Disciple Rotes (Sphere Level 3)

Here is where the Rotes really begin to exemplify their Spheres,

allowing you to do all the cool stuff you’ve probably wanted to do from
the beginning. Spirit can now enter the Penumbra. Forces can now
throw fireballs. Time can now speed up the Mage. Of course, the
Paradox increases for Rotes of this level, but for many Mages, this will
be your first chance to really play around with the true power of the
Spheres.

Correspondence
Kiarra’s Helpful Spirits (Correspondence 3 Spirit 2) – All together
there is too much to do, and not enough Kiarra’s to get it done. In the
instance that there are too many tasks to do, it can be helpful to
summon daemons or other smaller spirits to help with minor tasks. The
adept reaches out into the network, releasing search programs and
invocation routines to activate one of the present elementals. The spirit
can perform small tasks, like debugging, searching, surveillance or
help with programming.

[Each success will give the spirit one dot in a mental attribute or ability.
If the mage has 4 successes, she could summon a spirit with a 4
intelligence, or a spirit with intelligence 2 / computer 2or any other
combination.]

Detect Pattern (Correspondence 3 Entropy 1 Time 2) – By comparing

events with each other and running sophisticated algorithms, the
Forecasters of the Technocracy can detect patterns which normally
would seem random. They can predict how the patterns will develop,
trace their history and often discover who is behind it. Typical
applications are scanning for Tradition activity or crime.

The Michael’s Family Special Entrance (Correspondence 3, Mind

3, Entropy 1) – Created as a way of using teleportation coincidentally,
the Mage uses Mind 1: Multi-Tasking to scan the minds of the crowd;
mixes in a little Entropy to find a spot in the crowd no one is looking
at/sensing directly, and THEN Correspondence to teleport on in. Great
for those quick get-aways especially when you’re sneaking in and out
of the Pharoh’s Daughter’s Chambers …

Bridge the Rift (Dreamer) – To teleport into the dreams of other

people is a common trick. Usually the mage concentrates briefly on the
person he want to meet, and if that person is dreaming the mage will
appear in his dream. This is usually coincidental, as long as the mage
starts from his own dream.
Running Trance (Akashic) (Correspondence 3, Life 1, Mind 1) – The
Blue Skins of Tibet long ago perfected the technique of lung gom, or
the running trance, which they used to cross extreme distances in
short periods.

(By entering a trance, the mage enables his body to perform

impressive feats. Each success halves the time it takes to cross a given
distance. The rote is always coincidental, no matter the distance
covered, but the terrain covered must be such that a person could
physically cross it. For example, bodies of water larger than shallow
rivers cannot be crossed with this effect.)

Walking the Old Straight Track (Verbena) (Correspondence 3 or

4) –Ley Lines facilitate travel for those who know how to employ them.
They allow the witch to walk almost instantaneously from any point on
the line to any other point on it.

[Correspondence 3 transports the witch, while at the 4th level, she can
take others with her. So long as no Sleepers witness the departure or
arrival, the effect is coincidental.]

Etheric Flux Jamming (Etherites) (Correspondence 3) – This rote is

widely employed by Sons to prevent rivals from spying on their
research. It creates a zone of fluxed ether which
causes interference on remote viewing and teleportation attempts.

[This is a standard Warding rote.]

Force Field (Etherites) (Correspondence 3, Forces 3, Life 3, Matter 3)

– This is the realization of the classic science fiction idea. This creates
a barrier through which Force, Life, and Matter patterns cannot pass.
Since it is resistant to Forces, it manifests as a pale gray region that
feels solid to the touch. Sound, vibrations, and wave phenomena
cannot pass it either.

[Each success in creating the field offers 1 die of countermagic against

attempts to breach the field magically. This effect is vulgar.]

Traffic Jam (Cultists) (Correspondence 3 Entropy 2 Prime 2) – This

rote was devised by Kurt Fjällström of the Children of Bacchus to
disrupt the quintessence flows in the traffic networks of a city. He
quickly downed a rather large amount of whiskey, and then began to
drive through the city in a car he had "borrowed". Needless to say, his
drunk driving and absolute disregard for traffic rules soon caused
complete chaos wherever he drove. But through his intuitive
understanding of the ebb and flow of traffic, he also managed to make
the disturbances grow and spread across the entire city. The result was
a memorable traffic jam, made even worse by the summer heat and
the presence of other tradition mages subtly affecting the already
irritable mood.

[The Correspondence allows the mage to affect a large area, and to

avoid getting trapped himself. Entropy affects traffic flow and prevents
random accidents, while the Prime part fuels the growing chaos and
allows the mage (in conjunction with Entropy 1) to find the parts where
the Technocracy would want a traffic jam the least. ]

Summon one of the sixteen good angels potent in changing

of place (Enochian) (Correspondence 3 Spirit 2) – The mage
summons an angel who will transport him or somebody else to a
desired place. Each angel is specialised in one kind of transport. For
example, Tdim will perform transports over seas and water while Anaa
can transport the mage to hot and sunny places (Hawaii or a desert).

Hypeerspace Tracking by Time Reversed Waves (Etherite)

(Correspondence 3, Time 2) This unusual psychotronic method allows
the Sons of Ether to locate persons they wish to strike quickly. The rote
requires as a focus some objet which has been touched to the victim or
some type of recording of the victim's presence. The movement of
special "Time-
Reversed " or " TR " waves are tracked. The mage follows them
backwards in time with the help of correspondence 2 effects until the
target is in view through the TR spectrum. The point of sensing is then
rapidly shifted into the presend, using the TR trace to reduce the area
of a Sift Through All Space effect to a very small search.

[ This is like Filter Through All Space, but the added time component
shortens how long the search takes dramatically. Searches are seldom
longer than a day. ]

Entropy
Facets in the Mier (Entropy 3, Correspondence 2, Time 2)
(Euthanatos) – Random elements are like a tapestry; they will all go
somewhere, but it is often difficult to see the larger picture when you
are so focused on the One Thing. Even more, there are random
elements that seem to throw off the will of the tapestry, causing an
even more dramatic result. In this effect, the mage channels
randomness into an area (for example a building). The result is that the
tapestry spans off in several directions, none of which were
predictable…random and disorderly things start to happen. Sprinklers
will activate, printers will start to print gibberish, computers crash,
documents are lost, wallpaper lifts loose and the lettering on doors fall
partially off, revealing new, interesting messages…Through the Chaos
the mind can interpret interesting facets of those threads; where is the
secretary going when she leaves her desk at 3 pm? Who is watching
the lapse in security guarding?

The Touch of Mier (Entropy 3, Prime 2) (Euthanatos) – There is a

reason that Mier wears gloves. Once affected by backlash, the lessons
hang with you. Inadvertently creating this effect has caused the
downfall of civilizations, past and present. The mage imbues her hand
with entropic resonance, and entropic quintessential energy. She
touches an object, creating a spreading pattern of entropy. While the
object may appear unchanged on the surface, it slowly begins to
decay. The effect spreads inside the object, spreading the decay to the
core – and may infect other objects which touch it. The affected object
will break if it is stressed the least. If the mage uses this rote on the
chassis of a car, it will spread to the motor and wheels. When someone
touches or try to use the car, it will disintegrate. Some mages direct
the spread of entropy towards certain objects. …or, places…nd even
more use this on the living…

Domino Fall (Entropy 3 Prime 2) (Maurader) – Another rote, likely

from the Maurauders. The marauder draws more randomness and
weirdness into the local area, empowering them. Unlikely things start
to happen, people get straight flushes all the time, long lost relatives
pay visits, bullets ricochet along truly absurd trajectories and so on.
This doesn't necessarily cause any vulgar effects at first, but quite
soon the number of improbabilities builds up, and the domino effect
causes a massive backlash.

Death Mask (Life 3, Matter 3) (Euthanatos) – This old rote recently

became popular again after the film Silence of the Lambs. Correctly
used it is very effective for infiltration. The Euthanatos carefully cuts
apart a fresh corpse and select the parts that he needs - this always
includes the face. He then places these over his own body parts where
they merge with his own flesh, bonding into one entity. This rote makes
him into a perfect simulacrum of the victim - face, fingerprints, hair, as
close as he desires. One variation on this rote even enables him to
speak like the deceased by consuming the tongue. This melding also
affects his life pattern, sometimes enabling him to pass magickal
detection.

All of the attached parts are infused with his own blood and actually
become part of him. Therefore they do not appear dead but the
removal of the disguise is very messy. It is even more bizarre if the
mage was larger than the victim because he appears to split out of the
smaller body (and like a snake, leaving the `skin' behind). Quite
frankly, it's rotes like this that get the Euthanatos a bad name.

