How Paradox Works - Shadownessence

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How Paradox Works

Started by Malcolm Sheppard, Apr 25 2006 07:50 AM Page 1 of 2

Malcolm Sheppard Posted 25 April 2006 - 07:50 AM

This is a post about how Paradox works in Mage: The Ascension Revised. This is one of the less clearly written parts of the text and reading posts here and elsewhere about what people guestimate about backlash sizes and such, I figured the "official" rules needed a clear treatment. Here's how Paradox works: 1) Roll the dice for a coincidental or vulgar Effect. 2) Garner any Paradox based on the type of spell and results, as follows: * Successful coincidental Effect: 0 * Successful *or* failed vulgar Effect without witnesses: 1 pt./highest Sphere rank used. * Successful *or* failed vulgar Effect with witnesses: 1 pt./highest Sphere rank used, +1 * Botched coincidental Effect: 1 pt./highest Sphere rank used. * Botched vulgar Effect, without witnesses: 1 pt./highest Sphere rank used, +1 * Botched vulgar Effect with witnesses: 2 pts./highest Sphere rank used, +2 In addition, if the spell botches, each roll on a extended ritual adds +1 Paradox. This does not apply to successes or normal failures. 3) Record the Paradox on your sheet. Note the following: * If you need to use up space on the wheel held by Quintessence (which starts at the opposite side), you lose that Quintessence. On the other hand, you never run out of room for Paradox, even if you run out of boxes. * If you succeeded or failed, but did not botch, count your total accumulated Paradox. If it is 5 or higher, roll for backlash. * If you botched, roll for a backlash no matter the amount. 4) Roll and note Paradox Backlash. Roll your Paradox points from the Effect *and* any other Paradox that has been accumulated as a dice pool, difficulty 6. Each success discharges a point as Backlash. Any undischarged Paradox stays in the Paradox (and Quintessence) meter. Note A: If you have Permanent Paradox in your pool, it can create Backlash on successes but is not discharged. It stays in your meter anyway. Use a different set of dice for Permanent Paradox if you have trouble telling the types apart. Note B: You can stave off all Backlashes for a scene at the cost of one Willpower point. At the end of the scene check for Backlash based on all Paradox accumulated for the rest of the scene.

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How Paradox Works - Shadownessence

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5) The table on Page 195 of Mage Revised has a title and description that does not match the text. This table is based on how many points backlash (roll successes), not how much Paradox is in the pool. So, take the Backlash *successes* rolled in step #4 and compare it to the table, which ends up like this: * 1-5 successes: Roll the successes as Bashing damage (difficulty 6). Gain a Paradox Flaw with no mechanical effect * 6-10 successes: Roll the successes as Bashing damage (difficulty 6). Gain a Paradox Flaw that adds +1-3 to nonmagical dice roll difficulties for one turn per Backlash success. * 11-15 successes: Roll (successes-10) as a dice pool of Lethal damage (difficulty 6). The mage also suffers a Paradox flaw that adds +4-6 to nonmagical dice roll difficulties for one turn per success OR 4-6 dice of additional damage upon a special, avoidable condition (sunlight, turning widdershins, etc.) OR something split between both; OR something very strange. The side effect lasts for one turn perBacklash success. * 16-20 successes: Roll (successes-10) as a dice pool of Lethal damage (difficulty 6). The mage is automatically incapacitated (not taken to that Health box, just unable to move or act) for one turn per Backlash success. * 21+ successes: Roll (successes-20) as a dice pool of Aggravated damage. This cannot be soaked magically. The mage also suffers ONE of the following ill effects: -- A permanent Flaw. This is either extremely noticeable or hinders the mage (successes-20= what you add to the difficulty of a small number of tasks, or gain as points of Physical, Mental or Supernatural Flaws). The Flaw becomes a part of the mage's "default" natural Pattern and Avatar, and negating it magically is vulgar. -- Permanent Paradox. Typically, gain (successes-20) in Permanent Paradox. If the character gains 5+ points of Permanent Paradox this way, pick something else unless you want to risk an unplayable character. 3 points is reasonable. -- A Paradox Spirit attacks or otherwise intervenes. -- The character is sucked into a Paradox Realm until he or she finds her way out. 6) Okay, that's your Backlash (if you got one). Keep any Permanent Paradox and any dice that didn't Backlash as points of Paradox in your pool. If your accumulated Paradox drops to 5 or less, the Storyteller may allow you to discharge 1 point per week. Next, I'll talk about Permanent Paradox and provide an example of how it all works.

Malcolm Sheppard Posted 25 April 2006 - 08:12 AM

To continue . . . Permanent Paradox You gain Permanent Paradox from two main sources: * Type A: Major Backlashes inflict it, and it never goes away without special sourging techniques. * Type B: Long term Pattern enhancement causes it. It goes away when the enhancement goes away. The name is deceptive. You can get rid of Permanent Paradox. * Masters of the Art has suggestions for getting rid of Type A. The one reliable method is to get it burned out in an Umbral quest to the Radiance. This causes intense pain ad three dice of aggravated damage per point of Permanent Paradox. * To get rid of Type B, simply drop any Pattern enhancement Effect that provides superhuman ability. These include: -- Life or youth extension magic. -- Magic that raises an attribute over 5, *unless* it is gained through Archsphere mastery and not an Effect. -- Life Magic that allows the mage to do something a human Pattern can't naturally do, like gills or infrared vision as a part of the natural form's abilities. -- Life Magic that gives the mage's Life Pattern the ability to soak agravated wounds. Pattern Bleeding * Pattern Bleeding occures whenever you enhance a Pattern beyond its basic capabilities, but not necessarily to superhuman levels. For example, increasing a mage's normal 3 Strength to 5 creates Pattern Bleeding. Increasing it to 6 creates Pattern Bleeding *and* Permanent Paradox. * In other words, everything that causes Type B Permanent Paradox causes Pattern Bleeding but the reverse is not true. * Pattern Bleeding is straightforward. The afflicted individual absorbs 1 point of Quintessence per day. If the subject lacks Quintessence, she suffers one point of aggravated damage. This cannot be magically soaked and can only be healed with Quintessence, though this requires no other magic. The afflicted (or Thaumivore) can absorb it from Tass or a mage who magically transfers it without using magic, but can't suck iut from living things or directly from Nodes without special

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How Paradox Works - Shadownessence

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powers.

