[nMage] An expanded capability-based analysis of the Five Paths

[Stephenls]

Some time ago I made this post. The idea was that the Path descriptions in the Mage corebook are soft-headed cliché bullshit that appear to have been written on autopilot and best ignored (sorry, anonymous author, but I'm tired, and don't sugarcoat well when tired), but the idea of paths is salvageable. The most direct, visceral, immediately useful way to figure out how the paths might influence the personalities and behaviors of the mages upon them is to figure out how having two favored arcana, from which one can cast improvised magic freely, might shape a mage's area of competence. Area of competence shapes behavior, and also shapes area of confidence, which shapes personality. If you can see and talk to ghosts whenever you want, you are likely to become over time a different person than you would be if you could only do that by expending precious magic juice (or couldn't do it at all) but could instead immediately perceive both the outcome of an imminent "random" event and how that outcome will effect your own future. (That's Moros and Acanthus, respectively.) This would be the case even if both hypothetical yous had started as exactly the same person!

This post is a revision of that one, expanded along three axes (I love that the plural of axis is indistinguishable from the plural of axe):

1) It incorporates spells from the supplements. Note that, in the case of Order-specific spells, I assume that all members of a given Path have access to all spells from that path regardless of whether the rote is supposed to be order-only or not. For example, Angle Vision is a covert, zero-mana-cost Space 1 spell that lets a mage see around corners. It should come instinctively to all Mastigos; it doesn't make a lot of sense to restrict it to Guardians of the Veil just because it first saw publication in their sourcebook. It doesn't include spells from Magical Traditions, though, because I haven't gotten around to reading it in-depth and so am unsure as to whether the book's new spells require the Magical Tradition merit to cast or not, or if that's just the rotes. Whatever. There's like three spells in that book that qualify under this list's restrictions anyway, and two of them are complicated Spirit spells that do multiple things difficult to boil down to curt, declarative statements. It also doesn't include that "Detect Banisher" rote from Banishers that, if you use it regularly, turns you into a Banisher.

2) It incorporates spells from the level 2 and 3 arcana, in a separate section underneath the first. Not all mages of a given path will have three or even two dots in each of that path's Arcana, but all will have two dots in at least one of them, and I think most will have two dots in each, and many will have three in one. Originally I had planned only to go to two with this revision, but taking it to three makes it most useful as a play aid during character creation.

3) This time I've decided to incorporate vulgar spells as well as spells with mana costs. Because I like curt, declarative statements, vulgar spells are denoted by "With risk..." and spells with mana costs are denoted by "At cost...."

This isn't a simple spell index. Some spells haven't made it on to here, most obviously the level 4 and 5 spells but also spells made from multiple arcana from two different Paths, as well as spells made from multiple arcana at level 2 and higher. This is still a capability-based analysis for purpose of characterization -- if you've got a PC, or an NPC, and you're wondering how he'll respond to a given set of circumstances, you can look at this and immediately see all the options available to him. (Unless he's an adept or master. Sorry; to much typing for me.)

I also left off all the item-creation and alchemy stuff from Tome of the Mysteries Chapter 4, because it's dozens of spells that only make sense in context with each other.

Finally, I've decided to keep my commentary to the end this time, instead of sticking it in with the path writeups themselves.

Here's a sourcebook abbreviation key:

M:tAw - Mage: The Awakening
S&S - Sanctum & Sigil
GotV - Guardians of the Veil
TotM - Tome of the Mysteries
L:tA - Legacies: The Ancient
FC - Free Council
Myst - Mysterium
AR - Astral Realms
AA - Adamantine Arrow
Ban - Banishers
GoG - Grimoire of Grimoires
SL - Silver Ladder

Not every book is on that list because not every book has spells that fit this list's requirements.

Acanthus (Fate/Time)
One-Dot Spells
Fate

All Acanthus can sense sympathetic connections or ties of fate between people, places, and objects (Interconnections; M:tAw p. 148)
All Acanthus can spend time to compensate for the impact of deleterious factors on their own performances (Quantum Flux; M:tAw p. 148)
All Acanthus can predict the outcomes of random events (Reading the Outmost Eddies; M:tAw p. 149)
All Acanthus can use Mage Sight to read fate (The Sybil's Sight; M:tAw p. 149)
All Acanthus can attract or repel good fortune for themselves or others (Winds of Chance; M:tAw p. 150)
All Acanthus can seek reliable inspiration from random input (Synchronicity; TotM p. 60)