[Life and Matter magick enable the blending of mage and corpse.
Minor cuts and abrasions that the corpse sustained may be repaired
but tissue damage e.g. burns will increase the difficulty. Only two
successes are needed for a scene, but three will last for a day, four
indefinitely.]

Forces
Invocation of Negation – The mage negates a force; light becomes
darkness, positive current becomes negative. This often leads to the
neutralisation of the force, and can destroy sensitive machinery. The
mage perform the rote by chanting a invocation of the forces of
negativity, and drawing the Hebrew letter Aleph in the air with the
Seal.

Circle of Light (Forces 3 Prime 2) – The mage builds up a circle of

power around himself, which attack everybody who tries to cross. It
often looks like a circle of fire or
electricity. The mage usually draw the circle on the ground using chalk
and the Seal, while chanting divine names in the four directions.

Sphere of Truth (Forces 3, Mind 2, Prime 2) – This rote is used by

Magus at tribunals and trials to test if someone tells the truth or talks
with true conviction about something. The mage must cast a circle for
which this sphere will exist; generally, she will draw a symbol around
the circle using seals, while chanting the twelve secret names of Truth.
The ring in itself illuminates; and while connected to the Mage it will
change colour, size and shape depending on the bearers state of mind
and what he says. If he lies, the sphere will become darker, stained
and begin to vibrate with a eerie sound. If the bearer tells the truth it
will become brighter. If the bearer talks with true conviction and tells
the truth it will glitter with intense brightness, and colors depending on
mood.

Good Grip – Johnny’s Special # 4 (Forces 3, Correspondence 2)–

The mage creates a strong, directed magnetic field around an object to
alter the friction that the object possesses; allowing the unusual to
occur. Tires will hold traction and allow cars to move insurmountable
speeds on freezing rain; cars can drive up walls and over buildings,
remaining 1 gravitational inch from the ground.

Lines of Magnetic Force (Forces 3 Prime 2) – The mage creates a

strong, directed magnetic field which can move objects made out of
magnetic metal. Hermetics usually do this by inclining the Seal to
reflect the light from the sun or a lamp on the object, and then move
the reflected spot. [ Each success will give the field 1 dot in strength.
This rote will only affect magnetic materials, but some mages also use
Matter to make the object magnetic. ]

Arc-light (Forces 3 Prime 2) –The mage creates a small pattern of

electricity and light and moves it from target to target, doing
aggravated damage from the primal imbued flicker. The result is an
arc-lightning, which shine with a clear light; and can be sustained, and
moved target to target.

Inner Music – Johnny’s Special, # 9 (Mind 2 Forces 3 Prime 2) – All

people have their own inner music, but few can hear it and even fewer
can express it outside themselves. Most people who try simply fail to
convey the exquisite harmonies they find. However, an unknown
Cultist of Ecstasy during the middle ages developed this rote to bring
the music into the world. By connecting the subconscious of a person
with the ability to create sound, the mage could make the mental
music heard. The result was often staggeringly beautiful. However, the
music also influenced the person who created it in unexpected ways.
Since it symbolized the personality and whole mind of the person, it
seemed to reinforce his most dominant traits. Fundamentally happy
people become even happier when they hear their exorbitant music.
Sad people become even more depressed by hearing their ominous
music. Confused people become more confused while intellectuals are
filled with the urge to study and understand.

Fury of the Fields (Verbena) (Forces 3 Life 2 Prime 2) – This is

another old spell which summons the power of the land to the witch's
aid. It animates plants and causes them to attack a target.

[Each success gives the plants 1 pt of Dexterity to attack with and 2

pts of Strength for purposes of damage. With 2 successes the witch
can animate grasses and flowers, 3 will animate vines and bushes, and
4 or more will enliven whole trees. The effect is inevitably vulgar, but
it terrifies most opponents.]

Bride of Flowers (Verbena) (Forces 3 Life 2 Prime 2, sometimes

Mind 5)- The Tradition is divided over the morality of this rote, and its
use is not as common as it once was. It originated in first century
Gaul, when a Roman commander demanded that a group of Verbena
provide him with a bride or be destroyed. Loathe to submit to him, the
circle created a wife for him from a mass of flowers and he remained in
ignorance of her true nature until she killed him. The people created
from this spell have been used as servants, travelling companions,
decoys and assassins.

[If successful, the rote transforms a mass of living plant matter into the
semblance of a human. In its basic form, the 'bride' is little better than
a zombie, capable of following only the simplest orders. With the
application of the Mind sphere, the 'bride' gains full sentience, and at
least one Bride eventually Awoke.]

Controlled Reaction (Etherites) (Forces 3, sometimes Prime 2) – By

limiting, canceling, or directing the release of energy during chemical
reactions, the Son can effectively negate or expand any reaction she
chooses. The practical applications of this rote are endless, as the
Sons are fond of demonstrating.

[Forces 3 is necessary to limit or negate a reaction, while Prime 2 can

be added to increase a reaction. Each success halves or doubles the
energy in the reaction. 3 successes will prevent a reaction entirely.
The exact effects are up to the storyteller, but greatly increasing the
energy in a reaction will of course produce an explosion.]

Darklight Projection (Etherites) (Forces 3 Prime 2) – Professor Prion

discovered that by mixing different frequencies of the electromagnetic
spectrum in the proper ratio, she was able to generate fields of
darkness that propagate the way light does. Sadly, the rote is not
attributed to her, because her rival Professor Klaxon saw her notes and
published the effect before she did, but Prion had the last laugh when
she realized that he had failed to read her note about the necessity of
using Spectrumnal Imaging Goggles within the projection field.

[The darkness produced by the rote is complete if more than 1 success

is scored. Since the effect cancels out all other light waves, it cannot
be penetrated by viewing on infrared or ultraviolet. But if the scientist
thinks to view along the wavelength of darkness, he will be able to see
normally.]

The Silence Cannon (Etherites) (Forces 3 Prime 2) – Another

discovery of Professor Prion, who has a fascination with negative
forces, the Silence Cannon emits devastating blasts of countersound,
which not only cause damage but also temporarily render a region free
of all sound.

[The Silence Cannon does normal Forces damage, and renders an area
silent for one round.]

The Inertia Bomb (Etherites) (Forces 3) – Yet another creation of

Professor Prion, this device converts motive energy into inertia, thus
making movement impossible within the bomb's area for the duration
of the effect. Among the bomb's various peculiar effects, falling
objects are frozen in place.

[Each success gives the region 2 dice of Strength for the purpose of
immobilizing those within it. Anything attempting to move must
overcome the effect's Strength with its own. This is generally vulgar.]

Summon the mighty archangel Pziza of Fire of Fire and his

four cherubic servitors (Enochian) (Forces 3 Spirit 2) – The mage
summons one of the archangels of pure fire. The archangel prefer not
to manifest physically, but may perform services using its static
magick. The mage should not summon Pziza lightly, since fire-angels
tend to be impulsive and a bit aggressive. The archangel is very good
at controlling the forces of fire, heat and destruction, if somewhat
overeager to do so.

Life
Simulate – Sometimes mages have to appear more hurt than they
are, for example during medical examinations. Using this rote the
mage can simulate all kinds of diseases and wounds, or make wounds
appear healed. Verbena usually wash themselves with blood and paint
their new appearance using it and special herbs. The results look like
the real thing, but are no real wounds (if the mage doesn't want to be
*too* realistic, of course). By adding Mind 1 the mage can imprint the
correct responses too, like appearing in pain or shivering when touched
in certain spots.

Eternal Youth – The mage simply stops ageing. This requires almost
constant low- level concentration, but is often coincidentally explained
using a healthy diet involving certain herbs and blood. Of course, if
the Mage in question wants to live the Hollywood life in the spotlight,
not aging is going to be questioned; however, if the mage is careful
and continues a stretch of moving and changing his identity this can
remain coincidental.

Beautiful Blood – The Le Vay have never underestimated the power

of youth and beauty, and have developed this rote. The mage fills the
cauldron with blood, which is consecrated. Then the mage washes
himself from head to feet in the blood while invoking the powers of
youth and life.

[Each success triples the number of years the mage rejuvenates (1

success 1 year, 2 3 years, 3 9 years, 4 27 years...). If the mage wants
to continue rejuvenating another bath is required, and so on. These
changes have the same weakness as Improve Self, they suffer from
Pattern Bleeding.]

