Mage Player

By Tobias Beecher

Description

This newly discovered Sphere is one of the most widely practiced, and is so easy to learn that Tradition, Technocracy, Nephandi, and Marauder mages all have access to it. Once a mage gets the first level, he/she may increase it at any time without any expenditure of experience or freebie points; the rating of Mage Player automatically goes up based on how many source books the player reads in between (or even during) game sessions.

* Sense Weakness

The player can sense when others in the troupe know less than him/her, and can capitalize on that. This power is a lot like using the ability White Wolf Lore, but you don't have to roll.

Example: A mage is hanging out with a group of Garou when they encounter a fomori in a nearly impenetrable disguise. Sensing that the werewolf players haven't read Freak Legion, the mage goes after the 'innocent' by-stander without informing his friends, then when the Storyteller calls him on it, says he just 'had a bad feeling' about the NPC (Mage Player 1, Mind 2 Effect revealing the nature of the creature).

** Out-Do

The character, a mage who works the fabric of reality, when being played by someone who just wants to do the coolest things possible with magick, has the power to put the rest of the players at a loss, taking care of things in a wink of an eye. Unfortunately, this cheats the other players: Garou don't get Renown, Vampires don't get experience, Changelings might lose opportunities to get Glamour, and everyone loses out on the role-playing. When used in conjunction with the first level, this power has frightening possibilities.

Example: Three vampires and a mage run into a changeling NPC who decides to attack them. While the undead are still dodging and getting ready to be clever or use their Disciplines, the mage has already bombarded the Fae with Banality, sent it into the far-Shadowlands, and made fifteen sandwiches (Mage Player 2, Prime 4, Spirit 5 Effect; Correspondence 3, Matter 2 Effect for the sandwiches).

*** Arrogance

The player may now feel free to look down upon the other World of Darkness denizens simply because he/she is a mage, but still not lose any experience for flawed role-playing, despite the character's nature. Although this doesn't seem like a 'cool' power for three dots of the Sphere, by the time the player has gotten to this level, he/she, because of the uses of the previous levels, probably has a lot to be arrogant about.

**** Steam Roll

The player gains the ability to argue any detail, no matter how insignificant, with other players and the Storyteller, and can re-weave reality to make it seem that they are absolutely correct. The members of the troupe are completely taken with this, and the duration lasts for x minutes depending on the number of successes multiplied by the number of source books read by the mage player.

Example: Two werewolves (Philodox and Theurge) are talking with a mage, and begin to discuss Garou society and politics. The Garou mention a minor Rite they practice, then go on to talk about Rites of Punishment, at which point the mage brings up the Rite of Gaia's Vengeful Teeth (Level Five Rite in which a werewolf who has betrayed a sept or caern to the Wyrm is killed in that everything he touches turns to razor-sharp shards of silver) One of the Garou players tells the Storyteller that the mage wouldn't know of a Rite that many Garou don't even hear about. The mage player argues that he/she's dealt with werewolves in the past, being a mage makes him like a Theurge in their eyes, and the very fact that he/she's a mage (Arrogance) makes him of the highest Rank among Garou, so he/she'd know everything about Rites. The player rolls five success, and has read nearly 30 sourcebooks, so the other players and Storyteller believe him for the next two-and-a-half hours, 150 minutes (Mage Player 4, Mind 3 Effect).

***** Storyteller's Bane

The player can, because he/she thinks the Storyteller is incompetent (Arrogance), take over the story, and re-weave reality to make the players think it's for the better.

Example: The characters are fighting the Technocracy at one of their facilities, but the mage player knows the Storyteller hasn't read any of the Tech. source books (Sense Weakness), and thinks he/she could do a better job of telling what they see, whom they battle, and the power level of whom they battle. The mage player first uses Steam Roll to win the rest of the players over to his/her side, then slowly begins to take over the telling. At this point, the Storyteller or any other player may roll Willpower to overcome the effects of Steam Roll, but a minimum of three successes at difficulty 9 are needed. Then, the mage player begins making the decisions of the game, and telling the players what to roll. As a last-ditch attempt, the original Storyteller may roll Intelligence + Leadership at difficulty 6 plus one point for every ten books read by the mage player, with five successes needed (Mage Player 5, Mind 4 Effect).