Mage: The Ascension (Alternate Rules)

An illustrated PDF of this system is at:
Alternate Mage: The Ascension PDF

To just see the alternate magic system read:
Alternate Sphere Magic

A character sheet for this system is at:
Alternate Character Sheet

This page is mirrored at:
https://github.com/alt-magick/Mage-The-Ascension

Buy the physical book at Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Mage-Ascension-Alternate-Corey-White/dp/B0DPVFZN3C

Or download it from:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/484905/alternate-mage-the-ascension-spheres

Mage: The Ascension

Mage: The Ascension is a roleplaying game set in the World of Darkness, a dark, gothic-punk alternative version of our own reality. In this setting, magic is real but hidden from most people's perception. The game revolves around mages - individuals who can reshape reality through the power of will, belief, and understanding.

The Technocracy stands as a powerful organization seeking to control reality through science, technology, and rational thought. They view magic as a dangerous threat to human progress and work systematically to suppress and eliminate supernatural elements.

The central conflict in Mage: The Ascension is the struggle over the nature of reality itself. Mages fundamentally believe that reality is malleable and can be shaped by human will and belief.

Roleplaying happens inside of scenes. In fact, the entire game exists in scenes. The beauty of roleplaying a scene lies in its uncertainty. Neither the players, or the Storyteller know exactly how the scene will unfold.

A scene is a temporary collaborative reality. A shared imaginative space where individual creativity merges into a collective experience.

Like most role playing games played around a table, we use dice to determine the whims of chance. Anytime a character performs an action under adverse conditions or when the outcome is unclear, his player rolls dice to see whether the task succeeds or fails.

You just need two six sided dice to play. I have changed this from the original game, Mage: The Ascension from rolling a ten sided dice. I did a little math and it just made since.

For a success in this game, rolling a 7 or 11 with two 6 sided dice has the odds of 2/9 which is 0.2222.

A typical success in Mage is made by rolling a 8, 9, or 10 on one 10 sided die, which has the odds of 3/10 which is 0.3.

So, with a few other modifications the game mechanics are basically the same.

• Attributes and Skills

Characters possess a variety of traits, describing their innate capabilities, trained skills, and even how many wounds they can suffer before dying. Two types of trait are especially important: Attributes and Skills. Each of these traits is rated in dots (●), ranging from 1 to 5, much like the five-star system many critics use to rate movies. For example, a character might have a Dexterity Attribute of ●●● (3 dots) and a Firearms Skill of ●● (2 dots).

Whenever your character performs an action that calls for dice rolls, you most often add the most appropriate Attribute to the most appropriate Skill. When your character shoots a gun, you add his Dexterity to his Firearms for a total number of dice rolls.

• Modifiers

Various conditions and circumstances can greatly improve or hinder your characters tasks, represented by bonuses and/or penalties to your dice rolls. On one hand, quality tools might give him a bonus to repair a car. On the other hand, a thunderstorm might cause hazardous driving conditions, levying a penalty on any driving rolls, and a distant target is hard to hit with a gun, represented by range penalties.

For example, when shooting a target 30 yards away with his Glock 17 pistol, your character suffers a -2 penalty.

The Storyteller determines whether or not any circumstance imposes dice-roll modifiers and how great those modifiers are.

• Dice Rolls

So, we can say that that the number of times you get to roll the dice is determined like so: Attribute + Skill + modifiers (if any) In general, bonuses are always added before penalties are applied.

• Rolling the Dice

Now that you know what to roll, lets see how to read the results. Each roll uses two dice, and a result of 7, or 11 is considered a success. You might have more than one of these, in which case you have multiple successes. The dice don't just tell you whether your character succeeds or fails it shows you how well he does. If none of your die rolls succeed, your roll fails. Obviously, the more die rolls you have the better your characters chances of success, and the greater your odds of gaining multiple successes.

• Snake Eyes

If one of your rolls turn up snake eyes, it cancels out one success. If you roll snake eyes, and none of you other rolls succeed it is a botch.

• Second Tries

When a roll fails, you can try again with a +1 difficulty modifier.

