Re: Onyx Oasis Court (OOC Chat)
OWoD Mage was very freeform. 9 spheres of magic, each with up to five dots of mastery. Each dot gives you a bit more control over that sphere (Forces, Matter, Time, Mind, Spirit, Life, Entropy, Prime, and Correspondence (think teleportation and remote viewing/control)
1 dot was usually a sensory ability only, while usually at 3 dots you started to have decent control over that particular sphere. The really powerful stuff comes when you have power in several spheres and can combine them into one awesome spell. So yes, an end level mage can do some amazing stuff.
However, the Paradox rule still applies. If a mage casts a spell in the woods, and no body is around, the spell likely creates no paradox. If a mage casts the same spell in Manhattan, in front of a crowd of people, their collective disbelief will destroy said spell. Even if the spell does go off, it'll create mega paradox, which can physically harm the mage or even worse, summon a physical manifestation of Paradox itself -- that's REALLY bad. Like... summoning a living black hole right next to you, or a little tiny dude named Wrinkle who will make you do a Groundhog's Day temporal loop for a long ass time.
When fighting against supernaturals though, there is no paradox. They know freaky stuff exists, so they can't disbelieve. So a master mage can fuxxor lupines and vamps up. They're still squishy humans though, so a well placed sniper bullet can end them.
