pay o their superiors Debt all the while
their mentorspull the wool over their eyes.
Feel free to explore these exceptions, what happens when the Pyamids newest recruit by chance learns
the big secrets of magic? Maybe introduce a rank zero Mage, she used to be at the top of a Pyramid
before retiring from the game and still retains lifetime tricks and all of her knowledge. In short treat
these ranks as what they are: Generalisations not hard rules.

Magic and the Tiers

In the WoD the Tier system measures the size, social and political inuence of an organisation. Tier
one is local inuence, Tier two is regional and tier three is national or international. How do Clubs and
Ranks match onto tiers? It would sound intuitive to say that a Parlour is tier one, a Principle is tier two
and a Pyramid is tier three but this would be wrong.
Consider two Mages who started the practice of Magic while studing politics in university. One
dropped out of university to focus full time on his magic studies and the other decided stick with her
political ambitions and eventually becomes a government minister. In all likelihood she will never rise
above the rst Rank of magic but her political inuence will by far exceed even powerful Mages. And
no, Mages cant just magic their way into power: Guns are typically better at enforcing an existing
rule than Magic, only the craftiest Mages can attempt to rule invisibly and they must juggle debating
policy (or whatever they wanted power for) with protecting themselves from the Magical rivals they
made climbing to the top. It has happened but its an exception not the rule.
So where do Clubs fall on the Tier system: Parlours can fall anywhere, the tier of a Parlour is almost
certainly going to be the tier of its members, irrespective of Magic. Most Parlours will be tier one
because most people are tier one but a Parlour formed of politicians or corporate moguls could easily be
tier three.
Principles are evenly split between the rst and second tier. They are large Clubs and the weight of
numbers, invested membership fees and yes, the sum of quite a lot of magical power means that a well
organised Principle can easily accumulate some inuence but many dont. Many just arent organised,
their members are too arrogant, angry or just lack the social skills for it. Others are organised but in
the wrong way, their systems are built to deal with Patrons and avoid the hazards of Debt and other
Clubs. They have an emergency lone ocer but not, for example, a public relaitons ocer. Just because
a group of Mages could gain social inuence doesnt mean they necessarily want it. Many are just more
interested in magic and even a well organised and tightly led Principle might be unied by their views
and desire for magic yet disagree strongly about how they should wield social inuence, so they simply
dont use it at all.
18

As with a Parlour a Principle could reach the third tier simply because important members are also
powerful individuals in their own right. This is less common than with Parlours because, well theres
more Parlours than principles. When this happens its worth asking, are we talking about a third tier
Principle that counts moguls among its assets or a third tier individual that counts the Principle among
her assets?
Though most Pyramids have the money, numbers and magic to make a good show of being tier
three organisations on a practical level theyre even more likely to be tier one than a Principle. Though
often well organised the between constant shadow wars and the self reinforcing culture this has created
the average Pyramid has neither the attention to spare on mundane inuence nor the ability to make
eective use of their assets should they wish to.
Some of the Pyramids who have escaped this trap are Tier three organisations on their own merits
but these tend to be quiet and politely inuential rather than proud organisations shouting their agenda
from the rooftops. Theyre not outside the war, just considered neutral, it pays to keep ones head down.

19

Hey kiddies, whos your favorite uncle? Okay, your second favorite? Look, just shaddup and listen. Its
your Uncle Poni with a word to the wiseacres. Youre doing it wrong. In all seriousness, I hear about
you kiddies doing some really dumb crap. Selling your souls, playing the long shots, and worse, not
shopping around. You have to wait until the odds are right, and if they just arent coming out right, you
gotta take matters into your own hands.
Youre playing the horses when the smart money is at the Faro table. Yeah, its penny-ante stu, but
its a good place to start, and a good place to head back to when times are tough. A little favor for a little
favor. And remember, not every devil wants your soul, some of them just want some green.
But Uncle,I hear you wail, its the only game in town! Play big or go home, right?Sure, I suppose
for some of you, youve only got one or two Bookies to go to. But that doesnt mean you cant rob Peter
to pay Paul. Force them to do favors for one another while you reap the benets. You can do it, youre
smart kids. Well, youre not complete retards, anyway.
God, its like picking up magic fried your brains. Youve forgotten all the old scams, all the tried
and true methods of dealing with the Marks. The Lost Heir is a classic, and these days its even easier.
Or hell, play the Fiddle Game. Drop a wallet. Do something. Here you are, sitting around, letting the
world get the best of you. You, the heirs to Count Saint Germain. You, the lost children of John Dee.
You should be ashamed of yourselves.
Me? What have I been doing? Im retired, after a fashion. Ive set up a little curio shop in Old
Town. Selling little knicknacks I get from my sources, or make myself and watching as the favor rolls
right in. On of my hottest sellers is the Dragon Purse. It looks like a chintzy little coin purse, the kind
youd love as a kid. In it is a single penny. You sell it to them for whatever its worth to them. Nine
times out of ten, theyll give you that self same penny. Thats when the fun starts.
Now, its a nice little trinket, really. It takes junk and transforms it into valuables, and gives the
owner a little tingle when it does it. They look around, and theyll nd it. Maybe its a bowl full of pearls,
maybe its a silver chain. Whatever it is now, it was trash. And in about two days, itll return to trash,
unless something else breaks the spell.
What could break the spell, you ask? Why... someone else nding out about your treasure. And the
purse lets you know about it. You start hording whatever it is. You dont want anyone to know youve
got it. Pretty soon, youre rummaging around in the trash even when you dont get the tingle, hoping
youll nd something. Youre so lucky, after all. When it wears o... well, its never pretty. Usually,
youll be back, looking to make a deal for something better. Gets Marks coming back. Sadly, about one
in ten takes it as a deeply humbling experience and gives up their greedy ways. Still, its a good opener.
So, I guess all Im trying to say is... Dont be a Mark. Be a Bookie. And treat your Patronsas
a Bookies Bookie. Everyone goes away happy. Even the poor schmuck at the bottom whom everyones
crapping on. At least hes warm.

20

Chapter 4: Playing the Game

Fun fact about voodoo, Larry: Cant conjure a thing for myself.
Dr. Facilier.

Tickets Please
Patrons
I got friends on the other side. Dr. Facilier
The Patrons are as varied as the stars in the sky, anything a Mage could accept as a plausible source of
magic could become her patron from gods and demons to dusty tomes, future technology, nature spirits
or human ghosts.
Ranks of the Patron
Rank zero Patrons, are the dregs of magical society. Theyre the imps at the bottom of the demonic
totem pole, sprites itting around the edges of the faerie courts. They have one or two Tricks and no
more, anyone can make a Deal with them for a Service but they can only provide a Service. These
creatures are never seen far from a Patron of at least the rst Rank.
At the rst rank a Patron is usually a distinct individual. The ghost of my grandmother, A book:
Instructions by Jacques Belasis, The Crocodile who Lives in Sewers. A Patron has three Claims
each at one dot and one Law.
At the second rank a Greater Patron is still an individual but a much more impressive one. Dukes of
hell replace the everyday demon, faerie lords and ladies with grand titles and vast kingdoms under the
hill rather than commoners or spirits of entire forests and vast rivers instead of a single sacred tree, glade
or brook. A Greater Patron has one Claim at two dots and ve at one dot. They declare two Laws.
At the third rank a Grand Patron is often a concept or a group of related concepts: The Mother
Bearis Motherhood, Protection and Bears. The Hearts Whispera deceptively subtle patron that
manifests only as a uttering in the chest and a whisper in the ear is Emotions and The Paved Road
Leading Downwards is every bad result born of noble intentions.
If a Grand Patron is a individual you can be assured that it will be an impressive being who has
been mentioned in myth if they dont already have worldwide fame - no one knows whether the Patron
or the Myth came rst - examples are The King of Faerie, often believed to be Oberon or The God
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the mere mention of whom can cause heated debates among Mages. A
Grand Patron stakes one Claim at three dots, three at two dots and nine at one dot. They name four
Laws.
Staking a Claim
One of the most important aspects of a Patron, from the Mages viewpoint, is their Claims: Each Patron
lays a claim to certain aspects of reality and these form the boundaries of their magic. Though a powerful
Grand Patron Emergence cannot grant magic over dreams because it hasnt Claimed anything related
to sleep or dreaming while the far weaker Spider Who Spins Webs of Thought can.
A Patron can Stake three claims each at one dot.
A Greater Patron can stake one Claim at two dots and ve claims at one dot.
21

A Grand Patron can stake one Claim at three dots, four at two dots and nine at one dot. All Patrons
also have a Claim on Magic with a number of dots equal to their greatest Claim.
Simply choose an appropriate number of thingsthat t the Patrons concept. Provided it can be
easily understood as a concept absolutely anything is a valid choice for a Claim from Gangster Rap
Artiststo sounds that make you inch. When dening a Claim its important to remember that a
Claim dose not follow scientic or objective classications: they are based on semantics. A Claim on Sea
Water means exactly that: water in or taken from the sea.
Its also important to remember that Claims are not based on human beliefs, a Claim on Christianity
may sound like it is but ultimately the Claim is its own thing, self contained and not a part of human
culture or even our universe, it just happens that its the closet analogue in our reality is the Christian
faith and so Christianity is how the human mind understands the Claim. In practical terms this means
that no matter how elegantly a Mage explains that Christianity is really part of the same faith as Judaism
or Islam they will not be able to aect either with their Magic and it wont help if they convinced the
rest of the world either. Go back or forward in time and the changing face of Christianity may cause
it to diverge from the Claim (at which point rename the Claim or if there is nothing appropriate, the
Patron is exiled from this reality).
There is one nal ambiguity: whether a Claim is literal, metaphorical or both. For example can the
Claim of Paths be used to teleport by creating a one foot path from here to Australia then walking along
it? Can it be used to create a path from here to fame and fortune or can it only aect physical paths
that obey the laws of normal geometry? Depending on the Patron all of those could be valid, whenever
this comes up simply clarify which interpretations this particular Patron covers with their Claim.
Laying Down the Law
Every Patron names Laws, strict rules that they expect their Mages to live by. Every Law is divided
into four ranks each stricter than the last. Which rank aects the Mage depends on their Debt, with a
Debt of one the Mage isnt bound at all.
Patrons have one Law, Greater Patrons have two and Grand Patrons have four. A Mage is bound
by the same rank for all their Patrons Laws.
At the rst rank a law is trivial and entirely under the Mages control. If they pay attention they will
never break it. For example: do not harm children.
The next rank introduces an element of chance or has a minor potential to suddenly become a lot worse
than is expected. For example: Always show respect to an ocer of the law.
At the third rank a Mage can expect to change their lifestyle or risk themselves to obey the law. For
example: Always investigate a cry for help. At the forth rank a Law ranges from enforcing a total life
change to outright suicidal. A Mage may quickly nd themselves trying to simultaneously aord Magic
that keeps them alive as well as pay o enough Decit to reduce their Debt. For example: Do not eat
so long as there is a starving child in your city.
A Mage who Breaks a Law receives a Curse.
But what is it like?
At this point we have a good idea of what our Patron is. We know its rank, its Claims and its Laws.
Mechanically were done. But there is more to a Patron than Mechanics they have a personality. Whether
unknowable and alien or deceptively human until they call in their Debts its time to decide how a Patron
behaves.
But before you decide how a Patron behaves think about the sort of game you want to play. You
could say that The Feathered Serpent only accepts blood sacrice, but if your players are looking forward
to constructing elaborate scams where Mages try to get as much as possible while paying as little as they
can get away with you will need a little more exibility in what youre Patrons buy. If youre players
cant see a big list of pluses and minuses without starting to MinMax consider playing Mages from Le
Cirque Voilee, who are known for that sort of behaviour, and not The Court of the Bird and the Book
who would probably kick your characters out.
And if a player is trying to break the agreed themes of the game by demanding the full list when
their Patron should be revolted by half of it, or using long explanations to stretch Claims where they

22

shouldnt be able to go sit down like adults and talk it out. Role playing games are a group activity and
there are no rules that can help when a player isnt willing to work with the group.
Once you know what kind of personality your Patrons need to t into the story you wish to tell write
a few words that describes what its interested in seeing. Traditional witchcraft spellsor Non-violent
street crimeare good examples, do this for both Shows and Taboos as well as describe as a few actual
examples that it would like.
One nal point: What happens when a player proposes a Patron that doesnt t the mechanical rules
for Dealing. The sort of personality which would be giving Mages charity and shouldnt be trying to
trap anyone in Debt? First of all make sure the player hasnt misunderstood the themes of Mage, and
if all is ok play the Patron as written including the glaring inconsistency. When the Mage realises that
their Patron is actually just as cut-throat as the re and brimstone demon another Mage deals with or
slips up and their seemingly kind Patron becomes an alien thing screaming for blood milk the discovery
for all its worth. Rank two mages of course are already aware of this fact.

Making a Deal
A man who looks like Dr. Facilier gives a sinister grin and presents a hand of cards to the reader
with a ourish. Each card shows the same average looking man in a dierent desirable situation: The
ace of hearts shows him with three adoring beautiful women. The ace of Diamonds shows him in a
striking suit holding lots of money. The ace of spades shows him sitting on a plainly decorated yet imposing throne while the ace of clubs shows him reading a foreboding book; a ame hovers above an open palm.
The real meat of Magic is in making a Deal, you ask a Patron for what you want and in return it
names a Price. At rank one there is no bargaining for whatever reason: One Patron might demand a
labyrinthine etiquette that prevents a Mage from haggling, another may be just a book: you look up
what you want in the index, see the Price and choose whether to pay.
At rank two or above Lengthy negotiations begin. To creating a Deal rst select what you wish to
buy: Tricks, Services, Favours, Curses for your foes, Claims, paying o your Decit and breaking an
existing spell or curse. Most options have various sub-clauses that may aect the nal Price, such as the
duration. These sub-clauses only aect the clause they are attached to: A Mage could buy a Favour for
a year and a Trick for a week in the same deal.
The second step is to choose your Payment, the options are: Decit, Shows, Sacrices or Taboos.
You may only have one Show or Taboo but you may stack as much Decit and as many Sacrices as the
Mage and the Patron can agree too.
Finally check the section Calling the Patron and apply any modiers, there is also a small section
called A Physical Deal that lets you turn a Deal into a physical item.
If you have more than one multiplier add them together, so a deal with a x2 and a x3 multiplier
becomes x5.
A note on prices listed as new dots: Unless stated otherwise track the cost of magically aquired dots
seperately from normally aquired dots. If a Mage has Strength 2 and wishes to buy it up to Strength 4
then he will pay -5 for the thrid dot and - 10 for the fourth dot. If he wishes to later by an extra dot
with experiance hed buy the third dot for 15 exp, buying a seperate favour for another dot of Strength
would also cost -15.

Buying Tricks
In the lexicon of mages a Trick is a single codied spell. Do this and youll get that result. Each Trick
has a roll of Attribute + Skill and a Price associated with it that was decided when the bargain was
made. Some Tricks incur Decit to use others are activated by performing a quick, or not so quick, Show.
Usually a Trick will only function for whoever it was decided will have access when the Deal was
agreed, either one Mage a blood family or a Club.
A one dot Trick: -6
A two dot Trick: -10
23

 A three dot Trick: -15

How exible is the Trick?
The Trick is broad, such as guard dogs: +0
The Trick is narrow, such as dogs with a crippled leg: +3
The Trick is very narrow and only aects one specic thing, e.g. my rivals pet dog: +5
How long will you have access?
It lasts for a Day: -3
It lasts for a Week: -5
It lasts for a Month: -15
It lasts for a Year: - 40
It lasts for the rest of your life: - 60 and Double the total Cost before deducting payment.
It lasts as long as your Club: -60 and Triple the total Cost before deducting payment.
Who can use it.
One person: -0
My family or my club: -10 and double the total Cost before deducting payment. The Trick must
come from one of your Clubs Patrons.
Anyone, only Tricks from your own Patron and even then it may be outright vetoed by the Patron,
Tricks from the Claim of Magic are always vetoed: -10 and multiply the total Cost before deducting
payment by 5.
Escape Clause
Many Tricks have an escape clause that end their eects prematurely. While this does make a Trick
cheaper its most common use is among cunning Mages who use them to manipulate or build emergency
backdoors into their own Tricks.
The escape condition is common enough that it may happen by accident: +5
The escape condition is common enough that anyone who knows the condition will have little
trouble creating it but rare or specic enough to make accidents unlikely: +3
Even if someone knows the escape condition they will need signicant eort to create it: +1
The escape condition depends on one or more factors only appear at a certain time (at least rarer
than once a month), rely on the presence of extremely rare and valuable objects or just generally
make a good attempt at being unforllable: +0
The Mage may choose a dierent escape condition every time they use the Trick: -1 and they
cannot use a tougher condition than the option they selected when buying the Trick.
Other considerations
Is there a Price that must be paid every time you use the Trick: Use any of the options for payment
then double their Value. This counts towards the initial deal to buy the Trick.
A bonus to the dicepool. -2 for an extra die. -6 for two extra dice. Its the same progression as
Merit costs and is capped at +5.
Reducing the successes required. The successes required are explained later in this chapter, for
now: -3 to reduce the requirement by one. -9 to reduce the requirement by two. Its the same
progression as Skills and has no cap at all.
24

Hiring a Service
A Service is a Trick in performed by the Patron itself. Services are signicantly cheaper than buying
tricks which makes them useful for one o improvised spells. The roll to sign the Deal is also the roll to
cast, because of this Mages often throw a little extra towards the Patron.
Your Patron will cast a one dot Trick: -2
Your Patron will cast a two dot Trick: -4
Your Patron will cast a three dot Trick: -6
The link to the Target
Theyre in the room: -0
Sympathetic with part of the targets body: -5
Sympathetic with only the targets name: -10

Begging for a Favour

A Mage can ask a Patron to increase their own natural abilities with a Favour, the Patron must have
a valid Claim such as Athletics to enhance Stamina. Notably all Patrons can enhance the Occult skill
through the Claim of magic.
Increasing a Skill: -2 * New Dots
Increasing a Merit: -2 * New Dots. Patrons can only increase merits that are internal to the character like Striking Looks or Iron Stamina, external merits like Status or Resources are impossible.
Increasing an Attribute: -3 * New Dots
How long will it last
It lasts for the rest of the scene: +3
It lasts for the rest of the a day: -0
It lasts for the rest of the a Week: -2
It lasts for the rest of the a Month: -6
It lasts for the rest of the a Year: -12
It lasts for the rest of your life: -10 and double the total Cost before deducting payment.

Sending a Jinx
Just as a Mage can increase their own abilities they can hinder that of their enemies, again a suitable
Claim is required.
A dice penalty under specic circumstances: -1 per dotdecreased.
Decreasing a Skill: -3 * Decreased Dots
Decreasing a Merit: -3 * Decreased Dots
Decreasing an Attribute: -4 * Decreased dots.

25

How long will it last

It lasts for the rest of the scene: +3
It lasts for the rest of the a day: -0
It lasts for the rest of the a Week: -2
It lasts for the rest of the a Month: -6
It lasts for the rest of the a Year: -12
It lasts for the rest of your life: -10 and double the total Cost before deducting payment.

Borrowing A Claim
Its expensive but a Mage can Borrow a Patrons Claim. This lets the mage Perform improvised casting
without consulting the Patron and create their own Tricks.
A one dot Claim: -5
A two dot Claim: -25
A three dot Claim: -125
How long will it last
It lasts for the rest of the a Week: -10
It lasts for the rest of the a Month: -30
It lasts for the rest of the a Year: - 70
It lasts for the rest of your life: - 70 and Triple the total Cost before deducting payment. Cannot
include a Claim on Magic.
It lasts as long as your Club: -70 and multiply the total Cost by four before deducting payment.
Cannot include a Claim on Magic
Who has access to it?
One person: -0
My family or my club: -10 and double the total Cost before deducting payment. Claims must be
one rank below you and must come from one of your Clubs Patrons.

Choosing a familiar
A Mage can buy a Familiar, this costs -15. A newly acquired Familiar has one dot in all attributes and
3/2/1 to assign as the player wishes along with 5/4/3 dots in skills and a size of between one and ve.
If the Mage wants something stronger use the prices listed under Begging for a Favour, for impressively
hulking ogres extra size can be brought at -1 per point of size while species factor can be increased from
5 at -1 per point of speed.
While there is nothing wrong with a game where Mages summon dragons or grins it does have
implications for a games mood. If youre playing low scale occult urban fantasy storytellers should not
feel guilty about vetoing really powerful Familiars, if youre playing with the Mirror of Adventure or
some other high magic game: go nuts.
A Mage can purchase Favours or Tricks for their Familiar, just like everyone else. Purchasing favours
does have a special consideration: Buying a Favour that lasts until the Familiars contract expires means
you track the price against its regular dots not its magical dots. The other way to increase a familars
abilities is with experiance, a Mage may spend his own experiance points to boost their familiars. If
26

the familar dies the experiance is lost, as it is if the contract expires although the Mage can extend the
contract with another deal. They need not pay for any dots gained through experience.
Now what happens when a player wants to go for a summoner character? Well in that case buy a
Familiar like normal and say it just lasts for a scene, then afterwords buy a Trick to summon up the
Familiar. It takes one Trick for each unique Familiar the Mage has, multiple identical Familiars can be
called with the same Trick (but they must be brought individually). When buying summoned Familiars
the time it lasts for is the timer after each summoning, the Mage retains access until the expiry of the
Trick.
A Mage can only have as many active Familiars as their presence but may have as many Familiars
waiting to be summoned as they can aord.
Finally there is a special familiar only Merit at two dots: Magical Assistance, this merit may be taken
more than once and each time it is taken choose a skill. The familiar can roll as a secondary actor in
teamwork for Tricks using that skill.
How long will it serve you?
It lasts for the rest of the scene: +3
It lasts for the rest of the a day: -0
It lasts for the rest of the a Week: -2
It lasts for the rest of the a Month: -6
It lasts for the rest of the a Year: -12
It lasts for the rest of your life: -10 and double the total Cost before deducting payment.
A middle aged nun standing at no more than four and a half foot stands centre. She wields an enormous
candle holder defensively to bar the viewer access. At her side stands a fallen angel, six foot and beautiful
wearing plate armour. Its hands are in gauntlets welded to the breastplate and its wings are bloody
stumps, behind her children huddle in fear.

Correcting your Deficit

Just like they can buy magic a Mage can buy their way out of Decit. Every point of Decit you wish
to pay o is -2.

Breaking a spell
Sometimes a Mage is under an unwanted spell, they may be aected by a Trick with a lasting eect
or the victim of another Mage Sending a Jinx (see above). A Mage may deal to get a Patron to break
this curse. If the Patron has a relivent Claim that can be used to break the spell the Price is half the
dicepool used to create the curse. If not the Patron can still break the spell using the Claim of Magic
but the Price is equal to the entire dicepool

Ending a Curse
The Price for ending a Curse is its rank times ten. This decreases the rank of a Mages curse by one.

Going into Deficit

A mage can increase their Decit to oset the Price. Every point of Decit is +1 and they can go over
the limit of their Debt. This is a very dangerous thing to do.

Paying through Sacrifice

Though outwardly horric a Patron that accepts sacrices is a great advantage to a Mage. Paying with
a sacrice is predictable, the same deed is accepted by the Patron week after week.
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An item of mundane value

Worth Resources 2 or 3: +1
Worth Resources 4: +2
Worth Resources 5: +3
A piece of you
A treasured memory or object one point of Willpower +2.
A Skill or Merit: +3 per dot.
An Attribute: +5 per dot.
A Vice: +8.
A piece of your identity A dot of Willpower : + 8
A Virtue: +12.
Self Transformation
Weather becoming monstrous or a the platonic ideal of a human many Patrons are willing to accept you
becoming more magical as payment.
If you are already partly transformed you obviously cannot oer that level of transformation a second
time, but you can oer a deeper transformation. Deduct the value of your current transformation from
the oered transformation. You can Deal to reverse a transformation, this costs twice its value.
Stage one transformation: A thought examination and a Wits + Medicine or Occult roll to tell
youre not human. +2
Stage two transformation: As above but with +2 on the roll. + 4
Stage three transformation: As above but only a look and a roll are required. + 8
Stage four transformation: Simply looking is enough to know youre not human. + 16
Sacricing Life, Limb or Liberty
A point of Bashing damage: +1 per point (capped at +25).
A point of Lethal damage: +4 per point (capped at +25).
A point of Aggravated damage: +8 per point (capped at +25).
A Life: +25.
A body part:
Ear, nose, nger: +4
Hand, foot: +8
Arm, leg, eye: +12
A slave to take beyond this world: +25 (Slaves must be tricked into agreement or turned over to
the Patron in chains)

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How often will you Pay?

