Mind

The Arcana of Mind allows a mage skilled in its use to connect with the Universal Consciousness, a higher realm of thought shared by every self-aware creature, person, or spirit in the Fallen World. This connection grants a mage the power to detect emotions by reading auras, to reprogram the minds of others, to create new consciousnesses, to control others, read minds, or speak directly into the mind of another. The nature of this Arcanum makes it a useful tool for the subtle, devious, and paranoid, and so it is well suited to the Mastigos who use it.

Chambers

(Initiate)

Influences

Communication, hallucinations, mental projection, mind control, telepathy.

Nature and Power

The Arcanum of Mind is the Subtle Arcanum of the Supernal Realm of Pandemonium, a realm from which the Arcanum of Space also stems. The realm of Pandemonium is a place governed by the contents of one’s head. It is a realm of penitence and scourging for crimes committed whilst the soul was living. The deepest, darkest desires of the soul’s mind are teased forth, and then converted into an orgy of poetic justices the likes of which would easily turn the stomach of even the most insane tyrant. This terrible ordeal exists to purify the mind, to cleanse it of its past crimes before the realm passes it on to another. The mind holds almost no impact over the Fallen World’s landscape and features, but it is still a potent force.

As with its fellow Subtle Arcana, the influence of the Arcanum of Mind has suffered greatly at the hands of the Abyss. Whatever the ancient masters of Mind could accomplish, turning their formidable powers to the shaping of the Fallen World, has been lost amidst an ocean of Paradox. Mind can no longer rule over Matter. But, as ever, the Arcanum has survived. Though the power of an Awakened knowledgeable in Mind no longer holds sway over the physical nature of the world, a skilled mage still has much use for the manipulation of the Universal Consciousness.

Telepathy. Mind wiping. Thought control. Wielding people like puppets. All these powers and a great many more are available to a mage proficient in the Arcanum of Mind. She can raise the power of a subject’s mind, create hallucinatory objects, creatures, and effects, trick people into thinking that she, another person, or even the original target is another person or thing, or simply batter at an enemy’s body with sheer force of will. And the Arcanum wields even more power when put to work in Astral Space, a dimension formed entirely from the dreaming and thinking minds of humans and animals. It can be used here to enter the various realms of Astral Space, penetrate the Oneiros of another, stabilise dream spaces or objects, jump directly between Oneiroi, or even imprison others within the treacherous confines of the Temenos. On lesser, more worldly scales, the Arcanum is very useful in day-to-day life. A mage can read thoughts, detect emotions, and implant suggestions in the minds of others. This set of tools can be very useful when dealing with people, especially Sleepers.

Levels of Mastery

Initiate (●)

At the first level of mastery, an Initiate of Mind gains the ability to read auras, discerning the emotional state, but not the nature, of a subject. She may use the Mage Sight to detect the use of extraordinary mental powers, such as telepathy or ESP, or detect the presence of minds or mental projections around her. Lastly, she may split her mind in half, allowing her to hold two different lines of thought within her head.

• Spells: Aura Perception, Counterspell, Know Virtue, One Mind Two Thoughts, Sense Consciousness, Third Eye
• House Ruled:
• Banned:

Apprentice (●●)

The second level of mastery grants an Apprentice of Mind the ability to alter the nature of her own aura, making her seem to be in a different emotional state than she really is (though she cannot make herself appear as something other than a mage). She may erect a mental barrier to protect herself from attempts to influence her mind, alter the perceptions of others to avoid their attacks, or make herself unremarkable to observers. She can alter her memory so that she does not remember specific thoughts, allowing her to fool a polygraph or magical scan. The mage can control simple minds, like those of fish, insects, or lizards, create emotions within other people, or make herself seem trustworthy to people she doesn’t know. She may also send simple messages directly into people’s minds, and confer her perception of unusual mental powers upon others.

• Spells: Alter Aura, Astral Beacon, Beast Control, Control Waking, Delayed Rest, Directory Enquiry, Eagle-Eye View, Emotional Urging, Euphoria, First Impressions, Gain Skill, Hurried Rest, Incognito Presence, Inconspicuous Object, Inspire, Mask of Normality, Memory Hole, Mental Shield, Misperception, Moment of Doubt, Opening the Lidless Eye, Past Life Regression, Perfect Mnemonic, Playback Vision, Provoke Wrath, Voice from Afar, Zeal
• House Ruled: Control Waking, Eagle-Eye View, Gain Skill, Mask of Normality, Misperception
• Banned: Control Waking, Moment of Doubt, Past Life Regression

Disciple (●●●)

Using the third level of mastery, a Disciple of Mind can control the actions of most creatures, though mammals, cetaceans, and cephalopods are still beyond her control. She may alter the aura of another, speak directly into people’s minds, and understand and speak any language she encounters. She may regulate her own sleep patterns (controlling her own dreams in the process) and raise her Mental or Social Attributes. The minds of others may be manipulated to allow the mage to appear as someone she isn’t. She gains the ability to perform multiple mental tasks at one (though not spellcasting) and even create impulses that overload a target’s neurons, causing bodily harm as muscles spasm and nerves fray. Though it takes no mastery of Mind to enter Astral Space, a mage at this level gains several useful powers with which to influence these realms. She may call allies in the Astral Realms into her Oneiros, pay the Mana cost required to enter the realms for another, or seal her Oneiros off from intruders. Her powers may also be used to gather scattered groups within Astral Space, or disrupt the concentration of others, making actions requiring focus more difficult.

