Mage: The Awakening: Difference between revisions

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* [[The Archmage]]: An archmage is one who's transcended the 5-dot limit in a particular Arcanum and become capable of godlike feats. However, each side has their own archmages (be they Oracles or Exarchs) who really aren't happy with a force of cosmic destruction on the other guy's side. Hence, both the Pentacle Mages and the Seers of the Throne are sworn to an ancient pact that prevents each side's archmages from exerting direct influence upon the world; that pact says nothing about indirect influence, however...

** This is actually part of a pact that archmages have among themselves, called the Pax Arcanum-given how they can do things that would cause a [[Physical God]] to [[Jaw Drop]] in disbelief, they need it to protect the continued existence of the universe. Unfortunately, this also protects the [[Dark Messiah|Aswadim]]...

* [[Arson Murder and Jaywalking]]: According to the main sourcebook, tainted Hallows can "curdle milk, blight crops, sicken animals and children, attract ghosts and corrupt spirits, and ruin television reception."

* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: According to the main sourcebook, tainted Hallows can "curdle milk, blight crops, sicken animals and children, attract ghosts and corrupt spirits, and ruin television reception."

* [[Ascend to A Higher Plane of Existence]]: The Exarchs pulled this one off through the construction of the Celestial Ladder... and then they tore down the Ladder and created the Abyss, because phenomenal cosmic power was theirs, and no one was going to take it from them.

** On the bright side, the Oracles got up the ladder with them, and proceeded to kick the Exarchs around like soccer balls before they could finish cutting off the Supernal. The result was the Watchtowers, which allow humans to still Awaken even with the Abyss in the way.

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** Also could apply to the Mastigos, who develop [[Mind Rape|mind-warping powers]], as well as the ability to [[Alien Geometries|bend space to their will.]] What realm do they visit to Awaken? ''Pandemonium,'' often compared to Hell.

*** It's really more like Purgatory...

*** Definitely, as the ''Awakening itself'' tends to help keep them on the straight and narrow. They also have a Legacy of [[Well Intentioned Extremist]] black magicians, the [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Fangs of Mara]], who literally [[Mind Probe]] [[Cosmic Horror|Cosmic Horrors]] to find out what they fear and use it against them. Tragically, however, they tend to go crazy from the [[Mind Rape]] such activity entails. (Hey, it's like peeking at Jeffrey Dahmer-Hitler-Manson's innermost desires. Except worse.)

*** Definitely, as the ''Awakening itself'' tends to help keep them on the straight and narrow. They also have a Legacy of [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] black magicians, the [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Fangs of Mara]], who literally [[Mind Probe]] [[Cosmic Horror|Cosmic Horrors]] to find out what they fear and use it against them. Tragically, however, they tend to go crazy from the [[Mind Rape]] such activity entails. (Hey, it's like peeking at Jeffrey Dahmer-Hitler-Manson's innermost desires. Except worse.)

*** Ironic that the stereotype for a Guardian of the Veil is mindwipe-happy Mastigos.

* [[The Dark Side]]: A major theme of the game is that power corrupts; the more a Mage uses his magic to screw over others or do petty shit he could have done without magic, the more likely he is to want to ''keep'' doing so.

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* [[The Fettered]]: Idealized by the Adamantines. For others, Tome of the Watchtowers has vows that can give you one mana per week per vow.

* [[Five Races]]: As usual in the [[New World of Darkness (Tabletop Game)|New World of Darkness]]. The innate [[Five Races]] deal with which Supernal Realm the Mage visited when he Awakened. The social splats deal with what he does now that he's got his Phenomenal Cosmic Powers.

* [[Five Man Band]]: Somewhat exemplified by the five Orders:

* [[Five-Man Band]]: Somewhat exemplified by the five Orders:

** [[The Hero]]: The Silver Ladder, who are often in charge of the other Mages, attempting to organize them into a viable front against the Exarchs and recreate a fully Awakened society.

** [[The Lancer]]: The Guardians of the Veil are sort of ''everyone's'' Lancer, working for Mage society as a whole to cover up their mistakes without complaint.

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* [[Knight Templar]]: Ooooooooh, boy.

** Banishers, mages who think magic screws up the world, and kill other mages to stop it.

*** Which is made especially ironic, since the book on them points out that they actually ''[[Green Eyed Monster|envy]]'' normal mages, who seem to (and do) cast spells without the instinctual revulsion most Banishers feel towards their own. The only example in the book where this isn't the case is [[Anti Villain]] Richard Paine, and it's more or less stated he's being deceived by the Seers of the Throne.

*** Which is made especially ironic, since the book on them points out that they actually ''[[Green-Eyed Monster|envy]]'' normal mages, who seem to (and do) cast spells without the instinctual revulsion most Banishers feel towards their own. The only example in the book where this isn't the case is [[Anti-Villain]] Richard Paine, and it's more or less stated he's being deceived by the Seers of the Throne.

** The Jnanamukti from the ''Mysterium'' sourcebook, who believe that sleepers are to blame for everything that's wrong with the world. The Jnanamukti believe that three things stand in the way of reclaiming the lost glory of Atlantis: [[The Empire|Sleeper civilization]], [[Science Is Bad|Sleeper technology]] and "the Fallen Supernatural" (i.e. all supernatural beings that do not claim descent from the Supernal Realms). Their answer to these problems, respectively? [[The End of the World As We Know It|Destroy all Sleeper civilization]], [[Lost Technology|Destroy all Sleeper technology]], [[The Spanish Inquisition|Destroy the Fallen Supernatural]]. In case you still see any possibility of them being portrayed as [[Well Intentioned Extremist|Well Intentioned Extremists]], consider the fact that they [[Jerkass|approved of the Holocaust]].

