Talk to animals (Life 2/3 Mind 4): Simply contacting the minds of animals (and plants) for information is seldom useful, since they lack understanding of human questions and the gift of reason. But an experienced mage can overcome this by temporary making the animal intelligent! Verbena does this by dipping their anthem in blood and drawing symbols on the fur of the animal. The mage builds a temporary mind out of the memories and personality of the animal (and partially of the mage) and communicates with it mentally. In this way the animal can respond to questions, think and even act intelligently for a while. But the mage must also keep constant control over its emotions and mind, since they tend to get confused of panic. After the rote ends, the animal returns to its original state and forgets everything.

Tantric Meditation (Time 3 Prime 2): One of the more important methods of tantric yoga is to have intercourse, but avoid orgasm. This is continued as long as possible, resulting in a powerfully altered state of mind. The main use is of course theurgical, to experience the true White Light, but some cultists have found a more practical, theurgical use of the practice. The tantric Masters of course disapproves of it, but it's useful nevertheless. During the state of no-time which develop, the mage(s) can weave new magical effects but just as orgasm is delayed, delay their expression until the final moment. This gives them the ability to create extremely complex magic that is released in a single instant, or strengthen magic greatly.

[In order to work, the participants must succeed in reaching tantric trance, using stamina + meditation with a difficulty of 6. The successes can be used to lower difficulties for magic in this state as described in the Book of Shadows. The rote requires prime to sustain the etheric patterns of the magic even when the mage directs his or her will to other purposes in the ceremony. ]

Tapping the Ley Line (Prime 5): This rote allows the witch to drain off some of the Quintessence that flows along Ley lines.

[Each success gives the caster 1 pt of Quintessence]

Tar Baby (Matter 3, Prime 2, Mind 3): Reputed to have been developed by the legendary Verbena "Uncle Remus". Great for opponents who can't think of anything better to do than brawl.

[A statue made of warm tar or similar substance (e.g., molasses) is built, and a standing Mind 3 effect makes it appear to be the attacker's apparent victim. Poor lighting and giving the Tar Baby a fighting stance is highly recommended, unless the Mage plans to hang around and animate the phantasm.]

Telecommute (Correspondence 3, Forces 1): This rote allows the Virtual Adept to shift his location through All-space without having to be familiar with the destination first. A Virtual Adept out of San Antonio that goes by the handle of Tex Arcana created it.

In order to accomplish such a feat, the mage must set up a physical connection with the location (usually by means of a modem, telephone or satellite link to a computer, telephone or television). Then, the Adept uses Forces to get a fix on the energy travelling between the locations, and Correspondence to Tele-locate there by following the transmission. The mage appears at the other end of the connection, usually within a meter or so of the opposite link. Once he has arrived at the new location, he now has a point of reference for later, more conventional means of Correspondence magic. Obviously, a few restrictions occur. Firstly, there has to be a connection of some sort. A computer must answer the modem on the other line, someone (even an answering machine) must answer the phone, or a television has to be monitoring the broadcast.

Secondly, while the familiarity with the location is not a factor, the quality of the connection is. A better, shorter connection (such as a local call) is much easier to trace than a long-distance overseas connection.

One Success County Local call, radio transmission, UHF broadcast

Two Successes State In-state long distance call, local cable station

Three Successes Country out-of-state Long Distance call, national affiliate

Four Successes Continent Out-of-Country Domestic call, Telemundo

Five Successes Planet wide overseas call, CNN

Lastly, the rote is not without it's hazards. If the roll fails to net any successes, the mage simply does not go anywhere. If too few successes occur, the mage travels to the limit of the applicable distance, then gets kicked 'offline' at the closest location (in otherworlds, if a VA in Las Vegas was trying to follow a modem line into a computer in Seattle and only got 2 successes. He'd zap along the telephone line, but end up materializing somewhere in Reno or so). A botch is even worse, as the mage zips along the transmission wave, but ends up getting dumped in a -very- hazardous location (transatlantic cables, low earth orbit satellite, use your imagination)

Telescopic Sight (Correspondence 2): With this, the mage can see distant scenes as if they were closer, without necessarily moving his viewpoint, simply enlarging distant scenes.

