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Prism of Focus is a fantastic book that is useful for both players and Storytellers alike. I'll break it down to detail what's great about it, starting with the "Paradigm" chapter. "Paradigm" first introduces the concept of Tenets, which are beliefs about Magick, Reality, Self, Ascension, etc. and are each individually smaller than a Paradigm. They are sorted into seven categories, but only the first three (Metaphysical, Personal, and Ascension) are mandatory at character creation, although any character may have more (and must have more to advance past Arete 3). It then shows how each of the officially published Paradigms can be constructed by combining Tenets from each of those first three categories. I am assuming that the intent is that a character have no more than one from each category; I personally could imagine a character having more complex beliefs regarding Metaphysics that combine facets of two or more Tenets, but it might be best to simply create a new Tenet to accommodate it (More on that later).
Each Tenet has a list of Associated Practices and a list of Limited Practices. When looking at all of a Mage's Tenets as a whole, any one Association cancels out a Limitation. If the net result is Association, using the Practice has a lower difficulty; likewise, Limitation raises difficulty. Of special note here is that each playable group presented in M20 has a Specialty Practice that is always considered Associated for its members.
Each of the officially published Practices are expanded here, and expanded *well*, not only with flavor like sample Wonders, Ressonance traits, Paradox Spirits, and ideas for Seekings, but Rotes (written with Mr. Siegel's new Rote rules), as well as Benefits and Penalties for each, and Specialialty and Corrupted versions when applicable. Group Specialty Practices not only are always Associated, but give an additional Benefit on top of the standard one, but otherwise count as the standard version of the Practice; Corrupted Practices have a Cost, as well as rules for turning away from them once engaged with. It should be noted that while the text is unclear on this point, Mr. Siegel has told me Benefits and Penalties can generally be assumed to apply only while the relevant Practice is being used.
Practices now have ranks up to 5 dots, and while they now cost Freebie Points or XP, characters do get one free dot in a Practice of their choice (so long as they meet the requirements) for each dot of Arete they possess or gain. This is important because in this new system, an Effect may not incorporate Spheres at a higher rank than that of the Practice being utilized for it. On top of this, each dot gained in a Practice requires the possession of two dots in Associcated Abilities. While this might seem like extra hassle, it probably won’t be when put into play due to it complimenting the new Rote system.
If you’re already familiar with the Rote rules presented in Mr. Siegel’s Enlightened Grimoire, forget them. While the cost for purchasing Rotes is similar, the way they’re rolled now has more in common with the Linear Magic rules as presented in M20 Sorcerer. Each Rote now is now assigned not only a Practice, but an Attribute + Ability combination that is rolled in lieu of Arete. This is a brilliant choice that not only allows characters to have much greater odds of success for effects that are supposed to be more tried and true methods, but also encourages them to invest more in up-sheet traits.
All in all the Tenet-Practice-Rote system serves to more clearly define who the character is and what they do than RAW or an other home-brew system I’ve yet seen does. I haven’t even mentioned the Ritual system that allows non-practitioners to assist (something sorely needed), or the new rules for Arete and Sphere ranks past six (which I honestly haven’t examined too closely). Oh, and there are rules for Sanctums and Reality Zones as well, which is handy.
The only other thing I can think of to add is that it’s quite possible that players and STs will want to create their own Tenets. Mr. Siegel reportedly used a system of Linear Algebra equations to assign Practices to Tenets so that when recreating the official Paradigms, they had the same Associated Practices as before. Because of this, there’s no set system for creating new Tenets. I myself noticed what looked like a minimum of five each of Associated and Limited Practices per Tenet, but Mr. Siegel suggests that the most important thing is to make sure they are equal in number.
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