Enchanted Senses – The mage gives himself the sight of the Eagle;
the nose of the Dog; the taste of the Rat and the hearing of the Cat.
Verbena perform this Rote by anointing eyes, ears, fingers, nose and
tongue with blood and visualizing the power and sounds of the
different animals. Offering sacred gifts to the totem spirits is also
widely practiced.

Fountain of Blood (Life 3, Prime 2) – The mage creates blood. This

can be done inside the mage, inside someone else or even in the
environment (rather vulgar). The amount of blood and the quality
varies depending on how well the mage did. Some Verbena with a
sense of drama use this to multiply blood: they pour a small amount of
blood into the cauldron, and then makes it rise until it pours over the
edges. Many use this to call the blood from the undead, siphoning out
the life of the Kindred.

Blood’s Infection (Life 3, Prime 2) – The mage infects somebody with

an infectious disease by touching him. The disease can range from hay
fever to anthrax, based upon the severity of the arête successes. If the
disease is contagious the victim can himself spread it. The LeVay
usually take the blood of a sick animal and during a long ceremony
concentrate the disease into the blood. Then (for example) the hand of
the mage is coated with the blood, and used to touch the victim. This
was often used to cull the populace and the heard; some Verbena used
this to present small infections into their clans as a form of
immunization; children surviving small bouts of infections grew
stronger, and more able to fight this off as an adult in natural means.

Blood Wine (Life 3, Prime 2, Matter 2) – This rote may have started as
a kind of travesty of the Catholic Mass; and as a way to bond those by
blood. By pouring mead into the bowl and adding a few drops of blood,
the priest can turn it into blood. However, it doesn't have to look like
blood or taste like it; the priest can make it appear to be normal mead.
Afterwards, the mead can be used instead of blood as a foci, be
imbibed as a source of strength or even used as sustenance for
vampires (although practically no modern kindred know about this.
Only the oldest Scandinavian Methuselahs have tasted such mead).

Elixir of Longevity (Alchemists) (Life 3) – Another classic rote,

invented in countless variations. The alchemist distils some of his
blood, add expensive spices and salts, and drinks the final product.
This elixir will halt the ageing of the mage for a time, but not
rejuvenate him (there are lots of competing rejuvenation elixirs
around).

Reanimation (Alchemists) (Life 3, Prime 2, Entropy 2) – The

alchemist burns a dead (or alive) plant or animal. The hot ashes are
mixed with exotic chemicals and salts. Finally gold solved in water is
added, and the mixture is allowed to crystallize. By performing the
necessary incantation and slowly heating the resulting salts, the mage
will restore the being to life. If the mage succeed well enough, the
being will be completely normal in all aspects. A less successful
experiment would give a being which would die after a while, turning
into salts again. And really bad results create "nothing but ye liveliest
Awfulness". Some alchemists experiment with turning people to dust,
and trying to raise them again. Can you bring the dead back? In some
forms…but it will be soulless and without a mind. For the truly
adventurous, you may be able to bind a spirit back to a body…

Hunting Horrors (Life 3, Mind 2, Prime 3) (Nephandi) – The mage

creates a living shell (a homunculus) with one purpose and imprints
that purpose in its animated mind. If the purpose is to serve and
protect, it will serve true… if the meaning is vengeance, then it will
seek out what its target is until it can be fulfilled. Now the being will
relentlessly seek to destroy the victim using all available means until it
is killed or the target is killed. This rote can be used on normal animals
too, turning them into killing weapons.

Mier’s Bond (Life 3, Prime 3, Correspondance 2) – Mier has had a

strange way of ensuring that those close to her remain loyal; her
Hermetic teachings by House Trememe guaranteed that she would
have several odd nuances (especially for a Euthanatos) … but they
seem to serve their purpose. By charging his blood with quintessence
linked to him by drinking liquid Tass, he can give his blood the power of
the blood bond. Anyone drinking it three times will be blood bound to
the mage (although this bond doesn't last as long as a vampiric blood
bond).

Homunculus (Life 3, Spirit 2, Prime 2, Time 3) – This famous Rote’s

creator has been lost to the sands of time. The mage takes some of his
bodily fluids, adds silver and gold salts and pour the result into a
crafted vessel. The vessel is kept at a constant body temperature for
nine months (In the middle ages, a heap of dung was used). After the
time, a small, fully grown man have developed in the vessel. This
homunculus is intelligent, have a will of his own and will grow at the
normal rate after he have left the vessel. Some mages keep their
homunculus inside it for safe keeping, feeding them of their own blood.
Homunculi are often used as advisors, familiars or servants. But if the
mage treat them bad, they may rise up against him.

Prophylactic (Life 3 Time 2) – Some mages know they are going to

get hurt in the future, and take steps to limit the damage. By reaching
into potential futures and choosing one where the damage isn¹t that
bad, the mage can avoid the worst possibilities. This is usually
coincidental; a wound turns out to be much less severe than expected
or a weapon just makes a glancing blow. The rote will just protect
against the next wound. Among the Cult of Ecstasy, this rote is usually
done by dressing imagined wounds, followed by a period of intoxication
where the mage removes the bandages happily proclaiming ²It
doesn¹t look that bad!².

Bronze Body (Akashic) – The Dragon Scale Master Li T'eih practiced

many forms of body strengthening and weapon deflection. Early in his
Awakened state, Li learned how to avoid damage from attacks by
angling his body and tensing certain muscles. Li trained for years
before the ultimate state of this form was achieved.

[The Doist increases the density of her skin while concentrating on and
reacting to the actions of her attackers. Specify the number of
successes for duration of Bronze Body before rolling for the magick
Effect itself. Remember that such improvement (i.e., the duration of
the Effect) is only temporary. Bronze Body increases the difficulty of a
single opponent's attack rolls by one per success. The Doist can apply
this effect against multiple targets by dividing the successes between
each attacker (two against the first and one against the second, for
example).]

Four-Headed Defender (Akashic) (Life 3, Prime 2, Mind 1,

Correspondence 1)– Ancient writings in the Akashic Record tell of a
horde of Nephandi that threatened to fight its way through the
Gauntlet to destroy the Temple of Inner Truth. Rivhaya, a Dragon Scale,
set himself in the center of the Xiudaoyuan's Node and initiated this
rote. Rivhaya sprouted three additional heads, two extra arms and two
additional legs. Each head looked toward a cardinal point of the
compass. The four hands took turns passing Rivhaya's weapon back
and forth about his body. Rivhaya's face also contorted to give the
Nephandi a false sense of security. Large fangs sprouted from his
mouths, from both upper and lower jaws. His skin turned a bright red
and his tongues a brilliant blue. Smoke rolled from his eight nostrils in
thunderous clouds. In battle, Rivhaya scuttled about in a whirling
manner, his four weapons attacking his most deadly opponents. His
four heads kept him constantly alert so that no one was ever able to
approach him unawares.

[Prime and Life modify the mage's body, fueling the larger Pattern with
Quintessence. Mind and Correspondence allow all heads to coordinate
the body's actions. Four successes enable the Stylist to concentrate on
information gained through four sets of eyes.]

The Touch of Peace (Akashic) (Life 3, Entropy 1) – Many Blue Skins

employ this rote to defend themselves without harming their attackers.
By striking the target's nerve centers, she can be paralyzed and thus
rendered less dangerous.

[Each success will physically immobilize the target for 1 turn.]

Clip the Raven’s Wings (Akashic) (Life 3, Entropy 1) – This rote

employs the Dragon Scale principle of defeating your enemies as
quickly as possible, in this case by disabling the target's limbs.

[Entropy determines the target's weak points, such as joints, nerve

clusters, and so on, and allows the doist to strike to disable. It does one
level of damage per success. 1 success will temporarily disable a digit
or sensory organ, 2 to 3 successes will render an arm, leg, or internal
organ useless, and 4 to 5 successes will paralyze the target or leave
them dazed.]
Unify Mind and Body (Akashic) (Life 3, Mind 1) – By unifying the
process by mind and body operate, the doist becomes capable of
reacting without conscious thought.

[All reflexive actions, including initiative rolls, have their difficulties

reduced by 1 by each success after the first. Difficulties may never
drop below 3.]

Strength of Antaeus (Verbena) – Another old Greek rote, this one is

employed mostly by the Twisters of Fate, who like the way it reminds
the caster of her dependence upon the earth by allowing her to tap the
earth's strength.

[Each success give the witch 2 points of Strength as long as she is in

direct contact with the earth. If she breaks contact with the soil, the
strength immediately fades, but returns when contact is re-established.
If someone attempts to lift or otherwise move her off the soil, she
resists with her full strength, regardless of whether she has leverage or
not.]