Temple of Love (Time 3 Correspondence 2): While the mage uses tantric sex-magic with a partner inside a circle of lit incense-sticks, the time outside the participants slows down while their own time accelerates. The result is a zone of relative safety around the mage for a short while. The difference in the passage of time is so abrupt it creates a kind of barrier, which seeks to delay passing objects or personas. Most such effects are coincidental, like having enterers stumble, doors getting stuck or shoelaces suddenly appearing untied. The mage will also instinctively know well before when somebody will try to enter, and have ample time to prepare.

Temporary Inducement of Detangible State (Prime 2, sometimes Mind 1): Another basic effect, this involves running an electric current of the proper frequency through any solid object, thus temporarily disrupting the object's tangible matrix, which in laymen's terms means making it desolidified briefly. The most common use of this effect is to allow a Son to escape imprisonment (a distressingly common situation). Thus Doctor Pangaea recommends to all the students in his Practical Science 101 course that they carry a hidden battery on their persons at all time for just such emergencies.

[This rote is basically the same effect as Rubbing the Bones, except that it takes advantage of the target's momentary lack of existence. Thus restraints can be slipped out of. Mind 1 is sometimes added to enable to Son to calculate the moment of maximum detangibility, thus allowing him to run through a fluxing door before it reforms. Without Mind, there is a chance that the door would reform as the Son was passing through it, a highly unpleasant experience for all involved.]

ThermoVision (Forces 1): The Mage can see into the infrared area of the spectrum, allowing her to see heat patterns and traces.

The Thorns of Life (Life 4 Prime 3): This rote is one of the most bizarre rotes left behind by Brigid Helvrons daughter, the infamous Verbena of Sylt. Apparently she sought a way to defend the coven in case of attack, and created the Thorns. She watered thorny bushes with her blood, and collected their seeds on a Thursday night in a small box covered with runes. The seeds are intended to be swallowed by the user (who doesn't have to be a mage or even human). Inside the stomach they quickly start to grow, sending out thorny tendrils through the body, reaching into the heart, muscles and brain and piercing the skin with black thorns. Needless to say the agony is beyond words. But the thorns serve a purpose: not only do they make the user fearsome to behold and dangerous to touch, they give him increased strength and regeneration. Wounds are closed as thorns sew them together; muscles are strengthened by resilient wood. Some users can even attack their enemies with their thorns. A group of thorn warriors is a horrible threat for almost any enemy. As the effect wears down, the thorns start to die and the body is magically healed. Unfortunately the healing is slow, as most of the resources of the body have been depleted and the wooden parts only dissolve slowly. This is not a rote to use lightly. It has happened that the user has been killed despite the thorns and their healing powers. In this case the thorns continue the fight for a while (with only their own strength), and then the body collapses. The plant takes root, and in time only a thick, threatening bush will mark the place.

[As the rote is activated, the user is immobilized with pain for a few turns as the thorns grow through him. After that, he gains a number of points equal to the number of successes in starting the rote to distribute between increased physical attributes, healing non-aggravated damage or making attacks with the thorns (this costs 3 points). For example, if the rote had four successes, then Strength, Stamina or Dexterity could be increased by four dots, a thorn attack and a one-point increase could be done, or four levels of wounds are healed. These points can be redistributed by succeeding in a willpower difficulty 6 test at the start of the turn (if this fail, the thorns continue their work). A thorn attack means that the thorns rip through the skin of the user as he strikes his opponent, trying to burrow into the flesh. They add the number of successes from the rote to the attack; if it is a grapple attack it can be continued, which means that while the person holds the opponent the thorns make independent attacks by slowly strangling, burrowing and piercing the opponent. In addition, the thorns do one extra dice of damage to all brawl attacks even without a thorn attack, and anybody striking the user unprotected has to soak one dice of thorn damage. Quite naturally, the thorns devastate appearance and most social skills except intimidation get penalties (intimidation instead becomes much simpler).]

