Guidelines for creating specific effects via the magick spheres using the Mage: The Ascension (1995 second edition, ISBN-10: 1565040651, ISBN-13: 978-1565040656).
Air/Weather Control
Just making a local area warmer or cooler is Forces 2. To call down a single bolt of lightning, Forces 3. Broad changes in temperature, wind, clouds and rain requires Forces 4 (3 successes for minor changes; 5 successes to exaggerated conditions – very windy, heavy rains, etc.).
To create an exceptionally powerful storm (lightning, typhoon-level winds, tornadoes) requires Forces 5 and 10+ successes. Grossly out-of-season changes (snow in Arizona summer) is vulgar magic unless some plausible explanation has been fed to the media (El Nino).
To create a storm and actively control it (rain here, lightning there) requires Entropy 3, Forces 5, Matter 2 and Prime 2.
Animal Control/Summoning
Influencing an animal’s behavior (fight, flee, be calm) is Mind 2; a group of large animals can be affected with Mind 3. Controlling an animal’s every movement is Mind 4, or Mind 5 for a whole group of large animals. Ordering animals to come to the Mage’s area by normal movement can be done with Mind; faster arrivals can be arranged using a combination of Correspondence 2 and Life 2 for small animals (cat-sized), or Correspondence 3 and Life 3 for larger animals (dog-sized or bigger).
Creating living creatures which have never existed before requires Life 5, Mind 5, and 20+ successes in an extended challenge.
Shapechanging into the form of an animal with a human mind is Life 4; changing another into an animal is Life 5.
Animate Object
Animating and controlling a human-sized mass of matter is Forces 4. Animating an object to act like a living creature and make its own decisions requires Forces 4 and Spirit 4.
Apportation
Making a non-living object disappear from one point and appear at another point without cross the space in-between. Correspondence 2 or Spirit 3 (side-trip through near-Earth spirit realm). Living cat-sized creatures may be “pulled from nothingness” using a combination of Correspondence 3 and Life 3, while similarly sized non-living objects can be conjured using Correspondence 3 and Matter 2.
Astral Projection/Planar Travel/Umbral Walk
Simply seeing into the Astral Plane is Spirit 1. To pass leave Earth and pass into the Near Umbra or a Horizon Realm, Spirit 4. To travel into the Deep Umbra, Spirit 5. To enter the Umbra and arrive at a place which does not match with its Earthly counterpart, add Correspondence 3 to the Effect.
To use mental-only astral projection into the Umbra, Mind 5, but mage has a vulnerable silver cord back to the physical body left behind. In astral combat, when a mage’s Willpower is reduced to zero, the silver cord breaks and the mage’s mind drifts away into the Umbra.
Blessing/Cursing
Affecting the good or bad luck of a living being is Entropy 4. Combining Effect withLife 4 can make such effects hereditary (children will carry the same penalty or boon). Examples of birth boons include great beauty, exceptional musical talent, or superior vitality against disease.
Bonding Control
To change the physical cohesion of matter, Matter 3 or better. To disintegrate matter into debris, Entropy 4. To disintegrate an object into nothingness, Prime 4 with Forces 4 or Prime 4 with Matter 4. Add Life 5 to affect living beings.
Catastrophes
Causing violent storms, tornadoes, tidal waves, earthquakes, forest fires or volcanic eruptions is usually done through Forces 5 with 10+ success for weather, 20+ for earth-related events. Causing an individual illness requires Life 3 with 3+ successes, but for a widespread plague, Life 5 plus 10+ successes in extended action. To wipe out a field of crops, Entropy 4. To cause nightmares throughout a population, Mind 5 plus 10+ successes in extended actions each night. To shut down a city utility system, Entropy 3 or Forces 4 with 10+ successes in either case (or only 5+ success to affect just one building).
Cellular Psychokinesis/Biological PK
To heal one’s own injuries, Life 2; to heal another, Life 3.
To cause wounds, Entropy 2: 3 successes, no damage; 4 successes, 8 levels of damage; 5 successes, 10 levels of damage; 6+ successes, 18 levels of damage.
To mutate, polymorph, or shapechange oneself, Life 4; to change another, Life 5. To age rapidly, Entropy 4 or Time 3.
Clairaudience, Clairgustance, Clairvoyance, ESP, etc.
