Matter

Q: Are there any other 'lasting' changes other than durability increase that can be performed to
items? I am planning on having an artificers in our game and would like to be clear on some of
the rules.
A: If the Storyteller allows them, yes. But be careful here. I wouldn't allow lasting changes that
significantly alter the function of an item, even a +1 equipment bonus. Durability helps an item to
keep from breaking, but it doesn't change its basic function.

Q: I was wondering about some of the Matter spells. There is a level 4 rote that increases the
equipment bonus for complex machinery. Is this the same rote used for swords and other
'simple tools' and does it have the dame duration (one scene), meaning that you have to have
Matter +1 for prolonged duration?
A: Yes, I can imagine a Matter 4 spell that adds equipment bonus dice to simple tools. Note,
however, that the default duration for the Alter Efficiency spell is prolonged, which means it lasts
for one scene or one hour. You'd need Matter 5 to use the advanced prolongation factors.

Q: In the Matter arcana, most of the rotes require being able to physically touch an item you're
casting a rote on in order to affect it. However, in the Steel Windows Matter 3 rote, it mentions
that you can affect an item with tools, implying that you can affect it so long as something you're
touching is touching what you're casting the spell on. Is this the case for all rotes, or just a
unique thing for Steel Windows?
A: It's a unique exception, although you can certainly create new spells with the same
exception, if the Storyteller thinks it fits. Otherwise, you need one dot higher proficiency to cast
at sensory range.
Q: Matter 2 and Matter 3, especially Transmute Water and Transmute Earth, refer a lot to
"common" items. You give some examples in the book, but any suggestions for rules? I have a
player who's an industrial chemist and wanted to change water into Hydro Cyanide, saying it
was a very common substance for him to work with. I know Common by every day sleeper
standards, and have said thus for "if its in a grocery store, it can be considered common," but is
that really right to say? Or is there some other standard to look at?
A: Your grocery store standard works okay. "Naturally occurring" is another standard, although
as a guideline rather than a restrictive law. If it requires someone to go to the trouble of making
or refining it in a laboratory, then it's probably not common. Hydro Cyanide sounds like such a
substance.

Q: The description for Adept of Matter states "I can turn lead into gold to satisfy their trite
expectations." However, Transmute Gold only allows for the mage to transmute the precious
material into a non-precious material, not the other way around. Is that supposed to be how it
works?
A: Yes, there's missing text with the Transmute Gold description. The mage can transform a
common substance into a precious one. Success determines the purity of the transformation.
Even though the Size of the object doesn't change, only a portion of it is of a good quality. For
instance, with one success, one quarter of the object might become decent karat gold, while the
rest is cheap karat. With an exceptional success, the whole thing is pure.

Mind
Q: Mind 2 "Influence Emotion" seems extremely versatile, but what exactly is meant by the
target questioning where an emotion came from? Is this indicative of invoking Disbelief with
large shifts (anger/joy, etc.), or just allowing bonus dice to resist the spell if it's a large change?
A: Mainly just bonus dice, unless the target has a reason to believe supernatural powers are
afoot (he might be a paranoid evangelical wary of the Devil, for instance).

Q: On the game balance front, it has been pointed out that psychic assault is clearly the best
choice because one can launch it from twilight using an astral body. Is there an exception to this
spell that does not allow it to be 'upgraded' to lethal (or with a mana, aggravated) damage as
long as you have Mind 5?
A: He'd first need a spell that allowed him to affect the material world, unless his targets are
likewise in Twilight. Also, he couldn't cast rotes this way, since he can't perform the mudras
required.

Q: Also, does Misperception carry a penalty against things protected from mental influence (ie
frenzying vampire)? Does it affect mindless beings?
A: The Storyteller might choose to allow the frenzying vampire a reflexive Blood Potency roll to
contest the Misperception; if the successes equal or exceed the Misperception's successes, the
vampire ignores the Misperception. Give me an example of a "mindless" being. Animals have
minds, and so are affected.

