Grimoires & Rotes

Rotes

• Rote spells are Awakened magic that is drawn down and focused through Fallen World knowledge. In essence, they are Supernal sparks that have been found to have survived in the Fallen World, encoded into this lore, which is used to draw down that specific power of the Supernal with greater reliability.
• Every rote has a specific Imago that is used every time it is cast, rather than creating a whole new one every time, as is done with Improvised Spells.
• Rather than a Gnosis + Arcanum roll, the mage rolls an Attribute + Skill + Arcanum.
  • Skill Specialties do not apply to the casting of rotes.
  • If the Skill used in the rote is one of the three Rote Specialty Skills of the caster's Order, he gains a +1 die with those rotes.

Benefits of Rotes

Rotes have a number of benefits above Improvised Spellcasting:

• The 1 Mana cost of casting Out-of-Path Spells is removed.
• Any Paradox that spell might incur is reduced by 1 die.
• Many Rotes have Factor Bonuses - these are "free successes" that are used to purchase Factors without sacrificing dice (in Instant Spellcasting) or extra successes (in Extended Spellcasting).

Drawbacks of Rotes

• Must pay experience to learn new rotes.
• Every Rote has a mudra - generally, a hand-sign of some kind - that must be performed with every spell. Must have at least one hand free to cast a rote.
• Most Rotes are Order-specific, and the Orders are fairly protective of their lore.

Learning New Rotes

• In order to learn a new rote, you must have access to that rote, either through another mage to teach you, or through a properly inscribed copy of that rote.
• The cost to learn a new rote is ([Rating of Rote] x2) in Experience Points.
• It takes a minimum of one day per dot in the rote to learn it. This time is spent in experimentation.

Creating New Rotes

• Creating a new rote is the work of Masters: only those with a rating of five or higher in an Arcanum may create rotes for that Arcanum.
  • Creating rotes for 5-dot spells requires Archmastery (6+) in that Arcanum.
• Creation of a new rote takes one week per dot in the rote.
• Once this time is up, the mage pays ([Rating of Rote] x4) in Experience Points. Up to half of this amount may be paid with Arcane Experience.

Grimoires

• Grimoires are, generally speaking, books and other written material with Supernal secrets encoded in the formulae found within them.
• A rote takes up at least one page in the book, and always includes Atlantean writing in it.
• There are other forms of Grimoires that record rotes in other locations, but these usually require Prime • and one dot in another Arcanum to read. For example:
  • A stone statue or wall frieze whose construction includes the patterns of Atlantean sigils that communicate the lore of a rote, readable with Matter • and Prime •.
  • An ancient tree with Supernal lore imbedded in the fiber of its bark, readable with Life • and Prime •.
  • An ancient ghost or other spirit whose very essence was altered to record a rote, readable with Death • (or Spirit •) and Prime •.
  • A rote inscribed as information on a data-storage device such as a hard-drive or DVD is readable through Forces • and Prime •.
• Grimoires show up to Prime-based magics, but the power within them is quite subtle, requiring 5 successes at Unveiling Resonance of a book to determine its nature.

Acquiring Grimoires

• Grimoires are most often acquired through favors, taken as prizes or treasure, or simply discovered in the course of most mages' lives.
  • The best way to reflect this is through purchase of the Grimoire Merit.
• Occasionally, minor grimoires may be found for sale. These are usually copies of grimoires, and invariably cost (Rating of Grimoire) + •• as a Resources purchase.

Creating Grimoires

• Creating a grimoire is quite simple, requiring only the Spell "Inscribe Grimoire" (Prime •) to do so.
  • Using this spell erases the Rote from the mage's mind, however, though many mages then relearn the rote.
• Mages may also inscribe rotes into different materials. This requires Prime •, plus an Arcanum high enough to affect the material into which the rote is being invested.

Copying Grimoires

• Copying a grimoire is much simpler, requiring the Spell "Copy Grimoire" (Matter • + Prime •).
• The format used to originally record the spell must be the format it is transferred over to - the contents of a book grimoire cannot be inscribed onto a stone pillar, for instance.

Using Grimoires in Spellcasting

• Grimoires are useful even to those who don't learn the rotes within them, as they can be used to cast the rotes within them by a mage who takes the time to read and perform the rote from the page.
  • The caster must spend the turn before casting the spell reading from the grimoire. This turn may also be used to speak Atlantean.
  • If the caster is working ritual (Extended) spellcasting, perusing the grimoire while doing so takes thirty minutes (again, which may be also used to speak Atlantean).
• Those with the Literary Thaumaturge Merit (•••) are even better at performing this, gaining the benefits of the Rote Action trait to their spellcasting rolls.