Couvade (Verbena) (Life 3, sometimes Correspondence 2) – The

entire army of Ulster was brought to its knees by the use of this
Verbena rote in the fifth century. While it has never again been used
on such a scale, it remains a potent spell, as many of the Tradition's
enemies have discovered to their discomfort. It transfers physical pain
from one target, usually the caster, to another. In the case of the Irish
army, they were forced to experience labor pains,
but the pains of battle injuries are the most common sensation.

[If successful, the target will suffer all the pain and wound penalties
experienced by the person he is connected to, although the wounds
themselves are not transferred. Hollow Ones have developed a similar
spell they call the Corsican Game.]

Drawing Out Blood (Verbena) – As the Verbena like to say, 'Blood

calls to blood', and this brutal rote is an application of that idea. The
witch bleeds herself and then uses the blood to draw blood out from
the target. If the target already has injuries, they will bleed copiously.
If they don't, they spontaneously start hemorrhaging from various
orifices. Repeated use of this effect is generally fatal to the target, but
that's the point.

[This rote does a level of damage for each success, and cannot be
soaked. Exactly how the bleeding occurs determines whether the rote
is vulgar or not.]
Dr Goldburg's Wonderful Pan-Sufficient Survival Pill
(Etherites) (Life 3 Prime 2) – Dr. Goldburg specialized in Umbral
exploration and discovered many fascinating phenomena and strange
lifeforms, until his ill-fated journey to Rigel 3, when a particularly
strange lifeform discovered him. But his legacy lives on in the form of
his many inventions to make planetary exploration easier. This tiny
blue pill provides its user with complete nourishment for 1 day.
Summon one of the sixty-four good angels most skilled and
effective in medicine and the cure of sickness. (Enochian) (Life
3 or 4, Spirit 2) – The mage summons a healing angel in order to heal
himself or another. If the angel choose to help depends upon the
situation, the power of the summoner and if it was the correct angel for
that type of wound or sickness. Each angel has its own speciality.

Matter
Nichtmaterie (Maurader) – By using pattern disassociation a mage
can make a material
pattern stop interacting with another type of pattern. This can be used
to create invisible materials, materials living beings but not air can
pass through, weightless matter etc. But by making *everything* pass
through the mage can create "Nichtmaterie " …or, no matter.
Nichtmaterie is not affected by anything, and doesn't affect anything.
It cannot be perceived except by using Prime. It can however be
handled using Matter. Professor Grieg found that it was a very efficient
way of storing things not needed or to bulky to move; just turn them
into Nichtmaterie and turn them back when needed. A Son of Ether can
bring huge amounts of things with him in Nichtmaterie -form, and then
make them normal when needed. The Professor developed a
Matter/Nichtmaterie -conversion box to do this, creating almost a literal
"bag of holding". He also experimented with turning living beings into
"Nichtleben" and energy into "Nichtkraft", planning to use it for the
creation of a nichtrealm. However, the good professor recently
vanished completely.

Clean Without Water – This rote will efficiently clean the mage (or
anything else). Dust and dirt just vanish, leaving everything spotless. It
also adjusts the hair and makes it shiny, adjusts make-up and does
manicure. It of course includes perfume and deodorant.
( For those Wet-Cat days. – Mm. Fujimiya)

Dancing Toasters – Techno mages use their computers and

instruments to affect machines. The mage can make machines and
objects to move themselves as if they were alive. Usually the mage
uses the joints and movements the machine already has, like the joints
of a showroom-dummy, a tape recorder throws out the tapes or a hose
slithers forward. With enough successes the mage can make toasters
to dance and statues to move. Note that the object will only move as
the mage wills it to move, as soon as the mage ends concentration the
effect will end. Some hermetics trap spirits inside objects to work as
guards and sentinels.

Strength of Steel – The mage can make something hard as steel

without changing other material properties. This rote can turn a curtain
into a barrier, a piece of string into a cable or a paper-plane a deadly
killing instrument. Sons of Ether usually perform this rigidity activation
by carefully measuring the material of the object, and slowly
manipulating the readings to suitable levels.

In the Hand of the Beholder (Matter 3 Correspondence 1) – By

altering the material pattern, a mage can change the colour of an
object. This has been used to paint many chantries, but can also be
used for artistic endeavors. This rote is very popular among artistically
inclined mages. The mage reaches out with her senses in the
surroundings, and alter the surface of an object to match them. The
result is a painting of the surroundings, perhaps altered by the mage.
This can of course easily be turned
coincidental by simply painting the object. The image reflects how the
mage sees things, and may be rather subjective or very objective
depending on what the mage sought to effect. It is also dependent on
mood, personality and tradition. Images created by Order of Hermes
tend towards the baroque, while technomancers create images of
photographic clarity and Akashic Brothers create works with a definite
Asian style.

Age (Matter 3 Entropy 3) – By carefully applying entropy to the pattern

of an object, the mage can make it age exactly like it would naturally.
Its impossible to tell the difference between the real thing and the
result. This rote is a popular way earn some quick cash for mages with
roomy consciences, who use it to create "antiques".

The Ball is Round (Matter 3 Entropy 2 Mind 2) – This rote is used by

some of the more sports oriented mages to make sure their team is
going to win. Most mages consider this cheating, but everybody agree
that a match between two teams with supporting mages is sight to
behold: random coincidences occur, the weather changes, the ball
bounces in unlikely angles, the players give their outmost and the
public just goes wild. Some of the Virtual Adepts have used
Correspondence to affect the game from their own living rooms
(although this is risky since the Technocracy monitors all major events).

Bind Servitor (Matter 3 Spirit 2) – This ritual allows a summoned

being to inhabit a material object, like a knife, a statue or a fire. The
being will gain the power to use the object as a body; a statue will be
able to move, a knife will be able to stab or slip away, a fire will be able
to choose whether it will burn somebody or not. The ritual must be
done during the creation or reshaping of the object, to make the link to
the spirit the strongest. Sometimes mages divide the ritual process
into parts, and perform certain stages on the right days.

More Power, Scotty! (Matter 3, Forces 2) (Technocratic) –

Extremely popular among the Void Engineers and the Sons of Ether,
this rote comes into play during experiments in which more power is
required than the ability of the source to provide it. (did anyone
understand that sentence?) This quite often allows the SoE to retry a
"failed" experiment. The effect of this rote is twofold: it increases the
power provided from a source (i.e., forwards more electricity from a
city's power grid to mage's experiment (which could have adverse
effects on the rest of the city...)), and doubles the capacity of the
transferring source (the carrier cable) to handle it safely.

This being primarily an SoE rote, there is, of course, a catch... an even
number of successes doubles (x2 for each pair of successes) both the
effects, as outlines above (the effect is exponential). However, an odd
success will increase only the amount of power provided. (example: Dr.
Emerison needs more power to reanimate the body of his third wife.
The experiment is not going as expected, so he does the natural thing
and... adds more power! He casts the rote and gets 5 successes. The
first pair of successes gives him x2 the amount of power to the system
and x2 the ability of his OmegaLifeATron to
handle it, the second pair gives him a total of x4/x4, but the odd last
success gives him only x8 the power, causing the city to go into a
brown-out, and the OmegaLifeATron to begin a core meltdown . It's fun!

Walk through Walls (Akashic) (Matter 3, Life 3, Mind 1) – Oracles of

the Blue Skins have long held meetings in secret chambers and have
used this rote to enter those sacred and holy shrines. Legend has it
that the greatest and most powerful Node points accessed by the
Brotherhood Xiudaoyuan (Chantries) are also hidden. Many of these
sites are long lost, given the Brotherhood's wish to keep them secret
but to a chosen few. This rote is rarely taught and only to the most
trusted of students.

[This rote allows the Stylist to walk through walls by disassociating her
body from the physical relation of a wall or other solid object. When
this process is complete, the Doist can walk through walls without
leaving a trace. The Doist calls upon the amazing concentration of the
mind to keep her alert to situations that are just beyond barriers
passed through.]

Dr Goldburg's Fabulous Aerating Pill (Etherites) (Matter 3 Prime

2) – This tiny white pill, usually sold alongside the Survival Pill in the
Galactic Explorer's Survival Kit, provides oxygen in hostile
atmospheres.
[The pill provides a 24 hour supply of oxygeFn to the user, time-
released inside the lungs, while simultaneously transforming toxic
gases into harmless compounds released through exhalation.]

