The Duel Arcane

The Challenge
The duel begins with a formal challenge or declaration of hostilities. The challenger informs the challenged of the nature of the dispute and the demands involved. It might be a formal apology over a point of honor, a dispute over possession of a Hallow or Artifact, or rights to a  particular territory.

The challenged mage must either cede the point (thus ending the conflict peaceably) or take up the challenge. The challenge must be a one-on-one duel, one mage versus another.

Determining the Stakes
What do you want? What does your opponent want? Are you in agreement over the end results for the winner and loser? You may not be. Sometimes duels are fought over territory, mentors, students, social slights, heartbreak, or money. Sometimes they’re fought over more ephemeral concepts like honor or truth. (In these cases, though, declaration of stakes would probably be “he admits in public that I’m right about ghosts.” Or, “She should declare to the Order that I am her superior!” and so on.)

Once the stakes are clearly established with exactly what each mage expects of the other, work with the players to determine what sort of Condition should afflict the loser at the end. Players and Storyteller should agree to the Conditions as the duelists (perhaps grudgingly) agree on the stakes.

Doors
Doors are essentially your health points in the Duel Arcane. The number of Doors you have is equal to your Willpower (Composure + Resolve). There are other modifiers that are taken into account:

Door Modifiers
 * +1 Door if the character has previously declared her rival as her nemesis
 * +1 Door if the character’s rival has declared his intention to destroy her as a result of the duel
 * +1 Door if the character’s rival is from an allied sect (different Order the Pentacle)
 * +1 Door if losing would prevent you from fulfilling an Aspiration or Obsession
 * +1 Door if winning the duel would fulfill your Virtue or Vice
 * +1 Door if your Gnosis is higher than your opponent's
 * +2 Door if the character’s rival is from a hostile sect (Seers, Banisher, Reapers etc.)
 * +2 Doors if your Gnosis is twice your opponent's
 * -1 Door if the characters in conflict are lovers
 * -1 Door if your opponent has a higher Arcanum rating than you (a Disciple versus an Adept, for example).
 * -1 Door if your opponent is a Master and you are not.
 * -1 Door if losing the duel would fulfill an Aspiration, Obsession, Virtue, or Vice.

Trash Talk
The initial moments when the duelists lock wills is traditionally accompanied by a series of taunts, boasts, threats and recitations of lineage or accomplishments, all aimed at cowing an opponent. These can also be much more cordial, taking the form of negotiation.

One Social dice roll (Attribute + Skill) is made by each opponent  using whichever tactic they prefer and is contested by the other pool.

Whoever gets the most successes opens a Door before the battle even starts.

Edge
Instead of Initiative, the Duel Arcane uses the Edge mechanic. Who has the Edge at a given time is based on the social context of the duel as well as the magical content of the clashing Imagos.

The duelist with the Edge acts first in a given turn, and may optionally declare which Attribute category (Mental, Physical, or Social) will be rolled that turn.

There is an option to Seize the Edge, which will allow a shift in which Mage goes first. After the side with the Edge determines the rolls for that turn, the person without the Edge predicts their rolled successes that turn, and jots them down. Put these numbers face down on the table. As the dice are rolled, uncover those numbers. If a player successfully guesses their rolled successes, that player gets the Edge during the next turn,

If it is unclear who has the Edge at the start of a turn based on the fiction, make a contested roll of  Wits + Composure. Once the Edge has been determined, the Mages have three options:

Option 1: The Sword Arcanum
This is an attack against your opponents Door count. The character flexes their creative use of raw magic and shows the extent of their strength. Their attack roll is any  Attribute + Arcana  as fits the description of her attack. Attack descriptions should be dramatic and interesting, the Duel Arcane is a spectacle, but the descriptions do not change the number of dice rolled.

A mage may use a Willpower point (not a door) to add +3 to their attack pool but then cannot use another Willpower point to defend in the same round. The same goes for if the Attacker uses a Willpower point to defend before its their turn to attack.

You only need one success to open a Door. Further successes go towards the dice pool for the next turn. Failing to open a Door means the character must change tactics, and cannot use the same Arcanum a second time on that closed Door. Your available Arcanum resets on each new Door.

The mechanics are unaffected by great descriptions or ideas, however, all players listening to the duel will vote to grant a Stunt Bonus Die for beautiful, esoteric and detailed descriptions.

Option 2: The Shield Arcanum
By spending a willpower point (not a door), a defender can reflexively subtract one of their Arcana's dots from the Attack pool. If they already spent a willpower point this round to attack their cannot do this.

