Mage: The Awakening

At some point in the past (or, a version of the past that was erased) there was a great mage city called Atlantis.^[1] Other names for Atlantis include Aztlan, the Naga Kingdom, Shambhala, Hyperborea, Brittia, and Paititi.^[1] It was the inspiration for similar stories about an glorious lost city or kingdom all around the world.^[1] Exactly what Atlantis was like is hard for mages to determine.^[1] Time magic seems to indicate it is not present anywhere in time, and the remaining ruins and artifacts don't suggest a single coherent history or culture.^[1]

What is known is that at some point, many or all mages from Atlantis ascended to the Supernal Realm of pure truth from which magic comes all at once, which created a rift between the Supernal World of pure truth and the ordinary material world.^[1] This rift is called the Abyss, and its existence blinds most of humanity to magic and the existence of the Supernal Realm, an effect which is known as "the Lie".^[1] This event, called the Fall, also erased Atlantis from ordinary history, though ruins and artifacts still remain.^[1]

Some or all of the ascended mages from Atlantis became Exarchs, ascended mages whose domain is various forms of oppression and tyranny.^[1] They want to control the world through their servants, the Seers of the Throne, a group of mostly antagonistic mages that worship the Exarchs.^[1] Despite their efforts at preventing new mages from being created, some prospective mages still break through to the Supernal Realm due to the intervention of five Watchtowers in the Supernal Realm which regularly awaken candidates.^[1] Exactly what created the Watchtowers is unknown, though some mages believe they were created by ascended mages from Atlantis who oppose the Exarchs, known as Oracles.^[1]

The Exarchs and the Seers of the Throne are opposed by the Pentacle, which is composed of four Diamond Orders and the Free Council.^[1] Most mages, including especially most player characters, are part of the Pentacle.^[1] The Pentacle seeks to eventually break the control of the Exarchs and overcome the Lie.^[1]

The process of awakening can be slow or fast, but there are two major ways in which the event may manifest: the Waking World Dream (in which the mage's senses blur the real world and the magical symbolism of their awakening) and the Supernal Journey (which takes place entirely within a dreamscape of the prospective mage).^[1] In both sorts of "awakenings", the mage-to-be goes on a journey that culminates with them arriving at or in their respective Tower and (literally or metaphorically) inscribing their name upon it.^[1]

Magic is simply the ability of a mage (or "willworker") to impose their will onto reality. Mages are able to do this because of their sympathetic connection to the Watchtowers in the Supernal Realms, because their names are inscribed upon it, and because they realize the Fallen World is a lie.

A mage's power, or level of awakening and understanding of the depths of the Supernal, is called Gnosis.

Arcana represent the understanding a mage has over particular facets of reality, and govern their ability to affect those aspects. Subtle Arcana (Death, Fate, Mind, Prime, and Spirit) are those that deal with the more ephemeral matters of existence, while Gross Arcana (Forces, Life, Matter, Space, and Time) are those relating to the physical aspects of the world.

• Seers of the Throne: The Seers are Awakened who have sworn service to the Exarchs. They claim to follow the will of the Exarchs, and seek to remove magic from the world, enforce power structures that support unquestioning obedience, and strengthen the Lie. Seers believe that an Exarch is a man-made-god, and serve them in the hopes that once they succeed in destroying those that oppose them they will be rewarded by their distant masters.
• The Banishers: Banishers are warped Mages who dedicate themselves to destroying other Mages. Generally speaking, their Awakening was traumatic, undesired, and misunderstood, and they do not accept their mystical powers. They exist outside of normal mage society, and are often obsessed with hunting and killing other mages, usually driven by a desire for repentance or a belief that doing so will cause their life to be returned to normal.
• The Mad: Mad are Mages whose Awakening caused them to lose their minds, rendering them insane mystics who use their magic for their own mad ends.
• Abyssal Entities: The monstrous, alien beings that originate beyond the threshold of existence, in the Abyssal gulf between the Supernal Realm and the Fallen World. Three major types exist: Annunaki, Acamoth, and Gulmoth.
  • Annunaki are extremely powerful Abyssal entities that cannot leave the Abyss. They represent whole alternate alien realities. The one Annunaku that has been described in detail is the Prince of Ten Thousand Leaves, an alternate timeline where cannibalism is commonplace.
  • Acamoth are parasitic Goetia-like entities that reside inside the consciousness of humans. They often either tempt their host to do something monstrous or alien or both, or else cause some kind of strange affliction in their host.
  • Gulmoth are spirit-like Abyssal entities. They exist either in Twilight or in the physical world, and physically cause harm to humans.
• The Scelesti: Mortal mages who serve/worship the Abyss are known as "Scelesti" (sing. Scelestus), or simply "The Wicked". They serve the "Divine Purity" of the Abyss and seek the end of all things. They are hunted as heretics and abominations by all other Mages.
• Goetic Demons: Goetia is a practice that mages use that summons the vices of their minds into a physical form, in the belief that it will make them possible to subdue, or even destroy. Quite often, however, a Goetic mage will summon an "inner demon" that is too powerful for him to defeat, and it will escape, or even take control of the overconfident mage.
• Tremere Liches: A Left-Handed Legacy of Liches who consume the souls of others in exchange for immortality and power. Their name and origins are a reference to the clan of the same name, from the old World of Darkness vampire game.
• Witch Hunters: Mortals who seek out and destroy mages for ideological reasons.

Mage: The Awakening was published by White Wolf Publishing on August 29, 2005, as a 400-page hardcover book, following a pre-release sale at the gaming convention Gen Con on August 18–21. The game had originally been planned to be released two weeks earlier, but was delayed as developer Bill Bridges and the game design team wanted to refine and further detail the game's magic system, adding 80 pages of content in the process. Fantasy artist Michael Kaluta was the sole artist for the core rulebook's interior art, drawing over 100 illustrations for it.^[2]

White Wolf Publishing released an adaptation of Mage: The Awakening by Eddy Webb for the live-action role-playing game Mind's Eye Theatre in 2007.^[17]

Mage: The Awakening won the 2006 Gold ENnie Award for "Best Writing".^[18]

• Coleção Dragon Slayer^[19]
• Pyramid^[20]
• Rebel Times [pl] #10^[21]
• Rue Morgue #57^[22]
• Rue Morgue #106^[23]