Dave has recently been active and generous on another forum and offered a few new Mage 2e tidbits that I thought people here would greatly enjoy, particularly as the release of the new core hopefully draws near and we ponder the repercussions of the Paradox acquisition of WW and fate of the nWOD.
First and foremost, Dave revealed the Fate 2 and Time 2 Arcana Attainements. Also, despite indicating in his earlier spoilers that Hung Spell would likely be an attainment, it appears to have been relegated to a spell.
In response to an inquiry about what happened to the old 1e Fate 2 "Targeted Exemption," Dave stated,
Dave commented on Arcane Beats,
Some additional clarifications about sympathetic and shadow names,
Some general insight into most normal human's general interaction with supernatural events in the nWOD,
And lastly, some potentially positive news about Mage 2e's short-term future.
In response to an inquiry concerning whether the Paradox acquisition of WW will affect the Mage 2e release schedule, including putting Signs of Sorcery on hold or delaying the release of the new core, Dave replied,
First and foremost, Dave revealed the Fate 2 and Time 2 Arcana Attainements. Also, despite indicating in his earlier spoilers that Hung Spell would likely be an attainment, it appears to have been relegated to a spell.
DaveB Fri 06 Nov 2015 17:15:33
The Time 2 Attainment is actually Temporal Sympathy. The Fate 2 Attainment, though, is Conditional Duration, the ability to extend a spell's lifetime by specifying a condition that will cancel it immediately.
There's a Time spell called Hung Spell that allows a mage it's cast on to cast up to its Potency spells "into" it, capturing them the instant before they go off. When Hung Spell's duration ends, any spells in it immediately take place and run their durations as though they'd just been cast.
Because a mage can cancel any of their spells (as long as they're in spell control still) with a reflexive action, though, a Mage capable of casting Acceleration can, with pre-preparation, have it ready to go should they need it. And be aware that they need it.
A Mage who has both Time 3 *and* Fate 2 is capable of putting, say, Shifting Sands into a Hung Spell that has a Conditional Duration on it of "I get hurt", so the next time he's injured, even by surprise, he flashes back in time a few turns.
This is, of course, a flagrant waste of Mana and eats your spell control up.
The Time 2 Attainment is actually Temporal Sympathy. The Fate 2 Attainment, though, is Conditional Duration, the ability to extend a spell's lifetime by specifying a condition that will cancel it immediately.
There's a Time spell called Hung Spell that allows a mage it's cast on to cast up to its Potency spells "into" it, capturing them the instant before they go off. When Hung Spell's duration ends, any spells in it immediately take place and run their durations as though they'd just been cast.
Because a mage can cancel any of their spells (as long as they're in spell control still) with a reflexive action, though, a Mage capable of casting Acceleration can, with pre-preparation, have it ready to go should they need it. And be aware that they need it.
A Mage who has both Time 3 *and* Fate 2 is capable of putting, say, Shifting Sands into a Hung Spell that has a Conditional Duration on it of "I get hurt", so the next time he's injured, even by surprise, he flashes back in time a few turns.
This is, of course, a flagrant waste of Mana and eats your spell control up.
In response to an inquiry about what happened to the old 1e Fate 2 "Targeted Exemption," Dave stated,
DaveB Sat 07 Nov 2015 08:03:18
Like Hung Spell in Time, it's a function of a spell - there's a Fate 2 spell that lets you tag people so your own area of effect spells miss them.
Like Hung Spell in Time, it's a function of a spell - there's a Fate 2 spell that lets you tag people so your own area of effect spells miss them.
Dave commented on Arcane Beats,
DaveB Thu 05 Nov 2015 16:08:34
Arcane Beats work almost exactly like normal ones. We clearly lay out which dice rolls (hint: most things to do with spellcasting) give aBeats if you dramatic failure them, and which ones give Conditions that grant aBeats.
Where it gets interesting is what you spend Arcane Experiences on. It's not just Gnosis now - the difference between types of Arcana for your Path is how many dots you can spend regular experiences on before you have to start spending arcane, you have to buy Wisdom with arcane, that kind of thing.
I've got a lot of candidates for "this is Awakening's central thesis" but calling the Aspiration-equivalents for Arcane Beats "Obsessions" as a thing you get on your character sheet was pretty much the first thing we decided to do for Mage, back when we were writing God-Machine Chronicle.
Arcane Beats work almost exactly like normal ones. We clearly lay out which dice rolls (hint: most things to do with spellcasting) give aBeats if you dramatic failure them, and which ones give Conditions that grant aBeats.
