(Spirit Type) Evocation Metamagic
A character who has learned Invoking Metamagic, and whose personal magical tradition permits the necessary level of flexibility, may learn Evocation Metamagic. Evocation allows a magician to go beyond his normal traditional boundaries when summoning spirits; each time the character learns this technique, the player picks a specific class of spirit that the character does not currently know how to summon – for example, a Hermetic might learn to summon Spirits of Man, or a Shaman might learn to summon Fire Elementals. The difficulty for learning this technique should be increased by +1 to +4, depending on how far removed the spirits are from the magician’s current realm of understanding. Once this technique is learned for a specific type of spirit, the Initiate must re-learn a variation of the Invocation Metamagic for that spirit type in order to learn to summon Great Forms of that spirit.
Spell Matrix Metamagic
A character who has learned Centering, Cleansing and Filtering Metamagic may learn Spell Matrix Metamagic. This combines the effects of all three techniques, creating a filtering matrix attuned to the ‘astral signature’ of a specific spell. A single spell must be named for the matrix, and a maximum Force designated for the matrix; as long as the Spell Matrix is functional, its bonuses only apply to castings of that spell, up to the declared Force rating. When making the Filtering test, apply all modifiers for Filtering and for Centering against Drain for the Spell and Force in question. Each success beyond the number necessary to reduce the effective Background Count to 0 counts as one success in an effective ‘Centering against Drain’ test for the given spell. These Centering successes count for each casting of the spell until the matrix becomes ‘clogged’ and must be re-created. A Spell Matrix may be constructed in areas where there is no background count, in which case all successes count as Centering successes.
A character may possess as many Force levels of Spell Matrix as he possesses Initiative grades; thus a 6th Grade Initiate could create one Force 6 Powerball Matrix, or a Force 4 Manaball and Force 2 Lightning Bolt, or any other combination of spell Forces that add to 6.
Sacrificing Metamagic (pp.133-134, MitS)
Sacrificing Metamagic is possible for Player Characters to learn; however, player characters should only use themselves as donors. A player character who begins using other sentient beings as donors – even willingly in some cases – should very quickly lose their sanity, becoming an NPC Threat under the GM’s control. The GM may make exceptions in extreme circumstances, but only after heavily weighing the morality of the magician’s action. It is perfectly valid to combine Sacrificing Metamagic with Tattoo-based Quickening Metamagic, performing ritual scarification and tattoo work on a willing target both to quicken the spell to the target and reduce the Drain of the spellcasting. This is one notable exception to the prohibition of using beings other than the sentient himself as donors.
Even with these strictures, using Sacrificing Metamagic gradually pollutes the character’s Aura. Use the rules for Focus Addiction, with the early effects of using blood magic behaving identically to an over dependence on Power Foci. After this, begin assigning various psychological or paranormal Flaws to the character: Vindictive, Astral Impressions, Combat Monster, Bad Karma, Phobia, Spirit Bane, Obsession, Cursed Karma, and Astral Hazing. Eventually, the character’s aura will become so polluted that no other Awakened being will want to associate with them.
It has been theorized that long-term use of Sacrificing Metamagic, even benignly, can lead to corruption of the Astral Form so severe that the magician’s very Pattern unravels, resulting in a messy and violent death. To reflect this, once the total points in Flaws acquired from performing Sacrificing Metamagic exceed the character’s Magic Rating, the character suddenly and permanently dies, in an extremely unusual way – exploding, imploding, turning to stone, bursting into flame, melting into goo or the like.
Naming Metamagic
Naming Metamagic is based on the concept of ‘True Names’ and power words. To learn Naming Metamagic, a magician must first learn Symbolic Link Metamagic and Divining Metamagic. Once learned, Naming allows a character to ascertain or derive the True Name of any object or being, and use that Name as a symbolic link.
Likewise, Naming allows a character to give any newly created magical item a Name, providing a bonus to all Enchanting Tests for the object. Naming requires the use of Divining Metamagic; this should be used to determine the True Name of any object or being, with a TN determined by the Gamemaster. Using a ritual link or symbolic link in the process of this roll can lower this target number substantially.
A newly created object being Named to enhance Enchanting should use its Enchanting target number as the target number for this roll; each success reduces the Enchanting TN by -1, and the Karma cost for the final enchantment by 1 (to a minimum of 1 Karma). However, Naming the object creates a stronger symbolic link to the creator, reducing the target numbers for any use of the object as a ritual link. This link may be severed by altering the magician’s Astral Signature, but each Named object in existence with an active connection to the magician increases the difficulty for this process by +1.
Naming Metamagic may also be used to lower the Karma cost for creating an Ally spirit, by making a Divining test against a TN equal to the Conjuring Test. Each success reduces the Karma cost (and hence the Complexity) of the Ally formula by 1 point. Named Ally spirits are much less likely to go free; apply a +1 modifier to all attempts for the spirit to go free for each success achieved on the original Naming roll. Once the spirit has gone free, its Name changes, but anyone who knows its old Name may use that as a starting point to find its new one – apply a –1 TN per success achieved in the original Naming roll to the Quest target number to find the spirit’s new True Name.
A Naming Ordeal may also be used to lower a magician’s Initiation cost, in the same manner as other ordeals. However, this opens up the magician to all sorts of trouble, as the magician’s True Name may be used against him as a material link, in the same manner as actual possession of a Thesis. A character who later alters his astral signature also alters his True Name, and immediately loses the magic point gained from this Ordeal.