The Magick System of Mage Part 2, or "Wait, There's MORE?!"

I could spend a blog post a week writing about the Mage: The Ascension magick system for two full months, and still not cover every facet of that magnificent free-form system. There's so much good stuff that Satyros Phil Brucato put into M20 and its books that it would be impossible to do them all justice here, but there are key components that might not jump out at you when faced with chapters of rules crunch. Here's another piece of the magick system that you should know when choosing Spheres for your character.

Last month, I posted a breakdown of the Sphere system at the core of the magick system. And last week, you may have noticed that the primer I posted listed one of those Spheres (Time) with a number next to it (1). But what does Time 1 mean in the context of the magick system? I'm so glad you asked!

No, Bill, what are you- THAT WAS MY KEYBOARD!!!

Each of the nine Spheres listed on a character sheet has five dots next to them. Each dot represents one rank in that Sphere, a measure of how skilled your mage is at manipulating that facet of reality. Max ranks denotes mastery of that Sphere, and no ranks means your mage hasn't learned how to do anything with it yet. The more Spheres you have ranks in, the more versatile you'll be in casting magick.

But what does each dot signify? Is this like Starfleet or something, where the more pips you have, the higher your rank? Well, yeah, kinda. The breakdown looks something like this:

Rank 1: Extrasensory Perception - Considered a "sight beyond sight" rank, the first dot in a Sphere lets you perceive it in an enhanced manner. For example, Time 1 would let you see exactly what time it is without a watch or sun/moon position, Spirit 1 would let you see un-manifested ghosts around you, Forces 1 would reveal the source of sound or lightwaves, etc.
Rank 2: Minor Manipulation - Once a mage can see the Spheres in a different way, they can start interacting with them in small ways. Life 2 would let you heal yourself, but not others. Forces 2 would let you direct sources of light and sound to aid in stealth. Correspondence 2 would let you affect something that is nearby but not in your immediate field of vision.
Rank 3: Greater Control - Rank 3 is when a mage learns how to affect those Spheres in more obvious ways, effecting other people, places and things. Forces 3 would let you transform heat into cold and light into sound. Entropy 3 allows you to throw around blessings and curses. Matter 3 would let you convert copper into gold.
Rank 4: Major Command - This is when magick starts to get big and noticeable, affecting the Spheres in profound ways. Mind 4 allows for mind control, or astrally projecting yourself elsewhere. Prime 4 would let you drain a place of power of all its magickal energy. Forces 4 can affect weather patterns, either clearing up clouds or turning them into rainclouds.
Rank 5: Ultimate Mastery - The pinnacle of the Sphere ranks, mastery of a Sphere means you know that facet of reality inside and out and can use it to miraculous effect. If you can imagine it, you can do it. Everything from creating duplicates of yourself to pocket realities falls within the rank 5 effects, including time travel... though ultimate power also comes with ultimate consequence if it's abused.

That's a hell of a paradox backlash, Genie.

And that's how the Sphere ranks work! Using the above guide, you can form your own magickal effects for whatever best fits your character. For example, if you have a mage who wants to teleport himself between his home and his chantry, you would use Correspondence 3 to jump between those two locations, or Correspondence 4 to create a stable portal that others could also use to travel between those locations instantly. If you just wanted to pull your keys from one location to another, however, you'd just use Correspondence 2, and maybe Matter 1 to make sure it was keys that came through instead of something else.

Got any questions about Sphere ranks and how they work? Ask them below and I'll be happy to answer them!