Talisman

An object enchanted with Sphere magick. It exhibits unusual properties and/or allows a mage to use Effects they don’t know themselves. The Technocracy call it a Device. Revised Edition used Wonder as a term to include Devices & mystical Talismans but then became a replacement for Talisman. Mage20 continues it.

The idea of a close, intimate connection between a creator & a Talisman is portrayed on pg. 58 of Storytellers Companion (Revised). It also shows combining Merits, Flaws & Backgrounds with Talismans.

Pg. 10 of Technomancer’s Toybox states creating a mystic Talisman requires a point of permanent Willpower from the creator. Technomagical Devices do not require a point of permanent Willpower but take twice as long to make (unless an assembly line has been set up to produce the Device).

Forged by Dragon’s Fire proposes to be the final work on Wonders for Revised Edition. It states that all Talismans/Devices require a point of permanent Willpower from the creator.

• Artifacts/Inventions - one or more specific Effects are done by the Artifact when a mage uses it. The mage’s own Arete is rolled but the mage does not need to be capable of the Effect the Artifact casts.
• Charms/Gadgets (Technocracy) - Easier to make and can be used only once. Arete roll is made at creation, not at its use. Can be thought of as an Effect that was cast and locked into an object.
• Fetish
• Periapts/Matrix (Technocracy) - Quintessence batteries and Paradox traps. Requires an action to draw out Quintessence. If it gains more Paradox than quintessence it shatters.
• Talismans/Devices - Have their own Arete. Have an intimate connection with creator and require a point of the creator’s permanent Willpower. Can be made to act on its own. Some allow a user to cast 2 Effects at once. Some Talismans have Paradox nullification.
• Grimoires/Principiae (Technocracy) - A book or written work of some kind that can increase Arete or Sphere levels and reduce their experience point cost. May raise Arete without a Seeking.
• Primer - a special kind of Grimoire that can cause Awakening

Like idea of “tomes” pg. 63 of The Red Sign. Only people with Arete 1 or more can understand them. Arete roll to understand contents. Way to learn Rote or special knowledge/ability. Some take 2 to 20 weeks to study. Reader may need to make a Willpower roll to resist a delusion planted in the tome. Tomes have a minimum Arete rating. Anyone with an Arete lower than that can’t understand it.