Threat Assessment (Forces 1, Entropy 1, Life 1): The mage has heard (accurate) rumors about the subject, is familiar with subject's style (Ah...You trained with Master Wu.), has made a study of the types of weapons being employed, etc.

The Virtual Adepts use this Rote to estimate the relative danger posed by an opponent or other hazard. Threat Assessment does not reveal unknown dangers; it merely quantifies the mage is already aware of. Thus, it is usually used in conjunction with another sense such as normal sight, Inertial Location or Composite Virtual Imaging. Threat Assessment gives the mage a good idea of the power of attacks the opponent can throw and of the attackers' speed and skill. Use of this Rote can make dodging attacks a little easier but does no otherwise overtly effect combat.

[The 'area' affected indicates the number of opponents 'Assessed.' For instance, one success would give the mage information about a single attacker in melee. Regardless of the number of successes, the mage can tell the approximate size of the subject's attack and damage dice pools. Assessed attacks can be dodged at a -1 difficulty. It has no effect on magical attacks unless the mage is a disciple of all the spheres involved.]

Threefold Return (Entropy 4): Using the principle that evil done returns to the doer three times, the Druid Hwyll employed this effect to discourage attacks on his person. When the Celestial Chorus finally captured and slew him, all those involved perished within a year.

[Casting this rote involves a ritual bath in a cauldron. From that point on, any harm intentionally done to the bather during the duration of the effect will eventually return three times upon the person causing the harm. The exact effects are left to the Storyteller, and they may involve an exact repetition of the harm or merely something equivalent. The effect is never immediate, and in extreme cases may take months or years to play out.]

Time is of the Essence (Time 3 Mind 1): One problem many people have is that they become stressed or feel they don't have enough time to think in tense situations. The Cult of Ecstasy has a reputation of having many great improvisers or wits, and this rote is one of the reasons. By simply focusing on the present, the mage can speed his own thoughts to great speed while appearing to be acting normal.

[The rote will not give the mage any increased speed in movement or other physical actions (like looking at something else). For practical purposes, the world seems to have slowed down into slow- motion. Time is slowed at the rate normal for Time 3. Alternatively, in a live-role-playing situation, each success will give the mage a minute extra to think over his actions, solve problems or use magic. ]

Time Loop (Correspondence 2, Spirit 4, Time 5): This rote is used when something so disruptive to the timeline is being used or created. This rote separates their world from the rest of the timeline, so that there influence will not effect the flow of history.

[This rote raises the Gauntlet of a target Realm to 10, essentially cutting it off from the Umbra. There is presently no way to actually destroy it]

Tongue of the Adders (Life 2 Mind 2): This simple rote has a history dating back to ancient Greece, but it is still common today.

[This spell allows the witch to speak with and understand animals. Most animals, it should be noted, have very simple thoughts, and few have much to say about anything other than food, safety, and procreation.]

Tongues (Mind 3): The mage can use this effect to understand the languages others are speaking.

Touch-Type (Correspondence 2, Mind 1): Touch-type allows a mage to type at a blinding rate (on a typewriter or computer) without really thinking about it; his fingers just "find" the right key to press. When cast, depending on the degree of success, a mage can type up to 100 x Dexterity words per minute. Please note that after about 200 word/min., the effect becomes increasingly vulgar.

Track Xenofauna (Spirit 1 Life 1): The renowned xenobiologist Ferris Shu was dedicated to the discovery of previously undocumented life forms, and she employed this rote to help her find such creatures.

[This allows the scientist to look through the Gauntlet into the Middle Umbra, thus spotting any Umbral creatures in the vicinity.]

Traffic Jam ( Correspondence 3 Entropy 2 Prime 2): This rote was devised by Kurt Fjällström of the Children of Bacchus to disrupt the quintessence flows in the traffic networks of a city. He quickly downed a rather large amount of whiskey, and then began to drive through the city in a car he had "borrowed". Needless to say, his drunken driving and absolute disregard for traffic rules soon caused complete chaos wherever he drove. But through his intuitive understanding of the ebb and flow of traffic, he also managed to make the disturbances grow and spread across the entire city. The result was a memorable traffic jam, made even worse by the summer heat and the presence of other tradition mages subtly affecting the already irritable mood.

