1001 Interesting Paradox Backlashes

[Bluecho]

301) If It Bleeds [Flaw]: Any item of food the mage bites, cuts, scoops, or breaks apart will ooze blood. As if the item were a fresh kill. Even if the food is entirely vegan, and wouldn't have blood. Or if the food was meat already long processed and drained of blood. The blood flows, bright scarlet and fresh as from a living wound. Smells and tastes like blood, too, which can make enjoying a meal rather awkward and unappetizing. This backlash arises in response to a mage changing inorganic matter into a living pattern, or vice versa.


302) Musical Accompaniment [Spirit]: When a mage uses Music as their literal Instrument, Paradox may decide they need a little help. The character is followed closely by a musician (or musicians, plural, under more potent backlashes), who dutifully perform in time with the mage's daily life. Common forms include a drummer boy, a lute-strumming bard, a transient with a harmonica, a punk-rock bassist, a church (or even gospel) choir, throat-singing Buddhist monks, a full marching band, and even a techno-spewing robot. Trying to beat up or kill the spirit will just result in another coming to take its place (and raising questions of assault and/or murder, if anyone saw it happen). And even trying to ditch the spirit will only work for a while, until they mysteriously catch up; teleporting away may result in the spirit being there when the mage arrives, and catching a bus will find the spirit get on at the next stop. The musician performs nonstop, varying their performance according to the tone of the scene. Though, of course, the tone of the scene will naturally be constrained by the type of music accompanying the mage. A constant accordion tune will ruin any serious moment the character may have (or at least you would think so; Klezmer musicians are known for ringing sombre pathos from folksy instruments). It may, finally, be difficult to get any sleep while the followers are around, since they don't tend to see slumber as any excuse to stop playing.

[Muad'Dib]

303) Curiosities Seen in the Details [Paradox Flaw ; Mind and Life] This Paradox Flaw affects True Mages who consider too closely how a person's physical characteristics influence the mind of the person – and how the person's mind might influence the person's physical characteristics. True Mages affected by this Paradox Flaw are unable to use their Mind and Life Senses and Sights separately – they must always use at least one Mind Sense (or Sight) together with at least one Life Sense (or Sight) ; and vice versa.
This Paradox Flaw usually lasts until the True Mage affected by it starts considering only themselves in regards to their belief(s) about the connection(s) between the mind and the body.

[Bluecho]

304) Cupid's Arrow [Burn]: As venerable (and morally questionable) as the archetypal Love Spell is, it carries a measure of risk. Specifically, Cupid - also known as Eros - takes offense at mages who meddle in his domain. So he makes his displeasure known...by shooting them. The mage is struck with an arrow, the projectile coming out of nowhere and still out of the victim's flesh. It is exactly as painful as being shot with an actual arrow.


305) Emotive Eyes [Flaw]: The eyes are the windows to the soul. When a mage employs Eye Contact as an Instrument of magick, they create a bridge between the hearts of their targets and their own. No wonder, then, that Paradox habitually makes the eyes of the mage betray their emotional state, through the use of symbols. The advent of modern visual storytelling - most especially in sequential art - has influenced the visual language that can be reflected in the eyes. Like a comic book character, the mage has their eyeballs display symbolic representations of their mood. Hearts for affection (or lust), fire for rage or passion, a spiral for confusion, a skull for killer intent, Xs for death (or a knock-out), dollar signs for greed, etc. Older forms of the backlash might take the form of occult symbols - a Hermetic with planetary signs, an Akashic with kanji, etc. Meanwhile, modern Virtual Adepts have begun to show ASCII art, or even emoji. Leading to the odd moment when a VA is left with the smiling poop emoji, and their fellows are left baffled as to what mood it would represent.

[Muad'Dib]

306) Once Upon in a Place [Paradox Flaw ; Mind and Correspondence] True Mages affected by this Flaw are unable to shake off certain states of mind when they are in specific locations, and types of locations.

