Secondaries: Magical & Mundane

[Justin]

Sometimes the skill set on the base character sheet does not render fully the picture of the character you have floating around in your head. Maybe she is/was an airplane pilot, well it could be tested off of drive, but what if she has never touched anything other than an automatic transmission vehicle. Instead of dumping a whole bunch of experience into a skill that you won't use that often, why not by Piloting as a secondary: This way you could have all of the functionality with your characters profession without overextending you character creation points. Lores are also beasts that fall into this category and will be covered later in this thread.

Furhter, as this is a Mage game, there are some skills that go beyond the natural and actually have near-magical qualities themselves. These skills are often limited to specific Traditions with thier secrets jealously guarded, but from time to time, some leaks out into other paradigms. While providing extra flavor for your character, please be aware that Storytellers are the guardians of the all-mighty Game-Balance and may restrict certain skills.

How they work:

Mundane

Secondaries are bought at character creation by one of two ways:

• Base 13/9/5 or 11/7/4 points can be used to buy mundane secondaries at a two for one exchange. So if you aren't sure where to spend that last point in skills, you could drop one into the aformentioned Piloting and get two points right out the gate.
  
• With Freebies at a one for one cost.
  
• Note: Secondaries can only be bought with base points up to level 3, so if you wish to spend 2 base points in order to get one of your secondaries to 3, please have ready another secondary of roughly the same category of Talent/Skill/Knowledge to dump the stray point into.
  
• There are many secondaries to choose from, and many places to get ideas for the one you may want. Talk to a Storyteller and they can give you guidance on what secondaries will be general enough to give you an edge, but limiting enough to make your secondary special.
  

After character creation:

• Cost: 1xCurrent to raise, 2 for the first dot.
  
• Secondaries other than knowledge based secondaries, such as lores, may be self-taught up to level three. Levels four, five, and all but the first dot of a lore requires a teacher of greater skill than what your character is attempting to achieve. At level 5, a teacher need only have level 5 to instruct a student in the mastery of the particular discipline.
  
• Level one in all "outsider" lores can be purchased after sufficient roleplay. Please ask a Storyteller if you have fulfilled enough requirements to attain this dot, with XP of course.
  

Use:

• When a secondary would be appropriate to use instead of a base ability, the test to use that skill is based off an Attribute + Secondary at a difficulty set by the Storyteller. The storyteller may or may not lower the difficulty of a task when secondaries are used, so run with it when the chops are about to fall.
  
• Lores are an exemption to this. While they may be used on thier own, possessing them may give you special insights into immediate situations. If you are in a situation where you believe you have a lore that may be appropriate to the scene, please let your presiding Storyteller know and he or she will modify your difficulty per the following: -1 for Lores at 1 and 2; -2 for Lores at 3 and 4; and -3 for Lores at 5. Often times the Storyteller will ask for lores, so the asking may not always be necessary.
  

Magical

Magical secondaries are purchased as follows:

• Magical secondaries are bought the same way as base sheet Talents/Skills/Knowledges and can be purchased with base dots as normal.
  
• Skill can only be learned up to the Mage's Arete rating
  

After character creation:

• Cost: 2xCurrent to raise, x3 for the first dot.
  
• Every dot, even the first, must be taught by a teacher of equal or greater skill than the level you are trying to achieve.
  

Use:

• Most magical skills have special functions, so please follow this thread and look for them specifically. If the one you are looking for is not listed here, either send the Storyteller a PM or ask about it in the Q&A thread.
  
• Some magical skills double as a universal focus up to the level of mastery in them, use where and when appropriate... (Do 1 as a focus for Life Scan, Enochian 3 as a focus for Fireball, etc) Using these skills in this way is not always the best option, please make sure to read yours carefully to see what drawbacks you mage may run into.
  