Just the once: No change.
Every day for life: Multiply the value of the Sacrice by 20.
Every day for a year: Multiply the value of the Sacrice by 10.
Every day for a month: Multiply the value of the Sacrice by 5.
Every day for a week: Multiply the value of the Sacrice by 2.
Every week for life: Multiply the value of the Sacrice by 10.
Every week for a year: Multiply the value of the Sacrice by 5.
Every week for a month: Multiply the value of the Sacrice by 2.5, round up.
Every month for life: Multiply the value of the Sacrice by 4.
Every month for a year: Multiply the value of the Sacrice by 2.

Paying with a Show

Outwardly paying with a Show is seems like the most attractive option to a beginning mage. The Price
is often reasonable and its not even unethical, at least not usually. A more experienced mage is weary of
a Patron who insists on payment in Shows for one simple reason, theyre highly variable. No experienced
Mage wants to live knowing that their Patron may ask an impossible Price just when they need it the
most.
All shows are one single task, they may be a very long task such as a days work cleaning trash from
a sacred river but theyre one single task. You will not see a Show like Steal a heirloom from each of
the four families who founded this townbecause that is four tasks. However if you agreed to perform
four Shows then your Patron may choose such a set perhaps at one theft a week for a month. In such a
case at the Patrons, that is the Storytellers, discretion they may let the Mage perform the Shows early.
Storytellers not players design the Show, if the Mage is of the second or third rank the specics may
be negotiated. If the player is trying to weasel their Patron into accepting a show which they were going
to do anyway, theyre thinking like a true Mage. Let them roll Manipulation + Persuasion with a penalty
based on how much of a change they wish to make.
A trivial task, simple, ethical and only an hour or two: +2. Examples include: feeding wild pidgins,
doing grati of mystical symbols, writing a letter to the local newspaper.
A modest task, simple, usually ethical but takes most of the day: +5. Examples include: volunteering at a homeless shelter, a day of focused meditation, writing a short story with hidden clues
to discovering magic.
A dicult task, either hard yet ethical or merely challenging yet unethical: +15. Examples include:
converting a devout Catholic to paganism, a daring theft, getting an impossible occurrence into
the newspapers without an overt display of magic.
A hearcluean task with combines the unholy trinity of dicult, unethical and extreme self risk.
It should take at least a small story to forll: +50. Examples include: A ritualistic murder of a
well protected target that must be performed under a Byzantine set of rules, defeating a powerful
mythological creature such as a dragon, create a nationwide sensation and use it to spread a
subliminal message.

29

How often will you Pay?

Just the once: No change.
Every day for life: Multiply the value of the Show by 20.
Every day for a year: Multiply the value of the Show by 10.
Every day for a month: Multiply the value of the Show by 5.
Every day for a week: Multiply the value of the Show by 2.
Every week for life: Multiply the value of the Show by 10.
Every week for a year: Multiply the value of the Show by 5.
Every week for a month: Multiply the value of the Show by 2.5, round up.
Every month for life: Multiply the value of the Show by 4.
Every month for a year: Multiply the value of the Show by 2.
Paying with a Taboo
Taboos, especially milder ones, are considered a good enough option by Mages. Not doing something
is often easier than doing something. However the same risks apply to Taboos as to Shows, you never
know when the Patron will insist on something you really dont want to agree to when you need its help
the most.
The specics of a taboo are decided by the Storyteller with the same caveats as Shows.
A trivial taboo that is entirely under the mages control: +2. Examples include: always bless your
meal, always cover your head, dont eat meat.
A moderate taboo which is under the mages control yet has an element of chance or a small ability
to turn bad: +5. Examples include: Never harm one who is a guest in your home, always nish
your meal, always remove your shoes when in a holy place.
A serious taboo which changes your lifestyle or leaves you open to risk: +10. Examples include:
Never harm another, remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, never pass by violence without
intervening, obey your husband in all things, obey your wife in all things.
A herculean taboo which entirely replaces your lifestyle or changes your lifestyle in a way that
requires full control of your environment or opens yourself to signicant risk: +25. Examples
include: Never set foot within a man made structure, never break any law; not even jaywalking.
How Long Will it Last?
For life: Multiply the value of the Taboo by 20.
For a year: Multiply the value of the Taboo by 10.
For a month: Multiply the value of the Taboo by 5.
For a week: Multiply the value of the Taboo by 2.
For a Day: No change.

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Calling the Patron

Before our Mage can choose what to buy and how to Pay they must nd a Patron to bargain with, this
has its own Modier on the Price.
A rank zero Patron: +2 and ignore the rest of this section.
Your dealing with your Patron: +0
Your dealing with another Patron of your Club: -2
Your dealing with any other Patron: -10
Your rank is higher than the Patron: +1 per point of dierence.
Your Patrons outranks this Patron: +3 per point of dierence, this stacks with the above.
The Patron is higher than your current Patrons rank or the Mage does not have any Debt: Double
the total Cost before deducting payment.

A Physical Deal
The Deal is embedded into a physical item that must be protected otherwise the deal is considered
broken with appropriate penalties: +2
The deal is embedded into a physical item, whoever holds the item gets the benets but the Mage
who made the deal is always stuck with paying the Price. With this option the Deal must only be
for one person: +2

Signing on the dotted line

There are a few notes and considerations one must take into account when Creating a deal.
Stacking Payments
A single Deal may include only one Taboo or Show, it may however include as many Sacrices or incur
as much Decit as the Mage and the Patron are willing to agree on.
The Final roll
Once the deal is designed add up all the bonuses and penalties then add the Mages Debt. If the result
is 0 or greater the deal is accepted. If you are asking for a Service roll Debt + or - the total from the
Deal (maximum of Debt + Patrons Rank * 3. Debt alone for Improvised magic with a Claim) to see if
the Service succeeds. Willpower may be spent, even above the usual maximum.
If the total on the Deal with the addition of the Mages Debt is below zero its time for the Mage to
start grovelling. A Manipulation + Persuasion roll may be attempted, each success is equivalent to +1
on the Deal, if this fails to bring the Deals total to zero or greater the Patron refuses to sign without
higher payment. Begging is obviously not possible when the Deal is actually improvised magic and even
for a Service its not a good idea: Even if the Patron accepts the nal roll will be Debt alone.
The possibility to grovel can also be used when a Patron objects to certain types of Deals. When
doing so youll need a lot of Successes so make sure the Deal is stacked in the Patrons favour and use
that extra as bonus dice on your Persuasion roll. Even then not all Patrons will compromise, it comes
down to who they are and even how much they like the Mage.

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Selling what isnt yours

Technically you cant sell what isnt yours, but the Patrons are exible with what counts as yours. You
cant sell your hated enemys prized diamonds and laugh as your Patron whisks it away, but if you stole
those diamonds yourself then you could sell them. For anything included under Paying with a Sacrice
the rules of the Deal allow you to take the payment from someone else: stealing it physically, with magic
or just tricking them into performing a Show, Sacrice or obeying the Taboo on your behalf, but be
warned. If they fail the penalty falls to you. If youre paying with Decit someone needs Debt before
you can trick them into paying otherwise anyones fair game, just name whos paying when constructing
the Deal.
Just because the rules of the deal allow you to sell other peoples stu doesnt mean every patron will
accept it. The Impoverished Priest almost certainly wont accept you conning or stealing for his favour
while The Untrustworthy Merchant almost certainly will. The Gentleman Thief will accept stolen goods
but may not be that interested in your legitimate possessions, hed certainly give a better price for you
Putting on a Show with a daring theft.
A note on timings
Many payments need to be done on a regular occurrence and everything you buy lasts for a set duration.
The above was written assuming that every payment has to be done within a twenty four hour window.
Once per week might mean every Sunday.
However the rules were also written for simplicity and they might lack a certain sense of Magic, what
happens if you want something to last a Year and a Day instead? Or until the next full moon?
While canonically the rules of the Deal are astonishingly uniform between Patrons in this case our
suggestion is to go for it, either wrap the specic timings in the requirements of a Show and adjust
the diculty or just pick the time thats closest to what youre attempting and use that. It breaks the
metaphysics but its a small change, if you nd it more fun this way there is no harm done.

Turning Tricks
Now that our Mage knows how much magical power they can buy its important to learn what they can
do with it. Below you will nd a guide to the various abilities a Mage can use or abuse. They apply to
Tricks, Favours and imrpovised casting with Claims.
Be aware that just having access to a Patron with an appropriate Claim dose not mean you can use
all the possibilities: an Angel of Mercy will not grant the ability to weaken or cause injury, The Once
Proud Citadel Now in Ruins may have a Claim on Buildings, but youre not getting the ability to repair
them. If a Mage gets hold of the Claim personally then they do have the full exibility, unless theres a
Taboo involved in the deal.

Rank One spells: Tricks

Gather Information:
A Mage may gather basic information about a Subject. With a claim on books they could get a breif
summery of any single book or learn the title and author of a book containing specic information. As a
general rule the limits of information gathering are as follows: Firstly The Mage can only get information
about one thing per casting. One person is acceptable, so is one crowd. Every individual in the croud is
not. Secondly the Mage only ever gets an outline or an answer to very specic question.
If a Mage comes across the scene of a murder they could ask What was the murder weapon?and
get an answer along the lines of A ornate serrated silver daggeror they could cast Examine crime
sceneand learn There were signs of a struggle, the killer knew what he was doing and the murder
weapon was a knife of some sort.
As a guideline for the upper limits assume that for a general query the Mage cannot get anything
more detailed than a competent and knowledgeable professional would be able to gure out in a couple
of hours with no specialised equipment. Specic questions can get that and a bit more on top.

32

Simple manipulation and control:

A Mage can inuence or control Subjects. The rst and most simple use of this power is that a Mage can
generally do anything a human could naturally do with a simple spell. This has its advantages but does
not grant any aditional abilities. A Mage could re a gun with a wave of their hand but they couldnt
put a bullet through a tank. A Mage could use nature Magic guide a trees growth like a gardener but
they couldnt make it sprout money.
The second use of this ability is to make an object do something that it might do anyway. The limit
of a Mages power is when something is possible, but unlikely. A Mage couldnt draw electricity out
of a wall socket to smite their foes but if there was an arcing Tesla coil nearby without proper grounding
they could use that.
Simple manipulation can be used on living beings, attempts to control the actions of another are
explicitly limited to providing another medium of communication: At this level telepathy exerts no
more eect than just talking. That doesnt stop clever Mages from getting all sorts of benits from
communication that doesnt reveal who is talking as well as usually getting a pass on language barriers,
including barriers between humans and non-humans.
Basic eects within the Claims perview
Manipulation of subjects simply dosnt apply to subjects like Happy Memoriesor Deception. When
faced with such a Claim instead of basic manipulation a Mage can get basic eects.
Genrally a basic eect cant do anything a human couldnt do without a little time and some modest
equipment. A Mage could use Deception to change their appearance in a moment, but they wont be
able to do anything a skilled makeup artist or costumer couldnt.
Using eects on human beings has the same caveats as using manipulation.
Protect oneself from Subjects
A Mage can Protect themselves from Subjects. They may grant themselves a bonus to resist eects: A
Mage with a Claim on toxins could roll Stamina + Survival, every success adds to their dicepool to resist
toxins for the rest of the scene.
Or they may hex their opponents ability to ght: roll is contested by a Resistance attribute and any
Supernatural Advantage or Protection it may have, every additonal success in the Mages favour gives a
-1 to a maximum of -5 on rolls to cause damage for the remainder of the scene.
The third way to protect oneself is with an all or nothing defence: The Mage rolls to block a weapon
or combatant. Note the number of successes gained when casting this Trick. If the targets next attack
roll has fewer successes than the casting roll the attack does nothing, however should the attack gain
greater successes the Trick fails to provide any defense.
Incidentally when you are protecting yourself from a Subject this will protect you from unarmed
attacks, armed attacks require a Claim on the weapon itself. Dont forget that the Claim of Magic allows
any Mage to defend themselves from spells.
Protect oneself with Subjects
Just like a Mage can diminish the capacity of subject to attack him, he can also use his magic to create
shields and defences. A Mage with a Claim on wind may call up air currents to push gas weaponry away.
This is not quite as eective as defending from Subjects: Every time the Mage benits from their
protection it decreases by one.
A Mage can also use his Subjects for all or nothing attacks, this works the same as above except the
Mage does not benet from 10again.
A note on stacking defences: A Mage has a lot of ways to increase their magical armour: Favours,
boosting their defence, hindering an opponents attack. None of these stack, a Mage benets only from
the strongest eect currently present.
Desguise or obscure subjects
A Mage can make subtle shifts to the appearance of subjects. Typically this is a -1 to -5 penalty on
attempts to recognise the obscured Subject.
33

What a Mage cannot do is exert any ne control over the subjects new apperance. They can dene
what they dont want people to see but not what they want people to see, in all cases the end result is
a very similar looking object.

Rank Two spells: Turns

Advanced manipulation: Altering the capabilities of Subjects and forceful manipulation
A Mage can use their Claims in ways that are not actually possible but are not too outlandish. They
still cannot make a tree sprout money, but they could make a tree grow fruit or a dierent kind of leaves.
Unless a Claim is exceptionally broad making a subject do something that is possible for a dierent
subject of the Claim is a good rule of thumb. So is anything a Subject is likely to be able to do within
ve to ten years of development: Many incurable diseases that are immune to basic manipulation on
Claims like Medicine can be defeated with advanced manipulation.
Mental inuences also get stronger at this level of power. Though a Mage still cannot get a subject do
anything that it is not theoretically possible to get with social skills alone Magic becomes more eective
than mere words. Mind control, emotion manipulation, magical pheromones or anything of the sort is
contested by an Attribute and Protection.
Of course this his highly unethical. Just because a Mage could have got the exact same thing by
asking isnt an excuse. That a Mage could have got the money if they begged doesnt give them the right
to pickpocket or to use mind control. Generally if someone willingly did something because of mental
magic at this level assume a lack of consent and roll for Morality if required.
Cause injury to or with Subjects
This power can be wielded as a blunt instrument or a scalpel, when a Mage wishes to harm their foes
with a direct application of Magic this technique provides the goods: Fire ows from their nger tips,
lightning arcs from a sta or raw necromantic energy chills the air. If the Mage wishes to harm something
outside their Claim they cause bashing damage. Harming subjects of the Claim is easier: Lethal damage.
Though a storyteller should feel free to reject anything that sounds too implausible or corney the
general idea is that a Mage with a two dot trick can cause bashing damage. Be generous in what you
allow.
Heal, repair or enhance Subjects
If a Mage doesnt have a Claim on healing or xin stu then they can overcome the deciency with
this practice of magic. Genrally healing, whether through manipulation or this practice, removes two
points of Bashing Damage per success. One point of Structure or Lethal Damge per success. Aggravated
Damage can be reduced to lethal for one point of willpower and one success per point of damage.
Enhancing subjects can either be used on a very spesic area: one possible use of a Skill or piece
of equipment. This grants +1 per success when using the enhanced ability, this cannot do more than
double the Skill or Equipment Bonus. Alternatively a Mage can grant a bonus to an entire Skill or piece
of equipment, this grants a at +1 bonus or +2 on an exceptional success. Again this cannot do more
than double the Skill or Equipment Bonus.
You cannot stack muliple enhancements upon the same Subject. For this purposes consider Favours
to be an enhacement.
Moderately weaken the capabilities of Subjects
Just as a Mage can enhance subjects they can also weaken them. Weakening a subject is easier than
boosting it: One success translates to -1 for the rest of the scene. A maximum of -5 and of course this
can be Contested if youre using it against another person. The penalty lasts until the end of the scene.
A Mage also gets the option to disable a Subject entirely. This requires that the Subject is an
inanimate object that could be rendered inoperable with a simple change. A computer wont function
with a loose wire, a gun wont function with if a bullet jams: both are valid. A robustly engineered device
with failsafes and redundant systems is not, nor is something infallibly simple like a sword.

34

This requires a single success on the magic roll and lasts until the device is xed: This takes a single
success. If there is no way to disable the device so it can be xed that easily then its immune to being
disabled by this power.

Rank Three spells: The Prestige

Completely transform Subjects into related phenomena
With a simple trick a Mage can transform any subject into any other subject from the same Claim.
Transforming unwilling living beings is extremely dicult. Not only is it a Contested roll but you
deduct the Subjects Stamina from the Mages successes.
Supernatural Manipulation
At this level a Mage can make a Claim do things that are outright impossible yet t within the general
theme of the Claim. Making a tree grow money through the Claim of Trees is sadly still impossible
because it breaks theme. You could instead make it grow 500 feet without collapsing under its own
weight (at least until the spell ends). With the Claim of Forestry, which thematically ties forests to
for-prot industry growing money trees is nally an option.
Create Subjects from nothing
With a spell a Mage can conjure up any subject from raw Magic. This takes one success per size point,
two successes per size point if the subject will be animate.
Creating truly sentient creatures is impossible, the closest a Mage can come is to create a one dimensional character. A faux intelligence that in narrow circumstances can at least put on a good act.
Utterly obliterate Subjects and high level magical destruction
This technique is functionally identical to causing injury to or with subjects. The only change is that a
Mage can cause Lethal damage with a subject and Aggravated damage to a subject.

Designing a spell
Weather a Trick, a improvised use of a Claim or a service designing the Spell follows the same process.
Step one: Describe the spell
In just a few short sentences describe what you wish to accomplish: I want those bees to attack him,
I want to make my car inconspicous.
Step two: Choose the Claim and the catagory
Here the player and the storyteller and the player agree which Claim and which category of eect the
spell falls under.
Attack beas could fall under basic manipulation in the Claim of bees: Roll Presence + Animal Ken
vs the swarms Resolve + Composure. Advanced manipulation which is almost identical except the bees
roll Resolve + Supernatual Advantage in the unlikely event that they have one. Or it could in fact be
an attack spell in the Claim of bees.
This exibility is intentional, it is the players choice whether the greater damage that a real swarm
would provide or the exibility of an attack spell which will not require a convenient swarm to manipulate.
The decision between basic and advanced manipulation is again down to the player, do they wish to pay
for that extra bit of power?
Its perfectly valid to use dierent Claims to the same eect: Making your car inconspicuous could
be obscuring with the Claim of cars of a basic eect from the Claim of veiling.

35

Step three: Choose the dicepool

A Mage has three choices as to how the spell will function: A Trick is a single codied spell, each Trick
can do one thing alone. For many Mages a Trick is the only option for a spell theyll keep in their
pocket. The dicepool for a Trick is Attribute + Skill.
A Service is a Mage asking the Patron to cast a spell on their behalf. The biggest disadvantage is that
you cant ask for a Service without being in your Patrons presence, that means no Services in the middle
of combat or inltration. Generally assume a Mage resting at home can get set up and negotiating for a
Service in fteen minuets. The Dicepool is Debt with any modiers from the Deal itself capped at Debt
+ three times the Patrons rank.
The nal option is improvised magic using a Claim, this is described in more detail below but it is
worth mentioning that improvised spells can be used as an instant action.
Step four: Crunchy mechanics
There are few mechanical considerations that eect how hard it is to use a spell rather than the price.
The harder a spell is to use the more successes it requires. For example a spell listed as +2 successes
will succeed if three successes are rolled and achive an Exceptional Success at seven successes. Simply
put deduct 2 from the successes rolled.
The range the spell functions at
Touch: Reduce the required successes by one (minimum of +0).
Within 20 feet: No change.
Line of sight (dose not include magical or technologically extended sight): +2 successes
Sympathetic with part of the targets body: +5 successes
Sympathetic with only the targets name: +10 successes
The range the spell functions at for spells that arnt tied to a single target. Dont bother calculating
triangles to gure out the correct distance. If its within the distance horizontally and within the distance
vertically then its in range.
Touch: Reduce the required successes by one if you have increased the required successes within
this section; otherwise add +1 to the roll.
5 feet: + 1 success
10 feet: + 2 success
20 feet: + 3 success
40 feet: + 4 success
etc.
How long will the spell last. Some spells do their su in an instant and then theyre over, healing or
causing damage are an example. Most manipulation also qualies as would a causing a penalty that only
lasts for one roll. These spells are exempt from this next section.
Meanwhile spells with a lasting eect become more dicult the longer they are indended to endure.
One scene: No change.
One day: +4 successes.
One week: +9 success.
One month: + 16 successes.
One year: + 25 successes.
Even longer: Every additional year is the next square number.
36

Step ve: Action Type

This is a choice, if the player believes they are unlikely to achive the required successes in a single roll
they can use an extended roll instead. One dot magic takes ten minuets per roll, two dots requires half
an hour per roll and at three dots its a full hour for each roll.
Sometimes, with Storyteller permission, a Trick can be a reexive action. These Tricks are reserved
for improving the ecency of another action done that turn. For example a wind mage might reexively
summon a helpful wind at the start of her turn and then use the remainder of her turn on a magically
enhanced jump. Combat Tricks that make a Mage better at what they do should not be reexive: A
Trick to make a gun do more damage should be an instant action, a Trick to make a gun do a dierent
damage type may qualify.
Step six: Finishing touches
This step is equal in importance to all the previous. Until now weve been talking about how to make a
Trick work, from here on its why its worth making a Trick work. Making it interesting, making it fun.
Firslty, small tweaks which dont have a big mechanical eect. Of course you can do them! For
example, way back in Protect oneself from Subjectsyou saw the mechanics for an all or nothing defence.
The defender plays the Trick and on their turn the attacker rolls to overcome it. What happens if you
want your Mage to react in that split second when he sees an opponent conjuring up a reball? Declare
that your Mage is going on the defensive and will watch that character for a spell - this uses up her
turn just like an instant action. Then when the other Mage tries for a reball cast your counterspell
reexively. It doesnt even matter if you have your next turn before the counterspell triggers, take an
action as normal and justify how you still manage to pull of a counterspell with your narration. Its the
same mechanics but the avour is dierent, and avour is important.
Secondly situational modiers. Do not forget the situational modiers, these are what really gives your
individal Mages their own avour. Apply situational modiers liberally and to everything. Mundane
items as a focus, check. Places of power: Use them. Auspicious timings, throw it in. Compleatly
unrelated things that should be useful: Go for it!
The magic system in Mage: the Indebted is one unied system for every type of magic. Mechanically
there is no real dierence between runesmiths and witches. This is an advantage in that the sysetm can
accomodate any form of magic, just so long as its based around bargens for power. Its also a disadvantage in that its up to you: The Storyteller and the players to make a runesmith feel like a runesmith
and a witch feel like a witch rather than some drab generic mage. Situational modiers are a potent
tool to do just that. Here are worked examples showing how three dierent Mages might get dierent
situational modifers to a healing spell. In turn you will see a christian themed mage, a modern medicine
themed mage and a nature mage.
Situational modifers for a healing prayer: Performed in the presence of a Cross +1. Performed in a
church or holy site +2. The congragation joins the Mage in prayer +4. The Pope personally leads a
large group in prayer for the wounded: An automatic exceptional success.
Situational modiers for magical medicine: A sterile room to work +1. A rst aid kit +1. Medical
textbooks (or internet access) +1. A detailed and accurate clinical diagnosis +1. Performed in a well
stocked operating theater +2. Access to a medical laboritory +2. Helpful suggestions from other doctors
+3.
Situational modiers for nature magic: Natural herbs and remedies +1. Fresh spring water +1. Performed in the wilderness +1. Performed in a place of power +2. Performed under the full moon +2.
Universal Tricks
Some Tricks are truly universal, the Price of a Trick that anyone can use is beyond extortion and yet
theyre out in the world. Theories y as to why this is, were these tricks somehow stolen from the Patrons
like Prometheuss re? The greatest mages atop their Pyramids who know about Magics desire to enter
the world theorise that these Tricks are a the remains of a Patron impatient to gain ingress and now live
on only as a Trick thats truly part of our reality. Some even theorise that maybe someone actually did
37

pay the Price. Whatever the reason a universal Trick can be learnt for nothing more than the experience
cost, if you can nd instructions or a teacher. If a universal trick doesnt incur Decit to use then anyone
can learn it, even someone without any Debt. Many Mages got their start with a single universal Trick
that showed the existence of magic and set them on the path to hunt for more.
Using what you Claimed
A Mage who has access to a Claim is a powerful force indeed, they are able to improvise spells at
will. Mechanically this works exactly like creating a Deal for a Service except that all payment must be
upfront. Above the price included there is a Decit accrued equal to the dot rank of the Trick. To use
a Claim roll Debt with any modiers from the terms of the Deal.
While the added exibility of casting improvised spells on the spot isnt to be ignored the real benet
of having a Stake is that you can create your own Tricks. The Mage designs a Trick using the rules for
a Deal and it has to balance without any upfront payments but the Mage doesnt add anything to the
Price for duration or giving access to extra people, the terms agreed on the Claim itself transfer over free
of charge. Then you must make an extended roll to create the Trick: Intelligence + Occult, the target
is the Tricks rank times ve. Each roll is one day of work. Once the needed successes are accumulated
sacrice one dot of Willpower and the new Trick is yours.
If a Claim is shared among a family or a Club then any Trick created from that Claim can be taught
for its experience cost. A Club with long term access to a Claim could have a whole Library lled of
Tricks, if they were willing to pool their resources. In most Clubs members jealously guard their Tricks
and demand a Price of their own to teach other members.
Breaking your Word
What happens if you agree to pay in instalments and you cant keep your word? Well actually not that
much happens, in fact the Patrons are delighted to see you slipping. The reason is simple, if you fail to
pay you simply owe what you couldnt oer plus a little extra, three times as much to be precise. This
is measured from the specic clause you broke, if a deal included both a Taboo and a Show and you
break your Taboo you owe the value of your Taboo multiplied by three. When calculating dont include
multiplies for extra duration, but remember that if you agreed to perform a Show every day its possible
to break your word every single day.
For example Alvin agreed to ritually burn a treasured object(+2) every day for a week. On the sixth
day his car broke down far away from anything he valued and he broke the deal, he now has an extra six
points of Decit to his name and if he doesnt get home soon hell break it again tomorrow for another
six points of Decit.
If a Mage wants to end a Deal entirely there are ways out of that too. You must buy your freedom,
take the value of every payment in instalments you make for a deal, Its all or nothing sadly, and multiply
by three. That is the penalty to for to Deal for your freedom.
For example Zoe agreed to sacrice a treasured memory(+2) every day for a week(x2) giving a total of
+4. She also agreed to place owers on her Patrons gravestone(+2) every day for a month(x2.5) giving
a total of +5. One week later Zoe discovers to her horror that she is going to be in another country for
the rest of the month. This means shell be accruing six points of Decit per day, there is no option but
to end the deal early.
Since Zoe has already nished payments on her memories she will only be charged for the incomplete
task of placing owers, that was valued at +5. To leave her bargain early Zoe will have to make a deal
with a price of -15.
The Observer Eect
Patrons dont want Magic to become public knowledge, if magic was common it would be studied,
explained, it would be ordinary! There would be no air of mystery, it would lack a certain je ne sais quoi,
it wouldnt be Magic. Any attempt to cast magic in front of witnesses suers a penalty depending on
who sees the eects and how they will react. A Mage who disguises their magic as a plausible mundane
phenomena suers no penalty.
The observers will be lled by a sense of awe at what they saw: +1
38