[Bluecho]

307) Eye Scream [Flaw]: Reacting to a botched perception power, the mage sees, instead of what they intended to, something else. Something...horrible. Something so horrible, their eyes themselves open up into toothy maws, and scream in horror. Which, naturally, could lead others to scream in alarm. It's a disturbing backlash, and if severe enough can afflict both eyes at once, rendering the mage blind for the duration (as well as mildly deaf, from their eye-mouths screaming in their heads).


308) A Sunny Presence [Flaw]: When a mage uses their magick to create and manipulate light - especially sunlight - they can mystically become identified with the sun. While they don't necessarily glow, their body stands out more readily in low light. Shadows fall away from the mage, while plants bend and twist towards them. If objects fly or roll past the mage, a weak sort of gravity will cause the objects to curve around them, altering their course. Vampires utterly despise the mage (though suffer no damage from their presence), and may be subject to a Frenzy check (one would think it would instill the Red Fear, but Paradox won't be nearly so accommodating).

[Muad'Dib]

309) Hazy Memory [Paradox Flaw ; Mind, Forces] This Paradox Flaw usually only affects Mages who have the sheer brilliance - or perhaps simply the sheer audacity - to combine the Sphere of Mind and the Sphere of Forces (or the equivalents for Foundation and Pillars True Mages) ; True Mages who rely a great deal on just the Sphere of Mind, or just the Sphere of Forces, can also be affected by this Paradox Flaw.
Every time the Mage thinks for more than a minute about the past, her or his vision becomes hazy - as if surrounded by a thick fog - for a period of five to ten minutes.

This Paradox Flaw can be dealt with by reminiscing to other persons about how the True Mage used Forces (or the equivalent for Foundation and Pillar True Mages) spells subtly. If one has no such past achievements, then they can be done and lived through, and reminisced about after.

[Muad'Dib]

310) Baleful Appearance [Paradox Flaw ; Life and Entropy] This Paradox Flaw affects True Mages who try to monitor and change the life processes of beings too often, and with too much of either total certainty, or lax chaos (or both). Technocrats - Progenitors especially - can be affected by this Flaw all the same, through contamination from used samples, or through their bodies' adverse reaction to prolonged use of devices and aperture. Sometimes a True Mage is affected by this Flaw because they were straining their minds and/or bodies too much by thinking in certain ways all too often, with or without the use of True Magick.

The True Mage counts as having Appearance 1 in regards to interacting with other persons, other than attempting to scare or intimidate them. This is due to details of her or his appearance; like oddly colored skin, weird eyes, shockingly terrifying hair, long and oddly shaped nails, limbs bent at slightly wrong angles et al.

Careful use of the Sphere of Life while wholly abstaining from interacting with Effects from the Sphere of Entropy (or the equivalent(s) for Foundation and Pillars True Mages) can help greatly in regards to dealing with this Paradox Flaw.

[Muad'Dib]

311) The Forgetful Mind [Paradox Flaw ; Mind used by the True Mage for self-enhancements] The True Mage has to write down everything that they hear from others in order to remember it; otherwise they forget it within at most half a minute. The Mage's remembering of their own thoughts is unaffected.

This Paradox Flaw can be dealt with more easily if the True Mage tries developing various means and ways of making more efficient notes – like minimizing the space taken by the notes, or trying to make notes that remind of at least two separate issues.

[Bluecho]

312) Pillar of Salt [Burn]: A backlash of literally Biblical proportions, this Burn comes down upon mages who believe Paradox to be sign of divine displeasure. And then, only when the mage has accumulated a staggering amount of Paradox points. The character is not only struck dead where they stand, but are transmuted into a pillar of salt. Their very flesh changes, as do their clothing and personal effects. Any Wonders on their person might survive unscathed, if it has been magically proofed against damage (requiring Matter 3 or even Matter 5, or an especially strong Entropy enchantment that protects it by chance). Otherwise, the mage and all they carried are reduced to a powdery statue.

