Otherscape character creation

 Anatomy of tags

Based on their purpose, there are 3 basic types of tag:

B - Broad tags

This category includes both broad tags themselves, and tags whose primary function is to support broad tags and increase their power.

Broad tags are flexible in allowing (or supporting) a whole range of actions, but the downside is that you have to spend an action preparing first by converting them into a more directly useable form first. 

There are two ways to do this. Firstly, if you simply want to enhance the power of an existing tag you can create a status. This has the benefit of converting into power on a 1 to 1 basis, but doesn't add any flexibility.

Secondly you can create an entirely new tag. This gives the flexibility of enabling an entirely new action, but it sacrifices power in order to do so converting on a 2 for 1 basis.

A - action tags

Action tags most important job is granting narrative permission to perform an action. 

S - support tags

In reality these are action tags with overlapping permission meaning that they support each other in performing a single action. If you have 3 tags about attacking, then effectively two of them are acting as support tags.

In practice, careful wording might stretch the actions they can apply to but for the most part support tags are about enhancing the power of a single action rather than adding the flexibility of new actions.

One theme

A theme consists of 3 tags, so it is useful to look at how this basic element can function as a whole. 

There are several different possible configurations;

AAA

The most intuitive thing to attempt for a new player is three tags, each of which adds a separate action. This is not always acheivable in practice, because it is harder to make the title tag an action tag.

It gives you narrative permission for 3 actions. The problem is that each of those actions will only be rolling with 1 power.

Extended across all 4 themes, this ends up as probably more actions than you need none of which are especially powerful, which is why you need tags that support each other (either within a theme or across themes).

This is the only configuration which I see as a "trap" option in otherscape. 

SAA

The next logical step is to use one of those tags to support another. This still gives the flexibility of two actions, but increases one of them to two power which I feel is a big deal.

Some clever thinking, and actions that are not too diverse might allow both actions to be supported, but for the most part you will end up with one at 2 power and the other at 1.

SSA

The next option is to keep the theme tight, allowing all of the tags to support one another. This limits its flexibility, but maximises its power and is definately worth dedicating a theme to for something you will be doing regularly.

BAA

The other option is to try and maximise flexibility at the expense of speed, and include a broad tag.

Given the nature of the title tag, it is a likely candidate for a broad tag making this a common configuration.

This is a fairly flexible set up, giving two actions with a single power but allowing the broad tag to charge either with a bit of extra power by creating a status, given enough set up time. 

BSA

I feel like there is little to gain from this set up. Another trap option. The broad tag is just acting like a supporting tag that takes longer to set up. It should be noted however that by taking multiple set up actions, the broad tag CAN stack a status creating a bigger boost so if the action is not time sensitive and you are willing to take the risk then it might be worth it.

BBA

In order to get the most out of broad tags, you need at least two of them. This allows you to create a tag, and unlocks their incredible flexibility.

You still have a single power action ready for immediate use, however now with set up time you can either boost that action to 3 power by creating a status, or create a tag allowing you to perform any action under the perview of the broad tags. 

This gives incredible flexibility, but shares the same problem as our AAA actions with their limited power. 

Adding another tag

It is clear that trying to combine three tags from a single theme into useful actions has limitations, however it is fairly easy to draw another tag into the mix either from another theme or from your load out giving you an extra tag to work with and opening up some useful options:

SSSA

First, just maximising power, giving your action 4 power. Definately worth considering as a dedicated action for mitigating harm. Probably worth considering for a powerful attack or similar.

SSAA

The second option is to have two actions both supported with 2 power each, making them both that bit more useful.

BBSA

This allows you to have an immediate action for 2 power while either setting up a flexible action with 1 power or charging your action for 4 power. 

BBBA

putting more emphasis on your broad tags gives you more power for your flexible action at the expense of minimising the power of your immediate action.

This setup gives you 3 options:

create a tag (for flexibility) and a status charging it to 2 power.

Charge your action with a status for 4 power.

React immediately for 1 power.

BBBB

The final option is to go all out on broad tags. This means you can't do anything without seeing it up first however it does give you powerful flexibility, allowing you to do anything in the themes perview with 3 power (using 2 power to create a tag and 2 power to charge it with status 2).

Mixing themes

Of course there is nothing to stop you from mixing themes together or drawing power from multiple themes for a single action.

With a full set of 4 themes you have 12 tags to play with. I think it is useful to think of this as 3 sets of 4 tags (meaning a set will draw from more than one theme), with load out tags providing flexible extras as needed.

Generally it is probably wise to devote a set to defence/mitigation of the most likely statuses. That leaves two sets for either immediate actions or broad actions.

Playing Wizards in WFRP 4e

 I often see posts from people asking how to optimise a wizard, or wondering if Wizards are even viable in 4th.

The most common response I see is to start as a witch (for instinctive diction) and then move into wizards apprentice and go from there. This is a hold over from when 4th was first released and channeling was arguably not worth the effort, and I don't believe it is necessary any more for reasons I will explain below.

Wizards apprentice and petty magic

Whichever wind you channel, you are going to start your career as a wizard apprentice/Acolyte/ or whatever else your order calls students of magic.

The only magic open to you at this point is petty magic, and frankly it might be best to skip it.

From a legal perspective, petty magic is considered to be dark magic and therefore discouraged at best. This is not something you are going to be taught by your order, and not something you should practice openly.

From a rules perspective it is not great - at least not in combat. Dart is probably less effective than a good staff or crossbow, so unless you desperately want to fling spells at people you should probably give it a miss. You are not a wizard yet, you are essentially a fighter. Get used to it.

This is probably the single most common complaint I see about people playing Wizards apprentices. They want to cast spells but end up hitting people with a big stick instead. WFRP characters start small. Relax, get used to using your weapon, that way you will always remember it is there as a back up.

If you are going to flaunt the law and make use of petty magic, stick with utility spells. Look for things that give your party capabilities they wouldn't have without that spell. Open lock can fill in a gap in the party of you don't have anyone capable of picking locks for instance. Eavesdrop is another spell that can trivialise some situations.

On the whole though, you essentially a not so big or  stupid are a fighter with a big stick. And not a very good one at that, because you are going to be spending your experience on things that you can't even make use of yet.

Aethyric Attunement

The big dilemma facing a Wizards apprentice is that aethyric Attunement is hugely useful later in your career but completely useless now, yet has to be bought now because it doesn't show up in later talent lists.

You need to take it, but it is a point sink that will do nothing immediately other than put you behind your allies in terms of effective advancement. That means it should probably be the last thing you take before graduating to become a proper wizard.

You need to get it once. This will mitigate miscasts when channeling, and make your channeling more effective. If you can spare the experience I would advise taking it a second time for an extra boost to channeling. You don't need any more than that because "winds of magic" gave you more efficient ways to boost your channeling that I will talk about later.