Q: Also, what type of attribute damage do Befuddle and Enfeeblement do? The kind that can be
healed as Bashing damage? Or can the attributes removed by those spells even be recovered
until the duration is up?
A: The effects last until the spell expires.

Q: If a spirit steals someone's memories, can the memories be returned using Mind or would
you say that the memories are part of the person's soul and therefore require Spirit Arcana to
get them back? What level of Mind/Spirit would be required?
A: Depends, I guess, on how they were stolen. Does the numen that allows the spirit to do this
take the memory out of the person's mind as if it were an object held by the spirit? Then getting
it back and reversing the effect might restore the memories, and that might involve just a Spirit
spell to cancel a numen, or a Spirit-Mind conjunctional effect to merge the memory back from its
ephemeral state to its mental state. It all depends on the power you use for the spirit and your
excuse for how it works.

Prime
Q: Do Imbued Items simply lock in the number of successes gained on the initial spell casting
roll permanently? IE: an Imbued Transform Aura spell with 10 successes dedicated to the Effect
would give those same 10 successes each time the item is worn? If so, is the main reason for
triggered effects for those spells in the Fate category that have a number of "charges" per
casting?
A: Yes, the number of successes is encoded into the item. Not all effects are wise to use all the
time, though, so some crafters use triggers to activate them only when they want to.

Q: Do Imbued spells show up to Mage Sight, or is it conditional on which spells are Imbued? Ie:
Transform Aura or Alter Aura show no resonance when Imbued, but a Omni vision spell would?
A: If the item's powers are active, it shows up to Mage Sight. If the item has powers that can be
triggered but haven't been, then Mage Sight can't necessarily detect the magic without a deep
scrutiny.

Q: Since Imbue Item is a purely Prime spell, regardless of what spells it may encapsulate, does
that mean that any mage with Prime 1 can Dispel an Imbued Item, given enough successes?
A: I'm not sure this actually made it into the text anywhere (I can't seem to find it at the
moment), but the reason it costs one Willpower dot (rather than a point) to imbue an item is so
that it can't be dispelled (but it can be destroyed, breaking the magic's Pattern).

Q: The reason I asked was because the "Disguise Resonance" Spell specifically stated the
Resonance of locations... nothing about other types of more dynamic resonance, or that of
spells themselves. I figured yes, since you would have to have a way to disguise Wards, and
other long-lasting effects.
A: I mentioned in an earlier answer that I had meant to add a Prime 2 ability whereby you can
conceal your spells as you cast them. If you want to conceal a spell or item after it's been cast,
then a Prime 3 spell would probably do it, a variation on the Disguise Resonance spell.
C: The Merit rules concern only buying such things during character creation. Once play begins,
they're built using the Imbued Item spell (among others). The process of making even an item
with a conditional trigger still requires the imbuement to be permanent.

Q: Supreme Augmentation (mind 4) if cast into an item counts as a mind 4 effect regardless of
potency, but would need to be cast by someone with mind 5 to be indefinite. Am I correct if I say
a persistent effect of this would be lvl 6 (1+mind 4+1 indef duration) and the conditional would
be lvl 5(1+mind 4)?
A: No, you don't need all that for the Mind spell. The Imbue Item spell itself is the only one that
needs to be of indefinite Duration (otherwise, the imbuement lasts only as long as the spell's
Duration -- not a very useful item). Each spell imbued within the item is given whatever Duration
the crafter wants -- your Supreme Honing might have the basic Duration factor of one scene.
Since the whole process is an extended action, you're adding success to the total target number
for each additional Duration factor you add to each spell imbued. On top of all that, you're
adding successes to create the Imbue Item spell's own Duration.
Q: When you trigger an effect, do you use the successes of the activation roll or are the success
of the ritual used? For the above example, could you have a honing spell that would always be
activated at maximum, or would you have to take the successes of the activation and distribute
that?
A: This is something I need to address in more detail in the FAQ. Currently, the Merit doesn't
allow for items with Potencies greater than what are gained by activation roll. I need to change
that. In the case of an item made in-game, its Potency per activation is whatever was encoded
into it during the Imbue Item spell casting.