To sense basic space and measurements, Correspondence 1; sense fate, Entropy 1; measure forms of energy like light or heat, Forces 1; detect nearby living things, Life 1; know what something is made out of, Matter 1; sense thinking minds, Mind 1; detect magic, Prime 1; detecting nearby spirits, Spirit 1; keeping perfect timing, Time 1.
Viewing an area other than where the mage currently stands is Correspondence 3; finding an object somewhere else is also Correspondence 3. Viewing an area through the eyes and ears of people who are actually there is Mind 3.
Cold Control
Removing heat from an object or area is Forces 2 or Entropy 3. To cause a killer frost, Forces 4 (in season) or Forces 5 (out of season, also probably vulgar magic).
Density Control
To change the surface cohesion of a liquid (walk on water), Forces 2. To make something intangible so that other matter can pass through it, Matter 4; for living being, Prime 5 with Life 3. To alter something’s mass without changing its size, Matter 5 (each success halves or doubles mass); this effect may make objects tougher or more brittle. To alter something’s size without changing its mass, Correspondence 5 (each success halves or doubles size).
Duplicate Self
A mage can create multiple versions of herself which think and act in multiple locations at once with a combined Effect involving Correspondence 4, Mind 1 and Life 2. However, only the “original” mage can work magick.
Electric Control
Controlling a flow of voltage is Forces 2. Causing a sudden release of ambient static electricity with Forces 2 causes 1 level of damage per success. Simply disrupting electrical current or machines using electricity is Entropy 3. To create current from nothing, including bolts of lightning, Forces 3.
Enchant an Object/Bind a Spirit
Giving magickal power to an object is Prime 3; the result is a talisman. Binding a spirit to an object is Spirit 3; the result is a fetish.
Enchanted weapons – from fists to bullets – cause aggravated damage against vampires, garou, Awakened beings like mages, and even spirits not normally harmed by physical objects. Such enchantments apply to magick only – an enchanted denim jacket might be like Kevlar to magickal forces but is only cloth to normal bullets or blades. This sort of enchantment requires 5+ successes but is almost never vulgar magick since normal functions are unchanged.
See Mage, Second Edition rulebook, p. 245, for complete details.
Empathy
Sensing another’s emotions is Mind 1. Changing those emotions is Mind 2 or Life 4.
Exorcism
To detect spirit possession, Spirit 1.
To expel a spirit from a person or object, use Spirit 4; instead of the usual Arete, use Willpower against the spirit’s Willpower in an extended contest once per scene, hour or day. Successes depend on the strength of the spirit: 10 successes to cast out minor spirits; 15 for a Minion-level spirit; 20 for a Preceptor or major Bane; or 30+ for a Spirit Lord.
Prime 3 can help in exorcism; for every success in an Arete-based Prime roll versus Difficulty 6, add 1 success to the exorcism total. In addition, some shamans use Manipulation + Expression or Manipulation + Intimidation to frighten a spirit into surrendering.
Fire/Heat Control
Increasing heat in an object or area is Forces 2. To create a ball of flame, Forces 3. (Fireballs can also be normal fires from somewhere else teleported into the area with Correspondence 3.)
Gravity Control
To increase the “pull” of Earth’s gravity, Forces 5;each success equals 1G of “attraction.” Thus, 4 successes creates 4G – possibly a 5G pull “down” on Earth if focused toward the ground. (As a general rule, people can remain standing under a G-force equal to their Strength attributes and remain breathing under G-forces equal to Stamina attribute scores x 2. Subjects caught in a gravity field higher than their Strength must roll Strength dice pool against a difficulty of caster’s successes + 3; failure means 1 level of damage, success allows crawling a few feet to try and escape.) To alter something’s mass without changing its size, Matter 5.
Haste/Slow
Speeding up or slowing down time is Time 3. The area sped up or slowed down is limited to a small area of about 1 to 2 yards radius.
To accelerate, each success over 2 speeds up time by a factor of one – 3 successes double speed, 4 successes triple speed, etc. Persons under the effect of time acceleration receive an extra action each turn for every factor of speed; this bonus does not apply to working True Magick.
To slow, each success over 2 slows down time by a factor of one – 3 successes halves speed, etc. Persons under the effect of time acceleration lose actions; for example, 3 successes would limit someone to one action every second turn.
Mages can “freeze time” in a small area using Time 4. Mages can “remove” themselves from time using Time 5.
