Paradox

[ReubanBrightwood]

One of the most common topics I’m getting questions messaged to me about is Paradox so I’ve put this together to put the answers in one place.


Firstly Primer: Paradox Is very useful!


1. Any vulgar spell cast on or in front of sleepers gives +2 to the paradox dice pool for witnesses.

Reasoning

Vulgar magic is by definition showy, accomplishing the
impossible right before one’s eyes. Using vulgar spells, mages
can fly through the air, transform into creatures out of
legend, throw fire and lightning, and literally turn the world
upside down. But reality rebels against such magic, so mages
pay a price for vulgar spells. That price is a Paradox.
Vulgar magic does not necessarily reveal the spellcaster as
the source of the magic, unless the effect obviously comes
from him (such as an electrical charge shot forth from his
fingertips). The Storyteller decides whether onlookers can
trace a spell back to its caster based on the circumstances

Vulgar magic is showy by definition, showy and impossible. The examples listed in the book are a mage flying, open portals, transforming etc. all very visible things. Firstly, this list is not exhaustive and secondly that means we have to consider what that means for the house rule of the vulgar/covert system. Spells that have become vulgar are going to be more flashy, impossible and obvious then written in RAW.

Does this mean sleepers can see mana being channelled, the threads of fate being manipulated, or telepathic links forming. No. Okay they are sleepers even if they have willpower 10 and retain perfect memory, they lack the context and knowledge to understand what is happening, only that whatever is going on is clearly impossible. (get descriptive with narrating the effect of your spell and how the fallen world tries to buck the impossibility of it, be it over whelming senses of dread (cursed by fate), sudden feeling of sickness (dead zone), bouts of sudden confusion as it takes hold (Telepathy) to exemplify the effects I used at the beginning of the paragraph.

As a note. Vulgar spells that have become covert are improbable if cast in front of or on sleepers.

Other covert spells can become improbable (This will have to be case by case).

Covert spells that become vulgar after repeated use still become vulgar.

A fair point was made to me that sleepers can’t see certain stuff and this means certain vulgar spells should not suffer the risk of witnesses. On the surface this does seem fair however I did not have to get very far into compiling lists (to remove any ambiguity) of which spells can be seen and which cannot to find a problem.

This goes for all Arcana. It's going to remove the arbitrary imbalance created by the devs and level the playing field. There will be no more Arcana favored or punished by the number of Covert/Vulgar Spells, and every Disciple level effect and above will have potential consequences. I fully understand and embrace that we might see more Paradox,

In This post

If not all spells suffer the risk of witnesses certain arcana become inherently more valuable then others which goes against the stated intention of overhauling the covert/vulgar system.

Please do bear in mind this applies to the cast only! Sleepers encountering vulgar magic do not risk paradox as the impossibility has already come to be (and as we can see from paradox suxx penalising spellcasting rolls it is determined at time of cast).

Sleepers’ witnesses of vulgar magic or when they encounter it do trigger disbelief and unravelling. Which means yes you could cast a vulgar spell in front of sleeper’s risk paradox and then the sleeper might unravel your spell for no effect.
Casting in a vulgar way in front of sleepers carries great risk and should never be done out of convince or flippantly. (This is a change from how I have run things so far In that Sleepers could not disbelief/unravel effects it was deemed they were unaware of).


So for these reasons I have concluded that all vulgar spells risk witnesses.

2. Hiding magic in plain sight

When does it apply

When you take the time to arrange a situation just so. (the example in the book the mage set up construction signs ahead of of casting in the example given)
There a few ways to do this. If you know you are going somewhere you can write a glimpse (if it somewhere you can access regularly or with the help of allies) doing prep work, sometimes this might involve using allies to get access to places or put things in place for you.

Or, time taken in scene to create a believable situation e.g. asking people to leave an area while dressed like a police officer and putting up a cordon.

Casting and hoping that sleepers don’t think to hard what’s happening does not count.

This mechanic rewards preparation, forward thinking and planning.

3.

Disbelief and unravelling

Sleepers’ witnesses vulgar magic or encountering it do trigger disbelief and unravelling. Which means yes you could cast a vulgar spell in front of sleeper’s risk paradox and then the sleeper might unravel your spell resulting in no effect. Improbable spells are also subject to disbelief and unravelling. --- Which means if you run around with vulgar effects on yes, they can be unravelled. Yes, that includes spell of indefinite duration. Yes, that includes persistent effects of imbued items. (Vulgar effects are showy and having them on display in public is a really bad idea). --- As I mentioned above this is going to be a change from how I have done things thus far for the sake of creating consistency and balance.