Time

All Acanthus can determine whether the outcome of an event will be favorable or harmful to them (Momentary Flux; M:tAw p. 257)
All Acanthus can increase their chances of success through perfect timing (Perfect Timing; M:tAw p. 258)
All Acanthus can use Mage Sight to have a perfect internal clock (Temporal Eddies; M:tAw p. 258)
All Acanthus can sense oddities in the timestream (Temporal Wrinkles; M:tAw p. 258)
All Acanthus can influence a target's experience of time (Tempus Fugit; GotV p. 199)
All Acanthus can locate the temporal origin of an object's current state (Precise Dating; Myst p. 204)

Two-Dot Spells
Fate

Most Acanthus can grant themselves fate's protection from attacks (Fortune's Protection; M:tAw p. 152)
Most Acanthus can grant others Mage Sight that sees fate (Grant the Sybil's Sight; M:tAw p. 152)
Most Acanthus can breeze through social situations, saying just the right things at just the right moments (The Perfect Moment; M:tAw p. 152)
Most Acanthus can grant a mechanical item perfect precision (Platonic Mechanism; M:tAw p. 152)
Most Acanthus can manipulate circumstances to grant limited wishes (Shifting the Odds; M:tAw p. 153)
Most Acanthus can swear an oath that blocks attempts at preventing them from keeping it (Swearing an Oath; M:tAw p. 153)
Most Acanthus can create a zone in which successes and failures become exceptional or dramatic (Zone of Extremity; TotM p. 60)
Most Acanthus can be in the right place at the right time (Fortunate Timing; FC p. 106)
Most Acanthus can convert a chance roll to a roll of one standard die (Heroic Effort; AA p. 175)

At cost, most Acanthus can gain the 9-again quality on their own future dice rolls (Exceptional Luck; M:tAw p. 151)
At cost, most Acanthus can set the evil eye upon another (The Evil Eye; M:tAw p. 151)

Time

Most Acanthus can see the general future of a target (Augery; M:tAw p. 128)
Most Acanthus can see with clarity their own pasts, the past of their current location, or the past of an object (Postcognition; M:tAw p. 260)
Most Acanthus can shield themselves from the pre- or postcognition of others (Shield of Chronos; M:tAw p. 261)
Most Acanthus can warp time to protect themselves from attack (Temporal Dodge; M:tAw p. 261)
Most Acanthus can grant Mage sight and perfect time sense to another (Temporal Flow; M:tAw p. 261)
Most Acanthus can alter their own perceptions of time for purposes of faster research (Library of Time; GotV p. 199)
Most Acanthus can determine when a target will be most vulnerable at a given location (Worst Moment; Ban p. 68)

At cost, most Acanthus canpredict the outcome of an undertaking with two or fewer major variables (Flip of the Coin; M:tAw p. 259)
At cost, most Acanthus can re-roll a single roll, taking the better of the two results (Glimpsing the Future; M:tAw p. 259)
At cost, most Acanthus can hang their spells to trigger later (Prepared Spells; M:tAw p. 260)

Three-dot Spells
Fate

Many Acanthus can alter the terms and contitions of a Fate-based oath another has forged (Alter Oath; M:tAw p. 154)
Many Acanthus can craft a false destiny to deceive those who can see destinies (Fabricate Fortune; M:tAw p. 155)
Many Acanthus can grant others armor of fate (Grant Fortune's Protection; M:tAw p. 155)
Many Acanthus can grant equipment exceptional luck in fulfilling its purpose (Lucky Coin; M:tAw p. 155)
Many Acanthus can grant equipment terrible luck in fulfilling its purpose (Monkey's Paw; M:tAw p. 155)
Many Acanthus can hide a destiny from those who might perceive it (Occlude Destiny; M:tAw p. 156)
Many Acanthus can through lucky coincidences grant a target protection from harm (Blessing; TotM p. 61)
Many Acanthus can judge who amongst a group is strongest and weakest at a given task (Sense Strength and Weakness; GoG p. 72)

At cost, many Acanthus can grant the 9-again quality to the future rolls of others (Bestow Exceptional Luck; M:tAw p. 155)

With risk and at cost, many Acanthus can grant the 8-again quality to their future rolls (Superlative Luck; M:tAw p. 156)
With risk and at cost, many Acanthus can tie the fates of two people together, such that what happens to one happens to the other (Shared Fate; FC p. 107)

