Stage 1: reduce the mage’s free Reach for all Death spells by one. If he releases Paradox while casting a spell of any Arcanum, every other mage within sensory range rolls their Wisdom as a dice pool to contest his Paradox pool as though they had contained his Paradox within themselves; if they would acquire a Paradox Condition this way, they gain the Contagion-Touched Condition instead as though infected by the Skull directly. If the infected caster contains Paradox while casting a spell of any Arcanum and would gain a Paradox Condition, he instead progresses Contaminated Magic to the next stage. Anyone who achieves exceptional success on a Revelation to study the infected mage (including himself) also gains Contagion-Touched, as above (or progresses to the next stage of infection).
Stage 2: as stage 1, but the free Reach reduction applies to all subtle Arcana the mage knows, and reduces free Reach by two instead. At this stage, whenever he releases a Paradox, any mage to whom he has a Strong sympathetic connection also rolls Wisdom to avoid contamination, as above.
Stage 3: as stage 2, but the free Reach reduction applies to every Arcanum the caster knows, and reduces free Reach by three instead. At this stage, whenever he releases a Paradox, any mage to whom he has any sympathetic connec- tion also rolls Wisdom to avoid contamination. Whenever the infected mage gains a Paradox Condition due to containing Paradox, his Nimbus becomes a Contagion vector for anyone affected by his Nimbus Tilt while the Paradox Condition persists. Any successful Revelation to study the infected mage is now also a vector.
Beat: The mage inflicts the Contagion-Touched Condition on someone, or suffers significant setbacks or harm due to releasing Paradox.
Resolution: Successfully applying an appropriate Contagion cure resolves the current stage’s Condition and drops the mage down to the previous stage, or from stage 1 to Contagion-Touched. Gaining the next stage of this Condition resolves the current one, granting a Beat as normal. At stage 3, if the character would progress to the next stage, he becomes one of the Contagious instead (and likely unplayable). See p.228 for more information about the Acre Contagion’s potential cures.