White Wolf's World of Darkness

[MJ12 Commando]

@The Laurent wanted tools to beat up killer robots with, so in the hopes that this might stop the death spiral I'm seeing, here's one.

Skinchanger's Cloak (8 pt Wonder)
Legends from many cultures talk of people who were capable of taking the forms of beasts. Most people who have a little understanding of the occult world believe that these legends were of werewolves and other changing breeds, but magi know better. After all, many of these skinchangers were helpful to mankind, not self-righteous warriors who prosecuted the worst genocide in human history. They know that these men and women were using the power of true magic to affect these changes. Although some were undoubtedly mages themselves, others were granted gifts-enchanted animal skins which allowed them to transform into half-men half-beasts. Skinchanger Cloaks have seen a resurgence through the Ascension War-when the enemy is deploying superhuman killing machines which can punch through walls and walk through gunfire like rain, it never hurts to match them physically.

Normally, a Skinchanger's Cloak is an article of clothing that is made out of the skin and/or fur of an animal. Ancient versions were obvious animal skins and hides, but modern versions are often designed as leather jackets or other easily disguised articles. In this form, the cloak merely counts as body armor, providing 3 dice of armor soak with no penalty with no other powers. Its true power comes when the character wearing it either spends 1 Willpower to activate the cloak or is Incapacitated via Bashing or Lethal damage.

At that point, the Cloak uses a Life 4 effect to transform the character into a half-man half-beast, fully healing all incurred damage in the process. At this point, roll the cloak's 'Arete' of 6-even 1 success allows the transformation to fully take. In this form, the character gains all the benefits of a changing breed in Warform-the ability to soak lethal and aggravated damage, rapid regeneration, natural weapons, and enhanced physical abilities. The warform reflects the creature the Cloak was made of-a jacket made of cow leather (fairly common nowadays) would transform the character into a Minotaur (Str + 5, Dex + 1, Sta +3, with goring horns doing Str +2A damage), while a wolf-skin would turn the character into a Crinos-form Garou. Instead of spending Rage, the character can spend Quintessence or Willpower to gain equivalent effects.

While transformed, the character is incapable of speech and has difficulty with fine manipulation. They can still open doors and do basic tasks like wield a melee weapon, but anything complex, like a firearm or computer, will be impossible for them to use. The transformation reverses itself either at the end of the scene or after spending another Willpower point, at which point the character is healed of any injuries sustained.

 

[MJ12 Commando]

So, @Quantumboost's Custom Cybernetics Sphere made me realize that despite Iteration X having plenty of these prosthetic limb things, there are no really simple rules for prosthetic limbs.

This is a thing that has to be rectified.

Prosthetic and Cybernetic Replacements.

More than one mage or consor has lost a limb in the line of duty. Although Life magic makes it relatively easy to fix such wounds most of the time, sometimes these limbs are lost in circumstances which make regrowing them difficult. Perhaps they were shorn off of the mage's pattern in a way which makes healing impossible. Perhaps they were sacrificed for cosmic knowledge. Perhaps the mage simply doesn't know anyone who might be able to regrow one, and finds it difficult to learn the Life sphere. Others sacrifice their own limbs on the altar of increased effectiveness. Although Iteration X is the most well-known user of augmented replacement limbs, the Technocracy as a whole makes use of them-as do the Traditions. Virtual Adept Cyberpunks love their chrome cyberarms and cyberlegs as much as any Iterator, Etherites often fuse man and machine in a less professional but no less effective way, and even the mystic traditions can fashion replacement limbs out of carefully crafted and enchanted brass and clockwork. Some Verbena possess super-strong arms crafted out of enchanted, living wood, while occasionally a Hermetic or Dreamspeaker forges a replacement for a missing arm or leg out of spirit-stuff.

At their most basic, replacement limbs, whether prosthetic or cybernetic, attempt to restore some capability to a mage who lacks their natural complement of limbs.

Prosthetic Replacements:

A prosthetic is not part of a mage's pattern. It is a separate object and thus can be targeted via pure Matter (or Spirit, or Life) effects without any penalty. Prosthetic limbs range from primitive wooden peg-legs to sophisticated Iteration X augments which can crush metal in their grasp and punch through concrete walls. Prosthetic limbs can be acquired via Sleeper contacts and influence relatively easily, but no mage, Technocratic or Traditions, would be caught dead using a Sleeper prosthetic. Doing so is generally a sign that the mage has absolutely nobody willing to give them anything better, which is quite damning considering how easy it is for mystic society to do so.

As a prosthetic is not part of a mage's pattern, it is much more vulnerable to magical interference. Most prosthetic limbs are mechanical/electronic in nature, and thus very vulnerable to Forces 2, Matter 2, and Entropy 3 effects. Other forms of prosthetics, such as Verbena ones made of living wood, are considered simple lifeforms and can be targeted by Life 2, or simple spirits and are vulnerable to Spirit 2. Other vulnerabilities of prosthetics include:

• Because they are not part of a mage's pattern, a mage using Correspondence magic must score another success on a teleport self roll to take it with them (just like with clothing or other personal gear), and a mage using Spirit magic to enter the Umbra must do the same.
• A mage with Correspondence 2 and the correct conjunctional sphere (Matter 2, Life 2, or Spirit 2) can teleport the limb away from you.
• A mage with Forces 2 can manipulate the limb on its own. This can lead to embarrassing and fatal situations.
• A mage with Matter 2 can turn most prosthetic limbs into other forms of matter, which can also lead to fatal situations. It tends to be inconvenient, and often fatal, to have your arm or leg transmuted into a poisonous substance like mercury.

On the flipside, a prosthetic is much easier to replace than a cybernetic augmentation, and far cheaper to make. A prosthetic does not give the mage any permanent Paradox, and any backlashes a vulgar prosthetic suffers are often self-contained. Because modification or hot-swapping does not require the mage to alter their pattern, a prosthetic is also easier to swap in or out than a cybernetic replacement. Upgrading or altering a prosthetic limb typically uses Matter 4, although one made out of, for example, enchanted wood might use Life 2 instead, and one made of spirit-ephemera can be manipulated via Spirit or Dimensional Science 3.

Integrated ("Cybernetic") Limbs:

An integrated replacement limb is one which is part of a mage's pattern. Most integrated replacements are cybernetics, and thus give their user the specific vulnerabilities of a cybernetically-augmented willworker. Having a fully integrated synthetic limb generally costs permanent Paradox or Genetic Flaws.

The line between an integrated cybernetic and a prosthetic is obvious to all, but almost every paradigm sees it in a different way. Some paradigms reject the idea of integrated replacements in the first place. When a Verbena witch grafts an arm made of living wood to a faithful follower, it is obvious to her that the arm is no more part of the follower's Pattern than their clothes. Others see it as a difference of internalization. A Virtual Adept may consider a limb to be 'integrated' if it becomes part of a person's self-image. A Hermetic may consider an integrated replacement to be one which leaves its marks on the soul.

Iteration X, in contrast, sees the difference as one of interface. A cybernetic limb to them is one which is directly and permanently attached to the cyborg's body, driven directly by neural interface, while a prosthetic runs off of surface-level nerve endings or muscle movements and can be removed much more easily and with significantly less surgery. The Technocracy has almost universally adopted this method of determining whether a replacement limb is a prosthetic or a cybernetic component, as Iteration X supplies virtually all Union cybernetics. Because of the Technocratic paradigm's dominance in Consensus, Sleeper prosthetic limbs are not considered to be integrated cybernetics.

To upgrade or alter an integrated replacement limb requires Life 4 and the spheres necessary to upgrade or alter a prosthetic.

Game Rules:
A character with a prosthetic limb must take the 3 point "one arm" flaw (for a missing arm) or the "lame" flaw (for a missing leg). This represents the character's natural state. A character with a cybernetic limb should not take the one arm/lame flaw to represent their replaced limb-the cybernetic limb is now part of their Pattern-someone using Life on the mage will fix the limb as well, it can't be removed by Correspondence 2, etc.

Replacement Limb (2 pt. Device/Talisman base, +1 per additional replaced limb): The basic cybernetic or prosthetic limb gives the following benefits:

• A prosthetic limb mitigates any flaws (One Arm, Lame, etc) which may result from lacking a limb as long as it is still attached.
• As the replacement limb does not bleed and is generally made of much tougher stuff than human flesh-whether it's enchanted wood, bronze and clockwork, titanium, or carbon composite-the character with a replacement limb gains an additional -0 health level. This does not make the rest of the character any tougher-it represents the fact that some attacks are going to hit the prosthetic rather than the more-vulnerable body.
• A replacement limb deals an additional +1 unarmed damage when used to attack, due to the lack of flesh to soften the blows of wood, metal, or whatever the limb is made of. For spirit or demonic grafts, this benefit may be retained (for example, if the limb has claws) or altered to a similar minor benefit (equivalent to +1 die to the use of a single Ability).
• Replacement limbs are more difficult to cripple. Any attack which seeks to cripple a prosthetic limb requires 2 additional successes, or +2 difficulty. If specifically targeted by a called shot, a replacement limb is considered to have 5d soak and 5 health levels, which stacks with any armor that covers the limb or cybernetic armor.
• By default, replacement limbs have a limited sense of touch and feel no pain. If a character is attempting to do something which requires sensitive touch with a prosthetic limb, the action is at +2 difficulty. On the other hand, the character can also reach into the middle of a raging fire to pull something out with their prosthetic arm without flinching.
• A character may only have 4 replacement limbs. Extra limbs, such as those found on extreme chimeric Iterators, Progenitors, and Etherites, or certain mystic cults which emulate multi-armed gods, are not supported by this system, and probably should not use this system, because giving a character an extra 10-20 -0 health levels or something is probably not terribly balanced, insofar as oMage has balance.