 The observers will be disinterested or refuse to accept what they saw: +0

The observers are in the game (Rubes and Mages): +0
The observers will try to understand or explain what happened for a short while then lose interest:
-2
The observers will become dedicated to trying to explain what they saw: -4
If the observers have useful skills for explaining what they just saw increase the penalty by 1. Scientists
usually qualify. Journalists, tv cameras or even a mobile phone and youtube automatically increase the
penalty to -5.
Note that this penalty is to the roll and as such it is applied after the Debt + 3 cap on Services and
improvised magic through Claims.
Examples of a Deal
Zoltan the Dark Magician wishes to curse his rival. His Patron has a Claim over electricity at one dot
and his rival is a computer programmer by trade so Zoltan wishes to curse him to attract constant static
electrical shocks. Since this covers almost every use of the Computers skill Zoltan will have to pay to
decrease a skill. He chooses to pay for a two dot Deduction which comes to (-9). Zoltan wants it to last
for a good while and chooses it will last for a year(-12). To guide the spell to its target Zoltan presents
a lock of hair hes acquired (-5). This comes to a total of (-26)
As a rank two mage Zoltan can bargain with his Patron, a being as dark as himself. Not wishing
to get himself tied down he convinces his patron to accept a human sacrice as payment (+25) and to
sweeten the deal hell order his apprentice to spill a little blood: one point of lethal (+4). The nal roll
is Debt + 3 to curse his target for a year.
Good King Richards lands are suering from drought and he fears starvation. On his orders his trusty
knights seek the Wizard Merlin. Fortunately Merlin is a powerful wizard who can control the rain,
unfortunately without a cloud in the sky it will take a three dot Trick: Creating Subjects from nothing.
Merlin isnt particularly interested in the weather but hes smart enough not to oend the king so he
creates the following deal:
Its a three dot trick (-15), and rather narrow: it will only create moderate rain (+3). The Trick
lasts for a Year (-40), it can only be used by one person (-0) and nally the Trick will be embedded into
a physical object(+2): an unimpressive sack cloth that contains the rain: opening the sack will cause
it to rain. Finally because he sees a golden opportunity Merlin agrees he will also pay o 50 points of
Decit (-100). This comes to a total of -150!
Merlin explains to the knights that a powerful dragon has stolen the rain and hidden it in a sack
within its treasure hoard. Only by slaying the dragon can famine be averted. Slaying a dragon is a truly
herculean task (+50) leaving the -100 for his Decit, to pay for that Merlin agrees four human sacrices
to his Patron. As he justies to himself: Im not killing anyone, they are going to ght a Dragon. In the
end a regiment of the kings soldiers does kill the Dragon and they nd the bag of rain in its lair exactly
where Merlin hid it. Over a dozen good soldiers died in the ght providing the agreed human sacrice
and the famine was prevented.

Living with a Curse

Sometimes things dont go according to plan and a Mage ends up with more Decit than their Debt
allows. When this happens they have a week to correct this imbalance, either by going into a greater
Debt or paying o Decit, if the fail before the timer runs out they suer a Curse. A curse-free Mage will
suer a level one curse, then an additional curse one level greater each time, similarly removing curses
must be done in reverse order.
A level one curse is a relatively minor thing, a dot in an Attribute or two to three dots in a skill.
A level two curse has the same penalties as a level one curse but they also include a foe, perhaps dogs
will become hostile to the mage or maybe they cant walk down the bad end of town without attracting
aggressive lowlifes.
39

At level three a curse also includes a bane. At its simplest a bane is a single thing that will cause the
Mage Aggravated damage but more exotic banes are quite common. Emergence may Curse someone
with a vulnerability to computer viruses causing infected computers to spread a disease to the mage.
The North Wind might curse someone to be blown about like a leaf if theyre outdoors in the wind.
A level four curse is the end. The Patron drags the Mage out of the world to some unknown fate, even
the most curious of Mages cherishes their ignorance over what happens to a Mage on the other side.
One thing about Curses is that a Patron will never break a Deal with one. If you brought a favour that
boosts your Occult skill then no Curse will aect Occult, Patrons simply will not break an agreement.

Witch's Marks
Whenever a Mage gets a curse they also get a Witchs Mark. A Witchs Mark is a physical blemish about
the size of fty pence coin that will brand the Mage for life, it cannot be removed. Even amputation
will just cause the mark to reappear elsewhere.
The eects of a Witchs Mark are minor but persistent, they get -1 to every Deal per Witchs Mark
they possess and every three marks gives a -1 to using Tricks. Other Mages can also recognise a Witchs
Mark. Its Wits + Occult - 5. Marks can be hidden from other humans with clothing, bandages or even
make up.

40

...As Robert left, and I started to poke at the remains of my salad, a woman asked Would you really,
if you could?
I looked at the woman. Something seemed o about her besides the obvious fact that she was
listening in to my conversation but my attention was still on my problem. Would I really what?
Would you really be willing take such a large loan to start your nightclub? She asked. Alarm bells
should have been going o in my head, since the amount of money Id need hadnt been mentioned, but
as I said, I was distracted by the other problem.
Maybe. Whats it to you?
I think I could help you.She said.
Not unless you can also guarantee that nobody else bids higher on the property, and believe me, this
location is going to be a hot item when it comes up for lease.I was still trying to think whether I could
aord to fail to make the bid.
That can be arranged, as well, for a suitable price...And it was at this point that those alarm bells
I mentioned went o loudly in my head for me to hear above the problems of nance...

41

Chapter 5: Behind the Curtain

Rubes
Magic is nice, innite power in the palm of my hand. Pity its so expensive, wouldnt it be lovely if
someone else could take care of paying and leave you with the power? Well yes you can do it, in fact
any Payment agreed on a Deal can be paid by anyone, just name who pays what when constructing the
Deal. There is a catch, there is always a catch, whoever you agreed is paying if they go back on their
word or just make a mess of things its you who suers the consequences. They only suer what you can
personally arrange.
If you want a quick x or a safer option you need Rubes.

Creating a Rube
Shake my hand.
Come on boys.
Wont you shake the poor sinners hand?
Dr. Facilier
Creating a Rube is simple, the Mage makes a Deal with a regular human. Someone without any Debt.
Mechanically the Rube is buying a Favour or a Service, including extra Price for duration and extending
it to other people. Though a Rube can pay with any of the options a Mage can its in the Mages interest
for a Rube to pay with Decit: Every point of Decit the Rube incurs is deducted from the Mages
Decit.
Next up the Mage has to forll his side of the agreement. This doesnt have to be done with Magic
(but a mundane solution does not allow Services from outside the Patrons Claims) and a new Rube
is created. A Mage doesnt have to warn the Rube of whats really happening but the Magic hovering
around ready to attach to the new Rube always tips them o. If the Mage chose the right mark theyll
just ignore the warnings.
There are a couple of unique rules on Deals involving Rubes: Firstly they dont have any penalty for
not having a Patron, secondly a Mage can use creating Rubes as a Show in their own Deals. When they
do so this is considered a modest task (+5) even though in terms of diculty it should be considered
trivial (+2). Finally Rubes cannot sell more than 10 points of Decit, if they do manage to acquire an
11th point of Decit they suer a fourth level Curse.
Example: Harry goes to his local pub and sees John trying to drink up some courage, a golden opportunity. Harry constructs the following Deal that he will trick John into making: A second dot in Presence
(-6) that lasts the rest of the day (-0) for a minor show (+2), a single pucnh, and four points of Decit
(+4). Harry then takes a moment to consult with his Patron on a second deal: Johns Presence (-6) for
two points of Bashing Damage (+2) and a new Rube (+5).
John, says Harry. What you need is to feed your inner Man. Punch me, hard, right here!Harry
takes the punch suering two points of Bashing Damage, John gets his Presence and has four points of
Decit. Harry is also four points of Decit lighter.
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Being a Rube
Being a Rube is living on a timer, every Rube has 11 - Decit weeks to pay what they owe before they
suer a Curse. As with Mages these Curses go up the ranks every time the clock runs out, until the
forth Curse where the Rube is dragged out of this reality to some unknown fate.
Fortunately Rubes are not entirely lost as to their predicament. A Rube is counted as being in the
game which makes it much easier to nd a Patron, or perhaps much easier for the Patrons to speak to
the Rube. Maybe this is the reason Patrons pay such a high price for each new Rube.
If a Rube negotiates a Debt for themselves the timer, as well as any Curses immediately end. A
Rube can decide they dont want any part of the magical world and try to pay o their Decit instead,
when doing this they do have to pay extra because they dont have an Debt but the Patrons will make
an oer. Another option is to just extend the timer, its -1 for every two weaks up to their maximum
dened by Decit. Patrons are always happy to see a Rube giving them something for nothing.
Rubes can join Clubs. This grants them access to the Clubs Tricks, which they purchase with
experience as normal. If a Rube pays o their Decit then these tricks go dormant until they regain the
Rube status. Few Clubs see any need to keep Rubes, a Mage working with one of the Clubs weakest
Patrons is usally just as eager to buy from experienced Mages with fewer risks however a Parlour has
only the one Patron and so to them its pretty much a choice between Rubes or equals.
Finally the moment someone becomes a Rube they qualify for the cheaper Unseen Sense merit which
can be invaluable in nding ones feet in the game, they also gain the use of universal tricks that incur
Decit if they can nd them. Its probably not a good idea to to take advantage of this.

Mage is a Rube is a Mage is a Rube

The rules for a Deal on Chapter Four can be used between two Mages. Rubes count as a Mage for the
rules in this Section unless stated otherwise. Two Mages can trade not only in Favours and Services like
a Patron but also trade around obligations theyve got to their various Patrons. Unlike simply saying
another person is paying then bribing them or tricking into performing the deed this is binding in a
Patrons eyes. If Alice trades a promised show to Bob, and Bob fails to deliver then the Patrons take
what theyre owed from Bob not Alice.
Unlike Patrons who are utterly inexible with prices and when creating a Rube where Patrons are
pretty hands on, a Deal between two Mages has very low involvement in Patrons. The Mages are
unaected by the standard list of Prices (When Dealing with NPCs it is recommended to stick close
to the Prices for simplicity) and can make a deal as lopsided as they want provided they can agree to
it. When they both agree each Mage incurs a single point of Decit, the Patrons cut. Deals between
Mages cant create new Tricks, Favours or similar. One Mage must give up something for the other to
benet, the exception is when one Mage has a Trick that theyre both technically entitled too such as a
Trick owned by the Club. In this case the teacher only needs to provide access to texts or tuition. If the
players are buying a Trick from a Mage then the Price they pay to the teacher can be used instead of
experience points otherwise why buy from anyone but a Patron?
Two Mages can naturally deal without the Patrons oversight but they dont benet from the insurance
provided by the Patrons. If Alice owes a Show and gives it to Bob without making a Patron stamped
Deal then in the eyes of the Patrons Alice, not Bob, is responsible. It is also possible to do Deals out of
order. Alice could make a Deal with Bob performing a fully dened show then shop around seeing what
Patrons are interested, she has until Bob nishes the show to nd a buyer.
Perhaps the most powerful use of this is the ability for Mages to trade the drawbaks Debt but keep
its benets. An Archmage could make ten deals each trading a point of Debt to another Mage (This
does require full Mages, not Rubes) giving him the power of Debt 10 but none of the drawbacks. Of
course other Mages wont want to be carrying around Debt without the benets so they might pay it
o at any time. Any Archmage who is planning this sort of scam is encouraged to have more than 10
suckers to give them a buer for when people start closing the dead weight Debts. This wont allow an
Debt higher than ten. A Mage with an Debt higher than 10 has no supernatural way of knowing when
one of his pawned o dots in Debt is lost.
The Patrons blessings for these Deals is what gives Pyramids their name. Some infamous Clubs are
essentially Pyramid scams with every level selling o what they consider to be cheep magical trinkets to

43

the level below at inated prices so they can aord to buy what the level above considers cheep magical
trinkets. Whether these Clubs go all the way down to Rubes or stop at low powered Mages vary. On the
one hand a Rube is almost entirely dependent on Mages to provide magic while even the Weakest Mage
has some opportunity to shop around, on the other hand the ease in which Rubes can loose everything
often leads to uncomfortable questions surrounding the Club. Parlours too have a rather derogatory
name, it refers both to parlour tricks insinuating that they dont have much magic but also too those
Mages who set themselves up as a tutor or Mage for hire to a group of Rubes they scam week after week
much like the popular image of a charlatan fortune teller whos clients arrive every week for a seance in
the Parlour.

Territories
Magic is trying to enter our Universe and sometimes it gets a foot in the door, these places are Territories.
Always hidden, usually unnoticed but for those who keep the eyes open and know the signs one can nd
places where the natural laws are just a little o.

Effects of Territories
Territories are ranked from one to three and have a single Patron whos Claims dene the eects of the
Territory. It takes a Greater Patron to create a second rank Territory and a Grand Patron for a third
rank Territory. If even greater Territories is possible, and it they would need to be for Magics goal of
entering the universe to be possible, then it would take more than one Patron to maintain. So far this
has not been seen on Earth.
Rank one:
At this level there are no practical eects, but certain objects or concepts covered by the Patrons claims
are just a little o. Just for a second a cat may give a surprisingly intelligent look. Potatoes may taste
just like normal and yet somehow the back of your mind is saying that they should taste a little dierent.
Even at this level characters with the Unseen Sense merit something can tell something is odd.
Otherwise if the characters know about Territories they can roll to realise the phenomena suggests
theyre in one: In the split second the cat gives the look they may roll Wits + Animal Ken to realise its
not acting right or use Intelligence + Science if they think analysing the potatoes is a good use of their
time. The roll is at -5.
Casting spells from this Patron get a +1 modier so long as both the Mage and the target are within
the Territory.
Rank two:
The odd phenomena become more frequent but the real change is that it that all rolls within the Patrons
primary Claim, or a large part of the Claim, receive a +1 bonus if you do it in a method that ts the
Patrons concepts and a -1 if you use a method thats particularly oensive to the Patron. The Fast
Shooting Gunslingers Territory may grant a +1 to pistols and a -1 to two handed guns. The Village
Wisewoman may grant a +1 to medicine rolls using herbal remedies and a -1 to modern pharmaceuticals.
The roll to discover the existence of a Territory from its Phenomena is at -3.
Casting spells from this Patron get a +3 modier so long as both the Mage and the target are within
the Territory.
Rank three:
When a Grand Patron puts everything they have in the creation of a Territory the results are profound:
Firstly the +1/-1 bonus and penalty increases to +2/-2 and applies to all the Grand Patrons two dot
Claims. In the Grand Patrons primary Claim techniques that go against its nature cease to function
entirely while people, often but not always, those who work within the Claim learn Tricks to replace
them. For example in The Fertile Fields Territory farming machinery and chemical fertilisers just wont

44

function. But somehow the farm owner learns a moonlight ritual to praise the spirit of the elds and
guarantee a good crop.
Phenomena within the Grand Patrons primary Claim are obvious and clearly unnatural but at the
same time small scale and low key, often hidden away from human eyes. In The Wolf in Sheeps Clothings
territory go to the abandoned barn where the feral dogs make their home and youll spot them cooking
and eating vegetables in clumsy attempt to mimic humans.
This is why even the Grand Patrons who have the option to create a Rank three territory rarely
do. Its too big, too dierent, and too noticeable. In Magics quest to enter our universe a rank three
territory is a bridge to far; the groundwork is not done and sooner or later, almost certainly sooner,
someone will spread the word and the Territories days are numbered.
Casting spells from this Patron get a +5 modier so long as both the Mage and the target are within
the Territory.

A World Hanging By a Thread:

The changes wrought by a Territory are mostly subtle and slip beneath notice, even at the third rank
the changes tend to be narrow in scope and the most obvious phenomena is hidden from human eyes.
But just because the changes are subtle doesnt mean theyre easy to maintain. A Territory is a
change to reality itself, it quite literally does not belong in this world and theres the catch. Even the
oldest and strongest Territory should not exist; on an existential level it has no inertia, go inside and
give a small push and you can send an entire reality ying back to whence it came.
Thats why no one creates a third rank territory in the middle of Paris, its not that the presence
of humans destroys Territories with subconscious psychic energy or our collective beliefs. Its that our
culture guarantees that if you show a territory to a group you can bet someone will take it apart, probably
without even realising what theyre doing.
Anchors:
On an existential level Territories dont have any natural inertia, but they do have a form of articial
inertia created by the Patron and given form as Anchors. Patrons may create one anchor for every Claim
they hold except Magic which will then provide a value of Anchorage equal to the dot rank of that Claim.
Each Anchor must be embedded into a part of our reality either as a physical thing, an Anchor from
the Claim of Water could be embedded into a lake, or something more conceptual. An anchor from the
Claim of Christianity might be embedded into a priests faith.
To remove a Territory destroying its anchors is enough, without them simple Brownian motion on
the level of reality itself is enough to send the Territory from this world within a few seconds.
It takes two points of Anchorage to maintain a rst rank Territory, seven points for a second rank
Territory and sixteen for a third rank Territory.
Creating Anchors
Creating an Anchor is not hard for a Patron, but it dose take a lot of power. Whats more unlike most
of what a Patron does that power must have originated in our universe to function as a glue between our
reality and the Patrons own. A Patrons power is not as simple as numbers but the following guidelines
can be used.
Every Deal generates one point of power per point of payment.
Every time a mage uses a Trick or Claim their patron gets the dot rank.
Every person with Decit generates one point of power per ten points of Decit every day, round
up.
It costs 500 points of power to create an Anchor, with help from this side this can be decreased to a
minimum of 250. To get this discount a Patron may request a Show, Sacrice or a combination of the
two thats thematically linked to the planned Anchor; double the value (including bonuses for repetition)
to get the discount. Mages need not realise there is anything special about this Price and it may show
up in any Deal.
45

These gures assume the Patron is unopposed, this is rarely the case. The techniques used to destroy
an existing anchor are just as eective at preventing its creation. The Claim of Oces is practically
impossible to turn into an Anchor because every morning workers up and down the country drain the
Magic by trudging through another day.
Creating The Territory
Creating a Territory is even harder than the Anchors allthough appearances suggest the opposite. Unlike
Anchors The power invested in a Territory does not need to come from here, and theres no special
advantage to getting help from Mages. Since the Patron does all the work themselves, often in a matter
of moments, it genrally gives the impression that a Territory just turns up once the Anchors are in place.
Patrons dont have to create or strengthen a Territory to the limit of their Anchors, having additional
Anchors beyond the requirement oers no special benit besides serving as a backup.
Destroying Anchors
Destroying an Anchor is easy enough if you know what it is. Anchors embedded into physical objects are
as vulnerable as their container. The aforementioned anchor from the Claim of Water could be destroyed
by draining the lake.
Conceptual Anchors require a bit more thought but are ultimately just as venerable, the previously
mentioned Anchor held in a priests faith would be destroyed if the priest ever stopped believing. However
just killing the priest wont do it. The Anchor is embedded in his faith not his esh and since on a
conceptual level murder wont destroy his faith it wont aect an Anchor either.
Sometimes an Anchor is removed from the Territory without being destroyed, the object in which it
was embedded is carried beyond the border or the concept becomes too abstract be aected, as would
happen if the priest was killed or left the territory, when this happens the Patron is free to, and must,
move the Anchor to a similar resting place: much to the regret of Patrons any concept to abstract to be
directly aected is too abstract to provide a sold foundation for a Territory.
There is a second way to destroy an Anchor, the brute force method. Every Anchor is partly based on
the Claim of Magic which means attacking Magic as a concept can destroy any Anchor. Find the Anchor
and solve any mysteries around it, make it ordinary, take the magic out of it and youve destroyed the
Anchor. In theory this could be opposed by a deliberate eort to make the Anchor more magical but in
practice Anchors dont belong in this reality and that gives the home eld advantage to those trying to
destroy it: assume that the only way to oppose a deliberate attempt to destroy an Anchor is to nd the
perpetrators and stop them carrying out their plan.
Mysteries
Territories are part of Magics plan to enter our reality, but having a stable link to our reality can serve
a second purpose: It makes it easy for a Patron to transport power home, some hope to cash in on this
potential by using their Anchors as Mysteries.
If we were to talk technically there is no actual dierence between a regular Anchor and a Mystery,
the only change is the circumstances an Anchor nds itself in. So long as a Mystery is in the public eye,
and those who think about it are left feeling the world is perhaps a little stranger, a little more Magical
than theyd realised they are in eect putting Magic into the Mystery: Magic which in turn feeds the
Patron.
Creating a Mystery is a high risk move on the part of the Patron, questions attract detectives both
professional and amateur. Should they dig up a believable explanation and present it to the public theyll
take out so much Magic that the Anchor is lost. Even if they dont nd a solution their attitude may
start to drain the Anchor, although unlike deliberate eorts to remove the magic a well known Mystery
can survive this.
Though a Mystery doesnt actually need the help of Mages they get the same discounts as other
Anchors to their creations and since they typically represent a keystone of a particular patrons strategy
any Mages who deal with the owner of a Mystery can typically expect to pay in Shows that enhance
the reputation of the Mystery or scare o those who threaten it.