Time

Many Acanthus can warp time to protect others from attacks (Temporal Shift; M:tAw p. 263)

At cost, many Acanthus can reliably predict the future (Divination; M:tAw p. 262)
At cost, many Acanthus can use perfect timing to bypass an opponents' defense (Strike in the Perfect Moment; GoG p. 72)

With risk and at cost, many Acanthus can rewind a short amount of time and make a different choice (Shifting Sands; M:tAw p. 263)

Mastigos (Mind/Space)
One-Dot Spells
Mind

All Mastigos can percieve the emotional states of those surrounding them, plus anything else aura sight reveals (Aura Perception; M:tAw p. 205)
All Mastigos can hold two trains of thought at once (One Mind, Two Thoughts; M:tAw p. 206)
All Mastigos can detect the locations of all nearby minds (Sense Consciousness; M:tAw p. 206)
All Mastigos can use Mage Sight to see exceptional mental powers such as ESP and read the emotional states that underly resonance (Third Eye; M:tAw p. 206)
All Mastigos can center themselves, suppressing the effects of minor mental or social disorders such as ADHD or Asperger's syndrome (Merge Mind; Ban p. 59)

Space

All Mastigos can spot sympathetic connections between people, places, and things (Correspondence; M:tAw p. 232)
All Mastigos can track items in their immediate vicinity (Finder; M:tAw p. 233)
All Mastigos can perceive 260 degrees around themselves (Omnivision; M:tAw p. 233)
All Mastigos can use Mage Sight to detect spacial manipulations and distortions (Spatial Awareness; M:tAw p. 233)
All Mastigos can create accurate spacial maps of their entire surroundings (Spacial Map; M:tAw p. 233)
All Mastigos can see around corners (Angle Vision; GotV p. 198)

Two-Dot Spells
Mind

Most Mastigos can alter their own auras (Alter Aura; M:tAw p. 207)
Most Mastigos can influence the minds of reptiles, insects, fish, and invertebrates (Beast Control; M:tAw p. 207)
Most Mastigos can project emotions on others (Emotional Urging; M:tAw p. 208)
Most Mastigos can make good first impressions (First Impressions; M:tAw p. 208)
Most Mastigos can make others ignore them (Incognito Presence; M:tAw p. 208)
Most Mastigos can hide their own memories from themselves (Memory Hole; M:tAw p. 208)
Most Mastigos can shield their thoughts from others in whole or in part (Mental Shield; M:tAw p. 208)
Most Mastigos can manipulate the perceptions of others to protect themselves from harm (Misperception; M:tAw p. 208)
Most Mastigos can grant others Mage Sight to percieve extraordinary mental effects (Opening the Lidless Eye; M:tAw p. 209)
Most Mastigos can allow others to hear their thoughts (Voice from Afar; M:tAw p. 201)
Most Mastigos can instantly wake a sleeping target or send her into a deeper sleep (Control the Waking Mind; GotV p. 191)
Most Mastigos can remain clear-headed, no matter how much sleep they've missed (Delayed Rest; GotV p. 192)
Most Mastigos can implant a single idea into the mind of a target, who will mistake it for a flash of inspiration (Inspire; GotV p. 192)
Most Mastigos can cause a target a brief but intense moment of doubt (Moment of Doubt; GotV p. 193)
Most Mastigos can impart one word or phrase perfectly into a subject's memory (Perfect Mnemonic; Myst p. 199)
Most Mastigos can perform mental or social tasks as rote actions (Willful Process; Myst p. 200)
Most Mastigos can maintain a layer of false surface thoughts to deceive psychic intruders (Phantom Thoughts; AA p. 183)
Most Mastigos can suppress other mages' concentration enough to leave them unable to use the High Speech (Stammer; Ban p. 59)

At cost, most Mastigos can instantly and temporarily become proficient in a skill (Gain Skill; FC p. 111)

Space

Most Mastigos can conceal their own sympathetic connections (Conceal Sympathy; M:tAw p. 234)
Most Mastigos can scry on far away locations remotely (Scrying; M:tAw p. 235)
Most Mastigos can bend space to make attacks miss them (Untouchable; M:tAw p. 235)
Most Mastigos can ward locations from other Space magic (Ward; M:tAw p. 236)
Most Mastigos can locate an object or person's exact spacial point of origin or termination (Locate Source; Myst p. 204)

