Mage M20 Combat cheat sheet
Turn order, actions, and reminders. At-the-table reference for Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary.
Mage M20 combat: d10 dice pools, difficulty-based rolls, soak, and the ever-present risk of Paradox when magic enters the fight.
Initiative
- Roll
- 1d10 + Dexterity + Wits
- Ties
- Higher Wits, then Dexterity
- Re-roll initiative each round.
Action economy
- 1 action per turn (attack, cast a rote, dodge, use an item).
- Split actions: divide your dice pool across multiple actions (each gets fewer dice).
- Declare all actions at the start of the turn.
Attack roll
- Melee
- Dexterity + Melee (or Brawl), difficulty 6
- Ranged
- Dexterity + Firearms, difficulty 6 (modifiers for range/cover)
- Success
- Each die ≥ difficulty = 1 success
- Botch
- No successes AND any 1s = botch (bad outcome)
Damage and soak
- Damage pool = weapon damage + extra successes (net hits above 1).
- Roll damage pool vs difficulty 6; each success = 1 health level of damage.
- Soak: defender rolls Stamina (+ armor) vs difficulty 6; each success removes 1 damage.
- Damage types: bashing (fists, blunt), lethal (blades, bullets), aggravated (fire, magic, supernatural).
Health levels
- Bruised
- No penalty
- Hurt
- -1 die
- Injured
- -1 die
- Wounded
- -2 dice
- Mauled
- -2 dice
- Crippled
- -5 dice
- Incapacitated
- Can't act; one more hit = death
Magic in combat (Arete rolls)
- Roll Arete vs difficulty: highest Sphere used + 3 for a coincidental effect, + 4 for a vulgar one.
- Sphere level determines what is possible.
- Coincidental magic: no Paradox, blends into reality.
- Vulgar magic (no witnesses): small Paradox risk.
- Vulgar magic (with witnesses): full Paradox pool accumulation.
- Paradox backlash can happen mid-fight: burns, reality glitches, Quiet.
Paradox
- Accumulated from vulgar magic. Stored as a Paradox pool.
- Backlash: ST triggers when pool is high or on a botched Arete roll.
- Effects: physical damage, being flung to a Paradox Realm, permanent Flaws.
- The more witnesses, the worse the Paradox.
Common mistakes
- Difficulty is not the number of successes needed: difficulty is the target number per die (usually 6). You need at least 1 success.
- Botch = zero successes AND at least one 1. If you have any successes, 1s just cancel one success each.
- Vulgar magic in front of Sleepers is the fastest way to accumulate Paradox.
- Split actions divide the WHOLE pool: 3 actions from a 6-die pool = 2 dice each.
- Soak does not apply to aggravated damage unless the character has supernatural protection.