Malcolm Sheppard Posted 25 April 2006 - 09:13 AM

Okay, and example of play. Xango and Blank are getting rappelling down the side of a Syndicate-owned building. Xango's decided to use a Forces 2 Effect to coincidentally stay in the shadows left as downtown lights play over the building. Xango succeeds, but halfway down the Storyteller says that lights from the bottom are making the coincidence a bit thin and that the spell will drop. Xango decides to go for full on vulgar invisibility instead. Fortunately, nobody's looking, so there are no witnesses. Xango gains 2 points of Paradox, for a total accumulated Paradox pool of 2. Blank, meanwhile, pumps himself with Life, raising his Dex to 6. He'll lose a point of Quint or take one agg in 24 hours, but right now he also has 1 point of permanent Paradox. and gains 3 points of standard Paradox, for a total of 4 in his pool. He does not have to roll for a Backlash. They break into the building, but their stealth efforts were caught on MANAR and four Sleeper security guards are there to confront them. They break into action. Blank pumps a vulgar Time 3 Effect to grab two actions while he ducks behind cover. This succeeds and accumulates 4 points of Paradox. Blank's Paradox total is now 8. Even if it wasn't vulgar with witnesses, his pool going above 5 means the player has to roll all 8 dice. The player gets 5 successes and consults the table. No flaws, but he rolls 5 dice (his Paradox successes), getting 3 successes -- 3 levels of Bashing damage, reduced to 1 by his soak. Blank is back to 4 points in his pool. It would be just 3, but one of his Paradox successes was for a Permanent Paradox point, which doesn't go away. Xango holds up a skull and an SMG, firing it wildly to cause fear (Mind 2) coincidentally. His player rolls . . . and he botches! His pool is 4 dice (2 accumulated, 2 for the botched effect), but he decided he doesn't want to deal with Paradox again for the scene and spends a point of Willpower. Blank easily kills two guards on the next turn. Xango decides to gain soak versus lethal damage using Life 3. This succeeds, and his Paradox pool increases to 7, but he spent Willpower, so there's no Backlash. This is handy, too, since even though Xango knocks out a guard on the next turn, NWO Agent Connor V sneaks up and gets a shot off. Blank closes with Connor and tries to grow claws that inflict aggravated damage (Life 3/Prime 3). His player botches! This adds 8 points (3x2+2) to his pool of 4 for a total of 12. That's nasty; Blank's player rolls 12 dice and gets 9 successes, leaving him with 3 remaining Paradox. His claws entangle, adding a +2 difficulty to actions with his hands. His player also rolls 9 dice and is left with 6 points of Bashing from 6 successes. Blank's soak roll fails and he hits Bashing Incap. Xango decides to get out the really big guns with a radiant Forces Effect, smiting Connor and the last guard with lightning. This fails, but Xango gets the Paradox anyway: 4 points. Again, his will holds, even though he now has 12 Paradox banked. In the meantime, Blank's been hit with aggravated wounds by Connor and is still knocked out. The next turn, Xango succeeds and fries the last guards while injuring Connor. His Paradox increases to 16. Now safe, he uses vulgar Life magic to heal Blank. He gets barely enough successes to revive Blank, but gains 4 more points, for 20 total. Finally, he turns to blast Connor again. Xango botches. He gains 8 points of Paradox for a total of 28. Blank runs for it while Xango adds agg soaking ability for 4 Paradox and 3 Permanent Paradox (soaking with 3 dice). Xango kills Connor (and survives the agg damage particle weapon Connor uses). The scene ends. Now, Xango's in for some pain. His Paradox now sits at 35. The player rolls the dice for 22 total successes. Xango rolls 2 dice and takes 2 levels of aggravated damage that even his magic cannot soak. He also gains 2 points of Permanent Paradox. The ST could have mandates a realm or Flaw or spirit. Of his 22 successes, 2 were from Permanent Paradox dice from the Life Effect, so he only discharges 20 points, leaving 15 Paradox. Adding 2 Permanent Paradox, it's 17 (12 standard, 5 Permanent). Xango drops the Life Effect and is left with 14 (12 standard, 2 Permanent) Paradox. It's rough business and his recklessness has left him with some burdens, He decides to follow Blank out of the building.

whirlwind Posted 25 April 2006 - 09:39 AM

Woo hoo! Very nice! I'll probably print up the first two posts and staple them into my corebook. But something I was wondering: If I recall, there are a few mechanics in Mage Revised that had their basis in the metaplot instead of being based around playtesters realizing, "Whoops! Well, that didn't make much sense. How about this?". Trouble is, all I can blatantly remember of those is the Umbral passage damage thing as an example of a change due to in-game events. You wouldn't happen to know which (if any) of the differences between this and 2nd Edition's Paradox mechanics are due to game-world events that wouldn't pertain if one were running a Mage campaign in 1950, or a world where the events in Revised's metaplot never happened, or something else like that?

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