Replacement Limb Options:
Note that many of the modifiers only make sense for paired replacement legs. In that case, the character does not have to pay for the enhancement twice, but must have two prosthetic or integrated replacement limbs.

• Primitive (-1 point): This replacement limb is significantly worse than a human one at normal tasks. For a replacement arm, fine motor control and strength are limited. The character may not use their replacement hand for anything more than very simple manipulation (picking things up and putting them down, more or less). For a replacement leg, the character can move at normal speed, but may not run. This is generally only found if the limb is built via Sleeper technology, but not always. An Iteration X cyber-arm with an integrated plasma cannon, for example, or a jackhammer arm designed for breaching and demolition work, may lack full joint articulation.
• Obvious (-1 point): The character's replacement limb is obvious. This represents most modern prosthetics, which do not look anything like a normal human replacement. An obvious limb can be disguised under clothing, but if seen will tip any will-worker off that you are likely very vulnerable to relatively simple magic, or in the case of an integrated limb, the character's vulnerability to attacks against their cybernetics.
• Boosted Attributes (1 point per +1 or 3 points per +2): The replacement limb either has significantly strength or manual dexterity than an equivalent natural limb. Each point of Boosted Attribute adds +1 to the character's Strength or Dexterity when using the replacement. For example, boosted Dexterity for a pair of prosthetic legs will increase the character's movement speed and add to Athletics rolls for running or dodging, but will not benefit the character's marksmanship. Boosting the strength of an arm will make a character's hand to hand attacks more dangerous but do nothing for a character's jump height. At 1 point, the boost applies to either 1 replacement arm or 2 replacement legs. For 3 points, the boosted attributes apply to all replacement limbs the character possesses instead. Boosted attributes from limb replacement can exceed normal human maxima without becoming overtly Vulgar-with all the representations of prosthetics in fiction and real life people can believe that a pair of artificial legs might let you run faster than an Olympian or that a cybernetic arm can punch through a wall.
• Reinforced Limb (1 point per 2 limbs): The character has heavily reinforced replacement limbs, generally designed for combat or other situations where everyday toughness is insufficient. For every purchase of this modification, up to two of the character's artificial limbs are considered to have an additional 5 health levels (for a total of 10). Any attempt to disable a Reinforced limb requires an additional 2 successes or +2 difficulty (for a total of 4 extra successes/+4 difficulty). A character gains an an additional -0 health level for every purchase of this modification.
• Optimized Limb (1 point per -1 difficulty): The character's replacement limbs are optimized for a specific task. Any rolls made on that task are at -1 difficulty. A limb may have multiple optimizations, within reason.
• Overstrength Limb (3 points per automatic success): The limb has an immense strength-weight ratio. Modern Iterator cyberlimbs use carbon-allotrope actuators, while an Etherite one may have powerful steam-powered hydraulics or run on clockwork with impossible strength. A Hermetic one may be enchanted with the strength of Heracles or Samson via mystic symbolism, or forged out of purest adamant. No matter the explanation, the character may spend 1 Quintessence to gain an automatic success per purchase on all Strength rolls involving any of his replacement limbs, including hand to hand damage, for the scene. Although not always vulgar, the use of an overstrength limb can very easily lead to a Paradox backlash.
• Armored Prosthetic (2 points per +1 soak, max +1 soak per limb): The character's cyberlimbs are heavily armored. This adds +1d of armor soak to the character per armored limb, which applies to all attacks. If the character is specifically targeting the armored limb, the limb is considered to have an additional +5d soak, for a total of 10d base soak.
• Primium Construction (2 points per +1d countermagic, max +1d countermagic per limb): The character's replacement limb, prosthetic or integrated, uses a significant amount of Primium. This is available only for cyberware and only for Technocratic characters-although some Traditions have limited access to Primium, it is generally far too valuable to use in this fashion. This provides the character with an additional +1d of countermagic. Any attempts to target the limb in specific with magic suffer from +3d of countermagic, which stacks with any other innate countermagic the character may have.
• Integrated Weapon (1 point, 3 points, or Special): The replacement limb has an integrated weapon. This is a very popular Iteration X addition. A melee or ranged weapon is directly integrated into the replacement limb, shielding it from scans. The weapon deploys out of the limb instantly using Correspondence and Matter effects, and is ready to fire at a moment's notice. Note that weapons integrated into the legs are much harder (+3 difficulty) to aim, which is not to say people don't do it. At 1 point, the weapon may be of Conceal T or below. At 3 points, the weapon may be conceal N/A, although anything significantly larger than a rocket-propelled grenade launcher is impossible to integrate using this bonus. As an alternative, the integrated weapon may be a mystic Talisman or Technocratic Device. In this case, pay the cost of the Talisman or Device normally, but subtract 2 points from the final cost of the Wonder if the Talisman/Device is Conceal T or below.
• Integrated Tool (1 point): The replacement limb has an integrated mundane tool, such as a lockpicking kit, a computer system, a lighter, or a Geiger counter. Any tool smaller than the limb can be put into a prosthetic.
• Integrated Storage (1-5 points): The limb has an integrated storage. At 1 point, the limb has a hollow which can store anything roughly the size of a soda can. At 2 points, the limb uses Correspondence magic to store anything the size of the limb or smaller. Each subsequent point doubles the size of the limb's "storage compartment."
• Extensible Limb (2 points): The limb can extend to up to triple length, which is useful for providing additional reach in close combat, grabbing onto ledges, or moving quickly (if used for paired legs). This adds +2d to any roll where having an extra-long arm or pair of legs might be useful.
• Ether Touch (2 points): The character may use the limb to touch things in the Umbra while outside of it, or vice versa, as if she had Spirit 2.
• Prime Battery (2 points, +1 per additional storage): The limb has its own Quintessence storage. 2 points buys a base storage of 5 points of Quintessence which can be used for any limb functions or transferred to the limb's owner for use in magical casting. Each additional point adds 5 points of Quintessence storage.
• Touch Sensors (1 point/2 points): For 1 point, the character's replacement limbs possess a human normal sense of touch. The character still does not feel pain if their replacement limbs are damaged. For 2 points, the limbs can give the character hypersensitve touch, which acts as a Forces 1 sensory effect. If an Alertness roll may directly benefit from this enhanced sense of touch, the character adds their own Arete to the dice pool. Mechanically this integrates an "Artifact" or "Invention" giving a permanent Forces 1 sensory effect into the limb.

Almost any Device, Fetish, or Talisman that is handheld and portable can be integrated into a replacement limb. For that, the rule of thumb is that the cost of doing so is the cost of the Wonder -1 point. If the Wonder has significant drawbacks, and making it non-removable will greatly exacerbate the drawbacks (such as giving Flaws while in use), halve the cost of the Wonder, rounding up, instead.

 

[MJ12 Commando]

So, something that is very important to both sides of the Ascension War, but rarely dealt with (because they had their own super fiddly systems) is Linear Sorcerers.

This is a simpler system for Linear Sorcery. I do recommend using the Mana-for-mages hack and using Quintessence only for creating Devices/Talismans and permanent effects for it, though.

Linear Sorcerers
Linear Sorcerers bridge the gap between the Awakened and Sleepers, capable of learning some level of magical ability. Unlike a true mage, a linear sorcerer cannot improvise magic-they are limited to a generally relatively small set of 'spells.' In fact, many linear sorcerers know only a bare handful of spells-a doctor trained by the Progenitors might know the Life 3 Heal Others rote, but nothing else, while a consor trained by the Akashic Brotherhood may learn how to target their blows with Entropy 1, and sense incoming attacks via Forces 1. Linear Sorcerers, unlike Awakened mages, buy spells rather than spheres-singular rotes which they learn to master.

Prerequisites
Linear Sorcery is phenomenally difficult at the best of times. Only exceptional Sleepers can reliably learn linear sorcery. To learn Linear Sorcery, a character must have at least 4 dots in two relevant Abilities governing their sorcerous tools. This does not have to be 'classically' associated with the occult-an Akashic consor is likely to become a linear sorcerer due to their mastery of Do and Athletics more than their Occult knowledge, while a NWO Watcher is more likely to use their Academics and Etiquette to qualify.