Characteristics

It goes without saying that you should be pumping Int and WP as high as you can. As a wizard, they will be your most useful characteristics by far. All through your career you are going to be judging whether it is more cost effective to boost Int/WP or language(magic)/channeling, or wether there is a different way to boost those skills more cheaply.

I would probably start with WS however as an apprentice, because it is going to be more immediately useful while you rely on your staff to get the job done.

Skills

Basically the same advice as above, but it bears repeating; itgoes without saying that you should be pumping language(magic) and channeling as high as you can. As a wizard, they will be your most useful characteristics by far. All through your career you are going to be judging whether it is more cost effective to boost Int/WP or language(magic)/channeling, or wether there is a different way to boost channeling and casting more cheaply.

After that melee (pole arm) is going to be useful, especially early in your career. In fact I would focus on this first as an apprentice, for the same reason I would focus on ws first. Channeling and language(magic) are mostly useless until you actually have some spells to cast.

Cool is another useful skill to have, because not only will it help you resist fear but it will help retain the magic you have channeled when you get interrupted. And you will get interrupted.

Fancy robes

A small change with a massive effect is that magical robes now give bonuses to channeling - and you are given them for free when you rise in your career!

This means that as a graduate wizard with some standard robes you will be getting +1SL on your channeling tests (in addition to the aethyric Attunement bonuses you picked up). This should be enough to channel the power to cast a CN 4 or maybe even 5 spell in a single round.

As you get more powerful, and want to cast more powerful spells, your robes get fancier and the bonus grows with you.

 This is why you only need 1 or 2 levels in aethyric Attunement. 

Rituals are your friends

The second thing winds of magic added are rituals, and they provide a huge boon to Wizards.

Enchanting your staff will provide +1SL on casting tests and you should be capable of performing it during your second career as a newly graduated wizard. If you have access to your college (or an outpost of it) then you should probably be able to get access to a grimoire containing this ritual. It strikes me as something that should be fairly ubiquitous. Performing it from a grimoire requires channeling a lot of power however and as a graduate will require a lot of dice rolling (I was tempted to do it as part of my Wizards graduation until I realised that it would take an average of 200 or so channeling tests) and quite a few rolls on the miscasts table. Learning it will make it much more manageable and is a bargain  considering it is 100exp for what is effectively an extra level of instinctive diction that doesn't increase the experience costs. 

The second ritual you are interested in is summon familiar. A power familiar assisting you will grant +20 to both your channeling and casting tests. This takes a lot more channeling, so is probably best left until a bit later in your career. It is also probably harder to convince your college to give you access to it. Given the high CN it is also probably worth learning, if only to avoid endless dice rolling, but 450rxp for effectively getting +20 to two skills (and it helps with research as well) will quickly become a bargain as the costs of getting more advances in those skills mount. Once you have gotten your first familiar it can even help you summon your second.

Potions

They are expensive to buy ingredients for, but making them relies on a skill you are boosting anyway so potions should always be something you consider for your arsenal.

There are several potions that benefit you, but the most important is probably a draught of power because it can half the CN of a ritual - making it easier to get the enchanted staff and familiar mentioned above.

Spells

As I have mentioned, it is going to be some time before you have any effective combat spells available to you so you need to get comfortable using your staff until well into your second career.

Once you do however, you want to learn spells that you can reliably cast after channeling for a single round. Remember that you don't have to choose your spell until you know how much power you have channeled however so it is ok to learn one or two that need a higher channeling roll to prepare, just so long as you have something a bit more reliable as a backup. This means you are aiming to cast a spell every other round.

 As a freshly graduated second career wizard with 2 levels of aethyric Attunement and standard robes you will gain +3 to your channeling tests. Given that a successful test should get you at least 1SL, you should be able to reliably cast spells of CN 4 , maybe CN5.

As  you climb the ranks and gain fancier robes with higher bonuses, not to mention better skills and maybe a power familiar, the power of the spells you can reliably prepare and cast will grow. By the time you are a wizard lords with elaborate robes you will be gaining +5 on channeling tests with a further +20 to your test from your familiar (or +40 of you have two of them) allowing you to reliably cast the most powerful spells.

So why not start as a witch

In the early days of 4e, channeling was not seen as worthwhile by many. Now that reducing CN to 0 by channeling IS a viable game plan, I think instinctive diction is less essential than it once was.

Of course instinctive diction is still really good, but you have to balance the cost of taking a whole career to get it, further extending the amount of time you will be relying on your staff with no benefits until you finally get around to learning spells.

Given that you can probably get an enchanted staff early in your career that will grant an extra SL anyway, and you will be channeling to reduce CN to 0 and overcasting through that, instinctive diction can probably wait until your third career. The only real problem is that you will not be immune to miscasts when rolling total power.

It is a balance. If you are willing to wait to become effective and actually start casting magic, then starting as a witch to gain instinctive diction might be worthwhile (and has the benefit of role-playing a societal misfit as they find their way into the college's of magic), but I don't think it optimal.

Altering Reality Zones and the ascension war

 I have been feeling inspired by the mage 20 take on reality zones and how they can be altered, especially since reading the upcoming Victorian mage book. Partly because it gives an insight into how the ascension war is fought,  and partly because it helps define what exactly mages actually DO. It strikes me that,  given a bit of structure,  struggles to define reality zones can spin out entire chronicles worth of adventures. 

My instinct is to structure it around a mixture of altered challenge and contest from FATE.

Firstly, it is important to note that I am looking at this entirely from a player facing gamist perspective.  This is not intended as a simulationist model of waging the ascension war - it is a way to structure games and spin out world altering plots. 

It strikes me that there are 3 situations that can crop up in game;

1) (incursion) The players want to alter a reality zone to be more amenable to their paradigms.

2) (defence) the players want to stop someone from altering a reality zone

3) (ascension war) the players are simultaneously trying to stop an opponent from altering a reality zone while enforcing their own changes.

Let's look at these in turn;

Incursion

The most likely situation (especially at the start of a campaign) is that the mages want to create a reality zone that is a bit friendlier to their cause. 

First they need to decide on the changes they are going to attempt.  Each change will require a certain number of VICTORIES. the number needed can vary depending on your campaign, but I am going to start with an assumption of 3 victories being needed. YMMV.

Changes could include;

Making a vulgar effect using specific practices coincidental 

Making a certain category of practices effective cover for certain effects (removing witnesses) etc.

Second,  the characters need to plan out the CAMPAIGNs they will attempt in order to build VICTORYs towards the change.  A campaign intended to affect vulgar magic must include the use of vulgar magic. 

Each CAMPAIGN is broken down into a number of STEPs. In order to successfully complete an action, the characters need to be successful on a number of STEPs.  Each STEP should build towards a climactic final STEP which completes the CAMPAIGN. 

The campaign should involve a significant number of people from the area intended as a new reality zone,  and each campaign should target a different (although possibly overlapping) section of the population. 