[The Correspondence part allows the mage to affect a large area, and to avoid getting trapped himself. Entropy affects traffic flow and prevents random accidents, while the Prime part fuels the growing chaos and allows the mage (in conjunction with Entropy 1) to find the parts where the Technocracy would want a traffic jam the least. ]

Transcendent Touch (Life 1 Mind 1): The Lifeweaver Edwin Stroud once found himself blinded by the muzzle flash of a Hitmark's cannon. Desperate to escape but lacking any knowledge of the Correspondence sphere, he instead relied on his powerfully heightened sense of touch, a sense particularly favored by his Tradition.

[The rote makes the witch's sense of touch so strong that it compensates for the lack of sight.]

Turning the charging Beast (3 Mind): Shortly after surviving her first encounter with a werewolf, an unknown Hermetic Mage developed this simple Rote to protect herself from such dangers. Since that time it has become a known fact within the Traditions those werewolves universally despise, loathe and fear mages simply because of this Rote. Not because of what the mage makes the target do, but because the effect is so embarrassing to the target.

[Requires two successes to function, plus one success for every use after the first in the same scene, and the target must be either engaged in combat or charging into combat. If the mage rolls the necessary successes the mage may refocus the targets anger and fury against another object or non-allied person (non-allied to the target.) The target will then blithely charge right by the mage, ignoring her completely in favor of the new focus the mage has placed in the target's mind. (Often a tree, stone, body of water, anything but the mage.) This allows the mage time to remove herself from the presence of the target, usually a very good idea because after the target has slaughtered the new focus their rage and anger the target will want to kill the mage in some bloody, messy and gruesome manner.]

Track Manipulations (Time 2 Entropy 2): This is continuously done by the Technocracy to see if other groups attempt to manipulate the trends. The Forecasters carefully analyze events to see if someone, using their computers to search for patterns has manipulated them. The difficulty lies in the fact that most manipulators are very careful, and the results are seldom apparent until years later.

Ultra-Violet Vision (Forces 1): Gives the mage the ability to see into the Ultra-Violet range, thus receiving excellent night vision.

Umbral Pager (Spirit 2, Mind 1): The mage focuses a tiny portion of her attention on the umbra. This Umbral perception is largely subconscious and does not interfere with normal or other senses. Spirits familiar with the mage can use a pre-arranged signal to get her attention. Anything other than the pre-arranged signal goes unnoticed.

[Hostile spirits can fake a signal with a Wits+Enigmas roll; difficulty is the mage's Wits+5. If the spirit trying to make contact is distant, the Storyteller may call for a Perception + Alertness roll from the mage. Umbral effect, no coincidences required.]

Unified Thinking (Mind 4, Correspondence 2): Using this effect, large groups of operatives can be linked together. In fact, they can even receive and transmit sensory data to and from one another, thus allowing individuals to receive advice from the group.

[Mind 4 is necessary to forge a semi-overriding link to several different subjects, though complete control is taken. Correspondence 2 allows sensations to be collocated so that perceptions for each team member can be stacked. The ST should allow groups operating in this fashion something along the lines of a +2 dice to all alertness tests (provided at least one of the group can see it), +1 die on initiative, and the ability to pool suggestions and knowledge to quickly overcome simple problems. It may be necessary for every member of the group to have Mind 1 in order to improve their ability to deal with multiple perceptions, but STs may rule that an implant like those of Iteration X's mages helps handle the effect.]

Foci For this Effect: Headsets with audio-video linked to a command station, walkie-talkies, expert-system AI controller giving advice based on data from helmet cameras.

The VA Dew Rush (Mind 1, Time 3, Life 1): One night, CrackerJack, the not so famous VA, needed to cram for a college semester and program two programs for his sleeper friends. Faced with the dilemma of doing this in less than three hours he created this rote that has now become more popular at the college scene. All the user does is drink 5 or 6 carbonated beverages (of any type) and then perform this rote. It speeds up the total time the user has to work with as well as allowing him to concentrate on more than one task.

