Using

Arcane xp and Rotes
Rotes may be purchased with Arcane xp at the same cost as as with Mundane xp

To the Limit
Once per encounter you can push a an arcana to one higher than you can cast. The spell becomes vulgar and you get +3 dice to your paradox roll.

Considering

Fighting Style Merits are Banned

• Either completely overpowered or a waste of experience points
• A massive, game-changing advantage for the guy who has them
• A crippling liability for the guy who doesn’t
• The realm of description and situational modifiers anyway

Morality tracks are abandoned

• This is not to say that morality isn’t important, just that it isn’t tracked in a numerical way.
• For mechanics that rely on Morality, other dice pools are substituted:

Bashing absorbed from Paradox lasts longer
Bashing from paradox heals at a rate of 1 per scene/hour and is still resistant.

Alternate paradox levels
1 Bedlam
2 Branding
3 Havoc
4 Anomaly
5 Manifestation

Absorbing Paradox as Backlash

It requires a point of Willpower to absorb Paradox as Backlash.

Backlash only reduces the degree not what

Absorbing paradox as backlash only reduces the degree and extent of the paradox, not what type.

Study is Important

Without the tutelage of another mage of the desired rank a mage can only become an Adept (••••) in their ruling arcana, a Disciple (•••) of common arcana and an Initiate (••) of their inferior arcanum. Grimoires and soul stones may serve in lieu of another mage so long as the author or original owner had obtained the requisite level of mastery beforehand. Obviously, accessing a mage’s knowledge through a soul stone in this way is considered one of the three favors granted by its possession.

Furthermore, in order to increase a his or her Gnosis rating, a Mage must revisit their Watchtower and reinforce their inscribed name. Since journeys through the Astral realms require a powerful hallow, most Mages rely on their Order for assistance. This doesn’t seem to be the case for Banishers and some Scelesti, however, implying there might be other, less scrupulous ways to rise in power.

Not Using

Extended Spellcasting with Awakened Magic

Ritual casting spell factors are totaled up as per instant casting. Each interval of ritual casting (as determined by the caster’s Gnosis) removes up to 2 dice in penalties. At the end of the ritual, the mage rolls his/her Gnosis + Arcana – any remaining penalties. A rote spell uses Attribute + Skill + Arcana – any remaining penalties. A mage cannot negate more dice in penalties than he/she has total in the spell’s unmodified dice pool.

Example: Arctos is setting up his first sanctum and wants to protect it with magical defenses. Being a disciple (•••) of the Space arcanum with Gnosis 3, Arctos decides to set up a ward to prevent unwanted scrying.

An indefinite duration is a bridge too far, but Arctos decides that a week should suffice for -4. Since his sanctum is a single room, Arctos decides that a 4-yard radius will suffice for an additional -2. Arctos wants the ward to be at least fairly powerful, and decides that a potency of 4 would be good, at a -6.

Three hours of ritual casting reduce Arctos’ total penalties from -12 to -6, which would still leave him rolling a chance dice. By spending a point of willpower, Arctos rolls three dice and gets a success. His ward is in place, for a week at least.