Each step should also involve the use of magic, (with witnesses, as the whole idea is convincing them to beleive in magic).

For example;

An ecstatic dancer might work rituals in night clubs across the zone, gradually building acceptance among clubbers and working more and more obvious effects into the revelry.

They might start by building sensory effects and building a following,  move on to shaping the crowds emotional resonance,  and build into a climactic event where time actually stops and the moment is drawn out. 

A hermetic wizard might build a secret society whose rituals build steadily more obvious effects. 

Each step should be taken as an opportunity for the GM to throw in a complication.  Resolving the complication could be a scene,  or an entire adventure according to the needs of the Chronicle. This complication could be the result of deliberate opposition,  or simply events conspiring against the characters.  Successfully resolving the complication results in a successful STEP. Failing to resolve the complication results in a failed STEP.

Depending on the needs of the Chronicle there are two ways to complete a campaign;

Firstly,  a campaign could consist of EXACT 3 STEPS.  If two STEPS are successful,  the campaign grants a single VICTORY towards changing the reality zone. If 3 STEPS are successful,  the campaign grants 2 VICTORIES towards changing the reality zone. If a single STEP is successful,  then no VICTORIES are granted,  but the next campaign run towards the same change gains a single automatic success. 

Secondly,  if a more involved process is required,  the campaign could be counted as successful (and grant a victory) if 3 success are gained before 3 failures. As soon as 3 failures are garnered, the campaign fails and the character must try a different approach. 

Either of those approaches could be used for determining how many successful campaigns are needed to enact a change if desired. 

Defence

Once the characters have crafted a reality zone to their liking, they will need to keep it that way. 

This is where defence actions come in.  This follows a similar process to an incursion however this time the GM creates the campaigns on behalf of the NPCs, and it is up to the players to discover what they are doing and intervene. 

Because the aim is to generate adventures,  it is probably best to assume the NPCs will be successful without player interference, although dealing with the fallout from a failed STEP could be what tips the players off that someone is up to shenanigans.

Ascension War

It is likely that sooner or later both the players and their rivals will be trying to bend the consensus to their will.  When this happens,  all factions involved design their campaigns and set to work. 

The first faction to gain 3 VICTORIES enacts their change on the reality zone,  and the efforts of the other factions count for nothing. (Perhaps they could be granted some limited effect if they gained 1 or 2 VICTORIES).

This will spin out material for adventures all over the place as the characters scramble to deal with complications to their own plans,  create complications to their rivals plans,  and even deal with (or initiate) more direct attempts at sabotage or assassination.

This  can all either be the focus of a chronicle or stretch out in the background,  padding out and adding depth to stories about whatever other problems the mages are beginning dragged in to. 

 Solitaire System

The following is the system I use to plan Solitaire games.
Disclaimer – this system is always in development. I rarely play two games using precisely the same system. Each game I take what works, learn new things, try new things, and tweak things as needed.
It is also not original in any way. Everything here has been scavenged from a multitude of sources and cobbled together into a system that works for me.

Flexibility is the most important rule. The system has two purposes – to help generate ideas so the game does not stall, and to maintain a consistent narrative. It is a tool, not a straight jacket. Everything put in place by this system exists as a prompt and a guideline. I frequently alter, mix, or replace elements in play to fit the emerging narrative. Nothing is set in stone until it is engaged with directly in play.

A)    Setup

The first Job is to set up the game. I find that time spent on preparation pays dividends, and a well prepared game ends up more enjoyable, more productive, and more likely to last than one where I have just rolled up a character, grabbed an oracle, and got stuck in.
Setting up the game consists of a number of phases that I usually go through roughly in order. I never consider any of these phases to be “complete” however, and I constantly jump between them as inspiration takes me. Even once play has started the documents generated in these phases remain subject to regular updates.

1)    Genre

It is important to establish the Genre of the Game. For some this will be straight forwards because they approach the game with a particular Genre or a particular ruleset in mind. I almost always use a variant of Fate as my ruleset, so Genre is a wide open field.
I keep a document with a wish list of different Genres I am interested in playing, along with ideas I have for the focus of Games within those Genres.
My first step when setting up a solitaire game is always to revisit that list, see if I can add anything to it (even if I might not take that idea further until a later date), and settle on one for my current game.

Wishlist
Once I have settled on a Genre, I make a wish list for that game of things I would like to see in the game.
One of the great things about solitaire play is that I don’t have to please anyone but myself, and having a list of things that interest me helps give me prompts I can keep returning to whenever introducing something new to the game to keep things focussed on what I enjoy.
This wish list of things I want in the game is one of the most useful things I have found to help keep the game focussed and enjoyable. I will sometimes add to it later on as inspiration takes me.
Occasionally I create a second list of things I want to avoid in the game, but generally this is unnecessary.

Ruleset
Again, this will be a simple choice for many people. Given that I generally play fate, and it is so customisable, I tend to look at the genre and my wishlist at this point and see what rules will best accommodate those.


Scale
The last thing I need to establish is the scale at which my game will be played. Again this helps maintain a focus for the game and helps provide a framework for the things I add.
Sometimes the scale will change during play, and sometimes I plan from the outset that the campaign will move across scales.
I choose between 4 different scales of play;
I Personal
Personal games focus on the characters and their interpersonal relationships. Everything is designed to impact them directly.
II Political
Political games focus on the interplay between the different factions involved in the game. Characters will have their own motivations and agendas, and the PC’s will need to navigate between them. This kind of game is often fairly limited in scope, with the action played out between well connected characters within a defined arena of some sort – either geographical, factional, or organisational. Often things will be tightly balanced between different factions and the choices made by the PCs will tip the balance one way or another – with resulting complications and fallout.
III Epic
Epic games play out over a broader scale, with factions being more clearly defined and often clashing over larger areas. This kind of game is often Global in scope with a bigger focus on factions clashing rather than manouvering within factions. Characters at this scale will tend to be representative of the factions they are acting on behalf of.
IV Mythic
Mythic games are broader still, with characters and factions  representing fundamental forces of nature. or abstract ideas. Rather than the global clash of nations represented on the epic scale, this is the clash between life and death, light and darkness. In all honesty I do not often play at this scale.
Example
I settle on Fantasy as a genre and brainstorm a wishlist of things I want to include;
Magic
Wizards
Fae
Duels
Mass combat
Subterfuge

I will keep these in mind when setting up the Game and introducing new elements, ensuring that they are what focusses the game.
Mass combat suggests an Epic scale for the game, with factions clashing on a broad scale.

2)    Setting and Factions

These come together in my setup process, because although I begin with setting before moving on to factions, I tend to bounce back and forth between the two quite a lot as elements of each spark ideas.