Where it gets interesting is what you spend Arcane Experiences on. It's not just Gnosis now - the difference between types of Arcana for your Path is how many dots you can spend regular experiences on before you have to start spending arcane, you have to buy Wisdom with arcane, that kind of thing.
I've got a lot of candidates for "this is Awakening's central thesis" but calling the Aspiration-equivalents for Arcane Beats "Obsessions" as a thing you get on your character sheet was pretty much the first thing we decided to do for Mage, back when we were writing God-Machine Chronicle.
Some additional clarifications about sympathetic and shadow names,
DaveB Thu 05 Nov 2015 16:35:39
("sympathetic name" in 2e changed from 1e's "real name" for inclusiveness but also just plain clarity reasons. A "True Name" has always been, and still is, a specific Archmage-only Space 7 spell. Many people get that wrong.)
Your Shadow Name cannot accrue sympathy, no. Nor do you get much of a say in what your sympathetic name is. It's the name the people with sympathetic links to a child think of it as during the period of child development until it has a sense of self (and therefore of separation - which in Mage turns, is when the Lie sets in.)
No matter how many times you change your name, even if you don't know what it is, your sympathetic name is scarred into your Space Pattern.
("sympathetic name" in 2e changed from 1e's "real name" for inclusiveness but also just plain clarity reasons. A "True Name" has always been, and still is, a specific Archmage-only Space 7 spell. Many people get that wrong.)
Your Shadow Name cannot accrue sympathy, no. Nor do you get much of a say in what your sympathetic name is. It's the name the people with sympathetic links to a child think of it as during the period of child development until it has a sense of self (and therefore of separation - which in Mage turns, is when the Lie sets in.)
No matter how many times you change your name, even if you don't know what it is, your sympathetic name is scarred into your Space Pattern.
DaveB Thu 05 Nov 2015 16:48:56
>But what about if my parents first name for me is Elizabeth Ascher but even they don't actually *call* me that, they just call me Lizzy?
Then your sympathetic name is Lizzy.
>What about if I was adopted, and the people who have blood relation to me didn't give me a name but people with no blood relation gave me a name?
"people with sympathetic links to a child" does not necessarily automatically mean "birth parents"
>But what about if my parents first name for me is Elizabeth Ascher but even they don't actually *call* me that, they just call me Lizzy?
Then your sympathetic name is Lizzy.
>What about if I was adopted, and the people who have blood relation to me didn't give me a name but people with no blood relation gave me a name?
"people with sympathetic links to a child" does not necessarily automatically mean "birth parents"
Some general insight into most normal human's general interaction with supernatural events in the nWOD,
DaveB Sat 07 Nov 2015 05:28:14
People in the nWoD tend toward "ignore it and it'll go away" for *most* supernatural events, and outright "lose their memory of it altogether" for Supernal manifestations.
It's not a mistake, it's that mage magic gives you amnesia *on top* of everyone's generally-conditioned tendency to be in denial.
A mage-centric reader might suppose that the latter is a weak form of Quiescence that covers everything supernatural but not Supernal. I prefer to think of it as human nature.
People in the nWoD tend toward "ignore it and it'll go away" for *most* supernatural events, and outright "lose their memory of it altogether" for Supernal manifestations.
It's not a mistake, it's that mage magic gives you amnesia *on top* of everyone's generally-conditioned tendency to be in denial.
A mage-centric reader might suppose that the latter is a weak form of Quiescence that covers everything supernatural but not Supernal. I prefer to think of it as human nature.
DaveB Sat 07 Nov 2015 05:54:28
>the nWOD default setting position is that most people generally know "something" supernatural is out there and is bad, but they keep their mouths shut, heads down, and just hope they don't someday end up lunch for a creature of the night?
Yes
>Do most mortals in the nWOD actually experience or have contact with some supernatural event or creature during their lives
Also yes. The nWoD is a very, very weird place.
>the nWOD default setting position is that most people generally know "something" supernatural is out there and is bad, but they keep their mouths shut, heads down, and just hope they don't someday end up lunch for a creature of the night?
Yes
>Do most mortals in the nWOD actually experience or have contact with some supernatural event or creature during their lives
Also yes. The nWoD is a very, very weird place.
In response to an inquiry concerning whether the Paradox acquisition of WW will affect the Mage 2e release schedule, including putting Signs of Sorcery on hold or delaying the release of the new core, Dave replied,
DaveB Sat 07 Nov 2015 06:53:28
Signs of Sorcery is not on hold. It's long since contracted, and first drafts are due in just over a week.
Signs of Sorcery is not on hold. It's long since contracted, and first drafts are due in just over a week.
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