Q: I've written up a bunch of Prime spells that technically violate Spell Control rules, but I figure
if there's anything that Prime is designed to do, it's metamagic. Specifically I have spells
designed to add successes to an existing spell, usurp control of another mage's spell, and
reallocate the factors of an existing spell. Are these kosher?
A: You're free to do anything you want in your own game. If you want a game with more
mercurial control over magic, then go for it. I shy away from it as an official answer, though. I
considered some of the items you mention (boosting Potency for existing spells, or reallocating),
but I chose not to tackle such complexities just yet. If I do introduce it later, it will either be as
part of arch mastery, or a magical secret that must be learned. (Yes, there are some forms of
magic that aren't simply known by learning an Arcanum dot -- we'll explore those later.)

Q: If you Imbue Items with a spell that requires an Extended casting, when the Item is activated,
is it cast as an Instant spell?
A: Well, activation isn't really a casting action, although it is an instant action. So, it can be
activated as an instant action.

Q: The Imbue item spell reads like you need to cast the spell being imbued as the indefinite
spell always. It would be nice to hear that you don't need that to be the case for non-persistent
effects.
A: Only the Imbue Item spell needs to indefinite, unless one of the imbued spells has a
permanent effect, in which case it also needs to be indefinite. It the spell just has a triggered
activation, it needs to last only as long as you want it to (by choosing its Duration factors during
the Imbue Item casting).

Q: However, If the spell Imbue item always needs to be made permanent...does this mean that
it used prolonged duration by default...or do we need prime 4 to make permanent items?
A: It doesn't need to be made permanent, although it sure helps. If it's not permanent, the
imbuement lasts only as long as the Imbue Item spell's Duration (one scene or more, depending
on the factors used in the casting). You do indeed need Prime 4 to begin making permanent
imbued items.

Q: Moreover...Does this mean that we always have to relinquish 2 spells (the imbue item spell
AND the other spell, or is it considered a conjunctional casting and both count as a single spell
(and 1 WP that needs to be burned)? If the secondary spell does not need to be indefinite (for
triggered effects), do we need to relinquish that one?
A: Only the Imbue Item spell needs to be relinquished, and that costs a dot rather than a point of
Willpower. (New rule: You can spend a point instead, if you want, but the item's imbuement spell
can then be dispelled by others.)

Q: And I am all over that...but it gives the impression that normal magical Irems (imbued or
possibly even enhanced) cannot normally be dispelled, only destroyed or lost. I know if I use the
new rule in the cam game, items that only cost a point of WP I'll be restricting to single use
items (like potions, scrolls, charms sort of thing) An imbued spell can have a high potency
making it hard to dispel on the fly...but having multiple use items that only cost a point of WP,
while manageable in a TT game, would wreak havoc with a LARP game
A: The idea is that by spending a dot of Willpower to relinquish the Imbue Item spell, it seals the
item and its imbuement's cannot be dispelled. The active use of its imbued spells, however, can
be dispelled. If you use an imbued item to trigger a Ward, for instance, that Ward can be
dispelled, although the power still exists within the item to trigger another Ward. A permanently
active spell effect can't be dispelled, although dispelling it can probably dampen it for a while
(assume a base duration of prolonged for such a casting).

Q: Magical Deadzones get destroyed by disbelief as well as artificial hollows?

A: No, they don't trigger Disbelief -- they don't appear vulgar to Sleeper eyes.

Q: One of the benefits of Rotes are that they reduce your Paradox pool by one. If I Imbue an
item with the a Vulgar spell using the Imbue Item Rote ("Forge of Power"), does it reduce the
Paradox by a point every time it's activated (and thus incurs a Paradox roll)?
A: No. An enchanted item activation roll is not the same as spell casting, and certainly not the
same as rote casting, even if a rote was used to make it.

Q: For the Imbue Item and Scribe Grimoire spells, what would you rule on being able to enchant
non-material things? (ie Life, Forces, Mind, or Spirit Patterns)
A: You need arch mastery for that. We'll tackle some of that in Tome of the Mysteries.

