Paradox and Quiet Revision

By Corey Rose (gamer@mail.klis.com)

Description

In this revision, Quintessence becomes a Trait, rated from 1-10. It is a flexible trait, much like Changeling Glamour. A character begins with a Quintessence rating equal to his Avatar rating, plus whatever else is bought via freebie points.

Also, Paradox is replaced by the new Trait: Quiet. Quiet is a reflection of the Mage's distancing himself from Reality. The more a Mage alters Reality, the deeper he descends into his own Reality, the Quiet. Quiet is rated from 1-10, with both Permanent and Temporary points (like Changeling Banality). The Permanent rating is the rating used in Quiet rolls, and to determine the Mage's ability to deal with the reality around him (a high Quiet means you have a harder time dealing with things around you). The Temporary rating goes up and down, depending on what the mage does. As with Paradox, whenever the Mage alters Reality, he slips a little deeper into the Quiet. For a coincidental effect, the Mage will gain 1 point, 2 if the roll is botched. For a Vulgar effect, with no Sleeper witnesses, he will gain one point for every die rolled. For a Vulgar effect with Sleeper witnesses, he will gain 2 times the number of dice rolled in the effect (Arete rating). Whenever a Mage gains 10 Temporary Quiet, he loses them all and gains a Permanent point. And so the Mage descends into his own nightmare.

Losing Quiet

A Mage can rid himself of the Quiet and focus his mind on the world around him. He must spend several hours in Meditation and roll Wits + Meditation, vs a diff of 6. Each success rids the Mage of one Temporary point of Quiet, taking one hour of Meditation per point. When a Mage loses 10 Temporary points, he loses a Permanent point as well. If a Mage botches a Meditation roll to rid himself of Quiet, he will create a Hobgoblin, a creature or object from his 'reality' that crosses over to our Reality with him.

Quiet Rating	Description	Effects
1-2	Minor Hallucinations: Certain objects may appear and disappear intermittently.	The Mage suffers a +1 to all difficulties.
3-5	Minor alterations: Things change at random for the Mage. He may see, hear or feel things that do not exist or miss things that do.	The Mage suffers a +2 to all difficulties. Also, the Mage will often have to make a roll to interact with Reality or to ignore a part of his.
6-8	Massive alterations: The Mages reality becomes something completely different from our own	The Mage suffers a +3 to all difficulties. Also, the Mage | will have to roll anytime he must interact with our Reality.
9+	Total immersion: The Mage becomes trapped in his own nightmare.	The Mage suffers a +4 to all difficulties. Also, he will have to make a roll to interact with our reality, as as well as spend a point of Willpower for each turn he wants to do so.

Other Effects of Quiet

A Storyteller may roll the Mage's Quiet rating (vs. difficulty 8) whenever he deems it appropriate (stressful situations, etc). For each success, the Mage will be plagued by hallucinations for a turn, and will be unable to interact with Reality. To disbelieve these hallucinations, the mage must roll Perception + Intuition (Difficulty 7).