Character Concepts (Read 1st Post)

[Benji]

Mage isn't difficult to learn, but you have to put the time in to read the setting and rules. You will crash and burn hard if you just skim the X/Y splats and the spell chapter and wing it - you have to exercise your skills in reading comprehension and not just assume it's like the dresden files or harry potter or x-men with "mutants" replaced with "magic" or any other media where magic is a thing.

Like you really need to do this with every game, it's part of your due diligence as a player to #readthebook , but if you don't do it in mage you're going to hit a brick wall very fast and very hard.

[alias-of-a-girl]

Mechanically? I wouldn't call mage any more difficult than the other venues. It's got the usual spread of stuff 5 types with 5 groups. The supernatural abilities cost a LOT to learn, but each level grants you a frankly ridiculous number of abilities. Getting familiar with what each level of the various arcana can do is probably the most difficult part - but that's not *so* different from learning what each vampire power can do (except that there's just more content to go through).

The harder part is, IMO, learning to play a mage "properly" - I don't generally like talking about the "proper" way to play a given character, but it's appropriate here. It's difficult to play a character who intuitively knows that reality is a lie. Granted, your character is probably going to have a hard time applying that knowledge to their daily lives, too, so it's not necessary that you understand what it means to know the Truth right off the bat, but it's something you have to have in the back of your mind.

BUT! As a more direct response to the issue of having to read splatbooks? I mean, yeah, you're going to have to read them. But that's true of any venue.

[West]

just jack *jazzhands*

Much love. I've dropped that joke a few times during my time here and I don't think anyone ever gets it

[Benji]

Here's the ultra mega condensed precis of the mage the awakening setting. This is not in any way shape or form a comprehensive look into the setting and does not eliminate the need to #readthebook , but it can get the basics of the setting in your mind.

You become aware that the world as you know it is a Lie.
You are in some way looking for the Truth so you can understand it (this is what pentacle mages do in general).
The Truth is Not Nice.
You cannot hide from the Truth now that you know it exists (you couldn't before, but you didn't know it so it didn't really matter).
The Truth is everywhere because the Truth is reflected in everything, but it's hidden extremely well because there are a bunch of old asshole mage-god-kings who found the Truth in prehistory, but they then burned all the bridges they used to get there (this made the Abyss and it hates everything and you in particular) and they are the Exarchs.
Seers of the Throne are mages who have decided that the Truth is less important than what knowing it can do for them, and they'd rather use magic to oppress Sleepers (mage term for the non-Magi).
Banishers are mages who's awareness of the Truth has broken them and they use magic to hunt other mages.
Secelesti are mages who've decided to sign up with the Abyss for any of a number of personal reasons and since the Abyss is bad news, they are bad news.
Witch Hunters are mortals who don't know what you know, but think that your magic makes you a bad person so they want to murder you and burn your books (see Hunter the Vigil)
These five groups are not the only things standing in your way as a Pentacle Magi from learning more about the Truth of the universe, but they are the most common ones.

Also - If you use too much Mind Magic there's a risk of evil spiders crawling into the brains of people around you and fucking them up.

[West]

Now I'm just sad you didn't roll into Vampire with Karen the Harpy.

[Saber Sloth]

Sparrow died a slow, but probably pleasurable death. Really. No matter how I tried approaching how to write her, she didn't want to Awaken, she wants to be a vampire instead. So I've given up of trying to force her into something she's not. (She's a Daeva. She really, really wants to be an Invictus Daeva. So she is, her concept page isn't even in my mage stuff folder any more.)

So I've started over.

I know I want to play around with Fate and Spirit, and that I think I want to play an Arrow (Probably an unconventional one.)

So here's what I have so far.

Lisa-Marie Turner, was a beautiful girl (with a tendency towards unnatural hair colors), but isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. With her own naivety, and trusting nature it was easy for the local bad-boy to convince her that they were in love. Eventually they end up running away from their hometown, it doesn't take long for Lisa-Marie to end up waitressing, while the bf is sponging off her to work on his 'music career'.

During a shift a talent scout (or whoever does these things) spots her and loves her look, introducing her to modeling. On his advice she takes on a stage name to keep the stalker fans away from her legal identity, and just in case she doesn't want her family seeing her name and linking it to risque shots (would I need New Identity for her stage name if it's just a pseudonym?) The stage name she gives herself is Tabitha Rose, naming herself after both her grandma and mom. She of course names her bf her manager, and he continues to sponge off her.

This continues until Lisa-Marie comes home early from a shoot only to be confronted with her bf and his buddies laughing at her, about how stupid she is, and how easy it is to lead her around by the nose. And, upon his lap is another women. Who's fine with the bf dating Lisa-Marie, if only to keep the money flowing and so the other women doesn't have to continually 'entertain' the bf, or do anything she think would 'demean her'. Lisa-Marie runs away, and Awakens shortly after that.

Now I'm thinking either Acanthus, or Thyrsus in the vein of her Awakening, as an Acanthus it would be more symbolic where Lisa is sitting on the sidelines where stuff is happening, that's out of her control, like most of her life she's letting it happen that way, and it's only when she decides to do something, and fight for what she believes in that she Awakens. For the Thyrsus fluff, I was thinking along the way of during the beginning she sheds her humanity completely, 'my mate as betrayed me and all the pups we're never going to have...'

Her bodyguard, just so happens to be a mage, he introduces her to her new life, and she's quickly brought to the the Consilium, where a Cabal is chosen to foster her.

As for my reasoning for making her an Arrow is, for her Acanthus Awakening, she takes the symbolism too literally, and sees herself fighting, so she joins the 'warrior' faction. For the Thyrsus Awakening, surviving in the Primal Wilds long enough to Awaken, woke something (pun not intended) within her, for those pups/children she's not had the chance to have she wants to protect the people, her friends/pack that have managed to soften that blow to her heart. (or something like that anyway. :P )

As for her Awakened life I know that while she'll stay wherever she is until she knows what's what, and is initiated into her Order, but she doesn't know how to divide her life between Tabitha Rose and Shadow Name, so moving to a new city for a fresh start might be good for her. And so she doesn't give into temptation and hex her ex with a load of bad luck.

She doesn't want to give up her modeling, or Tabitha Rose, she's started to gain some recognition, (at least Fame *)

I don't have anything really crunchy done up yet, I'd rather figure of who the character is before assigning their dots.

So what do you guys think?