Chapter One: Retrospect
What drives a mage to seek the exalted status of Archmage?
This isn't actually a rhetorical question, but it gets into the heart of "Why be a Mage in the first place? What
is your character motivation?" We've discussed this at some length, but the World of Darkness was never good at answering these questions because the primary concept of the games was to
be something - a vampire, a werewolf, a reality bender, a ghost - not to
do something. In level-based games, you level up because that is part of the game, but leveling up is rarely the goal of the game itself - you want to clear out the dungeon, defeat the Big Bad, slay the princess and rescue the dragon, get paid, that sort of thing. There are some players that will trip at the idea of being an elf or a wizard or a dwarf fighter or something, but for most players focus on
being stops at chargen - and from then on you focus on what your character is
doing.
Arguably, I think Mage missed a step in not considering Shonen manga like Dragon Ball Z, where you needed to gain more power to deal with bigger threats - an issue which is second nature in MMOs where you grind to level up so you can win the boss fights, but which doesn't translate as well to Mage because the long-term and short-term goals of the traditions are rather...vague.
The mage who walks this road finds her work truly monumental. The obstacles in her path may seem greater than the eventual reward. The sacrifices are costly and the successes are rare. Rivals impede her progress while inhuman beings try to lure her to their masters with promises of power and knowledge. She must visit rarified Umbral Realms to seek wisdom not found even in such libraries as those (formerly) of Horizon or Doissetep. Death, madness or servitude to malevolent entities awaits the majority of mages who desire the Archmage's power.
Well, sortof. One of the key points of any game is that the higher you level/more powerful you are, the greater the threats will be
and the fewer people there are of your level/power, so you become more important. That makes sense because it mirrors real life: there are only a finite number of top-tier athletes/politicians/etc. in the world, and as you ascend the ranks your circle of peers in that regard shrinks; at the same time, you still want a challenge for these characters, so threats scale to meet their needs. In practice, this doesn't often work because PCs getting way powerful tends to upset the setting, and there is a given understanding of...I dunno,
dick wand comparison involved. Which is why many NPCs end up with "unique" powers and abilities that PCs are outright told they cannot have or obtain.
Also, from a strictly pragmatic point of view, high Sphere ratings cost a shitload of XP that represents many nights playing your mage. You don't need to pretend you have to go on epic quests to get high Sphere ratings. You're already going to be grinding like mad.
Seekings
Seekings are tests administered by the Avatar. They reflect your shortcomings and destiny in larger-than-life symbolism. A Seeking guides a potential Archmage through a demonstration of those aspects of his life that he must develop or resolve before he can move on.
Shadowrun had this thing where when a magician initiated, they had to pay X amount of Karma, and they could reduce that amount by going on a quest or going on an astral journey or something. If it could be done in such a way that it was worked into the weekly game, great...otherwise, it was essentially a single-character only sidequest, and those suck. Seekings are basically those all over. There's an out-of-character (and off-kilter) sidebar about "Storytelling an Archmage's Seeking" where it talks about how the Storyteller should make it some profound mystical journey that challenges the PC's expectations blah blah fucking blah.
Remember to draw the line between player and character, though - the Seeking needs to challenge the mage and his perceptions, but it doesn't necessarily have to cause the player to re-evaluate his own real-world behaviors. If both player and Storyteller agree to that sort of education, go for it. Just don't try to force issues on the players as part of the game.
Look, it's this or we get Bob an intervention about his drinking.
Like a lot of White Wolf games, the PC is supposed to be sort of at war with themselves - Vampires have the Beast; Wraiths have the Shadow; Mages have their Avatars. The Avatar is supposed to set up the Seekings. Which is...problematic. Because each Seeking is supposed to be unique to the character, personal, and yet there's only one right answer and it's suck the Storyteller's cock. Much ink is spilled on the different avatars, nominally to give the Storyteller some ideas of how to flavor their cock.
