Changes: Awakened (MTAs)

Revision as of 00:48, 22 December 2021

In the World of Darkness, every human being has a single spark of potential. Most people do not know they have this, do not care, and want to get on with their lives as if it did not 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 magical enlightenment, the finding of the perfect bit of blotter acid, or the realization of a theory that had been bothering you 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 do not come to the full realization of this power. Few to none can handle that awesome power with any certainty or clarity. Most cloak this new-found potential in a familiar form, using tools to help themselves along. Some believe that they affect the world through spells and that their Avatar, for others through their connection to the watchtowers. 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, alcohol, or sex.

Mages are these individuals with the power to warp reality for any reason they see fit, at best with great success and the expenditure of mana, at worst, suffering Paradox with disastrous effects and unforeseen consequences.

Consensual reality is made of up the beliefs of sleepers. Mages can either covertly use magick to avoid Paradox or vulgar magic, risking Paradox but affecting reality in ways seen by the naked eye (should a sleeper witness an act).

You can change reality to suit your whims. So can they. You want to fly. They do not 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) metes 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. Marauders can even shred reality with their magic pushing Paradox onto surrounding mages.

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

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, since it requires a complex and detailed system of measurement, just like Humanity in Vampire: The Masquerade.

References

MTAs: Mage: The Ascension Rulebook, p. 22, 135, 138

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+In the [[World of Darkness]], every human being has a single spark of potential. Most people do not know they have this, do not care, and want to get on with their lives as if it did not 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'''.
-Enlightened Science is the result of genius, inspiration, and hard work, not the pandering of a schmuck to some mythical realm for permission to break the laws of reality.
+What does this '''Awakening''' mean? Well, it can mean a lot of things. It might mean magical enlightenment, the finding of the perfect bit of blotter acid, or the realization of a theory that had been bothering you for years.
-Ok. What is Enlightened Science?
+In short, you come to a realization. Your belief shapes your world around you. What happens when you force yourself to change your belief?
-well, in a consensual universe, we're going to start in microcosm. The world exists because this guy, this mage, (Awake or not) believes it does. Because he believes it operates based on certain laws, it does. If he believes that by chanting latin backwards while doing a hand stand and dancing the hokey pokey, a dragon will come and serve him, it will. More appropriate to the example, If he believes that the world is round, gravity is a function of mass, the speed of light is as near a constant as is possible, then they are. Here's the thing. These laws aren't LAWS to a scientist. They're theories. They're the closest thing he's going to get to the truth, until a better truth comes along. Since he's the only guy in our little hypothetical world, he can come up with new theories all the time, and if he can create a demonstratable reason for this rule to work, then it works that way, and not the way the old theory works. He'll continue with this hypothesis until a new idea for how it might work pops into his head, and that idea fits all the empirical evidence he's gathered.
+The world changes.
-This is the basis of scientific theory.... but with a person who, consciously or uncosciously forces the universe to obey his theories, even Science gets subjective.
+Most [[Mage (WOD)|mages]] do not come to the full realization of this power. Few to none can handle that awesome power with any certainty or clarity. Most cloak this new-found potential in a familiar form, using tools to help themselves along. Some believe that they affect the world through spells and that their [[Avatar]], for others through their connection to the watchtowers. 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, alcohol, or sex.
-Now, of course, we have to add more people to this empty world.
+Mages are these individuals with the power to warp reality for any reason they see fit, at best with great success and the expenditure of [[Mana (MTAs)|mana]], at worst, suffering [[Paradox (MTAs)|Paradox]] with disastrous effects and unforeseen consequences.
-Now, there are five scientists. Scientist A presents a theory. Scientist B's theories completely negate scientist A's theory.
+[[Consensus|Consensual reality]] is made of up the beliefs of [[Sleeper (Mage)|sleepers]]. Mages can either covertly use [[magick]] to avoid [[Paradox (MTAs)|Paradox]] or vulgar magic, risking Paradox but affecting reality in ways seen by the naked eye (should a sleeper witness an act).