Q: Inscribe Grimoire (Prime 1) - What is the purpose of the rote in this case? There's no cost;
it's covert and no penalty for failure. Could the completed Grimoire be Scrutinized?
A: The casting dice pool for the rote is probably higher for the mage, allowing him to complete
the extended casting in a shorter amount of time. If your Gnosis is only 1 and it takes you three
hours per roll, you ideally want to be finished in one roll rather than two or three.

Q: Supernal Vision (Prime 1) - "adding Mind 1 to the casting of Supernal Vision allows the
perception of both mental state and nature)" - This seems to imply it's a bonus for having Mind
1, or would a mage need to cast Supernal Vision and Aura Perception separately?
A: It's a bonus exception, allowing the effects to be combined in this case without having to cast
a combined spell.
Q: Use Imbue Item to create a temporary or permanent Imbued Item, which you embed a spell
with Extended Casting time inside. When activated, the spell uses the premade successes, but
activates as an Instant or Reflexive action. This is especially useful when combined with Space
3, Death 3 or Spirit 3, allowing each of their transport spells to be cast as if Adept.
A: Your Potency is determined by your activation roll, not prefigured successes. (source)

Space
Q: Is there a way to tell if somebody else is being scryed upon? Do you sense it and then have
cause to analyze it further?
A: Space 1 "Spatial Awareness" will tell you if there's a scrying window open and allow you to
direct spells through it. Mage Sight scrutiny might also reveal it.

Q: Scrying spells can be used to cast spells through. I'm assuming that even WITH a window
open like that, you still have to deal with sympathetic penalties in full force (so a scrying window
would have, say a -4 for Known, then anything you cast through it would ALSO have a -4,
despite having the conduit open). At least, according to the example on p116.
A: You'd only suffer the sympathetic penalties that apply to the target of the spell. If he his
Known to you, then it's simply -4. The window itself doesn't cause penalties; it merely obviates
the need for Space 2 (for the target of the window, that is).

Q: Does casting through a window that's been formed cost ANOTHER Mana?
A: No.

Q: During ritual casting, when does the window form?

A: Once the spell is completed.

Q: For a <arcana> + Space 2 conjunctional effect that only opens a window for only long
enough for the spell to go through, how many turns does a mage at the other end have to cast a
spell back through it? 'ell, can he even respond that fast?
A: If he has not yet acted that turn, he can cast through the conduit that turn.

Q: Casting scry is Space # + Gnosis # - 4 (Known). Then, casting "Burninate" is... Forces # +
Gnosis #? Or Forces # + Gnosis # - 4, despite the fact that you have a space window open?
A: The Scrying spell does not create a window through which you can fling successive spells --
only the target on the other end has that luxury. You'd have to cast a separate Forces spell with
the same sympathetic penalty.

Q: So "Uber-nuke of death" cast by five cabal members during a 16 hour ritual using the hair of
a solitary mage as the sympathetic connection obtaining over 100 successes... and the mage in
question has less than three seconds to react to a window opening up? Do all mages walk
around with Potency 5 wards on their persons as well as their homes?
A: Well, as I said in a previous post, the number of rolls for an extended casting is usually
limited by the caster's dice pool, just like any mundane extended action. This mean's the group
ritual's leader, not all the dice pools of all the cabal. It's doubtful they'd rack up that kind of
mega-spell.
However, I suppose that if the target is allowed a resisted defense (ie one of his traits is
subtracted from the casting rolls), then he might get an inkling that he's being magically
targeted, via his Unseen Sense. It's up to him to try to figure out what going on then. A Mage
Sight scrutiny would probably reveal a spell-in-process that uses a sympathetic connection to
target him. If he doesn't have Space, there's not much he can do about it until the conduit open,
although he could start prepping his own extended action casting for when it does open.

Q: If a mage with a moon rock open a portal from behind his enemy to the moon he can create
a space vacuum cleaner to send his enemy to the moon? If no why?
A: You can handle this however you like. However, I don't think any magic short of arch mastery
can reach sympathetically past Earth's atmosphere in the material realm.