• Fighting

Combat is a series of die rolls, until someone surrenders or is rendered unable to fight. The rolls determine whether or not your character hits and how much damage he inflicts on his target. The number of dice rolls is determined as above, but a knife is more deadly than a fist, and a gun is more deadly than all. Each success gained on your attack roll represents a point of damage inflicted against the targets Health trait. If the target has no more Health left, he is unconscious or dead (depending on the type of damage done).

There are two types of damage: bashing (caused by blunt weapons such as fists or clubs; these wounds heal quickly), lethal (caused by sharp weapons such as knives and bullets; these wounds heal slowly). There are a number of complications involved in combat, such as a targets Defense Rolls, which are subtracted from any attack successes targeted against him.

• Actions

The number of times you roll for an action is made up of an attribute added to an ability. Each of these are given a rating from 1 to five:

1) Poor 
2) Average 
3) Good 
4) Exceptional 
5) World Class 

That dice pool is then modified by one of these levels:

+1) Easy 
+0) Routine 
-1) Moderate  
-2) Difficult 
-3) Challenging 
-4) Hard 
-5) Exceptional 

The number of successes you have is also given a rating from one to five:

1) Marginal 
2) Moderate 
3) Good 
4) Excellent 
5) Phenomenal

Traits

The attributes your character has are listed here, they are divided into 3 categories:

• Physical:
  
  
  • Strength - Physical Power
  • Dexterity - Athleticism
  • Stamina - Toughness

• Social:
  
  
  • Charisma - Charm
  • Manipulation - Persuasion
  • Appearance - Attractiveness

• Mental:
  
  
  • Perception - Insight To Surroundings
  • Intelligence - Pure IQ
  • Wits - Intuition & Instincts

Abilities are also divided into 3 categories:

• Talents:
  
  
  • Alertness - Attention to Your Surroundings
  • Athletics - A Talent With Sports
  • Awareness - You Can Sense The Presence of Magic
  • Brawl - Skill With Unarmed Combat
  • Dodge - Avoiding Physical Danger
  • Expression - The Art of Communication
  • Intimidation - Flexing Your Muscles
  • Leadership - You Are Respected
  • Streetwise - Youre a Part Of The Underworld
  • Subterfuge - You Can Hide Your Motives

• Skills:
  
  
  • Crafts - Working With Your Hands
  • Drive - Handling The Road
  • Etiquette - Managing Social Situations
  • Firearms - Firing Guns
  • Meditation - Regenerates Magic
  • Melee - Hand To Hand Weapons
  • Performance - Specialized as music etc.
  • Stealth - Hiding From Sight
  • Survival - Living In Difficult Environments
  • Technology - Repairing And Working With Machines

• Knowledges:
  
  
  • Academics - Higher Education In A Field
  • Computer - From Typing To Hacking
  • Cosmology - Knowledge Of The Spirit World
  • Enigmas - Solving Puzzles Or Riddles
  • Investigation - Forensics Detective Work
  • Law - Professional Practice In Law
  • Linguistics - Specializing In Other Languages
  • Medicine - First Aid, & Surgery Etc.
  • Occult - Knowledge Of Magic Practices
  • Science - Engineering, Chemistry, & Physics

There are also some other very important traits:

• Avatar - Your ability to store quintessence
• Arete - Your mastery of magick
• Willpower - Can be used to force success
• Quintessence - The raw power of magic
• Paradox - The backlash from magic into insanity
• Health - The amount of damage you can take

Getting Started

Now that you know the basics of the Storytelling System, you can proceed to create your own characters. You’ll be able to judge what sort of traits you’ll need based on their titles (they’re mostly self-explanatory), and know that the more dots you have in a trait the better your character will be when accomplishing tasks with it.

Here is a quick overview of how to begin the character creation process:

• The 3 categories of attributes are divided into 3 levels of points: 7/5/3. (But they all start at 1)

• The 3 categories of abilities are also divided into 3 levels of points: 13/9/5

• You get 7 points to go into Backgrounds.

• You also get 6 dots that can go into your Mage's magical knowledge called Spheres. The catch is that none of them can be higher than your level of Arete.

• Arete starts at 1 and can’t begin higher than 3.

• Willpower starts at 5 and can’t begin higher than 7.

You also get 15 Freebie Points:

• To increase an Attribute requires 5 freebie points.

• To increase an Ability requires 2 freebie points.

