History Tabletopgame / MageTheAwakening

* TheChick: The Free Council is definitely the faction most prone to being TheHeart, wanting to bring democracy and modernization to Mage society, possessed of often the least archaic or austere Mages. Though they just as easily fall to hubris as any other Order

* WiseSerpent: A [[TheGreatSerpent colossal snake]] is the [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith preferred form]] of the Aeon of Spirit, a godlike embodiment of one of the magical foundations of reality. It's an unmatched source of information about the SpiritWorld and many, many other things.

** CookingDuel: The eccentricities of mage society mean that virtually any form of magical (or occasionally non-magical) contest can be used with the same legality as a traditional Duel, although simply throwing magical attacks at one another is considered the least sophisticated of them.

* WingedHumanoid: Angels of Aether often appear as New Testament style angels complete with flaming sword, wings and [[MrFanservice amazingly buff muscles]].

* ArtifactOfDoom: Alpha-Zebra Mainspring. The Mysterium have no idea what it is, where it came from, how it got here, what it does or how to get rid of it. The first person to handle it touched it directly and was instantly struck dead alongside every single person he trusted closely. The second person to handle it, wrapping it in his coat, aged rapidly, started using powerful magic he didn't previously know, and slowly decayed to dust the next time he came in close proximity to it. The Mysterium don't let you near it without agreeing to have all experiences with it [[LaserGuidedAmnesia erased from your memory]] after you've finished. It's kept in a vault so ludicrously secure it would make the Wiki/SCPFoundation green with envy and only accessible via teleportation.

** The Arcana of Life and Matter could be said to use a variant of the Law of Similarity; it's easier (in terms of the magical ability needed and the skillchecks to pull it off) to turn something into something similar than it is to turn something into something very different. For example, turning kernels of corn into angry wasps is pretty simple. Turning a man into [[BalefulPolymorph a rat]] or [[TakenForGranite solid stone]] is considerably more difficult -- and turning a bug into a human or a seed into a gold coin even more difficult than that.

** The [[Myth/KingArthur Arthurian mythos]] was a result of an Archmaster of Fate building a perfect kingdom based on BecauseDestinySaysSo. It was erased from history and fell into legend, [[spoiler: but Medraut, the destiny of kingdoms to fall from within, has become the symbol of the Arcanum of Fate]].

* MuggleWithADegreeOfMagic: Though the Occult {{skill|ScoresAndPerks}} is open to everyone, Awakened magic is hidden from Sleepers by Disbelief and by mages alike. However, some promising Sleepwalkers get recruited by the Mysterium and can even rise to moderate status as "honorary mages".

* BadassBoast: Mages are not only prone to these, but prone to backing them up in spectacular fashion. Morvran, one of the characters in the core rulebook's framing story, makes a particularly impressive one:
--->"For I walk in the Mists now and see the time that is yet to be. I will see the shadow of your coming before you have even decided your intent, and I will thwart you before you even put your pawns into motion. I will be watching from the Mists, and you will not sense it. If you move against me again, not even the Abyss and the Hidden Lords you worship will keep my hands from your neck."

--->[[LampshadeHanging "Note Important Capital Letters. Magicians Use Lots Of Capital Letters."]]

* DamagedSoul: The Mad have them, which is the source of both their abilities, and, er, [[ShapedLikeItself madness]]. Usually their own damn fault, given how truly breaking a soul is generally accomplished by crossing the MoralEventHorizon ''several times''. (Some, however, were unfortunate enough to have their Awakening go horribly wrong. ''Really'' horribly wrong.)

* GodInHumanForm: From ''Seers of the Throne'', the ochemata are fragments of the Exarchs, and are occasionally sent down to be bodyguards / advisors to the highest-ranking Seers of the Throne. They are ''[[PhysicalGod frighteningly]]'' powerful; a single ochema is more than a match for even a well-prepared cabal of high-level mages due to their [[GameBreaker Supernal Perfection]] ability. The books suggest using them as messengers and plot devices, as setting them against the party is a great way for them to get slaughtered. Especially if said ochemata is an archmage. To make things ''better'', ''Imperial Mysteries'' reveals that generating ochemata is actually an ability of all archmages, Pentacles included.

** The Devourers of the Flesh Legacy from the Adamantine Arrow are, ''at best'', half-feral warrior mages who gain strength by [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame hunting down the enemies of the Arrow]] and... er, ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin yeah.]]'' Those with lower Morality [[SerialKiller tend to]] [[EgomaniacHunter skip]] [[MoralEventHorizon the]] "enemies of the Arrow" part.
** The Abyss is similar in concept, except it cannibalizes other realities.
** Almost all of the Abyssal intruders in the ''Intruders: Encounters With The Abyss'' sourcebook have these traits.

