Chinese Elemental Magic in Mage: The Budapest Urbancrawl

I've always found it constricting that every Mage tradition and even convention is using the same OoH-derived magickal system to define its mystic/enlightened.

I'm trying to give a unique twist to each magical faction - I hope this isn't heresy; I'll start with one that isn't covered in Mage: the Ascension.

This post is dedicated to Daoist elemental magic. (The post about the large ethnic Chinese minority in the citystate, whose mystics all happen to be Daoist sorcerers is in the pipeline.)

Disclaimer #1: I have no real knowledge of Daoist cosmology, but find it fascinating and many-faceted. I hope readers who actually know about Chinese elemental mysticism will forgive me.

Disclaimer #2: This is the first back-of-the-envelope iteration of something that may turn out not to be feasible.

Inspired by the system outlined in GURPS Chinese Elemental Powers

Key to the diagram

Each of the elements is created or generated by the one(s) pointing towards it with a green arrow: this is a mother-child relationship.

Each element generates its child element, and has a certain mystical power over its mother.

Each element limits (controls) one other element that is neither its mother nor its child: this is the father cycle.

(Chi is special because I just cobbled it on top of the existing five-element model to make it a quasi-Sphere in its own right.)

The 3 cycles

These are a kind of mystic rock-paper-scissors-lizard-spock. At least I would GM a confrontation between two Daoist masters that way. (Mages unaware of the workings of how a Budapest Chinese wizard does their magic could be in for a nasty surprise.)

Child cycle

• Earth contains metal; ore can be smelted into metals.
• Water condenses (is created) on Metal.
• Water nourishes trees.
• Wood fuels fire.
• Fire leaves ash behind, which is a form of earth.

Mother cycle

• Metal tools move earth.
• Earth covers/extinguishes fire.
• Fire consumes wood.
• Wood floats on water.
• Water corrodes metal.

Father cycle

• Water extinguishes fire.
• Fire melts metal.
• Metal (tools) can cut wood.
• Trees cover and bind earth with their roots.

Element domains

These are a bit like the pillars in Mage: The Dark Ages.

Direction

Water	North
Wood	East
Fire	South
Earth	Middle
Metal	West

Taste

Water	salty
Wood	sour
Fire	bitter
Earth	sweet
Metal	astringent or umami

Emotion

Water	fear
Wood	anger
Fire	joy
Earth	love
Metal	grief

Organs

Water	kidney, bladder
Wood	liver, gall bladder
Fire	heart, small intestine
Earth	stomach, spleen
Metal	large intestine, lungs

Sense

Water	hearing
Wood	sight
Fire	speech
Earth	taste
Metal	smell

Chi

Chi is the odd one out, the sixth "element" in a five-element cosmology. I wanted to twist it into the same framework as the rest though, giving it a hint of quintessence (the driver of all the other elements, so to speak).

This isn't playtested, so GMs are free to ignore it or substitute their own domains.

• electricity,
• sex,
• jealousy and envy,
• revenge,
• money

Alternately, you could argue that Chi is more or less the Spirit sphere, and treat is as such.

Element mastery

To fit this into the Mage magic system, all 5+1 one the elements could be thought of as Spheres, with similar levels of mastery.

GMs could have Daoist wizards also have Arete (perhaps removing Chi from the centre of the diagram above, and subbing it for Arete).

⚫	Find [direction], detect [emotion]/[taste], examine/diagnose [organ], make full use of [sense] (even if given sense is otherwise impaired)
⚫⚫	Enhance [sense] (perhaps to superhuman levels), instil [emotion] in self, block [sensing] of self, improve/invigorate [organ]
⚫⚫⚫	Basic counter mother element, Block sensing of mother element outside self also Enhance/lower [sense] in others, Confuse one other about/propel one other towards [direction], Heal/impair [organ], Generate/enhance existing [emotion]
⚫⚫⚫⚫	Generate child element, Transform [emotion] into [child element emotion] Advanced counter mother element, Basic counter father element, Block sensing of father element Replace with/remove [color]
⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫	Advanced generate child element, Advanced counter father element, Destroy/regenerate [organ], mass extinguish/create [emotion]

Focus

Paradigm

Daoism.

An underlying order governs the universe - if one makes oneself sensitive to how the universe works and live in harmony with it, one can achieve anything.

Divine Order - Earthly Chaos from M20 comes closest, to me.

Practice

Lifestyle choices dictated by the mystical element(s) that the Daoist wizard is adept at. This boils down to avoiding imbalances:

• diet (a balance between the foods associated with the given element and those associated with its control element (the father cycle));
• clothing (a balance between the color associated with the element, and avoiding the color associated with its father element);
• mood control
• exercise and sleep (deprivation)
  
• self-medication (in line with traditional Chinese medicine, to enhance or suppress the activity of the organs in the child-father cycle)

The idea is a sort of paladin character, who literally owes their magic powers to their religion (which is, arguably what M:tAs is all about in the first place) - the less pious and religious they are, the less they are able to practice magic.

This could take the form of the character partially or fully losing their powers for a set time, until they repair the imbalance caused by their straying off the right path, or, in cases of grave religious offences, until they have successfully completed a quest.

GMs and players can really go crazy with all the ways the elements in the three cycles can be in and out of balance, but perhaps such a character concept takes away too much player agency. My recommendation is to have such highly regimented characters limited to NPCs.

Instruments

• calligraphy to make Fu talismans (writing your "spells" on a piece of parchment, and then destroying (or wearing them, or consuming them, or affixing them to birds' feet, etc.) the piece of paper to trigger the magical effect) - according to Daoist thought, such talismans confer power by having a counterpart in Heaven, and serve to identify and 'authenticate' their bearer;
• metallurgy/arts and crafts to make coin charms (this would work the same way as the parchment instrument above, but YMMV);
• telling/writing down witty parables (while Journey to the West is decidedly anti-Taoist, it could also work as inspiration here),
• mantra-repetition or meditation;
• qigong;
• rituals and ceremonies.

A note on Paradox

Daoist mages do not tend to move about outside the quite spacious Budapest Chinatown, partly because there is no need for them to venture out into a hostile environment when they've got everything they would need at hand, but also because their magic is less prone to Paradox within their own community.

The lifestyle limitation discussed in the Practice section above could replace Paradox as a mechanical limitation for these mages - another reason to limit Daoist wizards to NPCs.