[Basically this rote combines the effects of the Multitasking of Mind 1 and the Accelerate Time of Time 3. The Life is needed to tie into the coincidental effect.]

Vector Matrix Computation (Correspondence 3): The mage leaps upon a passing vehicle, is picked up by a helicopter, dons a pre-placed jet pack, had a parachute carefully packed in her backpack when she jumped from the plane.

This unusual Rote causes the mage to move through space with an apparently smooth motion through a series of micro-teleport. She can appear to walk, levitate, or even fly. The main advantage of this kind of movement is that static effects can more easily cover it. Even though she appears to be moving, the mage has no momentum and causes no damage in a collision.

[One success allows the mage to move at normal human speeds - no more than about 10 mph. Two success allow ground vehicle speeds (under 100 mph). Three grant aircraft-like speeds of hundreds of mph, four success allow super-sonic flight (no sonic booms though), and five will let the mage move at basically any speed she wishes.]

Vinculum (Spirit 4 Matter 2): This rote is a classic method of binding spirits, mainly used by Order of Hermes. Part of the spirit is simply forced into a material object and locked in place. The spirit has to choose between leaving the object, or ripping itself apart. Such spirit-fetters are a very useful way of taming dangerous spirits or to keep spirits imprisoned in the material world. A common addition to the rote is a condition that will hurt the spirit if it tries to affect the object, or even destroys the object plus the essence of the spirit if it is harmed.

Vision Quest (Mind 3, Correspondence 1): This rote is often used in conjunction with the initiation of a new member into the Sons. The Mage taps into the initiate's mind, completely controlling the mental landscape and occurrences. (See _Exorcist 2_ for a good scene.)

Vicious Blood (Life 5, Prime 2): Thanks to a repeated jihad by those wacky Sabbat, Rose Embolism learned a great deal about vampiric metabolism. In fact she learned enough to be able to craft a person's blood into a noxious substance that actually causes damage to a vamp trying to drink it.

[With three successes at a difficulty of 9, the blood of the subject no longer can be used as blood points, and also causes Three levels of non-aggravated damage per turn drank. If damage equal to the vamp stamina gets past the soak, fear frenzy is likely. To perform this rote properly, quite a bit of information about vampires is needed, including samples of vampiric vitae to analyze (say, matter one and at least two levels of vampire lore).]

Wake up and Smell the Wyrm Taint (Life 5, Mind 3): This rote allows the mage to heal an incapacitated Werewolf and direct him toward the enemy. The Werewolf will think that the appointed target is wyrm tainted, whether the Garou has the capability to sense Wyrm or not.

Walking the Old Straight Track (Correspondence 3 or 4): Ley Lines facilitate travel for those who know how to employ them. They allow the witch to walk almost instantaneously from any point on the line to any other point on it.

[Correspondence 3 transports the witch, while at the 4th level, she can take others with her. So long as no Sleepers witness the departure or arrival, the effect is coincidental.]

Ward keys (as Greater Ward, plus Mind 3 or a minor Talisman): Mages usually try to build "doors" through their wards, especially if they are permanent. There are two common ways to go about doing this. The first is to create some sort of "key word" allowing passage. Anyone speaking the word may cross automatically. To create a key word, the Mage must add Mind 3 to all the other requirements for the ward, giving it the "intelligence" necessary to recognize the word.

Mages without the requisite mind, or paranoid about the password being stolen, may create a minor talisman known as a ward key. The ward key requires only 5 Quintessence, Prime 3, and a day to create. The "key" can actually be any object, so long as it is properly enchanted.

The key must be created prior to erecting the ward. If the key is present when the ward is created, the ward can be "attuned" to the key, so that anyone carrying the key, or a duplicate of it, may cross freely.

Duplicates of the original key may be created later, so long as a proper key is present to use as a template. The same key can be used for several wards, reducing the number of talismans that need to be created.

Ward Sensing (as Greater Ward, plus Correspondence 2): When a greater ward is created, the mage may open a Correspondence link to it, so that he will always be aware if anyone attempts to cross it. If the ward has a key, the mage will be able to tell the difference between a crossing with the key, and a crossing without it. Optionally, the mage can connect the ward to a Level 2 Correspondence talisman created specifically for that purpose. Anyone holding the talisman will be alerted to attempts to cross the ward.