* ImmortalityImmorality: It's commonly believed that the only ways to achieve true immortality require either undeath, hurting others, or both (and some mages philosophically believe that immortality ''is'' immoral). Accordingly, "liches" are usually considered skeevy at best among the Diamond Orders. The Free Council recognizes the right to work toward immortality so long as one doesn't hurt others, but once you start killing to prolong your life, they'll cut it short for you.

* JerkAss: Several.
** The Supernal Wind, from Night Horrors: The Unbidden, is the fractured mind of an Exarch who took a wrong turn getting to Earth and looked directly into the Abyss. How much of a jerk is he? When he fully possesses an individual, he or she takes a penalty to Social rolls because he's ''that much'' of an asshole.
** In the free chronicle ''Gloria Mundi'', [[spoiler: the Envy spirit is a JerkAss, more than normal for the Goetic spirits.]]
** Mages with low Wisdom tend to be {{Jerk Ass}}es with respect to their behavior.
** Many Mages of Left-Handed Legacies.

* SquishyWizard, relative to the other gamelines.

* TheVirus: Dark Angel Aphasia [[spoiler: (a contagious Aphasia)]], Blood Worms [[spoiler:(think tapeworms spread by vampires which eat magic)]], Abyssal Spiders [[spoiler: (invisible brain stomping DemonicSpiders summoned by abusing MindControl)]], the Lethean [[spoiler:(a memory eating demon)]], the Ractain Strain when infectious [[spoiler:(bizarre ugly humans that carry a bizarre disease when they experience life threatening situations that causes one to be drawn into the SpiritWorld)]], Flesh Intruders [[spoiler:(Donor Organ Rejection taken to the extreme)]], the Oath Of Ruin [[spoiler:(an inbred clan of rednecks or {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s depending on the needs of the game that carry Abyssal genes)]]... Essentially half of the entries in the Intruders sourcebook.

** The Guardians Of The Veil do a similar role, cleaning up magical messes and investigating unaccounted for supernatural incidents. Think of them as [[IncrediblyLamePun Mages In Black.]]

** Take vampiric society UpToEleven and add a bit of insufferable smugness and self-deception, and you've got the Seers of the Throne in a nutshell. This is at least one reason why [[DystopiaIsHard they aren't as powerful as they could be]].

** The Daimon is the embodiment of ones desire of self improvement, they usually manifest as contrarian embodiment of the person's personality but whether or not they are ''evil'' is another matter entirely.

** With the Second Edition, the Mastigos gained a new sobriquet of 'Psychonauts', drawing on their alternate character focus as philosophers of the soul, diving deep into the mysteries of the psyche. Those in the Seers of the Throne are also called 'Watchers'. The two keywords of the Mastigos are Confrontation and Transgression. They are associated with both the Devil and the Temperance (XIV) cards of the Tarot.

** With the Second Edition, the Moros gained a new sobriquet of 'Alchemists', drawing on their alternate character focus as those who facilitate inevitable change and unavoidable evolution. Those in the Seers of the Throne are also called 'Executors'. The keywords of the Moros are Transition and Permanence. They are associated with both the Death and the World (XXI) cards of the Tarot.

** Second Edition gives them the sobriquet of 'Thaumaturges', drawing on their nature as those who impose order and scientific structure on their magic, same as the order and structure of the Aether, and as seekers of fundamental truth and wonder. Obrimos on the Seers' side often call themselves 'Reckoners' too. Their keywords are Power and Command. Unlike their brethren, they actually have three Tarot cards associated with them; [[ForceVersusDiscipline the Hierophant (V), who codifies divine patterns into mortal laws and scripture to give order and discipline to the world, and the High Priestess (II), who uses intuition and self-knowledge to rule the invisible realms of thought]]. Both are perfectly valid ways of seeking Strength, both power over knowledge and the wisdom to use it gently and productively.
* '''Thyrsus:''' Shamans on the Path of Ecstasy, who Awakened to the Watchtower of the Singing Stone (Stone Book in 1st Edition) in the Realm of the Primal Wild (HungryJungle[=/=]LostWoods), the Thyrsus are wild, primal, and passionate. Their ability with Life and Spirit magic makes them strong and gives them many allies among beasts and spirits alike, but this magic is wild and untamed and limits their ability to work with the Mind of another. Associated with the Moon (XVIII) Tarot.
** In Second Edition, the Thyrsus Watchtower is now the Singing Stone, and their additional sobriquet is Ecstatics, drawing on their alternate focus as those who gain understanding through personal experience of the primal ways. Those who side with the Seers are known as 'Stewards'. The Thyrsus keywords are Boundaries and Intercession, and they are associated with both the Moon and Hermit (IX) cards of the Tarot.

