What is a rote? Simply put, a rote is the perfected version of an Awakened spell. Developed by Master Mages, it is a formula designed to provide the caster with the easiest, most effective and most efficient way to cast that spell. Most rotes were designed in ancient times, but some, mainly spells dealing with modern technology, were created in the past century or so.
When a Mage improvises a spell, they must create the Imago (the image in their mind of what they want the spell to look like and achieve), putting together the various Spell Factors into a usable pattern, and they must do it from scratch each time. A rote, though, has it's Imago set. The factors are pre-determined. When a Mage casts a rote, they quickly bring up the memory for the Imago from their soul and let her fly. It's the difference between drawing a picture of the Imago each time, to carrying a permanent photograph of it in your pocket.
"Why should I bother with rotes?" you might ask. "Why spend the experience points when I can just improvise the spell already?"
Good question. And in a lot of instances, the answer is: You shouldn't. It just isn't feasible to blow all your experience points on rotes for spells you'll almost never cast.
But in some cases, you absolutely should.
The key is to buy rotes for the right spells. But how do you determine when choosing a rote over an improvised spell is the smarter decision? There's five main reasons to consider.
Common Usage
The first thing to take into account is how often you use a spell. The ones your Mage character casts regularly, or ones that you believe will be of great use on a semi-regular basis (like in combat). Mage Armor and Mage Sight spells are the best examples of this. If you're not making liberal use of these types of spells, your Mage is considerably vulnerable. Thus, having the rotes for them is a wise choice.
Spells used in combat are a excellent choice, as that is the most important time to ensure your spells don't fizzle. Your Mage's life is on the line, so utilizing a more dependable version of some offensive spells is just good strategy.
Example: Thirteen knows the rote for Evil Eye, a Fate 2 spell, which is a curse that reduces the target's dice pools for several actions. She doesn't have an every day use for it (unlike her Fortune's Protection rote for Mage Armor, which she casts as a monthly ritual to shield herself) but in a fight, she knows it will be very handy. Limiting an enemy's dice pools helps protect herself and her allies. She'll never regret having that rote up her sleeve.
Reducing Paradox
At the time of this writing, the house rule in EoD's Mage venue is all spells from 1 or 2 dot Arcana are always Covert, while all spells of 3 Arcana dots and higher are always Vulgar. There are a few exceptions. Any spell using Sympathy is Vulgar, regardless of Arcana level (looking at you Scrying and Postcognition), but general the house rule holds.
The advantage of a rote here is it reduces your Paradox dice pool for Vulgar spells by -1. Avoiding Paradox is always a good thing, and that is especially true for Vulgar spells in combat, where Paradox dice pools can grow rapidly. Learning that Life Force Assault spell as a rote will lower the risk of your Mage taking Resistant Bashing damage during a fight, since you already have enemy-inflicted damage to worry about.
If it's a Vulgar spell you expect to find common use for, buying it as a rote is a smart choice.
Example: Thirteen is an Acanthus with Fate 3. In combat, she can cast Bestow Exceptional Luck on an ally, to give them the 9-Again advantage on some die rolls. As a 3 dot spell, it is Vulgar. If she takes that spell as a rote, it lowers her Paradox dice pool by -1. By combining this with other reduction methods (such as using her Magical Tool), she helps lower the possibility of exploding with Paradox during a fight, even if she casts it several times.
Cutting Costs
Mana is a precious resources for every Mage, and particularly for those lacking access to Hallows. You must keep careful track of your Mana use during plot scenes, so anything that helps save you Mana points is good.
Spells your Mage casts from outside their Ruling Arcana (the two Arcana associated with your Path), costs a point of Mana in additional to any other Mana costs. It's just more difficult to channel the magic of Arcana your Mage isn't attuned to. This is where rote efficiency kicks in. Buying a rote for a spell from your Common or Inferior Arcana eliminates that extra Mana cost.
Example: As an Acanthus, Thirteen's Ruling Arcana are Fate and Time. Casting a spell from any other Arcana costs her 1 Mana, in addition to any other listed costs. Say she wants to cast Counterspell Prime, a Prime 2 spell, against a Seer who's casting something nasty. Doing so would cost her 2 Mana each time: One point for being an out-of-Path spell, and another as the standard cost in the spell's description. If she bought Counterspell Prime as a rote, however, she eliminates that extra cost and only has to pay the standard cost. That's a 50% savings on her Mana!
Larger Dice Pools
Improvised Spells all have the same dice pool formula: Gnosis + the spell's highest Arcanum. It utilizes two Traits. A rote, however, uses three. Most typically, these are Attribute + Skill + highest Arcanum. As a result, rotes very often have a larger dice pool than the improvised version, even if only by a die or two. A larger dice pool = better chance of success. It's just good math.
Additionally, rote die pools are easier to expand. Skills are much less costly to buy up than Gnosis and Arcana, and Skills have obvious uses outside of spellcasting.
Is the spell one you find commonly useful, but your improvised dice pool stinks? Check the rote version and compare the totals.
Example: Thirteen has Gnosis 2 and Space 1. If she improvises the spell Correspondence, her dice pool is 3. Pretty measly. If she were to take that spell as a rote, however, her dice pool becomes 6 (Wits 3 + Occult 2 + Space 1). That's double the improvised pool!
Scrutiny
If a Mage Scrutinizes an existing spell effect, one of the things they can determine is the identity of the caster. When you cast a spell, your Mage leaves their metaphorical "fingerprints" all over it. Any other Awakened who Scrutinizes it will know you were responsible. At least, that's true of improvised spells. A rote works differently. Since it was created by a long-forgotten Master, a rote's spell effect will have that Master's "fingerprints" on it instead, making the caster's identity more difficult to determine (though not impossible). The caster's identity is masked, to some degree.
Is the spell one you find useful, but you don't want other Mages to be poking into your business if they come across the effect? A rote may be the answer!
Example: Thirteen has cast Occlude Destiny (a Fate 3 spell) on a Sleeper to hide that they have an important prophecy to fulfill in the next few weeks. There are those who would not want to see that destiny completed. She cast the spell as a ritual for a month long duration, and even used Prime magic to cloak it from Unseen Senses. If she took Occlude Destiny as a rote, she'd be able to hide her identity in the effect, in case it gets noticed by enemy Awakened and they want to know who was protecting this destined Sleeper.
In Review
If a spell meets some or even all of these advantages for your Mage, it would be a good idea to purchase the rote. The more factors in your favor, the better. In terms of experience points, rotes are also fairly cheap, so you'll get a lot of bang for your buck. I hope this little guide helps, and I wish you happy casting!
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