Oh, there are a few things to mention beforehand. First, there are houserules.

Any 10s rolled cancel out an equivalent number of 1s in the same roll. In essence, each 10, while it isn't an extra success in itself, has a shield against one negative success. Also, taking a cue from Nobu, I'll be allowing all mages to automatically have 3 Arete to start with, no expenditure of freebie points required for it.

Next, I would just like to state that I will NOT be allowing anything explicit in my game. Basically, no ero. If it happens, it will be over PM, and NOT involve me. The game will be over IRC, and it won't necessarily have to be fully SFW, but I am not comfortable with explicit stuff myself. I just wanted to get that out of the way now, because I know some people run WoD that way, but I don't <_<;

EDIT: Two more house rules I forgot.

Extra successes on attack ARE added to damage dice in melee, just as with firearms.

Arete can NEVER exceed twice your current permanent intelligence, and it is literally impossible for someone with less than 2 dots of Intelligence to Awaken. Awakening and Arete reflect an enlightenment that quite simply requires a certain capacity for learning. If your permanent intelligence somehow drops to make it so that your current Arete exceeds your capacity, then other rules will apply, that will not be expanded upon until such time. This is not a balance issue, and is not up for debate.


Okay, so, I've now figured out how I'm going to deal with Paradox.

Coincidental: Obviously, no Paradox without a botch. WITH a botch, Paradox still equals the highest sphere used. For an effect with four dots or less, if you botch, you can spend willpower or Quintessence to counteract the Paradox, at a rate of one willpower or five quintessence for each point of Paradox nullified. HOWEVER, if you spend more than one point of Willpower in this manner at once, you must then roll your permanent Willpower, at difficulty 4+Willpower spent. If you fail, you lose a point of permanent Willpower. if you botch, you lose TWO permanent Willpower points. The exception to these is an Effect that uses a sphere at 5 or above, in which case, you can't counter it, and you go straight to backlash.

Vulgar without witnesses: No Paradox upon success. Failure may or may not incur a point, at my discretion and depending on the scale of what you were attempting. A botch applies as normal, gaining Paradox equal to the highest sphere used +1

Vulgar with witnesses: 1 dot per disbelieving witness, up to the highest sphere used, on success. Failure means that the number is automatically that high, and +1 for every five witnesses, with automatic backlash if there are at least ten witnesses regardless of how minor the effect was. You will never gain more than ten points of Paradox without a botch. Botches are equal to TWICE the highest sphere used +2, and with ANOTHER +2 for every five witnesses, with no cap. A botch on a vulgar Effect with witnesses will ALWAYS incur backlash, even if you were doing nothing more than extending magical perception to a single Sleeper.

Also, I would like to say how I handle Nodes:

For each dot in a node, you can gain 15 points of Quintessence from it each week. Nodes of one or two dots are fairly common, and very rarely attract the attention of any mage with any real power. Nodes of three dots or above on the other hand are highly prized, and will be difficult at best to hold. Five dot nodes are rarely held by anyone except Masters, or an entire cabal of Adepts.