4.

Imbued items

Yes, thy can risk paradox. The base pool is set by the caster at time of time, however after that all situational modifiers still apply to calculate the paradox pool.

So yes, witnesses apply.

Yes, if the imbued item is your tool you get-1.

Yes if the imbued spell is a rote, it gives -1. (etc.)

Yes the effect created by imbued items is subject to disbelief and unravelling

5.

How to mitigate paradox

It would be very cruel of me to lay all of this out without giving a guide on hot to reduce the great risks that paradox present so here are ways to help.


1. Use your tool (-1)
2. Cast a ritual (you roll paradox once at the start, its suxx penalises all rolls but the math favours you)
3. Spend mana (reduce paradox on 1 for 1 basis, remembering mana per time limits). (Do you vulgar stuff near a hallow, the ambient mana can help!)
4. Create a soul stone a master can create a demesne for paradox free casting, anyone can dedicate one as tool to receive those benefits.
5. Rotes (-1) Anyone can buy any rote that they have the arcana to cast and is not from the grimoire of grimoires. (if you know there is an Arcanum you will using a lot it might be worth investing in a Scriptorium )
6. The realms invisible.
-No witnesses in twilight.
-In the shadow paradox has -2.
-A mages Oneiros is free from the quintessence (No paradox)
-A sleepers Oneiros. gives Paradox +2 (as if witnessed), but unravelling happens with -3 (unless the sleeper is present in the Oneiros then it happens at full force)
-The temenos is (in most cases) free from paradox.
-The Anima Mundi (usually) has no paradox.
7. Imbued items -- Yes they risk paradox but if the base pool of the item is lower then yours it can reduce risk. (helpful if your Gnosis is getting high).

Edit: 15/05/24

8. Enchaned items: They don't risk paradox and only trigger disbelief if the item's equipment bonus is over double the base item and its use is observed by sleepers.

9. Invest in Allies. Appropriate allies can get you access to files, cameras, the morgue etc. They can get cameras turned off, or supervision removed.

10. Sleepwalker retainers: They don't invoke paradox or disbelief. They can be built as bouncers (keep people out), faces (need a lawyer?), intermediaries to put a degree of separation between the mage and certain parties (your still playing a mage you will need to interact in scenes).

The long and short is yes Paradox can be mitigated and, in several cases, removed entirely with preparation and effort, but it does not budge without that effort. Without that effort and investment, paradox carries risks.

6.

Backlash

Declare it in the Paradox roll declarations. A few points of resistant bashing damage are usually better then actual paradox. Paradox suxx still penalise the spell casting roll.

Vincent Winter
Xisdor Philip Crosen
Orianna Aurora
Fedup Corn
Delatdream Witch
ragnarokxg Eidolon
Stray Joyeuse
Miliham St. George
Lionell Salem
ReubanBrightwood Chambers

[ReubanBrightwood]

A few more questions that have come through that are worth addressing.

1. For precast spells when does Paradox accumulation reset?

So firstly the difference between these and rituals is important. Rituals go in your character sheet. These are spell cast regular with longer durations, and need to be included in your first post.

Spells -- Spells cast using duration factors may be assumed to be cast in advance, but not in excess of the time allowed by the penalty noted in the dice roller. Note that aforementioned spells cast in-scene are potentially visible by all characters present, and in public this may include Sleepers.

But what does this mean for Paradox? Because Paradox resets between each scene can you just precast a bunch of vulgar spells and then reset your paradox?

No.

If you want your paradox reset use rituals. They don't count against it.

Any spell cast regularly be it precast or in the scene itself still counts against paradox for that scene (because it is done in that first post). Precast spells have the benefit of meaning you are prepared and protected. You don't get free paradox.


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Second question

How will I handle missed paradox rolls. -- A good question to resolve before it is needed actually.

If I have to roll it for you I will roll the paradox (minimum one dice even if it should be a chance dice normally).

I will not declare backlash
I will not spend mana
I will not use your tool
etc.

Then I will narrate what happens.