Many associates simply stick around to help mages with their work. Lab technicians, political hacktivists, street-gang members, office workers, and so forth provide support around a Chantry, Construct, sanctum, or home. While many of these

associates also have professional reasons for their assistance, they tend to work more closely with the mages on a daily basis than, say, backup agents or cleanup crews do.

Unlike certain sorts of employees, assistants typically understand who they’re working for, what they’re doing, and how that job is, at the very least, an unconventional employ­ ment opportunity. Though not Awakened or Enlightened themselves, these consors know the score. Some practice mystic disciplines even though they cannot work True Magick under their own power: Yoga teachers, neopagans, clerical aides, lay clergy, teen witches, lab helpmates, and roadies for Awakened musicians are all assistants who can wrap their heads around metaphysical weirdness even when they lack the skills to employ magick themselves.

Given the proper training, of course, such assistants can help mages perform rituals and other acts of major-league magic. As detailed under “Allies, Assistants, and Cults” (Mage 20, p. 532) and “Acting in Concert: UnAwakened Assistants” (Mage 20, pp. 542-543), helpers with the proper outlook and skillset provide minor support roles when their Awakened friends attempt certain magickal acts. Thus, it’s a good idea to keep a few like-minded associates nearby if you’re a mage. If nothing else, such people are not considered to be Sleeper witnesses when vulgar magick gets cast in their vicinity unless they’re Technocratic assistants watching some Reality Deviant cut loose with that crazy magick shit (for details, see Mage 20, pp. 531-532).

While many assistants work for money, serve out of a sense of tradition, or receive some other form of compensation, too, affection and belief provide the primary motivations for such companions. Sure, they might be getting paid as well, but the long hours and hard work typically involved in this sort of assistance come more from a sense of devotion to the cause than devotion to a paycheck. An assistant’s personal and political beliefs tend to align with those of the mage in question, perhaps shading into dedication to the mage herself. It’s not a stretch to see love as an element of this devotion, either — maybe not the primary reason for an assistant’s loyalty but probably a secondary motivation whether the assistant realizes it or not.

Affection might run both ways… but it also might not. Hermetic wizards and mad scientists are notoriously hard on the hired help, with cranky witches and selfish executives often taking assistants for granted, too. Oh, the high-and-mighty Enlightened Ones might consider their assistants to be a cut or two above the rank-and-file Masses, but for every magus or Technocrat who appreciates the efforts of their unAwakened sidekicks there are at least two who regard assistants as useful but ultimately limited inferiors, even if those mages don’t say as much in as many words.

Suggested Traits: At the lowest levels of proficiency, assistants have one to three dots in Abilities that would be useful to the mages they serve. Most often, those Traits in­ clude: Academics (for research assistants, teaching assistants,

editors, students, etc.); Art and Expression (artists, designers, celebrities); Crafts (maintenance workers, domestic workers, artisans, and other folks who need to be good with their hands); Esoterica of one or two appropriate specializations (cult members, clergy, metaphysical practitioners, unAwakened initiates, and so on); Occult (cult members, neopagans, New Agers, vodou practitioners, and the like); Law (cops, lawyers, paralegals, politicians, activists, journalists) and Politics (like­ wise); Cooking (cooks, servants); and Computers, Science, and Technology (technicians, students, lab assistants, bloggers, engineers, and so forth).

Upper-tier assistants have higher levels in more Abilities, and probably have Attributes in the 3-5 range (even higher if they’re not normal humans), plus a variety of character-appro­ priate Merits, Flaws, and possibly certain Advantage Traits. For details about the latter, see Chapter Five, p. XX.

Suggested Templates: Assistant-type companions tend to be “everyday people” sorts of characters, usually with one or two skill sets that determine the role they serve in a mage’s company. The Human Resources template is probably most common, although the Hardcase, Thug, Professional Badass, and Extraordinary Scientist templates are common in this role, too.

Dorothy “Doro” Franco

It’s hard to make a living out there, especially when you’re a student facing the moment when those damn loans all come due. Dorothy dropped down to part-time status in her final year of college when she scored that gig as a PykUp driver. Thanks to her longstanding interest in the ways cars work, she’s been able to keep the old Saturn her mother gave her in good running order, and she can handle the repairs without too much cost or trouble. The PykUp job fit in around her class schedule, giving Doro time for homework if not a social life.

And then she met the wizard. Okay, he doesn’t look much like a wizard from the mov­ ies. No scar, no broom, no owl on his shoulder. But the stuff Doro saw that night after she got the strangest compulsion to pick up a fare who hadn’t gone through the usual channels convinced her that, yeah, magic’s real and he knows how to use it. That was a batshit crazy night, filled with chases and gunshots and impossible escapes. By the time she got him to where he was trying to go, her Saturn was a bullet-riddled wreck. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” she demanded when the wizard bolted from her car and tried to disappear down that alleyway. Her kickboxing classes came in handy as she grabbed the wizard by his hoodie and dragged him back to her car. “You, pretty boy, are paying for this — and for your goddamned ride, which I noticed you did not book through my agency — or I am introducing your face to the pavement and then handing you over to those Terminator rejects you were running from.”

He gave her the money. Then he gave her a job. Doro still works for PykUp. Her regular clients, however, are a pretty exclusive bunch. They know she can keep her mouth shut, stand up when she has to, and get them where they need to be without awkward questions or silly pretenses. Local street-mages have Doro’s number and PykUp account in their directories, and she’s got a standing agreement with them: “Don’t call me during class, don’t get me killed, do not fuck me over, and cover any and all damages to me and my car.” Her Saturn is neutral ground; if you want to fight, get the hell out of Doro’s car to do it. In return for discreet, reliable service, Doro gets steady business, great tips, and occasional goodies like minor Wonders and some excellent information about all manner of strange topics. Her clients have helped her with her homework, and if she needs a good job after she graduates, Doro has several standing offers from mages all over town.

A solid young woman just shy of 22, Doro has the thick black hair and olive skin of her Persian grandfather and Mexican mom. Majoring in business, she keeps in shape by kickboxing at the college gym whenever she’s got the time to go. Her short nails remain constantly grimy from working under the hood of her blue 2003 Saturn, and she favors black distressed jeans, high-tops, a black denim vest, and bootleg punk T-shirts. Thanks to her clientele, Doro’s not hurting for money anymore, and has stockpiled a bunch of it for when her student loans come due. Hashing out plans with the wizard has also given her a potential business plan for her pending graduation: a hush-hush transport service called D-Ryde where a group of like-minded drivers handle covert transport and delivery among her region’s Awakened community. Thanks to her connections and discretion, the local Technocracy Construct leaves her alone… for the moment, anyway, and certain Night-Folk have begun to avail themselves of her services too. Doro’s open-door “don’t be an asshole” policy has earned her the respect and protection of a network of powerful people, and so Doro and her Saturn sail through the night unmolested by occult interference and shielded (to some degree) from the nonsense that occurs when a young woman gets behind the wheel and asks her client, “So, where am I taking you tonight?”