And then they get into some painful efforts to explain what an avatar is. I'm not sure that the writers were actually on the same page when they were writing these bits. For example, we have:
Avatars are nothing more than shards of Prime. They're particularly potent, and they sometimes seem to have their own consciousness, yet they do nothing without attachment to a mage. They don't have a mind in the way that a person does. Since they are fragments of universal energy, they reflect only a piece of that universe - a specific Resonance, if you will. Each Avatar theoretically contains an image of "the big picture," or Ascension would be impossible, but each Avatar shows only a particular facade.
...and on the facing column:
Some see Avatars as angels or incarnate gods. Others, as strange spirits, visions or abstract concepts. Many Avatars show a startling degree of self-awareness and motivation, though they have no true consciousness or mind in human terms. The Avatar seems to be essentially a shard of Prime energy, tied to the awareness of a human soul. Some mystics theorize that it is a piece of the Pure Ones, one of the ancient entities of early Creation.
This was well into the point where White Wolf was transitioning to humans + spiritual bullshit parasite = new supernatural breed which gave us crap like Hunter: the Reckoning and Mummy: the Resurrection, and finally reincarnated Atlantean dicks. But the fact that they can't keep the avatar bullshit straight for even a single page is pretty typical. To White Wolf, having actual strong metaphysics in place like Shadowrun was anathema. They were way too invested in the pick-and-choose menu occultism to actually have any hard metaphysics that people could argue coherently about...which, of course, makes life all the harder. If you argue a monadist point of view where everything is made of Prime, so your Prime sphere should let you do basically whatever the fuck you want, that is as valid as the crack mage next door saying coca spirits answer his wishes so he can do whatever he wants. Neither is more or less justifiable than the other, in Mage terms. And that is terrible.
Life in the Halls of Power is supposed to be about how the various Traditions treat their Archmages. Short story: having a bigger magickal dick does not actually lead to greater respect. Seriously, none of these actually convey any information. You could drop any of them, as they are, in any Mage book and nobody would fucking blink. Example:
Euthanatos
Euthanatoi are about karmic balance - cutting away the dead flesh so that the remainder can flourish, equalizing costs and gains with mortal responsibility. Do not become a murderer or allow Jhor to rule you. Of vital importance in this Tradition is a sense of responsibility, especially for a Master or Archmage. You must account for the consequences of your actions. It's too easy to step off the path and lose your way - look at Voormas for an example of a fallen death mage.
TO revel in death is to forget what it means. To forget why the good death is important - or to dismiss it altogether - garners little respect. True Euthanatoic Masters are gentle souls who understand the necessity for ruthlessness, but do not abuse it.
The tl;dr about all this is that just because you raise your Arete and Spheres, doesn't mean you've actually raised your Status in the various factions of Mage. Personal power doesn't represent power or respect within the organization. Even in nominal meritocratic institutions like the Technocracy, being able to do really whiz-bang magic and being the boss are not the same thing.
Which is both kind of weird, and kind of realistic. We like to think of the individuals in charge of organizations as powerful, but not in the sense of personal ability. You can be a quite mediocre electrical engineer and still be president of the Electrical Engineering Society - because electrical engineering and bureaucracy are not the same skillset. On the other hand, at lower levels like the martial arts dojo, you presume that the guy in charge really is the best at what they do, because the institution is a reflection of their personal experience an ability. This could have been pushed to the point where they straight up admitted that the people "running" the Technocracy are actually just rather middling mages but good organizers, and their success comes from recognizing those talents, while the Traditions are all holistic and shit and so they have relatively weaker organizations led by badasses, but they don't actually have the insight to look into that too far.
Learning
The Archmage does not live by magic alone. She must also attend to her mundane life.
If I can't like by magic alone,
maybe I need to get better at magic. You might see it as magical work-life balance, but I see it as a challenge to be accepted.
More than one mage has found a spouse replaced with a clone, taken hostage or even killed in some lethal crossfire.
Infinite grandkids.
I'm not saying that you couldn't make a good argument for why pursuing archmagedom could have a detrimental impact on your loved ones...but how much more dangerous is it than your default job as magical terrorist? Do you suddenly pop up on the Technocracy's magical radar when your Arete hits 6? I mean, that would actually be a cool and useful thing, because it would give a good justification why the Traditions would maybe advise caution before becoming an archmage, telling people to stay under the radar until they're ready to fight, but I think this is just a generic "we're trying to think of yet another way to talk you out of being an archmage."