Q: Can you use the sympathetic connection of a person you are touching to reach things
sympathetically connected to them at 'their' connection level?
A: Sorry, but I wouldn't allow it. It actually doesn't work the other way -- the pillbox doesn't give
you a special sympathetic connection to the guy; for that, you generally need a piece of his
physical substance. You can use the pillbox to learn something about his resonance, but not as
a sympathetic key.

Q: That is a fascinating question... I know traditionally items connected to you can be used to
target you...but I don't know if the question was ever raised if you could use people to target
people or things associated with them. I'd love to hear an answer to this as well... If you can use
people as connections in this fashion...This is a real reason to protect those close to you...
A: There might be some text somewhere in the book that contradicts me, but... objects can give
you a sympathetic connection to a place they are intimately associated with, but not usually to a
person. Temporal sympathy might allow for a bit more leeway on this (but note that the magic
bullet that killed JFK in the example presumably has his blood on it or some piece of his
physical substance).

Q: What if the rock came from under the ocean ? Can I obtain a powerful geyser ?
A: Urg, I guess I need to clarify Portals, and this means perhaps adding an additional rule.
Portals aren't open windows that allow things to passively pass from one side to the other. The
things passing through must do so with some degree of volition, and objects (and people) must
be intentionally thrown through (they don't just go through on their own, such as a rock that
happened to be rolling in front of the Portal, or a whole ocean waiting to leak out through the
new hole in Space).
The new rule, pertaining to the example given of the person falling through a Portal: A person or
creature who was not intentionally flung at the Portal (as in the case of someone who has
grappled you and thrown you through) can make a contested roll to resist passing through a
Portal if he doesn't want to go through. In other words, if you're falling and someone creates a
Portal beneath you, you can contest going through it. Roll Gnosis + Dexterity; only one success
is needed. If you succeed, you pass the Portal as if it's not there (you don't impact it or bounce
off it).
Q: However, doesn't this addendum directly contradict the rules for using magic to ward a will
worker's sanctum, as describe in Sanctum & Sigil? Specifically, the book talks about instances
of mages setting up doors that are actually portals that take mages elsewhere. Wouldn'ta simple
Dex + Gnosis role make this kind of defense all but useless in most circumstances?
A: He doesn't have to know he's going through a Portal. What's important is that he's passing
through it of his own volition or momentum (or via momentum imparted to him by someone
throwing him), even if he thinks he's just stepping off his own front porch.

Q: Also, would anyone be able to make a roll to avoid "falling" into the portal, or only those with
a Gnosis score?
A: Those without Gnosis just roll Dexterity.

Q: Can I open a portal to my enemy (with a sympathetic 1link) and throw a grenade to him ?
(some friends of mine say no objects through the portal).
A: Yes, objects can be thrown through Portals intentionally, just as people who have been
grappled can. There might be an issue with Wisdom here, though...

Q: I'm confused about Correspondence (Space 1). Do you cast it on a subject, and their closest
sympathetic connections become apparent to you, who/what/wherever they may be? (One
success per connection?)
A: The caster casts it upon himself, but uses it in that turn (it's an instant spell) to examine a
particular target to see whether it has sympathetic ties to a particular subject he has in mind. For
example, he wants to know if a car is sympathetically associated with Mefisto, his Free Council
foe. He casts this spell while looking at the car. If he succeeds, he sees the connection (if any)
and knows how strong it is. Strong connections might provide a bonus for casting, while weak
ones might impose a penalty. (The Storyteller should make the roll.) One success is all that's
needed.

Q: "this spell “locks” the current Space template of an area into place" Does this mean if I cast
Ward (Space 2) on a building with a pre-existing Scry window/Portal/etc, those spells would
remain in effect, or would a Ward effectively sever those connections?
A: The spells remain in effect until their Durations expire.

Q: Space 2 + Prime 2 allows a mage to detect someone Scrutinizing or Dispelling their spells.
Would it also allow a mage to detect someone overcoming one of their Wards (and hence
weakening it by 1 point of potency)?
A: Yes, I suppose it would.