Setting
Setting is about looking at where the action takes place and brainstorming locations. These will be added to throughout the setup process and throughout play.
The first thing to do is to think about the scope of the setting, which will often  be linked to the scale. Remember to keep your wishlist in mind while thinking about the sort of things you want to happen in your setting – the setting should be built with your wishlist in mind.
Personal scale stories might take place over a single block or a small town with locations being Houses, buildings, parks etc.
Political scale stories might take place within a single city, or across the scattered holdings of a single faction. Locations might again be buildings within that city.
Epic scale stories might take place across a whole globe, or even multiple worlds or planes in some stories. Locations might be whole cities or geographical locations. For an interstellar or interplanar setting, locations might even be worlds or planes.
Mythic scale stories go outside of the box and so the settings might resemble any of the above, or might be different entirely.
Locations
For each location I fill in;
Breif Description: What does it look like? What is its function?
Nested locations: Sometimes the location will be nested within a larger location (eg a building within a city). Sometimes it will have smaller locations nested within it (eg. A building containing several important apartments)
Face: A character or characters linked with the location. People you can expect to find here.
Faction: Any factions that are linked with the location.
Notes: Any important information about the location with regards to Items/characters/plots. Usually this will not be filled in until play has started, but sometimes characters back stories have important links to locations.

Factions
Next I brainstorm the Factions operating within the setting. First I do this as a simple list before going back over them and adding details.
I sometimes leave locations until later, but I always begin with at least 3 different factions to create tension between them.
Remember to keep your Wishlist in mind when brainstorming factions. 

Each faction should then be developed by adding notes under the following headings (partly taken from Dresden files accelerated):
Description: What is the faction about? What do they do?
Goals: What do the faction want to achieve
Resources: What do they have at their disposal
Weaknesses: What problems do they need to overcome or solve? What stands in their way?
Characters: What characters are involved in the faction?
Locations: List the locations the factions are linked to
Instinct: As a stereotype, how does the faction behave? What kind of thing are members trying to do as a short term goal?
Actions: List 3 to 5 generic actions the faction is likely to take to achieve their goals

UPDATE

after reading more game books and playing more adventures I have realised that the information above is not immediately gameable and have started listing a number of agents for each faction and given each agent a set of possible actions rather than (or sometimes as well as) actions for the faction as a whole. I have found that this helps make the factions more concrete and gives them a way to directly impact the story. 

3)    Create Characters

Once I have the basics of a setting and a bunch of factions with conflicting goals, I look through them and brainstorm a list of possible character concepts. Generally I try to think up at least 1 character from each faction, but more is fine.
Note that your characters should be linked to a faction, but they don’t necessarily need to agree with it – they could just as easily be opposed to the faction.
I draw my player characters from this list, but any left over can easily be introduced as allies or villains later on.
Looking back at your wish list can help with inspiration for characters, but don’t hesitate to include any concepts that appeal to you – this is another wishlist of sorts.
Then create your characters using whatever system you have decided upon. They will already be tied into the setting because they were created with a link to a particular faction in mind.

One of the great things about Solo Play is that you can try wildly different things in terms of a games cast of characters than you could get away with in a more social game where you are limited by the size of the group. Here are a few ideas I have tried;

Solo Solitaire. One possibility which from the atual plays I have read seems popular is to simply create and play a single character. This has the benefit of letting you get to know that character really well, and is probably the most “immersive” option, although given that solo play already requires you to split your hats between player and GM, I am not sure how much benefit this actually grants.

Traditional Party. An obvious option, and one I tend to favour for a lot of games, is to play through the adventures of a traditional adventuring party- Just taking on the roles of all the players (or partially automating the characters in some way). This takes more book-keeping than a single character, but many games are easier to balance encounters for this kind of setup.

Marvel Teamup. Often I begin with a single character and introduce more later. Sometimes I do this by playing a scenario with each character as individuals before bringing them together for a scenario as a team, in a similar manner to how marvel movies build up. This enables me to get to know each character without having others to distract from them, which can be helpful in cutting down the mental load when playing a whole group solitaire.

Split the Party!! One of the benefits of Solo play is that nobody is sat around bored if you split the party, even if you ignore some characters for a while and concentrate on others. Taking this to an extreme you could even explore a game from multiple perspectives by creating and playing multiple different characters who have nothing in common and possibly never even meet – each exploring the events of the game from the perspective of a different faction, location, or situation. Think the way characters are spread out in something like Game of Thrones, with each character getting a chapter or two at a time before the spotlight shifts. This feels especially appropriate for Epic games, but I can see some political games working like this as well.

4)    Create Problems

Look over your Wishlist, your Factions, and your Characters and come up with 2 or 3 problems affecting the setting that will need to be resolved. More can be added later, but these will help provide the structure for your campaign, at least to start with.
The nature of the problems will vary depending on your scale:
Personal Problems will be aimed at directly affecting the characters and things they care about, so pay particular notice to the character and their backstory. You might want to add detail to the characters back story to more firmly embed the problem,
Political problems will  be rooted in the Factions you created and divisions within those factors. This may be an external problem which factions have different ideas about how to deal with, but pay attention to your factions and how they will react when creating the problem. You may want to revisit the details of your factions to build on this.
Epic problems are clashes between the factions themselves. You may want to revisit the factions to ensure there is scope for an epic clash. You may also want to add a faction at this point which is specifically designed to clash with the others.
Mythic problems are more conceptual in nature. They could share similarities with problems from other scales, but will involve Gods and Ideas.

Once you have a problem begin by thinking what its endpoint will look like if it plays out without interference, then work your way backwards step by step to the situation at the campaigns start.
If the Problem is a villain, then consider this their plan for enacting their end goal. If the problem is more of a force of nature then this is the series of events that will lead to calamity unless the characters intervene.
Problems do not necessarily have to be something that the characters are working to stop either – they might just as easily be working to ensure the climax of a problem DOES happen, either because they are working for somebody else, or because they are furthering their own plans.
Sometimes they might switch between attempting to progress a problem and attempting to stop it as events unfold.
These are a bit like dungeon world Fronts.
Make sure there are at least 3 to 10 steps in the plan.

EG.
Problem; The Lord of Blades is preparing an army to invade Breland
Climax:         A horde of Warforged warriors descend on Breland
        A Brelish Fort is put under siege and sacked by a warforged army
        Warforged scouts infiltrate the Brelish border, sabotaging key positions
        Warforged agents infiltrate Breland, surveying defences and looking for weaknesses
        Warforged soldiers begin to desert the army
        Agents openly recruit Warforged soldiers to the Lord of Blades employ
        Warforged begin to go missing – they are joining Lord of Blades warbands

This provides a rough map of how events will play out without interference.