Healing
To detect injuries or illness in a body or mind is Life 1. To heal one’s own injuries, Life 2; to heal another, Life 3;to heal a group, Life 4. Each success repairs one wound level; 5 successes needed per point of Flaw to heal crippling injuries, mental disorders, or other more permanent disabilities. Diseases can be cured with 10+ successes in an extended action. Aggravated wounds require vulgar magick to heal.
To heal a non-mortal spirit, Spirit 5.
To restore life to a dead body, Effect combines Life 5, Mind 5 and Spirit 5 (plusPrime 1 if Awakened), with successes needed based on how long body was dead: 2 successes, less than an hour; 3, a day; 4, many days; 5, six months; 6+ for longer times.
To temporarily enhance a physical ability (Strength, Dexterity, or Stamina), use Life 4; each success lowers the subject’s next action’s difficulty by 1 (up to -3 maximum).
Illusions
To create realistic phantasms in someone’s mind, Mind 3. To actually control colors, visions and sounds throughout an area, Forces 4, but illusions will have no physical substance. To create a scene in which objects can move, be touched and react to “real” people within the illusion, Effect requires combined Forces 4, Matter 4 and Spirit 4.
To turn an object invisible, Forces 4 with Matter 2 or Correspondence 4.
Injure/Damage
The nature and form of this Effect depends on the sphere used: a missile of focused energy, rapid cell rot, a swarm of hostile spirits, etc.
Correspondence: Cannot cause damage by itself, but Correspondence 5 allows for an object to exist in many locations at once; thus one bullet could enter a body from four different directions, causing four times the damage. Each success adds a new vector of direction to an attack; for example, 3 successes cause damage x 3.
Entropy 2: With 3 successes or less, no damage; 4 successes, 8 levels of damage; 5 successes, 10 levels of damage; 6+ successes, 18 levels of damage.
Forces 4: With 1 success, 1 level of damage; 2 successes, 2 damage; 3 successes, 7 damage; 4 successes, 9 levels of damage; 5 successes, 11 levels of damage; 6+ successes, 19 levels of damage.
Life 4 (only affects living beings; only affects spirits which materialize bodies): With 1 success, no damage; 2 successes, 1 damage; 3 successes, 6 damage; 4 successes, 8 levels of damage; 5 successes, 10 levels of damage; 6+ successes, 18 levels of damage.
Matter 3 (only affects non-living objects): With 1 success, no damage; 2 successes, 1 damage; 3 successes, 6 damage; 4 successes, 8 levels of damage; 5 successes, 10 levels of damage; 6+ successes, 18 levels of damage.
Mind 5 (target must have a mind): With 2 successes or less, no damage; 3 successes, 5 damage; 4 successes, 7 levels of damage; 5 successes, 9 levels of damage; 6+ successes, 17 levels of damage.
Prime 5 (versus living being): With 4 successes or less, no damage; with 5+ successes, being dies.
Spirit 3 versus beings of ephemera (only affects pure spirits or beings in the Umbra): With 1 success, no damage; 2 successes, 1 damage; 3 successes, 6 damage; 4 successes, 8 levels of damage; 5 successes, 10 levels of damage; 6+ successes, 18 levels of damage.
Spirit 3 versus inanimate objects of ephemera (only affects objects in the Umbra): With 1 success, no damage; 2 successes, 1 damage; 3 successes, 6 damage; 4 successes, 8 levels of damage; 5 successes, 10 levels of damage; 6+ successes, 18 levels of damage.
Spirit 3 versus Earth realm beings or objects; causes aggravated damage: With 1 success, no damage; 2 successes, 1 agg. damage; 3 successes, 6 agg. damage; 4 successes, 8 levels of agg. damage; 5 successes, 10 levels of agg. damage; 6+ successes, 18 levels of agg. damage.
Time: Cannot cause damage by itself, but Time 3 accelerates time; thus 15 seconds of exposure to fire can be made to burn as if exposure was a full minute, causing four times the damage. Each success over 2 speeds up time by a factor of one – 3 successes double speed, 4 successes triple speed, etc.
Levitation
To “float” oneself up or down, Forces 2 and 3 or more successes (4 if carrying a lot of weight). To “fly” in a direction with speed, Forces 3.
Light Control
Making an object shine or brightening an area is Forces 2. To create light in total darkness, Forces 3. To control colors and visions throughout an area, Forces 4.
