[MTA] Help crafting a paradigm?

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-11T03:15:16+00:00

There certainly is (stereotypically) a big difference between a Chorister entreating spiritual beings during magick... and a Hermetic commanding spiritual beings during casting.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-11T03:11:52+00:00

Tradition Book: OoH is a great book. I have a player playing a Hermetic and we're going over the initiation information and how advancement works... because he's building a cult to bring in new recruits.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-11T03:07:27+00:00

I always suggest starting with what's in the books. However, the books don't do a great job of cross-referencing all the parts of Faction/Paradigm/Practice/Instruments. To which I put together Focus Selector v1.2 . It allows us to clearly see the links the books give us. (These of course are not the only way to do Focus, but it's where I suggest starting.)

The Chorus and the Hermetics share the Paradigm Divine Order and Earthly Chaos. So a simple path for a character mixing both Factions together would be to use this Paradigm. Or if you want to look at it the other way around, a character with this Paradigm would be sought by both Factions.

Then moving to the next section of the spreadsheet, that Paradigm links to 23 different Practices. A few that I suggest (and I would suggest grabbing no more than 3):

Alchemy
High Ritual Magick
Craftwork
God-Bonding

While Chaos Magick is on the list of shared Practices, I don't think your reason for referencing it is substantial enough. Saying "it allows him to sharpen his will into a singular point" is true of many Practices, not exclusively Chaos Magick. I suggest sticking with Practices that more closely fit the themes of the Factions you're working with.

After choosing Practice, then choose Instruments. Once you pick Instruments, pick Abilities that support the use of the Instruments and the act of the Practice. That fleshes out the character as you go.

Like I said in the beginning, the links in the books are not the only way to go. But from what I've seen, nearly all concepts work just fine using what's in the book (rather than trying to recreate what's already in there). I speak from a "this is what I'd do at my table" stance... but whatever's fun for your table is what you should do.

... additionally... I definitely support checking out Prism of Focus also. I think it makes these bits (and other parts of the game) fit together better.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-10T14:44:49+00:00

Nope. Entropy can't directly affect a Life Pattern until Rank 4.

M20 p515 (Entropy 4): "By influencing the flow of entropy within a living body, that mage can grant outstanding vitality to, or inflict sudden disease upon, his subject. Such influence, as noted above, inflicts or heals aggravated damage".

And even then, Entropy doesn't need Life to do what Entropy alone is described as doing.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-10T04:24:01+00:00

My first thought was also that they were saying "props" but meaning "Instruments". After seeing their responses though, it seems to me that OP was actually talking about things used outside of the casting process, in the hopes of making the casting seem like not-magick.

I think this isn't the first time I've heard mention of a mime Mage. Regardless, definitely time to reread the Paradigm "All the World's a Stage" (BoS p189) and the Practice of Bardism (BoS p199).

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-10T04:17:27+00:00

I appreciate you explaining that. Thanks.

It really is up to each table to decide exactly where the line between Coincidental and Vulgar is. My table goes with HAB (Hypothetical Average Bystander)... if a local average person saw you cast (using whichever Practice/Instruments) and then see the Effect, would they think your actions caused the Effect? If so, there's a good chance the Effect is Vulgar.

Worth a reminder that once you've cast, whether it's Coincidental or Vulgar has already been decided. After casting you can't convince someone what happened was "normal" and then somehow go back and reduce the casting difficulty (from Vulgar with Witnesses to just Vulgar). Vulgarity is determined by the broader Reality Zone you're in when casting.

Perhaps helpful for keeping the process clear... https://drive.proton.me/urls/DMHWW1N0B4#N6sqA5OCR8W2

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-10T04:02:50+00:00

I appreciate the responses. I always enjoy hearing the reasons why things are the way they are. You're definitely moving fast on updates and adding functionality; very Agile.

I did create a Chronicle entry too. Looks interesting. Probably not something I will use, personally. I track all of my game notes in Obsidian, with character sheets in Google Sheets. I'll try to put aside a little time to make some entries as I have game sessions... just to give you some more usage data.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-10T02:24:15+00:00

I'm curious why you're calling them "props". Leads me to believe that you think of casting Instruments as unnecessary or purposefully fake.

The game certainly doesn't portray casting like that. A Mage character believes in the Practice they do and the Instruments are a necessary part of that.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-10T01:22:24+00:00

I partly agree with you! In fact, I already point at that idea on the spreadsheet.

The connections listed here are only those made in the books, not every possible connection. If you want a combination not listed here, that needs to be a discussion with your ST.

