| Hallmark
( • • Mind, • Prime) The Book of Shadows 145 |
| A mage's magicks are as distinctive as
his handwriting or fingerprints. With this rote, a mage may examine
a magickal working and gain insights into the personality and identity of
the mage who made it, including the techniques and affiliation of the
caster. With a roll of Perception + Awareness, he may attempt to match it
to other magical workings or auras of mages he knows. Sometimes this is
very easy, as some mages who know this rote (typically the Order of
Hermes) use it to blazon an elaborate seal at the end of all their
workings. Such hallmarks are visible to those looking with only the first
dot of Prime, though it requires Mind to detect the personality behind the
magic. Hollow Ones refer to this technique as "tagging" and sometimes
scrawl psychic graffiti over things for sheer amusement value. Such seals
and tagging are easily visible from the Umbra. [If a mage wishes to conceal his identity as the author of any particular Effect, he may toll Wits + Subterfuge versus the difficulty of the Effect being attempted. Partial successes will leave an indeterminate or smudged hallmark. If a mage wishes to forge the hallmark of another mage, he should roll Manipulation + Expression at the difficulty of the Effect being cast, with additional penalties for forging the impressions of mages he is unfamiliar with or the techniques of other Traditions. The Verbena and the Virtual Adepts use very different methods, and the style of magickal handwriting is equally distinct.] |