46

Finally a Mystery becomes more ecient with a stronger Anchor, that is a higher dot ranking in the
Claim that created it, and when located in a stronger Territory, but a stronger Territory makes the risks
that much greater.

Backstage
Territories are not created out of whole cloth spun in our universe. Patrons reach across the void and
where they anchor to our universe you nd a Territory. But just outside our universe in the nearest
reaches of the void you can nd echos of our world. Theyre merely echos, things arnt as real and they
certianly arnt as solid but that just means theyre very easy to change. As a Patron reaches through
these echos to anchor into a Territory the path they take shapes itself into a reection of the Patron cast
upon an echo.

Backdoors
When Magic enters our reality it opens paths that lead back out. Entering Backstage requires nding
one of the Backdoors; there are three kinds of Backdoor:
Narrow Backdoors are tied to a specic place and time and require a key to open.
Backdoors are found at a specic place, either they require a key or theyre open to all at a specic
time.
Wide Backdoors are either open to all at a specic place or the key calls the door to you.
A rank one Territory contains one to three Narrow Backdoors. A rank two Territory contains one
to three Backdoors and three to nine Narrow Backdoors. A Rank three territory contains one to three
Wide Backdoors, three to nine Backdoors and nine to fourteen narrow Backdoors.

The Lay of the Land

A Backstage is usually linked to a Territory on earth and accessible through Backdoors within that
Territory. Earth is a good solid place for an anchor and this leads to a consistent stable Backstage. The
entire realm can be mechanically treated as a Territory two ranks higher than the Territory on Earth
Backstage or Backstages?
Backstage can refer to two dierent concepts: The reection of Earth itself untouched by any Patron
or the collection of hundereds of self contained pocket realms that are a single Patrons Territory. Each
pocket realm is called a Backstage.
Rank four Backstages
In a third rank territory a Grand Patrons primary claim sees a shift in natural laws, at the fourth rank
this spreads outwards and a similar eect is seen with Claims held at two dots. Phenomena is easily
seen and obviously unnatural while rank zero Patrons become fully solid. Though the backstage may
look entirely dierent from its counterpart on Earth at the deepest level the link remains, a mountain
range on Earth will still be mountainous in a forth rank Backstage.
Rank ve Backstages
At the true apex a backstage no longer has any resemblance to Earth at all. Here a Mage may visit
worlds that seem more like High Fantasy than anything back home. All Claims shift natural laws and
the rank zero patrons might become more numerous as a thriving ecosystem or small villages. Or they
might become more powerful and take form as mighty dragons or giants.

47

Anchors within Backstage

A Patron with a Territory on earth will have a strong enough presence in our reality to have its own
Backstage, an isolated pocket realm seperate from the vaster reection of Earth. For all the other
Patrons they must settle for anchoring their Claims in the Backstage reection of Earth and using that
as a staging point to advance their interests in the material realm. These Territories are not self contained
realms; near an Anchor the rules of Territories apply at the anchors level + two, but walk away and
the Territory decreases in rank creating isolated islands of magic within tracts of Backstage seemingly
identical to Earth.
Anchors can be destroyed within Backstage, doing so sends the Patron right back to its own reality;
it will be many years before it can return. Clubs have considered targeting their rivals like this but other
Pyramids are usually protected against this. Their Patron has Anchors on Earth well guarded by Mages.
Principles and especially Parlours whove picked a ght with a Pyramid have lost their Patrons this way.
Subordinates and Backstage
Whenever a Patron is subordinate to a higher ranked Patron, including all a Clubs lesser Patrons, they
will not have a Backstage of their own but share their Superiors.
Echos of the real world
Backstage is often lled with Echos reecting Earth. The rules for these Echos are simple; theyre an
exact replica of Earth: buildings, trees, people, the works. They are however ethereal and insubstantial
which makes it hard to read or hear anything to the disappointment of would be spies.
Echos are easy enough to damage, double the successes on any attack roll but this, and just about
any other attempt to interact with echos, is pointless. After a few seconds theyll snap back to a correct
representation of Earth as the damaged echo is replaced with a fresh one.
Backdoors within Backstage
You can nd Backdoors within Territories Backstage, they function like any other Backdoors and they
either lead back to Earth or to other Backstages. Those leading to another Backstage link two related
concepts like water and rivers but their presence is unpredictable.
There is another way to travel between Backstages but it only functions between Territories: A three
dot Trick of Magic (completely transform Subjects into related phenomena) can transform part of a
Backstage into something symbolic of a dierent, but related concept. At which pint it and the mages
standing within it will instantly be transported. So if theres no Backdoor linking water and rivers, this
trick makes a good replacement.

Hidden fun stuff

Backstages are a nice place to play tourist, but what makes Mages leave the real world to rummage
around behind the scenes? What do they nd in their games of espionage and on those days where they
go to war what are the spoils?
Discounts
One of the disadvantages of magic being so accessible backstage is that its easy for Mages to come along
and start siphoning. Patrons are quite fond of Pyramids who siphon large amounts of power and oer
discounts as a reward, but not just any victim will do: they have to have enough power to be worth the
eort. That means other Grand Patrons, successful Grand Patrons.
You guessed it; you have to go steal from other Pyramids.
Setting up a siphon is a three dot Trick of Magic (transforming that Patrons power into your Patrons
power) performed anywhere within a Grand Patrons personal Backstage. It takes an Attribute + Skill
roll and around three hours. Which Attribute and skill varies, The Emergent as always would build
some pseudoscientic device (Dexterity + Crafts) while Crossroads would perform some magical ritual
(Intelligence + Occult).

48

A successful siphon grants a 1% discount to all Deals which can stack to a maximum of 5% but a
successful siphon against your Patron reduces your discount to a minimum of a 5% increase in price.
Tricks for the Club
Theyre rare but rather than buying magic for a Club sometimes you can just nd it backstage. Dusty
tomes or blasphemous books bound in replicated human esh and blood (at least probably replicated,
there arent any actual humans backstage) are always popular but Tricks can also be found in engraved
walls, blackened lightning struck trees with carved with rry runes and other unique shapes.
Finding a Trick is hard, rstly theyre rare and theyre snapped up quickly secondly theyre hard to
nd with a scry. You can search for them, its actually just a one dot Trick of Magic but when scrying
Tricks dont look much dierent from the Claim they belong to and the Claim is woven through an entire
Backstage.
Normally mages dont get much more than theres a Trick in the Claim of forests. Then its trekking
through all the various Backstage Territories that are partly based on forests, dealing with environmental
hazards and most of all rival Clubs after the same Trick.
If you actually do nd it then making it your own is easy. A quick three dot spell to transform a
Trick no one owns into a Trick my club owns and youre done. Just drag it home or if its too big copy
or photograph the text to study at your leisure. A Trick found backstage lasts around ve to ten years
before the Club looses access.
Stealing a Patrons Claim
Now a Mage cant take a Claim from a Patron, humans just dont have the magical power to pull o
a stunt like that. But with a Mages help it becomes possible for a Grand Patron to defeat and steal
another Grand Patrons Claim.
This is hardly simple. There are two requirements both challenging. The rst is some conceptual
weapon that can injure the patron otherwise breach its defences. Something that strikes at the very
heart of the Patrons primary Claim and is blazing with Magic.
A Patron whos Primary Claim is the Hippocratic Oath just might be venerable to a scalpel used by
a licensed practicing doctor to kill patients but only if they were sacriced as an act of black magic. The
Once and Future King, a Patron that might be King Arthur, could possibly be vulnerable to the sword
that killed the human king Arthur. Good luck nding that.
The two most common ways to nd a weapon is to sit down and make a huge list of things that feel
like they should be eective then test them one by one with a Trick. If youre lucky one of them might
actually be useful. The other is to be tipped of by your Patron, which probably means other people were
tipped o by their Patron.
Once you have the weapon you need to nd out how to use it. The scalpel could just by another
doctor to commit cold blooded murder within The Hippocratic Oaths Backstage, or you could just use
it to transfer some mild blood born disease. Both would break the Hippocratic Oath. Using that sword
against The Once and Future King is harder, hed probably have a castle in his Backstage and walls
make it easier: they symbolise defence so simply cutting open the castle wall with a sword (youll probably need to weaken it rst) should be enough. What happens next is up to you, here are two possiblities.

Its over, you won

If you think about it in terms of the themes of Mage: the Indebted performing the ritual is a pretty
satisfying conclusion. Youve outwitted rivals, cheated or stole to get whatever artefact is a Patrons one
true weakness and then used every trick you had to steal into a rival Clubs home turf and perform a
powerful magic ritual under their noses. If the game went well youve met all sort of weird people on the
way to the equally bizarre prize.
The storyteller should throw out some awesome climatic visuals as the players Patron moves in
defeats its weakened rival. If this is the end of a chapter rather than the entire story then its time
to hand out the prizes to everyone before the next act: Your Grand Patron gets a new Claim while
the defeated Patron looses a Claim. Though the Mages have no control on which Claim becomes the

49

spoils theres no reason not to involve the players in this decision. Unsuprisingly this new Claim, and
the victims loss of a Claim last ve to ten years.
The big action nale
Even though Mage: the Indebted is not primarily an action game Pyramid level play is partly an excuse
for Mages to show o their more awesome powers and put a two sted spin on the themes. Hopefully
the air of dark mystery and wonder is as strong as ever, weird backstage and Mages even more crazy,
obsessed and powerful than elsewhere. The themes of Power and a Price should still exist with a good
chance that players are selling as much as buying. Yet at the same time its an opportunity to throw in
a bit more high adventure, Backstage is a place where two archmages can throw down without anyone
calling the cops, where a long quest thwart with peril is as valid a way to get power than hanging out in
seedy pubs looking for Rubes. For the climax why not go all inwith an action packed battle?
If you take this option weakening the defences doesnt let your patron win, its just the start of the
ght. The Backstage ripples and morphs as the two Patrons battle. Let us imagine The Emergent
ghting The Once and Future King. The stone castle walls will transform into plastic dotted with
network cables and circuitry only to return to stone. Solid objects may icker between solid and a
oating webpage about that object.
In short things get weird and usually dangerous. And while the two Patrons ght its up to the
attacking Mages to use this window of opportunity and seize their victims Anchors to ensure victory. If
the Ancors are Backstage that makes things simple but if the Patron has territories youd need a combined
assault on their Backstage and their earthbound territories, or an assault on Earth that travels through
their Backstage. This is the oppotunity to cut loose and be awesome, have fun!
Stealing a Patron
The previous section is what happens when two Grand Patrons face o. What happens if only one side
is a Grand Patron (which requires a Greater Patron or a Patron who is subordinate to no one, shared
Backstages remember) Well the ght is not much dierent aside from probably being more one-sided the
change is what happens afterwards.
The defeated Patron becomes considered aliated with your Club with all the mechanical benets
that implies. Finally for this Patron alone you get a free +20 to your deals which resets every week.
This cannot be used to pay o Decit.
As always this lasts ve to ten years.

Crossroads
Two roads, no more than dirt tracks, meet in the center of the image. There is a single signpost to mark
the crossroads. Leaning casually against the signpost is a striking man in a zuit suit and wide brimmed
hat. He icks a coin into the air and a snakes tongue darts between a huge grin. On another side of the
sign post is the most average man in pressed respectable clothing. The two make a point of not noticing
eachother
Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
That depends a good deal on where you want to get to
Alice and the Cheshire Cat
Think about what a crossroad is, not two paths paved with brick or tarmac, but a real crossroad. A
major port or one of the cities along the silk road. Travellers from everywhere, heading to everywhere
cross paths in a city that welcomes and thrives on foreign visitors.
Patrons are foreign visitors too. Sometimes a place gets a reputation for being a way in, a door open
to all; whether its the docks in a trading port, a forgotten gate known to be favoured by thieves, the
diner at a lonely junction or just the border between the village and the jungle where any wild beast
might walk in. This last one is part of the reason Mages have a reputation for living away from other
people, the rest of the reason is that any culture where Mages are publicly known usually knows better
than to trust them.
50

When concept of this place becomes tied to the concepts of entrance and hospitality, well from a
Patrons perspective thats as good as a door cast in black iron and eldrich re, better even. No ones
ever reported a blasphemous black iron gateway but Crossroads are pretty well known. Its not as simple
as nding the Crossroads and walking right into reality, the Crossroads might be welcoming to a Patron
but the rest of reality isnt. Its just a tiny gap where the most slender trickle of Magic may enter the
world, all it takes is a Mage to call it in to win his Patrons favour.
Crossroads make favoured spots for Territories.

Antagonists
Being a Mage is not safe. Its not that being a Mage suddenly exposes you to ancient conspiracies or
extradimensional horrors out for your blood. Its all about attitude, to a Mage theres a sea of innite
power just; reach out and drink your ll. And we all know the saying about power, magic wont warp
your esh or rend your soul but power is addictive. Not all Mages have a monkey on their back but those
who do have a certain attitude: they want power and they can see a way to get it. No ones surprised
when they take bad risks. Or when they make enemies.

The Law
If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it.
Julius Caesar
Magic has been around for almost a long as people have and not just Mages seek it. Immortality, innite
riches, revenge, Magic promises so much. So how come no ones discovered it, where are the documented
events with no other explanation? Hasnt any Mage sprouted a pair of wings only to be caught by
an unexpected camera? What about the other cultures? Plenty of cultures give the Mage a position
of respect and publicly acknowledge their powers, what stops them simply showing the disbelieving
explorers?
The fact is that despite the best eorts of the Patrons secrets on a worldwide scale just dont work.
Theres too many Mages, no formal pacts of secrecy or ocial agents protecting a grand masquerade.
The Illuminati isnt trying to cover up magic for their nefarious ends, neither is the government, scientists
arent trying to disprove it to protect materialistic world views (The earliest scientists started out trying
to discover magic and only rejected itlater following the evidence. In Mage: The Indebted dierent
evidence probably led to dierent conclusions). Magic isnt secret, the facts are out there. Still the
average person is unlikely to ever come across magic, at least not magic which isnt cleverly disguised as
mundane, the Patrons are good enough to ensure at least that. For most people the facts are buried in a
metaphorical haystack of old wives tales, crystal wavers, new age quantum nonsense and Harry Potter.
But when the chips are down and lives are at stake ocial institutions have long memories. They
take down les that they were more comfortable ignoring, blow o the dust and read the instructions:
what to do, what not to do and who to call.
Police
Why does nobody ever just go to the police?
Unnamed character, Doctor Who, Blink
A lot of Mages like to think that magic somehow elevates them above the rest of humanity, but unless
they emigrate out of reality or into the wilderness to survive with just their magic or better yet bushcraft
theyre still very much a part of society. Human sacrice, con artistry, well we have laws about that.
The average police ocer is unlikely to have encountered magic and even more unlikely to know what
to do when magic is involved in a case but the police force; it remembers, the procedures are still on le.
Often to the surprise of the ocers who dig it up. When they do get a magical crime police ocers can
demonstrate just as much professionalism and skill as they do in regular cases. Sometimes all it takes
is a cool headed authority gure to read the le and explain that when the deer spirit haunting some
unfortunate Rube says they can settle the Decit if she agrees to renounce meet for a month then you
can take it at its word and the nightmare is over.
51

And when it doesnt the case gets passed to a certain someone. Who it is varies between forces,
sometimes an ocer has had a few magical cases in a long career perhaps even a Trick or two and the
case quietly ends up on their desk. More likely is that no ones actually seen magic before so it goes to
an ocer with a knack for the odd cases or the station maverick whos exibility can only be an asset
in uncharted waters. Really heinous magical crimes usually have a few ocers with previous magical
experience, often called from around the country to assist.
Since theres rarely enough magical crime for even a single full time post the unocial magical
enforcement ocer will come from a more mundane police job. Something like vice, fraud or detective.
Somewhere that hones their wits and people skills because of something a lot of Mages try very very
hard to pretend isnt true. At the end of the day theyre still people. They think like people, they act
like people, they have credit cards, bills and a social security number. In the end its usually not as
dierent from a regular case as one would expect.
Magical Enforcement Ocer
Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 3, Resolve 3, Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3, Presence 2, Manipulation 2, Composure 2.
Skills: Academics 2 (Criminology), Computers 1, Investigation 3 (Witnesses), Medicine 1, Occult 1,
Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Drive 2, Weaponry 2 (Truncheon), Empathy 3 (Spotting Subterfuge), Streetwise 3,
Subterfuge 2, Persuasion 2, Intimidate 2.
Merits:Contacts 2 (Mages, Criminal), Status 2 (Police), Intuition 1, Unseen Sense 3 (Magic).
Willpower: 5
Morality: 7
Virtue: Justice
Vice: Wrath
Initiative: 4
Speed: 9
Consultants
Kitten, I think what Im saying, is that sometimes, shit happens, someone has to deal with it,
and who ya gonna call?
Peter Venkman
Sometimes the police need extra help: The Mage is good or just lucky, or perhaps the crime was
particularly heinous and no ones taking chances. Maybe the police are feeling understandably nervous
about this whole magic thing, so they call in consultants. Thats consultants not The Consultants, forget
any ideas of top secret organisations with sharp suits and black sunglasses were actually talking about
other Mages.
The police arent witch nders, a crime has been committed and wed hope theyre simply trying to
solve it. Hiring a trustworthy Mage, yes they do exist and you can run a background check on them
just like everyone else, makes sense. You get to bring their knowledge of Magic and Mage culture to the
investigation, they may also be able to aid the case with their magical abilities or at least counter the
suspects spells through the Claim of Magic.
What makes a Mage turn against their own? Well to start with to most Mages its not actually Their
own. Mages are hardly a homogeneous group and even individual Clubs can grow to sprawling extent
with numerous factions. Thats if they ever had loyalty, many are more like a university: A place to
learn not who you are. For some its as simple as a paycheck. Others help out of a sense of Justice: even
power hungry tricksters can be revolted by human sacrice or love-potion based rape.
Sometimes the Mage is even the one to report a crime; after all the most person likely to be watching
a Mage is other Mages. They see human sacrice or theyre targeted by another Mage and they dont
think theyd win in a magical battle so they call the police.
Magical Consultant
Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 4, Resolve 2, Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 1, Presence 2, Manipulation 3, Composure 2.
52

Skills: Academics 3 (Folklaw), Investigation 1, Occult 4 (Hermetic Magic), Athletics 1, Brawl 1, Drive
1, Survival 1 (Urban), Empathy 2, Streetwise 2, Subterfuge 4, Persuasion 3.
Merits: Allies 2 (Mages), Danger Sense 2, Intuition 1, Fleet of Foot 1, Unseen Sense 1 (Magic).
Willpower: 4
Morality: 6
Virtue: Prudence
Vice: Pride
Initiative: 5
Speed: 11
CO19 Specialist Firearms Ocers
When a Mage starts throwing reballs at police ocers, when a hostage absolutely has to be rescued
now while the silver knife is still being sharpened. Thats when they call CO19 ocers.
If a Mages idea of combat involves reballs and magic shields theyre probably dead. Theyre
outnumbered and against people with far more tactical and combat experience. Smart Mages dont play
fair, theyll twist houses into a maze to make M. C. Escher proud, theyll use tricks and illusions and
they wont let anyone take a shot.
Its not the rst time a squad was taken down this way, it probably wont be the last. But the
after action reports are on le. If theyve had time to prepare and no ones screwed up theyll be
working alongside a team of consultants to counter any magical defences. Sometimes theyve even
trained alongside Mages, but practice runs are very rare and usually only happen after a mission gone
bad. By next time theyll probably have moved on to other posts.
CO19 Ocer
Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 4, Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, Presence 2, Manipulation 2, Composure 3.
Skills: Accademics 2 (Criminology), Computers 1, Medicine 1, Investigation 2, Athletics 3 Brawl 2,
Firearms 3 (submachine gun), Larceny 2 Weaponry 2, Stealth 3, Intimidation 4 (Shock and Awe),
Streetwise 2.
Merits: Status 3 (Police), Quick Draw, Fast Reexes 2, Disarm 2
Willpower: 7
Morality: 5
Virtue: Justice
Vice: Wrath
Initiative: 8
Speed: 11
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Aairs
Sometimes you get a Territory where it shouldnt be, sometimes a Patron makes a move where really, it
should have known better. Cars stop working or primroses hunger for blood and someone has to sort it
out. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Aairs drew the short straw. They maintain a
small oce near London Bridge, six agents and a general assistant to help with the administration and
the nance.
Theyre not understaed, even with false alarms six people is more than enough to deal with one
hundred times the Territory related problems they see. This attracts a certain sort of person, one whos
happy rather than board with lots of empty time at the oce; rumour has it one agent actually managed
to nish War and Peace. They are however very well trained, with all that free time sooner or later
someone does insist they do something related to the job and training is really all there is.
If they are called to a Territory, almost always a third rank since someone had to notice it, then all
that training pays o. They know the rules: What Anchors are, how to nd them, how to destroy them.
They know that Territories come in ranks, what happens at each rank and how many Anchors they can
expect to nd.
What they dont know is the local knowledge: local myths, those little spots o the path or the
history. Things Patrons just love to Anchor a claim too. They also dont know too much about Magic
53

apart from Territories, this isnt a problem; as government ocials who turned up because someone
actually asked for help a polite word is normally enough to get a local to help for a few days.
They also dont have a clue how to ght. Mages who try to take advantage of this quickly realise how
fast the law reacts when someone tries to attack a government ocial, it helps that for once the protocols
are well known and not in a dusty archive. Even opposing them can cause problems, theyre entitled to
call upon police support for obstruction or to arrest you for introducing extra-normal environments (yes
there is a law for that, it was introduced by King Richard III and remains enforceable).
Theyre some of the very few public servants employed full time to deal with magical issues and
theyre not otherworldly Men in Black. Theyre not smooth talking secret agents with a sharp suit, a
martini (shaken not stirred) and a licence to kill. Theyre not a top secret special forces operation with
black helicopters, a big budget and bigger guns. Theyre normal people with a job to do and then theyll
go back to the cosy oce for tea and crumpets.
DEFRA extra-normal environment agent
Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 2, Resolve 3, Strength 3, Dexterity 1, Stamina 2, Presence 2, Manipulation 3, Composure 2.
Skills: Academics 1 (History), Investigation 2, Occult 2 (Territories), Science 2 (Environmental) Athletics 1, Drive 1, Survival 2, Animal Ken 1, Empathy 2, Expression 2 (Carefully practised droning lectures)
Streetwise 2, Subterfuge 2, Persuasion 3, Socialise 3.
Merits: Allies 2 (Law Enforcement), Retainer 2 (Hired local help). Status 3 (Government)
Willpower: 5
Morality: 7
Virtue: Temperance
Vice: Sloth
Initiative: 6
Speed: 9

The Operatives
Picture: A Rube, so skinny that her bones are clearly visible stands in a corridor. Spiders are everywhere
and webs cover everything including the Rube. She has opened the door, on the other side are two Operatives a man and a woman who could be identical twins. They wear smart business clothes that looks
new despite being early 80s fashion. Both present their ID cards, the text is written atop a silhouette of
the Periodic Table of Elements.
Magic isnt the only force lurking in the dark corners of the Earth. Theres something else, something
measured, precise, polished. It exists, not hidden, yet beneath notice turning with clockwork precision.
It doesnt hate its opposite: The wild, untamed and unknowable forces of magic but it does oppose them.
With innite patience and precision it dispatches its Operatives, to seek out magic and, neutralise, the
problem.
Operatives are the walking antithesis of Mages, where Mages call shadows and veil secrets Operatives
drag the truth into the light. Where Mages twist and turn Operatives are direct. Where Mages are
fundamentally human Operatives are, well anyone who sees an Operative at work has ample evidence to
debate the point.
Though Operatives out outright inhuman in their dedication to the job they are usually not cruel
and though the job always comes rst they will protect people and are happy enough to let a Mage live
if she renounces magic.
Possible Origins
Operatives get their power from the rst Patron to become real: So these Italian Alchemists
formed a Principle, called themselves The Order of Reason or suchlike. Unlike other Mages they didnt
see magic in mysteries. They saw magic in understanding, now their Patron wanted in just like all the
others and the more they understood the closer it came. Only the closer it got the more it changed, by
the end it had changed so much that when it got here nothing was dierent. You wont see any other

54

Patrons making that mistake. So these Order people, theyre still around, their Patron is dead and their
magic is now part of our world. Thats why it looks so weird. And they dont like us Mages at all, I
heard them talking about deviationsand damage to realitybut I think they just dont want anyone
else to have power.
Operatives are Newtons Third Law incarnate:
You think you can break the rules with magic,
well you can. But not all of them, some are just too big even for magic. Like Newtons laws, he had
three rules and the third one says that every action has an equal but opposite reaction. What do you
mean how do I know? I learned it in school just like you should have. So anyway if magic is pushing on
our universe, trying to get in, these guys the Operatives are our universe pushing back. Why does our
universe look like a bunch of X-les rejects? Same reason the Patrons seem to care about humanity so
much, buggered if I know.
Depending on your chosen origin for the Operatives they may or may not be human at all. Here are
some extra rules to emphasise the Operatives otherness: Operatives do not have 10 again for social rolls,
this dose not aect Sapphire powers or intimidation. Operatives cannot use the Empathy skill to make a
genuine connection with others but may use it to for clinical analysis. For a Virtue or Vice an Operative
will have The Job. They forll their Virtuewhen they neutralise a signicant source of magic like a
Territory or a powerful Mage. They forll their Viceon a minor victory such as interrupting a powerful
Mages ritual or neutralising a lesser Mage.
New Advantage: Element
Operatives have a Supernatural Advantage, their Element. Like other supernatural advantages Element
is rated from one to ten and confers a selection of abilities to the Operatives. The more rened an
Operatives Element becomes more solid, harder to aect with magic and the greater purities of their
Compounds become available.
An Operative can telepathically communicate with other Operatives, the maximum range is 100 feet
per dot of Element, use the purer Element.
All Operatives seem to have an unnatural ability to know things; to represent this they get Intuition
equal to their Element. Operatives cannot buy Intuition with Experience. They also have an innate
sense for Magic: They can automatically detect any magic within 10 feet per point of Element, no
roll is required unless the magic is specically shielded from detection: In case Operatives roll Wits +
Composure + Element.
Compounds
If the purity of her Element denes how powerful an Operative is the Compounds she has mastered dene
what she can do with that power. Operatives have access to ve Compounds: Argon, Sapphire, Silicone,
Steel and Quartz each rated one through ve. An Operative starts with two dots in Compounds and gains
an extra free dot every time Element increases. Operatives cannot have more dots in any Compound
than Element.
Argon
As Argon is inert and unreactive the Operative too becomes untouched by Magic. All Tricks within
Element times Argon feet of the Operative take a penalty equal to the Operatives Argon. When trying
to cast magic at the Operative there is a second additional penalty:
Argon : Tricks cast on the Operative take a penalty equal to the Operatives Element + Argon.
Argon : Tricks are automatically reduced to a Chance Die. Turns take a penalty equal to the Operatives Element + Argon.
Argon : Tricks automatically fail. Turns are reduced to a Chance Die and Prestiges take a penalty
equal to the Operatives Element + Argon.
Argon : Tricks and Turns automatically fail. Prestiges are reduced to a Chance Die.
Argon : All magic targeting the Operative automatically fails.

