Life
Life magick is a pattern magick. If your effect requires the creation of life patterns, you must be an Initiate of Prime. As well, the Life sphere divides all life into 2 divisions - simple life patterns, such as plants, virii, bacteria, insects, shellfish, anything invertebrate, and complex life patterns, such as cats, rats, puppy dogs, people, duck-billed, humans, bears, etc..
Apprentice •
Sense Life - The mage can read the patterns of life, learning a lot about it - it's age, sex, race, etc. Any degree of success can be used with this level of Life, but the greater the degree of success, the greater the detail of the information.Initiate ••
Alter Simple Patterns - The mage can alter, heal or destroy any simple life pattern. The mage may change the shape, health or form of any simple life pattern. The base structure of the pattern cannot fundamentally change - a tree will still be a tree, even if it has poisonous fruit now. Healing aggravated damage is considered vulgar, always. The number of health levels the mage can heal is determined by the general effect table.Heal Self - The mage can heal damage to their own life pattern. The number of health levels healed by this effect is determined by the general effect table.
Disciple •••
Alter Self - The mage may now alter their own form. They cannot change their fundamental form (human) (hopefully), but they change their appearance, sex, modify themselves go give them fur, gills, or natural weaponry, or improve their stats. They may receive one new physical trait for every effect result rating of the effect, for the duration of the effect (any duration over one day causes aggravated damage due to Pattern Bleeding) (see below), but if this total goes over the maximum number of trait for their race, they gain a permanent point of paradox for each trait above their trait maximum. If this modification is nullified, the permanent paradox point goes away. If the mage gives themselves natural weaponry, and decide to make it permanent, they do not suffer from pattern bleeding, but still retain the permanent paradox points.
Pattern Bleeding is caused by imperfect modifications of a mage's Life Pattern causing it to 'leak' raw quintessence. Every full day that a mage's pattern is modified by a magical Life effect, the mage takes a level of aggravated damage which CANNOT BE HEALED THROUGH magical MEANS. The mage may resist this damage if they are an Initiate of Prime and have some Quintessence to spend - spending a point of quintessence for every extra trait will nullify the effects of pattern bleeding for one day. If the mage uses experience to purchase the extra traits, they no longer suffer the effects of pattern bleeding, but if the trait total is over the normal race maximum for the mage's race, the permanent paradox points remain.Heal Life - As with the Initiate level of this effect, the mage may heal (or harm) other complex life patterns. The number of health levels healed (or inflicted) on the target pattern is determined by the general effect table, and heal aggravated damage is still vulgar. As well, vulgar life effects cause aggravated damage.
Transform/Create Simple Life Patterns - The structure of simple life patterns are now at the beck and call of the mage. The mage can turn them inside out, change one into another, or create them from other patterns, using conjunctional Matter, Forces or Prime effects. Although nothing that the mage makes has a mind of it's own, but with most simple life patterns that is rarely a drawback. Instinctive reflexes may be imbued into the target, but that is the limit. The mass of the patterns the mage can alter or create is determined by the general effect result table.
Adept ••••
Alter Complex Patterns - The mage can control complex life patterns, such as humans, dogs, rats, cats, elephants, and platypuses. They can change their form, give them weird new organs, heal them, or kill them. They may be imbued with new physical traits or have physical traits removed for the duration of the effect (see Pattern Bleeding in Alter Self, for it applies here as well). See the Initiate Level of this effect for the game mechanics of modification. They may also completely change their appearance for the duration of the effect (see pattern bleeding).Transform Self - The Adept of Life may also alter their form to resemble that of any other form of an equivalent size. They may become a deer, not a mouse. Special abilities also do not carry over without additional Life effects, and navigating in the new form does take some time to do.
Master •••••
Transform Complex Patterns - The mage may now transform others in the same fashion as the Adept level of this power. These tests are considered resisted challenges. The same rules for Transform Self apply here.Create Complex Forms - The mage can now create complex life forms like humans, dogs, rats, cats, and platypuses. Their creations have no minds or souls, but can be given instinctive reactions that can fake some instances of instinctual intelligence, and if the pattern was created by transmuting one pattern into the complex life pattern, it will still retain the resonance of it's previous form. A handgun changed into a hamster will be a stupid, yet bloodthirsty, hamster. Master level powers in Life and Spirit must be used to create intelligence and a soul
Perfect Metamorphosis - The mage's control of transformation, however, is perfect when applied to themselves. There is no period of adjustment, and the mage retains their mind and magical abilities regardless of the form they assume. They also gain all the natural abilities of their new form without extra Life effects.