Quote:
Originally Posted by vicky_molokh
I'm not sure about ambition. Pretty much anything worthy the 2nd and 3rd sphere levels requires 4+ successes. A simple skill-buff requires three for the three levels of difficulty reduction and at least one for a duration of a single scene. Mind-reading and -changing with any reliability tends to require 5-10. Killing a nephandic monster with a mind-blast takes 5-10 for damage, about 4 to get past a remote connection.
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That last definitely sounds overambitious. What I would expect from a combat, especially a combat with a major foe, is not doing away with it, or even incapacitating it, with one strike, but exchanging blows for several rounds.
A skill buff requires three successes for three levels and one for a scene duration—but you could go for a modest buff of one level and only need two total successes. So I'm calling that "overambitious" too.
As for mind reading, deep reading someone's mind is specified in Mage 2/e as three successes. I would take it that reading surface thoughts is easier, maybe two successes. And deep reading someone's mind in a single action really seems like it's getting into "impressive feats for powerful mages." As for mind changing, I'm fine with that being hard to do; I've seen too often how easily cheap mind alteration can wreck a scenario.
A newly Awakened mage, with maybe three arete max, will need to exercise ingenuity, to come up with ways to gain an edge rather than driving over the scenario in a steamroller or a main battle tank. And I think that's what the rules system is optimized for. Though presumably you can play a Deeply Scary Sorcerer if the Storyteller lets you have more freebie points or higher starting levels.