Q: If a cabal establishes a Ward together, the spell only counts against the spell leader's total.
Can the cabal similarly assist the spell leader with increasing the pre-existing Ward's potency?
A: No, only the leader can do that.

Q: If a cabal casts a Ward with person A as the spell leader, can someone else in the cabal add
a Ban to that Ward, or would the spell leader have to be the spell leader for the Ward as well?
A: Everybody in the group ritual must be capable of casting the spell, at least in an improvised
version. But the leader is the one whose casting roll counts.
C: All the mages involved in a group ritual must be capable of casting the spell on their own, so
one mage can't introduce a conjunctional effect that all the other ritualists couldn't also add.

Q: Can one Ward be cast conjunctionally with several spheres at once, ie blocking radiation,
humans and zombies with one Ban spell (assuming the casters had the relevant Arcana)?
A: Yes.

Q The duration of Spatial Map (p. 233) is listed as Transitory, without any increment as the
caster progresses in the Arcanum (as it is the case with, say, Telepathy). This hinders the spell
IMO, as it is the only perception spell I am aware of which has a Transitory duration. Is it a
mistake that the duration factor of the spell does not increase as the mage progresses
becoming Apprentice and then Disciple?

Q: The wonderful introductory story of Guardians of the Veil arose in me a question about
Correspondence and Finder. In the story, the mage uses some Space spell to track down
unknown people and suspects starting just from a trivial object (in the story, she is able to track
the serial killer wth as much as a button found near the crime scene, even if she had never seen
the killer himself and did not know even his name - a connection of Unknown, as far as I can
imagine). Has the author misinterpreted the rules? If not, how can I emulate the effect? I was
thinking of a conjunctional Correspondence/Finder spell cast at least with Space 2 or better 3. Is
this correct?

Q: With Space is possible transport a poison within a enemy?

Spirit
Q: "Touch of the Grave" (Death 2) and "Gossamer Touch" (Spirit 2) both allow you to interact
with ghosts and spirits (respectively) on an physical level. "Touch of the Grave" states "The
caster cannot damage ghosts", while "Gossamer Touch" reads, ""whether to offer a friendly
touch or a closed fist". These spells seem very similar and the Spirit version seems to suggest
that you can strike spirits, although the magic itself cannot harm them. Is that correct and if so,
is "Touch of the Grave" the same, allowing you to strike ghosts, but not harm them with magic?
Finally, if the above are correct, can weapons and "physical magic" (such as "Thunderbolt") be
used with those spells?
A: Using those spells, the mage can use his own natural weaponry (fist, kicks, bite) to harm
spirits, but the spells do not allow a magical assault by themselves. You can combine them with
other spells that do cause harm, however. [You can't use a knife or a gun] without using a spell
like Rouse Spirit, to give it an ephemeral presence.

Q: Why does Spirit affect ghosts with "Exorcism", yet "Death" doesn't? Wouldn't it be more
appropriate for Death and Spirit to affect ghosts and spirits, respectively? It's the concept that's
difficult.
A: Because exorcism is a purview of the Spirit Arcanum, mainly because it's what shamans
traditionally do the world over. The Spirit mage can't really do anything to the ghost except
make it leave a vessel it doesn't belong in.

Q: Why can you sculpt inanimate ephemera with Death, but not Spirit? Again, a question of
theme and concept.
A: Spirit is sort of like living ephemera, so many of things that the Arcanum does to spirits
(binding, creating fetishes, Shape Spirit, etc.) are the equivalent. In a sense, Death is kind of like
a Matter Arcanum for ephemera, while Spirit is kind of like a Life Arcanum for ephemera.
C: Atlantean cosmology doesn't see ghosts as alive; there are ephemeral shells left behind by
souls. Their animation can be seen sort of like a clockwork mechanism that refuses to wind
down. They are, as far as Awakened magic is concerned, "objects."

