Mage Live Action Rules

by Gil Richard (g_richa@husky1.stmarys.ca)
Modified for Brevard Beastiary
By Daniel B Utecht.

Magick System

3.0 Casting magical Effects
Every magical effect must effect reality in some way. The principal thing to remember when crafting a magical effect is to first of all work the magical effect into your paradigm and magical style. If you cannot do this, then your mage should not believe it possible, and thus the effect cannot be cast. Secondly, if the effect is successfully cast, determine what the target or anyone witnessing the magical effect would see or experience as a result of the magical effect? This second part must also take into account the paradigm and magical style of mage. A Son of Ether casting a Mind effect would look drastically different than, say, a Verbena casting the same effect. When this is done, when you have determined all aspects of the magical effect, only then should you move on to the testing. This is truly the deciding factor as to whether your mage game is going to be a live-action mage game or a paper-rock-scissors festival.

3.1 Non-resisted effects
A non-resisted effect is a magical effect that does not directly effect another player. To cast one, the mage must risk an appropriate trait (mental. physical, or social) and win an Arete challenge vs the Sphere Level of the effect. If the mage wins, the magical effect is successfully cast with an effect rating equal to the mage's Arete, and may have any or all of the parameters as determined by the tables below. In the case of a tie, and the sphere rating of the effect is the same as the mage's Arete, then keep testing until there is a winner. The mage may spend a willpower to temporarily increase his Arete total by one for the magical effect, but this must be declared before the magical effect is tested. The difficulty of the magical effect may be influenced by +/- one with the magical effect influences listed below the tables, to a maximum or +/- two. If the mage fails the magical effect test, but is eligible to over-bid the magical effect test, an appropriate Ability may be spent to re-test the effect. If the mage succeeds the effect is successfully cast at an effect rating equal to the mage's Arete. If the mage fails the second test, it is considered botched, and the mage accumulates Paradox as per the Paradox table below.

3.2 Resisted effects
A resisted effect is a magical effect that directly effects another player, who can try to resist the effects of the magical effect. The mage chooses whatever trait category would be the most appropriate to resist the magical effect test (IE physical for direct damage, mental for mind control), and must defeat the target of the effect in an Arete vs whatever trait category was deemed most appropriate challenge, where the mage has four times their Arete in the case of a tie. Again, the mage may spend a willpower point to temporarily increase their Arete total for the magical effect, which must be declared before any testing is done. Each positive/negative magical effect influence influences the opponent's total in the case of a tie by two, to a maximum of +/- 4. Success has the magical effect casted at an effect rating equal to the mage's Arete rating, and the target may be effected with any or all of the parameters specified in the tables below. If the mage fails the magical effect, they may spend an Ability to re-test as described in the Unresisted Effects section above.

3.3 magical effect power levels
When a mage successfully casts a magical effect, the Effect Rating is compared to the below table to determine what power level the magical effect has, and the extent to which it affects the target. The magical effect can have any or all of the parameters listed in the table, and do not necessarily have to affect at the maximum level listed in the table.

	magical effect power level table
Effect Rating	Maximum Duration	Max Area Effect (#people/area/volume/mass (weight)	Max Damage or Healing
1	1 challenge	1 person/1 ft rad/1 cu ft/1 lb	0
2	1 hour	1 per/5 ft rad/5 cu ft/5 lbs	1
3	1 day	1 per/20 ft rad/10 cu ft/50 lbs	1
4	1 week	2 per/300 ft rad/50 cu ft/1000 lbs	2
5	1 month	3 per/500 ft rad/300 cu ft/2000 lbs	4
6	1 year	4 per/1000 ft rad/500 cu ft/5000 lbs	6
7	permanent	5 per/5000 ft rad/1000 cu ft/10000 lbs	8
8	permanent	6 per/10000 ft rad/5000 cu ft/50000 lbs	10
9	permanent	7 per/50000 ft rad/10000 cu ft/100000 lbs	12
10		Whatever you damn well want	20