Tools
Linear sorcerers, unlike mages, never transcend their paradigm. All linear sorcerers choose a tool to use to cast a spell with, which they must use whenever they seek to cast that spell. A tool can be used for multiple spells (such as Hermetic linear sorcerers and their wands), but each spell must use a tool. Some linear sorcerers may use 'psychic powers' or 'chanting' or 'martial arts styles' to channel their spells-these tools, which are difficult to deny to a character, are still valid for a sorcerer, but increase the cost of spells which use such a tool.

Casting
A spell is cast as any Awakened mage's magic, with the exception that the number of dots in the Spell replaces the character's Arete for all casting purposes. If using a rules variant where characters cast via (Arete + Sphere), replace this with either (Spell + Spell), (Spell + Attribute), or (Spell + Ability) as you wish. Spells can be enhanced with Mana use, at the rate of -1 difficulty/point of Mana spent. The maximum number of successes that a linear sorcerer can accumulate on any single spell is equivalent to (Willpower). Vulgar effects are more difficult for linear sorcerers. If casting a vulgar spell, a sorcerer must pay 1 willpower per point of paradox the casting would normally incur to overcome their own disbelief (but note that they still may not spend more than 1 WP per turn), as well as 1 point of Mana. Strangely enough, the linear sorcerer does not suffer paradox for this-perhaps it takes its price from the mind of the sorcerer in this fashion.

Higher-ranked effects cost Mana to even attempt, which means that linear sorcerers tend to focus on small, relatively simple effects. Any effect using 4-dot spheres costs 1 Mana per casting, while effects using 5-dot spheres cost 3 Mana per casting. If the spell requires more than 1 sphere rated at 3 dots or more, add an additional 1 Mana per cast to the cost. Linear sorcerers tend to favor relatively simple, low-level effects which are nevertheless incredibly useful.

Spell Cost
A spell costs a certain number of Experience Points to purchase, based on the spheres necessary for the spell. A spell's base cost is the sum total of all the spheres which would go into its casting if the spell was cast by an Awakened mage. Double the cost if the effect would be generally vulgar or if the tool used for casting the spell is difficult to take away from the character (i.e. the spell is cast by prayer, singing or chanting, martial arts katas, or implanted cybernetics). Triple the cost if the spell would qualify for both. Paying this cost provides the character a spell at 1 dot. A Linear Mage pays (current rating x [highest sphere]) to advance a spell 1 rank, up to a maximum of 5.

There are no linear mages with spells at a rating greater than 5.

 

[MJ12 Commando]

Personally I don't use the 'Faction is the embodiment of the Avatar natures' that was more prevalent in the earlier books. Simply because mages and their groups are more complex than that. Any mage from any group could have any Avatar nature. And the groups are more complex than 'Dynamic', 'Static', 'Questing' and 'Primordial'.

Click to shrink...

I don't use it directly either, but there are heavy associations between the various groups and avatar-natures, and having a fourfold symmetry leads to a certain amount of metaphysical neatness, which I think is nice.

So, going with @EarthScorpion's take on the Stasis!group as basically oWoD-styled Banishers (let's go and borrow that name in fact), and having a NPC as the extreme version, the fourfold symmetry might be something like this:

The nature of the Ascension Warrior is Questing-whether Technocrat or Traditions, the Ascension Warrior believes in progressing towards an ideological goal. When the Questing-nature is taken to an extreme, you have the Legend-someone whose personal quest becomes all-consuming, who becomes an obsessive whose paradigm, magic, and personality slowly fade away except where their personal story requires it. In the Hermetic understanding of Avatar-natures and Spheres, the Questing is the ruling aspect, what a mage should strive for, as the nature of the mage is self-improvement. Thus also, a Hermetic may argue that the Legend is not a particularly awful sickness of the mind and soul at all, save for their loss of certain nuances. Yet those who do make this sacrifice are almost respected in a way. There is, of course, no Questing madness. Snide House Thig members suggest this is because you need to be a little mad to be a proper mage.

The nature of the Disparate is Dynamic-creative but unburdened by things such as organization or authority, the Disparate associates with their own craft and seeks mostly local goals, working with others who have different, similarly local goals. The Disparate abdicates the mage's responsibility to the world-instead of spreading the Truth to others, they decide that the Truth is secondary to what their small group's goal is. The Dynamic-nature taken to an extreme creates the Marauder-those whose creativity and lack of ability to recognize authority overwhelm them-now they do not even recognize the authority of Consensus, forcing their own madness upon others. The Marauder is a mage without Responsibility, incapable of creating more than ephemera. The Dynamic-madness is Quiet, replacing the inconveniences of the world with a mage's dreams.

The nature of the Banisher is Static-preserving, protecting, nurturing, and smothering. The Banisher resists change, whether that change is ill-advised or necessary for survival. The Banisher abdicates the mage's responsibility to the cosmos-instead of guiding change, the Banisher smothers it, instead of creating utopia the Banisher makes it impossible. The Static-nature taken to the extreme creates the Skeptic-those who are in such a deep sleep that they literally drain the mysticism out of the history and world surrounding them. They exist in an aggressively mundane existence, where even perfectly Consensual-but-unlikely happenings are made impossible, in favor of unending, day to day drudgery. The Skeptic is a mage without Hope, without ability to dream. The Static madness is Sleepwalking-a mage becomes incapable of recognizing magic for what it is, believing it impossible.

The nature of the Nephandus is Primordial-purification through adversity, the uncaring, cruel nature of the cosmos. The Nephandus destroys and corrupts must be destroyed in turn-but via their destruction only those which can survive their testing prosper-ideas and concepts and people who are stronger than those who fail. Nephandi abdicate the mage's Humanity-the ability to become more than just animals, to do more than simply tear down and exploit and cruelly manipulate. The Primordial-nature creates the Anakim-half-man half-spirit, monsters which have been corrupted by unknowing goals and incomprehensible directives. The Primordial madness is Jhor-the death-taint.

 

[MJ12 Commando]

So, some more oMage houserule stuff that deals with a tiny bee in my bonnet about how oMage handles Quintessence-namely, nodes produce like, 5 points of it a week per dot.

Yet you're supposed to expect that characters will be carrying around a not-insignificant amount of it, spending it to fuel effects, and also that you're expected to be using it all the time, despite the fact that nodes are rare and therefore Quintessence should be super valuable, especially for its properties in the hands of masters and its necessity to make magical items. Less forgivable are the quintessence-using talismans and wonders, which are expending some immensely valuable magic fuel to do fairly basic effects. Things like ItX plasma cannons get a bit of a pass because they're throwing around Arete 6/8, but something like the Sword of Mars and its Arete 2? Seriously? That's like buying 99 octane gas in gold plated cans and then using it to fuel a 20 year old beaten-up Toyota. And then you get Prime 4/5, which become a great way to get Quintessence and throw the economy out of whack and make nodes less valuable, again.

Obviously some of this is gameplay, because having the masters all hoard all the Quintessence because they want to make a new Death Sword that blows up a small continent whenever used, and throws a ton of Quintessence into negating its paradox is aggressively unfun, but there are other ways to deal with this problem. Like what most people do, and use arbitrary numbers for how much a node provides.

But I wanted to mechanize the idea. So here's the split.

Quintessence versus Mana
Pure quintessence, which is generally referred to as quintessence, is the fundamental building block of reality under the Hermetic Nine Great Spheres theory-the raw all-material which makes up everything from matter to spirit to thought itself. Under other theories, including Thanatoic and Akashic karma, as well as Syndicate and New World Order (and increasingly, a general Technocratic) understanding of Utility Theory, 'pure' Quintessence is not a real thing at all, but rather a representation of something more metaphysical-an object or person's destiny, or perhaps the hypothetical 'util' so favored by economics professors, some sort of SI unit for utility. Pure quintessence is rare, almost impossible to gather outside of mass sacrifice or the appropriation of Nodes and Primal Ventures, and valued for its ability to create wonders and anchor effects into reality.

On the other hand, 'mana,' as used in the sorcerous lexicon, is a mere shadow of pure quintessence. It is quintessence which is not sufficiently purified to be useful for any of these purposes, and by far more common. This dilute material can be easily liberated and is generated in large amounts by the existence of nodes. Mana is temporary, transient, and insufficient to anchor an item into solid reality-the best it can do is create temporary, fleeting charms-but its much more common nature makes it useful for many purposes. Most Talismans burn mana to power their effects, and the Awakened can use it to improve the effectiveness of their magic. Under Primal Utility, mana does not exist. Rather, it also represents the potential of an object, but in a more base, actualized state. If quintessence represents the theoretical limits of something, mana represents its practical limits.