Holding a Job
This is not as easy as it seems. Many of the same difficulties mentioned for relationships are even more applicable to the workplace. Where a friend might accept your explanation of a "'round-the-world-tour" after you've been gone for two months questing for the Sacred Orb of Macondo, an employer may not be so understanding. Holding a job of any sort takes effort and dedication that most mages simply cannot manage in concert with magical studies.
Holy fuck, if you can't get your Archmage on because you're busy roleplaying Dilbert, you need to re-evaluate your priorities in life.
So why bother holding down a job? A Master or Archmaster can certainly conjure or acquire just about anything he needs. However, a job provides several tangible benefits. First, it's an avenue to connections and resources without the threat of magic blowing up in your face. Second, it's a cover - if you have a normal job and seem like a regular Joe, people are more likely to overlook your otherworldly nature. Last, a job often opens opportunities that you can't find elsewhere: travel or access to special materials and information, authority over specialists who may have useful mundane knowledge or even the opportunity to scout for potential apprentices and allies. Don't think of it as work - think of it as an opportunity.
This motivational speech lost me at "tangible benefits." Well, yes, asshole. That is why
I have a job. If I could passively win a Powerball ticket with entropy, I'd do that and retire.
There's an out-of-character sidebar here where they straight up say it takes nine years to acquire Mastery and lifetimes of experience to get your sixth dot and qualify as an Archmage - both of which are, from a mechanical viewpoint, bullshit. The thing about the whole mundane life, though, is that it's a contrast that works from a narrative viewpoint but not necessarily from an
in-game viewpoint. There really is no reason why you need to hold down a job in Mage, at any level of magical ability. Which they address thusly:
Of course, the nearly unemployed mage may decide at this point to apply mind control to avoid his fate. I cannot discourage this course enough. While it may work for a time, inevitably such controls wear off and the result may be much worse. Such interference may leave the poor Sleeper unable to attend to other aspects of his life. Even worse, such activity is akin to rape.
SPACE WIZARD: WANTED FOR RAPE
While there is a philosophical argument to be made for how one can ethically utilize one's magical abilities...this isn't it. I mean, these dudes aren't even scraping the surface. What if you're effectively homeless? What if you travel about in a magical cardboard box that opens up into a mansion filled with magical food and inflatable sex dolls every night? What if you have a farm and tweak things so you have pizza trees that don't deplete the soil? What if you just have a rote that causes your bills to magically be marked paid in full? Yeah, getting the barista to sleep with you might be date-rape, but if you can't survive off your magical abilities, you just aren't trying.
Study
Some mages choose to return to school.
This is actually a set-up for a later pitch, which is that to be a
well-rounded character you should increase your various other skills as well as your Sphere ratings and Arete. It falls about as flat as that one does. It's trying to present an argument that you should, although quite capable of ripping the information you need right out of your professor's skull, buckle down and study the old-fashioned way
because it is character-building. So while yes, you would expect somebody trying to improve their magical abilities and expand their magical knowledge to study, the idea that there is some philosophical and moral - but certainly not mechanical - benefit to doing so is both disingenuous and frankly kind of insulting.
Because let's look at the basic pitch:
Keeping the bad guy away from the magical book is a classic trope. It works. The idea is to
stop them from gaining too much power and becoming an archmage. And it works the other way around, too: maybe to be an archmage, you need to study up all that forbidden magic by going and getting such-and-such a book. That is a totes legit campaign for Mage, or Call of Cthulhu, or D&D, or Shadowrun. So I don't have an issue with characters needing to
study to become archmages, but I
do have a problem with potential archmages needing to attend community college courses to satisfy the Storyteller's desire to see them suffer enough.
And in a lot of ways, that's the issue with this book so far: it doesn't want to help the PCs become archmages, or lay out a path, it just wants to throw up obstacles and complications and "you suck for wanting to be a munchkin" at every turn. These aren't down-to-earth practical considerations, these are "yes, technically, you
can be an archmage but you're still shit."
Next up, Chapter Two: Threshold.