With risk, most Mastigos can teleport small objects from one location to another (Apportation; M:tAw p. 234)
With risk, most Mastigos can grant to others Mage Sight that conveys awareness of spacial distortions (Bestow Spacial Awareness; M:tAw p. 234)
With risk, most Mastigos can force their way through existing spacial portals (Follow Through; M:tAw p. 234)
With risk, most Mastigos can interpose themselves between a blow and its target (Interpose; AA p. 186)

At cost, most Mastigos can know when someone enters a pre-defined space (Intrusion Warning; GotV p. 198)

With risk and at cost, most Mastigos can cast spells through sympathetic connections ("Sympathetic Spells;" M:tAw p. 114-116)

Three-dot Spells
Mind

Many Mastigos can augment their own mental or social aptitudes (Augment the Mind; M:tAw p. 210)
Many Mastigos can alter the auras of others (Aura Cloak; M:tAw p. 211)
Many Mastigos can influence complex animal minds up to but not including primates, cetaceans and cephalopods (Greater Beast Control; M:tAw p. 210)
Many Mastigos can cloud the minds of others, to make themselves appear as different individuals (Imposter; M:tAw p. 211)
Many Mastigos can shield the thoughts of others in whole or in part (Mental Wall; M:tAw p. 211)
Many Mastigos can perform complex multitasking (Multi-Tasking; M:tAw p. 211)
Many Mastigos can assault the minds of others in ways that manifest as physical damage (Psychic Assault; M:tAw p. 212)
Many Mastigos can control their own sleep-cycles and dreams (Sleep of the Just; M:tAw p. 212)
Many Mastigos can communicate with others telepathically (Telepathy; M:tAw p. 212)
Many Mastigos can translate concepts into or out of any language (Universal Language; M:tAw p. 213)
Many Mastigos can call goetic demons into their consciousness (Goetic Struggle; M:tAw p. 324)
Many Mastigos can make a target less observant (Denial of Senses; GotV p. 193)
Many Mastigos can detect magical alterations in their own memory (Know Thyself; GotV p. 194)
Many Mastigos can make a target irrationally passionate concerning a single subject (Passion Link; GotV p. 194)
Many Mastigos can read the attitudes of a group of people (Read Trends; GotV p. 194)
Many Mastigos can eavesdrop on telepathic conversations (Telepathic Eavesdropping; GotV p. 195)
Many Mastigos can cause bystanders to treat them as celebrities (False Fame; TotM p. 66)
Many Mastigos can transfer one permanent Willpower dot from one willing donor to another who has recently lost a willpower dot (Transfer Will; TotM p. 66)
Many Mastigos can force another to listen to their words, to the point of breaking off hostilities to ponder them (The Inescapable Question; L:tA p. 34)
Many Mastigos can inflict a target with anterograte amnesia (Eternal Now; Myst p. 200)
Many Mastigos can invite others into their own persoal Oneiros.
Many Mastigos can ease the process of travelers finding each other after entering the Astral Realms (Astral Entrance; AR p. 23)
Many Mastigos can disrupt a target's concentration (Disrupt Concentration; AR p. 23)
Many Mastigos can seal their own Oneiros from intrusion by astral travelers (Seal Oneiros; AR p. 24)
Many Mastigos can bring an object from one astral realm to another (Preserve Astral Object; AR p. 24)
Many Mastigos can preserve an area of astral space from said environment's usual shifting nature (Preserve Astral Space; AR p. 25)
Many Mastigos can render others psychologically incapable of atacking them (Diplomat's Protection; SL p. 200)

At cost, many Mastigos can cause a Sleeper to interpret a supernatural event as mundan (Enforce Paradigm; TotM p. 65)
At cost, many Mastigos can grant others temporary willpower points, with restrictions on how they may be used (Will of Fire; L:tA p. 44)
At cost, many Mastigos can pay another's mana cost for entering the Astral Realms (Lift the Astral Barrier; AR p. 23)
At cost, many Mastigos can touch a target to negate his ability to regain Willpower through fulfilling a Virtue (Shackled Morality; GoG p. 117)

With risk and at cost, many Mastigos can instantly and temporarily make another proficient in a skill (Bestow Skill; FC p. 111)