Warning Curse (Time 4): The ancient Verbena reputation for effective curses rests in no small part on the power of this rote, by which the witch warns that dire consequences will strike the target if he fulfills the conditions set by the witch.

[This spell is cast in conjunction with a second one. The Time sphere allows the witch to specify a moment or condition which will trigger the second spell. There are many versions of this, but one familiar example is "On your sixteenth birthday, you will prick your finger on a spindle and die." Another example is "If you strike your wife three times, you will lose your family and property."]

Waste Time (Time 3 Entropy 3/4): Sometimes nothing seems to get done, regardless of how much you work or plan noting worthwhile comes out of it. This effect can be created by a judicious use of Entropy to make time less "fresh" and useful to people. Some Cultists use it to sabotage the workings of bureaucracies or other organizations by making the employees ineffective and slow. By using even more powerful Entropy magic time can even be destroyed; the victims will notice that a certain period has passed but cannot remember anything of it, and nothing seems to have been done either.

Watching the Death Winds (Entropy 2): The Euthanatos have perfected one of the most effective Rotes for detecting danger. The mage watches the currents and eddies of entropic energy surrounding him, watching for whorls that indicate the advent of danger and death. The Rote is extremely effective, but unfortunately a little vague. The Euthanatos can rarely identify the exact source of the threat, and can on occasion mistake threats to others as threats to themselves.

[Except as noted above, all three Rotes operate the same way. The number of successes the mage gets is the number of turns of "warning" she has to prepare herself for the oncoming danger. Preferably, this roll should be made secretly, so the mage is never certain how effective the Rote was.]

Water Breathing (Matter 2, Prime 2, or Life 3, or Forces 3, Prime 2): An excellent example of using different spheres for the same effect! Using the Matter/Prime effect, you conjure air inside your mouth or lungs ("Boy, he sure can hold his breath a long time thanks to all those tuba lessons as a child!"). With the Life 3 effect, you modify your lungs to take oxygen from water. With the Forces/Prime effect (and here's where it starts to stretch!) you generate electrical current inside your mouth to cause electrolysis, breaking water down into hydrogen and oxygen. Just silly enough to work!

Weather Conserves (Time 4 Forces 2/4): An ancient Verbena rote. The mage boils together a broth during a thunderstorm, hurricane or sunny day and lets it absorb the weather, which is stored in a jar, bottle or sack. If it is opened, the weather will come streaming out again. This can prove useful as a weapon, as in the case of Mother Huntington's Pickled Lightening or practical as a diversion (like her Fog Preserves or Hail with Cinnamon).

What Time is it? (Time 1 Mind 2): The mage disturbs the sense of time of a person, so he will think that more or less time have passed. He can make the victim think that its still four or that its already six, until the victim watches his watch (which clever mages can manipulate using Matter).

The Wheel Cannot Hold (Entropy 3): The mage quickly rotates a small bone on a string and let it go, or throw their dices so they drop off the table. The mage channels randomness into an area (for example a building). The result is that lots of random and disorderly things start to happen. Sprinklers will activate, printers will start to print gibberish, computers crash, documents are lost, wallpapers come loose and the lettering on doors fall partially off, revealing new, interesting messages.

Where Am I? (Correspondence 1): The mage will know his position relative another, known place (Like his home or his starting points). When the mage moves away from this place he will still know where it is, and feel direction and distance to it.

Whistle of the Sleeping Animals (2 Mind): Through the coincidental effect and focus of a whistle, going from a high pitch to a low pitch, as the Mage points at the animal (or animals) in question and then lower her finger to point straight down. The targeted animal is gently put directly into a deep slumber. Note the targeted animal must be able to see and hear the Mage.

[For every success beyond the first the Mage may put an additional animal to sleep. If the target animal is hostile or attacking the Mage, two successes are required per animal.]

