ANDERS MAGE PAGE 2.0

Perceptual Overload (Corr. 2, Mind 4, all other Spheres 1)

While many rotes and procedures exist that allow a mage to experience the vastness of his surroundings, this offensive rote overwhelms the mage. Developed by the New World Order, this procedure forces another's mind completely open as his senses are flooded with enormous amounts of stimuli, damaging the target's brain. Normally, a mage using a similar rote could expect (at worst) a period of Quiet. By shattering all mental defenses, this procedure has utterly destroyed sane mage's minds, turning them into Marauders. The rate of success varies between laboratories. NWO specialists are trying to determine what factors cause the variance.

Variations of this procedure exist, using sensory deprivation instead of overload to cause the same results. The New World Order has only recently begun experimenting with using this to force Sleepers to Awaken as full-fledged Marauders.

The caster rolls his Arete against a difficulty of 8 (9 if the target is a Sleeper), and the target resists with a Willpower roll against a difficulty of 6. However, the New World Order will often use this as a prolonged procedure, and combine it with Progenitor drugs designed to inhibit the target's willpower. Once the procedure achieves more successes than the target's Willpower, the target is irrevocably driven insane (and may become a Marauder). For every four successes (resisted or not) the caster earns, the target takes one unsoakable health level as his brain tissue tears under the strain of the sensory overload.

The Understanding (Entropy 5, Mind 5)

This rote of the Order of Hermes dates back to the Mythic Age and is believed to have been created with the aid of another Tradition (a rumor the Hermetics flatly deny). This rote allows a mage to not only make a mental link with a Marauder, but also alter his own mind enough to understand the Marauder's skewed perceptions while keeping the caster's mind safe from permanent harm.

By rolling his Arete against a difficulty of 8, this coincidental rote allows the mage to understand the thinking of a single Marauder. The caster may predict the actions and thoughts of his target and have meaningful communication. A botch on this spell should send the caster into Quiet, if not give him some sort of permanent insanity.

Turn up the Noise (Entropy 5, Mind 4)

Invented by a "resourceful" Virtual Adept, this rote allows the caster to super-charge a Marauder's (or anyone else's) insanities. People who hear a few voices inside their head suddenly have to deal with a host of screaming, gibbering, pleading, demanding presences. A split personality can suddenly become legion, flowing from persona to persona without any control or predictability. This rote is believed to have led to the deaths of as many casters as it has saved.

By rolling Arete against a difficulty of 9 (10 for Sleepers), and scoring more successes than the target can make on a Willpower roll (difficulty 6), the target will find any madnesses, Derangements or even Quiet increased. One additional success may force a schizophrenic to hear his voices a little more clearly, while five may turn the target into a gibbering mound of useless flesh.

Rehabilitation (Entropy 5, Life 5, Mind 5)

Perhaps the greatest creation of the AITI, this Procedure combines psychological treatment with brain altering chemicals to correct the instabilities of a Marauder. While members of the New World Order use Mindscaping and various other techniques to reshape and modify the target's mind, the Progenitors expose the target to various chemicals and foreign substances that alter the very structure of the target's brain. While this combined treatment has proven to have some success with Obsessive Compulsive disorders among Sleepers, those Marauders treated, while definitely improved, still displayed behavior considered much too eccentric for the Technocracy's taste.

The caster rolls his Arete against a difficulty of 8 (9 if the target is a Sleeper), and the target resists with a Willpower roll against a difficulty of 6. The number of successes needed varies, depending on the severity of the target's madness. Two successes may be needed to cure someone with a schizotypal personality disorder, while five might be needed to cure Sibyl. For every success scored (left after the target has resisted), the Marauder's Quiet drops by a point (if the target is a Quiet Marauder). Once the Quiet reaches 0, the target is no longer a Marauder and is effected by Paradox but free of the ravages of his madness (of course, future bouts of Quiet may return the Marauder to their former state). This procedure is always extended to have maximum effect.

One of Many (Corr. 5, Life 5, Mind 3, Prime 2)

No one knows where this rote came from. It seemed to appear as if from nowhere. It is strongly believed to be the work of a Marauder Oracle, as every mage who actively studies the Mad Ones eventually stumbles across the rote as if by chance.

This rote is unique in that it reaches into a target's mind and creates fully fleshed individuals from the target's memories. Such creations act and behave independently of the target, behaving as the target would believe them to. Of special interest is the use of this rote to cure those with a multiple personality disorder by sifting the various personas (or alters) out of the target's mind and into their own body. The New World Order has yet to test such an application of this rote.

After the caster beats a difficulty of 10 by rolling his Arete, a single incarnation of a person is created for every three successes the caster makes. The abilities, attributes, etc. are based on how the target perceives the person created and not how the person really is. A target who was molested as a child may manifest her father as a huge man (with a Strength of 5 or 6), while an alternate personality that is thought to be smart may manifest with enormous amounts of intellect (an Intelligence of 5 or 6, again). However, once the rote ends, all creations are dissipated as well, unless the caster botches, in which case they may become... more enduring.

The Restful Sleep (Mind 5, Spirit 5)

This ancient Dreamspeaker rote is both highly successful, and highly deadly. The Dreamspeaker enters the dreams of the disturbed (originally a Sleeper, who would complain to his shaman about "wrong thoughts"), and pulls the crazed spirit from the target's mind by a series of chanting and drumming within a smoke house. Once removed, the spirit will usually try to return to the confines of a mind, either the original host's or the Dreamspeaker who removed it, forcing the Dreamspeaker to destroy it once and for all and set the disturbed individual free. Many Sleepers scoff as they see men chasing thin air, shouting at it to be no more. The Dreamspeakers know better.

This coincidental rote works on two levels. First, it reaches into the target's mind and separates the "bad parts" of his mind from the rest, and then it reforms those thoughts as a spiritual entity. The power of such a spirit should be proportional to the target's madness. A Sleeper who sees an occasional pink dragon would form a minor spirit at best, while a Marauder's madness might form legions of monstrosities. Unless the Dreamspeaker destroys the spirit(s), the target will still be plagued by his madness. On a botch the target may get worse, or the spirit may manage to graft itself to the Dreamspeaker's soul (effectively "jumping ship").

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