Mages
From Sinanju
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Mages are humans who possess the ability to alter reality by the exercise of sheer willpower.
Mages have all the normal human attributes (Brawn, Guts, Wits, and Luck). In addition, they possess the attribute of Mojo, which is a measure of their raw magical power. However, raw power without knowledge is useless. Mages must also possess skill with one or more of the nine spheres of magic. The Fudge Sphere Descriptions handout describes what magical effects are possible with each Sphere at each level of mastery from Mediocre to Superb.
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Working Magic
A mage who wishes to affect the world must roll his Mojo against the difficulty of the effect in question. A success means that the effect occurs as desired; a minimal success is just enough to achieve his goal, greater successes create grander effects.
The difficulty of a magical effect starts at the level of skill required by the highest Sphere involved. The ideal approach to magic is Ritual Magic. The mage will perform the magic in a dedicated workplace, employing foci appropriate to his paradigm, and taking the necessary time to carefully gather, focus and then release the magical forces he controls. This ideal is frequently not achievable in the real world.
Dedicated Workspace
Magic is most effectively practiced in a location which is dedicated to the purpose, just like a chef can only do his best work in a carefully maintained and equipped kitchen. This can be a Son of Ether's workshop, a Verbena's consecrated clearing, a Celestial Chorister's house of worship, or a Virtual Adept's computer desk. Whatever form it takes, the workspace must be dedicated to the purpose and used for no other purpose; it must be treated with respect if not actual religious importance. A properly dedicated workspace is work -1 Difficulty on the Mojo roll.
A Node can be a dedicated workplace and will give bonuses to the magical skill roll, but a Node isn't truly essential.
If the mage doesn't have access to a dedicated workspace, he may attempt to improvise one. This takes 1d minutes (spent clearing and deliniating the space, finding and arranging candles or other appropriate "mood enhancing" accessores, and so forth). Such an improvised workspace provides neither a bonus nor a penalty to the Mojo roll.
A mage may even attempt to work magic without a dedicated workplace of any kind, but this gives a +1 difficulty to all attempts to work magic.
- -1 Difficulty for use of a dedicated workspace
- +0 Difficult for use of an improvised workspace (requiring 1d minutes to prepare)
- +1 Difficulty for no dedicated workspace at all
Foci
Mages learn their craft using material objects, ritual behaviors or other tools to help them focus their will on altering reality. Employing a focus allows the mage to work magic with a -1 difficulty on his Mojo roll.
If he does not have access to his foci, he may attempt to employ a makeshift substitute; this provides neither a bonus nor a penalty to his Mojo roll. +1 level of difficulty to the skill roll.
In an emergency a mage may attempt to work magic with no focus at all; this is more difficult, and gives a +1 difficulty to the Mojo roll.
- -1 Difficulty for use of appropriate foci
- +0 Difficulty for use of makeshift foci
- +1 Difficulty for dispensing with foci entirely
Time
Magical rituals typically require from 10 minutes to an hour to perform. Taking this amount of time allows the mage to work magic with -1 difficulty on his Mojo roll.
If pressed for time, a mage can attempt to hurry the ritual, cutting a few corners and taking only 1d+2 minutes. This requires greater concentration and provides neither a bonus nor a penalty to the Mojo roll.
In a real emergency, a mage can dispense with ritual entirely, simply trying to impose his will on reality with brute force and no subtlety at all. This gives a +1 difficulty to the Mojo roll.
- -1 Difficulty for employing the full ritual (10 minutes to an hour, typically)
- +0 Difficulty for a hasty ritual (1d+2 minutes)
- +1 Difficulty for an immediate, brute force approach (no ritual)
The Spheres
- Correspondence: The sphere of distance and separation, capable of creating overlapping dimensions and allowing teleportation.
- Entropy: The sphere of decay and luck, capable of manipulating random events and creating or eliminating random chance.
- Forces: The sphere of energy and kinetics, capable of creating flames and stopping bullets.
- Life: The sphere of creatures and plants, capable of healing wounds and creating impossible beasts.
- Matter: The sphere of inanimate objects and inert elements, capable of transmuting materials and enhancing mundane objects.
- Mind: The sphere of thoughts and dreams, capable of reading thoughts and controlling thoughts and emotion.
- Prime: The sphere of pure magical force and structure, capable of enchanting items and manipulating pure Mana.
- Spirit: The sphere of spirits and their realm, capable of summoning spirits and forging links through the Gauntlet.
- Time: The sphere of the passage of time and aging, capable of manipulating the flow of time and jumping over periods of time.