Magick Control
Sensing the presence of Quintessence is Prime 1. To channel “raw” quintessence into living beings from a powerful source (a Node), Prime 3; to gather quintessence from general surroundings, Prime 5.
To expel quintessence from an area (purify a room), Prime 4.
To strengthen something against magick and give it presence in both physical and astral planes (make magickal armor or weapons), Prime 2. To give magickal power to an object (create a talisman), Prime 3.
To change the fundamental pattern of matter or energy (make solids insubstantial, cause magnets to have only one pole), or to disintegrate the object, Prime 4 with Forces 4 or Prime 4 with Matter 4.
To perform anti-magick, the defending mage rolls her Prime rating (Prime 2+ required) against a difficulty of 8. Spending Quintessence to lower difficulty is not allowed. Each success allows the mage to spend 1 Quintessence to raise the rival mage’s difficulty by 1, up to a maximum of 10. This may exceed the usual +3 rule. The other mage may spend Quintessence or Willpower to strengthen her Effect.
Existing Effects may be broken by unweaving, which requires the dispelling mage to have at least one level in each sphere used in the magickal Effect plus Prime 1+. Roll Arete versus Difficulty 8; each successes counters continuing successes put into the Effect. To dispel “permanent” magick such as enchanted items, 5 to 15+ successes are needed.
Mages can intuitively sense when their Effects are being tampered with by rolling Wits + Intuition versus a difficulty of 7.
Magnetic Control
Making an object more or less magnetic than it should be is Forces 2 orMatter 2. Controlling magnetic fields is Forces 2; most forms of computer data storage using magnetic disks or tape can be damaged easily with this effect: 1-2 successes, some data lost; 3-4, all data completely corrupt; 5+, data format permanently ruined.
Mass/Matter Control
To alter something’s mass without changing its size, Matter 5. To change a matter’s form, Matter 4 (liquids to gas or solid) or Matter 5 (solids to gas). To change fundamental composition (lead into gold), Matter 4 with Prime 4.
To change something’s size and mass together, Matter 5 with Correspondence 5 or Life 3 with Correspondence 5.
Mental Projection
To create images and sensations within a person’s dreams, Mind 3; to do so on an awake, conscious mind, Mind 4; to affect many minds at once, Mind 5.
Mesmerism
To send a brief mental suggestion, Mind 2; to implant a post-hypnotic suggestion which will be triggered later based on some condition or stimulus, Mind 3. To fully control a person’s thoughts and body, Mind 4. To alter memories, Mind 4 or Entropy 5.
To temporarily enhance an ability through the power of suggestion (Intelligence, Stamina, or Driving), Life 4 or Mind 4; each success lowers the subject’s next action’s difficulty by 1 (up to -3 maximum).
Plant Control
Living plants can be altered with Life 2; for example, a tree’s branches can be reshaped. Causing massive increases in plant growth can be done by either Life 3 or Time 3. Creating new breeds of plant which have never existed before is Life 5.
Psychokinesis/Telekinesis/PK-Proper
To move something already in motion without touching it, Forces 2 (4 successes for a speeding bullet or sprinting man; 5 for a moving car, etc.; Wits required for fine motor control like throwing a needle). To begin moving an object at rest, Forces 3 (successes equal to equivalent feats of strength).
Random psychokinesis/"poltergeist" effects such as subconsciously throwing objects around with PK powers is usually the result of a botched attempt at a similar controlled effort. Young mages who may not realize their Awakened power with Forces might suffer from this effect.
Animating an object to act like a living creature requires Forces 4 and Spirit 4.
Precognition
Predicting events in the near future is Entropy 1 or Time 2. Seeing into the far future is Time 2 with successes: 1 success, one year; 2, five years; 3, two decades; 5, five decades; 5, a century; 6 to 9, five centuries; 10+, a millennium.
Radiation Control
To change one form of energy into another (light into gravity, sound into heat), Forces 3. Making an object shine or brightening an area is Forces 2. To create light in total darkness, Forces 3. To unleash all the energy from an atom at once (nuclear explosion), Forces 5.
Retrocongnition
Viewing events in the past is Time 1 with successes: 1 success, one year; 2, five years; 3, two decades; 5, five decades; 5, a century; 6 to 9, five centuries; 10+, a millennium. Sensing magickal residues is Prime 1.