Window Manager (Correspondence 2): The Adept opens a window on his screen, showing another place. He can see and hear what is going on there, and move his vantagepoint, zoom in and out, store images and otherwise transform the image. Using a Virtual Reality the mage can even move around in a virtual copy of the place, seeing, hearing and feeling things (But he still cannot interact with the place).

Wolf Bind (Life 3, Spirit 3): This rote allows the mage to attempt to suppress or "bind" the form of a Garou. It attempts to both physically and spiritually bind the Lupine. [Diff # = Rage of Target, cumulative successes must = or > Gnosis. If successful the Garou will either revert to lupus, homid, or the individual's natural form (making this a bad thing to use against Metis.)

Wolf Dreams (Spirit 2, Mind 1): "He must be a psycho or on PCP; either way, that's one angry bastard." The mage calls a Garou spirit to help him find the Beast within himself. If successful, he can Rage like a Garou. Serial use of the Rote would be difficult since each use would tend to 'cleanse' the mage of anger. If done without the aid of a spirit (as a Mind effect) the duration would be lessened and the mage would be in greater danger of frenzy. (Note

[The mage gains a point of Rage per success. For the duration of the rote, he can act just as a Garou with this Rage score, including spending rage, making rage rolls, and risking Frenzy. If cast as a Mind effect, the mage frenzies and must spend a total of one Willpower per success to bring himself out. Furthermore, he can't make Rage rolls without the spirit's continued encouragement, so once the Rage is spent, it's gone. If repeated in the same story, add at least +2 difficulty. Could be static magic if used among Garou.]

Warnerspondence (Correspondence 4): Rubberback, a Hollow One mage who spent far too much time in front of the television, was inspired by an episode of "Animaniacs". The antagonist would go to toss the Warners out door, only to find himself mysteriously being thrown into the street instead. Ha ha! What a great gag! The Man in Black who tried to push Rubberback off of a building didn't find it quite so funny. Splat.

[Correspondence is used switch places with the target who threw/pushed the character. The target finds himself thrown instead of the mage. 1 or 2, depending on the circumstances may raise the difficulty of this rote. (E.g., switching places while falling towards the pavement at 20 mph.)]

Wyldfire's Library-In-A-Packet (Mind 1, Correspondence 5, Time 3, Forces 2): This rote allows the Virtual Adept (or any other mage), to compress information stored electronically so that it will fit in almost NO space on a disk. Mind 1 and Time 3 are used to speed up the computation and Correspondence 5 stretches the amount of space physically available on the disk. Forces are used to write the info to the disk. However, there is a drawback; the successes rolled must be split between duration and space multiplication-- see the following chart.

Successes Duration Space Multiplier

1 1 hour x2

2 6 hours x3

3 12 hours x4

4 1 day x5

5 2 days x6

6+ +1 day/success x7 (maximum)

[The way the successes are to be split is up to the player. For example, if I roll 7 successes, I may put 3 into the multiplication factor, and 4 into duration, thus giving me 4 times the space for 1 day.]

Yid's Mental Answering Machine (Mind 3, Time 1): Annoyed by the mental interruptions his companion made, Yid came up with this rote using a form of Multi-Tasking.

[When the Mage is concentrating on a problem, mental visitors receive this message; "[Mage's name] is busy at the moment. Please leave a message at the gong." Note that Time can make this a more structured event.]

You're Not Going Anywhere (Entropy 3+, Matter 2 or 3): Destroy the matter he's standing on, preferably outside on dirt/grass cause that'll erode the fastest (And look: what a coincidence, there was a small sinkhole where he was standing). Once he falls down, recreate the dirt around him (I guess this makes it vulgar again) Or if he's really strong, make it cement or something. And I suppose you would need a Prime 1 or 2 in there. Then he's stuck. Just walk up and bop 'em on the head.

Your own Weight in Gold (Matter 2 Life 4): An ancient sorcerer in Arabia reputedly invented this rote when confronted with a group of adventurers demanding payment. He just turned their skeletons into pure gold and walked away. The victims of this rote become extremely heavy, and due to the flexibility of pure gold their skeletons bend and deform. Most are simply crushed under their own weight. Beside this obvious problem, friends and enemies alike become very interested in their skeletons...