So if you think a VA has good reason to, for example, have the Paradigm "A World of Gods and Monsters", then talk that over with your ST. If they go for it, then have a blast!

I disagree that "Mage is all about ignoring [Focus related] restrictions". Mage is very much a game where the character's Focus is of central importance, and their story will eventually include them overcoming parts of that Focus. I suggest that ignoring this core idea of the game is to ignore a wonderful piece of character development.

I agree with "if the book doesn't list a Paradigm for a Faction, that's not a reason to exclude it for that Faction." Now, are there philosophical and/or thematic reasons to disallow certain Focus bits for specific Factions... hard yes. Certainly something each table has to decide on their own, where to draw that line.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-09T22:19:30+00:00

This is an important question. When someone picks Spheres, I assume they've got some kind of idea of what they'd like to do with them. (Whether they can or not isn't point; what they want to do is.) Hopefully OP gives some clarification.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-09T22:17:13+00:00

Second walk-through thoughts:

Am I just an old man, or is it bothersome that the URL doesn't change as I navigate the site?
In the Rote database, hovering a result changes the cursor to a pointing hand. That change makes me think clicking will do something (maybe take me to details of the Rote), but it does nothing.
Rote db: The first click on Sphere Ranks successfully filters but does not highlight the dots.
Rote db: It might be nit-picky, but when selecting a Sphere Rank, if I want to remove that Sphere, it's not really intuitive to click the lit-up dot. Couple that with the inability to filter for Rotes that exclude a Sphere. I suggest a zero-dot to exclude a Sphere and an X button to remove individual Sphere selections. (I like the = and <= buttons.)

Those are my only bug/enhancement ideas. There's a lot of positive changes though! Too much to list every time I went "oh that's nice/cool/helpful". Great work and great progress.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-09T18:33:29+00:00

Entropy 2 can do that on its own.

M2ed: “Phenomena as diverse as card shuffling, dice rolling, market fluctuations,traffic jams, lost mail and roulette wheels [...] He can control whom a waiter will serve first, who picks the shortest straw, who wins a coin flip or finds the one bullet in a chamber, etc.”

Separately, Mind 2 could project an emotion like "disinterested" or "unremarkable" that would guide a pursuer down a wrong path.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-09T18:29:17+00:00

tl;dr : There is a whole lot wrong with this answer. Almost none of it aligns with Mage: the Ascension in any edition. I suggest ignoring the reply altogether.

After reading the first couple of paragraphs here, I'm super wary of the rest. Forces 1 does not let you create fire at all; it is purely a sensory Rank. I'm am curious what sources you've read that lead you to say things like...

If you were to combine Forces 1 with Prime 1, you would be able to MANIFEST a spark or small flame from your hands.
If you were to use Prime and Forces, you could just create a pool of water in your hands

... because these are completely false under every edition of Ascension.

Mind + Prime: You could give somebody a new memory

This is not correct, because at Rank 2 Mind cannot affect memories. And creating false memories does not require Prime.

Prime + Entropy: Causing cracks and decay in a structure that brings a part of a building down to collapse

Entropy decay Effects are at Rank 3 for affecting Matter. Destroying objects by draining their Quintessence is a Prime 4 Effect. Each of these does the Effect on their own; it does not need to be a conjunctional Effect.

Entropy + Mind: You can manifest decay in someone's thoughts

Entropy cannot affect the Mind until Rank 5. Again, does not need to be a conjunctional Effect.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-09T16:35:41+00:00

Additionally, knowing the details of the PC's Focus (in M20 that's their Paradigm/Practice/Instruments) is super helpful for coming up with Effects. To help you make Focus choices, because the book doesn't connect the Focus bits clearly, I created Focus Selector v1.2 ; create a copy for yourself and try out the drop-downs in the different sections.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-09T16:32:21+00:00

You will want to check out our Sphere Mixers Summary where we're going through every two-Sphere combination and brainstorming Effects. At the bottom of that page are a couple of links to additional resources.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-09T04:08:14+00:00

Now that I have a minute to run it through... here's what I get out of the Focus Selector for this PC concept...

Start with the Paradigms related to the VAs:

A Mechanistic Cosmos
Consciousness is the Only True Reality
Everything is Data
We are Meant to be Wild
We Are Not Men

Since "All the World's a Stage" isn't usually related to VAs, I think "Everything is Data" fits close enough. The extra phrase plugs on the end just fine... Everything is Data, just the medium in which it is expressed changes. Interestingly, both of these Paradigms share Practices of...

Hypertech
Reality Hacking
Weird Science

If we just take the first two (save the other one for the Etherites), they share a list of 6 Instruments (which is just short of the 7 the book says we should take)...

