Node (mage V20)
Node
In a world where magick seems scarce, you’ve got access to a miracle: a Node where you can meditate to restore your inner Quintessence or gather solid-energy Tass in various forms. You may have to fight to keep this place to yourself, though – werewolves, spirits, and rival mages are always looking to add such places to their collections. The Node might not be obvious as a magical site; most of them are not. To folks who understand such things, though, Nodes stand out as beacons of energy desired by mystics and Technocrats alike.
In the grand tradition of religions and empires everywhere, Nodes tend to get converted to suit the purposes of the groups that claim them. The Technocracy sends in teams to sanitize mystic Nodes and then builds strongholds, labs, or power stations on top of the previous installation. Mystic mages consecrate such territories in their own ways, building temples over glens, churches over wells, and shopping malls or computer labs over the holy ground once honored by a rival group. In short, Nodes present one of the nastier fronts of the Ascension War. Even allied mages, like Celestial Choristers and Verbena, are not above repurposing one another’s sacred spaces... all for the greater good, of course!
As Chapter Three mentions, Nodes have Resonance that comes from the type of energy that formed them. The Tass from a given site carries that Resonance with it too, and the form that Tass takes will follow the nature of the Node. A Node forged by a battle might radiate fury and sadness, incarnated as blood, bones, and ash; a fountain of hope feels refreshing and clean, with pure water Tass; but a Frankenstein-esque laboratory feels Gothic and foreboding, with lightning bolt Quintessence arcing between generators and captured in batteries, as Tass, for later use. The Gauntlet tends to thin out around mystic Nodes, but it thickens in Technocratic ones unless you’re using Dimensional Science procedures instead of spirit magick.
As a Background Trait, this Node represents a location that’s held by your character and perhaps a few friends. You can pool Background points to buy a larger Node, though your group will need a reasonable, story-based reason if you want to begin the chronicle with a place of great power. Your Node produces a certain amount of ambient, untapped Quintessence that your Avatar can absorb while you meditate in that spot for a while, plus a bit of Tass that can be collected in solid form and used later elsewhere. The exact amounts of Tass and free Quintessence depend upon the nature of your chronicle: a high-fantasy saga’s Node might produce as much as five or 10 Quintessence points per week for every dot in the Background rating, whereas a “magic is dying” chronicle would have Nodes that produce only one or two Quintessence per week for each dot in that Trait. Ultimately, the Storyteller determines the per-week value of a Node. For industrial-era chronicles, we suggest two points per week, per dot in the Trait – half of that in free Quintessence, the other half in Tass. Regardless of its form, that supply of Quintessence is finite. If you absorb it all into your Avatar or collect it all as Tass, that Node needs to replenish its energy before it can be used again.
Werewolves think of Nodes as caerns: sacred spaces blessed by their primal moon-goddess. Driven by religious fervor, they tend to claim Nodes for themselves when they can. Although such creatures avoid the cold factories of Technocratic power, a mage or cabal with a mystic Node could have some large, furry visitors wishing to discuss a real-estate transaction...
(Note: The caern levels have been adjusted from older versions of the rules in order to reflect the 1-10 scale of this Background.)
- X -- No place of power.
- • -- A tiny site of minor significance. (Level One caern.)
- •• -- A small trickle of metaphysical energy. (Level One caern.)
- ••• -- A steady flow of Quintessence. (Level Two caern.)
- •••• -- A pulse of energy, plus generous quantities of materialized Tass. (Level Two caern.)
- ••••• -- A powerful wellspring of energetic abundance. (Level Three caern.)
- ••••• • -- A focused Node, with both Tass and ambient energy refined by Prime Arts or sciences. (Level Three caern.)
- ••••• •• -- A considerable force of metaphysical power. (Level Four caern.)
- ••••• ••• -- A rare and wondrous place, brimming with incarnate Prime Force. (Level Four caern.)
- ••••• •••• -- One of the grandest sacred spots, or most potent refineries, in the material world. (Level Five caern.)
- ••••• ••••• -- One of the rarest and most precious sites on Earth... and a certain battleground for the forces that would tap its power. (Level Five caern.)
