In a serious grudge match, certámen opponents may battle “to the pain.” In this case, the duelists employ Quintessence from their own life-force, and the fight lasts until one of them passes out from the strain. Story-wise, the two combatants sling power in one another’s directions in the usual way, but with serious focus and deep emotional investment.

System

-wise, give each duelist an extra three Quintessence points for each dot of permanent Willpower they possess. This is not actual Quintessence, only a reflection of the contestants’ strength of will. Those “will points” go into the Locus, giving the duelists a deeper reserve of power. After the initial Quintessence points in the Locus (that is, the ones that aren’t drawn from Willpower) are depleted, the duelist needs to make a Stamina

roll each time his Locus gets hit. That roll’s difficulty starts at 6, and then goes up +1 for each subsequent Willpower roll. If he succeeds, he keeps fighting; if he fails, the attacker drains a will point, and the defender loses one temporary Willpower point for every three will points that get drained. Once a combatant loses all of his will points, he drops unconscious and the certámen match ends. The losing mage wakes up with a ferocious headache and a temporary Willpower rating of 1 until he manages to restore his self-respect.