Mage Lore

Mage Lore - This is an unofficial basic guide to Mage Lore. If you only know a little bit about mages, but the specific sphere of Correspondence has come up, you don't have to buy Lore 3 to have that particular bit of knowledge.

Mage Lore 1

• Magic reflects the mage's desires, imposed on the world.
• There are different factions of Mages that are warring with each other.
• Knows that magic is divided into different Spheres.
• Knows that obvious use of magic can have unexplainable side effects.
• Knows that non-mages are called Sleepers.
• Might have heard of insane Mages.
• Knows that you should stay away from Nephandi.

Mage Lore 2

• Knows that the Technocracy wants to abolish all magic.
• Knows that Marauders are insane Mages.
• Might have some rough knowledge of what the different Traditions are.
• Might have heard of Quiet.
• Knows that Nephandi are a sect of demon worshipers.
• Knows that there are 9 Traditions with different types of magic.
• Believes that foci are critical tools to manipulating reality.
• Might have heard the phrase Consensual
• Knows of the Rule of Shade.
• Might have heard oblique references to something called Ascension.
• Knows that the Awakened recently suffered some devastating event.
• Has a good general idea of what the different spheres encompass.
• Has heard of some of the different Protocols.
• Has heard of Quintessence, Tass, and possibly other specific terms.
• Might have heard of different types of magic (static and dynamic)
• Might have heard rumors that if magic is possible, other creatures may haunt the night as well.
• Has heard some of the horror stories relating to their side of the Ascension War.

Mage Lore 3

• Knows that the Avatar is what makes a Mage truly Awakened.
• Understands the difference between Vulgar and Coincidental Magic.
• Knows the names, descriptions, and sphere associations of the 9 Traditions;
• Can describe the 9 spheres and their functions.
• Knows what their own spheres are capable of at Intermediate levels.
• Has heard of the Avatar Storm and disappearance of the Masters and Archmages.
• Can name a Convention or two.
• Knows how Resonance can hinder or help a Mage's magic.
• Knows that the Concensus determines what's vulgar and what isn't.
• Knows all of the Protocols.
• Has heard that the Technocracy was once called the Order of Reason.
• Has a rough knowledge of the history of the Ascension War.
• Knows that the Nephandi are Mages who have sold their souls to demons.
• Knows why one's paradigm is critical to how one performs magic.
• Knows that there are different planes of reality.
• Knows that the Metaphysical Trinity is composed of the forces of Stasis, Dynamism, and Entropy.

Mage Lore 4

• Knows the difference between static and dynamic magic. (I.E. between hedge mages and true mages.)
• Knows what their own spheres are capable of at the Advanced level;
• Has at least anecdotal knowledge of what many Master-level spheres are capable of;
• Has a passing knowledge of Linear magic;
• Can name several Conventions, and is familiar with legends of Marauders and Nephandi;
• Can point to some of the differences between pre and post-Storm political structures in the Traditions.
• Has detailed knowledge of the Protocols of the Council;
• Has a notion of what Oracles and Ascension may represent.
• Has heard rumors of how some of the other semi-awakened beings view mages.
• Knows the truth behind some of the horror stories of the Technocracy.
• Knows the difference between a Construct and a Cabal.
• Has heard of some of the Shard Realms of the Umbra.
• Knows which of the Trinity different factions of Mages might be associated with.
• Knows of a famous Chantry or two (Doissetep, Horizon).

Mage Lore 5

• Has heard of a few Crafts;
• Knows the difference between Linear magic and Dynamic Magick;
• Is familiar with Technocracy structure and tactics;
• Knows the Mythic Ages can never be brought back;
• Can describe several Horizon Realm Chantries and a few of the more (in)famous Constructs.
• Likely to be or have been a major player in the Ascension War
• Has some information on what Archmages, Exemplars, and Oracles were capable of.
• Knows that the Traditions and the Technocracy are working towards similar goals, in different ways.