When is Mana Used:
Whenever the rulebook says to expend a point of Quintessence, use a point of Mana instead. The exceptions are:

• Healing aggravated wounds;
• Creating Talismans, Artifacts, Grimoires, and other magical items, except for Charms;
• Mana can be used to mitigate Paradox, but is spent at a 2-for-1 ratio (2 points of Mana per point of Paradox mitigated).
• All Wonders which originally used 1 point of Quintessence per use now use 1 point of Mana per use instead to fuel their effects. Their Quintessence storage is converted 1-1 into Mana storage.

Furthermore, mana can be used for a few other tricks:

• If using linear sorcery in your chronicle and Awakened are allowed to access linear sorcery, Mana can be used for linear sorcery via the Sorcerer rules.
• Similarly, Mages may now purchase and use the merits which allow the use of Mana to lower the difficulties of actions involving the Physical, Mental, or Social attributes.

When is Quintessence Used:
Quintessence must be expended for any of these effects:

• Healing aggravated wounds;
• Creating any permanent magical items (charms are not permanent and thus exempt);
• Any effect which causes large-scale changes in reality (such as Format Space or a Forces 5 nuclear explosion) requires Quintessence to fuel at the rate of 1 point of Quintessence per 5 successes. This should only be required for very large-scale and/or fantastical workings, rather than anything which affects a large area.;
• Any permanent effect requires the use of 1 point of Quintessence to anchor it in reality. A 'permanent' effect is explicitly an effect with a Duration of Permanent. An alteration to an object, or creating an object (like a chair or a gun or a person) does not require Quintessence.;
• Creating anything that does not normally exist in-Consensus, whether living (such as a dragon) or unliving (like a robot or a lot of Primium) requires 1 point of Quintessence per 5 successes to anchor into reality.;
• Negating Paradox. 1 point of Quintessence negates 2 points of Paradox. Unlike Mana, Quintessence may be used to negate Paradox as early as Prime 3.
• Supercharging magical effects. 1 point of Quintessence adds an automatic success to a magical effect.

Note that the latter two are extremely inefficient uses of Quintessence and generally frowned upon-the Traditions and Technocracy would by far prefer to use Quintessence to create a Wonder or a Periapt instead.

Storing and Gaining Quintessence:
Mages may store 1 dot of Quintessence per dot of Avatar. Most mages will not, in fact, have their Avatar track full or even partially full of Quintessence-it is by far too valuable to be sitting around inert. A mage who has even 1 or 2 points of Quintessence in their Avatar is generally either very wealthy or very, very paranoid.

Quintessence is almost exclusively gained from nodes. The exceptions are as follows:

• Prime 1 allows a character to sacrifice aggravated health levels to gain 1 point of Quintessence each. This Quintessence must be spent within the same scene it is harvested, or it dissipates.
• Prime 4 allows a character to sacrifice objects to gain Quintessence. The sacrifice must have great value in-paradigm and will generate Quintessence equal to the sum total of Resources permanently burned during the scene. A Syndicate Enforcer who literally liquidates five million dollars will get 5 points of Quintessence (burning 5 dots of Resources). This is always vulgar and may only provide Quintessence once/scene.
• Prime 5 allows a character to sacrifice living beings to gain Quintessence. Most complex living beings give 1 point of Quintessence. Spirits give 1 point per dot of Rage or Gnosis, whichever is higher. Humans and human-derived supernaturals give 1 point per health level. This effect is always vulgar and cannot be done more than once per scene, although truly large sacrifices may provide bonuses (but should rarely do more than double this output).

Yes, the winning way to get real ultimate power is human sacrifice. This is why the Nephandi can control almost nothing, basically always be in hiding, and yet have so many infernal demon-tainted tools. Lots of human sacrifice. It also encourages people to be very, very unscrupulous. Which is never wrong in a World of Darkness game.

Storing and Gaining Mana:
Mages can gain Mana in a multitude of ways. Mana is much easier to gain than Quintessence. A mage may store 2 points of Mana per dot of Arete or Avatar, whichever is higher, up to a maximum of 20 (at Arete 10). This capacity is reduced by a mage's Paradox as normal.

• A mage may meditate to gain Mana as described in Sorcerer, Revised;
• A mage gains 1 point of Mana per hour innately when in close proximity to a Node;
• A mage may break down matter or living things for Mana, at the rate of 1 mana gained per health level, if the Mage has Prime 4 (unliving things) or Prime 5 (living things);
• A mage may act in accordance to their Avatar-nature (Dynamic, Questing, Static, or Primordial) and regain 1 point of Mana. This may only be done once per scene.

This is obviously a super-early draft, but I'd appreciate comments. It basically makes Quintessence valuable mage currency and turns most of its temporary effects (like fueling plasma guns) into Mana and if there's any problems with this or just commentary you want to do, I'd love to hear it.

 

[MJ12 Commando]

Given that I've gotten seven likes on the "write up X-Com" thing I guess I'm going to do it.

The United Nations Extraterrestrial Contact, Monitoring, and Containment Group (UNECMC)

Established in 1954 after multiple alleged UFO sightings in the Korean War by the World Advisory Council, the United Nations Extraterrestrial Contact, Monitoring, and Containment Group is an international organization dedicated to researching and advising governments and the UN on what should be done if humans ever meet extraterrestrial intelligences. It publishes papers which UFOlogists and science fiction authors read but are dutifully filed and ignored by virtually all governments. Some conspiracy theorists believe that they have reverse-engineered alien technology and are responsible for covering up alien visitations. Other conspiracy theorists believe that they're pawns of some new world order who disappear people who end up believing in that order in the dark of night. The conspiracy theorists are right. They just don't realize who's pulling the strings.

Unofficially, UNECMC, or the CMC for short, are an international covert operations unit dedicated to counteracting alien infiltration of human society, studying alien life forms, and combating xenobiological terrorism. They have access to state of the art weapons technology which is decades in advance of what the public knows about, recruit from the best of the best, and exist to ensure that the decades-long Alien War does not come to light. Yet there are some holes in this story. Some very significant holes. Like the question of where the funding comes from. Officially nations fund them through black projects and cutout companies, but it seems implausible that even then they could afford several bases in Europe and Asia, dozens of high-end fighter aircraft, supersonic VTOL transports, limited AI minitanks, and the other gear necessary to fight the shadow war from merely those sources. There's also the question of who supplies them with the technology they have. Chameleon fatigues with carbon nanoweave, monobonded composite armor plates, multispectral sensor goggles, electrothermal small arms, and the other toys available to CMC agents can't come cheap-and certainly nobody wants to ask too many questions about how the CMC knows how to gene-mod its agents or augment them with cybernetics. Most agents just assume it's reverse-engineered alien technology.

However, the source of this technology is eminently terrestrial. The Void Engineers and NWO, with the cooperation of the other Conventions (including even the grudging acceptance of the Syndicate) created the CMC as an international organization to give them cover as well as to deal with low-importance Reality Deviance manifestations. Sometimes, a bunch of greys break through the Gauntlet and start causing trouble, and instead of wasting the time of valuable agents, it's easier to have the structure in place to send in some Sleepers to do the job for you. The CMC is also an excellent testing ground to introduce weapons and equipment which slowly disseminate and influence the future of war.

Targets:
The 'aliens' that the UNECMC primarily hunts are, in fact, what the Technocracy would call "Reality Deviants-" although they do often get tasked with cleaning up minor alien incursions. After the Dimensional Anomaly and the Void Engineers' focus on Threat Null, the UNECMC has been increasingly faced with alien incursions which they lack the resources to contest. The UNECMC has a large file of practical knowledge of their targets-mostly how to find them and how to kill them. As far as 'witch-hunters' go they might seem ignorant-but what they lack in mystic knowledge and an understanding of the supernatural they make up in sheer firepower, skill, and numbers. CMC teams generally take heavy casualties from these supernaturals, like any human does when going up against things far beyond men-but this is to be expected, and part of the reason why they're used for lower-risk operations where the expense of a Technocratic strike team would be inefficient.

The CMC generally classifies supernatural threats as one of the categories below:

Hybrids: A "hybrid" is an alien transgenic infiltrator designed with modified terrestrial DNA. Hybrids are generally used as deniable direct action assets by the alien threat, and all of them can transform into a battle-form which has skin tough enough to protect them from gunfire and inhuman speed, strength, and durability. Many of them are capable of apparent teleportation and have limited psionic capabilities which allow for various paranormal effects. Certain ones suffer acutely from heavy metal poisoning, and thus standard issue ammunition for CMC combat operatives uses a combination of gold and silver in its jacketing to maximize trauma against alien hybrids. The UNECMC has been dispatched against vampires several times, and they have classified vampires as a subset of hybrids because of their speed, strength, and durability, assuming that they are some sort of variant capable of retaining combat capability without transformation.

Psions: Some humans have been augmented with alien DNA and technology to give them "magical" abilities. These psions are another form of alien infiltrator, used in a more subtle fashion than hybrids. Completely indistinguishable from human unless they are actively using their talents or under deep examination, psions are a severe threat which the UNECMC runs dedicated "special units" to use. Standard operation procedure is to call in suspected psions and allow these special units-i.e. Technocratic field amalgams-to deal with the potential threat as they see fit.

