ANDERS MAGE PAGE 2.0

Often times it seems like it's impossible to build up any mystery in a Mage game what with having mages who can read the future and the past. It has occurred to me that there are ways that this ability can be co-opted or subverted.

Arcane

Subtracts dice from all Perception rolls. Mages with high Arcane are hard to learn about and impossible to predict. There's a reason why they haven't been able to find Secret Agent John Courage. This guy is so arcane he can't even find his socks. Even if the mage in question is scrying an area that the mage wandered into he might find himself confounded by the problem that no matter where he is sensing the area from, for some reason he can't seem to get a close look at the other mage's face. Some clues might be gained while the overall identity is still obscured.

Warding

In Mage 2nd Edition it is now possible to ward an area against temporal scrying. Middling to high level mages can do this. All the mage has to do is think of doing it before committing whatever act he wants hidden. Powerful mages can immunize themselves from scrying altogether. This form of "locking out" has a fairly distinctive feel to it. Most mages can feel the background Prime running through the time ward. It's usually not a mystery to any mage who encounters it more than once.

Sensory Obscurement

While this applies to kithain and obfuscated vampires it also applies to trying to listen to two mages screaming at one another while a semi passes by. Just because you can cast your sensorium backwards or forwards in time doesn't mean you can actually sense anything.

Disturbances

Large amounts of released Prime, such as a large battle, a Paradox storm, the awakening of a Node, or a large Time effect going off can have a sort of blurring effect on scrying.

Metaphorical Visions

Not all magickal traditions view time in the same way. Most technomagickal versions of temporal scrying involve probability models and simulations designed to virtually re-create the event. This is then stored and replayed at leisure, often changing the angle of viewing. Some simply cast their minds back or forward into time and see what they see. Some paradigms are difficult insofar as they might not give a literal translation of future or past events.

Dreamspeakers, for example, must often petition the spirits for their time-sight. They might ask the rock to share its sight (thus filtering the events through the rock perceptual filter) or he might ask the fates or maybe a time elemental to show him the events to come. Even this might be unclear or cryptic. In all cases there is the question of chiminage.

Cultists sometimes have problems with needing to reach an altered state in order to see the time lines and then having difficulties with interpreting the outcome. "Well... All I saw was this big flounder eating Bob's soul. I'm not sure what to make of that."

Divination Methods

Whenever I can I try to work real world divination methods into a story. Some can tell you much more than others and can occasionally send you in new directions but they never give you a completely straight answer.

Too Much Information

Scrying the past is fairly straightforward. The past has become concrete, whereas the future still remains abstract. Thus when looking ahead Time mages often speak of Paths, Threads or Frames. "In six out of ten frames I see you getting killed if you break from cover."

The further that a mage looks the more branches in the timeline are seen until he inevitably suffers information overload (a blinding headache and possibly a bout of Quiet). In some cases, depending on the individual or destiny in question, scanning an area of time ahead one hour is sufficient for this kind of breakdown (just try it on a Marauder).

Also, even a simple reading ahead can be misleading. Just because you see something happening in six out of ten frames doesn't mean that's what's going to happen. Likely, yes. Probable, sure. Written in stone, not on your life. Those mages with a Destiny rating are often harder to read than others. Sometimes there are so many threads tied up in one period of time it becomes a veritable gordian knot.

Personal Transformations

Often, Time mages have some difficulty reading themselves. Often the Avatar intentionally keeps information from the mage. Especially in the case of some types of learning experiences. There might be clues and hints but your Avatar refuses to spoon feed the future to you.