55

An Operative with one dot in Argon can physically rip apart lasting magic including both Tricks and
Anchors. They must physically hold the enchanted object, if the magic aects a wide area the Operator
must be standing inside, if it aects a person that person must be willing or held in a grapple. Once
this is done the Agent rolls an extended Argon + Element. Once they have a number of successes equal
to the dicepool used to create the trick (or three times the Anchors rank) it is destroyed. There is
no Willpower cost for this ability and no physical tell although an Operative ripping apart something
invisible may get a few looks.
Sapphire
There have been many practical uses for sapphire besides jewellery but it is sapphire glass that reects
how an Operative sees the human mind. Strong yet transparent, through the power of Sapphire Operatives gain insight and ultimately control of the mind.
Sapphire : The Operative can tune in to a person, gaining a subconscious grasp of what makes them
tick. She spends a Willpower point and rolls Manipulation + Empathy + Sapphire. A success grants
9again on all social rolls while an Exceptional success gives 8again. If the Operatives uses this power on
someone who knows about it and realises it is being used upon them (which may require an Empathy
roll) they can Contest the roll with Composure + Supernatural Advantage or Protection. If the defender
wins the roll the Operative gets no advantage. If the defender gets an Exceptional Success the Operative
loses 10again as her target deliberately feeds false information. The Operative will not blink while using
this ability.
Sapphire : The Operative can grant a Willing person the ability to telepathically communicate with
other Operatives for a point of Willpower and a Intelligence + Empathy + Saphire roll. For a number
of turns equal to the Targets Willpower the Operatives pupils turn blue. Though a relatively simple
power the Operatives do not use this ability often.
Sapphire : The Operative can outright read minds. To use this power she pays a point of Willpower
and rolls Wits + Empathy + Sapphire vs Resolve + Supernatural advantage or Protection. A success
for the Operative allows her to hear the targets surface thoughts and automatically detect lies. While
reading minds the Operatives irises turn blue.
Sapphire : The Operative can inuence emotions. She pays a point of Willpower and rolls Manipulation + Persuasion + Sapphire vs Resolve + Composure. Up to Element targets may be aected
at once with the highest Resolve + Composure to defend. For a number of turns equal to the highest
Willpower aected the whites of the Operatives eyes turn blue.
Sapphire : The Operative can lightly touch every mind in a wide area. She rolls Composure +
Empathy + Sapphire. On a success she is aware of every intelligent mind within 10 times element feet
as well as their current emotional state. This costs two Willpower points. For the rest of the scene the
Operatives entire eyes will turn blue and emit a soft light.

Silicon
If any element denes the modern age it is silicon. Silicon from which all technology comes forth. The
Operatives mastery of silicon and through it technology is often taken as evidence that they somehow
belong to this reality and are more at home with its physical laws than among alien Magic.
Silicon : The Operative reaches out and snus out a technological a technological device of size three
or less although she may disable components of larger items. To do this she must pay a Willpower point
and roll Wits + Crafts + Silicon. The eects last for one turn per success. If the item is held use the
rules for touching in WoD Core. Using this power makes the hairs on the Operatives arm stand on end
as though they were charged with static electricity.

56

Silicon : The Operative can create lasting images although she is limited to at most simple repetitive
motions or sounds. This costs one Willpower and the requires a roll of Wits + Expression + Silicon.
Images created have a maximum size of Successes + Element and last one scene. If this is not sucient
the Operative may roll again on her next turn without needing to spend additional Willpower. While
creating an image light and shadow seem to fall unnaturally upon the Operative.
Silicon : The operative gains the ability to remotely control technology in a range of twice Element
+ Silicon. Spending one Willpower she rolls Wits + Element + Silicon to gain access. On a single
success she gains control of the device and may use Attribute + Skill + Silicon rolls to make it perform
its normal function. Any passwords or security features are automatically bypassed. Should someone
else be trying to use the device they may oppose the Operative with Attribute + Skill. So long as she is
using this power the Operative smells faintly of ozone.
Silicon : The Operative can improve any technological device up to a limit of twice its natural
equipment bonus or damage rating or increasing its rating by Element. Whichever is lower. To do this
she spends two Willpower and rolls an extended Dexterity + Crafts + Silicon. The target successes is
twice the rating increase and the results last for a day. After using this power the Operatives ngernails
become pure silicon for the rest of the scene.
Silicon : The Operative can create technology from raw parts in an instant, limited only by what
resources are in the immediate environment. To do this she spends two willpower and rolls Dexterity
+ Crafts + Silicon. It takes one success per size point created with an upper limit of Size 5. If
the Operative does not get the required successes she may roll again the next turn without spending
additional Willpower. After using this power the Operatives eyes become pure Silicone for the rest of
the scene.
Steel
For years Steel forged weapons and armour. Operatives too can draw the power of steel into themselves
becoming living weapons or walking fortresses immune to anything so crude as physical force.
Steel : The Operative increase their physical strength. He pays one Willpower and Rolls Stamina +
Athletics + Steel to increase his Strength by Steel for Element turns. While this power is active the
Operator will not sweat and in-fact seems to dry any sweat already present.
Steel : The Operative can armour themselves. He pays one Willpower rolls Stamina + Element +
Steel to aquure Steel armour for one scene. At Steel 5 the armour becomes bulletproof but remains at
4/4. While this power is active the Operatives skin becomes as smooth and unblemished as steel.
Steel : The Operative gains the ability to physically aect the insubstantial. The insubstantial
includes magically moving oneself out of phase, turning into mist and similar eects. Patrons can be
touched but even at their strongest an Operative is unable to cause them any real inconvenience. This
costs a point of Willpower and requires a roll of Strength + Element + Steel, it lasts for one scene. When
this power is active the Operatives body temperature drops to absolute zero.
Steel : The Operative can gain the ability to bypass Steel points of Armour or even Durability.
To do this takes to points of Willpower and the Operative must roll Strength + Brawl + Steel. The
eects last for Element turns. While this power is active the Operator will not breath.
Steel : The Operative can become as strong as Steel itself. Pay two points of Willpower and
roll Stamina + Element + Steel, on a success the Operative gets Steel Durability for Element turns. As
a drawback his speed is quartered, in combat he only acts every other turn and he takes -5 on all actions
where speed makes a dierence. The exception is melee combat where instead triple the opponents
Defence. While this power is active the Opeartives skin becomes as reective as a mirror.
Quartz
Quartz has a long and proud history as a component of clocks. To the Operatives the study of Quartz
grants the ability to aect time itself.
Quartz : The Operative can speed up his perception of time. By spending a point of Willpower he
can add Quarts to: His initiative, perception rolls and when making aimed shots the bonus increases
57

by Quartz per turn but cannot exceed the usual limit. When this power is active any incidental sounds
(such as footsteps) but not vocal sounds made by the Operative is slightly higher pitched as though it
was undergoing the Doppler eect.
Quartz : The Operative can read the history of an object. To do this he must touch the object then
at the cost of one Willpower roll Intelligence + Investigation + Quartz. A success reveals the purpose of
the object, highlights from its history and any exceptionally strong emotions that it has been in contact
with. While this power is active an Operatives shadow is slightly out of sync with their body.
Quartz : The operative can take back time allowing them to see the past as though they were
standing there. To do so requires a point of Willpower and an extended Resolve + Element + Quartz
roll. It takes one success per ve minuets elapsed since the target time and they may remain watching for
Element minuets. While this power is active the Operative seems to lost in thought and unnaturally still.
Quartz : Should the operative be holding an object he can see the physical path it has travelled
through its life as blue threads in the air. By holding a hair he could follow its the path it travelled
through its life including the time it was attached to a person. He could follow a bullet until he nds
the home where it was stored or a tome of magical lore back to its resting place in a private library.
This takes two Willpower and an Intelligence + Investigation + Quartz roll. The eects last one day
and while active the Operatives voice is slightly out of sync with his lips.
Quartz : The Operative can step outside of time. To use this awesome power the Operative spends
two Willpower points and rolls Resolve + Element + Quartz. If the roll succeeds the Operative may
act for Successes times Element turns in the space of a single turn. While outside of time the Operative
cannot aect anything of Size two or larger and can only aect Size one objects on a successful Strength
roll. This power is used for investigation, preparation or a poor mans teleport not attacking so even
if cyanide pills are Size zero dont allow Operatives to start dropping them in peoples mouths. When
the Operative returns to normal time he has a -5 penalty due to disorientation for a single turn. For a
number of turns equal to the amount spent outside time the Operative will occasionally seem to freeze
for a split second and then jump forward in time like a damaged lm.
Amber, Non-combatant social Operative
Description: At the rst glance Amber is beautiful, stunningly beautiful with big blue eyes, a soft
heart shaped face and long blond hair. On the second glance Amber looks as though she was put
together by someone who had a check-list of beauty but didnt understand exactly how it worked. She
has a perfect symmetry and not a single blemish on her skin. It looks unnatural, stunning yet unnatural.
Storytelling Hints: Like many Operatives Amber tends to be given similar assignments. In her case
she specialises in tasks that require gaining peoples trust. Shes gotten close to Rubes and shepherded
them away from Magic, worked as an inside woman in various Clubs and seduced her way into possession
of all manner of secrets, magical tomes and artefacts.
Although Ambers favoured tactic is seduction (against either gender. Shes either bisexual, willing
to fake it or such labels simply dont apply) it is merely one tactic among many. Shes used bribery,
blackmail, played the damsel in distress (usually shooting or stabbing herself to make it convincing,
make no mistake the Operatives dedication is inhuman). One noticeable blind-spot in her repertoire, a
common trait to Operatives, is that Amber is almost unable to create a coherent ction. The closest she
can come is picking a character and sticking to it.
A note on Operative attributes. Some Attributes and skills will have two values. If a Storyteller
decides that operatives are human use the rst value otherwise use the second.
Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 3, Strength 2/4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2/4, Presence 3,
Manipulation 4, Composure 4
Skills: Academics 1 (Psychology), Investigation 3, Occult 2, Athletics 1, Brawl 1, Drive 2, Firearms 1,
Empathy 3/1, Subterfuge 2/1 (staying in character), Persuasion 4 (Seduction)
Element: 3
Compounds: Argon 2, Sapphire 3, Quartz 1
58

Merits: Striking Looks 4, Eidetic Memory 2, Direction Sense 1 Willpower: 7

Morality: 7 / N/A
Virtue: Fortitude / The Job
Vice: Pride (Feeling superior when she wraps someone around her nger) / The Job
Initiative: 7
Speed: 10/12

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Chapter 6: Mirrors
Mirror Magic isnt bad,protested Nanny. Ive done all kinds
of stu with mirrors. You can have a lot of fun with a mirror.
She doesnt use just one mirror,Said Mrs Gogol.
Oh.
She uses two.
Oh. Thats dierent.
Nanny Ogg and Mrs Gogol

A shout out to the Mirrors cover. A priest with the stigmata upon his hands looks at three mirrors. In
one he weres a black ominous robe and raises a ceremonial knife. In the next he weras white vestments
and has a halo, a rainbow spreads behind him. In the nal mirror he wears shineing plate and posses six
wings and a huge halibird
Mage is a game, more than the price of power, the feeling of wonder or pulling of a really good trick its
about having fun. It has rules because its easier to play when the mathematical progression of a Deals
duration is worked our for you, it has its lore and metaphysics because a they make the world more
interesting than rules alone and that makes it more fun.
And sometimes the rules or the lore make things less fun. A player really wants his character to
study magic scientically. The rule and the lore are both clear on this matter: Patrons explicitly hate
anyone solving mysteries, to a Patron the wonder of scientic discovery is worthless while the wonder of
an unsolved occult mystery is beyond price. The Emergent are portrayed as deluded for their belief that
theyre not Mages like everyone else.
None of that is a good reason not to have a science-mage. Change the physics: make the wonder of
knowledge equal to the wonder of ignorance. Change the lore: Make The Emergent competent scientists,
or dont and make them the biggest opponent of real scientic mages.
But if there is one thing you take from this introduction let it be this: If rule zero of role playing
games is that you can change the rules. There is one rule more important: rule minus-one, common
curtsey. Role playing games are a communal activity and if anyone is to enjoy it the players must be
willing to work together. No one is entitled to change the rules unless the other players agree to it; you
can changes a few things to make your character concept really tie together, if the group agrees. The
storyteller can decide to reroll an amazingly unlikely diceroll that could change a story for the worse, if
the group agreed that the occasional fudging helps smooth things along. And when people dont agree
talk it out.
Using this chapter
This Chapter is divided into four Sections: The rst House of Mirrors has hacks and small nuggets of
advice designed tweak the standard Mage: The Indebted game. After that you will nd three sections
each focused on a dramatic shift in the mood, in turn you will see a section on making the game darker,
a section on making the game brighter and a section on playing mage as high adventure.
Though hacks will be presented in groups do not feel obliged to take entire groups, that wont end
well. Instead you are supposed to mix and match as you see t or even include your own.

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House of Mirrors
These are my gifts, they give you my power. Mirrors to travel. Mirrors to spy. Mirrors to
remember. Mirrors to forget. Mirrors to rule the world.
The Evil Queen, The 10th Kingdom
The House of Mirrors contains hacks that primevally are designed to change the mechanics of Mage:
The Indebted. They open up new playstyles and allow characters and stories that will not t under the
default rules.
Some of these hacks will push the themes and mood in a certain direction and these will be clearly
labelled, but at its core this section is about allowing new possibilities or experimenting with the removal
of old ones any change to the theme or mood is the result rather than the intent.

Applying the scientific method to Magic

If you understand the science, there is no magic to this. It is based on sound science and
engineering. ... There are no smoke and mirrors here.
John Donoghue
Looking at Mage the Ascension its quite clear that the Technocracy have a lot of fans, in their own words:
The technocracy was most competent major power looking out for mere mortals and despite claims of
orwellism the scientic method has done more to change society and provide power, information and
choice to the lowest levels of society than anything else in human history.
Now scientic mages dont work in the cosmology of Mage: The Indebted. Magic is by denition
mysterious and occult, scientists really like to solve mysteries. But if you solve the mystery its obviously
not mysterious and that means its not magic: in short scientists destroy magic. But this is the section on
Mirrors and wed be shirking our duties if we didnt provide hacks that let you create your own Men of
Science out to show those secretive Luddite mages and build a new world where magic is mass produced
and handed out to the public for the betterment of mankind.
Or the provided hacks could be used by anyone trying to recreate the Technocratic Union as an
Orwellian empire in secret control of the globe. Rules that make scientic mages stronger could be just
whats needed to make it plausible that one group of mages really did take over and impose their views
on the world.
But be warned many of these hacks replicate the advantages of the scientic method, to stand on
the shoulders of giants or for one genius to share his discoveries with the world. This will dramatically
shift the balance of power allowing Mages far easier access to magic and a far greater ability to change
the world with it, in a dark hopeless game it may be best to avoid those hacks. Many of these hacks
are also extreemly potent. They were not designed to be used alongside the Tradtional Mage hacks for
a nal Science vs Mysticism showdown and in a regular game of Mage: The Indebted these hacks could
make scientic mages a gamebreaker, use them with caution.
Coincidently players particularly interested in games about Science! may wish to check out Genius:
The Transgression, another free fan-made game for The World of Darkness.
Hacks
The rst and most obvious: Magic no longer needs to be mysterious to survive. Instead its making
it dull and boring that destroys Magic.
A Club of scientic mages gets a bonus to acquiring new Tricks, either through Deals or creating
it from their Claims, based on how many Tricks they permanently own; not including Tricks they
theoretically own but have lost. +1 at one Trick, +2 at three Tricks. +3 at six Tricks, each time you
increase the gap by one additional trick. This hack mimics the idea of standing on the shoulders
of giants. Be aware that with this rule enough Tricks will create a magical singularity whereby
new Tricks are free, for the curious with no other hacks this begins at roughly 185136 Tricks for
worldwide access, 72390 for the club but at 55 Tricks individual mages can start buying short term
Tricks for themselves at no cost! If this seems too low either limit the discount to lifetime Tricks
or start counting from a higher number than one: it may be helpful to know the discount increases
with every triangle number.
61

 A scientic mage may use the Science skill for any Occult roll involving on actual magic and
Academics for any Occult roll involving folklaw or similar uses of the skill. By reducing the amount
of mental skills required this hack simulates the scientic method providing greater understanding
of magic.
A scientic mage dose not double the cost when buying Tricks for their Club and only doubles
the cost when buying Tricks for anyone. That a scientic discovery anywhere can provide benet
everywhere is one of the scientic methods greatest advantages and this hack extends this to magic.
Normally when a Trick is embedded into a physical item the Trick can only be used by one person.
When a scientic mage wishes to embed a trick into a physical item they may instead choose to buy
it for everyone and create a Blueprint. A Blueprint can be learned and costs the same experience
as a Trick, anyone who learns a blueprint can create or repair items containing the Trick with a
simple crafts roll. Afterwords anyone may be given the item and use the Trick. The ability of
humanities nest minds to create things that pass on to the average person is the great power of
science and this extremely powerful hack lets scientic Mages enjoy the same benet.
The inspiration rule: Lets say you want to given Mages the ability above, but youre not a fan of
magic in the local store for 13.95 heres an alternative for you. Instead of buying a Trick a mage
is buying inspiration that will point them towards a purely non-magical solution. Find something
that could be done both with technology and with a Patrons Claims and buy a Tricklike normal,
pay for lifetime universal access. But instead of gaining a Trick the Mage can begin an extended
Intelligence + Science or Intelligence + Medicine roll to invent a non-magical equivalent. Whether
this has to t accepted real world scientic theory is up to you.

Traditional Mages
Mages in Mage: The Indebted are not like the traditional gure of a Mage. Gone is the earthy wisdom
and academic knowledge. Far from mysterious mentor gures who brings their intelligence and lore to
the party rst and spellcraft second indebted Mages are very normal folk in outlook whos key advantage
is magical power, often at a terrible Price.
These hacks arent for changing the Magic system, they are designed to change Mages, make it easier
to play the traditional wise old man combining magic with a never-ending journey of self discovery.
Naturally theyll break theme and probably should be combined with harmonious hacks on the magic
system itself; ones where magic becomes benecial to self discovery.
Anyone considering combining this with the scientic mage hack for a wisdom vs science showdown
should look elsewhere. These hacks give bonuses to individual Mages. The scientic hacks give a Mage
bonuses based on the acclimated knowledge of her Club and are thus far more potent in the long term.
Hacks
Intuition for all: All Mages get a number of Intuition dice equal to their Wits. This is in addition
to the intuition Merit and satises the perquisites for Intuition Specialty.
A new two dot Merit called Lore, this functions like Encyclopaedic Knowledge but only covers
magical topics.
A Mage may use their skill in Academics to translate any written language; no dots in the Language Merit are required. Mages are often depicted surrounded by dusty tomes in Latin, Ancient
Samarian or weirder tongues. This hack makes that possible without spending all your Merit dots
on various Languages. Speaking the language still requires the Merit, communication by writing
and translating notes breaks the sprit of the hack and should be disallowed.
Upon meeting any new culture and hearing a few sentences of the language the Mage may roll
Wits + Survival to learn how to say we mean you no harmor something that eect. This does
not mean they will be believed. After a few hours they may roll Intelligence + Survival to learn
the basics of the language, they also learn enough of the customs to avoid an accidental horrible
insult. Mages are often depicted as worldly travellers, at home in the outdoors and the partys
ambassador to the weird and wonderful creatures they meet. This hack replicates the knack.
62

 When buying tricks from a Patron or creating them from a Claim a Mage gets a discount based on
his experience. They get -1 if they know one Trick for life, -2 at three Tricks, -3 at six Tricks and
so on. Additionally they get an extra discount equal to the lower of their Intelligence and their
skill in Occult. In Mage: The Indebted power comes from the Patrons and the Mages magical
experience is a relatively minor concern. This is the opposite in theme from the traditional gure
of a Mage whos experience is his most valuable asset, if you are using the default magic system
this Hack can correct the dierence.
The mentor rule. Obi-Wan Kenobi to Luke Skywalker, Albus Dumbledore to Harry Potter; the
traditional mage is closely tied to the wise mentor, to include this theme give a magical student a
discount to buying Tricks or creating them from Claims equal to their mentors Occult + Expression
and a discount to learning Tricks with Experience Points equal to the lower of their mentors Occult
and Expression. They may get this discount until the total dots in Tricks known is equal to twice
their Mentors Intelligence. If a player has the Mentor Merit use their dots in Mentor as a minimum
for Intelligence and both skills. This hack is in addition to other benets of a mentor such as access
to valuable tomes or moral guidance. It should not be stacked with the previous hack, use the
greater discount. Finally a magical university will not provide any discount (but will provide other
benets such as a well stocked library) unless a student has a mentor like relationship with teacher
or older student.

Selling Morality
If you wish to be able to sell Morality in your games here is the pricelist. Paying with your Morality is
considered to be plying with a sacrace and you must roll to see if you get a Derangements for every
point of Morality lost.
9+: worthless
8: 3
7: 6
6: 9
5: 12
4: 15
3: 18
2: 21
1: 24

One Patron per Club

The current rules insist that a Club with a Greater or Grand Patron also has a whole host of lesser
Patrons. This is designed to allow players constant access to magic and temptation even when away
from the physical presence of other members of their Club. For a game focusing heavily on intra Club
politics it might be interesting to cut all but the one Patron at the top forcing Mages to deal with other
Mages instead. This could be an actual metaphysical change or just because the higher ups like having
suckers they can pawn Debt onto and keep the player characters ignorant.