NOTES

• When determining how much of a particular pattern is created for the Spheres of Life or Matter, use the weight rating of the area of effect by default.
• Certain Pattern magicks are considered permanent regardless of the effect rating. These are called Immediate effects. They encompass all pattern effects that do not go against the static nature of the material being changed, so healing a person is considered immediate, or changing lead to gold is considered immediate, but changing the boiling point of lead to room temperature is not, as the resulting pattern conflicts with the static nature of the material (lead's natural boiling point is not room temperature, whereas the transmutation of lead to gold has the material actually being gold now.)
• Damaging forces effects inflict one more level of damage, and damaging mind effects do one less level of damage as listed.
• Vulgar life attacks, vulgar prime attacks, direct and vulgar entropy attacks on a living body, spirit magick that summons spirits to attack living beings, and natural weaponry of supernatural creatures cause aggravated wounds - all else causes normal. (Unless the effect was cast in a way that exploits a natural weakness of a creature)
• The difference in area of effect when it comes to number of people affected and volume of the effect. When a mage elects to have a damaging effect affect more than one person, they either do an equal amount of damage to the number of people denoted by the #people column, OR divides the damage up between multiple people in the same cubic foot/square foot/etc of the effect's radius.
• In the case of Mind effects that alter a target's actions, the duration of the magical effect is decreased by an effective rating of one if it goes against the better judgment of the target, but is increased by a rating of one if it goes along with the target's better judgment. As well, if the target is aware that they are being manipulated magically, they may elect to resist the effect by either beating the mage in a Willpower vs Arete challenge (no traits need to be bid), or spending a willpower to ignore the effect.

3.4 Paradox
Paradox is accumulated depending on the vulgarity of the magical effect and the result of the test. Note that 'Sphere rating' is the highest sphere level involved in casting the magical effect. (IE Apprentice = 1, Initiate = 2, Disciple = 3, Adept = 4, Master = 5). Note that successfully casting a vulgar magical effect always results in the mage accumulating at least one point of paradox.

If the mage accumulates 6 or more paradox on one magical effect, OR accumulates a total of 10 or more paradox total, they will induce a paradox backlash (Explained later).

3.5 Paradox Effects
(stolen from Paul Strack (pfstrack@email.unc.edu) and modified by Gil)
The mage may no longer elect to burn off paradox themselves. Paradox will burn itself off, either over time, or as a result of a backlash, or whenever a member of game control is feeling bored. Paradox Backlash normally occurs when the mage gains at six points or more Paradox at one time, or the mage accumulates 10 or more points of Paradox total. The strength of the backlash is determined by one test.

Winning this test makes the strength 1/4 the total paradox of the mage. Tying this test makes the strength 1/2 the total paradox of the mage. Losing this test makes the strength the total paradox pool of the mage.

A number of paradox points equal to the strength of the backlash are expelled as a result of the backlash. If the mage wishes, they may expend a willpower point to escape the paradox backlash, but the paradox is not expended. This may only be attempted ONCE per effect. If the mage re-tries the same effect on the same day, and a backlash results, they may not spend a point of willpower to avoid the backlash.

Paradox Backlash will manifest in a physical, spiritual or mental form. This is chosen either by the first available game control or, if none are present, by another test. Winning the test makes it physical. Tying the test makes it Spiritual. Losing the test makes it mental.

Flaws - Paradox cause physical alterations in a mage or the immediate area. The stronger the backlash, the more severe the alteration. For more details on Flaws, see below.

Damage - The mage receives one Health Level of aggravated damage for every 2 points of strength of the Backlash. A backlash this severe can kill the offending mage, especially if she was already wounded. This damage cannot be healed with magick.

Explosion - A massive explosion results, inflicting Health Levels of aggravated damage equal to the strength of the Backlash, divided evenly amongst everyone within 3 paces of the mage. As above, the victims cannot heal the damage magically.

