Archetypes

Wherever windmills beckon, you’ll find Questing mages preparing to tilt. Vagabonds and errants, pilgrims, and pioneers, these people prefer the open road and a worthy cause. Epitomizing Balance in the Trinity, this Essence avoids extremes. Questing Avatars tend to manifest as yearning; wanderlust; bright spots on the horizon; and people, beasts, or entities associated with travel. One might look like a stray hound, another like a kaleidoscope, and a third like a hitchhiker on the side of the road. Whereas the Primordial mage curls up in the shadows, the Questing mage straps on her backpack, straps on or discards entirely her shoes, and heads off to face adventures in the Great Unknown.

“Call Me the Breeze” makes a good theme song for such characters. Their Avatars draw them ever onward. Sure, these souls might seem friendly and fun enough; in time, however, they’ll disappear into the rising dawn, secure in the knowledge that someone else will follow the trails they’ve blazed.

Archetype means “ruling impression.” In Jungian terms, it refers to certain significant figures that inspire human tales and behavior. For Mage, the personality Archetypes provide roleplaying guidance, offer potential motivations, and give you a way of contrasting your mage’s outer guise with her inner truth. Think of them as a Tarot deck of sorts: a series of symbolic figures that

reflect human experience. A Trickster Archetype, for instance, represents the clown whose tricks conceal a deeper lesson, inspire caution, and point out just how vulnerable you might be if you don’t keep your wits about you.

As we saw earlier, each Mage character has two Archetypes: the obvious Demeanor and the inner Nature. These Archetypes could be similar, but will rarely be the same; even the most honest people need their secrets, after all. From your character’s

perspective, Demeanor is how you present yourself to other folks, and Nature is how you see yourself when all your masks come off. In the ruthless world of the Awakened Ones, it’s dangerous to let people know too much about you, so pick your character’s mask carefully – he’ll be wearing it for quite a while.

Demeanor Traits are easy enough to change – you just start acting differently and choosing new priorities in life. Nature, on the other hand, is difficult to change. It takes a life-shifting circumstance to cause such transitions, and you might not even recognize yourself in the mirror when such a shift occurs.

In game terms, the Nature also provides you with an opportunity to refresh your Willpower Trait. When you accomplish something that’s in tune with your Nature, your Storyteller might give you one to three Willpower points to replace the ones you’ve spent over the course of the story. This benefit applies only to refreshing a depleted Willpower Trait – you don’t get new Willpower dots for acting according to your Nature. When you purchase new Willpower dots, however, you can help justify that boosted Will if you’ve been successfully following your Nature.

Every Archetype has its strengths and weaknesses. Consider that strength to be the inner spark that inspires you to persevere when things get rough. Your Archetypal weakness, on the other hand, reflects a personal flaw – some obstacle in your Path to Ascension and a stumbling block in daily life. Both aspects combine to make you, for better and worse, the person you are.

The entries below offer a sample of the potential range of Awakened Archetypes. Feel free to create new ones that suit your character’s personality and vision, so long as those new Archetypes have strengths, weaknesses, and a way to restore your Willpower when you kick ass, take names, and fulfill the purpose of your Nature.