-Now we've got a problem. But it works out, because we have three more scientists.
+You can change reality to suit your whims. So can they. You want to fly. They do not believe you can.
-If these scientists can show their theories both effective, they've all got to go back to the drawing board to find a theory that fits ALL of their evidence.
+This conflict in belief between you and everyone else is called Paradox, and the [[Consensus]] (the unconscious beliefs of the ''rest'' of mankind) metes out punishment through Paradox.
-You can see how complicated this gets. Since every mage makes his own evidence, what ends up coming out is either a very complicated rule, full of exceptions, or one very simple rule, when one scientist bashes the head in of the others, metaphorically or physically.
+Paradox can cause your magic to go haywire, cause physical damage to you and the area around you, or even manifest as a [[Paradox spirit|sentient entity]], intent on making you pay for breaking the Laws of the Consensus. [[Marauders]] can even shred reality with their magic pushing Paradox onto surrounding mages.
-Now bring the number of "scientists" up to 6 billion. Think about that now. Six billion people, each with their own personal worldviews.
+Mage has [[Council of Nine Traditions|nine Traditions]], or groups of like-minded mages who work together against common foes, the [[Technocracy]] (a group founded on making the world rational, safe, and free of as much of the supernatural as possible), the [[Nephandi]], and the Marauders.
-Complicated, isn't it?
+Mage divides magic into nine [[Spheres]], or areas of influence: [[Time (MTAs)|Time]], [[Mind (MTAs)|Mind]], [[Prime (MTAs)|Prime]], [[Forces (MTAs)|Forces]], [[Matter (MTAs)|Matter]], [[Life (MTAs)|Life]], [[Spirit (MTAs)|Spirit]], [[Entropy (MTAs)|Entropy]], and [[Correspondence]]. A mage's ability to manipulate the world around them is called his [[Arete (MTAs)|Arete]], which goes on a scale of one to ten, since it requires a complex and detailed system of measurement, just like [[Humanity (VTM)|Humanity]] in [[Vampire: The Masquerade]].
-so how do we get this wonderfully nifty body of working physics, biology, chemistry and everything else? well, here's how.
+==References==
-Education. By teaching a large number of this six billion the exact same set of rules, beating it into their skulls, as it were, then we get one simple set of rules, as the sheer numbers win the arguement for the masses.
+* {{b|MTAs|Mage: The Ascension Rulebook|page=22, 135, 138}}
+[[Category:Mage: The Ascension glossary]]
-but now we've got a problem. These people have to be taught new theories every time someone makes a breakthrough. How are we going to manage that, without rewriting textbooks every few years? Well, we rewrite textbooks every few years, for one thing. for another, we train people to do something we learned from the church:to Have faith.
+[[Category:Mage: The Ascension]]
-Science has a good explanation for why humans cant fly, dragons shouldn't exist, gravity works, the earth is round, and J-lo is a ho. Trust in Science. We know what we're doing.
-If people believe in that logical, scientific and theirfore provable answer exists, then it does, even if they don't know what that answer is.
-the trick is to find that answer; that proof or that new bit of evidence.
-So what is Enlightened Science? From a Technocratic standpoint, it's Working WITH the physical world. Instead of changing things, they operate within the existing body of physics, chemistry, and biology. They search out the grey areas, the absolute outer reaches of that technology, for the evidence of why things work the way they do, and then they apply that knowledge in amazing ways. if Some new mainstream theory invalidates their work, they figure out why it managed to operate, log the exception, and keep going, working to make the technocracy's accepted Mainline paradigm work that much smoother.
-Etherites are a little different. Etherites know reality is consensual...and behave accordingly.
-It's fun, really. Since Heisenbergs' uncertainty principle s at the heart of the etherite paradigm, they work with it. My rules, whether consciously or unconsciously, effect my evidence, which is what my rules are based on. Therefore, my Science is unique, my theories build upon themselves to the point where they might diverge from the normal pack of hypotheses that everyone else works under in a massive way... but that doesn't make it not Science.
-The Etherites simply apply scientific theory the only way they can; testing what works and what doesn't in THEIR world, their paradigm, their personal set of theories.
-Virtual Adepts are Technomancers, not Scientists. They took a flying leap into the Tech as Focus, and have lost the actual Science part in the main. Their foci are basically computerized magic, not Science. SOME are still based in technological wizardry, making computers and electronics do things they were never meant to do through programming tricks and hardware hacks, but most are just script kiddies, slinging code just as a hermetic would sling Ennochian chants or vials of elixirs.