Warding Against Objectives
Rote · Mage
By adding various Spheres to Correspondence, the mage impedes certain energies, forces, or beings when they cross the border of the ward and enter the protected space. In game-terms, we’ll call those targets objectives: things that the ward is meant to impede. Think of it this way: When you set a ward against a given thing, then impeding that thing within the protected space is the objective of your ward. (From the Latin obiectum, “thing put before the mind.”)
Each individual objective costs one success and point of Quintessence, per objective, to block. A ward, then, that blocks out steel, insects, and ghosts would demand three successes and three points of Quintessence in order to ward against the three objectives. For details, see Ward Duration and Expanse, below.
Every type of thing that a ward is constructed to block is a separate objective. Steel would be one objective, insects would be one objective, and ghosts would be one objective. A single character would be an objective if that ward is meant to keep him out. Assuming that Dante set up a ward against Black Suits, Black Suits would be the objective of his ward; if Dante wants to block John Courage only, then John Courage would be the objective of that ward.
Various Spheres impede various objectives:
• Entropy 2 or 3, when integrated into a ward, can shift probability in the mage’s favor within the warded area, essentially by blocking out the odds toward misfortune. For details, see The Luck Ward, below.
• Forces 3 sets the ward to block certain types of elemental energy: fire, air, electricity, light and sound spectrums, and so forth. Wards against really potent elements, like intense radiation and explosive nuclear forces, require Forces 5. Warding a place against a nuclear blast would demand Correspondence 5/ Forces 5/ Matter 5, thanks to the titanic energies unleashed. Still, Forces 3 can make a ward airtight, which comes in especially handy when
that portal’s on one side of a hard vacuum or (when combined with Matter 2) water.
• Life 3 blocks a certain class of living thing: mammals, insects, fish, human beings, etc. Life 4/ Mind 4 allows the ward to discern types of people within a given class (Mormons, liberals, Black Suits, etc.). Life 4 sets the ward against a specific living individual. To do the latter, though, the warding mage needs a sample of the forbidden character’s Pattern: a lock of hair, drop of blood, DNA sample, whatever suits the mage and his warding spell. For details, see The Ban, below.
• Matter 2 can block simple homogenous substances (steel, glass, marble, water, etc.). Matter 3 can block most complex material objects (guns, cars, etc.); and Matter 4 blocks complicated artificial materials (robots, computers, etc.). By combining the Matter 4 version with Prime 4, Tradition mages are able to ward against the Technocratic material Primium. That ward’s not 100% effective (see Penetrating a Ward, below)… but if nothing else, it does tend to slow down an invading force.
• Mind 2 can send “bad vibes” to trespassers, while Mind 3 or Life 3/ Mind 3 can give them a psychic shock if they try to pass the ward. Mind 4 allows the ward to “choose” certain individuals, mindsets, moods, or belief-systems, and then impede people with those mental constructs if and when they pass into the ward’s protected space. For details, see The Psychic Ward, below.
• Prime 4 (expelling energy) might be able to ward against certain types of Resonance and/ or Synergy. A holy ward, for example, could block Infernal essence from passing over the threshold. Because this sort of thing could become inexpressibly complex, however, this type of ward is an optional rule. For details about Resonance