Trans-Dimensional Entities: The CMC considers ghosts and other immaterial spirits to be similar beings-extradimensional projections which are generally hostile to humanity and must be captured or eliminated. They are equipped with weapons and tools to engage and eliminate immaterial beings, such as ectoplasmic disruptors and phasic rounds, and more than willing to use them.

Equipment:
The main difference between the CMC and most hunter groups is that they are a quasi-legitimate military force backed by a large and powerful secret conspiracy which operates a shadow budget the size of a superpower's GDP with technology generations in advance of everyone else's. This advantage shows up everywhere-CMC agents will be equipped with cutting-edge body armor, weapons, and technology, and often will have the expectation of air support. Although there's many things big guns can't fight well-as the number of names on the memorial wall back at Central will tell-they do tend to help.

CMC technology is old and outdated by Technocratic standards-their most advanced equipment tend to be low-end Extraordinary Devices, things much less powerful and capable than the true Devices used by the militant conventions, and many of their tools are technically entirely mundane, with the only Technocratic influence being the processes used to make these cost-ineffective weapons cheap and easily available. Similarly, Primium is completely unavailable, as every scrap of the precious antimagical alloy would be better used by proper Technocrats-and the intent of the CMC was never to engage the most dangerous threats in the Ascension War directly, but rather as a support force which can independently suppress low-level Reality Deviants or aid Technocratic efforts in ensuring secrecy. Of course, this means by everyone else's standards, they're far in advance of anything someone might consider to be common.

Personnel:
CMC combat and intelligence personnel are generally recruited from the special forces of UN Security Council members-predominantly Europe and Asia. The ideal candidate is gifted enough to have potential but not noticeable-someone who can disappear from the public eye with few questions asked. They recruit scientists and engineers from similar tracks-skilled enough to meet the rigors of the job, but not skilled enough that people might notice if they suddenly seem to vanish from public life. Very few CMC personnel have ever encountered the supernatural-the Technocrats infiltrating the personnel and records divisions make sure of that. Having experience with the supernatural is a weakness, one which might create doubt, while allowing them to see the world from the framework designed by the Union creates a much stronger organization in the long-run even if it means that casualties for field agents might be higher than otherwise. In fact, many CMC personnel are relatively untested, straight out of university or training. It makes their loyalties easier to shape and they are more accepting of what is and isn't possible. And the CMC has ways of finding talent that are simply impossible for Sleepers to use.

A handful of CMC personnel are linear sorcerers-the Paths of Healing and Enchantment are relatively common tools for CMC medics and armorers, but the NWO and Void Engineers have created new linear sorcerous paths focused on tactical augmentation like the Path of Command. Psychic powers exist in CMC use, but are very uncommon. These psi-operatives have access to Numina due to alien-human hybridization, but tend to be eccentric and somewhat unstable. Their powers may be valuable in a fight, but most people find them more than a little creepy and will have as little to do with them outside of missions.

 

[MJ12 Commando]

To be blunt, Data is a bad sphere. It's effectively just an alternate sympathy chart - and there are other ones of those (like, say, the distance-based sympathy chart in the Void Engineers' splatbook which sets the level of sympathy based on "how far you are away").

So really, when it comes down to it, your sympathy chart should probably be set by your paradigm - and that means that, yes, sometimes a mage will use two different sympathy charts for different rotes. Take the Iteration X EM-war specialist, for example - they're going to use Data's sympathy chart for tracking down someone electronically, but they're going to use a distance-based chart for coordinating counterbattery fire against a Euthanatos sniper.

Click to shrink...

A proper Data sphere could be doable-it'd be the 'manipulate electronics' part of Forces, 'manipulate memories' part of Mind, and the 'act at a distance' part of Correspondence combined together. So no warding (except against surveillance), no teleporting or colocation, just super hacking. So let me sketch something like that out.

Data
Specialties: Electronic Warfare, Biological Substrates, Sensing, Surveillance, Data Recovery
The New World Order and the Virtual Adepts both independently developed the Data sphere sometime in the late 1990s, based on the rapid growth of the internet and interconnectivity. Both the Adepts and NWO successfully predicted the prevalence of information technologies and their increasing importance to Sleeper life, and this dedicated sphere reflects this understanding. Enlightened Scientists specializing in Data can recover information from computers, watch their marks from a safe distance, and even at the highest levels reprogram man and machine alike.

Data is almost exclusively used by technomancers and as a magical tradition is young enough that it is almost inseparable from its current paradigm. However, some Etherites and Hermetics have taken to its practice and have started pushing the paradigm, whether they understand this new sphere as the sympathetic connection of a person and the information about them-or whether they believe that information is some sort of fundamental constant of the universe. The Euthanatos "Locksmiths" have also started to use this sphere in limited numbers-oftentimes comprehending it as a codified version of one's legend, one's arete.

Data 1: Understand Relationships

Basic 1-dot sense. Unlike Correspondence, which senses distances between objects, Data's 1-dot sense is relationships. You can see whether someone's authorized to use an object, what a person is using an object for, if there's any strong personal attachment attached to that relationship, and at a glance you can tell if two people are friends, allies, enemies, in a relationship, etc. At this level, it's very vague. The mage can also sense if information has been tampered with via magical means.
​

Data 2: Scan/Surveillance

The Enlightened Scientist can expand their senses of data to beyond their immediate locality, for information travels faster and leaves a much larger footprint than a physical object. They can watch people at a distance, they can understand larger group relationships and whether someone considers themselves to belong to part of a group (basic, obvious groups like 'nationality' or 'race' would be easy, but secretive groups like 'the Technocracy', 'the Traditions', and 'Nephandi' would require lots and lots and lots of successes to scan, and be subject to Sympathy difficulties-Data doesn't give you Nephandi-dar, it just helps you put the evidence together if you already have lots of it). If the mage knows the group someone belongs to, they can understand what role their actions are playing in the group, and what other known members of the group the surveillance target belongs to.

Similarly, this goes for objects. The mage can track people by their interactions with electronics and other information storage-you can track someone by their posts on the internet, or by their travel routines-as long as you have the proper Sympathies or can force the whole thing.
​

Data 3: Manipulate Data

Basic data manipulation. The mage can download, upload, or erase information. All information. They can vanish all the information from a book, blank memories, protect sensitive information from theft or destruction-you know the drill. At this level, the mage needs a 2-dot conjunctional sphere or a Sleeper-usable focus to work with data-he cannot manipulate 'pure' data yet. At this point, the sphere 'merely' allows the mage much better precision, speed, and control over their data manipulation.
​

Data 4: Alter Data

At this level, the mage can make drastic alterations to information. They can rewrite a book-or a human being. They can create complex information relationships such as false identities via the press of a button. They can force people into a relationship-declaring that these two people are friends, and then reshaping the information around them and their very thoughts to make it true.​

Data 5: Universal Interface

The Enlightened Scientist no longer needs to have an actual, Sleeper-usable, interface (or conjunctional spheres) to use Rank-3 and -4 Data effects. Instead of having to alter someone's memories by hours and hours of psychological counseling, they can just zap them with a computer. They can steal sensitive secrets off of an airgapped computer without using Forces 2. Combined with conjunctional spheres, the mage can alter even physical properties. By combining Data 5 with Forces, the mage could make electricity that selectively electrocutes his foes, or walls which only exist for Technocrats by combining Data 5 with Matter, or by combining Entropy and Data, create selective lucky streaks or unlucky streaks.​

Example Rotes:

Neuralyzer: Mind 2, Data 3-erase immediate memories. Mind 2 allows manipulation of surface thoughts, Data 3 erases recent ones.
Quantum Encryption: Entropy 1, Data 4-unbreakable encryption. Data 4 turns information into unrecoverable gibberish if an unwanted viewer (Entropy 1) tries to break into it.
Manchurian Candidate: Forces 2, Data 4-sit down and slowly brainwash someone into your perfect spy or assassin. The Forces 2 allows you to use your Data sphere to cover up their disappearance, by giving them an airtight alibi.
High Value Target: Entropy 1, Data 2-read the dossier of an organization and learn which of its leaders and senior personnel are most valuable. Sending a commando team to shoot that person is an entirely different set of effects.
The Soul's Price: Mind 1, Primal Utility 1, Data 2-discover how much a person values everything around him. Figure out how much money it'll cost to make someone willing to murder another person. Find out how to lean on that 'incorruptible' politician.
Smart Bomb: Forces 2, Matter 2, Data 5-make a hand grenade only harm people you don't like! Become a repeat suicide bomber! Honestly a pretty inefficient way to use Data 5, but it's funny.

 

[MJ12 Commando]

Sorry for doubleposting, but I need your help here:

Especially you @MJ12 Commando and @EarthScorpion.