Spirits - A paradox spirit appears and plagues the mage. The level of power of the spirit depends on the strength of the backlash, while the nature of the spirit depends on the sphere of magick the mage was using. Paradox spirits are exceptionally resistant to magick; they may roll their Gnosis/Arete as counter-magick automatically. Usually there is some way a mage can appease a Paradox spirit so that it will leave her be. The mage can also try and destroy the spirit using non-magical means. Failing all else, most paradox spirits will eventually get bored, and wander off to harass some other mage.

Quiet - Quiet can be induced as a backlash. However, the strength of the quiet does not depend on the strength of the backlash. Instead, it depends on the total points of paradox the mage had immediately before the backlash. Quiet can be induced by other means, such as the overuse of perceptual magick, or psychic trauma (over-extended perceptions are detailed in the appropriate sphere description). The mage may expend a willpower trait to stave off a quiet for one day.

Realms - Truly horrendous backlash es can remove a mage from reality completely. Some mages view this as an advanced form of Quiet, in which the mage is physically locked in a hallucinatory Realm.

In the case of a paradox flaw, a paradox spirit, quiet, or a realm, this must be assigned by a member of game control.

If the mage has 10 or fewer points of paradox, and manages to go an entire day without gaining any paradox, one point of paradox drains away with no ill effects.

Below are a list of possible Paradox Flaws, organized by Sphere and Level, for your amusement. Some of them are "coincidental" and others are not. Note that the duration of a Flaw can also affect its severity. A Level 2 backlash could manifest as a Level 1 Flaw that lasts for days, or a Level 3 Flaw that only lasts for a minute or two. The "standard" duration for a Flaw is a few hours, this can be lengthened to days or shortened to minutes. Level 4 and 5 Flaws last longer; the standard duration is day, which can be shortened to hours, or lengthened to weeks.

Correspondence:

1. The mage can only see behind himself for a few moments.
2. The mage's perception of space is altered for a few hours (objects in this mirror may appear to be closer than they actually are).
3. Objects in the mages possession gravitate to his left. His watch appears on his left hand, his wallet in his left pocket, etc. More significantly, any effect he casts will manifest several yards to the left of where he targeted it.
4. The mage finds that he no longer can control direction. Anything she does will be targeted in a random direction. A spell she casts will have a randomly determined target, and she will walk in a strange sort of Brownian motion, with no control over her destination. The mage must be guided from one place to another.
5. The mage's body is turned inside out, flesh on the inside, organs on the outside, yet she mysteriously stays alive. This state is incredibly painful, and the mage can do nothing but writhe in agony until the effect passes.

Entropy:

1. The next feat the mage attempts fails automatically (don't bother to test).
2. Everything the mage sees is tinged with decay; not unlike the vision of wraiths. In addition to being rather depressing, it makes it difficult for mages to judge the mood of people, and must retest any successful social challenges, aura readings, etc...
3. The mage finds that material objects become rotten and brittle under his touch. His equipment may break, or he may fall through holes in the floor.
4. People in the vicinity of the mage will feel ill and out of sorts. Others will suffer a 1 trait penalty on any challenge they have to make. The effect never seems to extend to the mage's enemies.
5. The mage finds himself aging rapidly, at a rate of one year per minute. This continues for hours, yet the mage will not die, becoming a withered husk instead at about the age of 150 or so. The mage then returns slowly to normal, at a rate of 1 year per hour.

Forces

1. The mage's hair stands on end, as if he were subject to static electricity. It goes away after a minute or two.
2. The mage's perception of the world changes, so that he sees everything in black and white.
3. For the next few hours, electrical devices fail to function within about 5 yards of the mage.
4. The mage finds herself floating one inch off the floor. This makes it very difficult to get anywhere, since the mage must pull herself along the walls and furniture.
5. The mage is struck completely blind and deaf. Other forms of perceptual magick are ineffective as well. This can last for days.