5)    Create Hooks

Start with the first step of each problem, and create 2 to 5 ways the characters could be hooked into dealing with that problem. Look at your characters and their backgrounds while doing this, that way you can make the hook personal.
One of these Hooks will form the basis of the first session of play. The rest can be put to one side and used to introduce other problems, or deepen problems the characters are already dealing with, once play has started.
Once the characters have begun dealing with the first step of a problem, you will need to start looking at the second step and brainstorming hooks that will get the characters involved and move the problem on.
During play, problems will most likely become derailed. When this happens, Use your knowledge of the factions, characters, and other elements involved in the problem to alter the steps leading to its conclusion. It may be that the situation has altered so radically that even the climax of the problem will need to change.
If the characters make it impossible for a problem to reach its climax, then that problem has been dealt with.

6)    Outline adventures

You should outline an adventure stemming from each hook you create. This does not need to be detailed, as you can build the details in play – just a rough idea of the events the hook will drag the characters into.
Adventures can take a number of different forms, but it is probably best to keep them short so that the game maintains its pace.
At this stage I would probably just record the kind of framework I think the adventure might use, and any ideas that leap out at me as being must-includes for the adventure. Both of these things would remain subject to change depending on both my whims and the state of play when the hook was actually triggered, but having some ideas in place already just helps keep things moving smoothly.
I suggest varying the frameworks used, to help keep the game from becoming predictable.

Frameworks I have found helpful include:

9 Questions: Written by John Fiore back in 2013. This is a fairly solid framework for a short adventure. This was the first form of adventure framework I started using when I first began playing solitaire games. It works best for adventures comprising a conflict between two parties, with steadily escalating risks.
Here is the gist, but I suggest searching for the original documents as they contain good advice on running it, and mush more detail.
1a) What looming hostility inherent within the setting unexpectedly comes into conflict with the heroic motivation, threatening to worsen over time?
This is basically developing how the characters find and interact with the Hook.
1b) What actions consistent with the heroic motivation do the heroes take that bring them into conflict with a looming hostility inherent within the setting?
In other words, how do the characters react to the Hook?
2) What unusual event occurs soon afterwards?
3) What elements of the results of Q1a or b and Q2 suddenly get twisted together in a surprising manner, increasing the danger to the heroic motivation?
4) How can the fight be brought to the enemy, gaining ground for the heroic motivation?
5) How can any heroic gains from the results of Q4 suddenly be undermined as new information about the true face/scheme/power of the enemy becomes known?
6) How can the adverse results from Q4 and Q5 be further intensified, forcing the heroes to commit to a do-or-die course of action in accordance with the heroic motivation?
7) Where can the heroic motivation be most effectively redeemed?
8) Where does the final showdown between the heroes and the enemy take place in relation to the results of Q7?
9) Where does the world stand after the results of Q7 and Q8?
This is a good place to insert another hook…

5 Room Dungeon: Designed by John Four as a quick method for games masters to create short dungeons, however the format can easily be adapted to situations other than literal dungeons.
They work well when for an adventure in which the characters will be moving from one situation to the next in search of the adventures climax.
Again I would suggest searching for the source material. A lot has been written about using 5 room dungeons in various contexts, and they are a flexible resource once you get the hang of them.
Room 1: Entrance and Guardian
The Hook
Room 2: Puzzle or Roleplaying Challenge
For Solo play, this really means a skill challenge for the characters
Room 3: Trick or Setback
Room 4: Climax
Room 5: Reward, Revelation, Plot Twist
This is a good place to insert another hook…

Perilous Intersections: Written by Rory Bracebuckle. This is a more freeform adventure framework than the above methods, and was a gamechanger for me when I first discovered it. It is also more difficult to describe in a short form than the methods above.
The Gist is that you roll up a series of random “Seeds” and each scene is setup with one of these seeds providing inspiration for a situation that challenges the characters goals.
It is a useful framework when you want something a little less structured than the above methods, and I find it works well when you have an idea for the starting point (the Hook) but want to play to find out what is actually going on.

Story Questions: I have found that a similar framework to Perilous intersections can work by generating a series of questions that the adventure will answer and using them as frameworks for scenes in a similar method to Perilous Intersections. In fact I have found that this works really well when combined with Perilous intersections, replacing the Big Questions with more story specific ones.
This is a useful framework when you want a freeform adventure, but actually have some idea about what is going on but the questions instead revolve around the characters actions and their consequences.

There are many more frameworks that can be used for adventures, and I will probably add more here with time, but these are some of the methods I have had the most success with.
To prepare an adventure record the following information;
Hook:
Frmework: (subject to change)
Ideas:
Ramifications if the Hook is ignored:

7)    Begin Play

Pick a hook (I sometimes do this randomly), prepare whatever you need to for the framework you have chosen, and get started on the first scene.

I like to keep a handy list of Possible hooks to be introduced ready nearby, so that I can constantly be on the lookout for opportunities to introduce a new hook. Unless I am overwhelmed by the number of Hooks that are opened (probably about 3 open at a time), I introduce a new one wherever possible. This means that I can keep the characters options open within the game and ensure they are busy juggling priorities.

Of course, triggering a hook doesn’t mean the characters have to follow up on it, and I like to have an idea of the ramifications for the hooks I leave dangling for too long…

At a minimum I try to finish each adventure with at least one hook open, so that I can move straight on with things without losing pace (which in my experience can kill a solo game).

I label hooks with the problem they stem from so that I know what they should be building towards, and I mark hooks which lead into the next phase of a problem.
When I feel ready, and the narrative supports it (sometimes before I feel ready) I trigger a hook that moves a problem into its next phase. I do not necessarily (or often) wait until all of the previous phases hooks have been triggered before moving to the next phase. They are simply options intended to provide inspiration on exploring that phase of the problem. 

Sometimes inspiration will appear from the narrative and new hooks will suggest themselves, or hooks I have listed will become irrelevant.
Sometimes my characters will begin working on long term goals of their own, in which case I will go through the Problem creation process and create the steps needed to accomplish their goal. Sometimes a new problem will rise in play and I will go through the process in a similar fashion.

When the characters derail the intended steps of a problem I will attempt to create a new set of steps for that problem to attain completion. If this is not possible then the characters have successfully dealt with that problem (and the fallout may well create the impetus for new problems).

Lastly I should note that although I always plan with the intention of running an entire campaign, I never begin play with the expectation that I will successfully do so. The realities of Solitaire play are that it is often difficult to maintain motivation past a handful of adventures, and I generally regard fully completing a single adventure as a win. I find that for me it is easier to maintain my interest if I focus on the present moment of the campaign and don’t put any pressure of expectaction to take it any thurther. I also find however that it is easier to keep going if I have some kind of framework in place for the route ahead, and there is nothing worse than a successful and enjoyable game grinding to a halt because I don’t know where to take it next, or because it is starting to feel like it is not really going anywhere.

I hope that this helps others with inspiration in finding their own system for setting up and playing solitaire games. Please feel free to cannibalise whatever you like and make it work for you - after all, that is what I have done. 

Happy Gaming.

Mage the Ascension Fate Hack

Mage The Ascension

Rational

I love the lore and factions of Mage the ascension but the system is far too crunchy for me to cope with these days, so the only way I am going to engage with the setting at all is through a Fate Hack.

