Mind: The study of sentience, perhaps even separate from the biological brain, is the goal of this Sphere. It allows the Mage to plumb the depths of his own consciousness and unlock the powers within.

Specialty: Akashic Brotherhood

1 – Sense Thoughts and Emotions, Empower Self

2 – Read Surface Thoughts, Mental Impulse

3 – Mental Link, Dreamwalk

4 – Control Conscious Mind, Astral Projection

5 – Control Subconscious, Untether, Forge Psyche

Mind is the study of Patterns of thought, of the invisible flow of ideas. To a Mage with Mind, memory and perception are literally tangible things, which can be altered and controlled.

Mind is a favored Sphere of many – the temptation of mind control, playing with emotions and perceptions causes many Mages to study this Sphere. You’re a real psychic – reading minds, giving suggestions, and even causing damage through mental screams. A Master of Mind doesn’t need to fear the eyes of humans – they’ll see only what he wants them to see, do only what he wants them to do.

Mind cannot move objects – that’s the realm of Forces. Mind can do damage by overloading a target’s brain, but the damage is always Bashing. Mind can accelerate the human mind, but there is a limit, and there is always the cost of Paradox. Mind is fairly limited, since by definition, it cannot affect anything other than the minds of living creatures.

Apprentice Mind: Sense Thoughts and Emotions, Empower Self

The Mage has become attuned to the patterns of thought around him. With a look, a Mage can get a gut feeling or empathic hunch about a subject’s mood, or can tell if an object has a powerful emotional Resonance attached to it. The Mage can’t read the specifics of these emotions yet, just good vibes and bad vibes. But he can pick out the knife used for a bloody murder among a row of identical knives. Furthermore, the Mage has learned to categorize his own thoughts, accelerating his mental capacity and defending his thoughts from sensing and mental intrusion. Many Mages will cast a Mind Effect at the beginning of each night just to prevent others from reading their mind.

Initiate Mind: Read Surface Thoughts, Mental Impulse

The Mage still cannot invade the minds of others, but just reading what thoughts are on the surface is useful enough. The Mage can get brief glimpses of memories associated with objects, and get a brief insight into the emotions of others – still unable to get specific, complete thoughts, but able to get an insight into what they’re thinking. A Mage can also send forceful emotional impressions to another mind – making a person happy, sad, hungry, or tired. By making a mental ‘scream’, the Mage can also cause Bashing damage to a target. As of yet, the Mage cannot read minds or detailed thoughts, nor can he create those thoughts himself. At this level, the Mage cannot override his subject’s will. He can make someone feel a wave of hunger, anger, or depression, but that doesn’t mean they’ll stop doing what they’re doing. They still have full conscious control of themselves.

Disciple Mind: Mental Link, Dreamwalk

The Mage’s powerful mind can now form direct links to other minds, engaging in telepathic communication, experiencing the senses of others, controlling her own dreams and finding the true meanings behind concepts, symbols, and ideas. He can read ideas directly from the minds of others, and transmit his own, creating illusions, false thoughts and psychic assaults. With time, the Mage can also dig down to his subject’s subconscious and memories. A Mage can also bypass language now – making himself intuitively understood by all who hear him, and translating writing and speech with ease. The Mage has also gained control over his mind as he sleeps – allowing him to leave his dream, enter other dreams, and influence the mysterious Dream Realms. As a side bonus, the Mage can always fall asleep or wake fully immediately when wished.

Adept Mind: Control Conscious Mind, Astral Projection

The Mage’s consciousness is no longer limited by his body. He can send his consciousness out, potentially to any distance with the aid of Correspondence. Furthermore, he can invade the minds of others, dragging out secrets, possessing their body or thrashing their psyche into an unconscious state. He can alter memories, erase experiences, or implant suggestions. Unless the victim also uses Mind magic, their only defense is their Willpower. A Mage at this stage can also defend the minds of others, shielding them against invasion as if they were using Mind level 1 or 2. The Mage can now project his mind into the Astral Umbra, spending brief trips there beyond dreams in the plane of pure thought. Since this form of Umbral travel does require the body to risk being in the Umbra, it is becoming preferred by many Mages. This is the first level where a Mage can truly override a person’s mind, forcing them to do his bidding (rather than suggesting it).

Master Mind: Control Subconscious, Untether, Forge Psyche

The Master of Mind can do anything with thought. He can create emotions and impulses independent of intelligence. With control over a target’s subconscious, the Mage can rewrite their personality entirely. The Mage can also separate her own mind from her body entirely – moving into someone else’s body, or spending long periods in the Astral Umbra as disembodied thought. The Mage can create minds for people or objects, creating intelligent computers or rocks, and destroy the minds of others, making them brainless computing machines or lifeless corpses.