So I'm about to run a solo game focusing on a WWII-era Virtual Adept of the WRAITH Methodology, and I need a bunch of dudes he can requisition, I'm reasonably experienced with various examples of technology, so I explicitly need examples of Technocratic soldiery and units that can be requisitioned.

Click to shrink...

Prostheses-The Man That Was Used Up

Although the term "cyborg" does not become used until the 1960s, Iteration X has made continuous use of combat prostheses ever since its renaming. Unlike 'modern' Technocratic designs, which use spun-carbon myomers and lightweight biomimetics and seamlessly integrate into human bodies, Iteration X's earlier tools tend to be much more primitive. Oftentimes they run on external power sources, meaning an early cyborg must find a constant source of electricity to scavenge from or be brought down to merely human-in fact, below human, because unlike 'modern' neuroprosthetics these bionic systems generally lacked basic features. They rarely had more than the most rudimentary sense feedbacks, and were often difficult to hide from people. Minor electronic implants also existed, but those were generally minor and provided small boosts. The Shock Corps of 1940s is fearsome because of its battery-powered mechanized armor and its rocket-bullet firing weapons wielded by war veterans, not because of its augmented killers.

Furthermore, they're much more Paradoxical. The transhuman revolution in the Progenitors and Iteration X has not occurred yet, and the consensus does not accept prosthetics as easily. The result is that these prosthetics peak at a much lower level. Full body conversions are rare-The Man That Was Used Up might be a true story, but most of the Shock Corps don't need to be assembled. In fact, surprisingly few members of Iteration X are cyborgs, because at this point the quality of life loss is such that only the most fanatical, or those who have already lost their original body functions-are willing to submit to mechanization. The march of Consensus are not kind to these prostheses-they become part of consensus, certainly, but in a way which makes them laughable. By the present day, most of them are literally museum pieces, which are barely paradoxical and can be used by any technically-inclined Sleeper but provide little benefit.

The one exception is, of course, Autochthonia. Autochthonia's Machine Cult was never limited by the aesthetics of mere consensus, and with the power of Autochthonia behind it as well as its close ties with the Inner Circle and Control, its augmented soldiers are inhuman, with a biomechanic aesthetic that's more Deus Ex than Das Boot-and also often too paradoxical to see more than limited deployment in very select areas. However, as shell-shock and numbness to the horrors of war and technology grow, Autochthonian 'observers' see increasing combat duty, especially in the Void. These soldiers are largely written out of the Union's history of WW2-but the rumors never die.

 

[MJ12 Commando]

There are references to robots in Mage. There are tons of things which are probably robots in Mage. Both sides have robots. Yet there are no actual rules for robots in Mage.

Homonculi-Robots, Golems, Zombies, and More, Oh My!

Mages have often been willing to create life, or mockeries of it. Ancient magi raised the dead to fight for them or to do menial tasks. Others created golems hewn of stone and metal. Modern magi-especially technomagi-do much the same. Iteration X creates synthetics of all sorts-combat robots from the humanoid to the distinctly not. Hermetics still use golems as servants, while Verbena create living-plant servants and the Etherites build robots of all shapes and sizes, as well as the occasional Frankensteinian monster. Most of these are of limited intelligence and creativity. Some are capable of more. Some are even more capable, being designed specifically to host an Awakened soul-this development, the 'uploads' of Iteration X's high command, have created intriguing and horrifying possibilities.

Homonculi are different from FACADE clones or even most of the Technocracy's constructs. Constructs are artificial humans. Even the most humanoid homonculi are not human. They lack any independent capability to reproduce, they do not generally need to take human form, and most importantly they cannot be Awakened. Although Iteration X has created 'awakened' beings which are purely artificial, this is done by the transfer of an awakened mind into an artificial vessel-effectively putting a human mind in a new body.

Creating homonculi
Homonculi is a special form of Device or Talisman, and thus homonculi require Prime 4 to create (or Primal Utility 3), as well as the necessary spheres to build the body and mind. Matter 4 is common with Iterators, Etherites, Virtual Adepts, and Hermetics, although Verbena and Progenitors use Life 5 instead. One may even possibly create a de facto Bygone by using Spirit 5 to create a shell of realified ephemera for the homonculus. In addition to the body, the mind must be created. An inflexible, programmed mind with minimal learning capability-such as that found in Iteration X combat synths or most Hermetic golems-requires only Mind 4. However, if you want a T-800 not set to read-only, Mind 5 is required. A homonculus requires 2 successes per attribute dot or health level and 1 success per ability, willpower, or merit dot to create.

To create an upload, a synthetic body must be created and then a human mind transferred across. This requires Mind 5 (to transfer the mind), Life 5 (to perfectly emulate the biological processes which affect cognition in the new synthetic body) and Correspondence 4 to do as a Technocrat, and Mind 5, Spirit 5, and Correspondence 4 as a Traditions mage who believes in the existence of the avatar. This process is, as one might imagine, expensive and fairly rare. Uploading a mind requires significant effort from a large team-it requires a minimum of 5 successes, plus 2 successes per dot in the mental or non-Appearance social attributes, and 1 success per ability and Willpower dot.

Being a Homonculus
There are some notable differences between a homonculus and the majority of characters. Instead of being affected by Life magic, a homonculi-form treats the sphere used to create it as Life instead. That is to say, an Iterator uploaded into a synthetic body built of machinery rather than flesh will heal himself via Matter 2, improve his performance by Matter 3, and use Matter 4 to transform into a car or something. Similarly, non-living Technocratic synthetics treat Forces as Mind-this can be an advantage in some cases, but in many other cases is a disadvantage.

Homonculi are generally built tough. They soak all damage with their full Stamina score, and cannot be incapacitated by Bashing damage-although it rolls over to lethal, as normal. They are immune to all non-magical diseases and poisons, and often lack any need to breathe or eat. Many homonculi are built even tougher than this default, especially ones intended for open warfare. On the flipside, non-living golems and robots do not heal without external assistance. Living homonculi heal at the normal human rate.

Homonculi are also generally built loyal. Homonculi are generally inclined to follow the orders of the builder(s) unless something goes very wrong in their construction, and find it difficult to harm or betray their initial interests. A homonculus must pay 1 Willpower to shake off any hostile mental effect which they believe would make them act against the interests of their creator (or whichever organization or person they were programmed to be loyal to), and may add +3 to their Willpower to resist such effects, and add +3 to the difficulty of the hostile effect (as if they had Iron Will).

Homonculi often have equipment integrated directly into their bodies. This can be done with mundane equipment at the cost of 1 success on the creation roll for unliving homonculi and 5 successes (as well as conjunctional Matter 4) for living ones. Homonculi also can take advantage of the Enhancements background, and integrating Devices or Talismans into the homonculus requires only half the successes normally required to build the device or talisman (as the homonculus can provide an "Arete" score).

Homonculi require quintessence to keep active. A homonculus requires up to 30 points of quintessence per month to keep active, dependent on its relative capability and how active it is. A simple serving bot is unlikely to require more than a slight trickle of quintessence (i.e. spending a few hours a week next to a node), while a HITMark on constant combat duties is likely to require a point of quintessence every few days and an Etherite robot superhero who can benchpress a small tank probably 1 a day. Homonculi without quintessence rapidly shut down, suffering a cumulative -1 penalty to all attributes for every day they go without proper fueling. Once any one of their attributes hits 0, they shut down until refueled. Most homonculi have their own quintessence stores for this very reason.

Finally, non-upload homonculi cannot Awaken-they are effectively Soulless. They do not count as witnesses for magic. They lack temporary paradox pools-but certainly have permanent ones. Homonculi have a default paradox pool of 2, or 3 if they have any inhuman attributes or abilities. Powerful homonculi-ones with the equivalent of the Enhancements background-gain paradox from that background, but to a lesser degree than humans do. Enhancement 1 gives +0 paradox, Enhancement 2-3 gives +1, and Enhancement 4-5 gives +2.

Paradox
Homonculi are, of course, often paradoxical. Iteration X sheathes their HITMarks in flesh for a reason, and the Etherites are careful to make their robots more like sci-fi robots for more than just aesthetic value. Some avoid this by disguising their homonculi as something else, while others avoid this by simply keeping their homonculi in a friendly environment.

Homonculi which pretend to be human or living creatures-a robot tiger that looks just like a real one, or a gynoid in the shape of a beautiful woman-generally can avoid paradox by virtue of their outer appearance. Should their true natures be revealed, they suffer a paradox backlash equal to their permanent paradox pool. Their nature may be revealed by damage, or simply if they do something inhuman-deploy a chaingun from their back, jump 10 meters straight-up, get hit by a rocket launcher and stay standing...