Q: Does the level 5 Spirit rote "Shape Spirit" use the Advanced Prolongation rules? In the
example of the spell, Nine Jade Thunder creates a spirit with infinite duration. Wouldn't she
need arch mastery of spirit to use the advanced prolongation table?
A: Yes, this was supposed to use the advanced prolongation charts. I thought we caught all the
laggards in the text, but I guess at least two got past us, and surely more. So, expect errata
eventually.
Q: "Numinous Shield" also says that you can counter spirit powers, and refers you to the
Counter spell spell... can you only do this while the Shield is active? If you cast Counter spell in
this way, do successes just take away 1for1 from the casting by the target? If you learn it as a
Rote, ("Counter spell Numina"?) what Attribute is used with the Occult+ Spirit roll?
A: The reference to Counter spell is just a helpful reminder that you have that option, in addition
to the Numinous Shield. It's not meant to imply a special rule for it.

Q: Can a ghost be sculpted the same way a spirit can?

A: Presumably, yes.

Q: The Spirit power Shape Spirit says that Numina can be bought with successes on a one for
one basis. How is the power of the Numina factored into that? As written it seems like a Numina
that mimics a five dot spell, gift or discipline power can be given to a spirit for the same cost as
one that mimics only a one dot power. Is it meant to be that way?

Q: Is it possible for an extant spirit to consume a spirit created with this spell, even if the created
spirit is not permanent? Would the benefits of the consumption be erased after the duration of
the spell or would they be more of a lasting effect?

Time
Q: Is Chronos Curse (p 264) really supposed to be a rank 4 spell, or just rank 3?
A: It's rank 4. I think it was rank 3 at some point during development, but was bumped up for
game balance reasons (mainly in light of crossover with Vampire and Werewolf).
Q: The spell description for Shifting Sands says that the spell must be cast before your next
action comes up, but the example shows Zeno casting on his action. Which is right?
A: The mage's next action must be to cast the spell, or else he cannot replay the previous
action. Another way to state it: The mage can only replay the action that occurred immediately
before his spell casting action for this spell.
The odd wording in the first paragraph refers to the idea that this spell is also meant to be
defensive, in that the character can cast it at anytime following his last action and before he
takes another action -- even if he can't normally act due to a lower Initiative. So, the example
with Zeno is a bit off -- he could have cast it before the first thug got off his shot.

Q: The sidebar says that triggering a prepared spell "is an instant action; the mage can do it
almost any time." Does this mean that the mage can only move up to his speed in the turn he
triggers a prepared spell, and can he do it before his initiative comes up?
A: Yes, it's like a spell casting action, although the mage is merely triggering what he has
already cast. He cannot do it before his initiative allows.

Q: Often, you don't know what the penalty is when casting hanging spells. Let's suppose that
someone extended casts a triggered Psychic Assault with Fate 2 Time 2 that will hit the next
person that flips him off. In this case, we don't know what the victim's Resolve is, so how can we
apply that penalty? Alternatively, you cast a suspended vulgar spell, but depending on where
you are when you set it off, you may get different amounts of Paradox, which affect your dice
pool.
A: As it says in the Prepared Spell description, if the spell normally allows the target a resisted
defense (ie subtract Resolve), then it must be cast as an aimed spell if it is to be prepared and
triggered later.
As for Paradox, the results of the Paradox roll obviously do not penalize the casting roll, which is
a slight bonus for prepared spells. Otherwise, the Paradox roll itself is still affected by the
normal modifiers (Sleepers, successive castings, etc.).

Q: Postcognition requires you to know the exact clock time that you're trying to look for, as well
as some kind of object to give you sympathy to the target you wish to scry, as well as being in
the location you wish to scry (unless you have Space 2). If you don't have Space 2, you still
need Temporal Sympathy.
A: Yes.