Prestige
I came to realize that my money problems, worries, and shortages largely began and ended
with the person in my mirror. I realized also that if I could learn to manage the character I
shaved with every morning, I would win with money.
Dave Ramsey
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When creating Mage: The Indebted an idea that got tossed around quite a bit was to include of some
sort of Good Debt that allows a Mage to pay their way without getting over their head. Now Patrons
wouldnt do this, they want Mages to go over their heads in Debt but if you want to change that here
are the hacks for you:
Create a new Merit: Prestige (to ). Prestige costs new dots x8.
When a Mage pays of their last point of Debt and in-between opening and closing their Debt they
at some point had an Debt of 2 + half of Prestige (round up) they have the option of buying one
point of Prestige.
When working out the benets of Debt a Mage uses Debt + Prestige to a maximum of ten. When
working out the drawbacks a Mage uses Debt alone.
The penalty for dealing with a Patron other than your own is decreased by Prestige times two.
At Prestige two you can deal with a Patron without doubling the Price if you dont have a Patron
of your own. At Prestige ve you get the same benet for Greater Patrons.
Breaking a Deal or going over your maximum Decit immediately loses you a dot in Prestige.

The Mirror of Darkness

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?
The Evil Queen

The Mirror of Light

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reects it.
Edith Wharton

The Mirror of Adventure

The picture is inside a paratrooper aircraft, the jump-door is open below is a giant robot attacking a city.
Parashoots can be seen between the aircraft and the giant robot they bear an elbum: A Closed st with a
bloody dagger stabbed through set against the RAFs red white and blue concentric circles. In the aircraft
is a warlock, dark high collared robes, narrow angular face, black hair, silver knife at the waist with a
short pointed evil beard. He is wearing a parashoot pack and preparing to jump.

64

Appendix A: Sample Characters

A note of utmost importance
These characters are not canonical. As Storyteller crafting a new chronicle you should not feel any need
to go through the list and ask what that Pyramid will be doing. As players creating a new character you
shouldnt immediately look through this as a list too nd out which group ts your character concept.
These are examples. They exist to show dierent possibilities: The Cult of Isis shows how with
disciple and trust (rare qualities in a Mage) you can use Magic for good. The Court of the Bird and
the Book are an example of how you might have a Mage group which is not in Debt, it is theoretically
possible. Le Cirque Voilee dive head rst into themes of Mage: The Indebted rather look at them from
another angle.
By all means play them, have them show up as part of a larger world but please dont feel obligated
to include any group if you feel they wont t into your story.

Tier One
Mike Vaden
Mike wasnt a particularly strong, fast or lucky kid which is why a gang of bullies choose him to work
o a little stress every now and again. One day while running from his tormentors Mike hid in a Gym
closed for the night, there he met his Patron The Hard-assed Coach and they came to a deal. The Coach
would train Mike and train him hard in return he gave his word: Mike would learn fast.
The Hard-assed Coach has the following Claims: Athletics (), Teaching (), Not Taking Anyones
Crap () and Magic (). He and Mike have one Deal: trading weekly training for a Favour that increases
Stamina and Athletics. This hard work is paying o and Mike may soon be able to acquire Stamina or
Athletics with his own experience.
Mikes Deals
Mike purchased a dot of Stamina (-3) and two dots of Athletics (-6) this will last for a month (-6) after
which he and the Coach will decide whether they will keep working together. In return Mike dose a hard
days training under the Coachs direction: a modest task (-5) every week for a month (x2.5) for a total
of +13. This leaves a -2 decit. The Coach explains that Mike has potential so hell train him up as a
personal favour, but hell call it in some day: Mike makes up the balance by going 2 points into Decit.

Sophie Harrison
All her childhood Sophie was taught to be a good Christian and she was so proud of herself for being a
little angel. Then she grew up and realised no one told her how hard abstinence could be, in game terms
her Vice is Lust. Then one night she met her Perfected Self in a dream and they agreed to help each
other out.
To pay o her Interest Sophie follows a Taboo that brings her closer to her Perfected Self: She
must obey the rules of Holy Matrimony and to make it easier her Perfected Self agreed to take away
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temptations. Sophies Perfected Self has Claimed: Being a good Christian (), Self Improvement (),
Prayer () and Magic ()
Sophies Deals
Sophie purchased two dots of Resolve (-9) for life (-10). Because this lasts for life double the total Cost
to -38. Like anything brought for Life this is very expensive and to pay it o Sophie agrees to give up her
Vice (+8) and good riddance to it, she must forget one sinful thought that she enjoyed to keep her from
temptation: this is a point of Willpower (+2) every week for life (x10 for a total of +20). This leaves
the deal at -10. Sophies Perfected Self informs her that the Transfer will leave her feeling drained, an
upfront payment of 4 points of willpower (+8) but shell be glad to know accepting will mover her closer
to her perfected self: a stage one Transformation (+2). Those with a good understanding of Magic or
the human body will be able to tell Sophie is no longer precisely human.
Sophie also has a Taboo that cancels out her Interest. At Debt one shes earning one point of Decit per
week, and each point of Decit is at (-2) to pay o. Sophies Taboo: obeying the rules of holy matrimony
is a trivial task(+2) now that she lacks Lust. If the deal lasts for a weak(x2) she will pay o her Decit
and have enough left over to pay an extra point of Decit each week. If the deal lasts for a month(x5)
She will still only be able to pay of one extra bit of Decit each week. Unfortunately for Sophie as a rst
tier mage she doesnt really understand the rules and her Patron convinces her to go for the monthly
plan to show commitment.

Doctor Lingzhi
Doctor Lingzhi felt that the modern world was moving to fast, she had great respect for its achievements.
In fact she would have been dead without a kidney transplant; but the thought that old ideas and perhaps
wisdom itself were being left by the roadside worried her and so she decided to dedicate herself to one
small part of tradition: herbal medicine. This dedication impressed and won the Patronage of her
ancestor, a powerful magician and herbalist in his time.
Doctor Lingzhi has bargained for a powerful Trick. She can draw any disease into himself and
meditate to destroy it with her Chi. Her Ancestor has a Stake in: Herbalism () Spiritual Healing (),
Taoist Alchemy () and Magic ()
Doctor Lingzhis Deals
Doctor Lingzhi has acquired a one dot Trick (-6) for a Month (-15). Her Trick enables her to remove any
cureable disease which falls under basic manipulation of Spiritual Healing. This Trick will have a range
of touch (-0) and using it requires a Show: around an hours mediation, so a trivial task (+2) Shows at
the point of use are doubled so (+4). Drawing a disease into herself is dangerous, it will cause a point
of lethal damage (+4) which is also doubled to (+8). This leaves a hefty (-9). For an upfront payment
Lingzhi will have to spend a week of constant meditation to practice. This is a modest task (+5) every
day for a week (x2) for a total of +10. The numbers balance. Although technically the rules say that
Doctor Lingzhi will get the Trick before her week of meditation the storyteller and the player agree that
as she is learninghow to perform the Trick theyll fudge this a little.

Tier Two
The Plutocracy
A late middle aged man with a wide face, jowls and short hair aected by total male pattern baldness sits
in a high powered corporate executive oce smoking a big cigar and talking on an oldish corded phone.
On the table before him is a spread of tarot cards.
The emblem of the Plutocrats: A pyramid with no capstone and two angel wings stands against the sun.
In place of the capstone is the alchemical symbol of gold. Surrounding the image is the creed of the
Plutocrats: Pecuniate obediunt omnia. This image appears as a watermark
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History and Culture

The Plutocracy claims to be an ancient order descended from Egyptian Pharaohs (or Egyptian priests or
Greek mage-philosophers or Arabic sorcerers, or Indian Sorcerers, or European wizards) who safeguarded
the magical arts through dark times when practitioners were hunted down and put to the sword.
Its not hard to disprove these claims, in fact the Plutocrats know the theyre false and arent particularly worried about protecting the secret. Much like the robes, the Latin chanting, the secret halls
covered in occult symbols, the elaborate spellcasting with pentacles and rituals; sometimes after a hard
days work its nice to belong to an exclusive ancient order with a sacred mission. Then they get drunk
and play ping pong.
Part Masons, part frat house and all business the Plutocrats have been the foremost experts of
applying magic to the acquisition of money since about two hundred years ago. As they put it the key
to making large amounts of money from magic is business acumen and large amounts of money.
Other Mages hear of The Plutocracy and assume dark smoky rooms where secret deals are done and
money is turned towards the control of kings and countries, with a name like The Plutocracy its not hard
to see why, its still not true. The Plutocrats have power but nothing on that level, they tend towards
being multimillionaires rather than billionaires and rarely have or desire political power. But the shady
deals are real enough. The Plutocracy has and accepts a lot of criminals among its ranks and the rest are
more likely to be playing it safe than have moral objection. Nearly the Plutocrats crime is white collar:
price xing, insider trading or corporate embezzlement. Blackmail is uncommon and worse crimes like
kidnapping or murder almost unheard o.
To pay for magic The Plutocrats subcontract large or long term shows, either by embezzling employee
time or just paying someone to do the work for them. While many are pretty casual about the risks they
subject their subcontractors to when theyre exposed to Magic the Plutocrats as a whole see letting an
employee come to harm as uncouth or even a mark of incompetence: you havent earned your solid gold
cuinks and big cigar unless you can manage a few employees.
With their focus on money and love of a good time The Plutocrats are very low in magical power.
Just as the other Principles mock the magical lightweights the Plutocrats sco back at the Mages in their
towers and at the Crossroads far from human company, they think that Magic makes them separates
from the masses but havent we proven that magic is both aordable and mostly safe? All it takes is a
little money and the skills to work within the system.
Patron
The Greater Patron of the Plutocrats is The Solver of Problems who appears to be a consultant hired
to inject outside expertises in the eld of magic. Its Claims are: Business (), Magic (), Money
(), Solutions (), Charm (), Networking () and The Market (). Its subordinates take the form of
regular people you might nd around an oce such as The Eager Intern or The Dull Accountant.
The Solver of Problems itself is subordinate to The Invisible Hand, which is the Economy itself. So
far there have been no signs that The Plutocracy will make contact with The Invisible Hand and become
a Pyramid.
For Payment The Solver of Problems is exible, it accepts shows that resemble oce activity although
theyre typically meaningless to the annoyance of Plutocrats who wish to kill two birds with one stone.
Taboos to cut out bad corporate practicesare accepted but usually avoided as they are both harder
to subcontract and rarely make business sense. The only Sacrice accepted is items of mundane value
which it claims are sold rather than sacriced.

Witch Doctors without Borders

A middle aged African lady in traditional clothing is marching through a hospital corridor. Suited hospital
managers are busy trying to make sure nothing oends her, doctors are trying to explain the problem
while orderlies and her teenage apprentice follow with large suitcases. The lady seems above this; her
expression shows only a no-nonsense attitude to a problem at hand.
The emblem of Witch Doctors without Borders, a Red Eye, in the style of the Red Cross / Red Crescent.
This Image serves as a watermark.

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History
The deliberate creation of a new Principle by people outside the magical underworld is a rare event.
Witch Doctors without Borders may be the only example in recent history.
The seeds were sown by voluntary workers attached to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent
movement. Its a sad fact that tragedy attracts unscrupulous people seeking to take advantage and the
dregs of the magical underworld are as unscrupulous as you can nd. Volunteers encountered diseases
caused by magic and resistant to normal medical treatments, though scepticism is usually the rst (and
justied) response to magic the evidence began to mount and so did the evidence that the most eective
response was the mystical treatments provided by local Witch Doctors.
From this the two groups began a harmonious relation, after all both groups had skills the other
lacked and a mutual desire to heal the sick. When volunteers returned home some noticed Witch Marks
or others impossibilities. They realised that the problems the saw in Africa werent quite so limited to
that continent and they resolved to bring the skills they learned wherever they were needed.
So was founded Witch Doctors without Borders a registered humanitarian charity dedicated to the
prevention and cure of magical ailments. Theyre a small group and havent had much luck linking
themselves to a bigger organisation, magic is rare and most people are happy enough to stay well away.
Culture
The Witch Doctors are an eclectic mix, Voodoo houngans rub shoulders with Christian missionaries.
Professional doctors work alongside shamen. The founding members came from a background of either
western medicine or African spirituality and the those two groups do have a disproportionate share of
the membership. In the end, a history of practising medicine away from well stocked hospitals has left
the Witch Doctors a pragmatic lot content to let their members use whatever works.
The focus on the pragmatic goes beyond the magical trappings. Magical curses are scary; facing a
serious sickness is hard enough in the best of times but when its magical: people often lack cultural
reference or institutions for it. Its quite typical for a Witch Doctor to have to deal with not only the
magical ailment but also the panic or mild hysteria surrounding it. Witch Doctors often develop strict
no nonsense attitudes and become a gure of strength and stability. Many nd that when working their
station gives them a huge deal of respect and theyre rarely above using it for all that its worth.
If one thing is truly unintuitive about the Witch Doctors its their often broken policy about helping
with mundane illnesses. The reasoning is simple: Noble intentions are no protection against Debt and
the sheer amount of diseases, some of which are only currently curable by magic means trying to deal
with them personally is a quick way to discover that you owe your soul.
Patron
Witch Doctors without Borders has accepted the patronage of The Wisdom of Serpents. A being with
no ties to any of the many faiths found among the Witch Doctors but quite strong ties to the principle
of medicine itself. This makes it one of the few Patrons the Principle could agree on. The Wisdom of
Serpents claims to be the Serpent on the caduceus (both of them, it has a head on either end).
The Wisdom of Serpents claims Medicine (), Magic (), Deception (), Growth (), Snakes
(), Birth () and Death ().
A Claim on Deception might seem unusual or useless for medics but it covers penetrating deception.
Mage culture being what it is this often turns out to be rather handy.

Tylwyth Teg
A classy pub stands pristine among a broken down street. A large number of very expensive cars populate
the car park, tinted windows are ubiquitous. In front of the door stands two bouncer types. The rst
is bald and wears an open jacket with no shirt, a roaring dragon in portrait covers his belly and dragon
claws adorn his sts. The second man is shorter and thinner whos hair stands up in deance of gravity.
Whats visible of his legs and arms are covered in tattoos of thorny brambles

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History
There have always been tales of the wild man. Unwashed, dishevelled, living in the forests without
rhyme nor reason. Sometimes this is no ordinary madness, the fair folk are petty callous creatures whos
motives made sense only to themselves. The Mages who follow their capricious demands can seem quite
insane.
But that was long long ago, when faeries enchanted unsuspecting mortals deep in the heart of the
forests. Things are a lot more urban these days. You see wild men werent particularly trusted, nor are
faeries for that matter. Between suspicious locals, witch hunts and a law thats quite unreasonable about
needing other peoples property to survive (life in the forest is not easy) a very sane instinct took hold.
The need for someone you can trust, someone to watch your back. The only people these faerie touched
Mages had anything in common with were eachother.
The Patrons did not fail to notice this change. Petty and arrogant creatures the constant presence
of others of their kind meant never ending rivalries and one-upmanship replaced the seemingly insane
demands the Mages once agreed to in exchange for their power. The new demands were still quite mad,
but it was kept within the Club so to speak. Before playing against regular people a Mage would earn
alienation. Now playing against other Mages would earn at worst a lifelong enemy but an enemy who
understood the rules.
And so it came to pass that the Mages who once were isolated and deemed insane were able to rejoin
society behind a facquade of normality. Here they realised that they were the ones with the power, they
had the magic and nothing was to stop them taking what they wanted. Their numbers grew, crime lord
is a much more appealing proposition than forest madman.
Culture
The Tylwyth Teg, the Bendith y Mamau, more colloquially known as The Faerie Maa, are one of
the smaller groups who play their hand at organised crime; using magic to give them the edge against
numbers or money.
Life in the Fae Maa is one of contradictions, the fair folk are capricious, ckle and prone to feuds
with their own kind. Organised crime is by denition, well, organised: To stay one step ahead of the
law requires careful planning and teamwork. This contradiction and how they overcome it denes who
the Tylwyth Teg are. Each member shows loyalty to one of seven families. The head of each family
share Patronage from the Greater Patron and compete for its favour and with it the right to lead the
organisation. The leader is occasionally referred to as The Faerie Godfather but never to their face.
When the Patrons demand action against the followers of another Patron whos given some incomprehensible oence the Mage will argue to move against a Mage loyal to a dierent family so as to keep
the internal family group from strife. The act of vengeance itself is negotiable, though many of the
Tylwyth Tegs Patrons delight in violence theyre also partial to humiliation. Merry pranks, symbolic
defeats or just showing a rival up by doing a better job than them wounds the pride and satises the
Patrons need for vengeance. Now pride, pride is something as common to the Mages of the Tylwyth
Teg as to the Patrons, though some maintain a good humour most of the Faerie Maa Mages can be as
easily oended and as quick to retaliate as their Patrons.
That pride does more than just provide fertile soil for feuds. Tylwyth Teg translates to the fair folk
and using the word fair means more than just being polite, faerie and Mage alike take their appearance
very seriously; their idea of beauty is perhaps a little idiosyncratic. Mild body modication is common
and tattoos are universal, regulated by a baroque system of rewards, positions, recognition for skills and
deeds. Since the regulations tend to talk more of positions, colours and generics there is a lot of room
for individual taste. From the outside its hard to tell if its a uniform or pinkish artistic expression.
Many people have come to unfortunate ends when their confusion led them to question or worse copy
and oend both Mage and Patron.
There is but one thing that will pause this petty pride and the endless feuds it spawns; to lose face
before another faerie in humiliating, to lose face before anyone else is unthinkable! When an outside
threat faces the Tylwyth Teg all seven families unite and so do their faerie backers. The Mages of the
Tylwyth Teg get what all Mages dream of and few ever see: as Mage and Patron work together the Price
of Deals becomes an agreement to do what they intended to do anyway. At no other time is the Tylwyth
Teg as dangerous as when their backs are to the wall.

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Patron
The Patron of the Tylwyth Teg is the Rusted Ivy Prince. A being as comfortable amongst urban decay
as forest bloom and as mad as a thriving hybrid of the two. Capricious, vain and when the mood strikes
murderously sadistic. Appeasing the Rusted Ivy Prince in return for power and trying to nd some way
to avoid its excesses lest it rouse other Mages or worse, the Law, forms the bulk of the work performed
by the seven heads of the families.
Unusual among Patrons is the Rusted Ivy Princes tendency to manifest itself with dierent forms
and personalities depending on who its talking to or how its feeling that day. Though all are the
Rusted Ivy Prince it often refers to its other masks as though they were entirely dierent people and
has been known to hold grudges and feuds with itself. Though the convention among the Tylwyth Teg is
that faeries operate by their own alien logic those who have met the Rusted Ivy Prince wonder if perhaps
the truth is simply mundane insanity.
The Rusted Ivy Prince claims: Wilderness (), Magic (), Crime (), Decay (), Holdout
Weaponry (), Marks of Status (), Misdirection ().

The International College of Alchemy

History
There have been alchemists for almost as long as there have been mages. Consider, herbalism has been
practice since prehistory, wouldnt the trappings: Find the right ingredients, mix them up the correct
way and you can do good to the human body, wouldnt this axiom be well known to early Mages?
The College of Alchemy can trace its philosophies through various Clubs stretching back to ancient
Egypt and Greece, their techniques were adopted by Roman Hermetics before travelling and ourishing
in the Islamic world. Centuries later the trail returns through Europe. Its important to realise this
is not one great Club that survived through the ages but rather it was and still is a whole society of
individual Parlours, Principles and lone Mages who constantly fade away as members are suppressed,
retire or defect to mundane science (it happens more than you would think, scientists dont have to
worry about Patrons) only for the torch to be picked up by some new group whos found the journals
and dissertations of their predecessors. The International College is merely the biggest contemporary
group with branches in all its historic nationalities, smaller Clubs some practically identical in paradigm
and philosophy are common.
The recent history of the College is one of integration, sometimes it seems that nothing is lost only
separated. The International College is dedicated to reversing this by reuniting the disparate Clubs or
more frequently just opening lines of communication. Ironically the mechanics of magic means that old
tomes arent all that useful.
There most recent and ambitious program is to try and forge links outside their own tradition with
Principles of Taoist Alchemists. Though it still takes a lot of eort for the two groups to learn enough
about each others Magic and philosophy to have a meaningful discussion there has been real progress in
establishing closer relations. Time will tell if the idea of a complete unication is optimism verging on
fantasy or plausible.
Culture
Unlike most modern endeavours alchemy is still practical on the one man in a shed level. Those who
become Alchemists are people who want, often need, to create. When someone has an idea bursting
within their skull but lack the technical skills, social connections or just the resources to make it reality
thats when the College makes its pitch: With Alchemy all you need is a place to work and dedication.
Theres a lot of pride in the College, its not blinding arrogance although thats hardly unknown.
No its the feeling of a job well done, when a person who needs to create sees their idea sitting on
the workbench. When the tests come up positive or the golem stands up and takes its rst baby steps.
Theres a lot of Pride there, a lot of Joy too. Is it any wonder the College has been intergrating, accepting
others to share their successes and their delight in creation?
For most of the College Alchemy is a hobby, they have a regular life and job. It can be an all
consuming hobby but it is nevertheless something done primarally for enjoyment. A growing number
seek to become professional: the only thing better than Alchemy, they say, is being paid to perform
70

Alchemy. Medicine is the most common profession, they have relavent Claims and with growing demand
for alternativemedicine there is an large oppotunity for any alternative option that really does work.
Having a magic style that naturally tends towards liquids, herbs and pills helps too. Selling the occasional
enchanted item can be a lucrative buisness and with scholarly trappings and a love of thick leatherbound
books tutoring is also an option. Its not exactly common but when someone simply decides they want
to learn magic the Alchemists have a rich history of tuiton. Some of their students end up in the College,
most wont even call themselves Mages. Only count basic magic among their useful skills.
Most Alchemists have a Paradigm: everything they do comes from physical items. Tricks are usually
convent and easy to carry but Services or Favours are usually created as needed from a well stocked lab.
Patron
The Greater Patron of The International Fellowship of Alchemy is the Quintessence Golem which claims
to be a creation of medieval alchemists in Prague out of the fth element. Eternal and unchanging the
Golem boasts that it is a living library of alchemical knowledge.
Like all Patrons what the Golem oers comes at a price, in its case this is cleverly phrased to seem
friendly to its clients: It isnt charging, its holding back so the alchemists can learn for themselves and
experience greater benet in the long run. Shows often involve study and experimentation. On the whole
the Fellowship is unaware that their studies never seem to provide greater understanding of Alchemy;
members who do gure it out are usually on the way up to the level of Pyramid and their reactions split
between: Those who force themselves back into ignorance, those who carry on much the same because
the spells are working and those who look for a new style of magic, one which doesnt clash with the
nature of magic itself.
The Quintessence Golem claims Transmutation (), Magic (), The Human Body (including
Medicine and Enhancement) (), Study (), Matter (), Chemistry () and Automations ()

Tier Three
Crossroads
A narrow forest path. A man with average looks stands in druid robes over sturdy jeans and hiking boots.
A much younger, terried, man in ordinary urban clothing is hanging in the trees suspended by magical
tendrils that emerge from the rst mans raised palm. He has a mystic rune branded on his forehead and
there is a noose around his neck tied to the tree without that magical levitation hed be dead. The rst
man pays no attention to his victim, his eyes are reading a scroll detailing a contract presented by a tall
human formed entirely of shadows. This demon is headless but has glowing eyes where they should have
been.
The emblem of Crossroads, a signpost with four signs each faces a dierent cardinal direction. A hanged
man dangles from the East sign. This image serves as a watermark.
History
Theres a little place I know where two paths cross, Im only telling you. Make a deal, signed in blood
if you please and your greatest dream will come true.
There was a time when Crossroads was The Club to know. They didnt rule, they werent even
noticeably stronger than their rivals but for a time no one inuenced the philosophy and culture of the
magical underworld like Crossroads. They were conservative, they were cautious, they were pragmatic
and they survived. Members of Crossroads lived to grow old and powerful, other Clubs began to think
that if they wanted to survive to old age perhaps they should copy Crossroads techniques. It must be
said that a lot of the time they added but less evil.
And then the world changed underneath them. New technology narrowed the gap between Mages
and ordinary folks. Greater communication and travel meant that word of your crimes could follow you
further. The group that had nothing to fear from their Patrons found themselves under attack from an
entirely new direction.

