As a mage envisions her spell’s Imago and determines Spell Factors, she runs the risk of complicating her spell to the point of warping it into a Paradox.
Once a spell’s factors have been determined, but before the spell is actually cast, the Storyteller determines if a Paradox occurs. Paradox dice are commonly added byReaching further than the freeReach granted by skill in the Arcanum used for the spell — eachReach beyond those adds Paradox dice according to Gnosis.
Once a single Paradox die is added to the Paradox dice pool, the Storyteller must check for the possibility of a Paradox, even if other factors reduce the Paradox dice pool to a chance die. The dice pool can be modified by certain factors.
Certain Conditions affecting the mage may also modify the Paradox dice pool. A mage may reflexively spend Mana to mitigate the chance of a Paradox, removing one Paradox die per Mana spent in this manner.
The mage cannot spend more Mana than she is normally allowed to spend per turn — including the amount of Mana that is spent for the spellcasting itself — though she can spend the Mana over multiple turns prior to casting the spell.
Multiple Sleeper witnesses do not add Paradox dice, but increase the chances of a Paradox occurring. If a few Sleepers witness the magic casting, the Paradox roll gains the 9-Again quality, a large group grants the Paradox roll the 8-Again quality, and a full crowd grants the Paradox roll the rote quality.
Before the Paradox dice pool is rolled, the mage must decide whether to contain the Paradox within her own soul or release it and hope for the best. If she attempts to contain it, she will potentially suffer pain and injury — or worse effects — as The Abyss warps her very being.
If she does not contain it, she will be safer, but the Paradox may warp her spell. Containing a Paradox is completely voluntary, and a mage cannot be forced to do so.
Paradox Table
| Dice Modifier | Situation |
|---|---|
| Special | The mage hasReached beyond the freeReach granted by Arcanum. This adds the dice amount listed for the character’s Gnosis for everyReach over the limit. |
| +2 | The mage has become inured to the spell, so that it no longer risks Wisdom loss. |
| +1 | Each Paradox roll after the first made for the same caster within the same scene. This bonus accumulates with each roll, so the third roll made for a mage within a scene has a +2 modifier. |
| +1 | One or more Sleepers witness an obvious casting of magic. |
| -2 | The mage uses a dedicated magical tool during the casting. |
| -1 | The mage spends a point of Mana. |
Releasing Paradox
If the mage does not attempt to contain the Paradox, the Storyteller rolls the Paradox pool:
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure
The mage does not invoke a Paradox, regains a point of Willpower, and the next Paradox roll made for her in the same scene does not suffer the usual, cumulative +1 dice modifier.
Failure
The mage does not invoke a Paradox.
Success
A Paradox occurs, regardless of the spellcasting’s success or failure.
Exceptional Success
The mage gains a Paradox Condition and a Paradox occurs.
If a single success is rolled on the Paradox dice, a Paradox occurs.
The Abyss taints the spell and, potentially, the area around the spell’s subject. The Paradox imposes a dice penalty to the spellcasting roll equal to its successes. Whether or not this makes the spell fail, a Paradox anomaly occurs. If the spellcasting results in a dramatic failure, the mage incurs a Paradox Condition as well.
To create an anomaly, the Storyteller utilizes the number of successes gained on the Paradox roll asReach on a one to one basis to affect the spell. The Storyteller can use ParadoxReach to change the Spell Factors of the spell, to create Abyssal taint on the environment, or to summon an Abyssal entity.
Anomalies Table
| Paradox | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1Reach | Undo or apply a singleReach from CommonReach Effects except Casting Time |
| 1Reach | Impose a Condition on the subject of the spell |
| 2Reach | Change the subject of the spell |
| 3Reach | Create an Abyssal Environmental Tilts |
| 5Reach | Summon an Abyssal entity of Rank 2. FurtherReach may increase the Rank of the entity by 1 /Reach |
Storytellers can spendReach however they like to affect the spell, using up all theReach to warp the spell into something very different from what the mage intended, or leaving the spell as-is and instead producing Abyssal wastelands around the spell’s subject.
The Paradox effect should reflect the type of spell being cast. Attack spells may rebound and hit an innocent subject, or split and hit multiple subjects. Healing spells may heal the subject, but create a blighted patch on the ground nearby.
A mage may succeed in making herself invisible, but summon a Gulmoth in her wake. A Paradox anomaly’s duration depends on the Wisdom tier of the caster who invokes it.