Life

1. The mage suffers from a sudden, violent muscle spasm, throwing her off balance.
2. The mage catches a nasty head cold. Between sneezing, watery eyes and headaches, the mage is at a 1 trait penalty to most challenges.
3. The mage finds that nearby plants grow at an alarming rate, especially if he is in direct contact with the plant.
4. One of the mage's limbs ceases to function.
5. The mage suffers from a violent epileptic seizure, that lasts for hours. It will take him days to recuperate.

Matter

1. Whatever surface the mage is standing on becomes briefly slippery, causing him to fall.
2. One important piece of equipment (perhaps a Foci) breaks.
3. The mage finds himself unable to physically interact with some common substance (metal, wood, etc.); the material passes right through him. This can be quite embarrassing of the substance is clothes.
4. Any water the mage touches will freeze (large bodies of water only freeze within about a foot of the mage).
5. The mage's body crystallizes. He can only move at a rate of one inch per minute, and magick becomes impossible.

Mind

1. For the next few minutes, the mage speaks *exactly* what is on her mind, broadcasting her thoughts.
2. The mage receives a lot of psychic static, random impressions from the minds of those around her. There is too much "noise" for the mage to learn anything useful, and the effect is rather distracting.
3. The mage finds that he has become a mental chameleon. He involuntarily adopts the mannerisms and personality of anyone with whom he spends more than a minute.
4. The mage adopts some form of clinical insanity, such as a severe phobia of some nearby object, or paranoid delusions.
5. The mage's mental processes become completely jumbled, and he finds it impossible to form any coherent thought.

Prime

1. The mage briefly "flashes" of magical energy, so that his presence is easily perceived by any magically aware being.
2. One of the rotes the mage is currently maintaining ceases to function.
3. All the Quintessence in a mage's pattern bleeds away.
4. The mage becomes a "magick magnet", and any effect cast in her vicinity will target the mage in addition to its normal target.
5. The mage loses touch with her Avatar, and is unable to perform any sort of magick for days (or weeks).

Spirit
Most spirit paradoxes result in the manifestation of a Paradox spirit, or the spirit magick the mage is currently working goes horribly wrong. Other possibilities include having the mage shunt involuntarily into the Umbra, attracting malignant (non-paradox) spirits, or becoming a spirit herself for a period of time.

Time

1. All the timepieces in the mage's area stop.
2. The mage's perception of time becomes disjointed, so that he sees everything one second into the future. He starts to answer questions before people have finished speaking. Alternately, the mage sees things one second into the past. It becomes more difficult to target people in the present (must re-test any successful tests)
3. The mage suffers from time dilation, and can only act half as often as everyone else. Magick cannot counter this effect.
4. The mage looses his short term memory. He can only remember things that happened more than five minutes ago. He must act based only on his immediate perceptions.
5. The mage vanishes, only to reappear in the future, at some time of the storytellers choosing (though not more than a month or two later).

Paradox Rotes
Mages with a greater knowledge of Prime are able to control the Paradox in their pattern to a small degree, with the following rotes:

Induce Backlash (Initiate Prime)
Many mages choose not to wait for Paradox to strike, and deliberately induce a Paradox backlash on themselves, preferably while they are somewhere safe, like their sanctum. The strength of the backlash is still determined randomly. No matter what the circumstances, this Rote always counts as Vulgar, even in the Umbra or in a mage's Sanctum. Thus, the rote always adds at least one point of Paradox to the mage's total pool.

Controlled Backlash (Adept Prime, or Initiate Prime + Initiate Entropy)
A more advanced version of the above rote, the mage has a greater degree of control over how much Paradox energy is released. For each effect result rating beyond the first, the mage can increase or decrease the strength of the backlash by one point. However, the mage still has no control over exactly how the Paradox manifests. This rote is also always Vulgar.

