Sense Celestial Bodies (Forces 1)

Friction Reduction (Forces 2)

Sense Celestial Bodies (Forces 1)

This rote allows the caster to innately sense the positions of the planets, stars, and other celestial bodies in the sky, even while the sun is shining. It combines the Forces Arcana's subtle abilities under the Practice of Unveiling to sense slight gradations of light and gravity in the sky's dome above the caster's head. This can be very useful for navigating during daytime hours or merely knowing the precise positions of planets in the zodiac on the daytime side of the sky without having to consult an almagest or series of astrological tables. The caster cannot sense the celestial bodies in the sky on the other side of the globe using this rote.

Whether used during the day or at night, the rote lends a +1 bonus to any rolls having to do with navigation or astrology, as long as no other equipment (telescopes, charts, tables, almagests) is used. If equipment is used, the equipment bonus of that particular object cancels out the rote's usefulness.

Practice: Unveiling

Action: Instant

Duration: Prolonged (one scene)

Aspect: Covert

Cost: None

Rosicrucian Rote: Sunstruck Astrologer's Eyes

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult or Science + Forces

The Rosicrucians found it important to have precision in navigating both land and sea, and invented this rote to show them the hidden stars and wandering planets in the middle of a bright blue sky. To the Rosicrucian, the sensations of the planets match their traditional occult significances (Mars smells and tastes of blood and iron, Mercury's appearance is that of slippery quicksilver, etc.) as she gazes into the sun-drenched sky, noting the positions of the constellations no mortal can see. Other Orders use Science to practice this rote, using “shortcut” equations that do the work of hours of predictive astrological tables and charts.

Friction Reduction (Forces 2)

The mage reduces the friction (static or kinetic) between two solid objects. A book on a table will appear to slide effortlessly across the surface with little resistance. A walker will have a hard time maintaining a foothold. Objects on an incline will move downward.

Practice: Ruling

Action: Instant

Duration: Prolonged (one scene)

Aspect: Vulgar

Cost: None

The mage reduces the friction in a given area according to her successes:

Any person walking on that area suffers a –1 penalty to any action that might have required normal friction to be present, whether it’s a Ride roll to keep control of a horse or an Athletics roll to walk across the frictionless surface (other rolls may apply per situation). This penalty can be increased by raising the spell’s Potency factors during casting.

Characters who fall into objects take damage accordingly (see “Falling,” p. 179 in the World of Darkness Rulebook). Vehicle crashes can be found on pp. 144–145 of the World of Darkness Rulebook.

Rosicrucian Rote: Reduce da Vinci's Constant

Dice Pool: Wits + Science + Forces

Leonardo da Vinci was the first scientist or engineer to study friction in earnest. His two laws – that friction is proportional to the downward force, and that friction is independent of cross-sectional area – were the first time such concepts were investigated experimentally. Da Vinci posited a coefficient of friction of .25 which later turned out to be invalid. The holes in da Vinci's research led the Rosicrucians to find an effective way to tweak the constant and cause surfaces to lose all grip on other surfaces.