History Characters / MageTheAscension

* AppliedPhlebotinum: Their Paradigm is based on the existence of ether, an ElementNumberFive which would be the basic material component of everything. In fact, the Technocracy's decision to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson–Morley_experiment erase the belief in ether from the Consensus]] is what spurred their defection to the Traditions.

* NotSoDifferent: One of the reasons why the Order of Reason hated Mages so much is because they tried to rule over Sleepers. In modern times the Technocracy is now a group of [[HunterOfHisOwnKind Mages]] who rule over Sleepers, even if they, themselves, would bristle at the accusation (and indeed, their 'style' of ruling at least provides the illusion of freedom for Sleepers, rather than the outright SorcerousOverlords of the Dark Ages).

* NotSoDifferent: One of the reasons why the Order of Reason hated Mages so much is because they tried to rule over Sleepers. In modern times the Technocracy is now a group of [[HunterOfHisOwnKind Mages]] who rule over Sleepers.

* {{Seer}}: It was a lot more pronounced when the Tradition was known as the Seers of Chronos, but even now, their access to the Time sphere makes them invaluable sources of prophecy.

* CrazyAwesome: [[InvokedTrope Deliberately invoked]]: to them, being a Mage is all about living it up to the fullest.

* EnemyMine: If a Nephandus is in the area, Tradition and Technocracy operatives will put aside their conflicts to kill it... and so will '''[[UpToEleven Marauders]]'''.
* EnemyToAllLivingThings: UpToEleven. According to the first Book of Madness, Paradox tends to hit Nephandi especially hard. [[FridgeBrilliance Given how Nephandi desire to ruin everything, it appears Reality knows its prime enemies.]]

** ''Surprisingly enough.'' Despite serving forces of destruction, one scenario involving a Euthanatos traitor has them ''joining forces with the Traditions, Technocrats and Marauders'' to stop it. Presumably, it's because of their reward.

* EvilVersusEvil: The Traditions and Conventions are VERY thankful that this phenomenon is actually quite common among the Nephandi. There are three different major types of Nephandi: [[DealWithTheDevil Infernalists]], who serve demons and devils; [[SentientCosmicForce Malfean Nephandi]], who serve [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse the Wyrm]]; and the K'llashaa, who serve [[EldritchAbomination the Lords of the Outer Darkness]]. They do ''not'' get along, and are often at odds with each other. More broadly, Marauders hate all Nephandi and attack them on sight.

* TragicVillain: Widderslainte, reincarnated Nephandi who are born evil, with no choice in their fates. It doesn't make them any less horrific and evil, but the fact it's their previous incarnation's fault makes them slightly pitiable. The M20 sourcebook ''Book of the Fallen'' emphasizes this aspect, because a widderslainte really ''doesn't'' have any PastLifeMemories, but ''does'' have a corrupt Avatar, in effect an AbusiveParent in their very skulls that wants them to become a CardCarryingVillain.
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: The evilest and heartless faction in the entire TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness, even defined as such in the sourcebooks. In a world as horrible as this, that really says something about how repulsive these guys are.[[/folder]]

* HunterOfHisOwnKind: The Technocrats Enlightened personal are Mages exactly like the ones who work for the Traditions and use the same powers. They even have Avatars. It should be noted though that not all Technocrats are Enlightened Personnel, they also have a lot of [[OurMagesAreDifferent Extraordinary Citizens]], [[BadassNormal Citizens]], and [[MechaMook HIT Marks]].

* NotSoDifferent: Just like their bitter Technocratic rivals, the Progenitors, they collaborated the most heavily of their faction as a whole with the Third Reich before the Nephandus bomb dropped... and just like them, they haven't ''really'' dealt with the innermost flaws as thoroughly as they think they have. Just as the Progenitors champion a philosophy that endorses genocide as a solution to all the world's problems, too many Verbena embrace [[SocialDarwinist a brutish and naturalistic code of ethics that calls for "culling" the human race to elevate the strong in a world where the weak do not deserve to live]] for it to be called a fringe movement within the Tradition.

* MemeticScienceRelatedDisorder: We mentioned that they have a bit of a Marauder problem, right?

%%* CloserToEarth: Very common personality type.

Pagan and druidic-inspired witches who use healing and transformation powers.

* ThereAreNoTherapists: Explicitly averted, as they have an entire arm of the Convention devoted to providing therapy to others in the Convention. They retain this in no small part because they highly distrust the New World Order, who are generally the therapist option for the Technocracy.

The Syndicate are the economic sciences experts of the Union, and as such, they're its main bankrollers, managing most of the Union's sources of revenue and providing the funding for the other Conventions' projects. Being the ones with the power to give (or take) money, they're generally [[TheFriendNobodyLikes the most disliked Convention]]. It doesn't help that [[CorruptCorporateExecutive many of the Convention's members do deserve the reputation of being shady assholes]], especially when [[LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub dome of their endeavors can involve organized crime]].

* KnightInSourArmor: Are gradually becoming this as just how dangerous and bleak the universe it impresses itself upon them. The fact that they're being deliberately steered into the worse parts doesn't help.

* HunterOfHisOwnKind: The Technocrats Enlightened personal are Mages exactly like the ones who work for the Traditions and use the same powers. They even have Avatars. It should be noted though that not all Technocrats are Enlightened Personnel, they also have a lot of [[BadassNormal Extraordinary Citizens]] and [[MechaMook HIT Marks]].

* EnemyMine: Though built on largely-conflicting philosophies, Technocrats and Mages are, at heart, not terribly different from one another, and they will cooperate to deal with problems like [[EvilSorcerer Nephandi]], [[PowerBornOfMadness Marauders]], or just plain ol' human evil like child pornographers and slavers.

* TheWeirdSisters: The Verbena are ''huge'' on the RuleOfThree, so it only makes sense that they would often appear as part of a PowerTrio.

* FatalFlaw: Sectarianism is rife within the Chorus, meaning that the Tradition has spent as much time fighting itself as its enemies.

* DrugsAreBad: It's implied that this trope was created to discredit them.

* FatalFlaw: The Cult's laissez faire attitude towards enforcing its own code of ethics is a continuous problem. Turns out pleasure magick isn't always used by the nicest people