Chaos

By Constantine Thomas (c.thomas1@lancaster.ac.uk)

Introduction

The rules presented below for the Sphere of Chaos were originally designed for my own highly modified version of the Mage rules -- if you want to incorporate this into your system while retaining 9 Spheres, then I suggest you keep the Pattern-destroying effects of the higher levels of Entropy, but also include the Chaos effects at those levels -- this would not require a massive alteration to the rest of the system (though it might make The Sphere of Entropy a damn sight more powerful). So, Entropy would work as follows:

Entropy 1: Perceive Weakness/Disorder.
Entropy 2: Affect Closed Systems.
Entropy 3: Diffuse Forces/Matter. Affect Open Systems.
Entropy 4: Wither Life. Affect Organisational Systems.
Entropy 5: Intellectual Entropy. Reverse Entropy/Chaos Theory.

On now (finally!) to the Chaos Sphere. There are now 5 levels devoted to the study and manipulation of probability. It should be noted that these levels may appear to be quite powerful, and may tip the balance a bit (in my rules Mages are more powerful than in the main rulebook). They're basically just presented here to give people ideas. I've also tried to 'retrofit' the Sphere of Chaos to the standard Mage rules as much as possible to make it easier to follow.

Description

Chaos gives the Mage control over the amount of disorder in a system, which in turn affects the extent that randomness influences that system. This in turn allows the Mage to affect probability in Open and Closed Systems. A Closed System is one in which there is a definite, finite probability of an event occurring, as a result of the isolation of the system from external influences. Tossing a coin creates one of the most basic Closed Systems -- there is a one in two chance that the coin will land heads or tails. Other examples include the shuffling of a pack of cards, and a game of Russian Roulette -- in the latter, there is a one in six chance that the firing chamber of the revolver will contain the bullet (which the Mage can affect).

An Open System is one where probability is being continually affected by variable outside influences -- however, the Mage cannot affect the chance of a specific event occurring. Instead, he can flood a system with Chaos (or reduce its effect in a system), making it generally more or less random in its operation. The Mage has little control over exactly how this randomness will manifest itself. For example, a Mage being chased over an unstable wooden bridge can use Chaos to affect the Open System that is the chance of the bridge collapsing. By manipulating probabilities of this happening, the Mage can cause the bridge to collapse just when the people chasing him are about halfway across.

An Organisation is a peculiar system in that it combines elements of both Closed and Open Systems. An `Organisation' is here defined as a collection of individual components that interact in a complex manner -- thus Bureaucracies and even Society are Organisations. They are meta-organisms, comprising many individual entities (sometimes millions). In all Organisations, there is a rigid framework in which it operates -- the hierarchy of employees, the daily routine, etc -- which makes it a Closed System. However, anything can happen within that framework as the organisation interacts with the outside world -- employees can arrive late or call in sick, rival companies can put in a take-over bid, a new contract can be signed, wars can start and so on -- which makes it akin to an Open System. As such, Organisations are more difficult to magickally affect, but once a Mage has a foothold, the rewards and the possibilities are endless.

The ultimate expression of Chaos magick is Chaos Theory, and the ability to reverse entropy -- a Mage can make a gas cloud diffuse in a certain way (or not diffuse at all), or make ink drops form out of inky water as the ink molecules re-assemble into a more ordered state. Through Chaos Theory, the Mage can control events in the future through tiny manipulations of events in the present.

It should be noted that Chaos cannot be used to make magicks appear Coincidental (by affecting the probability that something will occur) -- Chaos affects only the probabilities that a mundane event can occur.

Chaos Sphere Level Descriptions

Chaos affects the degree that randomness and chance affect a system. As described above, there are three types of probability systems -- Closed, Open, and Organisational Systems. At the highest level, Entropy itself can be reversed, allowing the Mage to control the diffusion of gases and other systems with billions of variables. Normally, a cloud of gas would diffuse throughout an area when released -- reversing the Entropy would make it unnaturally ordered, preventing it from diffusing. Increasing the amount of disorder in any probability system makes it more random and unpredictable. Decreasing the amount of disorder in a system makes it less random and more 'ordered' -- ie. predictable. Examples of how these can manifest are given below:

Closed Systems

If disorder was increased in a system where two dice were rolled thousands of times, it is possible that no consecutive roll will be the same. Similarly, if a pack of playing cards (arranged in order of suit and number) was taken and shuffled once, it would appear as if it had been shuffled hundreds of times. If disorder was decreased in the systems described above, rolling the two dice would always resulted in the same number, even if rolled several thousand times. In the pack of cards example, the deck could be shuffled a thousand times but there would still be only one or two cards displaced if the disorder was decreased.

Open Systems

Increasing disorder in an Open system (such as the operation of a machine) could result in computer crashes, circuit breakers tripping for no reason (while others fail to trip when they should causing power surges), corruption of computer data, and so on.

Decreasing disorder in a machine would make it work more efficiently and more predictably -- circuit breakers trip when they should, back-doors into computer systems become inaccessible, phone exchanges route their calls to the correct destinations, and so on.