Mind

Somebody Else's Problem – The mage dampens the interest of

something, for example himself. The victims won't notice anything
unless it's spectacular, and will lose it unless he keeps his eyes on it. A
person with SEP can walk down a street without being noticed or
remembered, but a security guard will probably stop him if he tries to
enter a restricted area (the guard is on lookout for any intruder). With
Mind 3 the mage can erase all perception of himself, which turns him
invisible for all practical purposes as long as he don't break the illusion
by attacking somebody, turn over something or collide with someone.
This type of protection/invisibility is very common. Cabalists use the
Yetziratic Sealing Rite, Rosicrucians the Rose-Cross Ritual, Akashic
Brothers special silent Do-movements and Verbena wear protective
amulets carved with the athame.

Inner Journey – The mage enters a deep trance and enters himself
mentally, as if he went on an astral journey. He will enter his own inner
world, where all his dreams, memories and thoughts are represented.
He can then wander just as if he was in a normal realm. Mages can find
the most surprising things in the labyrinth of the mind, dreams,
memories of forgotten persons, old hobgoblins and subconscious
horrors may appear, speak to him or even attack. There might be
portals from old dreams to the chimerae. To end the journey the mage
has to return to his starting point, where he will awaken. One of the
greatest risks with such inner journeys is that the mage may not find
his back again (or that he don't want to, after finding a place, a dream
or memory so lovely that he will never leave it). Some mages spend
much time in their own or other (Mind 4) minds. With some extra
mental magick the mage can bring others into the trance.

Open the Abyss (Nephandi) – The mage sends the mind of the
victim down into the Great Abyss. The body will collapse in coma. The
victim cannot experience anything else but emptiness and cannot do
anything other than think. Most people turn insane after a few days (if
time can be said to exist for them). In the beginning they just fall
asleep, but then they start to drift between dream and wakefulness,
unable to tell the difference. Hallucinations and delusions appear, and
the personality begins to dissolve without any sensory impressions.
Some advanced members of the Akashic Brotherhood meditate in the
Abyss, sometimes for months and there are rumors of a monastery
where several monks lived for years in the Abyss.
[Each day inside the Abyss the victim has to succeed with his
Willpower against 8 to retain his sanity. If it fails the Willpower is
decreased by one. A botch creates a permanent loss, and when it
reaches zero the victim is incurably insane.]

Kiarra’s Divination of Personal Facts (Mind 3, Life 1) – Allows the

mage to divine personal info about a person. Height, age, real hair
color, number of children, etc. One question answered per success. The
key here is that the subject must KNOW the information...you can’t
pluck out what they don’t know!

Reveal the Wandering Carcasses (Mind 3, Matter 1) – The mage

searches the vicinity for minds coupled to matter, not life. This will
reveal undead beings and other non-living creatures. Sons of Ethers
use their meters, which they direct towards suspects and compare
their readings with standard levels. Choristers touch people with their
holy symbol and watch their reactions.

Genetic Memory (Mind 3 Life 1 Time 2) – This rote was originally an

ancient Verbena rote, but it has been adopted by many life and nature-
oriented mages. The theory is that memory is retained in the blood (or
genes) of people, and their descendants can access it with the proper
methods. This allows them to learn from the experiences and mistakes
of the ancients. Verbena use to draw a drop of blood with their athame
and then meditate on the subtle nuances of the taste.

[Each success will double the number of generations backwards the

mage can feel. One success allows the study of the memories of the
mage's parents. Two reaches the grandparents, three reaches back to
the great-great-grandparents, etc. Note that only memories up to
conception are available from the father and up to birth from the
mother.]

Test the Traitor (Mind 3 Entropy 1, sometimes Time 2) – This rote is

used to test initiates of the many secret factions to see if they are
possible traitors. It is often used during the initiation ceremony just as
the initiate is shocked or is busy concentrating on something else,
since the psychological defenses will be weaker. The users (often
several older members of the secret fact working together in secret)
try to find weak points in the devotion to the the Factions ideals and
possible treasonous thoughts. They watch the mind of the person with
their showstones, comparing it to the purity of their seals. The mages
also use Time if they can, to see if there is any chance the tested
person will become susceptible to such ideas or have been subjected
to them.

Data Overload (Mind 3, Correspondence 2) – The mage points

targets a victim, preferably in front of her triniary PC (or another
screen), and makes it flicker a never ending stream of images into the
victims brain. The victim is forced to see everything in the vicinity,
without any order systematically causing a mental overload. The victim
experiences everything from every angle, from the inside out. He will
be unable to do much. Prolonged use of this rote can lead to catatonia
or (in rare cases) enlightenment. Kiarra uses this for uninvited guests
in her home; leaving the victim waiting mindlessly, helpless, for her
return.

The Worlds Eyes (Mind 3, Life 2/3) – Kiarra always managed to find
ways to communicate with her surroundings; persons, plants, and
animals alike. The mage touches an animal (or a plant), draws a circle
on its brow or similar area, and contacts its consciousness. Now the
mage can experience what the animal feels and see through its
senses. He has no direct control over it, other than emotional impulses
and telepathy. The range can be extended by the use of
Correspondence.

Gibberish (Mind 1/3 Entropy 2) – This rote makes a mage (or

somebody else) unable to understand anything spoken or written, it
will just sound like gibberish. It's impossible to discern any content of
the spoken, and no type of verbal magick will work on the person (this
rote will immunize against Voice of Command and memes). It can also
be expanded to other senses, to protect against images or gestures, or
be specified to work against certain words or matters. Some versions
even replace a certain word with another, making the victim hear
disinformation.

Create Meme (Mind 2/3 Prime 2) (Technocracy) – Memes are

mental viruses which spread from mind to mind, things like rumors,
catchy tunes, good jokes or catch phrases. Technocrats have found
them to be excellent weapons to sway public opinion and to influence
people. Generally mages design memes by concentrating on the
message they want to spread, and then let their creative juices flow.
Usually they suddenly find a especially catchy way to convey what
they want. It can be anything, ranging from jokes, catchphrases to
pieces of music. When memes are set loose, other people will find
them catchy and repeat them, spreading them quickly. They are
powerful weapons, but can turn against their creators. Just like living
beings they can mutate and evolve, sometimes far beyond the wildest
expectations of their creators.

Mental Similarity Detection using Consciousness Resonance

(Mind 3 Correspondence 2 Life 1) – Kiarra once wanted to find out if
somebody else was keeping a defector from the Technocracy under
surveillance. She built an electronic device, which connected
electrodes on her head and a sensitive antenna to a resonance circuit.
Her theory was, that if somebody was watching the defector, the
mental patterns of the other would match her own as she was
watching the defector. This would cause a resonance in the detector,
which could be measured. She also added a biofeedback monitor to
the system, to be able to find out some physical characteristics of the
other person. The device turned out to be both efficient and almost
paradox free, and now is standard equipment in many of the local
mental experiments.

See Through Borrowed Eyes (Mind 3 Correspondence 2) – The

mage "borrows" the senses of another person. The victim will notice
that he is experiencing things a little differently, but not how; and will
have control over his senses as well.

Floodland (Mind 3, Entropy 3) (Mauraders) – It floods the target's

mind with all sorts of random thoughts from everyone in the are. This
makes it virtually impossible to concentrate on anything.

[For every success the Mage makes in the roll, take away one dice from
the target's dice pools.]

Read the Akashic Records (Mind 3 Correspondence 3) (Akashic) –

The mage expands his mind into the Subconscious of the vicinity,
seeking the answer on a specific question or the solution of a problem.
The mage can coordinate information from all minds around himself,
and find the solution even if no individual can solve the problem.
Masters of the Akashic Brotherhood sometimes use it on their disciples
to gain insight themselves. Some Choristers expand their minds
enormously, so that the encompass millions of minds, as a form of
meditation and have learned how to tap in. This is a bit risky, since
they risk loosing themselves in the mass and let horrors from the
Collective Unconscious possess them.

[Each success will work as one point dream during the scene.]

Vision quest (Mind 3 Spirit 2) – The mage puts himself into a state of
gnosis by intoxication, fasting, pain or pleasure. As the mage sinks into
a trance, he will begin to see visions of the world around him, the
Umbra and his own mind. The world seems to become fluid in the
perception of the mage, constantly changing and reforming. If the
mage concentrates on a problem or a question the visions will begin to
reflect this. Using a vision quest, a mage can understand the secret
connections and symbols he normally wouldn't understand.
Unfortunately the mage seldom remembers anything about what he
saw afterwards, and becomes very incoherent during the quest, which
severely limits the use of the rote. Many Gnostics use their acolytes to
write down what they see during their visions, and afterwards try to
understand what they discovered. A mage undergoing a vision quest is
in serious danger from his subconscious, which may erupt into his
visions if it contains strong negative emotions, traumas, or illnesses.
Some spirits may also seize the opportunity to enter the mage's
consciousness as his defenses are down.
[During the vision the mages dream, intuition, enigmas, cosmology
and occult are increased by the number of successes. On the other
hand, willpower and all social and mental attributes are halved (round
down). This should really be roleplayed.]