Space

Many Mastigos can bend space to protect others from attacks (Avoidance Tactics; M:tAw p. 236)
Many Mastigos can add Bans to pre-existing Wards (Ban; M:tAw p. 236)
Many Mastigos can destroy sympathetic connections (Destroy the Threads; M:tAw p. 237)
Many Mastigos can scry on multiple locations simultaneously (Multispacial Perceptions; M:tAw p. 237)
Many Mastigos can create sympathetic connections (New Threads; M:tAw p. 237)
Many Mastigos can bring items and equipment with them into astral space (Maintained Sympathy; AR p. 28)

With risk, many Mastigos can expand a small container's internal space without making the container bigger (Expanded Volume; GotV p. 199)

At cost, many Mastigos can know everything that's happening within a building they have a sympathetic connection to and stand within (Eyes of the Building; L:tA p. 61)

With risk and at cost, many Mastigos can create spacial portals (Portal; M:tAw p. 238)
With risk and at cost, many Mastigos can deliver physical blows at range (Ranged Blow; M:tAw p. 238)

Moros (Death/Matter)
One-Dot Spells
Death

All Moros can determine any cadaver's cause of death (Forensic Gaze; M:tAw p. 134)
All Moros can use Mage Sight to see the weight of death around a person, place, or thing (Grim Sight; M:tAw p. 134)
All Moros can shape shadows (Shadow Sculpting, M:tAw p. 135)
All Moros can perceive a soul's health or sanity (Soul Marks, M:tAw p. 135)
All Moros can sense and communicate with ghosts (Speak with the Dead, M:tAw p. 135)
All Moros can discern the hidden flaws in any object made of lifeless matter (Eye for Destruction; TotM p. 19)

With risk, all Moros can alter the form of an ectoplasmic manifestation (Ectoplasmic shaping; M:tAw p. 133)

Matter

All Moros can alter the conductivity of a simple object (Alter Conductivity; M:tAw p. 194)
All Moros can instinctively understand the function of an object with moving parts (Craftsman's Eye; M:tAw p. 194)
All Moros can use Mage Sight (Dark Matter; M:tAw p. 194) [Jesus Christ, Matter Mage Sight is dull.]
All Moros can can locate all nearby instances of a given material (Detect Substance; M:tAw p. 195)
All Moros can discern the makeup, composition, weight, and density of material structures (Discern Composition; M:tAw p. 195)
All Moros can find secret compartments hidden within objects and structures (Find the Hidden Hoard; M:tAw p. 195)
All Moros can discern the hidden flaws in any object made of lifeless matter (Eye for Destruction; TotM p. 19)
All Moros can see the ways in which an object needs fixing (Crafter's Eye; FC p. 110)

Two-Dot Spells
Death

Most Moros can alter the features of a corpse (Corpse Mask; M:tAw p. 136)
Most Moros can entropically reduce the kinetic energy of incoming attacks (Entropic Guard; M:tAw p. 136)
Most Moros can summon specific ghosts, by name or nature (Ghost Summons; M:tAw p. 137)
Most Moros can gant to another person Mage Sight that reveals the weight of death on people, places, and things (Grant the Grim Sight; M:tAw p. 137)
Most Moros can create receptacles for holding souls (Soul Jar; M:tAw p. 137)
Most Moros can suppress auras (Suppress Aura; M:tAw p. 127)
Most Moros can increase the distance a ghost can stray from its anchor (Lengthen Anchor; TotM p. 60)
Most Moros can make a corpse unsuitable for animation (Quiet Grave; Ban p. 54)

With risk, most Moros can detatch shadows from their sources (Animate Shadows; M:tAw p. 136)
With risk, most Moros can cause objects to decay and weaken (Decay; M:tAw p. 136)
With risk, most Moros can draw ectoplasm from their own orifices or the orifices of corpses (Ectoplasm; M:tAw p. 136)
With risk, most Moros can pull ghosts and ghostly objects into physical existene (Touch of the Grave; M:tAw p. 138)
With risk, most Moros can call forth a corpse's last sight as an ectoplasmic image from the corpse's eyes (Final Sight; GotV p. 186)

Matter

Most Moros can confer Mage Sight upon another (Eyes of the Earth; M:tAw p. 196)
Most Moros can shape or impart cohesion to liquids or vapors (Shape Liquid; M:tAw p. 196)
Most Moros can use ambient materials to shield themselves from attack (Unseen Aegis; M:tAw p. 197)
Most Moros can temporarily repair an object by touching it (Temporary Repair; FC p. 111)
Most Moros can destroy all forensic evidence of their presence that derives from leaving material behind (Forensic Invisibility; Ban p. 54)
Most Moros can unlock locks, untie knots, and unstick stuck portals (Loosen the Threads; GoG p. 103)

