Rules

As storage units for Quintessential energy, Periapts also gather Resonance and Paradox energies:

• Resonance: Every Periapt concentrates the forces of Resonance, as described earlier in this chapter, under Resonance: Physics of Consequence. The nature of that Resonance depends upon the mage who crafted the Periapt, and the materials he used to create it. If that Resonance conflicts with the spells that the Periapt’s owner is trying to cast, then that character may suffer an Opposed Resonance penalty, detailed on Mage 20’s Magickal Difficulty Modifiers chart, p. 503. If the Resonance fits that spell, however, then it’s counted as Appropriate Resonance on the same chart. Obviously, a Periapt infused with plenty of Quintessence has a pretty high degree of Resonance, while one with very little Quintessence has little Resonance, or none at all.

• Paradox: A Periapt’s store of Quintessence can hold up to the same amount of Paradox; a three-dot Periapt, for instance, can hold up to 15 points of Quintessence or Paradox, or up to 15 points of a mixture of both. (It could not, however, hold up to 30 points of both.) Essentially, the Periapt becomes a second Quintessence /Paradox wheel, as described in Mage 20, Chapter Six, and each point of Paradox within the Periapt displaces one point of Quintessence.

Each time a Periapt gets used to fuel a vulgar magick Effect (with or without witnesses), that vessel acquires one point of Paradox. For each point of Paradox, the Periapt holds one point less of Quintessence. The Periapt retains that Paradox energy for one month per point of Paradox if the Periapt is an inanimate object, or one point of Paradox energy per week with a living Periapt. Prime 5 can “unweave” this Paradox more quickly; without such power, though, the only remedy for built-up Paradox is time. If the Periapt gets broken or killed in the meantime, then the Periapt’s full amount of Paradox immediately hits the owner with potentially huge backlash.

Note: Despite an inference in the sourcebook Forged by Dragon’s Fire, a Periapt does not absorb all the Paradox generated by its owner. Although that idea gets implied on p. 41 of that book (contradicting pps. 10-11), such benefits – in addition a Periapt’s usual powers – are way out of balance with the Background cost involved.