A homonculus which instead pretends to be entirely artificial-a robot which looks like a robot, in other words-does not suffer from paradox when they do inhuman feats, unless those feats are beyond even what people think machines can do. Lifting a car probably wouldn't trigger paradox, but lifting a tank probably will. Instead, an artificial synthetic gains paradox when they demonstrate the ability for human-like thought. A robot which can punch through a wall or do math faster than a human doesn't create disbelief, but a robot doing 'human' things better than humans does.

A homonculus which pretends to be neither-a thing made out of enchanted wood, or a golem-suffers a backlash the moment a sleeper witnesses it, but is easier to make. Reduce the number of successes required to build such a homonculus by 10. A homonculus does not suffer repeated paradox backlashes for the same effect. If a homonculus reveals its inhuman strength or durability, or its true nature, or its ability to shoot lasers out of its eyes, it only suffers paradox the first time it does so in a scene.

New Merit
Homonculus (1-5 points)-the character is not a human, but a homonculus. She might be a HITMark or an etherite robot or a Hermetic golem or a Progenitor combat construct which hides endless tearing teeth and rending tentacles under a pretty smile and clever wit, but she was never born human. This trait provides the character with all the benefits and flaws of being a homonculus listed above, in addition to the additional traits below:

• The character loses all Arete and Sphere dots, gaining half of their freebie point value instead (for a normal mage, this is 26 freebie points, an initiate gains 10 instead)
• The character may trade 1 background dot or freebie point for an integrated Sleeper device, such as a retractable bone blade which counts as a sword or armored skin which counts as a bulletproof vest.
• If the character is a loyal construct, they should have the Compulsion flaw at 2 points, with the condition "Never betray the goals of [my creator]." Traditions homonculi tend to be loyal to the person who created them, while Technocratic ones tend to be loyal to their Convention or the group at large.'

The Homonculus merit costs 5 points if the character can pass for human, and 1 point if they cannot.

 

[linkhyrule5]

So, as promised, my Quint, Enhancement, and Device Cost rewrite! Credit for the core idea and much of the joint effort goes to @NonSequtur.

Quintessence and Paradox XP

Every paradigm has its own explanation for quintessence – though all share something of a common theme, deserving of the name "Prime". Iterators and Void Engineers see it as rarefied reality, that which makes one Everett volume more likely, more real, than another. Hermetics see it as raw vis, power and untapped potential as one. Most Chorister Traditionalists and many Dreamspeakers see it as soulstuff, shed off some great spirit. The Syndicate and the New World Order see it as utility, an abstract quantum of human interest.

But perhaps those strange Marauders that see all the world as a game have the simplest explanation: as raw potential, as experience points in a brilliant, solid form.

All jokes aside, this rewrite is intended to do three things:

a) Me chanize item creation
b) Through a), finally balance the Enhancement background against simple character growth
c) Make quint intuitively of incredible worth, by making it usable as experience points in some contexts.

This follows on from @MJ12 Commando's Mana rewrite.

In general, except in the ways permitted by a character's splat, experience points can only be spent on things that are physically possible for a human to improve. You can learn to think faster, you can be stronger, you can learn new skills and you can grow an iron will – but as far as I know, humans cannot simply decide to grow laser eyes one day. Even among things that can be improved, there are limits – no attribute may rise above five dots, no training or talent above three.

But, Mages being Mages, there are few who willingly respect these limits. To buy the impossible, then, incurs paradox – and thus we have the concept of "Paradox XP," or pxp.

PXP can buy anything – even the impossible – that can be affected by magic. This … again, essentially means anything – Attributes, Abilities, normally derived traits like Initiative or health levels, even Backgrounds – with the exceptions of Sphere, Arete, and Willpower. It does so at the normal xp rates – and as such, entirely replaces the Enhancement background. (Though see the Union Enhancile background below.)

Gathering pxp requires both experience and quintessence, untapped potential both internal and external. One point of quint and four points of experience garners a character eight pxp to spend. Not coincidentally, this is the cost of the fifth Attribute dot under my scaling experience table – as Attribute 6 is probably the single most commonly bought Enhancement. Effects cost 8pxp per point of quint required to forge them into a Device (see rules below) – or in other words, the cost in quintessence is the same, and 4xp is required for every point of quint.

For two points of quint spent, however – or equivalently, for each 16pxp spent – a Paradox Flaw is incurred. Aside from the usual set, there are three "default" Flaws:

• Removable in combat time (applies to one quint's worth of Effect)
• One point of permanent Paradox
• 1 quint/week maintenance cost
• 1 ahl/day

which are incurred in listed order if earlier flaws are all refused. Someone like Piero, for example, is probably so loaded down with Enhancements that he can accept no further Flaws or Paradox without compromising his combat capability (which would make him pointless), and as such requires an absolutely ludicrous amount of quint to run at full combat heat – encouraging things like "keep the supersoldier in stasis until he's necessary", which is definitely cool design space.

Note that this means implantation just works – a Device is just an Enhancement with a few extra Flaws saying "can be targeted with Corr" and "not actually part of your Pattern"; AKA, a Device is an Enhancement you're holding. Note also that these rules tend to generate quite a few more Paradox Flaws than canon. However, most Enhancements naturally accept "Removable in combat time" - Life magic might cause rejection, a plasma cannon could be amputated, and either of these would naturally result in losing the benefits of the Enhancement. The truly expensive purchases, then, are things like Nanotech Integration, that cannot benefit from these easy Flaws and require more creative purchases.

Due to this mechanic, xp costs for normally unbuyable statistics – primarily those that are normally derived – are now required:

• Health Levels: 6xp, starts at 5hl
• Initiative/Resilience/Defense: 3xp, steps at 6/10/14 etc.
• Soak: 5xp
• Armor: 6xp
• Principles: 7xp

Note that these have stepped rates as usual, though as these traits are derived their steps may be more complex. Health levels, for example, start 5hl from Size before attributes, so your ninth health level costs 12xp and your eleventh costs 18xp; meanwhile the three derived attributes step half as fast as everything else, since you don't run into stepped costs until both attributes hit each step. These are all balanced against the cost of simply raising the underlying the statistics directly.

These are explicitly overridden, however, by the Device costs for mechanizing direct emulation of Sphere Effects. The result tends to be that xp costs rise naturally until they hit human maximum, at which point they flatten out – so Enhancements are most useful for the already peak human.

Device Creation

Note that this provides merely a rough overview of Device creation. More elaborate, simulationist rules might be found in Forged by Dragon's Fire, which are mostly usable and honestly look pretty fun; these rules are simply errata to standardize quint costs, particularly between broad Devices good at many things and focused specialized Devices designed to overwhelm in one narrow field.

In general, a Device's dot rating is equal to the number of points of quint spent in its creation, before optional Flaws.

One quint will buy you, on a permanent Wonder:

• Functionally infinite successes on one-dot Spheres, with the caveat that such Devices can never bypass Wards. There's a sanity limit here somewhere, but it's probably around 50 sux or something equally ridiculous – Dresden's map of Chicago is cool, but with Mages running around hiding things its scrying ability's not worth more than a quint. (Its automatic Chain effect on all Corr magic cast using it as a focus, on the other hand...)
• Eight successes on two-dot Spheres.
• One success on three-dot Spheres. Balanced against Better Body, natch.
• Half a success on a fourth-dot Sphere Effect.

Successes can be split between Effects – so you could have four sux worth of precognition and four sux worth of passive empathy, for example, for one point of quint.

Five-dot Wonders are Artifact N/A, and require individual adjudication. The permanent "Device" that is a bar of Primium, even True Primium is a whole lot cheaper to make than, say, Yinzheng's fancy personnel-sized AT field.

For simplicity, all permanent Wonders are Artifacts/Inventions, with successes bought with unrolled with quint.

One quint will buy you, on a triggered Wonder:

• Your Arete/Enlightenment, imbued into the Wonder
• A relevant Ability Pool, imbued into the Wonder. (In practice, the average number of successes should be calculated and added as a bonus to all casting rolls ahead of time, to avoid slowing play.)
• Functionally infinite one-dot Effects, with the above caveats.
• Two different two-dot Effects
• One three-dot Effect
• Half a four-dot Effect

Again, five-dot Effects require individual adjudication. As a free effect, Talismans and Inventions may add their Arete to rolls made to bleed off Paradox at a Node (see below.)

In the particular case of Talismans and Inventions, a point of permanent Willpower, or a Principle 4-dots or above, may be imbued into the Wonder during creation for the following attributes. Not all of them are strictly beneficial, and others are questionable. Note that doing so always results in something removable; even something normally abstract like a twist in karma can be shifted once sapience has been imbued.

• Independent action and will on the part of the Wonder. If a Principle is used, the "personality" of the Wonder should match the Principle; otherwise the "personality" should be appropriate for a fragment of the creator's will.
• +1 sux to all rolls made by the Wonder, as if a point of willpower was spent.
• Paradox nullification: the Wonder cancels (Arete) points of Paradox per game session.
• Zero-distance Corr link to or from the creator in all non-pathological paradigms. Depending on the Effect, casting a spell on one might target the other even without Correspondence.

