Mage(WW) Question

[Valairn]

Can mages paradox other mages? Say a hermetic mage doesn't believe a certain thing is possible with magic, can that cause paradox for a mage who is using a different paradigm?

[Krrth]

Can mages paradox other mages? Say a hermetic mage doesn't believe a certain thing is possible with magic, can that cause paradox for a mage who is using a different paradigm?

I'm guessing you are using the OWoD rules. If I remember correctly, if it is paradox for one, it's paradox for all. If you are talking about shifting your paradox onto someone else, that's what maruaders are for.

[Valairn]

Well lets say two mages are in an area where there are no people other than them, so the consensus isn't as "strong" or however it works... Who wins? If both are able to work magic freely, and both are near each other, which one of their paradigm's wins?

[Krrth]

I'm not sure it matters. Somethings are vulgar, no matter who is around. I'm not sure the mages paradigm matters in that regard. If they think they can do something, they can. Paradox still applies.

[Valairn]

Okay, that seems reasonable enough, I'll go with that.

[Kurald Galain]

Well lets say two mages are in an area where there are no people other than them, so the consensus isn't as "strong" or however it works... Who wins? If both are able to work magic freely, and both are near each other, which one of their paradigm's wins?

Depends.

There's coincidental magic. Then there's vulgar magic. And then there's vulgar magic with witnesses. I believe you're talking about the latter. However, with respect to "witnesses", only sleepers count, i.e. actual mortals, and excluding other magi, as well as werewolves, vampires, and so forth.

The "consensus", however, is strongly present in the entire culture, regardless of who is "near", which is to say that conjuring a fireball out of thin air, or whatnot, is vulgar (but not with witnesses). An exception is a remote area in the Middle East where, thanks to the Taftani, the Technocratic paradigm does not hold. That is, flying carpets and jinni are considered coincidental, whereas fighter jetplanes are considered vulgar magic and prone to paradox. Ouch.

[Fighteer]

Yes, mages cannot escape the general consensus they operate in just because there aren't any Sleepers around. The consensus shapes reality itself, and no individual mage is strong-willed enough to change those laws.

Just because a Technocrat and a Hermetic mage square off in a deserted alley does not mean that they inflict paradox on each other simply due to the conflict between their own personal paradigms. It just means that their vulgar effects are no longer "with witnesses".