Mage: The Ascension

The Main Idea

Reality is not fixed, but rather a set of agreed upon assumptions enforced by the collective will of humanity AKA Sleepers. Mages are those people who recognize that reality is not static, and realize that through the application of their will, usually channeled through rituals or other similar "mystical" or "scientific" practices, reality can be changed.

The specifics of their own belief, called a Paradigm, guides them into joining either one of the nine mystical Traditions (an ancient fellowship of mages of varying points of view), one of the five conventions of the Technocracy (an organization founded at the beginning of the age of reason to bring science and truth to humanity), or to strike out on their own as Orphans (unaffiliated mages), Marauders (mages whose paradigm has overwhelmed their sense of reality), or Nephandi (mages seeking to destroy or corrupt the world).

The central theme of Mage is the search for Ascension, not only for the individual but for all of mankind. What Ascension is, and how it is achieved is purposely left undefined.

Cosmology

Mage is built upon the basic concept of Werewolf's cosmology. The Penumbra overlaps the physical world, and is reached upon passing through the Gauntlet. The Penumbra mirrors the Earthly reality but it is not possible to see reality in the Penumbra. The Near Umbra is the next closest to earth, and it is expanded into four subtypes: the High, Middle and Low Umbral realms, and the Near Universe. The High Umbra (Astral Plane, Heavens) being a place of the mind where concepts taken form. The Middle Umbra (Living Umbra, Yang World, Spirit world, perhaps "the Dreaming") being a place of spirits and spiritual importance, its the spirit world used by werewolves. The Low Umbra (Dark Umbra, Yin World, Shadowlands) was a place of decay and darkness. The Near Universe is akin to deep space, and is home to locations reminiscent of science fiction. Strictly speaking, the Deep Umbra is the in-between that spans the space between planets. Difficult to survive in and home to beings entirely alien to human conception, this region is largely devoid of noteworthy locales. Each planet seems tied to a particular aspect of reality, and manifests this association through a Shard Realm, an incomprehensible realm composed of a single aspect of reality (for example, The Shard Realm of Time, associated with the planet Saturn, is composed entirely of time). These create the almost-survivable Shade Realms along the Horizon, which are diluted forms the Shard Realms that can be survived with considerable skill and luck. Though spacially within the Near Umbra, the Shard Realms of the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars remain beyond the Horizon. These Umbral Realms, together with the Physical World (Skinlands, WoD?) create the Tellurian, which comprises all of reality.

Countless aeons ago, the Umbra and the Skinlands were one. The Tellurian was a whole and complete singular universe. The Tellurian was since divided in half by "The Gauntlet", with the spirit world on one side, and the physical world on the other.

Factions

The Traditions

Council of Nine Mystic Traditions

• Akashic Brotherhood
• Celestial Chorus
• Cult of Ecstasy
• Dreamspeakers
• Euthanatos
• Order of Hermes
• Sons of Ether
• Verbena
• Virtual Adepts

The Technocracy

Technocratic Union

• Iteration X
• New World Order
• Progenitors
• Syndicate
• Void Engineers

Others

• Nephandi
• Marauders
• Disparates
• Hollow Ones

Abilities

The Spheres

Pattern:

• Matter / Forces

Questing:

• Life / Mind

Primordialism:

• Correspondence / Spirit

Dynamism:

• Time / Entropy

Connection:

• Prime / Telos

Game Mechanics

Paradox

Paradox is accrued when a Mage activates a Sphere-Ability under the direct observation of a Sleeper, and that ability cannot be explained through normal means. This violates the Sleeper's idea of what Reality is and what laws govern it. If you just happened to have put a lighter in your pocket earlier in the day (a point or three in Matter), then you can most likely get away with that being a "coincidental effect". If you pull an aircraft carrier out of your pocket(five points in Matter), however, that is undeniably considered a "vulgar effect". If the offensive mage has acquired a significant amount (6 or more points) of Paradox, they may experience what is known as Backlash.

Backlash can occur in one of four ways; Either the mage acquires direct damage (amount and type depends on the amount of Paradox accrued), the mage becomes the target of a malicious Paradox Spirit, the mage may acquire Paradox Flaws(explained below), or the mage and those nearby can be sucked into a Paradox Realm in the same vein as the magic in question. (Correspondence could create a spatial loop, Time could create the repetition of certain hours or days.) Some certain objective would have to be achieved in order to escape from the infinite loop.

Paradox Flaws are very curious events that may occur for a limited or permanent duration in the presence of a mage who has suffered Paradox Backlash. They can be as trivial as a watch running in reverse or shadows falling in the wrong direction, right handed people becoming left handed, images in mirrors doing different things than their counterparts in the real world, hearing things before they are said, needing dark instead of light to see, or perhaps missing or altered memories. They can be trivial (the mage's watch running backward at high speed for a few turns or flowers wilting nearby), minor (the mage's feet sticking to the ground for a turn or an uncontrollable sneezing attack), moderate (suddenly exuding waves of heat or cold, losing the ability to speak coherantly), severe (facial features vanish but senses remain, all cloth items within five feet start writhing), or drastic (skin turns to wood and starts sprouting, unintentionally firing off attacks at friends, a permanent minor flaw).

"Paradox is a fickle force. Sometimes it backlashes; sometimes it waits. Sometimes it's a hammer and sometimes it's like sandpaper against your skin.

Paradox usually ignites as it's garnered, but not always. Figure about a one-in-ten chance that Paradox will hang on a mage instead of backlashing immediately. And, of course, the player can always spend Willpower to prevent the Paradox from going off all at once. Ultimately it's up to the Storyteller to decide whether the Paradox explodes as gathered or whether it hangs in the balance." (from WW's Mage-FAQ)