The Arcana are the categories of magical effects.  They are as below:

  • Death: Death, decay, dampening
  • Fate: Chance, possibility
  • Forces: Energy
  • Life: Lifeforms, growth
  • Matter: Inanimate objects and matter
  • Mind: what it says on the tin
  • Prime: magic itself
  • Space: Locations, distance

To start with, mages gain 2 dice in one Arcanum, 2 dice in another, and 1 in a third.  Two of these have to be their Path’s Ruling Arcana.  Lastly, they gain another die that can be placed in any Arcanum, whether it’s one that they’ve previously chosen or a fourth one.  If you want additional arcana, you should purchase them with extra dice.

You should also keep in mind that the maximum number of dice you can have in an Arcanum is 3 at Gnosis [1].  For each level of Gnosis it goes up by 1.

Vulgar Magic vs. Covert Magic

You want to be doing covert magic, because covert magic doesn’t invoke paradox.  Covert magic is magic that either can go unnoticed or can easily be passed off as something not magical.  Most spells can be passed off as this, but a lot of the more powerful/damaging magic falls into the category of Vulgar.  Fireballs?  Unless you’ve got hairspray and a lighter, you’re in vulgar magic territory.

Vulgar magic is inherently more difficult when witnessed by non-mages because it invokes disbelief.  Disbelief can cause spells to backfire in really horrible ways, and even allow abyssal intruders into the universe.  Which is a very bad thing, so you don’t want it to happen.

Improbable magic straddles the border between the two.  If you can find a way to pass it off as being completely-normal-nothing-to-see-here, then it qualifies as covert, although it still gives you a chance at Paradox.  If you don’t even bother to disguise it and there’s Sleeper witnesses?  Definitely vulgar.

Casting Spells

To cast a spell on the fly, your dice pool is your Gnosis plus your rating in the highest Arcana used to cast the spell.  On top of that you can add any other applicable bonuses that you might have in your list of Clichés.

Difficulty increases with the complexity of effect, and also with various other factors that might complicate a casting.

Countering Magic

Info about counterspell here