Mage: The Awakening
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[edit] Paths
When a mage Awakens, his soul travels out of his body across the yawning chasm of the Abyss to the Realms Supernal. He is guided through the void by the light of a Watchtower with which his soul most closely resonates. The Watchtower and its surrounding Supernal Realm dictate a mage's path, and that path determines what sort of mage he becomes. Choosing one's path is often one of the earliest steps in character in Mage: The Awakening. There are also a number of "sub-paths," called legacies.
[edit] Orders
While a person's Awakening and his Path determine what sort of mage he is, that doesn't necessarily give him an idea about what it is he's supposed to do. To provide that direction and a sense of society, mages have formed expansive magical orders, some of which have traditions that stretch all the way back to mythic Atlantis.
- Adamantine Arrow
- Free Council
- Guardians of the Veil
- Mysterium
- Silver Ladder
- Seers of the Throne
- Banishers
[edit] Arcana
The ten purviews of mystic influence, the Arcana encompass the entirety of reality. The five Subtle Arcana, those which influence things with roots in the Supernal World, are each paired with one of the Gross Arcana - the "material expressions", related to the Fallen World (mages' name for the mortal realm). Each pair forms the ruling Arcana of one of the five Supernal Realms, from which all Mana and magic are drawn. Since each Path's watchtower resides in a particular Supernal Realm, mages of each Path have a natural affinity for the associated ruling Arcana. Each Realm also has an inferior Arcanum, one with less power in that Realm, and which associated Path mages find harder to learn.
The Realms (and corresponding Paths) have the following ruling Arcana (in Gross/Subtle pairs):
- Arcadia (Acanthus): Time/Fate
- Pandaemonium (Mastigos): Space/Mind
- Stygia (Moros): Matter/Death
- The Aether (Obrimos): Forces/Prime
- The Primal Wild (Thyrsus): Life/Spirit
[edit] Legacies
As mages increase in mystic knowledge, they may craft their souls to join a Legacy. These Legacies bestow magical abilities on the member called attainments, which come Paradox free. Joining a Legacy (or, with sufficient enlightenment, forming one) makes the character magical in nature as opposed to simply channeling magic.
The Legacies can be taught by certain orders or adopted by any member of a specific path.
Background Differences to Mage: the Ascension
