Newsgroups: alt.games.whitewolf Subject: Here it is!: MAGE ERRATA From: rjkirkpatric@ualr.edu (RJK) Date: 25 Jan 94 14:16:59 CST Organization: University of Arkansas at Little Rock Nntp-Posting-Host: athena.ualr.edu MAGE ERRATA (Taken From the Book of Chantries) ---------------------------------- Since nobody else who has already chunked out money for the book has bothered to type in the Mage Errata, I thought I'd put my money where my mouth is, and buy the damn thing. The Book of Chantries is, IMHO, worth the price (but I got it at a discount). But I know that not everyone really wants it. So here is the Mage Errata from the back of it. I'm assuming that it's okay to post it, considering that Sam Chupp said he would eventually get me the text to post. But I beat him to it. Two things to note: 1) I put my own little comments in Brackets, sort of a tiny, nitpicky errata to the Errata; and 2) I appended the Errata with an old post from rec.games.frp.misc, but I can't remember who the post was made by and when -- so I'm praying that the author can forgive me. Anyway, enough babbling. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAGE ERRATA (OR, "WHAT WE MISSED") ---------------------- Nobody, as they say, is perfect. A few errors got past us on the first printing of Mage, and we've heard about it ever since (especially from each other). Many of these mistakes were caught and corrected in the second printing, but for those of our fans who bought the first printing we apologize and offer the following corrections. Now, could you please call off the damn H.I.T. Marks? They're doing terrible things to my office... BETWEEN ENEMY LINES ------------------- Ever lay there asleep all hours of the night With some nagging demon tugging at that tiny bell Inside your mind When suddenly that strange idea Bursts into an inspiration You grab for it and then The whole thing slips through your fingers -- Oingo Boingo, "Good for your Soul" The following paragraphs were dropped from Chapter Six, from the Traditions descriptions: P. 128: Philosophy: What was once will one day be again. People laugh at us because we employ formulas and chants, but we know the power that is inherent in tradition. What we do utilizes the True Forms of which Plato spoke. We work with the fundamental principles of magick throughout time: the laws of sympathy and contagion. How can one understand that every movement we make, every word we incant, every formula we inscribe has meaning not just on one level, but on all levels? Our strength is the strength of our Tradition, and we will never give it up. P. 128: [this is wrong: this should be P. 131] (From the bottom of the page) For once, the Technocracy may be right, at least with regard to the Sons' mental stability. There are whispers among the other Traditions that some of the Sons' experiments have gone horribly wrong. The Sons refuse to issue comment regarding the rumors of a strange and foul case of spontaneous generation in a Russian laboratory. The same rumors say that the resulting obscenity is kept under lock and key by the Tradition. It might be noted that though the Tradition is named the Sons of Ether, it does welcome female reality scientists into its ranks. The women within the Tradition have been campaigning for a revision of the name, with little success. PARADOX ------- The table on Page 172 [this is wrong: it should be page 173] is correct in regards to Paradox (step 6); a botch rolled gains the mage an automatic point of Paradox just for botching, plus; [sic] 2 points per die in the case of vulgar magic [sic] in front of Sleepers, 1 point per die in the case of vulgar magick without Sleeper witnesses, and 1 point per "1"s [sic] rolled in the case of coincidental Paradox. Some players have asked for a clarification of the Paradox effect and the resultant backlash. If it helps, this explanation works as well as any; [sic] Botching a magick roll can be interpreted as "seeing the wires" behind the magick. Warping the nature of perceived reality "displaces" a certain amount of that reality, a feat that requires a certain amount of faith. Blowing your roll in front of witnesses wrecks suspension of disbelief (even your own), and opens the door for Paradox to fix your little red wagon. Even alone, a mage is not immune to this effect. A mage botching a roll could be thought of as a high-wire artist who looks down at the wrong time. Even if no one else notices the botch, the mage is aware that she has blown it ("Oops..." splat!). TIPTOE THROUGH THE GAUNTLET... ------------------------------ On Pages 214-215, "stepping sideways" into the Near Umbra is referred to, but no table is provided for the difficulty of this feat. The table below is modified from Werewolf: The Apocalypse. Place Difficulty ----- ---------- High-tech lab 9 Inner city 8 Most places 7 Rural countryside 6 Deep wilderness 5 Active Node 4 Powerful Node 3 Legendary Node 2 SPHERE RANK AND EXPERIENCE -------------------------- The chart on Page 232 is correct regarding the points needed to progress in Sphere rank. Storytellers should note that characters could progress very quickly through the ranks if experience points are awarded too generously during play. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [The following was posted on the net, but I didn't save the author's name or the date. Please forgive me for this breach of Net etiquette. I have no idea how compatible it is with the Errata above.] Someone had been asking about the following rule contradictions in the Mage book. I spoke with Travis Williams (from WW) and got the answers: - The amount of quintessence that can be spent to make magick easier is based on your rating in PRIME, >>>NOT<<< your Avatar rating. - Since the flowchart and text contradict each other, I will summarize the correct rules for each of the 3 types of magick. 1) Vulgar Magick with Witness - 1 Paradox pt gained if successful. If botch, 2 paradox pts for every die rolled. Roll # of dice equal to rating in highest sphere involved in the spell. 2) Vulgar magick with no witness - 1 Paradox pt gained if successful. If botch, 1 paradox pt for every die rolled. Roll # of dice equal to rating in highest sphere involved in the spell. 3) Coincidental magick - No paradox gained if successful. Roll # of dice equal to Arete rating. If botched, gain 1 paradox pt for every "1" that was rolled. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ RJK * Robert Kirkpatrick *