This and all other such things are the realm of individual storytellers due to thier rarity and OMG functions. Please be kind

[Justin]

Enochian
Tradition: Order of Hermes
Rarity: Rare
Rarity Outside Tradition: More Vampires know how to speak this language than Mages outside the Order, but it has no magical effect for vamps.
Universal Focus: Yes

A highly utilitarian skill, speaking the words of power on thier own allows the speaker to call on near vulgar magic, guided by the Storyteller, without paradox. So, in effect, the Enochian word for fire could start one or light some candles, but could not summon a fireball. The general rule of thumb is that if it couldn't be done with the Parlor Trick merit, it can't be done with this, but ask a Storyteller just in case. Successes on Int + Enochian judge power of effect (may never be an extended action).

Drawback
Enochian has a powerful effect on the tapestry and broadcasts your resonance to those nearby, diff -2 for others to pick up on the effect and resonance with awareness.

[Justin]

Do
Tradition: Akashic Brotherhood
Rarity: Common, but Extremely Rare at 3+
Rarity Outside Tradition: Extremely Rare
Universal Focus: Yes

Do adds its rating in dice to several die pools involving movement and combat. Brawl, Dodge, Melee, and Athletics are the main abilities that you will see a benefit from this ability. If you believe that your kung-fu mojo would benefit you in a specific roll, please ask your storyteller.

Drawback
The use of Do is obvious to the casual observer as the artist twists, bends, and flexes like the characters sleepers see on big-screen kung fu films. Mages, supernatural beings, and hunters need only pass a Perception+Alertness difficulty 6 to spot you as a supernatural yourself. Furthermore, do not be shocked if you become the topic of tabloids and video blogs if your abilities are displayed publicly.

[Justin]

Body Control
Tradition: Akashic Brotherhood
Rarity:
Rarity Outside Tradition:
Universal Focus: No

description coming soon

[Justin]

Strategy
Tradition: Akashic Brotherhood
Rarity:
Rarity Outside Tradition:
Universal Focus: No

description coming soon

[Justin]

High Ritual
Tradition: Order of Hermes
Rarity: Uncommon
Rarity Outside Tradition: Rare
Universal Focus: No

This skill allows a Mage to create Rituals that incorporate the foci and paradigms of different Mages into a cohesive grouping, making it possible for multiple Traditions to work together towards a single project. Each success on an Intelligence + High Rituals check allows the addition of one other mage of differing perspective beyond the High Ritualist himself. Difficulty depends on the variation of foci and paradigms involved. If used to join Mages with the exclusion of the High Ritualist, calcualate success as normal, but one success does nothing except enlighten the user on how to work with the individuals in question in the future.

Botching
A botched High Ritual seems to be correct until the Mages involved start to work thier magic. The High Ritualist effectively works alone when casting and is at +2 difficulty modifier due to the distraction of the other ritualists and thier foci. In the exclusion scenario as noted above, a botch does nothing except confuse the Mages that would be working together.

[Justin]

Lucid Dreaming
Tradition: Hollow Ones
Rarity: Uncommon
Rarity Outside Tradition: Extremely Rare
Universal Focus: Special

With this skill the practicing Mage can bend and shape her dreams at will. With enough practice it becomes possible for the Mage to walk beyond her own dreams and wander the Dreaming as she wishes during her sleeping hours. While in a dreamscape, this skill serves as a Univeral Focus: This can even be done to affect the dreams of others (granting that her target is sleeping and she can find her targets dreamscape).

Drawback
If escaping your own dreams to walk the many realms of the Dreaming, there is a risk that your Mage could get stuck there indefinitely. Roll Wits+Lucid Dreaming at difficulty 8 to wake up. Success means you awaken naturally and fully rested (granted you didn't walk into a nightmare). Failure denies your Mage a full nights rest and subsequently the willpower gain from it and exacts a +1 difficulty modifier on all rolls for the rest of the day as the Nightmares flaw. A botch puts your character into a coma and leaves the dreamer wandering until circumstance can lead you back.