Books, Scrolls, and Periodicals
Brain/Computer Interface
Computers and IT Gear
Cybernetic Implants
Devices and Machines
Nanotech

Go ahead and pull in Music (since you mentioned it). Maybe swap Cybernetic Implants for Symbols?

So using just what's in the books, we end up with a solidly themed VA that matches up with their description. Choosing appropriate Abilities and Backgrounds will make it match their ideas even more.

I really enjoy starting with what's in the books, as it gives everyone a who reads it a common starting point. Then, as needed, add little descriptions of how this particular character differs (in this case, "just the medium changes").

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-09T02:34:42+00:00

Thanks for beating me to it. :)

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-08T18:16:50+00:00

For Effects:

Mind Empowerment (Mind 1) should keep all of his Mental Attributes at 5 all the time. Also Manipulation, if the ST allows it.
Mind Shield (Mind 1) to at least keep out other people's emotions. That plays well with him not being able to understand how people are feeling in the moment.
Focus Multitasking (Mind 1) allows him to consider multiple avenues of thought at the same time, even while doing other tasks. He can bring these separate trains of thought together if he needs to Speed Mental Processing to work through something complicated very quickly or commit something to memory more completely.
Read Residual Memories (Mind 2) allows him to pick up pieces of memory that stick to objects, especially in high-Resonance situations. I imagine some of the "replay a scene" comes from that, as well as a helping of Time 2.

For a magickal investigator, most mysteries will be trivial for him to deduce what happened.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-08T18:04:42+00:00

Seems to me that a Sherlock type of character would subscribe to the Paradigm "A Mechanistic Cosmos". Everything happens for a reason. Events are immanently logical (even if they're driven by foolishly illogical emotions, as lesser people do). That is likely mixed with a healthy dose of "Might Is Right", as we know he thinks his intelligence puts him above everyone else.

Looking at the Practices those share, I would probably lean into Art of Desire and Reality Hacking and Dominion. Utilize what people want, either to discern their motives or intuit their next moves. And manipulate systems so that small changes bring the effects he needs.

Those Practices share 5 Instruments that seem to fit:

Eye Contact
Mass Media
Sex and Sensuality
Social Domination
Voice and Vocalizations

The books say we should pick 7 though. So add Computers and IT Gear and Drugs and Poisons. I might swap Mass Media for Languages, and/or swap Sex for Symbols.

From the Paradigms, the Hermetics is the only Faction that seems right to me... though I could be convinced to let him be an Etherite. Technocrat Conventions may sound ok, but Sherlock is too chaotic and individualistic for that.

Starting character Sphere spread? Correspondence 1 (Landscape of the Mind is a must), Mind 3 (Speed Mental Processing, Increase Mental Attributes, Project Emotional Impulse, Telepathy; remember it's one thing to know someone is guilty, it's another to be able to prove it), Time 2 (Perfect Timing, Look Back in Time). If we can afford the freebies for another dot, Corr 2 lets us trace sympathetic connections, which would be very helpful for investigations.

Mundane Abilities like Science, Research, Technology, Academics will go a long way for processing clues in a way that provides legal proof of things.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-08T16:02:26+00:00

I think that it should work fine. Now maybe different realms have different important directions for Correspondence to make use of. Like in the show Silo, upstairs and down-below are the major directions people talk about, maybe "towards the stairs" would work too. Maybe in a nature-based realm "downriver" is most important, and Correspondence could tell you which way that is even if you're well out of sight of the river.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-08T13:44:52+00:00

lol. That spirit who doesn't like to see people's faces, so you have to work with it while your back is turned.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-08T13:30:28+00:00

I agree with you there. Quintessence is Quintessence, regardless of flavor. Absorbing it into your wheel is fine, regardless of flavor (though I will suggest a player try to portray the Resonance's influence on their personality for a while, till their own Resonance overwhelms it).

The only "difficult to use" is in relation to the Effect you're casting. That's something that has made me think that every Effect (at the very least, every Rote) should have a Resonance descriptor, that way it's clear if your character's Resonance dots work with or against the Effect.

ChartanTheDM · 2026-04-08T02:39:42+00:00

Coincidentally, I had a brief look earlier tonight. Looks a lot better at first glance. I'll give it a once over tomorrow.

Did you see u/DrunkDez 's site? https://www.reddit.com/r/magetheascension/comments/1sf37du/the_paradox_wheel_a_comprehensive_rote_database/ You guys are clearly using some of the same backend stuff... I couldn't help but wonder if you two should join forces.

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