3.6 Quintessence and Paradox
A mage can store a maximum of 20 points of quintessence using Apprentice Level Prime. Every point of paradox, however, lowers the maximum number of paradox storable by 1. So 1 point of paradox lowers the maximum number of quintessence stored to 19, 2 points lowers it to 18, etc. As well, if it should ever occur that a point of paradox lowers the maximum amount of quintessence below the number that the mage currently has, then the excess quintessence is lost due to the paradox overflow. SO, for example, a mage has 8 points of paradox and maximum quintessence, 12 points. If the mage were to accrue another point of paradox, they would lose a point of quintessence to paradox overflow, leaving them with 9 points of paradox and 11 points of quintessence.

3.7 Positive and Negative Influences on magical Effects
Positive Influences

• Researching Lore on subject before using magick (using Occult Library)
• Has item resonating with target's essence (sympathetic magick)
• Spending two points of quintessence
• Using tass with an appropriate resonance
• Extra time spent on magick (10 seconds = -1, 10 minutes = -2)
• In a node
• Uses a unique focus
• Uses a focus without needing it
• Using a rote designed by your paradigm

Negative Influences

• Using Tass with opposed resonance
• Fast-Casting (responding to a challenge with a magical effect)
• Every two magical effects "running' simultaneously
• Distant or hidden subject (IE Obfuscate/Arcane)
• Mage distracted (IE In a mass melee/on fire/etc)
• In conflict with Avatar (I'll let you know)
• Domino Effect (Casting more than one coincidental effect within 5 minutes of another)
• Extending Perceptions (Lets someone else share a magical effect's perceptions. Automatically makes effect vulgar. Each extra person counts as a separate negative influence)
• Using a rote designed by a conflicting paradigm
• Bringing possessions with you when Piercing the Gauntlet

 3.8 Acting in Concert
Multiple mages may combine their powers to cast one big magical effect. There are three different 'levels' of acting in concert, each having a different set of requirements.

• A Concert of Peers - Each participant must have the equivalent sphere ratings necessary to cast the magical effect, and must be of the same paradigm. A ritual must be performed, lasting a span of time equal to 10 minutes per extra person in the concert. If this is the case, then each mage makes separate magical effect tests (and separate paradox results), and each effect result is totaled to generate the result of the acting in concert.
• A Concert of Lackeys - Only one mage has sufficient sphere ratings to cast a magical effect, but has a number of lesser-powerful mages who still have some rating in all of the necessary spheres or all mages have the same rating in all of the required spheres, but are of a differing paradigm. In this case, the ritual is still necessary (extra 10 minutes per lackey), and each lackey in the concert who successfully casts the magical effect adds one rating to the leader's effect result rating.
• A Sleeper's Concert - If the mage has a number of Un-awakened acolytes assisting the concert, the mage may increase his resulting effect result rating by one for every 5 acolytes in the concert. The 10 minutes/ acolyte rule still holds. The acolytes do not count as sleeper witnesses for this effect, however. If the number of paradox generated by the effect is greater than the total number of acolytes in the concert, they will all suffer some sort of mystical or psychic trauma as determined by the storyteller.

Unfortunately, if any mage botches the effect, the entire effect is botched, and all the paradox gained in the effect by any mage who botched the effect is totaled, with EACH member of the concert receives the paradox total. A mage may spend a willpower trait to avoid taking paradox.

3.9 Rotes
Rotes are a problem. Each one has the possibility of having a different set of rules. So, as a rule, game control must approve any rote to be used in game. If you do not know the rules for a rote, *DO NOT MAKE THEM UP*. Get game control to look over and approve the rote for you.

3.10 Sigil Signals
Now, how to let someone know that you are casting a magical effect? Well, you could just state the name of the magical effect, and describe the results of the effect to the target. This is a viable system, but lacks the subtlety of the MET system. So as an alternative, the equivalent to hand signals for magical effects are sigil signals. If you look in any of the Mage books put out by the folx at WW, you will notice that each Sphere has a sigil associated with it. Whenever you cast a magical effect, you should show the person to whom the effect is affecting the equivalent sigil signal (s).

