Mage The Awakening Pdf Free Download

[Ariel Wascom]

MageThe Awakening is a tabletop role-playing game originally published by White Wolf Publishing on August 29, 2005, and is the third game in their Chronicles of Darkness series. The characters portrayed in this game are individuals able to bend or break the commonly accepted rules of reality to perform subtle or outlandish acts of magic. These characters are broadly referred to as "mages".

As with the other games in the Chronicles of Darkness, the history presented in the game provides for some ambiguity. However, the "origin story" of magic and mages is less ambiguous than that of vampires or werewolves.

In the mythic past, a mysterious island existed with a single towering mountain, encircled by dragons that lived upon its summit. The mountain called to humanity through dreams and visions. Over time, the dragons left and the mountain continued to call. Some humans answered the call and sought it out. The humans who moved there discovered the first secrets of magic, and through magic they created the mighty city-state now known as Atlantis, Meru, Lemuria, etc. though its true name has been lost to time.

Over time, the mages became filled with hubris, and began fighting over how best to lead the world. The battle separated the Earth into the Fallen World and the Supernal Realm, with the chasm of the Abyss in between. The Fallen World is the world where humanity now exists, and the Supernal realm is the realm of magic, where the victorious mages of long ago now reside. The Abyss that separates the two worlds prevents most of humanity from awakening to magic and hampers the power of mages trapped in the Fallen World.

Mages believe that the Supernal Realm is the truth of reality and the origin of magic. It is ruled by the Exarchs, powerful mages who have established themselves as its rulers. The Exarchs wish to snuff out the memory of "Atlantis" and knowledge of magic so that they will remain the supreme masters of reality. They are more godlike forces than human beings now; however, this means that they must influence the Fallen World through servants.

Fragments of the organizations, artifacts and writings from the First City survive to the present day, and mages hope to use this knowledge to further their various causes, by gaining a stronger connection to the Supernal Realm.

The process of awakening can be slow or fast, but there are two major ways in which the event may manifest: the Mystery Play (in which the mage's senses blur the real world and the magical symbolism of their awakening) and the Astral Journey (which takes place entirely within a dreamscape of the prospective mage). In both sorts of "awakenings", the mage-to-be goes on a journey that culminates with them arriving at or in their respective Tower and inscribing their name upon it.

After awakening, a mage typically joins one of the five Orders, although some choose to remain free of political connections, or remain outside of mage society due to ignorance, and are called apostates. The Five Orders are united in their opposition to the Exarchs, and four claim a heritage going back to the First City.

The Orders have competing agendas and opposing beliefs, leading to a lack of cooperation and trust, however this does not lead to open warfare between the Orders. When enemies of the Orders, such as the Seers of the Throne, appear, the Orders put aside their differences, as their squabbles are petty compared to the battle between the Oracles and the Exarchs.

Magic is simply the ability of a mage (or "willworker") to impose their will onto reality. Mages are able to do this because of their sympathetic connection to the Watchtowers in the Supernal Realms, because their names are inscribed upon it, and because they realize the Fallen World is a lie.

Arcana represent the understanding a mage has over particular facets of reality, and govern their ability to affect those aspects. Subtle Arcana (Death, Fate, Mind, Prime, and Spirit) are those that deal with the more ephemeral matters of existence, while Gross Arcana (Forces, Life, Matter, Space, and Time) are those relating to the physical aspects of the world.

Covert spells are those that do not outwardly appear magical, and therefore do not automatically risk backfiring (called Paradox), while Vulgar spells are unmistakably magical, and risk backfiring. All spells have a greater risk of Paradox when they are cast in the presence of Sleepers, or non-Awakened humans. Supernatural beings, or humans that have some hint of the supernatural about them (i.e. Ghouls, Sleepwalkers, and Wolfblooded) do not contribute to Paradox.

In the mythic past, a mysterious island existed with a single towering mountain encircled by dragons which lived upon its summit, and its image called to sleeping humanity. Over time, the dragons left, and the mountain continued to call. Some humans answered the call and sought out the island to see what it promised them. The humans who moved there discovered the first secrets of magic, and through magic they created a mighty city-state that is now called Atlantis, though its true name has been lost to time.

However, mages were filled with hubris over what they could achieve, and created a Celestial Ladder to reach the heavens and attain greater mastery over the world. Once the ladder was finished and mages began to climb it, there was conflict over how best to lead the world. Over the course of the battle, the ladder shattered. This separated the Earth into the Fallen World and the Supernal Realm, with the chasm of the Abyss in between. The Fallen World is the world of the everyday, and mages have come to understand that it is a lie.

The Supernal Realm is the truth of reality and the origin of magic. It is ruled by the Exarchs, powerful mages who had successfully climbed the ladder and taken control of the Supernal Realm. The Exarchs wish to snuff out the memory of Atlantis and knowledge of magic so they will remain the supreme masters of reality. The Exarchs are more like god-like forces than human beings now, and they act on the mortal world through servants.

Resistance against the Exarchs is possible because of the Oracles, a small number (probably five) of Atlantean mages who also climbed the ladder. They each created (or maybe are) one of the Watchtowers, which are both locations in the Supernal Realm and paths of magic. The Oracles use their Watchtowers to call to humanity in the Fallen World, since Watchtowers are one of the few things in the Supernal Realms "visible" from across the Abyss. Each mage visits a Watchtower during their Awakening, and their magical abilities are forever affected by that journey.

Fragments of the organizations, artifacts and writings of Atlantis survive to the present day, and mages hope to use this knowledge to further their various causes, though as a whole they hope to gain a stronger connection to the Supernal and oppose the Exarchs' rule.

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 creation in Mage: The Awakening. There are also a number of "sub-paths," called legacies.

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. A mage that rejects a place among the magical orders is known as an Apostate.

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.

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 setting of mage is a gnostic universe. The modern world is the 'Fallen World' and magic comes from the 'Supernal Realms', cut off from fallen world by the Abyss. In the background legend, magical theory and practices were developed during a golden age of magic in Atlantis. The golden age came to an end when the mages built a ladder to the Supernal Realms, and then fought over who had the right to ascend. This war caused the ladder to shatter, sinking Atlantis, creating the Abyss and scattering the losers of the war to the different ends of the globe, remembering only fragments of the golden age. Presumably, the mages who won the war, the Exarchs, are still in the supernal realms controlling reality, wanting to keep magic out the world. However, theyre opposed by the Atlantean Kings, the Oracles, whove set up watchtowers in each of the Supernal Realms.

When a mage awakens to the higher reality of magic (due to traumatic events or whatever sundry trigger) they usually have a vision of one of the appropriate watchtowers and sign their names on it, creating a sympathy with the supernal realm and thereby become able to draw down magic into the Fallen World. However, some of the NPCs described in the book don't visualise a literal tower upon awakening, so it appears that the symbology is largely subjective. It's up in the air whether the Atlantean theory of magic is really based on events or whether it's just a jumble of legends or even an attempt at a Grand Unified Theory of Magic by magicians in the past, now taken to be the truth of things. In play, the Atlantean background creates a certain homogenity amongst the Orders, but in play this didn't come up all that much, and was useful for giving players a point of reference for 'lost Atlantean artefacts' and so forth.

3a8082e126