* EldritchLocation: The Supernal Realms from which mages draw their power, which consist of:
** {{Heaven}}: The Aether is described as a transcendently beautiful place of constant energy, light and music, inhabited by [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angels]].
** {{Hell}}: Pandemonium is described as a place of pure thought, where all spatial points [[AlienGeometries warp]] to fit people's perspective (its hellish nature is more of the [[SelfInflictedHell self inflicted]] variety; the idea is that, faced with a place of pure thought, most people will unconsciously confront their worst aspects) and is inhabited by [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]]. This confrontation is, however, meant to test the Mages who Awaken there so they can overcome their faults and improve themselves rather than just a place of suffering, so it functions more as Purgatory than Hell.
** TheNothingAfterDeath: Stygia is a place of barren wastes filled with forsaken treasures and [[OurGhostsAreDifferent dead shades]]. Apparently, it's supposed to be the place the dead go to let go of their ties to the material world before moving on.
** {{Arcadia}}: Makes up the basic framework, but filled with {{Fairy Tale}}s and their [[FairytaleMotifs motifs]] (some of which are [[FracturedFairyTale fractured]]) and bound together by the TheoryOfNarrativeCausality. Also inhabited by the [[OurFairiesAreDifferent Fae]].
** HungryJungle / TheLostWoods: The Primal Wilds is described as a vast ecosystem where absolutely everything is ''alive'' and vibrant, constantly seeking the thrills of all manner of physical sensation. Its inhabitants are simply called [[OurMonstersAreDifferent beasts]].
** ''Imperial Mysteries'' makes them even more Eldritch-- as it turns out, the Supernal Realms are a WorldOfChaos as well, with the five being general ''types'' of subrealm that emerge: an archmaster venturing there literally needs to force it into a form he can understand simply to survive (the Watchtowers do this during Awakening). Since it contains the platonic forms of everything, doing ''anything'' there causes the Fallen World (called the Phenomenal World by archmasters on the basis that everything they learn about the cosmos suggests that it's naturally like this) to change (an example of archmaster play has an [[HighPriest Alienated]] trying to restore the Supernal god of Justice ''accidentally'' rewriting history so that a Roman mystery cult survives to the modern day as a major religion, though he swears to fix it).

* EyeOfProvidence: An eye on a pyramid is one of the symbols of the Eye, a [[GodOfEvil malevolent quasi-divine]] personification of BigBrotherIsWatching, and of the AncientConspiracy that worships it.

* '''Thyrsus:''' Shamans on the Path of Ecstasy, who Awakened to the Watchtower of the Singing Stone in the Realm of the Primal Wild (HungryJungle[=/=]LostWoods), the Thyrsus are wild, primal, and passionate. Their ability with Life and Spirit magic makes them strong and gives them many allies among beasts and spirits alike, but this magic is wild and untamed and limits their ability to work with the Mind of another. Associated with the Moon (XVIII) Tarot.

* '''Thyrsus:''' Shamans on the Path of Ecstasy, who Awakened to the Watchtower of the Stone Book in the Realm of the Primal Wild (HungryJungle[=/=]LostWoods), the Thyrsus are wild, primal, and passionate. Their ability with Life and Spirit magic makes them strong and gives them many allies among beasts and spirits alike, but this magic is wild and untamed and limits their ability to work with the Mind of another. Associated with the Moon (XVIII) Tarot.

%%* {{Splat}}

* SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny: ''The Unbidden'' features Franklin High, a school under a persistent enchantment by a (now deceased, [[KnightTemplar thankfully]]) mage who wanted a return to the sexual and moral purity of his youth in TheFifties ([[NostalgiaFilter stop snickering]]). The classes under its effects become idealized ''Series/HappyDays''-esque students, with a dislike of premarital sex, polaymorous behavior and [[MoralDissonance homosexuality in any form]]. The problem, of course, is that the same hormones the enchantment represses are ''kinda'' vital to the development of the mind. 90% of the time, the alummni find passive outlets for that bottled passion (if creepy -- it takes the form of the Fixation Derangement, meaning that the individual alummni literally ''cannot stop thinking'' about it). The rest of the time it just screws up the KarmaMeter so that sexuality-related sins rank up higher than what would normally be there -- like say, [[SkewedPriorities murder]].%%And let's not get started on ''actual'' homosexuals...