So long as the item is worn the creator retains her point of Willpower or Principle. However, if it ever leaves her person, she loses the imbued trait, and if it is ever destroyed, naturally she loses that trait permanently.

Finally, all Wonders can be enhanced with paradox management or mana/quint storage. One quint buys you:

• 8 points of mana storage
• 2 points of paradox storage – the Wonder takes Paradox instead of you
• 2 points of true quintessence storage

Free with any of the above, and otherwise costing one quint, are various paradox management options:

• Paradox accruing – no special abilities, the Wonder just takes Paradox until it explodes, usually in your hands
• Paradox scattering – On overload, Paradox accumulated are assigned to random mages in a (5 yds)*(Rating) radius. If there is no storage, this simply occurs every time the Wonder would gain Paradox (or the Mage would gain Paradox from its use.)

Pricing Devices

Devices are priced in pxp, as usual. However, the many free Flaws that come simply out of a "being a non-integrated Device" tend to drastically reduce its cost.

In addition to the mandatory Flaws required for all Wonders, a character can take extra Flaws to decrease the pxp cost of the Wonder. No more than (Rating/2) (round down) such Flaws may be taken. Optional Flaws decrease the quint cost, but do not decrease the Rating of the Wonder. Each Flaw reduces the pxp cost by 14pxp. Not coincidentally, this means that a Wonder with as many Flaws as possible will have a cost of 1xp per Rating dot, which ends up being roughly identical to the old Device cost.

So, a few examples!

Exomuscle

Ah, the infamous exomuscle, beloved by space commandos everywhere. Exomuscle is actually not a terrific place to start, as it gives different bonuses to Strength and Dexterity, which are of course one Attribute in my rewrite. As it's rather popular, though, it's just about required that this be balanced. So: the altered version of Exomuscle grants the following benefits:

• +2 Physique, +2 Endurance
• +2 Armor
• 1d countermagic
• +6 hl
• Soak agg

One complication arises: in this model of Enhancements, the cost of an Enhancement depends partially on the character adopting them. (Though, note that above five dots, the cost of Attributes flatten, as at that point it's cheaper to get Better Body emulation instead. This is intentional.) In this case, we'll assume a starting character tanky exojock: he's spent fp on pushing himself up to Physique 4, Endurance 4 base, and all his social points are in Poise so he has Poise 4 too. This means that he has 9hl before enhancement.

Statistics will cost him (8pxp)*4 = 32pxp; armor will cost him 12pxp. Soaking agg requires one success on a Life 3 Better Body; countermagic seems to require one success on Prime 3 Antimagic; that's another 16pxp. Health levels are more complicated: assuming that three sux gets you 2hl on a Better Body roll (which seems reasonable, as you could just as easily spend two sux to get 1hl through raising your Resilience manually), then 1hl costs 1.5 quint = 12pxp. So the health levels are all the same – 12pxp each, for a total of 72 pxp. In total, 132pxp, or 66xp and 17 quint.

Exomuscle is entirely removable, so all mandatory Paradox Flaws are immediately compensated for. We then take "Take +1 agg from Life damaging effects" twice, representing the usual cybernetics flaw, and three points of Permanent Paradox, for a 70pxp discount. To get down to the canonical cost, we'll have to come up with three more Flaws – let's say "too heavy to swim", "greatly increased appetite," and "diminished immune response to plastics in general" – to max out our Flaw allotment, bringing us to a 98pxp discount. 34 pxp converts to 17 xp and 5 quint – still a bit more expensive than usual, but then again that's to be expected given how incredibly undercosted it was originally. 17 xp for four attribute dots and nearly doubling your health levels is a pretty solid deal.

Implant Plasma Cannon

Ah, another old favorite. This one's activated and has its own Arete, though it's not invested with Willpower. As I've mentioned, it's a little strange that it uses Forces 3, but doing so does guarantee that it can activate under any condition, so it's not entirely worthless. Using Forces 3 creation incurs a Prime 2 conjunctional effect and a 1 mana/shot surcharge.

There's a soft cost here that isn't reflected in the rules: the plasma cannon is made at Enlightenment 6 or 8, but any degree of Enlightenment costs the same. In general, I'd suggest that you can freely choose Enlightenment up to 5 due to the sheer size of the Union, but any Enlightenment above 5 must be either very general or a duplicate of a particular Device of a particular senior Technocrat per '99 – you can't usually get specialized high-Arete gear.

At any rate, the canonical Cannon has a 30-quint tank, which converts directly to a 30-mana tank that costs 4 quint. Pay one additional quint for its own Arete and one additional Quint for the Forces 3/Prime 2 Rote (which is counted as just one Rote since it's just one effect). The original version didn't include an Ability pool, but Ability augments were also not nearly as important to successfully casting Rotes at all in canon, so in order to maintain a reasonable damage rate I'll include a twelve-dice pool with another quint. That's 5 quint, or 40pxp, before Flaws. The cannon is, of course, entirely removable (as anyone who's ever had their arm forcibly removed by Akashic ninjas can attest), which accounts for mandatory Flaws. The usual cybernetic flaw gives us a 28pxp discount, bringing us down to 12pxp, or 6xp and 3 quint. Appropriately cheap, for such a mass-produced staple of the Union.

The Curse of Achilles

For our last example, something that breaks the mold in two ways. First, Enhancement through obvious, Traditional magic – the Curse of Achilles requires the burning of its victim in ichor, godsblood; second, the expense of a powerful Enhancement that unlike the previous examples cannot be removed without countermagic and time.

Achilles' invulnerability can be quite neatly represented with a Forces 4 Effect, that makes you invulnerable to any Forces 3 effect and applies its successes as countermagic against Forces 4 effects. (This version of the Curse can still be overwhelmed by, say, attempting to facetank coordinated bunker-buster fire.)

Buying four successes on Forces 4 – one immunity, three countermagic – costs eight quint. Luckily, that's all there is to it. So we have 128 pxp, or 64 xp and 8 quint.

We have four mandatory paradox flaws to come up with, and none of them can be "this curse can be removed." Legend provides us with the first few: a single missing patch upon the left heel, which leads naturally into the curse not applying against explosions that cause shrapnel without some sort of defense for that weak point, and a damage bonus to all attacks that strike that weakpoint. To remain in line with myth, let's give our Enhancile here a -1 penalty to all rolls to resist poison.

We can eke out one more easy Flaw – let's give our Enhancile a version of the bioengineering flaw, +1 agg to all Life direct damage attacks – but at that point we're going to start stretching the themes. That leaves us with 114pxp → 57xp and 7 quint, which is a whole lot of xp! Things like the Curse, or equivalently things like Nanotech Integration, are either extremely expensive or extremely paradoxical, forcing large numbers of meaningful, serious flaws to compensate for being truly "part of the character" in a way that can't be easily removed even putting plot armor for xp expenditures aside. (Nanotech Integration I won't go into here, but it comes out to about 32 pxp after all "natural" flaws.)

Union Enhancile

The final point to hit here. The Technocratic Union is winning, and given its vast infrastructure, wealth, and super-human resources, Technocrats have much easier access to Enhancements than a Traditions member ever will... so long as they're willing to sell their body and mind to the Union. (And it's a good thing they don't acknowledge the existence of the soul, or they'd ask for that too!)

Union Enhancile replaces the Enhancements background in functionality. It is a double cost Background that provides the character with twice Rating points of true quintessence, for the purpose of spending on Enhancements - meaning a character only needs to provide the xp half of the cost. It retains all the usual soft costs of Enhancement - high Conditioning, the need to be in good graces with the Union, and the fact that the Union now likely owns your body and mind.

-----------------------

Closing notes:

• The rules for creating Devices entirely replace the rules for permanent Effects. Permanent Effects require quintessence to create and maintain as if they were a Device.
• Prime 5 allows a character to directly convert unspent xp to quintessence or Tass, depending on paradigm. Theoretically it may be possible to do this to other characters, but in general most characters should be assumed to have very little xp simply lying around. Even the most un-heroic of mortals will spend their experience points on "Mario Kart Expert 3" if they can.
• Prime 1 allows a character to sacrifice access to spent xp for quintessence - sacrificing Resources dots, health levels, or even Attributes and Abilities. Spheres, Willpower, and Arete cannot be sacrificed this way, though as an optional rule an ST may allow it with a Prime 5/Spirit 5 ritual or equivalent. Round down. One quintessence point's worth of dots return per week. Note that sacrificing most Traits count xp in reverse of the usual tiering; sacrificing your first health level only gets you 6xp -> 1 quint, even if you just spent 12xp on your tenth. The only exception I can think of off the top of my head is Resources, and theoretically Spheres if such is allowed. Doing this to other people requires Prime 5.

Well. How is it? Oddly enough the purple paradigm actually has some trouble explaining this mechanic - why should perfectly Consensual results incur permanent Paradox even if the methods were vulgar? - compared to more paradigm-realist views.