Mental Bomb (Mind 3 Correspondence 2) (Maurader) – This rote is

originally a Marauder rote, used to harass the Technocracy. The mage
simply connects all the minds in the vicinity to each other, allowing
them to share their thoughts and feelings. The result is usually total,
self-enforcing panic which can turn normal people into a stampeding
mob in seconds. Using Mind 4, the mage can control the mob, and use
it as a crude but very deadly weapon. Let’s not ask HOW Kiarra picked
this one up…

(“So, there I was…” -Mm. Fujimiya)

Transplant Skills (Mind 3 Correspondence 2) (Technocracy) – In

some cases a mage might need a skill or ability he doesn't know. To
ameliorate this problem, someone invented this rote. The mage simply
reaches into the mind of somebody with the necessary skill, and taps
it. The donor doesn't notice anything except that he tends to think a lot
about the skill for no apparent reason, and that he gets strange
glimpses of the situation of the mage. The mage, on the other hand,
can use the skill for the duration of the rote, but caution is advised. The
minds of people are tied closely together, and one cannot just grab a
single skill without expecting other things to follow. Mages who use the
rote report that their personalities sometimes temporarily change
towards the personalities of the donor, and that they sometimes get
strange impulses or memories from the other person.

[Each success will allow one skill level to be borrowed from a donor.
The borrowed skills will completely replace the mage's own, but may
be supplemented with Dream for a truly dangerous and psychedelic
effect. However, if the mage gets more than two successes his
Demeanor will change to the Demeanor of the donor of the skill for the
duration of the rote. If he gets four successes, his Nature will change
too. Mental quirks and insanity may also be transmitted in this way. If
the mage is searching for a rare ability, Correspondence 3 may be
used.]

Mier’s Reflection (Correspondence 3, Mind 3) –Allows the caster to

communicate with a person by looking into a mirror and concentrating
on them (it would also help if the target was also looking in a mirror.)
Two way communication is possible and more importantly, it allows
the caster to co-locate themselves directly to the person (by stepping
into the mirror.) Initiated by House Tremere before they fell. [Use
ranges for Correspondence, but lower difficulty by 1.]
Predictive Psychological Profile (Mind 3 Entropy 2, Time 2,
Correspondence 3) (Technocracy) – When the New World Order needs
to counter an individual's actions badly, they often order a Predictive
Psychological Profile to be compiled. They gather all known information
about the subject. This includes all NWO records (which often extend
back to birth), and any records they can obtain from other conventions.
Any information they can find will be incorporated into the profile. The
statistic formula of the rote make a paper “simulation" of the person
studied (they try to avoid using computers, many of them feel the
mind is better than a computer anyways). The person's personality,
motivations, and random events are taken into account to determine
the person's goals and what actions he will be likely to take in order to
reach them.

The NWO mage will include Correspondence three to predict not only
what and when the actions will be, but where as well. The agent can
then send Men in Black to intercept or ambush the victim.

[Creating a Predictive psychological profile is a lengthy process. The

mage is allowed to roll one die every two hours the data is sorted
through and organized. Fortunately the rote is considered coincidental
in most cases.

The base difficulty is five for a sleeper and seven for a mage, as being
awakened makes someone considerably more unpredictable (the sole
known exception to this is It X mages, who are often tremendously
predictable). A victim's Arcane rating is added to the difficulty, so a
mage with Arcane 4 or 5 is such a mystery man that a profile can't be
created without extreme effort (quintessence and a long time), there
just isn't enough correct data on the mage.

Investigators who use this rote are almost always put under
surveillance. As the rote requires the mage to examine the subject's
world view enough to understand and predict it, it's use has been
known to cause doubt, confusion, and even defection. They do not
hesitate to pull an investigator "off the case" if he gets too involved.]

Oath (Mind 3/4 Correspondence 2 Prime 3 Matter 2/3) – Another way

of keeping their members loyal is the binding oaths. When an initiate
swears his Neophyte Oath, this rote is used in some lodges. It creates a
link between the oath, the mage and a material object (sometimes a
drop of the initiate's blood, or his signature or a symbol fashioned
during the ceremony). If the initiate ever breaks the oath, the link will
shatter, causing some kind of change in the material object (the blood
will burn, the signature fade or the symbol shatter). By using more
powerful mental magick, the link can remind the mage of his duty if he
ever thinks something contrary to the oath. Some groups have
developed a more fearsome version, which will attack the oathbreaker
(often using Forces, Life or Spirit, depending on the casters).
Ride With the Spirits (Mind 3 Spirit 2 Correspondence 2) – This rote
allows a mage to perceive what a spirit perceives, regardless of where
it is. By using it again, the mage can
"jump" onto another spirit which the first one perceives. It was used by
a cabal of Cultists who used it to learn the deepest and most
frightening secrets of the Deep Umbra, but one day they were found
dead or incurably insane. To use this rote on certain spirits is very
unwise, partly because they might notice it and take objection to it,
partially because certain beings are not wholesome for humans to
contact or even see.

Fatal Flaw (Entropy 1, Mind 3) (Euthanatos) – Euthanatos are feared

not only for their ruthlessness but for their uncanny ability to find
people's weaknesses. This rote is widely used for that very purpose.
Many Euthanatos use this rote on friends as well as enemies.- just in
case. To perform the rote the Euthanatos searches the victim's mind for
psychological weaknesses - phobias, hatreds, ambitions, doubts,
anything that can be used against him. She may have to take time with
this rote to get past mental shields or to perform it coincidentally.

[Three successes will reveal a major weakness. Greater successes will

provide more detail.]

The Cursing (Mind 3, Entropy 2) (Euthanatos) – Euthanatos mages do not

always kill those who are wasting their lives. Sometimes they punish them until they
mend their ways; knowing that there is hope yet for their target to learn the error of their
ways, and turn their life around. This rote is a simple way of doing just that. Entropic
magick is used to produce a `Sod's Law' effect on the victim, generated by his own
subconscious or conscious fears. If, for example, he is worried about making a bad
impression on his boss then he is far more likely spill hot coffee on her or find his watch
is slow and he is half an hour late for the meeting. The effect only ends when the victim
has changed his ways (as defined by the mage to the victim). Bad luck is subjective
however. this rote has failed on HIT Marks because they have no desires or fears as such.
There was also one near legendary failure of this rote when an extremely powerful
Euthanatos cast it on a young Akashic Brother to teach him a lesson. Using simple Mind
magick, the Akashic convinced himself that the worst thing that could possibly happen
would be for the Euthanatos mage to die. In astonishing series of flukes and chance
events brought them face to face one more time where, despite his best efforts, the
Akashic accidentally killed the Euthanatos.

Create Dream (Mind 3, Prime 2) (Dreamer) – Any Dreamer can

control his own dreams, but actually creating dreams from scratch
requires much skill. The Dreamer first empties his mind of other
images, and then focuses it on creating a dream. Creating a full-scale
dream takes a lot of time and concentration, but is usually worth it.
Some mages channel Quintessence into it to make it permanent.
Defense of the Yielding Mind (Akashic) – The Akashic built this
rote off of the principle of the preceding one, and developed a useful
form of mental defense. By falling back from a mental assault, the
doist pulls her attacker mentally off balance and gains the upper hand
in the psychic battle.

[This is a form of Countermagic against Mind magics. The defender

must score at least one more success than the attacker on their magic
roles, in which case the attacker is overextended and cannot take
another action the next round until the defender has done so.]

Enlightening Word (Akashic)– The Akashic Brotherhood normally

uses koans, or riddles, to guide Sleepers to Awakening and the
Awakened to Ascension. These koans traditionally take the form of a
peculiar question or statement that the subject ponders and learns
spiritual truths from. The most famous, of course, is "What is the sound
of one hand clapping?" but there are many others. The Blue Skin
scholar Li Chao Wu, however, discovered a different use for the koan
when he was being stalked by a Euthanatos assassin. Since Li had
vowed never to stain himself with combat, he chose a different method
to defend himself, and when the assassin approached him, he uttered
a koan so powerful that the assassin was forced to ponder it for several
minutes, allowing Li to make his escape.