There are dozens of really good fate hacks out there, both for Ascension and for Awakening. I have used and enjoyed these before, but I have never been entirely satisfied by the manner in which the spheres were implemented.

In the hacks I have seen and used, Implementation of the spheres has fallen into one of these categories;

Spheres as skills – either as part of the standard skill pyramid or as an extra

Spheres as stunts – either with a single stunt buyng access to the whole sphere, or buying each ranks separately

Spheres out the window – basically using Dresden files (core or fae) and ignoring spheres altogether

The problem with the latter is that spheres seem like an integral part of the mage experience for me, and the problem with the former is that (and this is probably just me being picky) neither skills or stunts really seem to encapsulate what sphere knowledge does.

In my mind;

Skills – are about how you affect the story

Stunts – modify the way you interact with the rules

Aspects – are about WHAT you can do

And spheres more than anything else are about WHAT you can do. They are basically narrative permissions.

Creating a Character

Aspects

Aspects are an important part of setting the tone for the game and the kind of stories that play out. For a standard game use these aspects, but if you want to guide the game in a particular direction then changing the aspects might be the first place you want to look.

I have taken inspiration from a lot of places, but aspects primarily owe to Max Peters hack.

As usual with Fate Core, mages have 5 aspects. For mage, 4 of these are specified, and the last can be anything to round out the character. The defined aspects are High Concept, Trouble, Avatar, and Paradigm.

High Concept

The High concept defines who the mage is. It should encapsulate the mages ability to work magic (which is a defining part of who mages are) and their place in the magical world. For most mages this will mean membership of a faction, but it might just as easily state that they are orphaned.

A good way to construct the high concept is by combining a character trait, the characters broad magical identity, and their role or motivation. If you tell someone your high concept they should have a pretty good handle on who your character is.

Note that the faction element might be a tradition, but could just as easily be a faction within a tradition if that describes your character more accurately.

Character Trait (if in unsure, one of the FAE approaches works well); Forceful, Angry, Caring, Lonely…

Magical Identity (Faction or sub faction); Hermetic, Verbena, Progenitor, Flambeau, Akashic, Jnani…

Role (Job or Function; what they do); Scholar, Soldier, Dancer, Assassin, Diplomat, Driver, Teacher…

·         Arrogant Flambeau Gangster

·         Ambitious Progenitor Doctor

·         Ruthless Akashic Lawyer

Trouble

The kind of problems the mage faces. This can have a big impact on the kind of game you play, as the place a mages problems stem from have a big impact on where they take the game.

If you want mages who are tied to the sleeping world then they should have troubles which define mundane connections – family, work etc.

If the mages are more detached from the sleeping world then their troubles should be more personal or magical in nature.

Remember that regardless of the source of your problems, they need to be something you want to come up in play as a constant source of complication.

·         My family don’t know I’m a mage

·         I have to pay the rent

·         I have children to look after

Or for more detached mages

·         Master Kell always has jobs for me to do

·         Distracted by the secrets of the universe

·         Something is stalking me in the shadows

Avatar

The mages Avatar is what allows them to work magic, and what drives them towards their destiny. It is an essential part of a willworkers existence.

The avatar can manifest as a ghostly presence either seen through mirrors or some such, or ‘halucinated’. It could manifest through someone (or someones) in the mages life. It could manifest as flashes of insight, memories of past incarnations, glimpses of patterns. Anything that could guide and influence the mage.

The Avatar aspect is invoked to trigger a seeking, and can be invoked to give insight into the mages actions or compelled to drive the mage in complicated directions.

·         Whispers in my mind

·         I am a vessel of the spirit

·         My son is my Guide

Paradigm

Magic is shaped and controlled by belief. The paradigm through which a mage works their will is both their strength and their weakness. It guides both what they are capable of doing as well as how they do it.

Mage 20 has a great system for devising a mages paradigm, and my advice would be to follow it and think it through fully then describe it in a single sentence as an aspect.

As with M20, the mage should have a single paradigm and up to 3 practices defined by the aspect.

As the mage grows and develops, so should their paradigm.

·         Hypertechnology takes advantage of natural laws (Mechanistic cosmos/Hypertech)

·         Faith shapes the world (Its all good/Faith)

·         Symbolic rituals manifest my will (Might is Right/High Ritual)

In addition to describing how the mage works their magic, the mages Paradigm represents a fundamental shift in how they perceive and understand the world. It can be invoked any time this understanding is helpful, and compelled whenever it leaves themout of their depth.

Free Aspect/Relationship aspect

The final aspect can be used to round out the character with anything important that falls outside the scope of the other aspects. Perhaps with an important relationship, item of equipment, personality trait, or other such.

Follow the usual aspect guidance for fate core.

Alternatively, the final aspect can be used to define a relationship with another PC. This may be a useful way to tie the characters together at the start of the campaign.

Skills

Mage uses a standard skill pyramid from fate core. By default the peak skill should be Great (4), but this could be lowered to good (3) if you want greener and less capable mages.

The skill list, and in particular Lore have been (mostly) taken from the Lex arcanum fate hack.

The following skills are available (Note: * Denotes new skills, which are outlined below). They basically consist of the Fate Core skill list plus Lore.

• Academics (originally Lore)
• Athletics
• Burglary
• Contacts
• Crafts/Technology
• Deceive
• Drive
• Empathy
• Fight
• Investigate
• Lore*
• Notice
• Physique
• Provoke
• Rapport
• Resources
• Shoot
• Stealth
• Will

·         New Skill: Lore

·         Unlike Academics (which replaces Lore in the standard Fate Core skills list), which represents your knowledge and understanding of the mundane world, Lore represents your occult knowledge. Looking at the world at large, most people don’t have this skill or even know it exists. But for those who've studied the real teachings of the occult, Lore allows them to gain useful insight into the arcane elements of the mortal world.

Overcome: You can use Lore to overcome any obstacle that requires applying your character’s occult knowledge to achieve a goal. For example, deciphering the ancient runes that are etched into the outside of a lock box, preventing access to the contents within. Lore can also be used to determine if you character might know the answer to a question about the occult, whether through having heard or read something on the subject.

Create an Advantage: Like Investigate, Lore provides a lot of very flexible opportunities to create advantages, provided you can research the subject in question. For instance, you could use Lore to uncover a detail about the monster, such as it's weaknesses, or use your knowledge of occult rituals to etch a rune on the floor to enhance your magic. Both uses involve creating an advantage for yourself based on either occult knowledge you have learned, or have uncovered during the story.

·         

·         Attack: Lore isn't used in conflicts.

Defend: Lore isn't used to defend.

Stress, Consequences, Refresh, and stunts

Mages get the standard physical and mental stress and consequences from fate core.

They also get mana stress (detailed later).

Mages begin with 3 refresh and get 3 free stunts as in Core.