Organisational Systems

Increasing disorder in (for example) a busy restaurant could result in tables never being served by waiters, cooks calling in sick on busy days, health inspectors arriving, customers complaining, waiters tripping up while carrying food etc. Decreasing disorder may result in tables always being served as soon as they are taken by customers, employees calling in on time, and everything generally running like clockwork.

* Perceive Probability

This level allows the Mage to ascertain the probability of an event occurring, given current trends and variables. It also gives the Mage the ability to sense whether probabilities are being tweaked by other magicks involving the Chaos Sphere, or by Sleepers (say, if die rolls are being affected by magnets under a Craps table in a casino).

This also allows a Mage to sense the amount of disorder in a system, which allows him to see which parts of the system are the most ordered and which are the most disordered. In most cases, the most disordered parts of a system are its weakest points. Note that this can only be used on its own in systems containing large numbers of individual variables, such as organisations and networks -- finding the weak spots of a living or non-living material would require conjunctional magick involving Chaos 1 and the appropriate Sphere at level 1. Thus, to find the weakest (or the strongest) point in a metal wall would require Matter 1 and Chaos 1. Note that other Magicks or skills must be used if the Mage wishes to exploit any weak points -- Chaos 1 cannot itself manipulate these weak points -- it can only detect them.

** Disorder in Closed Systems

At this level, the Mage can control the amount of disorder in any Closed System. This includes tossing coins, rolling dice, and shuffling card decks. It gives the Mage extraordinary control over any games of chance, and basically allows him to do as he pleases with the probabilities of the system. However, note that repeated use of this in the same place will draw the ire of Sleepers (who will suspect the Mage of foul play if his dice keep rolling double-sixes....) or may even invoke the Domino Effect (see BoS).

*** Disorder in Open Systems

At this level, the Mage can control the amount of disorder in an Open System. Note that this does not allow a Mage to directly (or specifically) affect physical objects -- rather, it affects the randomness within such systems. Thus, a Mage can make an unstable bridge collapse at a given moment by affecting the probability that this will happen, but cannot actually do this by directly affecting the material of the bridge itself -- that would require Matter magick.

This can be used for a huge variety of uses -- it can be used to affect the probability of the target being run over by a bus, or hit by a falling brick beneath a building site, or even being clobbered by a meteorite. However, the difficulty of a Chaos 3 effect is directly linked to the probability of such an event occuring -- being hit by a meteorite is incredibly unlikely, and will probably only work on a difficulty of about 15 (meaning copious amount of Quint have to be burned), while being trampled underfoot in a riot would only be a difficulty of 3 or 4. By its very nature, Chaos 3 magick is always coincidental -- it cannot be used to make something happen that is not possible (ie. a brick cannot just fly out of a wall that it is cemented in and hit the target on the head. However, a brick may fall off a pile of bricks on the 7th floor of a building site if such a pile exists. The circumstances must allow the effect to occur, and not the other way round!). So in the previous example, the bridge must be unstable and likely to collapse if the Mage is to actually make this happen at an opportune moment. This puts a heavy onus on the Storyteller, who is responsible for accurately describing the environment to the Chaos-using Mage.

**** Organisational Disorder

At this level, the Mage can control disorder in any organisation. Organisations combine elements of both Open and Closed systems, since their daily operation is unpredictable -- nobody knows what will happen during the daily routine, but the operational framework is itself fixed. Organisations include bureaucracies, businesses, and even entire societies, and also include complex systems that consist of many subunits -- a classic example being a living body. An example of such a system is a restaurant. Using Chaos 4, the Mage can determine how well the restaurant operates -- by increasing the disorder, more flaws in its operation will occur (such as cooks calling in sick, health inspectors visiting on a bad day, customers complaining, waiters tripping up with food etc). If disorder is decreased, the restaurant will operate more smoothly, with very few problems (if any).

***** Reverse Entropy/Chaos Theory

Use of Reverse Entropy is always Vulgar (unless the Mage is very imaginative!!!), as it violates one of the key laws of physics -- the Second Law of Thermodynamics. By reversing entropy, the Mage is effectively 'rewinding' an event through time (although time is still passing in the normal way (from past to future). With this, a Mage can cause the ink in inky water to return into a drop of ink, a gas released from a box to 'diffuse' back into the box, or a sugar cube to reform after being dropped into a hot coffee. This is done by reversing entropy. In nature, entropy is always increasing -- events are always going from ordered to disordered (where they are in equilibrium and so are stable -- ink dropped in water is not stable as a drop, so diffuses to colour the water). Reversing Entropy causes disorder to evolve back into order -- thus the ink reforms to form a drop in the water. However, the ordered state is rarely stable, so effects at this level can only last as long as the Mage concentrates.

Also, this level gives the Mage control over systems containing billion of variables -- a good example of this is the infamous 'Butterfly Effect.' In Chaos Theory, the final outcome of an event can be radically changed by the slightest alteration of its starting conditions. At this level, the Mage is actually aware of precisely what must be done to guide the system into the desired outcome. This allows him, for example, to control the weather or affect events in the future by modifying their starting conditions.

Chaos Sphere Summarized

Sphere	Effect
*	Probability Perception.
**	Disorder Control (Closed Systems only).
***	Disorder Control (Organisations only).
****	Disorder Control (Open Systems only).
*****	Reverse Entropy/Chaos Theory.