[The monk must have an Enigmas score at least equal to the target's
Meditation score in order to know a koan of sufficient complexity. If
successfully cast, the target is effectively stunned for a number of
turned equal to his Meditation score, as he attempts to work out the
puzzle involved. Note that this rote is most effective against those who
are conditioned to such puzzles, and is virtually useless against thugs
with no Meditation skill. The effects dissipate if the target is attacked.]

The Moon's Pure Light (Verbena) – River Dancer, a Moon-Seeker,

used this rote to penetrate the disguise of a Nosferatu bent on killing
her, and it has become popular since then as a way of detecting those
with deceptive intent.

[This spell allows the witch to see the target as he truly is. Successes
count as countermagic against illusions and similar Mind magic. If the
caster scores at least 4 successes, she also learns the target's Nature.]

Race Memory (Verbena) (Mind 3 Life 1 Time 2) – A common spell of

the Gardeners, this enables the witch to search the memories of her
ancestors.

[Each success acts as 1 pt of Dream and allows the caster to reach one
generation back. Unlike the normal Dream ability, specific facts can be
retrieved.]
Orgonne Dilation (Etherites) (Mind 3) – The pulp hero Professor
Etheric spent much of his scientific energy in the study of the human
body's vitalizing Orgonne energy. He discovered that by dilating the
metacerebelic valves through which flowed he could siphon the energy
out of a person, thus sapping them of the will to resist.

[This effect acts as a Mental command to surrender by devitalizing the

target and making them feel that resistance is pointless.]

The Yetziratic Sealing Rite (Cabalist) – Originally from Sepher

Yetzirach, this rote is widely used for protection. The mage draw
permutations of the letters Yud, Heh and Vav in the six directions with
an incense stick while praying. Now the mage is protected as long as
the rote is active. People around the mage will ignore him and will not
remember him very well, if at all. They will not think about the mage if
he does not attract attention. This rote became very popular among
the Rosicrucians, who called their rote the Rose Cross Ritual (In which
the mage draws crosses instead of letters)

[The rote will make people overlook the mage. Three successes are
enough to be ignored by all people in the vicinity of the mage. Each
success will subtract one die from every perception roll to spot the
mage, as long as he does not attract attention. Since most people
ignore each other anyway, the mage will in effect be almost invisible]

Shure, I'm Pefectly In Control... (Cultists) (Mind 3 Life 3) – Many

drunk people think they know that they are doing, or that they are
capable of doing things they normally would avoid. Some Cultists have
taken this to heart, and get completely drunk before undertaking risky
or complex business. In this way they don't have to worry about any
risks, and since belief is reality, they are in fact just as (or even more)
capable as when they are sober.

[During the duration of the rote, intoxication causes no penalties to any

abilities. Although the mage is roaring drunk and suffers from the usual
lack of judgment, he will not do anything directly stupid or hurt himself.
In some situations they even think they can do more than usual; add
as many dices as there were magick successes to their dice pool if it
fits the story and the roleplaying ].

Summon one of the sixteen good angels skilled and potent

in understanding the secrets of all men (Enochian) (Mind 3
Spirit 2) – The mage summons an angel in order to gain information
about somebody. The angel (if it was correctly summoned and the right
angel for the job) will search out the individual, subtly read his mind
and body and return with the requested information. They are also
good at finding information about other things. Many enochians spend
a lot of time conversing with these angels.
Prime

Eternal Flame (Forces 2 Prime 3) – This rote is commonly used on

the fire burning on the
altars of the Chorus. By infusing it with the purity of the One under a
long time, the fire becomes fuelled by the quintessence of the world,
not its material fuel. It will burn without consuming, and by using Prime
4 it can be made to only purify, not burn, flesh. This is the origin of the
Eucharist of Fire, wherein the Choristers drink flames of purity.

Pattern Quintessence (Prime 3, Mind 3/Matter 2/Forces 3) – A rote

with many uses. By leading the quintessence of a node through
patterns, a mage can pattern it, making it more amenable to turn into
patterns of the same type. These patterns may be physical, mental or
spiritual. The result may influence the type of Tass the node produces,
resonance and other phenomena linked to the quintessence; a node
charged with the power of plants will have a very positive effect on
plants nearby while subtly discouraging phenomena hurting or
damaging the plants.

[The necessary spheres depend on the type of pattern; the mage must
be able to form a "template" pattern. Matter 2 is required for matter,
Forces 3 or 5 for Forces, Mind 2 or 3 for Mind (emotional or intellectual
patterns), Entropy 3 or 4 for Entropy and Spirit 4 for Spirit. ]

Crystallise Prime (Prime 3 Entropy 3) – This rote was invented by the

Mechanical mages of the Middle Ages, who later became the Sons of
Ether and Technocracy. By removing all disorder from the Quintessence
making up something , they could make it behave completely
according to theory. An affected object will be without any flaws, hardly
erode or decay if possible and always behave as it should. This is the
source of the super strong alloys Iteration X uses or the room
temperature superconductors of the Sons of Ether. A more chilling use
is the Progenitor experiments which remove all disorder from the flow
of quintessence through living beings, in essence turning them into
perfect individuals.

[The rote won't change any existing patterns, just their underlying
basis. If it is used on an already imperfect object or something too
random it just won’t work. But if the target is close to perfection, it will
remain so and may even slowly become more perfect as long as the
prime field retains its order. ]

Container of Power (Prime 3 Matter 3) – This rote is commonly used

by owners of Nodes around the world to store excess quintessence not
in the form of Tass. The mage spiritually reshapes a material object to
contain Quintessence, giving it the power to store it for
a period of time. A well made container can store it indefinitely, while
less perfect containers leak their contents. Various traditions perform
this in different ways. Choristers lightly touch the container while
drawing the holy symbol above it with fire. Dreamspeakers prepare
medicine bags and drum the power into them. Euthanatos simply put
bones into the node, letting their emptiness draw quintessence into
them. Virtual Adepts connect batteries to their computers and
networks and fill them with power.

[To charge a container, the mage uses Prime 3. To drain a container of

free Quintessence, the handling mage uses Prime 1. The number of
successes in creating the container will show how long it can retain
Quintessence.]

Prime Virus (Prime 3 Life 2 Spirit 2) – This Virtual Adept rote is greatly
feared by technocratic system operators, and rightfully so. The Adepts
have invented a method to create computer viruses which drain
quintessence of nodes and use it to create stronger copies of
themselves. Originally intended to use in the Web, they have proven to
be a very efficient weapon against nodes and Horizon realms (the
Adepts destroyed a Technocracy Outpost in the Web by inserting the
virus in its quintessence supply. When it vanished, the realm
collapsed). Not only that, but the Adepts have invented a version which
works outside the web too, infiltrating and draining normal nodes too.
Fortunately (for the Technocracy) their enemies have reverse-
engineered an anti-virus, which kills the first type. However, the war of
Prime Viruses is hardly over, and many technomancers are quite
worried. Some adepts are experimenting with advanced viruses which
channel excess quintessence to their own accounts, giving them the
ability to drain nodes from afar. The Internet worm might have been an
early experiment.

[ Each success in creating the virus will give it the ability to drain the
node one level (the viruses quickly reach a steady-state level when
they start to feed on each other). A level 4 virus would be able to
totally drain nodes with ratings up to four, and turn level 5 nodes into
level 1 nodes until they are removed. Anti-viruses decreases the level
of viruses. Most viruses will remain in the node they are activated in,
but some designs follow ley-lines and prime conduits to adjoining
nodes. ]

Layin the Line (Verbena) (Prime 3, Correspondence 2) – This spell

requires a complex ritual, in which the druid begins at a Node and
walks to another point, dragging his blood-smeared staff in the dirt all
the way. If successful, quintessence will begin to flow along the line.
Thereafter, by standing on the line, the Node can be tapped, without
having to be present at it.

Spirit
Rally the Forces (3 Spirit) – Another ancient Rote that has fallen into
disuse and disfavor, it was important during the Impergium and before
the rise of the Technocracy but has become less so with the increasing
power of the Gauntlet. This Rote calls all the available spirits near the
Mage to allow the spreading of news of potential dangers to all the
Awakened.

[Each success after the first increases the range and number of spirits
called. All spirits called are compelled to pass along whatever
message the Mage wishes to spread.]

Break Through the Veil of Dream (Spirit 3 Mind 2) – The mage

breaks down the Gauntlet into the dreams of a sleeping person. In this
way the mage can visit other people in their dreams and influence
their dreams. There are often links to the chimerae from these Dreams,
which makes this rote useful to get there. Some mages even open
portals others can pass into the dreams, but this has of course the
added risk that beings and things from the dreamworld can escape.
The dreams of people who are awake can also be visited, Since they
often persist a short while after the sleep. Many such dreams have
been linked
stronger to the chimerae or started to dissolve. To remain inside a
dream which dissolves is naturally extremely dangerous.