• To increase a Background requires 1 freebie point.

• To increase Willpower requires 1 freebie point.

• To increase Arete requires 4 freebie points.

• To increase a Sphere requires 7 freebie points.

Prioritize the categories with 3 levels of points.

• Select Attributes (7/5/3)

      Physical: Strength, Dexterity, Stamina

      Social: Charisma, Manipulation, Appearance

      Mental: Perception, Intelligence, Wits

• Select Abilities (13/9/5)

      Talents: Alertness, Athletics, Awareness, Brawl, Dodge, Expression, Intimidation, Leadership, Streetwise, Subterfuge

      Skills: Crafts, Drive, Etiquette, Firearms, Meditation, Melee, Performance, Stealth, Survival, Technology

      Knowledges: Academics, Computer, Cosmology, Enigmas, Investigation, Law, Linguistics, Medicine, Occult, Science

Additionally, characters also have a number of advantages called Backgrounds.

• Backgrounds (7):

      Allies - Friends who help you

      Arcane - You are unnoticed as a Mage

      Avatar - The Strength of the soul

      Contacts - Information sources

      Destiny - A greater purpose

      Dream - Visions from the unknown

      Influence - Pull over the mortal world

      Library - Access to metaphysical knowledge

      Node - A place of magical power

      Resources - Extra Money

      Wonder - A Magical talisman or device

Combat

We will now go over the combat system. It is very simple.

Combat is broken down into three steps, Initiative, Attack, and Resolution.

• Stage one - Initiative

      During initiative, both players roll Dexterity + Wits. Whoever has more successes gets to go first.

      Each player declares either to attack or defend.

      It is also possible to ambush someone with: Dexterity + Stealth vs Perception + Alertness

• Stage two - Attack

The attacker rolls one of these:

      Unarmed Combat: Strength + Brawl

      Armed Combat: Strength + Weaponry

      Firearms: Dexterity + Firearms

      Throwing Objects: Dexterity + Athletics

Then the defender either takes the hit, or if they chose to defend they roll:

      Block: Dexterity + Brawl

      Dodge: Dexterity + Dodge

      Parry: Dexterity + Melee

The successes of the attack roll minus the defense roll equals damage, which is either Bashing or Lethal.

If a weapon is being used the storyteller can increase the modifier for an attack by up to +4. Some guns allow you to shoot multiple times in a turn.

• Stage three - Resolution

      Roll as many times as your Stamina points to eliminate a point of bashing damage for each success.

      If the fighting continues you roll again for initiative.

Keep track of the damage to your health with this chart:

• Health

1. Bruised -0
2. Hurt -1
3. Injured -2
4. Wounded -3
5. Mauled -4
6. Crippled -5
7. Unconscious

Each point of damage is marked with a / for bashing damage and an X for lethal damage. If you acquire 7 bashing damage you are unconscious, further bashing damage can become lethal damage. Either way, you apply a penalty to everything you roll as the damage goes up.If you acquire more than 7 in lethal damage, you can die.

Finally, your character needs to learn magic!

Magic

There are 12 Spheres in this system that are divided into coincidental & vulgar magic. The first three levels of each sphere are limited to coincidental effects, and the highest levels of the sphere are divided into two levels of more advanced magic.

The Twelve Spheres in alphabetical order are:

Control, Destruction, Feeling, Influence, Penetration, Production, Revelation, Restoration, Transformation, Travel, Understanding, and Vanishing

These are the degrees of power for the Spheres:

1. Awareness
2. Sympathetic
3. Coincidental
4. Manipulative
5. Miraculous

• Awareness

Allows the Mage to sense things with their magic.

• Sympathetic

The Mage can effect things they’re personally connected to.

• Coincidental

The Mage can work magic as long as it doesn’t defy physics.

• Manipulative

The Mage can manipulate and bend the laws of physics.

• Miraculous

The Mage can now create impossible miracles.

Mechanics

• Casting Magic

You can only cast magic up to the level of your sphere. Arete is the number of dice to roll when casting a spell. No Sphere can be higher than your level of Arete. A mage can optionally roll fewer dice to avoid a potential botch.

• Avatar

A Mage’s Avatar is the maximum Quintessence they can store.

