[BRT Home Page | Victorian Garden Intro | Pregen Stats | Adventure Text | NPC's]
This guide is intended to provide an overview of how magick in Mage: The Ascension works. It does not contain a detailed summary of the actual magick use rules from the game, and does not provide specific information on the powers available at each Sphere rank. It does try to provide some explanation of common terms in Mage, and to give some understanding of the nature of the Static Reality and the important differences between coincidental and vulgar magick. It also touches on the conflict between the Traditions and the Technocracy, and the uses of foci and Quintessence in magick.
The first thing to recognize about magick in Mage: The Ascension is that you are literally altering the paradigms of reality. Magickal effects aren't so much spells, wherein a fixed procedure gives a fixed result, as acts of will, where the mage holds forth that things just must be so, and forces reality to agree. There may be some ornamentation to go along with this statement (chanting, incense, ritual objects, etc.), but they are all essentially not necessary.
There is a cost associated with this free-flowing view of reality. All the rest of use (the "Sleepers") have grown very accustomed to one reality (the "Static Reality"), and tend to unconsciously resist attempts to change it. If the mage's view of reality is fairly compatible (see Magick vs. Teknology below), this doesn't create too many problems. However, if the mage has a diametrically opposed opinion, and tries to hurl it in reality's face, bad things will happen. These bad things are called Paradox, and should be avoided at all costs.
Coincidental Magick attempts to blend magickal effects with Static Reality, so the Sleepers won't realize what's going on. This is how Technocrats never run out of ammo ("It's caseless"). It's also how Tradition mages get past guards ("The guard forgot to check my ID"). To a mage, it's clear what's going on. To a Sleeper, nothing too unusual (or impossible) happened.
Vulgar Magick just won't fit into the conventional Sleeper's worldview, no matter how hard the mage tries. People just can't summon forth spirits, or throw fireballs, and mages who try to do such things risk getting slapped down hard, especially if there are Sleepers around to witness them (even when there aren't, there is more risk in doing vulgar effects).
There are several ways to sidestep the restrictions of Static Reality. The first is to avoid Static Reality completely. The Umbra and the various Horizon Realms that exist within it generally have either much-loosened restrictions upon magick, or none at all. Many mages live in Chantries that support their own private views of reality, enabling them to do anything they wish with no risk at all of Paradox, but still striking down those who subscribe to different worldviews.
Leaving Earth is clearly not a particularly helpful plan if you need to perform magick on Earth. But even in the confines of Earth's worldview, it is still possible to create a number of apparently-vulgar effects without risking Paradox. The opinions of the local Sleeper population are an important variable. A mage acting as a Charismatic faith-healer in Louisiana would be able to get away with some fairly remarkable curative acts, provided both he and his audience believed that it was God that was working through his hands. A medium working amid a group of New Agers could most likely actually call up the spirits of the dead as a coincidental effect. The key is in remaining within the bounds of what the Sleeper population considers plausible.
A mage's ability to affect reality is defined by the Spheres, each of which covers one aspect of the universe. In general, low ratings allow sensory effects only, medium ratings allow minor modifications, and high ratings allow dramatic changes.
Many common effects will require that two or more Spheres be combined. For example, Forces 2 can redirect and control "minor" forces (like electricity or fire), but can only create new force if combined with Prime 2.
The Ascension War is currently raging between the various Traditions (to which the players belong) and the Technocracy. On the surface, the difference between these groups seems very large. Tradition mages are generally individualistic, and practice highly idiosyncratic magicks. Technocracy members are regimented, and work with advanced technology. However, in reality the Technocracy is simply more successful than the Traditions. In the late 1400's, the antecedents of the Technocracy began a continuing effort to promulgate a single worldview among the Sleepers, a worldview compatible with Technocratic Magic, which they choose to refer to as Teknology. There is functionally no difference between Magick and Teknology, save that the latter is far better supported by the current Static Reality. When Technocracy mages produce effects beyond the credulity of the Sleepers (like advanced cyborgs and blaster rifles), they suffer from Paradox effects just like their Tradition brethren do.
Most mages require physical props to help them work their magick. Any magickal effect can be accomplished without the use of foci, given that the mage has a sufficiently developed understanding. As a mage's Arete improves, he becomes able to use more and more Spheres without the foci that he once found indispensable. However, foci are still helpful even when they are not truly necessary. A mage who is not required to use a focus, but does anyway, gains a -1 modifier to the Target number of the effect he is attempting.
Quintessence is the essence of the universe trapped in accessible form. Most mages are able to maintain an internal reservoir of Quintessence to help them with their magick. Each point of Quintessence used in an effect reduces the Target number by one. In some cases, this is the only way to make some powerful effects possible.