Coincidental (Static) vs Vulgar (Dynamic) Magic
Mages may alter reality, but it's often much easier to work with the system than it is to rend reality and try to re-write it.

Coincindental (static) magic doesn't appear to be magic. If the caster can provide a reasonable explaination as to how the effect could otherwise occur in that setting, then reality (and a successful casting roll) makes it so. However, reality (and coincidence) only bends so far. Casters cannot reuse the same coincidence more than once on a given set of witnesses.

Vulgar (dynamic) magic is undeniably magic. Anyone witnessing it will know that something supernatural has occurred. They may not know exactly what or how, but they do know that it's not natural.

Price of Magic
Coincidental (static) magic doesn't generate any Paradox on a success or normal failure. On a critical failure it generation one point of Paradox per level of the highest sphere.

Vulgar (dynamic) magic generates one point of Paradox per level of the highest sphere automatically, unless it goes unwitnessed by a non-mage. Unwitnessed vulgar magic only generates paradox on a normal or critical failure.

When a mage acquires Paradox, they may experience a paradox backlash. For every point of paradox acquired, make a roll against (IQ + Arete) minus twice the total amount of paradox the character possesses. If the roll is a success no backlast occurs. If the roll is a failure, a backlash occurs.

Paradox Backlash
A backlash occurs whenever fails a paradox check as defined above. The effect is immediate unless the character spends a point of quintessence to postpone the effects until the end of the scene (usually 1 minute). If the character has another backlash while postponing a different backlash, the effects are cumulative and will happen immediately unless another point of quintessence is used to postpone the new backlash.

As a result of the backlash the mage loses one point of paradox per 2 points of failure. They also suffer a backlash result:

• Failure by 1 or 2: The mage suffers a trivial paradox flaw or damage.
• Failure by 3 or 4: The mage suffers a minor paradox flaw or damage.
• Failure by 5 or 6: The mage suffers a moderate paradox flaw or damage.
• Failure by 7 or 8: The mage suffers a severe paradox flaw or damage.
• Failure by 9+: The mage suffers a critical paradox flaw, damage, a paradox loop, or becomes the target of a paradox spirit.

Paradox Effects:

• Damage - 1d aggravated damage per point of failure. This damage bypasses all DR.
• Paradox Loop - The mage (and those nearby) can be sucked into an infinite loop relating to the spheres used in the spell that caused the backlash. Coorespondence would create a spatial loop. Time would create an effect like Groundhog Day. Those trapped will usually have to accomplishing something to escape.
• Paradox Spirit - The mage becomes the target of a malicious paradox spirit. (I will try to give a few examples later.)
• Paradox Flaws -
  1. Trivial - a minor short lived (one scene/minute) effect. Examples: a watch running in reverse, fire burning without consuming anything, shadows that fall in the wrong direction, plastic rusting.
  2. Minor - a more dramatic effect that can last for hours. Examples: right handed people becoming left handed, images in a mirror acting differently than the source, fire burning cold.
  3. Moderate - a prominent and inhibiting effect sometimes lasting for days or weeks. Alternatively, a trivial flaw may become a permanent disadvantage (valued at -5 to -10). Moderate Examples: things falling upwards in the character's vicinity, memories changing radically, a hearing inversion (shouts are barely audible while whispers are deafening), friction doesn't apply to the character, hearing things before they are uttered.
  4. Severe - hazardous and occassionaly lasting. Examples: needing darkness instead of light to see, the character's body becomes a very powerful magnet, the mage's speech becomes inverted.
  5. Drastic - drawbacks either worse than severe or permanent. Any moderate flaw may be permaently adopted (valued at -10 to -30 points). Examples: permanent attribute loss, inverted vision (dyslexia), physical laws failing around the character (speed of light moving like sound, for example).