With risk, most Moros can transmute common liquid substances into other common liquid substances (Transmute Water; M:tAw p. 197)
With risk, most Moros can impart one- or two-way transparency to an opaque object or vice-versa (Steel Windows; M:tAw p. 197)
With risk, most Moros can make one substance appear as another (Deceptive Appearance; Myst p. 197)

At cost, most Moros can alter the balance and heft an item (Alter Accuracy; M:tAw p. 196)
At cost, most Moros can transform any handheld object into an effective weapon (Weaponize Object; AA p. 181)

Three-dot Spells
Death

Many Moros can cast an entropic shroud around others, protecting them from attack (Entropic Shroud; M:tAw p. 139)
Many Moros can move objects into Twilight (Ghostly Object; M:tAw p. 140)
Many Moros can disguise themselves as corpses (Suppress Own Life; M:tAw p. 142)
Many Moros can grant temporary self-awareness and intelligence to a ghost (Healing the Dead Mind; Myst p. 193)
Many Moros can create art so resonant with death that all who percieve it fall into despair (Orpheus' Lament; GoG p. 131)

With risk, many Moros can force ghosts to do their bidding (Control Ghost; M:tAw p. 138)
With risk, many Moros can damage or destroy ghostly objects (Destroy Ephemera; M:tAw p. 138)
With risk, many Moros can damage or destroy material objects (Destroy Object; M:tAw p. 139)
With risk, many Moros can create a gateway into Twilight (Ghost Gate; M:tAw p. 139)
With risk, many Moros can animate corpses into zombies (Quicken Corpse; M:tAw p. 140)
With risk, many Moros can heal ghosts (Restore Corpus (M:tAw p. 141)
With risk, many Moros can reshape ephemeral objects into other ephemeral objects (Sculpt Ephemera; M:tAw p. 141)
With risk, many Moros can create tangible darkness from nothing (Summon Shadow (M:tAw p. 142)
With risk, many Moros can kill themselves (Hollow Victory; Ban p. 54)

With risk and at cost, many Moros can steal willpower from injured human, or injure them further to regain mana (Devouring the Slain; M:tAw p. 139)
With risk and at cost, many Moros can steal the soul from an incapacitated human (Sever the Sleeping Soul; M:tAw p. 141)

Matter

Many Moros can make objects more or less durable (Alter Integrity; M:tAw p. 198)
Many Moros can combine elements from different devices to create functional hybrid devices (Jury-Rig; M:tAw p. 198)
Many Moros can repair broken objects such that they appear to have never been broken (Repair Object; M:tAw p. 199)

With risk, many Moros can render any homogenous material maleable (Plasticity; M:tAw p. 199)
With risk, many Moros can transmute one common solid substance into another (Transmute Earth; M:tAw p. 200)
With risk, many Moros can alter their clothing, changing its shape and color but not fabric (Alter Raiment; GotV p. 190)
With risk, many Moros can turn a weapon against its user (Backbiter; GotV p. 190)
With risk, many Moros can perfectly block a door or barrier by fusing it shut (Perfect Lock; GotV p. 191)

At cost, many Moros can make weaponry armor-piercing (Armor Piercing; M:tAw p. 198)

[Stephenls]

Obrimos (Prime/Forces)
One-Dot Spells
Prime

All Obrimos can determine the function of enchanted items (Analyze Enchanted Item; M:tAw p. 219)
All Obrimos can see Prime-based illusions for what they are (Discern Phantasm; M:tAw p. 220)
All Obrimos can erase rotes from their own memory to make them learnable by others in grimoires (Inscribe Grimoires; M:tAw p. 220)
All Obrimos can invoke Mage Sight more puissant than that granted by any other Arcanum (Supernal Vision; M:tAw p. 221)

At cost, all Obrimos can dispell magic (Dispell Magic; M:tAw p. 220)

Forces

All Obrimos can guide the direction and flow of existing heat (Influence Heat; M:tAw p. 162)
All Obrimos can guide the direction and flow of existing light (Influence Light; M:tAw p. 163)
All Obrimos can guide the direction and flow of existing sound (Influence Sound; M:tAw p. 163)
All Obrimos can see in the dark (Nightsight; M:tAw p. 163)
All Obrimos can use Mage Sight to see all forms of energy, including heat, light, gravity, and electromagnitism (Read Matrices; M:tAw p. 163)
All Obrimos can hear sounds out of the normal human range of frequencies (Receiver; M:tAw p. 164)
All Obrimos can sense free-floating data transmission and percieve the human-legible information it carries (Tune In; M:tAw p. 164)
All Obrimos can listen to cosmic signals from outer space, if such exist (Outer Music; Ban p. 56)