• Quintessence

Quintessence is the power source for Magic. Spending Quintessence points adds a bonus to your Arete roll for a spell. Meditation is required to regain Quintessence. The maximum Quintessence a Mage can store is their Avatar score. Quintessence can also be stored in things that are carried by a Mage.

• Willpower

      One point of willpower generates 1 success

      Willpower can resist mind magic

      Willpower can fight Quiet

      Willpower can ignore penalties from fear & damage

      Willpower can be regained after role play

• Difficulty

The difficulty for casting magic is determined by the Storyteller. Add +1 for Vulgar magic, if there are no witnesses. Add another +1 if a Sleeper witnesses it.

• Bonuses

If you have time to do a ritual, Intelligence + Occult can be rolled. Successes are added to your Arete roll up to a +3. If there isn't time for a full ritual, magical tools can add a +1 bonus.

• Successes

Simple magic requires only one success, two successes are required for more powerful magic, and larger effects can take even more.

• Botches

If a Mage rolls a failure when casting a spell & they also roll snake eyes on any of their dice then they botch. This is a dangerous situation.

Spheres

Spheres in Mage: The Ascension are the way Mages effect reality. They represent different kinds of magic, which Mages use to perceive and reshape the world.

• Understanding
  
  
  • Power: Wisdom / ESP
  • Knowledge: Realization - Unveiling the inner knowledge within.
  • Description: The Power of Understanding manifests as inspiration and insight, granting effortless access to answers and discoveries beyond conventional understanding. It endows the practitioner with the gift of foreknowledge. The key to unlocking this power lies in the realization that all knowledge already resides within oneself.

1. Elevated Mental Attributes
2. Predicting Outcomes
3. Seeing the Past
4. Seeing the Future
5. Stopping Time

• Feeling
  
  
  • Power: Empathy / Telepathy
  • Knowledge: Association - Recognizing the interconnectedness of all things.
  • Description: The Power of Feeling enables one to empathize and understand others deeply, perceiving their thoughts and emotions without the need for words. It stems from the profound insight into Association, the intrinsic link that binds all living beings together.

1. Reading Mindstates
2. Bonus to Social Attributes
3. Mental Shield
4. Reading Thoughts
5. Mental Link

• Production
  
  
  • Power: Attraction / Creation
  • Knowledge: Synchronicity - Uniting the threads of existence.
  • Description: The Power of Production empowers a wizard to draw situations and desires into their reality. This ability stems from a profound understanding of Synchronicity, the cosmic principle that everything is interconnected and influences each other. It acknowledges that the power to attract lies within, awaiting manifestation.

1. Sensing Opportunity
2. Arranging situations
3. Attracting Wealth
4. Produce Small Objects
5. Win Lotteries & Elections

• Influence
  
  
  • Power: Charisma / Hypnotism
  • Knowledge: Possession - Will shaping the realm of the mind.
  • Description: The Power of Influence grants a wizard the power to captivate others. Known as Possession, it allows one to enchant and charm, eliciting positive perceptions or even gaining control over anothers thoughts and actions. The essence of this mastery lies in the understanding that ones will can wield dominion over the minds of others.

1. Sensing Willpower
2. Social Influence
3. Hypnotic Suggestion
4. Mind Control
5. Altering Identities

• Penetration
  
  
  • Power: Escape / Intangibility
  • Knowledge: Spiritualism - Perceiving the world as a realm of spirit.
  • Description: The Power of Penetration delves into the realm of Spiritualism. It unveils the truth that the world is fundamentally composed of spirit, allowing a wizard to transcend physical boundaries and become intangible. Chains and locks lose their hold, dissolving effortlessly under the wizards touch.

1. Find Exits
2. Open Locks
3. Escape From Restraints
4. Escape From Prisons
5. Becoming Intangible

• Control
  
  
  • Power: Energy / Telekinesis
  • Knowledge: Evocation - Harnessing the forces of the spiritual realm.
  • Description: The Power of Control enables a wizard to command powerful forces. Through evocation, the practitioner can manipulate energy and bend it to their will. This understanding arises from recognizing that spiritual entities are themselves embodiments of force and possess the capacity to shape and impact the physical world.

