{"id":"shared/rule/system/attacking-your-opponent","type":"rule","system":"system","line":"shared","name":"Attacking Your Opponent","sources":[{"source":"BoS","page":116}],"entries":["Certámen was designed to pit power against power with out causing physical harm to the combatants. Therefore, the duelists attack one another’s Quintessence Loci, not each other’s bodies. Even so, certain certámen duelists throw feints at their opponents, trying to unnerve the rival mage with an apparent attack upon his person.","In this case, count the attack as a Psychological Warfare maneuver (above), using the Social Trait + Gladius Sphere. In story terms, it looks as though the Gladius flares up and goes straight for the rival duelist. A successful roll puts that duelist on the defensive, forcing him to roll his Willpower or else lose his next attack. (If the roll succeeds by three successes or more, the Storyteller might subtract a -1 penalty from the defender’s Willpower roll for every success rolled by the attacker.)","Unless the duel has already been established as an all-out grudge match, actually attacking a rival mage in the certámen circle, with intent to injure him, is extremely poor form. The Marshall will probably stop the match right there, award victory to the defender, and charge the attacker with either a low crime (if the opponent isn’t harmed) or a high crime (if he’s badly harmed). In either case, the attacker will be banned from certámen matches for the foreseeable future, as she clearly cannot be trusted in them.",{"type":"box","title":"Child-Mages: Creation Rules for Awakened Youngsters (BoS p. 116)","entries":["Infants have the most powerful human voices. But as we learn to speak, and to “quiet down now,” we forget how to use those vocal powers. The same might be said about Awakening. According to certain philosophers, all infants are born Awakened and then get lulled to Sleep by the demands and structures of the human world. Some mystic practices, in fact, emphasize the importance of “getting in touch with your inner child.” Certain children, though, never go to Sleep at all… or, if they do, they re-Awaken again before they hit puberty. Those young mages, rare as they might be, can hold amazing – even terrifying – power.","Child-mages tend to fall into one of three categories:","• Those who never go to Sleep, and are thus magickally gifted from birth. Parenting such children can be… challenging. Parents who don’t believe in magick wonder why so many strange things happen around their kids, while those who do can go overboard when indulging their “little miracle,” and then wind up raising a mystic brat.","• Those with a powerful past-life reincarnation. Such children embody mages who have died and been re­ born with memories and understanding of who they were and what they could do. Reincarnated magelings might become “golden children,” filled with wisdom and experience; or else reveal themselves to be “demon seeds,” carrying their malignant past-lives into a new and awful form.","• The “innocents” who embody pure new Avatars rather than past lives. Such kids are extremely rare, although wishful parents like to think that their kids have this kind of innate gift. True innocents have a powerful faith that often protects them in times of need, and tend to attract both protectors and enemies who wish to guide or destroy that innate innocence.","In ever rarer circumstances, the spirit of a dead mage might possess the body of a child. In that case, the poor kid winds up with a sudden flood of powers and memories, plus the consciousness of a wizard who’s trying to run the show. Depending on the bond worked out between these two minds, the resulting child-mage could be gracious and wise, or else hell on two legs. (Marauders and Nephandi tend to do this sort of thing on purpose, which has become one of their most terrifying tactics; see the Puppetry and Possession entry of"]}],"_qa":{"flags":[],"parser":"headed_entries","confidence":0.9,"extracted":"2026-10-12","job":"bos-rules"},"rule_type":"system","_links":{"self":"/api/v1/records/shared/rule/system/attacking-your-opponent","html":"/records/shared/rule/system/attacking-your-opponent","parent":null,"children":"/api/v1/records/shared/rule/system/attacking-your-opponent/children","sources":[{"abbr":"BoS","page":116,"folio":116,"title":"The Book of Secrets"}]},"_db":{"title":"Attacking Your Opponent","props":[],"parent_id":null,"level":null,"category":null,"summary":"Certámen was designed to pit power against power with­ out causing physical harm to the combatants. Therefore, the duelists attack one another’s Quintessence Loci, not each other’s bodies. Even so, certain certámen","tags":[],"children":[]}}