Two-Dot Spells
Prime

Most Obrimos can activate enchanted items (Activate Enchanted Item; M:tAw p. 221)
Most Obrimos can shield themselves from outside magic (Magic Shield; M:tAw p. 222)
Most Obrimos can grant others the most puissant of Mage Sights (Primal Flow; M:tAw p. 222)
Most Obrimos can disguise their own auras (Transform Aura; M:tAw p. 222)
Most Obrimos can tamper with the magic of other mages, without those mages' knowledge (Unseen Spy; M:tAw p. 223)
Most Obrimos can impose their aura on an object to create a personal sigil (Sigilization; S&S p. 37)
Most Obrimos can make more effective any equipment created from tass (Fortify Phantasmal Item; TotM p. 27)
Most Obrimos can mark objects in a manner invisible to normal senses, but unmistakeable to Mage Sight (Supernal Script; Myst p. 202)
Most Obrimos can perceive ley lines and their directions (Paths of Power; GoG p. 139)

With risk, most Obrimos can create two-dimensional illusions on surfaces (Ephemeral Image; SL p. 200)

At cost, most Obrimos can counterspell (Counterspell Prime; M:tAw p. 222)
At cost, most Obrimos can create an arena for the Duel Arcane (Squaring the Circle; M:tAw p. 222)

Forces

Most Obrimos can adjust an area's temperature (Control Heat; M:tAw p. 165)
Most Obrimos can brighten or weaken an existing light source (Control Light; M:tAw p. 165)
Most Obrimos can amplify or dampen an existing volume of sound (Control Sound; M:tAw p. 165)
Most Obrimos can grant another Mage Sight to see energy (Eyes of the Matrix; M:tAw p. 165)
Most Obrimos can hijack an existing radio transmission, replacing it with their words (Transmission; M:tAw p. 166)
Most Obrimos can create a kinetic shield to deflect the force of incoming blows (Unseen Shield; M:tAw p. 167)
Most Obrimos can increase or decrease the frequency of an existing sound (Alter Frequency; GotV p. 188)
Most Obrimos can influence traffic lights (Control Traffic; TotM p. 61)
Most Obrimos can render themselves invisible to electronic surveilance (Invisibility to Machines; FC p. 108)
Most Obrimos can learn a machine's passwords by touching it (Invoke Password; FC p. 108)
Most Obrimos can render themselves immune to the deleterious effects of radiation (Stay the Invisible Fires; FC p. 110)
Most Obrimos can broadcast signals over the local police band (Activate Police Band; Ban p. 56)

With risk, most Obrimos can influence the direction and flow of electricity (Influence Electricity; M:tAw p. 165)
With risk, most Obrimos can influence the direction and flow of existing fire (Influence Fire; M:tAw p. 166)
With risk, most Obrimos can greatly concentrate the force of a blow into a small area (Kinetic Blow; M:tAw p. 166)
With risk, most Obrimos can reduce friction between two solid objects (Friction Reduction; TotM p. 62)
With risk, most Obrimos can grant themselves limited immunity to mundane fires (Fireproofing; L:tA p. 44)
With risk, most Obrimos can create a wireless Internet or cell phone connection anywhere (Aether Net; FC p. 108)
With risk, most Obrimos can read information from magnetic and optical storage media (Electronic Eye; FC p. 108)
With risk, most Obrimos can hijack existing audiovisual channels and replace the transmissions with transmissions of their own (Complex Transmission; FC p. 109)

With risk and at cost, most Obrimos can render an object invisible (Invisible Object; M:tAw p. 166)