1. Quick Reactions
2. Bonus to Physical Abilities
3. Influencing Physical Outcomes
4. Moving Objects
5. Controlling Natural Forces

• Restoration
  
  
  • Power: Renewal / Healing
  • Knowledge: Forgiveness - Liberating from suffering caused by transgressions.
  • Description: The Power of Restoration holds the gift of healing. It grants the ability to alleviate pain, cure diseases, and bring renewal to the afflicted. This power emerges from the understanding of Forgiveness, recognizing that suffering often stems from transgressions. By embracing forgiveness, a wizard becomes a conduit for healing and restoration.

1. Sense illness
2. Relieve Pain
3. Protection from Disease
4. Heal Sickness / Damage
5. Resurrection

• Vanishing
  
  
  • Power: Stealth / Invisibility
  • Knowledge: Misdirection - Manipulating attention and perception.
  • Description: The Power of Vanishing encompasses the art of Misdirection. It allows a wizard to control focus and attention, rendering themselves unseen and secrets concealed. Meticulous study and practice grant the ability to achieve complete invisibility as the wizard manipulates perception and directs attention elsewhere.

1. Detect Lies
2. See in The Dark
3. Stealth
4. Disguise
5. Invisibility

• Travel
  
  
  • Power: Direction / Teleportation
  • Knowledge: Unity - Dissolving the illusion of separation.
  • Description: The Power of Travel operates on the understanding that all separation is illusory. By harnessing this power, a wizard can navigate without traditional directions and locate objects or places that are lost or hidden. A skilled practitioner can transcend distance, stepping from one location to any desired destination.

1. Locate Lost Objects
2. Find Directions
3. See at a Distance
4. Teleport Objects
5. Make a Portal

• Transformation
  
  
  • Power: Developing / Shapeshifting
  • Knowledge: Personification - Authoring ones own identity.
  • Description: The Power of Transformation allows a wizard to assume the form and essence of another being, whether it be an abstract concept, an animal, or even a deity. The essence of this mastery lies in the understanding that one has the power to create and define their own identity, refusing to be shaped by external forces. The power of transformation can also be used to improve who you already are.

1. Sense Others Attributes
2. Bonus to Attributes
3. Developing Attributes
4. Shapeshifting
5. Transmutation

• Destruction
  
  
  • Power: Curses / Annihilation
  • Knowledge: Pragmatism - Dissolving the constructs of right and wrong.
  • Description: The Power of Destruction holds immense power that should be wielded with caution. It encompasses the ability to curse, annihilate, and disrupt the natural order. However, the utilization of this power draws one away from their true path and blurs the distinction between right and wrong.

1. Sense Black Magic
2. Protection from Curses
3. Curse Enemies
4. Cause Physical Damage
5. Kill & Destroy

• Revelation
  
  
  • Power: Visions / Rapture
  • Knowledge: Above as Below - The symbiotic connection between gods, angels, and humanity.
  • Description: The Power of Revelation unveils profound visions and grants enlightenment to the practitioner. It is rooted in the understanding of the symbiotic connection between gods, angels, and humanity. By tapping into this power, a wizard gains access to celestial knowledge, perceiving the intricate tapestry that binds all realms and entities together.

1. Sense Spirits
2. Speak with Spirits
3. Banish Spirits
4. Summon Spirits
5. Spirit Travel

• Paradox & Quiet

The official rules say Paradox is caused by Vulgar magic. In these alternative rules Paradox happens when a Mage fails at casting their spells. When a Mage fails a magic roll they gain a Paradox point. A botched roll will then releases that Paradox in the form of a Quiet (Insanity).

If a Mage has a Paradox level of 1-3, the Quiet happens in one of three ways:

Hallucinations, Fixations, or Depression

If they have a Paradox level of 4-6, the Quiet happens in three more ways:

Delusions & Mood Swings, Repetitive Behaviors, or Suicidal Thoughts

If they have a Paradox level of 7-10, the Quiet happens as:

Wild Hallucinations, Compulsions, and Anti-Social Behavior

If they have a Paradox level of 11+, the Quiet happens in more severe ways:

Complete Madness, Obsession, or Violence

Quintessence can be spent to reduce Paradox, but it has to be done before the Insanity of Quiet occurs. If Paradox reaches a level greater than 10 it is released automatically.