As a stronger defensive option, a character may forgo an attack for a turn, and instead rely on her magic entirely to protect her. Any attack rolls made against her become  contested, and she weaves a spell from her  Attribute + Arcanum  of choice just as her attacker did.

Option 3: Negotiate
A  character may put an offer on the table to open a Door without attacking. These are promises mystically sealed by the Prime magic that fuels the Dueling space, and as a result, are never made or accepted lightly.

To negotiate, a character makes an  offer. “I promise no harm will come to your cabal as a result of your actions tonight,” or “I will teach you the Fate spell you’ve been searching for, no matter what,” as examples.

The character on the defensive may  accept the offer and automatically open a Door. They do not need to accept the offer the moment that it’s made, however;  they may accept it later in the Duel. This is sometimes expected, as accepting the offer can be a graceful way to end a Duel when a mage is surely going to lose. These promises are almost always upheld, as mage society treats breaking one as breaking a  sworn vow.

Winning
The winning condition may vary based on the customs and terms of the duel. Normally its the person who still has Doors or when an opponent has their last Door opened. But sometimes its judged by adjudicators or judges on a point system. It may also be the person to strike the first blow is the winner. It may be the mage who has the most Doors when the spell holding the dueling space fades.

The victorious character refreshes  Willpower to full, and feels a surge of confidence as they gain the  Triumphant Condition.

The loser loses as many points of  Willpower as she lost Doors, and suffers the  Defeated Condition. If the character loses all Willpower points they also gain the  Soul Shocked  condition.

If the terms of the Duel were “to the death” or something equally drastic, an execution may proceed — but it happens in the Fallen World, outside of the sacred dueling space.

Resolution
No matter what the terms of the Duel, when the final Door is opened for one of the duelists, his soul is laid bare, and he is as good as spiritually destroyed. He is helpless against his opponent and has spent himself and must concede the duel and is expected to yield the point of contention to the victor. At that moment, the Duel ends, the magical space created by it fades, and the mages’ view of the Fallen World returns. The victor, is in turn, expected to gracefully accept and allow the loser to depart peaceably, not pressing the advantage.

Traditionally, a Duel Arcane settles a particular dispute for good. The loser should not challenge the winner over the same matter again (although others may do so). Failure to observe these rules can result in a loss of face for the mage and possible censure or mistrust from peers. A mage who has lost a Duel Arcane is weakened and taking advantage of a vanquished foe in such a state is considered an extreme infraction against the Lex Magica, worthy of convening the Ruling Council to decide on punishment (usually reparation to the injured party or incarceration of the offender).

The Global Duel Arcane
The Global Duel Arcane (GDA hereon) is a series of tournaments held around the world that culminate in a final Duel Arcane. The winning Mage is recognized as someone of great power and earn a great amount of fame (or notoriety) for such a feat.

The GDA isn't just a show of power, however. Mages must offer up something of value as an entry fee to each division level. On a local level this would be favours or pieces of information. As the scale of the tournament increases, so too does the cost. While it is typical that Mages represent their Cabals or their own self interests at the local levels of the tournament, on a national level it is more typically one Mage representing their Order. National offerings are often Hallows, information on Mysteries, powerful Artifacts or shifts in which Order has the most political power over their region.

Due to the nature of the GDA, it is generally accepted that matches are not just a show of brute strength. The GDA is inherently political, with various exchanges happening in the background to ensure certain Orders get what they want. While the duels themselves are all above board, accidents frequently occur outside of the ring. It is as much a sign of strength to attend every match one qualifies for as it is to win those matches.

The finals of the GDA take place in the home territory of the previous champion and occur once every five years. For the local Mages of London, this means that a huge amount of global scrutiny is going to be focused on them in 2019.

Home Brew Changes
Note from the Storyteller--

Liberally taking from this article I added in rules about how the battle is described, how attack and defense rolls are determined and Stunt Bonuses. This is to keep the spirit of the Duel Arcanum intact while having mechanics work soundly in the background. These fights are meant to be dramatic and epic, and giving bonus points based on cool descriptions feels like good encouragement to stick with that idea. For me, the power you have in Mage should only be limited by your creativity.

The Edge rules have been taken from this forum post and further rules from it will be added to this page in relation to the Global Duel Arcane.

The GDA is a personal creation and doesn't have any basis in the rule books beyond using the rules for the Duel Arcane for actual matches.