Zombie, 'Orleans style (Life 3, Spirit 4): Euthanatos of Africa have been raising corpses as long as anyone can remember and today, those who follow this tradition still use the technique as a wonderful source of servants. However, there now seem to be as many rotes for doing this, as there are mages. This particular rote is believed to be the one used by the renowned Baron Samedi. Several voodoo priests are fond of it and even sleepers have learnt the basic ritual. The word Zombie does not actually mean an animated corpse in this case however. It is still essentially a living human being. The first stage of this rote is to find a suitable subject and induce a state of suspended animation in him. This may be done by magic but more usually an herbal poison is used. The body is traditionally buried and left for a while before being retrieved, but there is no actual need for this. The poison brings the victim to the point of death (without causing tissue damage) which weakens the link between the body and the spirit. Most of the rituals of the voodoo priest are solely for the purpose of breaking this link. If too little poison was administered then the link will be too strong to be broken. Conversely, if too much was used then the body quickly dies and is useless. Just as the link is at its weakest (that is when the subject is about to die) the mage quickly drives out the spirit if he can and then hurriedly neutralizes the poison and drags the body back to life. This is no easy task and mentors usually make disciples' practice on animals before progressing to people. If successful then the mage has a living, intelligent body with no soul - and thus no will of its own - a Zombie.

There are a number of problems facing the young voodoo priest however. If he works too slowly then the body begins to deteriorate before he can drag it back to life. Without oxygen the brain rapidly suffers damage. That is why so many Zombies are slow and a little dense. The second problem is that although the Zombie has no will of its own it has no particular loyalty. If anything it just tends to obey the person that can shout the loudest. Thus the Zombie needs to be trained. This frequently but does not have to involve Mind magic. Finally, a spiritless body is a walking invitation to any passing Umbrood who fancies playing about in the `real' world. It is like leaving a Ferrari around with the keys in the ignition. To prevent this the mage seals the Zombie against the Umbra. If all this is done then the mage has an excellent servant / bodyguard / dinner-date or whatever.

"This is an extended ritual. Firstly the victim must be rendered deeply comatose (Life 4 or poison). Some experience is needed to judge this correctly. Secondly the spirit must be driven out (Spirit 4). At least 10 successes are needed; possibly more for those with strong Avatars. Finally the body must be healed (Life 3). 4 successes are needed and must be achieved within one turn."

Zen Navigation (Correspondence 2, Entropy 2, Mind 1, Time 2): This rote was designed by the Cult of Ecstasy as a joking way of utilizing Chaos theory. The cultist usually uses it when (s)he has not got access to a map, when (s)he wants to go somewhere in a hurry or just to upset and frighten sleepers (and other mages) who (s)he happens to be sharing a car with.

The rote involves simply picking out a car or other vehicle from the many passing by and setting out to follow it to its intended destination. The mage can select the car using a variety of criteria including its color, shape, year - whatever takes the mages fancy at the time. It is, however, recommended that the car be travelling in at least something resembling the right direction to start with if the effect is to be considered coincidental. With luck (sorry, with a willing avatar) the car the mage follows is just happening to be going somewhere near to the place where the mage wants to go. This rote can be quite disconcerting for passengers, especially if the cultist still requires a focus for some of the spheres. This can mean that the mage may need to employ narcotics or other illegal drugs while driving (God knows what (s)he will need to if her/his vice is playing the guitar or sex.) However, to offset the effects of this a Mind/Life effect can be instigated to keep the mage sober.

[The mage uses the sphere of Entropy to pick out a 'likely' vehicle based upon some criteria. For instance, it could be decided that the mage likes the color red and would thus always follow red cars. More coincidental choices could come from reading the license plate -"It says California on the license so I assumed that it was going there..." or from following trucks and vans with company names on them. The number 29 bus to the area the mage wants to visit could also just happen to be passing at the time. Once the vehicle has been selected the mage locks onto it and follows it using Time and Correspondence to see where it is going and memories the route using the sphere of Mind. Storytellers may well decide to enforce a roll of PER +Intuition (Diff 6) to see how well the mage understands the information.]