Stunts can be taken as usual in fate core, and in addition to representing abilities and gear they can be used to represent advantages like avatar, node, or sanctum. When I get the chance I will write up some examples of mage specific stunts.

EXTRA – Spheres

The first extra mages get is access to the Spheres.

Each sphere is an aspect consisting of a sphere and its rank.

The ranks are as follows;

Scale	Rank
1	Initiate
2	Apprentice
3	Disciple
4	Adept
5	Master

Because I am not a fan of the entropy sphere, I prefer to use the 10 spheres from Awakening rather than the 9 from Ascension. If you prefer to use the ascension spheres, you can easily do so using these rules. Mages should also feel free to adjust the names of the spheres according to their paradigm (as long as it is made clear which original sphere they are referring to)

Example aspects;

·         Master of Mind

·         Adept of Forces

·         Disciple of Correspondence

Or with adjusted names (taken from Anders mage page) ;

·         Adept of Medium frequency wave interference (forces)

·         Disciple of Chi (Prime)

·         Initiate of the Flesh (Life)

These aspects, in conjunction with the mages paradigm aspect, give justification for actions which would not normally be available without them.

For example an Adept of Medium Frequency wave interference could deploy his equipment (probably a blaster of some sort) to launch a blast of plasma.

Spells cast using a sphere have a scale equal to the rank of the highest sphere involved in the effect. This scale cannot be applied to casting magic, but can be applied to anything else the spell interacts with.

For example if a mage conjures a flaming sword then their attacks with it will operate at the scale at which the sword was created. If they then conjure a fireball, then again it will operate at the scale at which the fireball was cast. Because of this, aspects created by spheres need to include the rank at which they operate (even if it is just in parenthesis);

Eg a Disciples flaming blade, or  a Wall of Force (adept).

Magical actions use the normal skills. If you are creating a Muscled like the Hulk aspect using life then you roll Physique to do so. If you are shooting a fireball then you do so using shoot.

Using magic carries a passive difficuly which is dependent on the scale of the effect, plus one for each additional sphere needed.

Scale	Base Difficulty
1	0
2	2
3	4
4	6
5	8
Each extra sphere needed	+1

There is an additional difficulty in affecting targets who are not present when the effect is cast;

Sympathetic Connection Between Caster and Target

Affecting a target at anything beyond the sensory level requires the addition of Correspondence to the effect (at minimum rank 2 or higher depending on the effect)

• Sensory (+0): You can see, hear or otherwise sense your target directly. This is the default factor, a sensory spell.
• Intimate (+1): You have a piece of the target’s physical substance, such as hair, nail clippings or blood from a creature, a leaf or flower from a plant, or a sliver of material from an object. Or you know the target very well, such as a longtime friend or close family member, a beloved pet or a prized possession.
• Known (+2): You know the target, which might be a friend, co-worker or personal possession. You have a photo or other accurate representation of the target, or you can see the target on live video or hear the target over live audio.
• Acquainted (+3): You’re acquainted with the target. It might be a casual acquaintance, a co-worker you hardly know, or an item you held or used once.
• Encountered (+4): You have encountered the target briefly, such as a person you passed on the street or an item you touched once.
• Described (+5): You have never encountered the target, but can describe it. You might know a person’s name or physical description, or what an object or place looks like.
• Unknown (--): If you know nothing about the target, you cannot cast a sympathetic spell on it. Knowing that there is a rival mage in town is not enough to affect the mysterious figure from afar. You must at least know his name, description or location.

Note: If the caster does not know the real name of a target, the difficulty of achieving a sympathetic connection is increased by two degrees on the chart. So, for example, an Intimate connection would become an Acquainted connection.

Affecting multiple targets divides shifts as equally as possible between targets. Affecting an area applies half the number of shifts rolled to each target in the area.

When creating an effect roll first against the difficulty of the effect. If this roll is successful it can then be applied to any other opposition to the effect.

Overcome – a successful effect then uses its full shifts (plus scale) against the opposition it is trying to overcome

Create Advantage – unless there is opposition to the effect which is greater than the difficulty of the effect itself, then the difficulty of creating the effect will usually be used to create the advantage. If not then the roll can be applied to the advantage as normal

Attack – if the effect is successful then the roll is applied directly against the target, remembering to take scale into account. If the roll is a tie with the effects difficulty then the attack takes place as normal but the mage also creates an aspect representing a minor paradox flaw in addition to any other paradox the effect accumulates.

Defence – If an effect is able to be deployed quickly enough to act as a defence, it uses the same rules as an attack.

Examples:

An Adept of Forces shoots a fireball at an opponent. He rolls shoot and compares his result to the difficulty of the effect (4 for a disciple effect, although if he was confident enough he could create an adept level effect for the extra scale). If he attained the difficulty of the effect then his roll would be applied as an attack on the target, with scale applied.

An Apprentice of Life creates an advantage on himself to bulk out and become strong. This is apprentice level effect so he rolls Physique against difficulty 2, and if successful he creates the advantage Bulging Muscles (2) remembering that he can apply the scale anytime his bulging muscles will give him an edge.

Extended Casting

Sometimes the difficulty of casting an effect makes it impossible to do with a single roll. This is where extended casting comes in.

Extended casting is built up by creating advantages which may be used in casting the effect. Carefully drawing a ritual circle, selecting and harvesting important ingredients, carefuly washing preparing and donning robes etc. The time taken to prepare a ritual will vary depending on the preparations necessary.

Descriptions of the permissions given by each sphere can be found in mage the ascension books.

EXTRA  - Paradox

The next defining feature of magic in mage is Paradox.

There are 2 real ways of handling this; Paradox happens whenever a spell is cast, or paradox happens whenever a casting roll is failed…

Actually I like the idea of mixing both…

Mages have a paradox stress track, beginning with two boxes ([1] and [2]). They gain boxes in accordance with their highest sphere rating. An initiate gains a [3] stress box, while a Disciple gains a [4] stress box.

When a spell is cast, the mage gains paradox.

The base paradox is given by the type and scale of an effect;

Coincidental: No shifts the first time the effect is cast in a scene, then as vulgar without witnesses (you can only get away with the same coincidence once).

Vulgar without witnesses: Shifts equal to the scale of the effect

Vulgar with witnesses: Shifts equal to double the scale of the effect

If the mage fails to reach the difficulty of the effect then an extra paradox point is gained for each point they fail by.

Paradox can be reduced by the following methods;

Using a Rote reduces the paradox of an effect by 1

Spending a fate point to invoke the Avatar aspect reduces Paradox by 1

Paradox is soaked using Paradox stress, but make a note of the total amount of paradox that has been soaked (as it may be different to the boxes used). When a mage is taken out by Paradox, add up the total amount of paradox they have accumulated.

The total shifts of paradox are applied as an attack roll on the mage, which can be defended against using Will.

