1001 Interesting Paradox Backlashes

[Muad'Dib]

425) Electric Charge [ Paradox Flaw | Forces, Forces and Matter, Forces and Life ] The affected Mage's body emits miniscule amounts of electricity towards other persons and items. Anyone touching the affected Mage's body, her or his currently worn clothing, or any items the Mage is currently holding or touching will feel a slight tingle - that might be pleasant or unpleasant - depending on the person.
The affected Mage does not feel in any way with mundane senses the electricity present due to this Paradox Flaw.

[Muad'Dib]

426) Obscured Vision [ Paradox Flaw | Correspondence ] The affected Mage cannot see anything at all through windows, unless she or he is standing right next to a given window ( in which case the Paradox Flaw does not affect the Mage ) . What is on the other side of a window is not visible at all, as if obscured by a thick mist.

[Bluecho]

427) An Extended Reach [Flaw]: Many uses for Correspondence revolve around closing great distances, allowing the mage to manipulate Reality from afar. This flaw affects those especially who use conjunctional Correspondence to perform Effects elsewhere. The character's arms grow freakishly long, to mirror their overreaching. While this Paradox manifestation can have its positive uses, it's quite attention-grabbing, and can sometimes be inconvenient (long arms may be difficult or impossible to fit comfortably in confined spaces, for instance). The mage may also find themselves light-headed, as their heart is unused to pumping blood over such long distances.


428) So Just How MANY Angels Can Dance On The Head Of A Pin, Anyway? [Realm]: Certain Judeo-Christian mages, such as from the Celestial Chorus or Knights Templar, find themselves subject to this backlash, it's true. But most often, visitors to this Realm are academic types, including members of the Order of Hermes, Society of Ether, New World Order, Progenitors, and sometimes Wu Lung. The Paradox seems to be attracted to mages who concern themselves overmuch with intellectual minutia, or on questions of dubious usefulness, even by the standards of the Awakened. There is something to be said about a mage getting so preoccupied by details, they lose sight of Ascension.

This Realm appears to be a steel platform floating in empty space. Upon it are scores of angelic figures, who busy themselves with dancing to ethereal music. Any visitor familiar with the expression may guess that they now stand on the head of an incredibly massive pin (or else a regular size pin, and they are simply very small). Escape is brutally simple: count the number of dancers, and one can leave. When they know how many angels dance on the head of the pin, they are free. It is a monstrously tedious task, which will hopefully give the mage a measure of perspective.

[Bluecho]

429) Wandering Skinjobs [Flaw]: Images tattooed on the mage's body become unmoored. When the mage touches another person, their tattoos travels across the skin and plant themselves on the other person. They remain there for the duration of the backlash. This often afflicts mages who rely on their body art as Instruments, and indeed this Flaw is quite inconvenient for its tendency to temporarily rob them of their magickal tools. It's especially bad if their tattoo happened to be a Wonder. When the backlash subsides, the tattoos either reappear suddenly on the skin or crawl along the ground and slither back onto the body.


430) Terrorized Terrorist [Quiet]: Afflicts those who use magick to inspire fear, whether directly with Mind or indirectly with great force or threat. Mages who employ Terrorism as part of their Practice are especially susceptible. Invoking the Rule of Threefold Return, the fear-inspiring mage is made to feel fear herself. She becomes afraid that either she will face reprisal for her actions (from victims, survivors, the authorities, other mages, etc.), or perhaps that her own magick will turn back and strike at her. As it is Quiet, rational objections to this attitude avail her little. She remains frightened by the world and/or her own power. As the Quiet grows, she may become convinced that every action taken against someone will be instantly and infallibly traced back to her, and will be followed by reprisal. Or else she continually sees her Instruments as unreliable or dangerous, and each attempt to use magick becomes a tense scene where she fears making a mistake. (This often results from botching magickal rolls too many times). Once the Quiet becomes severe, Hobgoblins appear in response to the mage's actions, and really do met out reprisal. Or else her magick seems to gain a will of its own, and one hostile to the mage. At the greatest levels, the mage becomes target to real terrorist attacks herself, which other poor people may get caught in the crossfire of.

[Muad'Dib]

431) Faded Glory [ Paradox Flaw | Prime and Mind, Mind, Entropy ] The affected Mage stutters and pauses involuntarily when she or he tries to speak to other persons about her or his past achievements and past positive experiences.

[RandyRando]

432) Halloween children [ Paradox spirits ] People can only do vulgar magic on Halloween, can they ? If you are doing vulgar magic, those spirits take for granted that you are celebrating Halloween. They are to remind you that you should not be a reality-freak every day.

Three children will ring at your bell, wherever you are. If you are in a laboratory without door bells, then, your portal will flash, the intercom will ring, someone will knock at your airlock..
The children do looks like normal human. Although they are powerful paradox spirit. They ask for a trick or treat. They wear a not-so-subtle symbol related to the mage's sin: one can bear a too-bright old torch if the mage did a fireball, one may be disguised as a ghost if the mage abused of entropy ... one can be disguised as a the predator of the animal the mage created out of thin air ..