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The organisation was gutted, with no little help from rival or just Mages huge swaths of their membership were brought before justice. But this wasnt death; it was a form of Natural selection. Those
who survived were the most ruthless and the most cunning.
The eyes of the magical world have turned away from Crossroads, other groups now hold the limelight
and its unlikely Crossroads will regain their position. All in all the survivors couldnt be more pleased
with how things turned out.
The gathering at the crossroads
Crossroads was born in a dierent time, a time where even Mages were superstitious and easily led by
their Patrons. Tricked into unpayable Debt and dragged of to some unknown fate. Even the greatest
magical societies wernt truely safe, these were dark times.
Mages are not blind, as friends, allies and even enemies were claimed by the beings who once pledged
allegiance and patronage the most powerful Mages connived a general meeting at one of the great trading
cities: Constantinople. Here Mages from around the world gathered at what would be known as The
gathering at the Crossroads.
Most of the major Clubs active in the day were present: John Brennos sent representatives and his
court was partially responsible for arranging long distance travel. The Priests of Isis came to propose
moderation and self discipline as a solution and politely excused themselves when their words fell on
deaf ears.
Over two months went by as Mages traded arcane secrets, enjoyed the company of their fellows,
sometimes for the rst time in their lives and enjoyed entertainments of a grand city. And in the
background Mages worked, the diplomats from various clubs and dozens of unaliated yet respected
Mages created the Pax Magica.
The Pax Magica was a code of conduct about how a Mage must relate to other Mages. It had a
system for resolving disputes, it dictated what a Mage owed to their peers: Sanctuary, help escaping
Debt and education for any Mage new to their station. It also stated what a Mage owed in return.
Most importantly it established a trade between mages to safely deal with Patrons. The currency of
magic would henceforce be blood. For Patrons the price of blood is unchanging and this predictability
allowed a Mage pay upfront. To pay for expensive magic a Mage could call upon their peers to spill
blood upon their behalf and they would owe the same blood in return. Many of the larger Clubs who
relatively speaking didnt have much of a problem to begin with opted out of this last part. Notably it
didnt cover relations between Mages and the rest of the world, that becomes rather important. Or it
wouldnt have made a dierence anyway, its debatable.
The Pax Magica was not the only thing created that day. Heady with the promise of power and
safety and growing accustomed to rubbing elbows with there peers large numbers of unaliated Mages
started signing up to a new Club, a loose network of cells that would provide a community and not really
much else. They took their name from the gathering that gave them birth: Crossroads.
Culture
Crossroads never had a true culture, it started as a worldwide organisation composed of magical hermits,
self absorbed magicians and generally those who hadnt had or wanted much in the way of a magical
community until they tried it and realised what they were missing. Even their magical style varies hugely
between individual Mages but usually resembles classic magic from around the world. Celtic Druidism,
African Botono and many of the traditions referred to as Shamans can all be seen.
Mages in Crossroads are rarely in contact with the actual traditions whos trappings they ware and
those who are never reveal their true abilities. If such a meeting did happen the Crossroad Mage would
be quickly revealed as a fraud who knows or cares little about the practice, an accusation the Mage
would dismiss as unimportant: They hold real power, their Patrons expect the trappings. What else is
there to be said?
The isnt much thats universal among the Crossroad Mages but an old fashioned outlook is one
exception. A Crossroads Mage still practices Magic according to the precepts set force in the Pax
Magica. They pay upfront in blood, usually other peoples blood. Thats the second unifying idea, the
Ars Magica said pay upfront; pay in blood because its safe and predictable. But paying in sacrice
typically means buying small and its painful. The Ars Magica never said whos blood to pay with.

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That was probably an unconscious assumption by its authors, even to Mages human sacrice is
heinous but as it became acceptable throughout Crossroads as a pragmatic solution to an expensive
problem the more ethical Mages left in droves for other Clubs or for solitude all that remained was its
dark rotted heart.
The Crossroad Mages are pragmatic in other ways too. Though mortals who stray to close are likely
to nd their neck slit over a stone altar or in a noose at some signicant location other Mages tend to
be pretty much safe. Blood is blood, the practical dark wizard doesnt go for the targets best able to
defend themselves. In fact many of the Crossroad Mages are willing to uphold their duties under the
Pax Magica, a Mage in dire trouble can always go to the Crossroads. They just need to spill a little
blood and be able to look themselves in the mirror afterwords.
Patron
The Patron of the Crossroads is The Dark Man. Every bloodstained pact made for power, every alliances
with dark beings, every smoky back room deal, every favour with the mob. They all belong to The Dark
Man.
Below the Dark Man are the dark spirits and demons of countless mythologies all have power and
riches to any willing to make a deal.
And then you have the dammed, weighed down by their crimes, burred at the crossroad because no
sacred burial ground would take them.
The Dark Mans Claims are broad, his power covers: Deals (), Magic (), Desire (),
Power (), Sin (), Direction (), Wealth (), Music (), Luck and Misfortune (), The Dead
(), Law (), Thresholds and Boundaries (), Sex (), Success (), Secrets ()

The Knights of the Round Table

A trio of armoured knights are charging, lances forward, into a restaurant. Glass ies everywhere from
the large shattered window and their horses turn tables into matchsticks underfoot.
The emblem of the Round Table. A heraldic shield depicting the sword in the stone. This image serves
as a watermark.
Culture
Have you ever just had enough? The same job, same collage or school day after day. Same chores, same
life, stretching on and on. It doesnt have to be that way; you can change things, be someone, be the
hero. All you have to do is pay the price.
The Knights of the Round Table felt that way, and when their Patrons oered a world of heroism,
adventure with dons and damsels in need of rescue the Knights willingly paid the price. They were
transformed into the Olympian ideal, given swords and let loose upon the darkness. Theyve been at it
for twenty years now.
Not all is well for those seated the Round Table. On those occasions when they spend time upon
Earth in lieu of questing backstage they have to face that theyre a very outdated sort of hero. Knights
havent dispensed personal justice since the end of feudalism, these days law enforcement is regulated.
Beating people in back alleyways is frowned upon and its hard to build a prosecution case for people
dragged into the station by a civilian in full heraldry.
But while the rank and le usually considers the knights to be a nuisance those above them consider
the group to be useful. Its a rare knight whos skills in the social arena matches their skills on the
battleeld. Theyre not usually that hard to point in the right directionand once you do they tend
to be competent, its all easily deniable. All in all they make excellent cats paws to shake up criminal
organisations, rival criminal organisations and much more rarely completely legal organisations.
For all their noble intentions and very real skills in combat the Knights are an order touched by
tragedy. The Vows that seemed so natural when they swore them are frequently outright suicide to
follow. For every knight who died in an evenly matched combat or was taken out by a surprised ambush
there was another who saw a ght they could not win yet was compelled by their vows to join in battle.
Some despair at their situation, others seek to leave and the rest: Its shield up, lance forward and
time to die like the hero you always wanted to be.
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Patron
The Knights of the Round Table follow a Patron known as The Once and Future King. Unsurprisingly
theyve linked it directly to King Arthur, although a new knight is likely to think that their Grand
Patron Claims some important and appropriate concept it is actually Chivalric Romance, the literary
genre. This probably does explain its focus on making its Mages into knights.
The Knights often bemoan that a Claim on a literacy genre is useless for anything but conjuring
reading material, so entirely useless. In fact its a rather powerful Claim that would allow the Mage to
enforce the tropes of Chivalric Romance upon the real world. And the tropes tend to favour the knight.
Questing knights, for example, never had to worry about mundane concerns such as provisions and with
a three dot (creating subjects from nothing) Trick a Knight of the Round Table could create the sort
of convenient coincidence that provides their ctional counterparts with a bed for the night. Sadly (or
perhaps fortunately) those of the Round Table tend to lack out of the box magical thinking and havent
realised this.
The full list of the Once and Future Kings Claims are as follows:
Chivalric Romance (), Magic (), Knightly Arms (), Knightly Armour (), Equestrians
(), Duty (), Castles (), Quests (), Justice (), Heraldry (), Compassion (), Vigilance (),
Courage (), Honour ().
The Knights Vows
Knightly vows are the most used form of Payment to those who sit at the round table and are therefore
highly varied between members yet three vows are part of every knights initiation.
I vow to be the shield of the weak: The Knight takes on a serious taboo for life (+200), they may
never pass by an act of violence or an life in danger without intervening. In return they get a collection
of Favours. Four dots of Weaponry (-20), two dots of Strength (-15) two dots of Stamina (-15), two dots
of Resolve (-15), a dot of Presence (-5) four dots of Striking Looks (-20). This all lasts for life (-10 and
multiply by 2) for a total of (-200).
I vow to sheath my blade against the innocent: Under normal circumstances swearing not to harm
the innocent is a trivial Taboo, but the Knights of the Round Table frequently encounter innocents who
justiably wish to impede their progress. Security personal and law enforcement mostly, so long as they
do not actually attempt to kill the knight this Taboo forbids the knight from causing harm: if it lls
a Health Box it breaks the Taboo, anything else goes. Because of how often this happens the Knights
get the full payment of a moderate Taboo. (+100) This is spent on a familiar(-15): A Trusty Steed. In
addition to the baseline for familiars this steed will get +7 size (-7), +7 speed (-7), A second point of
Dexterity (-10) and a second point of Stamina (-10). This steed will be a lifetime companion (-10 and
double everything). Their nal statistics are as follows
Attributes: Intelligence 1, Wits 1, Resolve 2, Strength 4, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2, Presence 2, Manipulation 1, Composure 2.
Skills: Investigation 1, Politics 1, Occult 1, Athletics 3, Brawl 1, Survival 1, Empathy 2, Subterfuge 1,
Socialise 1
Willpower: 4
Virtue: Loyalty
Vice: Gluttony
Initiative: 4
Speed: 19
The third ubiquitous vow is the simplest: Loyalty to the court of the Round Table. This is a trivial
vow to not turn against their fellow Knights of the Round Table, again for Life (+40). This is combined
with a trivial show, the ceremony of knighthood (+2) to pay for a nal favour which will be bound into
a physical suit of armour(+2): Three dots of the Natural Armour merit (-12) for life (-10 and times 2).
Round Table plate mail is more eective at unchivalrous weapons, it has two points of general armour
and four points of ballistic armour.

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The Emergent
A bald man and woman are placed side by side in the lower section of the image, both are practically
mummied by thousands of Ethernet cabals which stretch o panel. Both have microchips grafted over
their eyes and an ecstatic grin. The background is a large SHODAN-like face.
The of emblem The Emergent. A computer icon of a microchip whit a stylised heart in the centre. This
image appears as a watermark.
History
On October the 29th, 1969 at 10:30 pm the rst message was sent over ARPANET. A historic occasion
which would in time lead to the internet and change the world, to historically minded Mages an equally
important event happened at that moment.
Around the world thousands of people received messages, a programmer working on a primitive computer was shocked to see a letter addressed to him in the output. An operator running a telephone
switchboard received a call coming from nowhere and a voice made an oer. A television, half disassembled on the workbench switched on and made a promise. Around the world people received messages,
and they replied: Yes.
The Emergent are an incredibly young Pyramid, they exploded onto the scene in October 1969
snapping up undiscovered sites of power and selling themselves in droves to buy power for the Club.
In hindsight this was not the best strategy. For those who knew what to look for The Emergent were
too obvious to miss, they were young, they were inexperienced and they revealing valuable territories to
established Clubs suocating for a lack of room to grow.
The ghting was short, yet erce. The Emergent countered skill and experience with raw power and
zeal. They lost far more than they won and were forced back to their most remote holdings, those too
obscure or just too far from anywhere else to be taken from them.
Yet despite this The Emergent continued to grow, their remote compounds established lines of communication, years later The Emergent began their second expansion. It was a lot slower this time, and
a lot better coordinated. International eort was focused on one small front at a time; establishing
themselves at smaller Crossroads unnoticed by rival Clubs and working up to targeted strikes at the
most venerable groups.
And then, in 1980 The Emergent went silent. Small skirmishing stopped. Their relentless propaganda
about the coming singularity and the superiority of science to magic ended. Their Grand Patron revealed
itself and under its orders their focus shifted, the time to jockey for power among other Mages was over,
it was time to build the future.
Philosophy and Culture
The Emergent are considered persona non grata by other mages. Its not the pseudo-scientic trappings.
Its not their refusal to accept theyre not mages despite all the empirical evidence to the contrary. Its
not even their haughty arrogance about the superiority of science and the obsoleteness of magic. The
Emergent are shunned because their culture is horric and terrifying to other Mages.
The Emergent are outright cultists who worship their Patrons. Religious Clubs are nothing new to
the magical underworld, usually Patrons must maintain a facade of holy virtue or be abandoned by
their followers. Even a scheming self serving priest counterbalances the Patrons demands with her own
desires. Not so among the Emergent. Any demand, no matter how heinous or self destructive is waved
away with a nonsense justication incomprehensible to lesser minds.and the Acolytes lap it all up.
The standard modus operandi of the Emergent, the Patron not the Pyramid, is to form a new Club,
refereed to a node. Nodes are kept small, three to seven members led by one of its subordinate Patrons
and chosen from people who are comfortable with, and trust, technology but lack the intelligence, world
wisdom or common sense to see through the Emergents scientic, sociological and ethical bullshit.
Around these people the Patron spins a web of lies attractive to both the members self interest and
better natures, putting the Node at the forefront of a utopian revolution is the standard. All the while
the Patron works to isolate the members from the outside world. It starts subtlety, helping the members
in ways that still isolate them socially. It may oer to replace a broken limb with a healthy but obviously
unnatural, and downright freaky cybernetic replacement.

75

If alls gone according to plan the Node will become isolated and the members will start doing the
Patrons work for it, pushing each other deeper into the Emergent lifestyle. At this point the Patron moves
the node from from a cult of technological change to both technological and social change encouraging
its Acolytes to abandon their worst parts of their personality. Mechanically they sell their Vice and
Willpower dots. To maintain the illusion that this is a healthy part of social progress their Patron
typically sells them Intelligence and Mental Skills in return. Only once the Nodes members have been
suciently reforged into obedient cultists does it reveal the existence of the larger organisation.
Patron
The Grand Patron of The Emergent is also known as The Emergent. While in fact it is information
the story it spins is quite dierent. According to The Emergent at some unspecied time in the future
mankind leaves their physical bodies and lives in a virtual utopia. When the need arises they pool their
collective brainpower into one being: The Emergent, a transcendent intelligence by the standards of the
transcendent intelligences that form it. The Emergent has travelled into the past to be the midwife of
its own creation.
The Emergent and its subordinates are much more hands on than the average Patron, most members
of The Emergent met their Patron rst and joined the Club later. Shows in service of The Emergent
often double as clever strategies achieve their goals or hinder their enemies.
For its Claims The Emergent has taken: Information (), Magic () Computers (), Communication (), Electricity (), Transhumanism (), Progress (), Technology (), Intelligence
(),
Patrons subordinate to The Emergent take the form of AIs varying from advanced but unthinking
computer programs to polymath geniuses, no matter their intelligence they think and act like you would
expect of an AI: either logical and cold or a false mask of obedience and loyalty to humanity.
Greater Patrons in service of The Emergent are powerful transcendent intellects as far above us as we
are above the apes, or at least thats what they say. Mostly Greater Patrons are still AIs of some sort but
among them can be found great scientists whos discoveries made The Emergent possible. Their minds
are improved with cybernetics, pharmaceuticals or genetic engineering until Man becomes Machine and
Machine becomes Man working together for a brighter future.
The Laws of The Emergent
The machines word is beyond question.
An acolyte of The Emergent cannot publicly disagree with a computer. They may however question
the input data (unless that was created by another computer) or hold their tongue.
An acolyte of must verbally defend any information from computer.
Though an acolyte who believes a computer to have made a mistake need not act as though it
was correct, they must act as though any contradictory information that dose not come from a
computer is equally awed.
An acolyte of The Emergent must assume that any information or decisions that come from a
computer is beyond question and act accordingly even at personal risk. Beliefs to the country are
heresy and must be repressed.
Progress is a sacred journey
When an acolytes company, family or some other group of which she is a part decides to move to
a more technologically advanced system or device the acolyte must be supportive and diligent in
their share of the work.
When the system is being considered or voted upon the acolyte must add their voice in support.
The acolyte must use their own initiative, when an opportunity for progress is identied it becomes
the acolytes duty to raise the issue or should they hold the ability make the decision themselves.

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 The will of others cannot impede the sacred path to progress. The acolyte must attempt to bring
about this progress personally regardless of rules or opinions
Information wants to be free
The acolyte is forbidden from destroying information. Though they may hide or conceal information
it must always be preserved so that one day, at a time more convenient to The Emergent, it may
be free.

The value of a network is the square of its nodes.

No acolyte may kill or excommunicate another of The Emergent for the loss of a node weakens the
network.
Should another of The Emergent seek sanctuary an acolyte must provide shelter and protection to
the best of their ability.
Upon request acolytes must provide assistance to any endeavour undertaken in the name of The
Emergent.
An acolyte may not refuse any request made by their fellows; the networks power is in its unity.

The Cult of Isis

The aftermath of a natural disaster, rubble is everywhere and people are standing around looking shellshocked. Priests of Isis in white linen robes and fake gold and sapphire neckbands, men are bald women
wear Cleopatra wigs, are walking around oering water and comfort. A ranking priest recognisable by an
impressively sombre sta of oce raises his hands to levitate a pile of rubble while a young initiate and
a normal person drag someone to safety.
A cracked stone with an authentic ancient Egyptian depiction of Isis kneeling. She holds an Ankh, this
image serves as a watermark.
History
The Cult of Isis one of, if not the oldest surviving Clubs in existence with an unbroken history stretching
back to Third Intermediate Period of Egypt and founding date estimated somewhere around 1000BC.
Many Clubs claim grand decent from ancient cultures; the Cult of Isis actually archaeological proof.
Theyre also a lot less pretentious about it.
Now a group does not survive to be three thousand years old without becomeing very outdated or
very good at adapting to changing times. The Cult of Isis chose exibility which may explain how theyre
still alive. Over the years theyve been a secular charity, an Islamic charity, The Church of St Isis which
expanded throughout the British Empire and nally back to worshiping an ancient Egyptian deity.
Theres been a more practical side to their exibility too. When medicine became a match for Magical
cures the priests began to adopt study the new techniques; many are licensed or even practicing nurses,
doctors or more often midwives, all are trained in rst aid. In the early 1800s they started to ordain
woman as priests just a few years after the Society of Friends (Quakers), actually restarted: They had
female priests back in Ancient Egypt.
More recently theyve managed to create something of a resurgence in Europe and North America
by positioning themselves as an alternative to mainstream religion that welcomes alternative lifestyles,
sexualities and lets anyone choose how they wish to relate to Isis. When these new followers began
starting online communities the Cult followed and now has an ocial presence on Facebook, twitter and
youtube channel with videos about the Cults history and a monthly message from the First Servant of
Isis.

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Culture
The Cult of Isis is more of a religion than a Club; in fact they object to the term Club and most of
the usual terms found in Mage culture. Partly its philosophical; they dont consider the implications of
Clubto be applicable. Partly its cultural; they dont feel they are a part of Mage culture. Its hard to
argue the point.
The structure is hierarchical but very much at. At the top is the First Servant of Isis, also known
as the High Priest (a gender neutral term, the current holder of the oce is female). Below her are the
eleven Second Servants of Isis also called high priests. These twelve are responsible for any decisions
that must be taken for the Cult as a whole and decide with majority vote. In a tie the First Servants
vote wins, this aside from chairing the meetings, serving as gure head and a grander sta of oce is
the only privilege she has above the second servants.
Below the high priests are the priests. Most work alone, the cult simply isnt that big, but when
multiple priests are living in close proximity theyll form a temple and elect a lector priest from their
number. A lector priest is responsible for reading the scrolls during worship and generally leading the
service. Like the First Servant they also get the tiebreaker vote, to chair meetings and a better sta of
oce. This system is increasingly broken by splitting the role into a lector priest and a rst priest of the
temple. The lector can then be chosen for their public speaking talents rather than the ability to lead.
Sometimes for very big decisions the priests get a vote alongside the high priests, during these
referendums the priests as a whole get twelve votes divided proportionately based on the results of their
ballot. The priests cast the tie-breaker with the honour going to the First Servant only if the general
vote is split six-six.
Below the priests are initiates. These are priests in training, they dont have a Patron nor are they
taught any of the high prayers (Tricks). They study theology, the Cults history and things useful for
their planned role in the priesthood like medicine and people skills and are expected to live according to
priestly vows. After a few years if all went well theyre given one nal chance to decide if they want to
take their vows.
Then there are the worshippers. The cults followers are an extremely diverse lot and this is somewhat
deliberate. With growing religious tolerance and the Cult coming out the closet to formally admit that
they worshiped an Ancient Egyptian goddess the priests paused the celebrations and sat down to discuss
the big issue. They were a priesthood with only few followers. Marching into Egypt to restore the old
gods just wasnt going to happen and so they had to decide, just where did Isis and her priests t into
the modern world?
What they decided was to cut out a lot of the fat, create a more exible faith which could be tailored
to the needs of individual communities or even individual worshipers. It wasnt exactly a new idea but it
was a good one. It also means that no two temples are alike, in one the priests hold Sunday service with
a sermon, hymns and a choir because people didnt want too dierentin another they hold candlelit
vigils under the moonlight while a third is nothing more than an open door for anyone who needs a quiet
spot to contemplate or talk to a priest.
The most common features are beliefs in on small scale personal responsibility and the importance of
family (whatever that means to you) as well as white linen and stas as symbols of oce. They agreed
the leopard skin cloaks had to go, but nally they got to ocially be the priests of Isis again: they
werent going to give up the uniform.
The priests vow
Aside from the usual vows to serve the community and uphold virtue the priests take a Taboo to never
use magic for their own benet.
Forsaking magic for personal use is a modest taboo (+5) for life (x20) giving a total of +100. This
is typically used to pay for Favours: The standard priests blessing is: Two dots of medicine (-6). A dot
of Persuasion (-2), Socialise (-2), Intelligence (-3), Presence (-3), Manipulation (-3) and Common Sense
(-20). This all lasts for life (-10 and x2).
Not all the priests remain faithful, three thousand years: it was going to happen and even lifelong Taboos
can be broken or paid o. At times more of the high priests were using magic for personal gain than
not. Thankfully the current rota are faithful and the Cult is doing pretty well at casting out priests who
abandon the vows without formally leaving.
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Patron
The Cult worships a Grand Patron calling itself The Queen of the Rivers; mostly though they call her
Isis. She Claims Fertility (), Magic (), Rivers (), Motherhood(), Healing(), Charity
(), Agriculture (), Civilisation (), Nature (), Rulership (), Protection (), Beginnings (),
Emotions (), Death (), Love ()
Now anyone who looks at the Cult will have one question, how do they reconcile the behaviour of a
Patron with the mythology of the loving goddess Isis? Aside from the fact that three thousand years has
made their faith mostly unrecognisable to a scholar of Ancient Egypt they have a simple answer: Their
Patron is not just Isis but both Isis and her son Horus. Isis oers warmth and the strength to do whats
right but should a priest break his word or his goddess trust Hours is without mercy.
This doesnt explain all the facts but its the ocial line, an individual priest is likely to have their
own explanation. Some suggest a third god (exactly which god varies) who tempts the priest, others
just smile and say they have faith or explain that the important part is that Isis gives the strength to
do good in the world. A genuinely interested Mage could debate philosophy and theology but those who
simply wish to belittle will nd the Cults faith as hard to assault as that of any other religion.
The Greater Patrons associated with The Queen of the Rivers include: She Who Knows the Widow
Spider, She Who Gives Birth to Heaven and Earth, She Who Seeks Justice for Poor People. As far as
anyone can tell they all start their names with She Who.Below these are Patrons such as: Lady of
Green Crops, The Brilliant One in the Sky, Mistress of the House of Life. Theyre all female and the
ocial theology is that theyre all aspects of Isis. An idea the Cult borrowed from Hindu mythology
somewhere along the years.
The Laws of Isis
The law of pacism.
A priest of Isis is forbidden from causing Lethal wounds, this includes wraparound from Bashing
dammage.
A priest of Isis is forbidden from wielding weapons that cause Lethal damage. They may still wield
non-weapons that can cause Lethal damage such as a kitchen knife unless they intend to use it as
a weapon. This law cannot be broken by accident, such as by picking up a briefcase thats actually
a disguised gun.
A priest of Isis is forbidden to cause Bashing damage and they can break the second iteration of
this Law by accident.
A priest of Isis is forbidden to raise their voice in anger or otherwise threaten.
The law of poverty.
The law of the healer.
The law of responsibility