[Muad'Dib]

313) Surface Uniformity [Paradox Flaw ; Matter and Correspondence] The True Mage feels all surfaces that she stands on and moves on as one kind of material/surface; this sensation fades once the True Mage sits or lies on a surface. The material/surface felt by the Mage is one identical to a material that was involved in a Conjunctional Sphere of Matter and Sphere of Correspondence Effect (or an Effect using the equivalent Pillars for Foundation and Pillar True Mages).

Thus it might be, for example, the material of an item that was moved using Correspondence, the same kind of surface that was targeted using Correspondence, or the material of which an item affected by Matter consisted of, or the material of an item which was affected by a Matter and Correspondence transmutation. The material/surface felt by the Mage might also be one that the True Mage's Foci - the ones used in the Matter and Correspondence Conjunctional Effect - consisted of.

[Muad'Dib]

314) An Unpleasant Course [Burn ; Entropy] This Burn can affect True Mages who use the Sphere of Entropy (or the equivalent Foundation and Pillar(s) ) to sow betrayal, distrust, and/or confusion. The Mage's body is wracked by disabling pain (bashing damage) all over it right after the Mage finishes a course of solid food (soups count as well) larger than two pieces of bread.

[Bluecho]

315) Full Head of Fiber Optics [Flaw]: Afflicts Virtual Adepts and occasionally NWO agents, as a result of manipulating light, electricity, and information. The mage's hair is changed into thin, transparent lines of fiber optic cable. These fiber optic hairs have light running through them - presumably starting from the scalp - that travels through the hairs, coloring them and making the ends the brightest of all.


316) Black Liquid Sorrow [Flaw]: Sometimes, a mage regrets acts of magick before Paradox even strikes. Indeed, in some cases, Paradox seems to play into the character's feelings more than anything. When a mage feels true, genuine remorse for an Effect of magick - either because its results were lamentable or because the Effect itself was abhorrent to the character - they will be made to weep. Those tears are dark as pitch - the mage find themselves crying tears of Black Liquid Sorrow. This backlash isn't all bad, however - Black Liquid Sorrow is prized as a powerful ingredient in certain rites and alchemical compounds. The mage (or bystander) would do well to make the best of the situation, and collect the precious, ink-like fluid.

[Muad'Dib]

317) Obfuscated Nature [Paradox Flaw ; Prime and Entropy] This Paradox Flaw affects True Mages who carelessly mix the Sphere of Prime and the Sphere of Entropy (or the equivalent Pillars) one time too often. The Mage can't say the personal name (including a nickname; titles can be spoken) of anyone, including their own - they will instead speak a different name of another person they know, no matter how much they might try to do otherwise.
The affected True Mage can't say the individual parts of a personal name, as well. If a word is at the same time part of someone's personal name and means something else not connected to a personal name, then the Mage can say the word as long as she or he isn't using it as a name.

Delving into Conjunctional True Magick involving the Sphere of Prime and another Sphere (other than the Sphere of Entropy) is noted as possibly being helpful in dealing with this Paradox Flaw.

[Muad'Dib]

318) The Buzz [Paradox Flaw ; Prime, Life] True Mages who use the Sphere of Prime and/or the Sphere of Life to fix themselves up when they feel even slightly off or bad can be affected by this Paradox Flaw.
The Mage feels an addictive tingling over her or his body every time they have skin contact with the Foci they use for the Sphere of Prime and/or the Sphere of Life. They feel tired and melancholic when not touching these Foci – this feeling's strength is proportional to the length of time they spent touching their Foci.

Developing new Foci for the Sphere of Prime and/or the Sphere of Life helps dealing with this Paradox Flaw.

[Muad'Dib]

319) A Shady Handshake [Paradox Flaw ; Prime and Forces] This Paradox Flaw affects those who compromise their personal values while manipulating the creation's energies. Every time the True Mage shakes, holds or grasps somebody else's hand, a gloomy darkness surrounds the Mage and this person for as long as the handshake lasts and a few seconds afterwards - as if the light around them dimmed. This happens even if the True Mage and the second person are outside during a very sunny day. If it's already dark, then it becomes even darker.