They ask for a treat. A big candy, with a special taste: it must be made of the offending sphere, and with an opposite resonance than the offending effect.
If the mage doesn't give to the children what they want, they will say "we curse you" and start ringing at other doors around and asking the same thing. Here is the scary thing: anyone that will cross the children will feel the need to do pranks on the offender mage. Pranks will worsen. At some point, pranks done against the mage will make her quintessence points vanish, and so will the mage once all is depleted.

[Muad'Dib]

433) Absent Darkness [ Paradox Flaw | Matter, Forces, Entropy ] Any items that the affected Mage holds in her or his hands cast no shadow for as long as she or he holds them.

[Muad'Dib]

434) Each Onto Their Own [ Paradox Flaw | Prime and Matter, Matter, Matter and Entropy ] Any currency used as money that the affected Mage gives or receives - outside of a transaction - from another person becomes damaged to the point of practical nonusability ( except possibily exchanging it for undamaged currency in a bank that does this kind of service ) within the next few days of the money changing hands ; this damage can happen within a few hours.

[Muad'Dib]

435) A Brute's Grasp [ Paradox Flaw | Matter, Matter and Forces, Mind and Matter ] Any items wholly made of glass that the character holds or carries in her or his hand(s) become cracked all over a given item's surface ; this happens once per each item ( just touching an item does not trigger the effects of this Paradox Flaw ) . The items damaged by this Paradox Flaw won't shatter or break apart because of this damage, but they are less resistant to further damage from other sources after being affected.

[Muad'Dib]

436) Mark Thine Words [ Paradox Flaw | Prime and Matter, Matter and Forces ] Any words and letters that the affected Mage writes with her or his own hand disappear after fifteen seconds at most. This Paradox Flaw affects only writing that uses pens - of any type, such as reed, quill, ballpoint, or fountain - and ink. Typing on for example a PC is not affected by this Paradox Flaw.
The affected Mage can use a point of Quintessence to cancel the effects of this Paradox Flaw for an amount of two thousands words for a period of eighteen hours - during this time, the Mage can write up to this amount of words without the words disappearing.

[Bluecho]

437) Taking The Burden [Burn]: A reaction to healing magick, especially the Vulgar kind. Whatever malady or injury the mage heals, she takes upon herself. Wounds open up spontaneously in her flesh, and her body becomes host to fever, aches, and infection. Woe be to the mage who incurs this Paradox manifestation from healing terminal damage.


438) The Human Tallow [Flaw]: Response to fire magick, which invokes elements often associated with it. Elements like candle wax. The mage's body takes on a waxy complexion, and responds to injury, not by weeping blood, but by dispensing streams of melting wax.


439) Cage For Every Unclean Spirit, Every Filthy Bird [Burn]: Afflicts infernalists and Nephandi, whose choice to become a living vessel for evil come back to haunt them. Or, rather, come out to haunt them. The mage is wracked by spasms and pain, as their flesh becomes host to a gnawing or pressure. All at once, erupting from their bodies come filthy vermin, such as rats, crows, cockroaches, or centipedes. Or else bursting clouds of foul miasma. Whatever the case, these diseased excretions are born from the dark mage's very tissues, like a putrescent spontaneous generation. They crawl or scurry or fly or drift away from the body, leaving chunks of the character missing.

[Muad'Dib]

440) Nature's Fire [ Paradox Flaw | Life ] Any wood that is part of a living plant that the affected Mage touches feels as hot as if the Mage was touching - or trying to touch - a flame.

[Muad'Dib]

441) Waking Troubles [ Paradox Flaw | Prime and Life, Mind, Mind and Life, Life ] The affected Mage does not feel rested at all after waking up from sleep until 45 to 140 minutes pass ; as this amount of time passes, the Mage starts to feel properly rested from the sleep that they had.

[Muad'Dib]

442) Take Note Of the Basis [ Paradox Flaw | Matter and Life, Matter ] For the affected Mage, all pleasant tasting drinks and liquids - including sauces and the liquid part of a soup - taste like mundane, clear water.

[Bluecho]

443) A Bad Batch [Burn]: It's said that the Pharmacopaist Methodology entered the illegal drug trade in a well-intentioned attempt to curb the worst tragedies, by making sure that, if the Masses weren't going to cut down on their indulgence, responsible Progenitors could at least make the product on the market be high quality and untainted. Obviously this not only failed to really help, but has led to the Technocratic Union being tied inexorably up into the black market.

Perhaps this backlash is Karma directly for that original sin. When a Progenitor (or other Technocrat) applies chemical means to their body in service of Inspired Science, this Burn damages the body and leaves the character in convulsions. As if the character were the victim of terrible overdose, or else a poor and toxic batch. Seizures, muscle spasms, vomiting, foaming at the mouth, and other symptoms often manifest from the forces of reality Rejection.

Granted, this Paradox backlash also afflicts members of the Cult of Ecstasy and the Children of Knowledge. You reap what you sow...