If any shifts remain they can be applied to either the mages physical or mental stress tracks, and can be absorbed as consequences.

Whether the damage is physical or mental is the storytellers choice and depends on the effect being attempted. Both  physical and mental paradox can result in spiritual consequences if the story teller decides it is appropriate.

Consequence	Shifts	Physical	Mental	Spiritual
Mild	2	Minor Flaw	Minor Quiet	minion
Moderate	4	Moderate Flaw	Moderate Quiet	preceptor
Severe	6	Severe Flaw	Severe Quiet	Lord
Taken out	/	Explosion	Realm	NA

Flaws

Paradox flaws are changes to the mage and the environment. They should be tailored to suit the spheres used in the effect.

Example flaws for each sphere might be (taken from anders mage page);

Sphere	Minor	Moderate	Severe
Correspondence	Altered perception	Things keep moving Mage cant control direction of anything	Body is turned inside out
Entropy	Altered perception Bad Luck	Mage Rots things they touch People nearby feel ill	Mage ages rapidly, becoming a withered husk, then slowly becoming young again on recovery
Forces	Hair stands on end Altered perception	Nearby electronics fail Mage floats off floor	Struck blind and deaf and dumb
Life	Muscle spasms Illness	Plants grow alarmingly Limb stops working	Violent epileptic seizure
Matter	Surface becomes slippy Equipment breaks	Becomes intangible to a substance Water the mage touches freezes	Body crystalizes
Mind	Mage speaks exactly whatis on their mind Distracting psychic static	Mental chameleon, adopting habits and manerisms of others nearby Phobia or delusions	Unable to form coherent thoughts
Prime	Pulses with magical energy A rote stops working	Magnet for magical effects	Loses touch with avatar and cant cast magic
Spirit	spirit	spirit	spirit
Time	Clocks stop Altered perception	Slowed Lose short term memory	Vanishes and reappears at future time

Quiets

Explosion

The mage suffers the effects of a severe flaw, and everyone in the area suffers half the paradox shifts. They may defend with Will and soak the paradox with stress and consequences in the same way the mage did. Being taken out does not cause further explosions.

Realm

The mage is dragged into a paradox realm, and may be stuck there until they find a way to escape.

Spirits

Instead of directly taking consequences, a consequence may be taken to represent a Paradox spirit. The spirit is designed as an extra, and the consequence will not begin to heal until the spirit has been dealt with.

Seekings

When a mage would gain a skill they can instead choose to gain a seeking token.

This token can be used to invoke the avatar aspect to trigger a seeking.

Alternately the GM can compel the aspect at an inconvenient  time and swap the seeking token for a fate point.

Examples

Casting magic might seem complicated, so I think a few examples are in order.

Attack spell

Zain is a hermetic mage who is being attacked by HIT MARKS. He wants to hurl a fireball at them;

A fireball is a Forces 3/Prime 2 effect, so it has a difficulty of 5 (4 for the forces, plus 1 for the extra sphere). Zain has a Fair (2) shoot skill, so he rolls the dice and gets a total of 3 (2 for his skill,plus 1 rolled on the dice). He spends a fate point to tag his high concept, adding a further 2 and gaining success at a minor cost. The cost is a minor paradox aspect, and as the world around Zain blurs into fiery hues of red and orange he releases his fireball at the HIT marks.

Zain attained a total of 5 shifts so they are now applied as an attack on the HIT mark, along with a scale of 3. There is no reason for the fireball to hit more easily, but it should be damaging so the scale adds 6 shifts of damage to any successful attack.

The Hit mark now has to defend against 5 shifts of attack with a weapon rating of 6!!

The spell is a vulgar effect without witnesses, and Zain cast it successfully so he nets 3 paradox which he soaks with his [3] paradox stress box.

Creating an Advantage

Having seen the mangled wreck of the HIT mark zain has realised how devastating offensive magic can be and wants to create a defensive ward. This time he just wants to be able to redirect forces – he doesn’t need to create them so he doesn’t need prime. Redirecting forces arguably only needs forces 2, but he can use forces 3 to give him a stronger shield. So the difficulty is 4 (for a forces 3 effect).

Defending against attacks comes under the athletics skill which Zain also has at fair (2). He rolls the dice and gets a total of 5 (2 for his fair athletics, and another 3 from his dice roll). This gives him an aspect shielded from incoming forces (3) with a free invoke and a scale of 3.

In addition to the invoke, when he defends from incoming forces he can make use of the aspects scale for either +3 to his roll, or 6 armour after the roll.

This is another vulgar effect without witnesses, netting him another 3 points of paradox. He has already used his [3] stress box, so he is forced to soak it on his [4]stress box.

Backlash

Later he attempts another fireball. Again the difficulty is 5 for a Forces 3/Prime 2 effect.

He rolls his fair (2) shoot for a total of 1 (2 for his shoot, and minus 1 from the dice), failing by 4.

This time he has no fate points to spend and he fails to cast the effect.  

He gains 3 paradox from a vulgar effect without witnesses, and a further 4 paradox from failing the roll. This gives him a total of 7 paradox to soak, and without any way to do so he is taken out.

Zain has been taken out by paradox because he is unable to soak it with stress, and this results in him suffering an attack with shifts equal to the total paradox he has accumulated.

He soaked 6 points earlier and has just garnered another 7 points, so he has to defend against a 13 shift attack!!

He defends with his Great (4) will and rolls a total of 6 (4 for his will, plus 2 for his roll). Leaving him with 7 shifts still to soak.

Given the physical nature of the effect he has just cast, he takes the damage as physical stress. He marks his [3] stress box to soak 3 shifts, and takes the other 4 as a moderate flaw metaphysical spark. Until he can recover from the consequence, flammable items nearby will constantly catch on fire.

Example Characters

Zain Basford

HC: Ambitious Hermetic enforcer

Trouble: Cant escape my Gangland past

Avatar: I see visions in the flames

Paradigm: Ritual magic gives me power over the Gods (Gods and monsters/High ritual magic)

Free: Indebted to Ironclaw

Disciple of Forces

Apprentice of Prime

Initiate of Spirit

Zain sees reality as governed and ruled by monstrous Gods, much like the Gangs of his youth ruled the social world he grew up in. Ritualised magic and arcane symbols allow him to force those Gods to reshape reality to his whim, at least until he loses control and they enact their revenge.

Great	Will
Good	Contacts	Lore
Fair	Shoot	Athletics	Stealth
Average	Resources	Notice	Burglary	Deceive

Physical: [1] [2]

Mental: [1] [2] [3] [4]

Paradox: [1] [2] [3]

Mild:

Moderate:

Severe:

Stunts:

Notorious Gangster: Use Contacts as provoke when dealing with sleepers who know about his Gang membership

Node: Add two to any casting rolls when within the same zone as the node

Backup: When Contacts is used to create an advantage representing Gangsters, they can be created as an extra