Rumble Street

Mage House Rules

 

 

Contingent Effects

Any ritual performed by a mage to have set up as a contingency or to enable a triggered effect must be performed and approved through a storyteller. These must then be listed on your character template, including the focus that the effect is bound into and the details of the effect. If you enter into a combat scenario and you do not have an appropriate focus and effect set up in advance you will be considered to be fast casting at all times.

 

 

Paradox Explained

There's been some confusion on how we handle paradox here in Rumble Street so I've written this nifty document to help you understand just how it works. There is also a handy guideline that will include how much paradox you should expect to receive, if any, when performing magical effects.

For starters, you should consider Paradox to be the manifestation of reality, thus you are IN reality at all times. This means that Vulgar effects are still vulgar, even without witnesses. So, an inherently vulgar effect is still vulgar even if you do it in your room. If you perform a vulgar effect with witnesses, well, you should probably be prepared to have your teeth kicked in by paradox.

Coincidental magic is generally anything that can be explained rationally and thus Reality understands you aren't trying to stick your dick in it's ear or, maybe you are, but at least you were nice enough to bring lube.


The "How I accrue Paradox in Rumble Street with a successfully cast effect and if I botch" Chart.
 

• Coincidental Magical Effect:
  You earn NO Paradox. That's right, if you can make it coincidental you don't need to worry about paradox, again it should be able to be rationally explained or not outright doubted.
  On a Botch: You earn 1 paradox point per dot in the highest sphere used.

• Vulgar Magical Effect with No Witnesses:
  You will gain Paradox points equal to the highest sphere you have used in the effect. IE: I use a Life 3 and Matter 2 effect to make that Vampire's blood explode out of his body and no one is around to see it. You would gain 3 points of Paradox and it's very likely that the Vampire isn't having a real good day.
  On a Botch: You earn 1 paradox point per dot in the highest sphere used, plus one.

• Vulgar Magical Effect with Witnesses:
  You, my friend will likely NOT have a very good day. You will incur one point of Paradox per dot in the highest sphere you use plus an additional bonus point! Yay for bonuses! Ahem. IE: If you did that whole vampire blood thingy, but you did it out on the street, you'd incur 3 points of paradox +1 for a total of 4 points of paradox. Yay! (This can be adjusted based on just HOW vulgar your effect is on a case by case basis depending on the ST. Usually this bonus can be anywhere from an additional 1-3 points of paradox, but usually no more than that.)
  On a Botch: You earn 2 paradox points per dot in the highest sphere used, plus two.

So lets talk about examples.

[Example 1: Vulgar with Witnesses]
MrPastry has decided that he's chilling in the Starbucks tonight and is having himself some coffee, when he goes to reach into his backpack and realizes he left his favorite book in the car, you've probably never heard of it. MrPastry kicks back and puts his shades on and strokes his beard because he's a chill mutha fucka, he uses a correspondence effect and WA-BAM: His book is in his hands and he can now read the HELL out of that book. It should be noted that MrPastry is also, stupid. He has performed a vulgar magical effect with multiple witnesses, but he gives no fucks. Paradox on the other hand DOES give a fuck. MrPastry used a correspondence 3 effect to teleport an item to his location from it's original location and has just gained 4 points of Paradox for his trouble.

[Example 2: Vulgar without witnesses]
MrPastry is in his room all alone and while sitting on his bed with a giant cup of coffee the dog jumps up on the bed and scares the crap out of MrPastry causing him to fling his giant cup of coffee and spill coffee on EVERYTHING! Laptop is boned, books are hosed, the dog is burnt, Beard is sticky, and MrPastry used up the last of his precious coffee! So, he uses a Time 4 effect to turn back time in order to account for the actions of the dog and moves his coffee onto his bed side table so that when fluffy butternuts jumps onto the bed, there is no coffee spilled. Woo! The day is saved! However, MrPastry has now gained 4 points of paradox for performing this magical effect, even without witnesses messing with time is almost ALWAYS vulgar. On the bright side, he still gets to enjoy his coffee and his sweet ass beard is still magnificent!