A sigil signal is simply something that has a number of sigils inscribed on it, one for each sphere used in the effect. For example, I'm playing poker with someone, and I decide to cheat and use Control Probability on the deal to give me a wicked hand. Before I cast the effect, I show the dealer a sigil card with an Entropy sigil on it, as the effect is an entropy effect.

Another example; I want to nuke someone into pudding with the Ball of Abysmal Flame rote. It's a Forces and Prime rote, so I would show the poor fool a sigil card with a Forces sigil and a Prime sigil on it. (And it would probably be the last thing he sees). Last example, I want to cast the Curse of the Mayfly rote on someone. It required Adept level Entropy and Life, so the sigil card would have an Entropy and a Life sigil on it. The purpose of this is to let someone know that they can do counter-magick if they can see the card. As a general rule, anyone seeing the sigils can sense the magical effect and is eligible to perform counter-magick. So if someone slips you a piece of paper with a mind sigils on it, don't be a prick and hold it up for all to see - you got conned; be a sport. Of course, if they don't look at the paper, you have to hold up your sigil so that they can see it. They have to know that you are casting a magical effect to give them a chance to counter it, and this is done through sigils.

3.11 counter-magick
There are now 5 different types of counter-magick. The type of counter-magick must be declared before any tests take place.

• Basic counter-magick has the countering mage engage the caster in an Arete challenge. If the countering mage wins, the effect is canceled. You can only use basic counter-magick on yourself, however. The countering mage must have at least one rating in one of the spheres involved in the effect, and the mage must know the effect is coming, either by the Awareness ability, or through some other method.
• Offensive counter-magick is when a mage tries to stop a magical effect cast at another target besides themselves. The countering mage must have at least one rating in one of the spheres involved in the casting, as well as one rating in Prime. To stop the spell, the countering mage must defeat the casting mage in two Arete challenges. To reflect the spell back at the target, the mage must defeat the caster in four Arete challenges. If the mage tries to reflect an effect, this must declared before any of the tests take place.
• Sphere vs Sphere counter-magick is a variant of Basic counter-magick where the mage need not know any of the spheres involved in the effect, but rather uses a magical effect to disrupt the casting mage. The effect must be possible to cast, and must be tailored to distract the casting mage. The effect is countered if the countering mage defeats the casting mage in two Arete challenges. The countering effects do no damage to the caster, just distracts them long enough to cancel the effect.
  NOTE : You may now use counter-magick on Vampiric Thaumaturgy, Faerie Glamour and Garou Gifts. It must be Sphere vs Sphere counter-magick. In the case of Thaumaturgy, you must defeat the casting vampire in three Arete vs mental challenges, where the mage has a total of three times their Arete in the case of a tie (the mage may spend a willpower to temporarily increase their effective Arete by one for the purposes of the counter-magick). In the case of Fae Glamour, the mage must defeat the fae in two straight Arete vs Glamour challenges. In the case of Garou Gifts (or Wraith Arcanos, if it's ever converted), the Sphere being used to counter must be Spirit, and the mage must defeat their opponent in three Arete vs Gnosis challenges.
• Anti-Magick has a mage use Quintessence to re-enforce reality around a casting mage, making it harder to cast the effect. The countering mage must be at least an Initiate of Prime. The countering mage gets to attempt their Arete rating in complex tests, with each success allowing the countering mage to spend a point of quintessence to give the casting mage a negative magical influence, not subject to the normal +/- two maximum for modifying the effect difficulty.
• Unweaving involves removing an already-existing magical effect, such as a ward or ban, that has been placed on an area. Normal counter-magick will not work on a previously-existing magical effect unless the countering mage was present at the time of the casting, and attempted to counter the initial casting. Unweaving a magical effect required the countering mage have at least one rating in all the spheres involved in casting the magical effect, as well as one rating in prime. The tests for an unweaving are exactly the same as Anti-magick, except that each effect result rating lowers the rating of the ward by one. Each effect result rating generated from the unweaving requires the mage concentrate near the ward for 10 minutes per effect result rating. As well, the mage who casted the ward in the first place will detect the unweaving if they win a static challenge vs 7.