Telepathic Receiving
Sensing others’ emotions is Mind 1; reading surface thoughts is Mind 2; and probing into deeper thoughts is Mind 3.
To read the minds of people in the past, add Time 2 to the Effect.
Telepathic Sending/Mind Control
Broadcasting emotions to others is Mind 2 or Life 4. Speaking into the mind of another, including creating images or emotions, is Mind 3 (or just Mind 2 if done in dreams). Taking control of another’s mind (and bodies and memories) is Mind 4. Creating or destroying ideas is Entropy 5. Subjects of these Effects can resist with Willpower.
To temporarily enhance a mental ability (Intelligence, Wits, or Perception), Life 4 or Mind 4; each success lowers the subject’s next action’s difficulty by 1 (up to -3 maximum).
Teleportation
Making oneself disappear from one point and appear at another point without crossing the space in-between is Correspondence 3 (pure teleport) or Spirit 3 (side-trip through near-Earth spirit realm). Affecting another person in this manner is Correspondence 4 or Spirit 4. Blocking an area from letting other teleport into the location is Correspondence 4.
Jumping forward in time requires Time 5. The power required to move backwards in time is not known to any but the most powerful mages (not the player characters unless game master decides otherwise).
Transmutation
To alter something’s mass without changing its size, Matter 5. To change something’s size and mass together, Matter 5 with Correspondence 5 or Life 3 with Correspondence 5.
To change a matter’s form, Matter 4 (liquids to gas or solid) or Matter 5 (solids to gas). To change fundamental composition (lead into gold), Matter 4 with Prime 4.
To mutate, polymorph, or shapechange oneself is Life 4; to change another, Life 5.
To convert something into pure energy, Forces 2 with Matter 5 or Forces 2 with Life 5. To change one form of energy into another (light into gravity, sound into heat), Forces 3.
Warding/Resist Magick
To create a personal “force field” or protected area which others cannot scry, apport, or teleport in or out of, use Correspondence 2, with each success of ward subtracting from other mages’ success results to penetrate. Successes also determine duration of ward: 1 success, a few seconds; 2 successes, a few minutes; 3, a day; 4, many days; 5, six months; 6+ for longer times. Such wards are often “renewed” from time to time with extended actions to maintain their strength.
To create a personal or local barrier which totally blocks contact with a specific type of creature, object or condition (knives, lightning, vampires, etc.), use Correspondence 3 plus one of the following: Life 3, Matter 3, or Spirit 4. This protection cannot be set up to block True Magick or Paradox spirits.
To shield a mage’s mind from being scanned for thoughts and emotions, use Mind 1. To share this mental protection with others, use Mind 3 with each success adding another person to be protected. Each success of ward subtracts from other mages’ success results to penetrate.
To trap a spirit in the physical realm of Earth, use Spirit 4.
To use magick directly against another mage’s magick requires a blocking mage to have at least one level in each sphere used in the “in-coming” magickal Effect. Roll Arete versus difficulty 7 if the mage was the target of the Effect; Difficulty 8 otherwise. Each success cancels a success of the Effect. To reflect part or all of the Effect against the mage who created it, roll Arete versus difficulty 9.
To disrupt an Effect with a different sphere (sphere-to-sphere countermagick, such as creating waves of Force to complicate a Correspondence rote), or to counter a faerie’s Glamour or vampire’s Thaumaturgy, roll Arete versus Difficulty 8. To counter a Garou Gift or ghostly Arcanos, same roll but Spirit 1+ is also required. Each successes counters one Effect success.
To perform anti-magick, the defending mage rolls her Prime rating (Prime 2+ required) against a difficulty of 8. Spending Quintessence to lower difficulty is not allowed. Each success allows the mage to spend 1 Quintessence to raise the rival mage’s difficulty by 1, up to a maximum of 10. This may exceed the usual +3 rule. The other mage may spend Quintessence or Willpower to strengthen her Effect.
Existing Effects may be broken by unweaving, which requires the dispelling mage to have at least one level in each sphere used in the magickal Effect plus Prime 1+. Roll Arete versus Difficulty 8; each successes counters continuing successes put into the Effect. To dispel “permanent” magick such as enchanted items, 5 to 15+ successes are needed.
Mages can intuitively sense when their Effects are being tampered with by rolling Wits + Intuition versus a difficulty of 7.