| abstract | - Resonance is an important tool for Mages we have not been using too much. Resonance is essentially a psychic imprint. You can view Resonance using Mage sight, and it functions differently for each sight used. Here are some quick examples of what Mage Sight can be used for. All- • Identity: (1 success) Each resonance or aura is as unique as a fingerprint. If a mage has seen or studied a resonance before and is familiar with it, one success allows him to recognize the subject. He can recognize the resonance of the subject regardless of any sort of physical disguise or transformation,allowing him to detect people in disguise or under the effects of a transformative spell. With five successes, he can recognize shapeshifters in any of their forms. There aresome means of disguising a subject's resonance (see below). Note that powerful mages have strong auras. Their Gnosis gives others a bonus to notice and scrutinize their resonance. See "Gnosis," pp. 75-76. • Nature: (1 success) Resonance reveals a subject's true nature: human or inhuman, mortal or spirit, Sleeper or Awakened. One success is enough to alert the mage that the person is not what he seems to be, but the mage doesn't necessarily know what the subject really is. Five successes allow a mage to determine a subject's true nature. Among other things, this insight allows the Awakened to recognize each other through resonance, unless concealed in some way. Mages can also pick supernatural beings such as vampires or shapeshifters out of a group of ordinary mortals, although they might not be able to identify what they are, only that they aren't normal. (In my game, you need death to know if something is a vampire or other undead. You need Spirit to know if someone is a spirit ridden or werewolf. Other Arcanum apply to other creatures I will no list. ;) ) Death - Detecting Vampires, Ghost Ridden, Ghouls, People effected by Vampiric Disciplines, Revenants, Magically Disguised Undead , Places where death is prevalent. Detecting certain resonance is harder then detecting others. Fate - Detecting significant interconnections at a glance. Looking for a needle in a hay stack. Hearing something said that has a significant truth to it. Forces- Detecting energy. The more invisible the energy the harder it is. Must be focused and in control, or risk overloading senses. Life- Life, if sick or not. Matter- Can more easily read the resonance of dense/inert objects. Mind - The use of other mental based supernatural disciplines, the emotional state of those around them, the emotinal imprint left on a spell or a object created/ Prime- Can detect the true natures of a creature, and most versitile mage sight. Great when coupled with another. Space- Space effects, most usuallly caused by space magic. Spirit - Werewolves, Werewolf Gifts, Spirits, Spirit Numina, Spirit gifts Time- People who have been touched by time in a wierd way. people with age defying effects. Spellcasting The Rules for Spellcasting Their way. My way. Whats the difference? Step 1: Pick/Create the spell you want to cast Step 2: Create an Imago image in your mind. Originally I thought this was a way for them to force you to role play. Now I know the truth. Part of picturing IMAGO is so that you describe what you INTEND it to do. This, in the end, makes the game go faster and everyone happier. I know what you want. I decide if its reasonable. If I do, I have the NPC react. Then we continue, game on. Sounds so simple and pretty. Step 3: Paradox. Yes, Paradox. I have been rolling for it once I knew the spell succeeded, but it is supposed to be the other way around. As your mage bends reality to his will, it begins to break. The seems begin to split. It does not happen once done, wood does not begin to splinter only once broken. I will roll paradox before. Those successes are SUBTRACTED from your dice pools. So the world might start getting a little crazy, and your spell might not have gone off. Makes you worry about burning those vampires a little, eh? Step 4: Resolution I say what went down. If the spell invoked a Paradox, the Paradox roll's successes are subtracted from the casting roll as a penalty. At this point, the player must make the casting roll, even if he's been reduced to a chance die - he can't back out now.
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