Instruments

The Qur’an. The cross. The pentacle. The Tau. Icons and scriptures. Prayer wheels and hell-money. The rich iconography of human religions provides an essential focus for mages of faith. Depending on the character’s creed, the symbols in question could be brandished while casting an Effect; employed in rituals; worn simply as a reflection of faith; or possibly – for enemies of that faith – desecrated or destroyed in order to insult the creed in question, mock the power of its god(s), or co-opt that religion’s resources in order to take them for oneself. In either case, those symbols contain potent emotional symbolism in addition to their potential mystic power.

Sacred materials almost always contain a strong Resonance from that faith. In certain cases – like the legendary power of the cross – that Resonance focuses the invested power of millions of believers… which may provide a metaphysical reason for the force such icons have against certain enemies of that faith (like, say, vampires). Employed by a mage from the appropriate religion, a powerful instrument of faith – holy water, sanctified earth, a famous shrine, and so on – could contain a bit of Quintessence that it lends to the mage in question. Holy symbols tend to make certain Effects coincidental when they’re performed among faithful Sleepers, too; a group of devout Catholics won’t be surprised to see a priest perform a miracle.