Paradigm
Your
character’s Paradigm is, literally, the way they see the universe, and the way
that they think reality works. More than
a mere style, Paradigm defines the essence of the Mage’s beliefs, the methods
through which magic is brought about.
To determine your Paradigm, first look at your Tradition’s page.
Write down your Tradition
Paradigm, then your Faction
Paradigm. Next, turn to the page on
your Avatar Essence, and find your Essence Paradigm. Once you’ve chosen your Cabal, write down your Cabal Paradigm. These four
sentences should give you a good idea of where to start on your character’s
Paradigm.
The last part, but the most important, is your Personal Paradigm. Here, define how your Mage understands
his Tradition, Faction, and Essence Paradigms, and how he incorporates them
into his style of magic. This is where
you really get to make your Mage’s magic unique.
If you have
a different interpretation of your Tradition, Faction, Cabal, or Essence, and
would like to have a different Paradigm, simply speak to an ST and we’ll work
it out. However, you must have some
belief in your Tradition’s default Paradigm.
A Dreamspeaker who doesn’t agree that everything has a spirit is not a
Dreamspeaker at all.
Example: An Order of Hermes Mage of House Flambeau,
with a Questing Avatar, who belongs to the Fresh Wind Covenant, has the
Paradigm of “The power to shape reality comes from a forceful will and resolute
authority. A powerful, radiant spirit
brings light and burns away darkness.
Purpose comes from seeking and accomplishing goals. History is meant to be overcome; the way it
has been done is not the way it must be done.”
We decide to make his Personal Paradigm “By seeking to build new and
permanent things, I sharpen my mind.
Construction is my path to Ascension.”
This Mage might find that he prefers magic which aids him in building
things, from war machines to small clockwork trinkets.
When creating your Paradigm, remember that magic will not work without absolute
belief. Magic without belief is
nothing. A Mage weaves Creation because
he believes that he can, not because
the dots on his character sheet say so.
It’s easy to confuse the game terminology with the character sometimes,
and those times are when it’s most important to remember your Paradigm. Your Mage should never say ‘I have Forces 3,
so I can create lightning.’ Instead he
would mutter about ‘I have learned the names of the four winds, bending the
very elements to my will. With but a
word, the spirits of lightning shall surround me.’
Mages have good reason to believe strongly in their Paradigm
– it’s what allows them to make sense of the wild magical world, to reduce the
infinite possibilities of reality into something their mind can handle. Little wonder they have a lot of pride – or
Hubris – in their work.
Mages
have arguments unlike anything encountered on Earth. When part of your soul has become a magical
being, and that magical being is whispering truth into your ear, there’s a
strong need to defend your viewpoints and beliefs.
With the Awakening, the new Mage is subjected to a
terrifying flurry of new information and power.
They must assemble this jumbled mass of experience into something
coherent, their Paradigm. The Paradigm
is an intensely personal expression,
the culmination of the Mage’s background, belief, and dreams.
As a result, Mages often bicker over their Paradigms, filled
with the pride of Hubris. Whether this
is a bad thing or not is uncertain – argument helps to strengthen and solidify
viewpoints, and belief gives a Mage a sense of purpose. If the Mage doesn’t believe in what he’s
doing, why would he put his neck on the line?
Remember, your character hasn’t read the Mage rulebook,
hasn’t browsed through the pages on the Traditions and Spheres, understanding
their viewpoints. All he has to go on is
his own experience, and that experience tells him that his way is the right
way, and everyone else is fundamentally flawed.
As mentioned above, magic
will not work without absolute belief.
Magic requires a supreme effort of the will – the ability to summon all
of a Mage’s drive and passion, focus it, and use it to change the world. How well do you think a person will focus
their will into something they don’t believe in? For example, think of asking a devout
Christian to kneel and pray to
Your magic is all the
proof you need that your Paradigm is correct. Remember Hubris – it can make for excellent
roleplay. When another Mage challenges
your views, don’t back down – stand up for what you know is right! Strive to make your Paradigm dominant, and
repress those which your instincts tell you are wrong. Remember, we’re fighting for the hearts and
minds of all humanity here. Don’t settle
for second best.
Conflict and Cooperation
A monk, a priest, a junkie, a shaman, a judge, a wizard, a
scientist, a wiccan, a hacker, and a goth walk into a bar…
It sounds like the start of a joke, doesn’t it? Well, that’s the kind of 
situation
you get when you bring all the Traditions together. If you put those people in a room together,
how do you think they’d react? Not so
well, right? The wiccan would probably
be at the scientist’s throat while the priest and the junkie yelled at each
other, in the first five minutes.
But players often assume their characters are above that –
that they can see that ‘we’re all equal’ and ‘everyone’s viewpoint has
merit’. If getting along were that easy,
we wouldn’t have the complex depths of subcultures, from the holy monks of the
We’d all be exactly the same, little clones all in a row,
smiling at each other and believing that if we just put on a happy face, it’ll
all be all right.
We’d be exactly what the Technocracy wants to make humanity
into. The power of the Traditions is
based on their diversity, and their conflict.
Through disagreement, each Tradition strengthens their beliefs, and
inspires their members to go further to prove their way is the right way.
Play the archetype.
If you’re a Son of Ether, then science and innovation is everything. No wiggle room around the edges. For a Euthanatos, fate is everything. Cult of Ecstasy? Experience.
Akashic Brotherhood? Inward
mediation. Think deeply about your
Paradigm before you enter the game, and become
it.