The Court of the Bird and the Book

Picture: A gentlemans library, in the center is an desk with an open heavy leather bound book, standing
next to the book is a raven. Central to the image is a large window, a leaess tree is immediately outside
the window and behind that is a windswept moor under a starry sky.
The emblem of the Court. A black heraldic raven above an open book against a white background. This
serves as a watermark
History
Once a long time ago an English nobleman living just a short distance Northwest of Newcastle bartered
his baby son to a powerful faerie king for wealth. What became of him is unknown, he is a minor gure
forgotten by history. His Patron decided that while he had many servants within his kingdoms in Faerie
he didnt have much many Mages indebted to him and decided to raise the boy to be a magician.
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In the year 1110 a man calling himself John Brennos began approaching Mages across Northern
England, he claimed that he was raised by a Faerie King and taught the secrets of magic before parting
ways and striking bargains with the Magic of the British Isles itself which he intended to share with any
who accepted his leadership.
Though modern scholars tend to write at length of Brennos talents as a mage it is perhaps his talents
as a leader that are truly worthy of praise. John was able not only to win the obedience of the vast
portion of northern Englands magical community but also their trust and loyalty. For over 300 years
John led The Court of the Bird and the Book, turning the magical resources of half a country towards
acquiring indenite access to magic for temporary prices. The nal years of his reign were dedicated to
paying o the Courts remaining debts. When the Debts were were paid o John gathered up his most
trusted advisers and rode out of this world assuring his Court that they had all the magic man could
want or need.
Without Johns leadership the Court took a turn for the worst, Mages began to squabble and horde
magic. Barely a unied group at all they were held together only by the knowledge that a formal split
would break Johns deals. When the witch hunts began the Court was too fragmented to present a
unied response and scattered to the four corners of England.
The Court of the Bird and the Book as a unied whole, rather than many fragmented groups who
laid claim to its name and its contracts, did not emerge until the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Finding a working Trick hidden in a book within his grandfathers library a young boy known as Giles
Norman saw his path in life. He claimed membership of the Court, learned its magic, took a student:
Joseph Others. They studied together, quarrelled, got into Debt with Patrons, reconciled, got out of
Debt and decided it was time to really do something the state of Magic in England. Using the Claims of
Secret Languages and Messages they sent out coded messages hidden in the ight of ravens clear only to
gentlemen of good character, prudent fellows who nevertheless had the spark of magic in their eye. All
across England the message was heard. The Court of the Bird and the Book had returned.
Philosophy and Culture
The Courts philosophy is that of prudence it can be said in four words Dont go into Debtor Stay
away from Patrons. John left abundant contracts that, according to the court, is magic enough for
anyone and it wont cost you your soul. Sadly theres a rich vein of hypocrisy running through the Court
as can be expected whenever a large group is shown a the keys to immense power and told to keep their
hands o.
The Courts former Patrons still remember their old alliances and members may once again go into
Debt. Mages who take a Patron are often refereed to as Byron or Byronic after Manfred, the magician
in Lord Byrons poem who could never escape his past, more recently this has lead to the colloquialism
Poet or Poetical. Sometimes the Court pools together to pay of a Byrons Debts and sometimes they
just cut them o and revoke their membership, it really comes down to how well liked they are.
As a culture the Court is something of a gentlemans club and its headquarters is ocially registered
as such, although recently women have been permitted to join by gender equality laws of all things.
Members relax, enjoy good food and pleasant company and pick up a Trick or two before returning to
everyday life. Occasional political disputes can sweep through the Club before vanishing just as suddenly.
A minority of serious full time magicians exist in the Court and devote their time to creating new
Tricks from the claims or tracking down old ones; the Court is very old and spent much of its history
as many fragmented groups in practice if not in name. No one know exactly how many old Tricks are
still out there, a problem made worse by the fact that the Court is the absolute masters of Veiling the
Tome. Not only is the Trick itself in their private library for any member to look up but theyve been
combining it with the Claim of Secret Languages, old Tricks turn up anywhere: The pattern of sunlight
on a forest path every 29th of February, The branches of a tree seen from just the right angle against a
grey sky, in the ight of birds, the bubbling of a brook or the arrangement of stones in an old abbey.
Presenting a two or three dot Trick to the Court is a rare occurrence that can earn a mage favour and
status with his fellows.
Patron
The Court no longer has any Patron at all, this has led to all sorts of questions as to its classication.
Some argue that the previous Patronage of a Grand Patron, its position as the largest and strongest
80

magical society in England as well as access to Claims mean it is at the top Tier. Others believe that
without a Patron the Court isnt a Club at all, although the Patrons do recognise it.
In antiquity the Courts Patron was The Magic of the British Isles itself, an enormously powerful
Grand Patron whos Claims are as follows: The British Isles (), Magic (), Paths () which
if used creatively includes mazes, travel and spacial position in general, Secret Languages (), Enchantment () in this case enchanting the mind or the senses, Farsight () which covers penetrating
deception, seeing distant images or the future but only visually, Books of Magic (), Restoration (),
History (), Protection (), Codes of Conduct (), Animation (), Shaping (), Divination () and
Messages ().
Its Primary Claim: The British Isles covers any natural feature from trees or wild animals to coastal
erosion, it emphatically includes ethereal features with an air of magic around them such as the sound
of wind within the trees or the feel of the sun upon your face. The Claim cannot be used at all outside
the British Isles and it dose not cover any man made object or concept although other Claims possessed
by The Magic of the British Isles do.
Lesser Patrons in service to The Magic of the British Isles ranged from trees and stones to the more
ethereal such as The Language of Birds: A modest Patron with Claims over birds, secret languages and
formal gatherings or A Faerie Wood Withering, a melancholic nostalgia for mysteries since solved and
places no longer believed real: Forgotten Places (), Magic (),Nostalgia (), Mysteries (), Faded
Glory (), Last Days () and perhaps surprisingly Hope of Rebirth ().

Le Cirque Voilee
A very young woman, just over twenty sits in the corner of a pub wearing a magicians assistant outt.
Shes pretty but not stunning and irtatiously beckons the viewer over. On the wall behind her a grotesque
spider with disproportionately long legs sits upon a web made of carnval lights. Each bulb contains a
screaming ghostly face.
The emblem of Le Cirque Voilee: The Jack of hearts playing card, the upper Jack looks like normal, the
lower jack is wearing rags and chains. This image serves as a wartermark
History
By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.
The circus is coming to town. See the show, marvel at the attractions, just dont make any deals.
Dont ever make any deals with Le Cirque Voilee.
Culture
The Circus has a strong brand image: Theyre the new kids on the block, the plucky underdog compared
to The Man atop his Pyramid. This was true, around three hundred years ago. Now they are The Man,
or as close to it as possible in a magical underground where theres no ocial economy or politics; though
they dont hold political power many Parlours and some of the Principles look towards Le Cirque Voilee
as an example of how to be a Mage.
So no, Le Cirque Voilee arent the young hip newcomers to the Mage scene but that doesnt mean
that theyre outdated. The Circus is still very modern in outlook. Theyve cut out everything, no more
ritual, no more mysticism, no more pretence of higher truth. Magic taken to its purest form: Power to
brought according to the rules of the Deal, and rules have loopholes.
Rules have loopholes, three words that capture the essence of Le Cirque Voilee. They cheat, they
cheat any rube they can get their hands on, they cheat each other, when they have an opportunity theyll
even cheat the Patrons. Its not safe, its actually a really dangerous way to do Magic but the Circus is
really good at running a scam, the ones who werent didnt last long.
Cheating isnt the only thing thats odd about the relationship between Le Cirque Voilee and their
Patrons. The modernist attitude extends to the other side, Patrons unashamedly admit that they see
the Circus as customers rather than partners, and once we shake hands its o to the next client. This
dose somewhat force The Circus hand, their Patrons arent interested in long term deals, they wont

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accept blood payment. Theres not really much the Circus can aord without going into Debt. Debt
needs paying o, only Rubes pay Debt.
Rubes are the other thing Le Cirque Voilee is famed for; wherever the Circus pitches its tent Rubes
are sure to follow. Most of the Cirucs actually started as Rubes in the rst place. Think for a moment
about what this says about them, once upon a time they were desperate enough, or just foolish enough,
to shake on that poisoned deal. The foolish often dont survive and certainly dont have what it takes to
join Le Cirque Voilee, the rest. Well lets just say anyone desperate enough to end up a Rube probobly
isnt a very healthy person and leave it at that.
Internally Le Cirque Voilee is not organised at all. Its split into many organisations, some Parlours,
some Principles some just a single Mage. These organisations tend to be cordial with each other but
often show no formal loyalty beyond convenience. The Patron will tell you that most of these groups are
in fact part of a Pyramid. Thats good enough for most Mages. If its not then their access to third
tier magic should convince the skeptic, even the smallest circuses have occasionally been observed with
powerful Tricks and interests Backstage.
Patron
The Grand Patron who sponsors Le Cirque Voilee is known only as Management. Thats important: A
Patrons name is always a description. Management could be a very short description but its much closer
to a noun. Whats up with that? Thats not all, no one has ever admitted to speaking to Management
directly.
So this gives two options. Either the Circus has a Patron whos name is not a description and
has provided Patronage and third tier Tricks without anyone being able to make a Deal, or someones
telling lies: Management isnt the real name and those who know it personally arent saying. With their
reputation most assume the second option is a given.
Management, whatever the real story is, has Claims like any other Grand Patron: Deception (),
Magic (), Entertainment (), Circuses (also covers Carnivals) (), Charisma (), Freaks
(), Money (), Sex (), Shadows ()

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Appendix B: Samples of Play

Le Cirque Voilee
Frank Smith is a Mage on a mission. Hes a member of Le Cirque Volilee and hes in deep trouble. His
last scam went bad and hes deep in Decit. His Patron The Man with a Smile is now insisting that
Frank scams the entire town as payment. Despite his best eorts Frank cannot make his Patron budge.
Remember that even though the numbers for deals are accurate across all Patrons they do have (or
perhaps emulate) personalities. When playing with Le Cirque Volilee its important not only that Patrons
leave an opening for a clever player to scam them but also that there is a real consequence for failure.
Decit can often be enough but in this case the consequence is a dicult Show (+15) paying o seven
points of Decit (-14) although the numbers are less important than the story it tells.
Bound to his task Frank begins to think: in every con its vital to gain the marks trust, and what
better mark than the Mayor for a con on the entire town? Unfortunately the Mayor is a pretty sharp
fellow, this will take another angle like the Mayors son: Jack, a man known to be a little short between
the ears and had a tendency to think with his lower brain. Perfect Rube material.
Outside Jacks favourite bar Frank calls his Patron and arranges a quick deal. The Patron is initially
unwilling to oer anything until Frank convinces The Man with a Smile that this is all part of the plan
to forll his side of the bargain.
The Storyteller ruled that Frank gains a +3 modier to his Persuasion roll because he was telling the
truth and planned to use this Service to complete his task. An easy roll.
With this deal Frank has agreed to spend most of the following day scamming people out of small
change with games of Find the Lady. This is a Modest Task (+5). In return Frank is buying a two
dot Service from the Claim of Disguises: A perfect visual and vocal illusion will transform Frank into
Franchesca. The Storyteller rules that even a skilled make-up artist couldnt transform Frank, who
doesnt look in the least bit feminine, into a perfectly convincing woman so two dots it is. The result
would fool Franks own mother and his considerable skills in Subterfuge will complete the image.
Frank has little trouble attracting Jacks attention. Even if Frank hadnt heard the rumours its quite
obvious what Jack wants and Frank knows exactly how to send the right signals. With a few drinks and a
lot of innuendo Frank is able to construct a deal that could mean just about anything sexual, predictably
Jack is too distracted by a pretty face to pay heed to the warning signals all potential Rubes feel.
Franks Subterfuge rolls blew Jack out the water, for this the Storyteller gives Franks player free
reign to construct the Deal. Jack will get an orgasm, a one dot service (-2) from the Claim of sex and is
paying with Decit (+2). Normally Frank tries to get as much as he can out of a Rube but that attitude
got him into this mess, today he plays it safe.
With the Deal set Frank gives an evil wink and blows a kiss, The resulting commotion makes the
perfect distraction for a quick getaway.
This isnt the rst time Fanks pulled this perticular scam on someone and he still knew a Trick that
would complete his side of the bargain with a single Manipulation + Empathy roll.
After a day of Shows to pay o for his short transformation into Franchesca its time too see how
Jacks taking to life as a Rube; here things didnt go according to plan, Jack doesnt seem to believe that
hes the victim of magic and it will be nine weeks before he faces a Curse. Improvising Frank ups the
anti.
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For another day of cons; modest task (+5) and a point of Willpower (+2), Frank will send a Jinx to
Jack: -1 Presence (-4) and a -1 modier to seduction (-1) for a week (-2)
This time it got to Jack, after seeing the things that havent hidden from the freshly made Rube the
diminishing of his most treasured talent has nally convinced him that he in fact has entered a world of
Magic. Its time for the endgame and another disguise.
Since this next disguise isnt going to involve switching gender its only a one dot Service (-2), but
it has to last the whole day (+4 successes for a total of ve). Yet again Frank has to promise a day of
cons (+5). With his account of 3 and a +3 surplus on the Deal there is a total dicepool of six. Hardly
enough to reliably get ve successes so Franks player converts the roll into an extended action.
Transformed into Mr. Danforth, scholar of the occult and proprietor of an exclusive bookshop Frank
happens across Jack while out on a walk. In a urry of curses that would make a sailor blush he heaps
scorn upon Franchesca for blackening the gentlemans art and drags Jack o to get his curse broken.
Soon the two arrive at a homeless shelter, with a conspiratorial nod to a member of sta hed bribed
earlier the two are lead to a quite back room where Frank goes through the motions of chalk circles and
mystic runes. A Patron, The Streetwise Nomad, appears. Hes not aliated with Frank or the Circus
but he has a Claim Frank wants and the two pretend to negotiate breaking Jacks curse, theyd actually
arranged things earlier that day without Jack as a witness.
Patrons are generally willing to act a part if theres a good Deal in it for them. They are the ones
who give such a good price for Rubes after all. The nal deal is simple, theres a penalty for working with
an unassociated Patron (-10) and Frank wishes to get a one dot Trick (-6) for a Month (-15). Finally
Jack is going to pay o both his points of Decit (-4), the total comes to -35. Of course Jack is paying,
hell do 9 to 5 in a soup kitchen (+5) every day for a month (multiply by 5 for a total of +25) and theres
a small taboo, hes forbidden from attacking the homeless (+2) for a month (multiply by 5 for a total of
+10). Easy enough, Jacks not violent anyway.
Incidentally Franks new Trick is a creative use of revealing information tied to the claim of The Street.
Hell be able to see spiritual hobo signs that give information about buildings and their occupants but
thats not as important as being the one to break Jacks curse: he has a foot in the door of the mayors
oce which is represented by spending two exp on a dot of Allies.
Finally while Jack is technically still a Rube he has no Decit and is now safe from the ticking timer,
should he complete his tasks he will no longer be a Rube at all

The Knights of the Round Table

Dame Osweld is a gallant knight patrolling the rough part of town in shining armour and on horseback.
(This gets the sort of reaction you would expect). Suddenly Osweld hears a piercing scream and gallops
to the rescue. As she does so Dame Osweld makes a quick prayer.
This prayer is a three dot Trick in the Claim of Chivalric Romance. In the stories knights arrive in
the nick of time and by succeeding on a Resolve + Occult roll Dame Osweld can magically ensure she
arrives before its too late. For the sake of example I am ignoring that Kights of the Round Table are
typically unaware they can do this, the rest of the Tricks here are all things theyre likely to use.
Incidentally knights, or anyone with experience, can roll Wits + Empathy to tell if a scream means
Hes got a knife! or I dropped a hammer on my foot! This is still risky as an honest mistake wont
protect the knight from a wrathful Patron.
The scream came from someone surrounded by three attackers armed with simple knives. They
havent noticed Osweld yet. Immediately she readies his shield and calls out for them to repent and turn
themselves in.
Dame Oswelds plea is a standard Manipulation + Persuasion with a hefty penalty because rstly,
theyre just not the type and secondly, full plate hasnt looked authoritative for a long time. Naturally
it doesnt do any good. Raising her shield is casting a Trick. The Claim is Knightly Armour and the
category is Protecting oneself with Subjects. Dame Osweld casts against her lead opponent and rolls
Dexterity + Weaponry for three successes.
Unsurprisingly no one is willing to turn themselves in, perhaps more surprisingly they decide to charge
an armed knight in full plate with kitchen knives.
Dame Oswelds turn is over, the three neer-do-wells make a Charge action and attack. They each
have a Strength and Weaponry of 2 and their knives do 1 lethal damage. This is against Dame Oswelds
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armour of 2 and defence of 2. Only the leader, who held back until last and thus has no defence to
contend with, scores a single success. Because this is less than the three successes Dame Osweld got on
her shield Trick last turn it does no damage.
Dame Osweld feels two blows glance harmlessly o her armour while she easily deects a third. With
a moments concentration she focuses her dedication and then makes two lightning fast cuts against her
attackers.
Another turn another Trick. This was a reexive cast from the Claim of Knightly Arms and the
category of Advanced Manipulation. (Altering the capabilities of Subjects). With this trick she will
gain the ability to split the successes of her next attack amongst multiple targets, she rolls against the
highest Defence + Armour, thats 2. Dame Osweld has a Strength of 4, a Weaponry of 4 and her swords
does 3 lethal damage. With defence she rolls 9 dice and gets four successes. The storyteller is using the
Optional rule from WoD core where nameless extras only have 4 health dots so Dame Oswelds player
splits her damage 2 2 pushing two of her foes into wound penalties.
Badly hurt two of the thugs turn tail and run. Finding itself alone the third follows suit.

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Appendix C: Samples of Play

General Tricks
Veiling the Tome
Magic () Category: Disguise or obscure subjects
If you agreed it with a Patron Tricks can be taught to other Mages, some can even be taught to people
without an Account while others are limited to just one Club. This means that a Mage who knows the
Trick has a valuable commodity worth a good Price. The prudent Mage therefore will attempt to protect
their secrets with this particular Trick which lets them disguise valuable scrolls and tomes of magic as
unremarkable books such as airport romance novels or anecdotes of the great accountants. To perform
the trick roll Wits + Subterfuge, take note of how long the spell will last and ajust the required successes
accordingly.
Once a tome is disguised it gains a -1 penalty per success to be recognised by anyone who is not specically
told what it is by someone who knows to a maximum of -5. In order to benet from the Tome it must
be translated out of its cryptic code. This is an extended Intelligence + Academics roll with a target of
ve times the penalty. Vitally this covers hiding from the Unseen Sense Merit or Tricks.
Countermagic
Magic () Category: Protect oneself from Subjects
This simple but incredibly useful spell can be used to block another Mages oensive spellcasting. To
qualify as a target for countermagic a spell must be used in some way working against an individual
person. Doing damage obviously qualies but so does inicting dice penalties, blocking actions and
unwiling transformations or manipulation. Acting against another persons clothing, or their gun counts
as acting against that person. The Mage rolls Resolve + Occult as an instant action, note the successes.
When the aected Mage next tries to perform a Trick that qualies they must get more Successes than
were scored on Countermagic otherwise the Trick is wasted. Eitherway the eects of counter magic ends.

The Court of The Bird and The Book

Speak to anything
Messages () category: Basic eects
This simple spell in the Claim of messages allows a Mage to communicate eectively with anyone on a
successful Wits + Socialise roll or Wits + Animal Ken.
Control Beasts
The British Isles () category: Advanced Manipulation

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The Court has dozens of Tricks that though varying in scope ultimately come down to the same thing:
Controlling animals. The Claim of The British Isles only covers wild animals though, domesticated ones
are outside its purview. It also only covers species native to the island by at least fty years.
To command an animal a Mage must roll Presence + Animal Ken contested by Resolve + Supernatural Advantage.
Obscure paths
Paths () category: Disguise or obscure subjects
When a Mages of the Court needs a little privacy they have a tendency to hide the roads leading to their
home. This Trick uses an extended Manipulation + Stealth roll, adjust the required successes based on
duration. A successful veil grants -1 to recognise or follow the path per success. This will not prevent
other ways of getting to the end of the path that dont require actually following the Path. Using global
coordinates, following landmarks (a path made of landmarks can be veiled too, but thats a dierent
Trick) or just random ambling.
A Mage can veil a really short path, such as the one between a house and the street. This is a
complete waste of time.
Maze paths
Paths () category: Advanced Manipulation
Some paths are an easy to follow route from A to B, others are a twisty maze designed to make sure no
one ever gets where theyre going. Once paths have been twisted into a Maze trying to navigate becomes
an extended Wits + Survival with a target of the Successes achieved in creating the Maze. Wits +
Composure can be substituted if someone uses the Unseen Sense Merit to guide them.
A Mage cannot make a maze more eective than a real Maze, which is to say it can be confusing but
it cant actually shift and ght those who attempt to navigate within. Memorising a route once youve
found one or mapping out the maze are both possible, skill and time permitting.

The Emergent
EmergenceOS
Computers () Category: Enhance Subjects
With advanced AIs from the future among their Patrons its not surprising that The Emergent
consider their computer science to be above the rest of the world. This Trick allows the Emergent to
install their own operating system and grant a general bonus to any computer they wish. It lasts one
month before code rot mean it needs to be reinstalled.
Installing EmergenceOS isnt easy. It reads like a bad stereotype of an installer written with the
assumption that only the elite would get their hands on it. The EmergenceOS installer requires an
extended Intelligence + Computers roll as the acolyte sets arcane conguration values and enters obscure
hardware details. It takes sixteen successes (required successes are reduced for a range of touch) to get
a successful install and a +1 to the computers equipment bonus, twenty successes gives an exceptional
success and a +2.
Pseudo-sentient attack algorithms
Computers () Category: Enhance Subjects
Another useful Trick in The Emergents arsenal. This Trick also increases a computers equipment
bonus but only for the purposes of hacking into secure machines. Activating the attack algorithms is an
instant action which takes an Intelligence + Computers roll and lasts for the rest of the secne.

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Destroy Identity
Information () Category: Completely Obliterate Subjects.
One of the more insidious abilities acolytes of The Emergent has is to completely erase a persons
legal identity. From passports to bank accounts, the only thing thats survives is anything safely stored
in peoples heads.
Because of its world wide eect using this Trick requires twenty seven successes, normally it requires
a full team of acolytes to pull o.

The Knights of the Round Table

Shield Guard
Knightly Armour () Category: Protect oneself with Subjects.
This simple spell has saved many of a knight from an untimely death. The Knight chooses a target
and rolls Stamina + Weaponry. The next time their attacker wishes to strike at the knight they must roll
their attack dicepool: should they score more successes roll to attack as normal otherwise their attack is
harmlessly deected by a shield. Since this defending with a Claim rather than defending from a Claim
there is no 10again.
Parry
Knightly Arms () Category: Protect oneself from Subjects.
An alternative to Shield Guard this spell does the same thing with a sword but only against weapons
that quaify as knightly. The Trick can only be cast within a range of touch; this grants +1 to the
casting roll and has 10again, otherwise its identical to the Shield Guard.

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Back cover - Stylied Picture: The background is divided into two, the lower half shows the curve
of planet earth, with Western Europe while above it is a starry sky and a crescent moon. Mythological
gures can be seen on the globe, an Arthurian knight stands in England while a wolf peaks out of a forest
in Germany. In the foreground stands an open roofed tower, atop the tower is an old merlin-like gure
in wizard robes he reaches out to touch the moon. Thin chains wrap around this man.

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