[Example 3: Coincidental Magic]
MrPastry is in Starbucks once again where he has decided to chill and have some coffee, and has once again forgotten his book. Last time he didn't like to have to explain to several people that he was a practicing magician who was real good at sleight of hand. So, this time he picks up his backpack and rummages around in it, using a correspondence 2 effect he reaches into the passenger seat of his car, grabs the book and then pulls it out of his backpack. This is rationally explained and who's going to question someone pulling a book out of their bag? MrPastry has just learned how to be creative and also how not to be an idiot. Go MrPastry! Also, MrPastry has a magnificent beard.


Well Jose, what happens when I get a whole bunch of paradox?

The answer to that, my friend, is simple; reality kicks you in the teeth. When you perform a magical effect which gains you paradox, if you have 4 or less points of paradox after all modifiers are taken into account, then you're fine, nothing terribad really happens and the world moves on. If, however, you gain 5 or more paradox points, you risk a backlash. This means that if you had those 4 points of paradox and performed an action which garnered you an additional 4 points, the ST would immediately roll for a backlash. This is a facet of the returning Avatar storm, or at least what SEEMS like it (I'll let you cool mages try to figure out that bit of meta plot). Now then, you generally will not trigger a backlash if you do not perform vulgar effects, or botch magical rolls. Those are USUALLY the only ways to trigger a backlash, otherwise the Paradox just sort of hangs out with you like a really terrible roomy, like, puts the toilet paper on backward and doesn't replace the milk, kind of terrible. *shudder*


But, Jose, how does Paradox backlash work?

I'm glad you asked that! Lets follow the nifty system and chart from the Mage 20th Anniversary book below.

Anytime you have accrued 5 or more paradox points, the ST will check for a paradox backlash. This is done by rolling 1d10 for each point of paradox in your pool at a difficulty of 6. So, lets say that in our previous example MrPastry has a total of eight points of paradox and the last few points pushed him over the threshold of five points. The st would then roll 8d10 at a difficulty of 6. For each success gained you would refer to the chart below:


The Paradox Backlash Chart

• [Botch]
  If the Paradox backlash is a botch, this means there are ZERO successes and one or more 1's rolled on the dice, then ALL paradox is harmlessly discharged with no ill effects. Woo! You go with your bad self!

• [No successes]
  If the Paradox backlash rolls no successes then there are NO ill effects, but the paradox is NOT discharged and they remain in your paradox pool.

• [1-5 successes]
  If the Paradox backlash rolls 1-5 successes then 1 point of paradox is discharged per success and the mage takes 1 point of bashing damage per point of paradox discharged. The Mage will also suffer from a trivial paradox flaw. (awww, aint it cute?)

• [6-10 successes]
  If the Paradox backlash rolls 6-10 successes then 1 point of paradox is discharged per success and the mage takes 1 point of bashing damage per point of paradox discharged. The mage also suffers a Burn of one level of bashing damage per success OR acquires a minor Paradox Flaw.

• [11-15 successes]
  If the Paradox backlash rolls 11-15 successes then 1 point of paradox is discharged per success and the mage takes 1 point of bashing damage per point of paradox discharged. The mage also suffers a Burn of one level of LETHAL damage per point discharged OR one of the following: a significant Paradox Flaw, a Paradox Spirit visitation (you don't want this to ever happen), or a mild Quiet.

• [16-20 successes]
  If the Paradox backlash rolls 16-20 successes then 1 point of paradox is discharged per success and the mage takes 1 point of bashing damage per point of paradox discharged. The mage also suffers a Burn of LETHAL damage and one point of PERMANENT Paradox OR Two of the following effects: a severe Paradox Flaw, a Paradox Spirit visitation, a moderate Quiet, or banishment to a Paradox Realm.

• [21 or more successes]
  If the Paradox backlash rolls 21+ successes then 1 point of paradox is discharged per success and the mage takes 1 point of bashing damage per point of paradox discharged plus a Burn of Aggravated damage (one health level for every two successes) AND one of the following effects: two points of PERMANENT Paradox, one drastic Paradox Flaw, a Paradox Spirit visitation, a severe Quiet, or banishment to a Paradox Realm. (In other words, you should probably stretch because you'll likely be kissing your ass goodbye.)