• Occult

This system of magic can connect to occult themes, for interesting role playing.

There are 12 Spheres in this system. Each Sphere connects to one of the 12 signs of the Zodiac. And each Zodiac sign connects to one of 10 planets in Astrology. The 10 planets and 12 signs connect with the 22 Major Arcana of the Tarot.

• Control:
  
  
  • Energy / Telekinesis
  • (Aries / Emperor) + (Mars / Tower)

• Transformation:
  
  
  • Developing / Shapeshifting
  • (Taurus / Hierophant) + (Venus / Empress)

• Understanding:
  
  
  • Wisdom / ESP
  • (Libra / Justice) + (Venus / Empress)

• Revelation:
  
  
  • Visions / Rapture
  • (Pisces / High Priestess) + (Neptune / Hanged Man)

• Feeling:
  
  
  • Empathy / Telepathy
  • (Virgo / Hermit) + (Mercury / Magician)

• Influence:
  
  
  • Charisma / Hypnotism
  • (Leo / Strength) + (Sun / Sun)

• Penetration:
  
  
  • Escape / Intangibility
  • (Gemini / Lovers) + (Mercury / Magician)

• Travel:
  
  
  • Direction / Teleportation
  • (Sagittarius / Temperance) + (Jupiter / Wheel of Fortune)

• Production:
  
  
  • Attraction / Creation
  • (Capricorn / Devil) + (Saturn / World)

• Restoration:
  
  
  • Renewal / Healing
  • (Aquarius / Star) + (Uranus / Fool)

• Vanishing:
  
  
  • Stealth / Invisibility
  • (Cancer / Chariot) + (Moon / Moon)

• Destruction:
  
  
  • Curses / Annihilation
  • (Scorpio / Death) + (Pluto / Judgement)

Finishing Touches

Here are some finishing touches to add to your character sheet.

• Traditions

      There are 12 types of Mages representing different world views. You can pick whichever one you feel resonates with your character:

• Akashic Brotherhood

      Buddhist Warriors

• Celestial Chorus

      Gnostic Priests

• Cult of Ecstasy

      Hippies and New Agers

• Dreamspeakers

      Shamans

• Euthanatos

      Terrorists and Activists

• Order of Hermes

      Ceremonial Magicians

• Sons of Ether

      Rebel Scientists

• Verbena

      Wiccans

• Virtual Adepts

      Reality Hackers

• Hollow Ones

      Goths

• Marauders

      Permanently Insane

• Nephandi

      Made Demonic Pacts

• Technocracy

      Agents of Reason

If you have your own Coven you can also list it as your Cabal.

• Concepts

All characters need to have a concept which can be anything you want to make up. However here are some example concepts that you might like to use:

• Criminal

• Drifter

• Entertainer

• Intellectual

• Investigator

• Kid

• Night-lifer

• Outsider

• Politician

• Professional

• Reporter

• Socialite

• Soldier

• Worker

• Nature and Demeanor

There are two more important categories at the top of the character sheet, called Nature & Demeanor. Nature is your inner character. and Demeanor is what you project into the outside world. Below you can pick one of these for each:

• Architect - Purpose / Obsession

      You desire to leave a mark on the world.

• Autocrat - Leadership / Dictatorship

      You want control.

• Bon Vivant - Love of Life / Hedonism

      You want to live Life.

• Bravo - Strength / Anger

      You want power.

• Caregiver - Compassion / Smothering

      You look out for others.

• Celebrant - Passion / Intemperance

      You have a calling

• Child - Innocence / Immaturity

      You never grew up.

• Competitor - Striving / Competitiveness

      Life is a challenge to be won.

• Conformist - Cooperation / Low-Self Esteem

      You are a follower.

• Conniver - Clever / Envy

      You are a manipulator

• Curmudgeon - Critical Eye / Lack of Imagination

      You find the faults in others.

• Deviant - Shatter Boundaries / Perversion

      You are an outcast.

• Director - Organization / Lack of Tolerance

      You want things under control.

• Fanatic - Dedication / Stubbornness

      You live for a cause.

• Gallant - Artistry / Flamboyance

      You want to be the center of attention.

• Judge - Justice / Lack of Vision

      You want to resolve problems.