Paradox Duration
| Wisdom | Paradox |
|---|---|
| Enlightened | One Scene |
| Understanding | One Chapter/Day |
| Falling | One Story/Month |
| Mad One | One Chronicle/Year |
Containing Paradoxes
If the mage decides to contain the Paradox within her soul, the player contests the Paradox roll by rolling the character’s Wisdom dots as a dice pool, contesting the Paradox roll.
This dice pool may not be modified by Willpower, magic, or other means.
Each success on the Wisdom roll cancels out one success on the Paradox roll. Each Paradox success canceled out in this way deals one resistant bashing wound to the mage. If the Paradox roll still succeeds, the spell is not penalized and does not create an anomaly as with released Paradoxes. Instead, the character gains a Paradox Condition. The severity of the Paradox Condition is based on the number of remaining successes gained on the Paradox roll.
Paradox Conditions
Paradox Conditions can only be gained in one of the following ways — obtaining a dramatic failure when casting a spell after incurring a Paradox, netting an exceptional success on a released Paradox roll, or failing to fully contain a Paradox.
Each one has two resolution mechanics.
The first requires the character to actively accept the negative consequence of the Paradox, and the other is to allow the Paradox to lapse.
A Paradox Condition lapses after an amount of time determined by the character’s Wisdom if she does not take action to resolve the Condition. Until the Condition is resolved or lapses, the mage cannot use magic to mitigate the effects of the Paradox.
| Wisdom | Duration of Paradox Condition |
|---|---|
| Enlightened | One Story/Month |
| Understanding | One Chapter/Day |
| Falling | One Scene |
| Mad One | One Turn |
If the Paradox Condition is allowed to lapse, The Abyss enters the mage’s Pattern.
While The Abyss is part of the mage’s Pattern, it appears in her Nimbus. Every spell she casts is tainted by The Abyss and gains a Paradox die even if she does not attempt toReach as part of the spell.
Conditions that resolve this way grant an Arcane Beat. At this point, the only way for the mage to remove the taint from her Pattern is to Scour it out, similar to Pattern Scouring for Mana.
Removing a Paradox Condition in this manner deals a single point of lethal damage to the mage, but she does not gain Mana from the Scouring.
The following example Paradox Conditions are not exhaustive. The Storyteller is encouraged to invent their own.
Abyssal Nimbus
The mage’s Nimbus is disfigured by The Abyss, the corruption cascading through her sympathetic links.
The mage, and any subjects affected by her Nimbus (including sympathetic ties influenced by her Long-Term Nimbus, anyone affected by her Nimbus Tilt, and anything imprinted with her Signature Nimbus), gain the Resonant Condition applicable to Abyssal entities. If the Paradox roll that inflicted this Condition rolled an exceptional success, she gains the Open Condition instead.
In addition, the Abyssal corruption is readily apparent to anyone who scrutinizes her Signature Nimbus, and her Long-Term Nimbus effects become twisted by the unreality of The Abyss.
A Moros’ Long-Term Nimbus might cause bizarre materials with impossible atomic properties to appear, while the religious revelations of an Obrimos’ Nimbus take on a nihilistic tone.
Resolution: An Abyssal Entity uses the Condition to Manifest, the mage Scours the Condition from her Pattern, or the mage allows the Condition to lapse after the specified time.
Arcane Beat: Gain an Arcane Beat when this Condition lapses.
Abyssal Imago
The Abyss has warped the mage’s ability to clearly envision her Supernal will. Whenever the mage casts a spell, she must spend additionalReach equal to the successes earned on the Paradox roll that inflicted this condition.
If she does not, the spell automatically fails and adds dice equal to the caster’s spellcasting dice pool to the Paradox roll.
Resolution: The mage successfully casts a spell that does not risk Paradox, the mage Scours the Condition from her Pattern, or the mage allows the Condition to lapse after the specified time.
Arcane Beat: Gain an Arcane Beat when this Condition lapses.
Abyssal Backlash
The mage has drawn the attention of a vast Abyssal intelligence called an Annunaki, which seeks to corrupt the mage’s spells further.
The next time the mage casts a spell that risks Paradox, add dice to the Paradox pool equal to the number of successes earned on the Paradox roll that inflicted this condition.
Resolution: The mage fully contains a Paradox, the mage Scours the Condition from her Pattern, or the mage allows the Condition to lapse after the specified time.
Arcane Beat: Gain an Arcane Beat when this Condition lapses.