Rotes

Rotes cost 1 XP per Sphere Level involved in their casting.

Example: A Rote with Entropy 3 uses three Sphere Levels. 3 XP.

A Rote with Correspondence 2, Life 1, and Time 3 uses a total of six Sphere Levels. 6 XP.

Rotes are important aspects of your character, describing how you use your powers to manipulate the world around you. As you gain experience as a Mage, you’ll probably want to create a few Rotes which are unique to your character, making you individual and unpredictable.

Whenever you submit a new Rote for consideration to an ST, it should include:

1. Name: 3 words, at the most. Make sure that you can tell what your Rote does by looking at the name, to reduce the amount of time you spend flipping through your Rote cards. Go for simplicity – there’s nothing wrong with calling your fireball ‘Fireball,’ if that’s what your character would do.

2. Effect: What you want the Rote to do, in direct terms, such as “Inflict damage,” “Seduce the target,” etc. You can also specify an Ability that you want the Rote to enhance. Try to be fairly specific about what you want.

3. Spheres: What Spheres you think the Rote uses. The ST will adjust these if they seem too low or high. Note that it is possible to use the same Sphere twice in an effect, if it’s doing two entirely separate things – it counts as a normal multiple-Sphere Rote.

Take a look at the Sample Rotes page for examples of Rotes – the short descriptions there are all you need to send as a Rote idea.

Players are free to come up with any Rotes they desire. They don’t need to be listed in a book or anything. With the right combination of Spheres, a Mage can do literally anything, limited only by how creatively they can combine their Spheres. Players will work with a Storyteller to determine the exact nature of new Rotes.

Paradox for new Rotes:

For each Apprentice (1) Sphere Level in the Rote: 1 Paradox.

For each Initiate (2) Sphere Level in the Rote: 2 Paradox.

For each Disciple (3) Sphere Level in the Rote: 4 Paradox.

For each Adept (4) Sphere Level in the Rote: 6 Paradox.

For each Master (5) Sphere Level in the Rote: 9 Paradox.

Just a general rule – an ST may shift Paradox up or down depending on the exact nature of the Rote.

The Spheres

When creating new Rotes, here are some limitations about the nine Spheres to keep in mind. Remember that the Sphere Levels are dependent upon the effects, not the ‘cause’.

For example, if you want to ‘increase the probability that people will be looking away’, that’s a Rote for distraction - Mind, not Entropy. That you do it by ‘increasing probability’ is just your Paradigm. If you’re ‘using electrical pulses to change lead into gold’, that’s Matter, not Forces. The Rote affects matter, and the ‘electrical pulses’ is just your focus. If you’re ‘asking a spirit to pick up that car’, that’s Forces, not Spirit. The end effect is applying forces to the car, the ‘asking a spirit’ is just your Paradigm.

Without Correspondence, a Rote must use a direct connection to the target – either physical contact or eye contact to affect another character. Rotes must also use Correspondence to affect multiple locations at once. Correspondence Rotes which extend the senses (even magical ones) must be specific as to which sense is extended, such as Clairaudience, See Through Walls, or Distant Touch. Teleportation Rotes must be specific as to whether they send things away, or bring them to you.

Rotes cannot affect fate without Entropy. Any rote that blesses or curses a subject is Entropy. Rotes which rely on chance may or may not be Entropy – it depends on what the effect is. Entropy Rotes must be specific as to what the end effect of the Rote is. A Rote that “causes something bad to happen” is too vague. A Rote needs to be specific on what it affects and what it does, especially at higher levels where it can affect human minds and fate itself. Bless is different from Curse.

Rotes cannot move things without Forces. Forces Rotes must be specific as to which kind of forces they perceive/transmute/control. See Infrared and See Magnetism are two different Rotes, as are Call Lightning and Call Fire.

Rotes cannot change the nature of yourself or other living things without Life. Life Rotes must be specific as to their effects. Grow Extra Arms and Grow Wings are two different rotes, as are Shapeshift Into Bear and Shapeshift Into Rabbit.

Rotes cannot change the nature of objects or create them without Matter. Matter Rotes must be specific as to the matter they affect, and the end effect. Transmute Straw to Gold and Transmute Lead to Steel are two different Rotes. (As a minor exception, the Mage may specify a type of matter to be affected, such as Transmute Wall or Clothing.)

Rotes cannot make other people feel emotions or such without Mind. You can create something frightening with Life, but without Mind, you can’t force someone to be frightened. Many Rotes will also be limited by human mental ability, unless you use Mind. (For example, building a complex computer chip with Matter – the human mind simply can’t keep all the construction data straight without help from Mind.) Mind Rotes which transmit thoughts or emotions must be fairly specific as to the thought or emotion. Incite Anger and Induce Calm are two different Rotes, as are Give Command and Gain Respect. (Although their end effects may be similar.)

Rotes cannot unmake something, create something permanent, or manipulate Quintessence without Prime. Prime Rotes should be specific as to what they affect. Transfer Quintessence to Avatar is different from Transfer Quintessence to Periapt.

Rotes cannot affect spirits or the Umbra without Spirit. Spirit Rotes which affect the Umbra must be specific as to which part of the Umbra they affect: Gate to Dark Umbra and Gate to Astral Umbra are different Rotes, as are Speak to the Dead and Speak to Nature Spirits. Rotes which summon spirits need to be specific as to what spirit they’re summoning. Summon Demon and Summon Elemental are different (as are Summon Demon Lord and Summon Elemental Champion.)

Rotes cannot affect the future or past without Time. Time Rotes must be specific as to whether they affect/divine the past, present, or future, and how they affect time. Visions of the Past is different from Visions of the Future, and Slow Time is different from Hasten Time.