But Jose, there MUST be some way to hold off a paradox backlash! What if I'm about to explode and I happen to be in Starbucks?!

Well, I'm glad you asked about that, and might I add, that it's good you're so interested in not causing a chain reaction, or possibly hurting innocents. Good for you! As an option you may expend a point of Willpower to hold off a paradox backlash for the duration of the scene you happen to be in. You should keep in mind, however, that from the point you spend the willpower you are on borrowed time. You will -feel- the paradox tearing at you and wanting to be released and every additional point of paradox you accrue during that scene in which you resist the backlash will simply add to the paradox dice pool when it finally does get the best of you. Theoretically someone with enough willpower could hold off their backlash for a rather long time, but always remember: The paradox will eventually catch up to you and when it does, the likelihood of the backlash being extremely dramatic is very high.


But Jose, how do I get rid of paradox I've accrued and what about paradox bleed?

Well, I'm glad you asked about that. You see, because of the rules for backlash and how quickly backlashes can happen you don't often sit there and gather tons of paradox. In Rumble Street, paradox is kind of like the overly attached girlfriend/boyfriend, it's watching you at all times and it's just waiting for you to fuck up so it can grab your bunny and throw it into a boiling pot, or something like that.

However, if there comes a time when you're sitting on some paradox and have nothing to do with it, it will bleed off at the rate of 1 paradox per week without any overt magical effects being cast. Using magical effects which do not impact reality will not hamper this bleed time.

There are other ways to stave off accruing paradox as well such as Familiars, extremely advanced Prime effects, and some Wonders.


The Conclusion

To summarize, be smart with your magic. Yes, mages can, eventually, do just about anything. But, no mage who has survived for long just -does- anything. They're smart, cunning and they learn to regard their power with great responsibility. But then again, some of them would rather burn out, than fade away. It's up to you to decide, but this guide should help when it comes time to decide whether you're going to blow that dude up, or not, because paradox is a bitch.

 

 

Ritual Magic

Performing "feats of magic" or rituals will be run as per the Rituals, Rolls, and Extended Successes section as per Mage 20th page 538. This means if you are performing an extended action you will utilize this system, including the time necessary and the rules involved for extended actions. There may be moments of dramatic license which will be allowed by an ST on a case by case basis but for the most part any extended roll or ritual effect will follow these rules.

 

 

Casting difficulties

There has been some question as to how to determine the difficulty of a basic magical effect. I have mentioned repeatedly that these rules are as per the book which you will find on page 500 under Step Three - Roll, page 501, in the purple chart under Step Three - Roll: Are You Successful?, page 502 under the Magickal Reference Charts header and sub-header Base Casting Roll, and finally on page 535 under the header Step Three: Roll

The important thing to remember here is that ALL of these entries repeat the same thing over and over again. The base difficulty for casting magickal effects is equal to the highest sphere in that effect + a number. The quoted text is listed for you below.

I translate this to mean that it is equal to the highest SPHERE LEVEL NECESSARY in the effect, thus if you are using a Life 2 effect but your life sphere is 3, and you are performing a vulgar without witnesses effect then your difficulty would be 6. (Life sphere level necessary 2 + vulgar without witnesses 4 = 6)

 

• Coincidental magic’s difficulty equals the highest Sphere
  in that Effect + 3. If you use Forces 2 to make a breeze
  blow in your direction at just the right time, then the
  roll’s difficulty is 5. (2 + 3 = 5)

 

• Vulgar magic WITHOUT Sleeper witnesses bases its
  difficulty on the highest Sphere + 4. If you used Forces
  2 to make a candle flame fly across the room and into
  your hand while you were alone, then the difficulty for
  that feat would be 6. (2 + 4 = 6)

 

• Vulgar magic WITH Sleeper witnesses has a difficulty of
  the highest Sphere + 5. If you pulled that same flyingflame
  stunt in front of an unAwakened neighbor, your
  difficulty would be 7. (2 + 5 = 7)