[Using Correspondence the mage can visit dreams of people far away,
and Spirit 4 can open a physical portal. Inside the dream, the paradigm
is largely decided by the Subconscious of the sleeper, and normally
quite loose. Most magick is coincidental, but some very inhibited
sleepers may react negatively to it at a subconscious level, turning the
dream into a nightmare.]

Burnt offering (Spirit 3 Prime 3) – Many spirits are extremely

interested in the material world and its pleasures, especially those who
for different reasons cannot manifest there. This is sometimes very
useful for mages seeking their aid, as they can be placated with Gifts
of food and liquor (some spirits even prefer such gifts before
Quintessence). A common method of sending gifts to the spirit plane is
to ceremonially burn them, and thus let their essence appear by the
spirits.

Drain Spirits (Spirit 3 Prime 3) – This impolite rote is a dangerous way

to get Quintessence from smaller spirits. The mage summons and
controls a spirit, and then summons a second, smaller spirit [trust me,
go for a small one]. Then, the mage uses the first spirit and attacks,
drains the Quintessence from the smaller of the two. Also note how
dangerous this be, as many spirits are but servants of more powerful
beings you don't want to piss off.
Dream Time (Spirit 3, Mind 3) – This allows the Mage to enter the
Dreaming through a sleeping person's dreams [yes, you need a
sleeping person to do it. Please note that the user will have to leave
the person's dream and enter another dream, but this is usually not too
much of a problem. Also note how useful that Dream background
becomes.]

The Blasting Rod (Spirit 3 Forces 3/5, Prime 2) – This rote uses a
hazel staff, which is used to punish disobedient or aggressive spirits.
The mage releases flashes of force against beings in the umbra while
he is still in the physical world, damaging or driving away spirits. It is
very effective way to force spirits summoned into the Triangle to obey,
as many cannot leave until given permission and the mage may beat
them to submission.

Walking forth by Day (Dreamer) – It is possible for a dreamer to

cross over from the dream realms into the waking world by breaking
through the gauntlet of the realms into reality. The mage appears
physically in the world, and now has to follow its laws. At the same
time his real body lies asleep somewhere, and cannot awake until the
dreamer returns into its dreams. However, there is a risk that Paradox
can sever the link between the dreamer and his body in this state, and
then the body will awaken. Apparently the body is possessed by a
paradox being with exactly the same abilities and powers as the mage,
bent on making sure it’s the only one. More than one ambitious
Dreamer has fallen victim to himself in this fashion.

Tracing the Path of the Dharmic Wheel (Akashic) (Spirit 3, Time

2) – A rote first perfected by the Akashic Putila Khan, who pursued his Ascension across
his own past lives. Putila used this rote to learn more about the way he had lived in order
to guide his present life. Eventually though, he became careless and lost himself in his
own past.

[This enables the mage to read a target's past lives, and extract
information from them. The difficulty is lowered by 1 for each point of
Dream the mage has, while it is raised depending on how far back the
mage is going. Mind 2 is sometimes added to allow the mage to
directly experience these past lives. A botch causes the mage to be
lost in one of the past lives, a state not unlike a Quiet realm.]

Opening the four watchtowers (Enochian) (Spirit 3 Forces 2) –

The mage summon the powers of the four elements to protect him and
his temple. As long as the mage stay inside the temple he is protected
by the enochian hierarchy. Anything that happens inside the temple is
known by the spirits, who may choose to intervene. They mostly use
coincidental magick, but may in extreme cases choose to manifest.

Time
Fujimiya’s Masterful Ninja Time Rote (Time 3, Mind 1, Entropy 1)
– Just the thing for the clever coyote, this Rote can turn anyone into a
Master Ninja. It was first used by Glen Manning, a Mystery Science
Theatre fan, who wanted to fight just like the ninjas in bad martial arts
flicks.

[Time slows down for the Mage, who then can use the Dim Mak to
affect the best possible spot on the enemy. Also, absurdly silly but
effective dodges are possible, since the attacker is moving in slow
motion; -2 to all dodge target numbers, which is the most attractive
feature and most imperative element of it’s creator. Hi-yah!]

Temple of Love (Time 3 Correspondence 2) – While the mage uses

tantric sex-magick with a partner inside a circle of lit incense-sticks,
the time outside the participants slow down while their own time
accelerates. The result is a zone of relative safety around the mage for
a short while. The difference in the passage of time is so abrupt it
creates a kind of barrier, which seeks to delay passing objects or
personas. Most such effects are coincidental, like having enterers
stumble, doors getting stuck or shoelaces suddenly appearing untied.
The mage will also instinctively know well before when somebody will
try to enter, and have ample time to prepare.

Resting (Life 3 Time 3) – The mage speeds up sleep for somebody, so

he will awake
rested sooner. A pleasurable side-effect is that dreams will be very
beautiful and intense.

Prolong Life (Life 3 Time 3) – By selectively slowing down the

processes of ageing, many Cultists remain young and healthy despite
their hectic lives. In fact, most users of this rote perform it by simply
living as pleasurably as possible.

Faint (Life 2 Time 3 Mind 2) – Just because Kiarra likes to be KIND to

every living thing and is a pacifist does NOT mean that she can’t kick
some serious booty, and needs to make sure People Just Stay Down
sometimes! This rote was perfected during the one of her many
incarnations, sometime during the mid 18th century when Corsets were
all the rage. And people often forget what the saw just before
fainting...

Preserve (Time 3 Entropy 3 Prime 2 Matter 1/Life 1) (Maurader) – A

recurring problem for pattern-mages is that many of their creations
don't last well or begin to dissolve. This is especially the problem with
the creation of living beings. One solution is to seek to restore their
patterns and slow down their ageing. Some mages have even begun
using it on all their creation to perfect them once they are created.
[The successes of this rote will be added to the original successes to
determine the new duration of the pattern, if there are more than five
the pattern will exist indefinitely. The rote must involve the relevant
sphere to 1 to work.]

Waste Time (Time 3 Entropy 3) – Sometimes nothing seems to get

done, regardless of how much you work or plan noting worthwhile
comes out of it. This effect can be created by a judicious use of Entropy
to make time less "fresh" and useful to people. Some use it to
sabotage the workings of bureaucracies or other organizations by
making employees ineffective and slow. By using even more powerful
Entropy magick time can even be destroyed; the victims will notice
that a certain period has passed but cannot remember anything of it,
and nothing seems to have been done either.

Tantric Meditation (Time 3 Prime 2) – One of the more important

methods of tantric yoga is to have intercourse, but avoid orgasm. This
is continued as long as possible, resulting in a powerfully altered state
of mind. The main use is to experience the true White Light, but some
have found a more practical use of the practice. The tantric Masters of
course disapprove of it, but its useful nevertheless. During the state of
no-time which develop, the mage(s) can weave new magickal effects
but just as orgasm is delayed, delay their expression until the final
moment. This gives them the ability to create extremely complex
magick which is released in a single instant, or strengthen magick
greatly.

[In order to work, the participants must succeed in reaching tantric

trance, using stamina + meditation with a difficulty of 6. The successes
can be used to lower difficulties for magick in this state as described in
the Book of Shadows. The rote requires prime to sustain the etheric
patterns of the magick even when the mage directs his or her will to
other purposes in the ceremony.]

Time is of the Essence (Time 3 Mind 1) – One problem many people

have is that they become stressed or feel they don't have enough time
to think in tense situations. The Cult of Ecstasy has a reputation of
having many great improvisers or wits, and this rote is one of the
reasons. By simply focusing on the present, the mage can speed his
own thoughts to great speed while appearing to be acting normal.

[ The rote will not give the mage any increased speed in movement or
other physical actions (like looking at something else). For practical
purposes, the world seems
to have slowed down into slow- motion. Time is slowed at the rate
normal for Time 3. Alternatively, in a live-roleplaying situation, each
success will give the mage a minute extra to think over his actions,
solve problems or use magick. ]
Enhanced Regeneration (Time 3 Life 2) – Time mages are able to
selectively speed up the healing and regenerative abilities of an
organism, making it recuperate much faster. this is very useful,
although it is often accompanied with hunger and extreme itchiness.
The Sons of Ether apply electricity in precisely calculated patterns to
the wounds, while the Cult of Ecstasy gives the patient such a good
time they forget about being hurt.

[One success halves the healing time, two successes divide it with
three, three with four, etc.]