Awakened (MTAs)

In the World of Darkness, every human being has a single spark of potential. Most people don't know they have this, don't care, and want to get on with their lives as if it didn't exist. Some people though, figure out what that spark is. that spark is very important, because sometimes that potential activates, and the normal everyday, average mortal Awakens.

What does this Awakening mean? Well, it can mean a lot of things. It might mean a conversation with god, the finding of the perfect bit of blotter acid, or the realization of a theory that had been bothering your for years.

In short, you come to a realization. Your belief shapes your world around you. what happens when you force yourself to change your belief?

The world changes.

Most mages don't come to the full realization of this power. Few to none can handle that awesome power with any certainty or clarity. Most cloak this newfound potential in a familiar form, using tools to help themselves along. Some believe that they affect the world through prayer, and that god (or the shard of God, the piece of their creator that is the potential in them) changes the world for them. Others see their potential through with chants and ritual, science and experimentation, or even through martial arts. Still others view their perceptions as the true determiner of their reality, and alter those perceptions with drugs, alchohol, sex, or even a really good meal.

Mages are these individuals with the power to warp reality, who know the power they posess and use it to the best of ther ability.

The problem is, of course, that everyone has that ability. And there are six billion people in the world.

You can change reality to suit your whims. So can they. You want to fly. They don't believe you can.

This conflict in belief between you and everyone else is called Paradox, and the consensus (the unconscious beliefs of the rest of mankind) meets out punishment through Paradox.

Paradox can cause your magic to go haywire, cause physical damage to you and the area around you, or even manifest as a sentient entity, intent on making you pay for breaking the Laws of the Consensus.

Mage has nine Traditions, or groups of likeminded mages who work together against a common foe, the Technocracy (a group founded on making the world rational, safe, and free of as much of the supernatural as possible).

Mage divides magic into nine Spheres, or areas of influence: Time, Mind, Prime, Forces, Matter, Life, Spirit, Entropy and Correspondence. A mage's ability to manipulate the world around them is called his Arete, which goes on a scale of one to ten (although rarely exceeds 5).