>>75231185 things to know. "Arcana" govern what things a spell can effect, these are rated in dots 1-5. The more dots you have the more "Practices" you know for an Arcanum, these dictate how it can effect the things. Three types of spells, Rote spells are fixed effect spells you can learn that are much easier to cast, then you have Improvised spells which give you a whole lot of flexibility but are more complicated and prone to bad stuff, and then Praxes which are Improvised spells that you're practised with and better at. Spells have factors (Potency, Duration, Scale, Range, Casting Time) the bigger these factors, the harder and more costly a spell is to cast. Then you have Paradox which is basically backlash from warping reality, the more you "Reach" to cast powerful spells the worse these effects are, non-magic types seeing you do it doesn't help either. All of the above will determine what any given spell requires, can do, it's difficulty, and its cost. There is a host of magical tools and techniques that make these things easier. Every faction has is preferred tools that are symbolically important, basically magic wands. You don't need them, but it makes it easier.
These are the 10 Arcana and their purviews.
>DeathDarkness, decay, ectoplasm, ghosts, the Underworld, souls, cold, absence, enervation, endings
>FateBlessings, hexes, probability, fortune, oaths, promises, intentions, destiny
>ForcesElectricity, gravity, radiation, sound, light, heat, fire, weather, movement
>LifeHealing, disease, food, animals, plants, evolution, metamorphosis, physicality, vigor
>MatterAlchemy, gases, solids, liquids, shaping, crafting, transmutation, stasis
>MindCommunication, language, hallucination, Goetia, thought, memory, mental projection, the Astral Realms
>PrimeMagic, the Supernal World, Nimbus, truth, Yantras, Mana, Hallows, tass, resonance, revelation
>SpaceDistance, separation, sympathy, conjuration, scrying, warding
>SpiritEssence, spirits, the Shadow, the Gauntlet
>TimeProphecy, change, postcognition, time travel, time contraction and dilation
Here are the 13 Practices and the dot you get them for any given Arcanum.
>1 DotCompelling: Nudge a preferred but possible outcome into reality.
Knowing: Deliver knowledge about something directly to the mage.
Unveiling: Expose hidden things to the mage’s senses.
>2 DotsRuling: Fuller control over phenomena than a mere Compelling spell.
Shielding: Provides protection against phenomena under the Arcanum’s purview.
Veiling: Conceal things under the Arcanum’s purview from detection, or conceal a target from concrete phenomena under the Arcanum’s purview
>3 DotsFraying: Degrade things, weakening them and enhancing their flaws.
Perfecting: Improve things, bolstering them and enhancing strengths.
Weaving: Alter nearly any property of a target without transforming it into something completely different.
>4 DotsPatterning: Completely transform a target into something else that falls under the Arcanum’s purview.
Unravelling: Significantly impair or damage phenomena under the Arcanum’s purview, or directly inflict severe damage using the forces of an Arcanum.
>5 DotsMaking: Allow for the creation of whole new phenomena ex nihilo.
Unmaking: Annihilate subjects under the Arcanum’s purview entirely.
If you want to decide a coinflip, that's Compelling Fate and thus requires 1 dot in Fate. A Death Knowing spell could tell you how someone died. A Ruling Forces spell might let you snuff out fire, or change the direction of gravity. A Weaving Life spell could change the physical appearance of someone or even their attributes. A Patterning Spirit spell could allow you to change one type of spirit into another type of spirit. A Making Time spell could make a pocket of time that makes the whole world freeze while in it. An Unmaking Life spell could kill a person.
You can also combine Arcana together to effect a wider range of things, Time and Life Weaving could make a person physically older. With a Making Space spell you could create a pocket dimension, but you'd need at least 2 dots in Time for Ruling in order to allow time to flow normally there, and you'd need 2 dots in Death in order to allow ghosts to use it too. A Pattering Life spell would let you shapeshift, but you'd also need Matter at 4 dots to shapeshift your clothing and gear along with you. Stuff like that.
That's pretty much it, I'm only at 4431 characters too. Not sure what else I should say that's actually important for the broad strokes of how they work. I guess I'll touch on Attainments. Basically each dot in an Arcanum gets you a new magic trick, they're like spells but not spells. At one dot you can Counterspell that Arcanum. 2 gets you a Mage Armour for each one, as well as a free Merit-like "Lesser Utility". 3 dots comes with better summoning of things related to it. 4 dots comes with the "Greater Utility" for each of them which tend to be pretty fun. With 5 dots you get to make your own Rotes.