Countering the effects of a Talisman is handled in the same fashion as the above methods describe, with the exception of Sphere vs Sphere.

Other Rules Affecting Casting

4.1 Willpower and Magick
If a mage has a sphere rating higher than their willpower, they may not use the sphere ratings higher than their willpower until their willpower has been increased to a level sufficient enough to use the sphere rating. This holds true for Arete - if a mage has more Arete than Willpower, that extra Arete is not usable by the mage until they increase their willpower sufficiently.

4.2 Quiet
From time to time, a narrator may walk up to a mage and, after looking at their character sheet to determine how many paradox points they have, describe a hallucination the mage is experiencing to the mage and the mage must play this out - the mage's perception of reality has changed. These can be pretty free-form, but you should just describe the situation of their hallucinations, and let the player go bananas on their own instead of scripting the whole thing.

4.3 New Abilities

• Meditation - This Ability reflects a mage's ability to concentrate and keep their mind free of distraction. If the mage is in an active node, they may recharge their avatar by meditating inside the node. For every 10 minutes they spend meditating in the node, their avatar retains one point of quintessence, no tests required. Lastly, a mage may meditate to regain lost Arete traits. For every 15 minutes a mage meditates without disturbance, they will regain one temporarily lost Arete trait.
• Awareness - This ability allows the mage to sense magical energies in their vicinity and, at higher levels, quantify and qualify these energies. Each additional Awareness trait allows the mage to detect more arcane and esoteric energy.
  1 trait : The mage can sense magical 'fields' as created by magical effects and automatically determine what spheres and power levels were involved in the casting. They can also sense Talismans with a static mental challenge vs 5.
  2 traits : The mage can sense supernatural 'fields' as created by any type of supernatural bogeyman. This includes cairns, wards, freeholds, etc, with a static mental challenge vs 5. Note that this ability only allows the mage to sense them; the mage must have the appropriate Lore skill to identify any fields/wards/etc they come across. The sensing will let them know if the field is harmful towards them or not, however.
  3 traits : The mage can sense the auras of other creatures. This works just like Aura Perception from MET:The Masquerade, except the mage may only check for diablerie if they have at least 3 Vampire Lore abilities.
  4 traits : The mage can sense objects hidden through supernatural means. Consider this a larger version of Heightened senses, able to pierce any form of supernatural stealth. If the target being sensed is a being, they must be defeated in a mental challenge before they can be sensed. If the target is an object, then a static mental challenge vs the number of mental traits the obfuscater has must be won to sense the object.
  As well, the mage now senses whenever a supernatural power is being used on them. The mage must have at least 3 or 4 levels of the appropriate Lore Ability to actually know what the power is, otherwise they just sense supernatural forces at work, as well as the source and target of this power. Note that if the force doesn't affect the mage directly, or is not readily visible, there is little chance the mage will sense the power.
  5 traits : The mage has an innate precognitive sense that alerts them to any danger to their person. They have a brief flash of the future seconds before it happens, letting the mage react accordingly. The mage cannot be surprised, and is fully aware of the future when it comes to them being harmed. As well, the mage may sense the nature of another creature by winning a static mental challenge vs 5.
• Cosmology - Allows a mage to navigate the Umbra, as well as successfully interact with umbral society and culture. ("How to Talk to Spirits and not get Eaten 101")
• Research - Allows a mage to better use tomes and occult libraries, as well as researching an effect before it is cast (see positive influences on effects)
• Instruction - Allows the mage to teach Sphere levels to another mage. Also allow the mage to be able to teach certain Abilities, allowing the student to purchase two of the abilities for the single XP.

Section 5 - The Converted Spheres