At this level of mastery, a mage can learn the beginnings of goetic magic, allowing her to attempt overcoming her Vice and gaining the additional conviction normally only acquired by indulging it.

• Spells: Astral Entrance, Astral Invitation, Augment the Mind, Aura Cloak, Bestow High Speech, Bestow Skill, Bolster Virtue, Climbing the Tree, Curse of Dementia, Defer Conscience, Denial of Senses, Diplomats Protection, Directed Havoc, Disinhibiting Sympathy, Enforce Paradigm, Eternal Now, Eyes of the Master, False Fame, Goetic Struggle, Greater Beast Control, Implant Subliminal Message, Imposter, Induce Hoarding, Induce Sleep, Inescapable Question, Kinesthesia, Know Thyself, Know the Truth, Lift the Astral Barrier, Mental Wall, Multi-Tasking, Passion Link, Phantom Thoughts, Precious Malediction, Preserve Astral Object, Psychic Assault, Read Trends, Shackled Morality, Shroud of Disinterest, Sleep of the Just, Telepathic Alarm, Telepathic Eavesdropping, Telepathy, Transfer Will, Universal Language, Will of Fire
• House Ruled: Augment the Mind, Bestow Skill, Climbing the Tree, Directed Havoc, Disinhibiting Sympathy, Induce Sleep, Inescapable Question, Kinesthesia, Know the Truth, Phantom Thoughts, Preserve Astral Object, Will of Fire
• Banned: Defer Conscience, Diplomats Protection, Directed Havoc, Induce Sleep, Transfer Will

Adept (●●●●)

An Adept of Mind using the fourth level of mastery can raise or lower the Mental or Social Attributes of others or raise more than one of her own such attributes in a single casting. Her ability to rend the bodies of others within mental power waxes, and she also increases her ability to control others to the point where she can command even the highest of minds. She may read memories and deep thoughts, rather than simply surface ones, and can even alter, add to, or erase the memories of another. The mage may induce hallucinations, enter another persons dreams (note that this is different from their Oneiros), or project her mind into Twilight. She may sever another person from Astral Space for a brief time, seal off the Oneiroi of others from intruders, throw all non-native creatures in a given Oneiros back into the real world, pierce through from one Oneiros to another, and enter the Oneiroi of others directly from the real world.

• Spells: Alternate Scenario, Astral Interdiction, Augment Other Minds, Autopilot, Befuddle, Breach the Vault of Memory, Disrupt Concentration, Dream Bridge, Dream Traveler, Gleaning the Crowd, Goetic Doppelganger, Goetic Evocation, Hallucination, Knowing the Dead, Living Library, Love Spell, Memory Oath, Nightmare Journey, Preserve Astral Space, Psychic Projection, Psychic Sword, Psychic Violation, Read the Depths, Reinforce the Lie, Shape Soul Stone, Skeptic, Skill Mastery, Suppress Wisdom, Supreme Augmentation, Telepathic Control, Virtual Voyage, Willful Process
• House Ruled: Alternate Scenario, Augment Other Minds, Disrupt Concentration, Dream Bridge, Goetic Doppelganger, Living Library, Preserve Astral Space, Skill Mastery, Willful Process
• Banned: Love Spell, Reinforce the Lie, Suppress Wisdom

Master (●●●●●)

At the fifth level of mastery, a Master of Mind receives the power to completely dominate the mind of another, without regard for their survival instincts or morals. She may possess a target, acting through that person’s body, or completely reprogram another’s mind. She may psychically project her mind directly into the Shadow Realm, without needing to pass through the Gauntlet, or create an abode there where her mind is safe from harm. The mage’s powers allow her to network minds together, allowing many people to telepathically communicate at once, or even create other consciousnesses, though they do not last forever. She may imprison other people within Astral Space for a short time or link multiple Oneiroi together, allowing easy travel between them.

• Spells: Book of Self, Casual Brutality, Construct Homunculus Persona, Fiery Servant, Goetic Manifestation, Network, Possession, Psychic Domination, Psychic Genesis, Psychic Reprogramming, Shadow Projection, Sin Eating, Temenos Sanctuary, Triumphant Will, Twilight Temple
• House Ruled: Fiery Servant, Goetic Manifestation, Sin Eating, Triumphant Will
• Banned:

Conjunctional Arcana

Space

An Adept of both Mind and Space can, whilst in Astral Space, weave a pattern of silver threads between various travellers. These threads aid in finding one’s allies in Astral Space, as well as allowing travellers to transport themselves to one another’s side instantaneously.

Spirit

An Adept of both Mind and Spirit can perform a goetic rite that calls forth a spiritual representation of her flaws under her command. This avatar can be used to corrupt other mages or to satiate the mage's own dark desires.

References

• Astral Realms, pp. 22-28
• Mage, pp. 205-219