All rules posted herein are adaptations and interpretations drawn from those rules present in the WWP books: Mage: the Ascension and Book Of Chantries (found reprinted in: Mage Chronicles, vol.1).

SUMMARY: Study Points represent the success which a character has attained in attempting to learn a new field.

SYSTEM: Up to half of the XP cost of the Sphere, Knowledge, or Talent (if possible to be studied) may be paid using Study Points. Study Points ‘expire’ after 6 IRL months from acquisition.

GAIN: Study Points may be gained from the following efforts:

• Library Study : 1 roll per week
• Mentor Rolls: 1 roll per week
• Instruction: 1 roll per month
• Experimentation: 1 roll per month

Note 1: Mentor and Library are exclusive of one-another. Either one or the other may be made in a single week (no more often than 6 days, 12 hours between rolls)

Note 2: Instruction and Experimentation rolls are made at any time during a given month, and are independent of the Mentor or Library rolls.

Note 3: Only one library roll may be made per week, even if you have access to multiple libraries.

Note 4: If a roll is delayed, those days are lost.

SPENDING

Once study points are spent to buy a stat, all accumulated study points for that stat are wiped. For example, if you have 6 study points in Time and want to buy Time 1, you can only spend 5 of those study points towards the expenditure, as per the rules above, but all 6 study points would be “used” in the expenditure. That 1 leftover study point would expire immediately instead of being able to be saved to buy Time 2.

Types of Study

Library Study

SUMMARY: Library Study is the effort a character puts forth in research in a Rated Library (Background).

SYSTEM: After spending 15 IRL minutes in the Library, the player must state what they wish to study and whether they will expend a WP for the effort, then may roll the Library Rating vs. the proper Diff. Successes are recorded as the Study Points for that week.

ROLL: The difficulty of Library Rolls is dependent on the size of the Library, as follows:

• Rating 0: No Research Possible
• Rating 1-4: Diff 8, 6 in one area
• Rating 5-9: Diff 7, 5 in three areas
• Rating 10-14: Diff 6, 4 in five areas
• Rating 15+: Diff 5, 3 in ten areas

Note 1: A character may use their Research Ability to alter the difficulty of the Library roll (minimum Diff is always 3). To do this, the player must announce such ahead of time and whether they wish to expend a WP in the effort. The player then rolls their character’s Int+Research, Diff 6. The successes (or botches) are subtracted from (or added to) the difficulty of the Library Roll.

Note 2:  When studying via direct access (mental absorption, plugging into a computer library, etc.) from a library with a rating greater than a character’s Intelligence*2, the character runs the risk of gaining derangements unless some type of filter or indexing system has been created. There is only so much information that can be absorbed at once.

Mentor Study

SUMMARY: Mentor Study represents the teachings of the character’s IC Mentor Background).

SYSTEM: After spending 15 IRL minutes with their Mentor (may be RPed at the Staffer’s determination and time), the player must state what they wish to study and whether they will expend a WP for the effort, then may roll their Mentor Rating vs. Diff 6. Successes are recorded as the Study Points for that week.

Instruction

SUMMARY: Instruction is the RPed effort of one character attempting to convey knowledge which they posses to another character.

SYSTEM: After spending 15 IRL minutes or longer RPing the Instruction, the player must state what they are trying to teach and whether they will expend a WP for the effort, then may roll their character’s Manipulation+Instruction. This roll is checked against a Diff of 11-(Int of each student), successes are recorded as the Study Points for each student.

• Note 1: An Instructor must have at least one dot in Instruction to attempt to teach other characters.
• Note 2: An Instructor can not teach someone with that stat higher than their own.
• Note 3: More than a single student can be taught simultaneously.
• Note 4: No more than one Instruction Roll may be made for the same student in a single month.

Experimentation

SUMMARY: Experimentation is the effort a character puts forth in research in an IC Laboratory or other prepared location.

SYSTEM: After spending 15 IRL minutes in the Laboratory, the player must state what they wish to study and whether they will expend a WP for the effort, then may roll their Arete (Intelligence for all non-Sphere Experimentation) vs. the proper Diff. Successes are recorded as the Study Points for that week.

ROLL: The difficulty of Experimentation Rolls is dependent on the facilities available, as follows:

• None – No Experimentation Possible
• Substandard – Diff 8
• Adequate – Diff 7
• Modern – Diff 6
• State-of-the-Art – Diff 5

Note 1: A character may use their Research Ability to alter the difficulty of the Experimentation roll (minimum Diff is always 3). To do this, the player must announce such ahead of time and whether they wish to expend a WP in the effort. The player then rolls their character’s Int+Research, Diff 6. The successes (or botches) are subtracted from (or added to) the difficulty of the Experimentation Roll.