Q: Because someone in a Temporal Packet cannot be interacted with, it could be cast when a
mage is attacked so that the mage can walk away without worry.
A: The mage in the Temporal Pocket doesn't "go" anywhere. Once the spell ends, he reappears
exactly where he was when he went into the Pocket.
C: We did indeed go back and forth and change the rules for Prepared spells a lot before the
final version, and there are still some holes that don't seem to be filled by text that I thought had
been filled. I seem to recall that the final design had represented the idea that all Prepared
spells become aimed spells -- they become a "thing" you carry around in a sort of temporal
pocket, a mystical packet waiting to be unfurled. We changed that for some reason, and I can't
recall why.
I'd like to change it back and go ahead and say that all Prepared spells must become aimed.
But I'm sure some of you will jog my memory and remind me why that rule was changed in the
final hour.('Wink')
(Yes, you can "throw" a packet of magic at someone and make them heal.)
In addition to this overall rule, I'd add this: The caster must make an activation roll to aim and
unfurl the spell at a target. The activation roll is modified by the sorts of things that modify aimed
spells, but if it succeeds the spell takes effect with all the factors that were coded into its casting,
regardless of the amount of successes rolled on the activation roll. If it doesn't succeed, the
magic doesn't connect or unfurl properly.
One outcome of this rule is that Paradox can modify the activation roll, rather than a casting roll.
(Otherwise, you could assume that Prepared spells get a slight advantage and aren't modified
by the Paradox roll's successes, although a Paradox will still takes effect if the Paradox roll
succeeds.)
As for Paradox and extended castings: The successes on the Paradox roll should add to the
target number needed to successfully cast the spell. However, once Paradox is rolled (that is,
upon what seems to be the successful completion of the spell when the normal target number is
reached), no further casting rolls are allowed. If Paradox does indeed add successes to the
target number, then excess successes on the casting roll can "absorb" them and allow for a
successful casting. If there are no excess successes, or there aren't enough to cover those now
needed due to the Paradox, the spell fails but the Paradox takes place. This not only makes it
harder to succeed, it makes it harder to gain exceptional successes on extended castings. The
caster should probably save up some Mana for mitigation.

Q: Probably because the way you described it here, with your rules for "packeted" spells,
regardless of who or what you "throw" the spell at, once it connects (based purely on cover and
such), their resistance attributes are completely ignored. You've already rolled your successes,
already determined the outcome of the spell (sans paradox) and regardless of whether you just
threw it at Stan the garbage man, or Malphestos the Gnosis 43765 Master of the Universe, it will
have the exact same effects, since you skipped the part where you modify your dice-pool based
on the target's resistance.
A: Except that, along with this rule, there would have been rules for casting any spell as an
aimed spell, and I think that's where we hit the roadblock. As with most spell alterations, this
would feasibly require +1 dot rank for the spell (not for the Time 2 needed to prepare it, but for
the spell's other Arcana requirements), and that seems steep. Hmmm....

Q: What precisely do you mean when a Prepared Spell is "cast as" an Aimed spell? Does the
fact that Aimed spells cannot be cast as Extended rituals mean that the "build up eighty
successes and unleash them on somebody" Mage does not exist? Or does it mean that you
make a separate aiming roll to apply the effects somehow?
A: The complications involved I think are one of things that drove us away from adopting the
rule, but I'll persist with the idea a bit: Normally, extended action spells cannot be aimed spells.
In the case of a Prepared spell, it can be -- because the activation roll takes the place of the roll
that tackles all the modifiers involved (range, cover, relevant armor, etc.). The changing
conditions are accounted for.
However, as I mentioned in a previous post, you'd have to be able to convert non-aimed spells
to aimed spells, and that probably requires +1 dot rank above that normally required to cast the
spell in its natural form. I believed during the design process this was a bit onerous, but I think it
would be too much of an advantage to convert to aimed without some cost (and Mana doesn't
seem right to me, especially since the spending limit per turn might get in the way too much).
The current printed system doesn't satisfy all the problems, I'm sorry to say. For one, contested
rolls are as useless as resisted defense, since the Potency of the spell can be huge. Normally,
an extended action must take into account the target's Resistance trait with each roll, so if the
target escapes the scene (or steps into a Warded area in the case of a sympathetic spell), the
casting can't be completed.
I know we dealt with this during the design, because there used to be an activation roll.
Something convinced us to take it out, but I think in hindsight it needs to come back in. So, even
if Prepared spells aren't treated as aimed spells, I think there needs to be an activation roll that
contends with the target's contested roll or Resistance trait, and maybe the Paradox roll's
successes.