** The Jnanamukti from the ''Mysterium'' sourcebook, who believe that sleepers are to blame for everything that's wrong with the world. The Jnanamukti believe that three things stand in the way of reclaiming the lost glory of Atlantis: [[The Empire|Sleeper civilization]], [[Science Is Bad|Sleeper technology]] and "the Fallen Supernatural" (i.e. all supernatural beings that do not claim descent from the Supernal Realms). Their answer to these problems, respectively? [[The End of the World As We Know It|Destroy all Sleeper civilization]], [[Lost Technology|Destroy all Sleeper technology]], [[The Spanish Inquisition|Destroy the Fallen Supernatural]]. In case you still see any possibility of them being portrayed as [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Well Intentioned Extremists]], consider the fact that they [[Jerkass|approved of the Holocaust]].

** On the other end of the scale (ie, straddling the line between an [[Anti Villain]] version of [[Knight Templar]] and [[Anti Hero]] [[Well Intentioned Extremist]]), are the Logophages, from ''Legacies: The Ancient''. They realize (not think, ''realize''-other sourcebooks have examples) that, despite the typical byline of "knowledge is power" among mages, there are some secrets [[Man Was Not Meant to Know]]. Since humanity (or at least, human-derived supernaturals) are the only inhabitants of the Earth that they know of, they have decided that they need to eliminate said secrets, via honing [[Laser Guided Amnesia]] to a science, stealing knowledge from the minds of other people and then erasing it from their own (the name comes from the Greek term for "Word Eater", a pretty good descriptor of the process). The subtext is that the reason that they're Left-Handed is not their goal or methods, but that they can very easily abuse their power.

** On the other end of the scale (ie, straddling the line between an [[Anti-Villain]] version of [[Knight Templar]] and [[Anti-Hero]] [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]), are the Logophages, from ''Legacies: The Ancient''. They realize (not think, ''realize''-other sourcebooks have examples) that, despite the typical byline of "knowledge is power" among mages, there are some secrets [[Man Was Not Meant to Know]]. Since humanity (or at least, human-derived supernaturals) are the only inhabitants of the Earth that they know of, they have decided that they need to eliminate said secrets, via honing [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]] to a science, stealing knowledge from the minds of other people and then erasing it from their own (the name comes from the Greek term for "Word Eater", a pretty good descriptor of the process). The subtext is that the reason that they're Left-Handed is not their goal or methods, but that they can very easily abuse their power.

** Most conflicts within the Mage community (excluding anything involving Seers, Demons, the Abyss or mere Spirits), tend to be because almost every Mage acts like a [[Knight Templar]] whenever anything compels them to interact with other Mages.

* [[Laser Guided Amnesia]]: It's kind of the default tactic for Guardians of the Veil clean-up crews; naturally Mastigos are often the most common Path found in the order, but not overwhelmingly so.

* [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]]: It's kind of the default tactic for Guardians of the Veil clean-up crews; naturally Mastigos are often the most common Path found in the order, but not overwhelmingly so.

* [[The Magic Goes Away]]: Kind of. Also inverted in that the departure of the dragons, according to the introduction, was what caused humans to discover magic in the first place.

* [[Magic Is a Monster Magnet]]: The worst thing that can happen when you use magic in front of mundanes.

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*** Of course, given how they are [[Ancient Conspiracy|Seers]] who ''specialize'' in causing war...[[Hypocrite|maybe they should check the color of the kettle.]]

* [[Weirdness Censor]]: Paradox, a flaw built into the very structure of the universe that gives explicitly Supernal magic (e.g., throwing fireballs and freezing time) a chance to backfire spectacularly. On top of that, there's Quiescence, which causes any blatantly magical activity observed by Sleepers (e.g., a demonic servitor crafted entirely from the raw stuff of magic) to decay rapidly.

* [[Well Intentioned Extremist]]: Consciously averted with the Seers of the Throne; the Seers are not the Technocracy, and they're painted as the Bad Guys from square one.

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: Consciously averted with the Seers of the Throne; the Seers are not the Technocracy, and they're painted as the Bad Guys from square one.

** Played straight with the Banishers and the more extreme members of the Pentacle.

* [[Wild Magic]]: ''Night Horrors: The Unbidden'' details how magic isn't entirely under the control of mages, and at times can even be spontaneous or actively out of control.

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** Take note the ring for the Duel Arcane requires a mage with Prime Arcana to create; usually this is a third party nominated by the challenger but sometimes the challenger or rarely the respondent will forge the ring. It's acceptable to reject the challenge if the mage responsible for the ring is accused of not being impartial, no loss of face or honour is incurred and it's generally considered rude to coerce someone into accepting a challenge to duel or to choose a person that is biased to either party.

** [[Cooking Duel]]: The eccentricities of mage society mean that virtually any form of magical (or occasionally non-magical) contest can be used with the same legality as a traditional Duel (although simply throwing magical attacks at one another is considered the least sophisticated of them).

* [[Woobie Destroyer of Worlds]]: Theumiel.

* [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]]: Theumiel.

* [[World Half Empty]]: The oppressive helplessness of the setting is what appeals to many.

** Also part of the appeal of the Seers after their [[Sourcebook]] came out-they aren't as powerful as the [[Mage: The Ascension (Tabletop Game)|Technocracy]] was, but they're twelve times as evil-it specifically mentions that their plans for the world require them to make it ''as oppressive and helpless as possible''.