• Loner - Self-Reliance / Lack of Empathy

      You work best by yourself.

• Martyr - Sacrifice / Self-Deprecation

      You devote yourself to helping others.

• Masochist - Devotion / Self-Destructiveness

      You want to suffer.

• Monster - Mirror of Villainy / Depravity

      You are an evil person.

• Pedagogue - Knowledge / Logorrhea

      You are a teacher.

• Penitent - Responsibility / Contrition

      You are consumed with guilt.

• Perfectionist - Exactitude / Incompleteness

      You need to be the best.

• Rebel - Individuality / Lack of Direction

      You like to break the rules.

• Rogue - Valor / Selfishness

      You look out for yourself.

• Survivor - Perseverance / Lack of Trust

      You keep going no matter what.

• Thrill-Seeker - Daring / Recklessness

      You live on the edge.

• Traditionalist - Consistency / Complacency

      You support the status quo.

• Trickster - Empathy / Hypocrisy

      Your life is a comedy.

• Visionary - Imagination / Pride

      You want to remake the future.

• Essence

Your character's Avatar Essence is also on the character sheet. An Avatar represents a Mage's soul, and the essence represents the drive a mage has at their core. There are four essences you can pick from:

• Dynamic - Change

• Pattern - Improvement

• Primordial - Stability

• Questing - Purpose

• Resonance

All Mages also have a Resonance. As a Mage uses magic their Resonance changes. Other Awakened can read a Mage's Resonance as well. You start with one dot in one Resonance trait, and add dots as you continue working magic.

There are three types of Resonance: Dynamic, Entropic, and Static

• Dynamic represents change.

• Entropic represents destruction.

• And Static represents protection.

• Purpose

In these alternate rules we also have another trait called Purpose. You can fill in the dots anyway you like into these 3 categories:

• Self, Others, and World.

Representing your primary motivation.

• Foci

Mages tend to have certain tools for using magic. When a Mage has access to these tools, they receive a +1 bonus to their magic roll. You can pick at least one at the start of the game. Here is a list of suggestions for you to choose from:

Art

Astrology

Blood

Books

Bones

Cauldrons

Chalices

Candles

Chanting

Circles

Computers

Crystals

Dancing

Devices

Martial Arts

Drugs

Elements

Feathers

Fire

Formulas

Herbs

Holy Symbols

Incense

Language

Music

Internet

Ordeals

Poetry

Pure Water

Purification

Ritual Sacrifice

Runes

Science

Sex

Songs

Tarot Cards

Ouija boards

Tattoos

Piercings

Toys

Wands

Weapons

Examples

Also, here are some examples of how to attempt other actions using the abilities and attributes already mentioned:

Climbing - Dexterity + Athletics

Driving - Dexterity + Drive

Encumbrance - Strength

Intrusion - Dexterity or Intelligence + Technology

Jumping - Strength or Strength + Athletics

Lifting / Breaking - Strength or Willpower

Pursuit - Dexterity + Athletics / Drive

Shadowing - Dexterity + Stealth

Sleight of Hand - Dexterity + Stealth

Sneaking - Dexterity + Stealth

Stealing - Dexterity + Stealth, Perception + Streetwise

Swimming - Stamina + Athletics

Throwing - Dexterity + Athletics

Fast Talk - Manipulation + Subterfuge

Fitting In - Charisma + Expression

Impersonation - Charisma + Expression or Manipulation + Subterfuge

Interrogation - Manipulation + Intimidation or Charisma + Intimidation

Oration - Charisma + Leadership

Performance - Charisma + Performance

Academic Knowledge - Intelligence + Academics

Building Devices - Intelligence + Technology

Cryptography - Intelligence + Linguistics or Intelligence + Computer

Detecting The Supernatural - Perception + Awareness

Foraging - Intelligence + Survival

Fortune Telling - Perception + Awareness

Hacking - Intelligence / Wits + Computer

Inventing - Intelligence + Science

Investigation - Perception + Investigation

Meditation - Stamina / Intelligence + Meditation

Repair - Dexterity + Technology

Research - Intelligence + Investigation / Computer

Surveillance - Perception + Alertness, Dexterity + Stealth

Tracking - Perception + Survival

Credits

Street