Three-dot Spells
Prime

Many Obrimos can prevent others from stealing their souls (Armor of the Soul; M:tAw p. 223)
Many Obrimos can channel Mana from Hallows quickly (Channel Mana; M:tAw p. 224)
Many Obrimos can selectively unravel existing spells (Controlled Dispellation; M:tAw p. 224)
Many Obrimos can create tass from Mana (Create Tass; M:tAw p. 224)
Many Obrimos can change or hide existing resonance; M:tAw p. 225)
Many Obrimos can dissolve tass (Dissolve Tass; M:tAw p. 225)
Many Obrimos can make objects tangible to beings in Twilight (Ephemeral Enchantment; M:tAw p. 225)
Many Obrimos can give their Mana to others (Imbue Mana; M:tAw p. 226)
Many Obrimos can draw free energy from ley lines (Ley Lines; M:tAw p. 226)
Many Obrimos can shield others from hostile magic (Magic Wall; M:tAw p. 227)
Many Obrimos can alter the auras of others (Transform other Aura; M:tAw p. 227)
Many Obrimos can bring tass with them into astral space (Astral Tass Conversion; AR p. 28)
Many Obrimos can fortify a sworn magical oath (Fortify Oath; AA p. 176)
Many Obrimos can make a spell appear to belong to a different Arcanum (False Signature; AA p. 184)

With risk, many Obrimos can hurtle celestial fire at others, burning even the incorporeal (Celestial Fire; M:tAw p. 224)

At cost, many Obrimos can create enchanted items (Imbue Item; M:tAw p. 226)
At cost, many Obrimos can restrict who can harvest Mana from a Hallow (Hallow Bond; S&S p. 94)
At cost, many Obrimos can shift the positions of ley lines (Ley Shift; S&S p. 97)
At cost, many Obrimos can disguise one spell as another (Disguise Spell; TotM p. 68)
At cost, many Obrimos can disguise a spell entirely (Spell Cloaks; TotM p. 70)

With risk and at cost, many Obrimos can create vaguely tangible illusions (Phantasm; M:tAw p. 227)

Forces

Many Obrimos can grant others a kinetic shield (Bestow Unseen Shield; M:tAw p. 168)
Many Obrimos can call down lightning from a stormy sky (Call Lightning; M:tAw p. 168)
Many Obrimos can direct and/or dampen the flow of an electric current, but not amplify it (Control Electricity; M:tAw p. 168)
Many Obrimos can increase or decrease an existing fire's size and/or intensity (Control Fire; M:tAw p. 168)
Many Obrimos can channel their own bodies' wasted kinetic energy into the force of an attack (Optimize Kinetic Attack; GoG p. 71)

With risk, many Obrimos can extinguish all light in an area, or create new light from nothing (Light Mastery; M:tAw p. 169)
With risk, many Obrimos can create or silence sound (Sound Mastery; M:tAw p. 170)
With risk, many Obrimos can telekinetically manipulate their surroundings (Telekinesis; M:tAw p. 170)
With risk, many Obrimos can damage others with pure telekinetic force (Telekinetic Strike; M:tAw p. 170)
With risk, many Obrimos can change the course of a traveling projectile (Turn Projectile; M:tAw p. 171)
With risk, many Obrimos can magnify his voice to inflict damage (Cuting Scream; AA p. 178)
With risk, many Obrimos can magnify his voice to knock things down (Empowered Voice; AA p. 187)
With risk, many Obrimos can manipulate the wind to bolster their own balance (Floating Step; GoG p. 70)

With risk and at cost, many Obrimos can turn themselves invisible (Personal Invisibility; M:tAw p. 169)

Thyrsus (Spirit/Life)
One-Dot Spells
Spirit

All Thyrsus can convince an object's spirit to make using the object easier (Coaxing the Spirit; M:tAw p. 246)
All Thyrsus can detect possesing spirits (Exorcist's Eye; M:tAw p. 245)
All Thyrsus can use Mage Sight to determine the strength of the local Gauntlet (Second Sight; M:tAw p. 246)
All Thyrsus can see, hear, and speak with spirits in Twilight, and detect them when they hide themselves (Spirit Tongue; M:tAw p. 246)

Life

All Thyrsus can discern the spcies, age and sex of a nearby living thing (Analyze Life; M:tAw p. 180)
All Thyrsus can clense themselves of drugs and toxins (Cleanse the Body; M:tAw p. 180)
All Thyrsus can see the health or illness of the living things around them (Healer's Trance; M:tAw p. 181)
All Thyrsus can use Mage Sight to see vitalic animation (Pulse of the Living World; M:tAw p. 181)
All Thyrsus can sense the location of all nearby life, in general or specific (Sense Life; M:tAw p. p. 181)
All Thyrsus can turn an object's spirit against the object's user (Gremlins; TotM p. 72)
All Thyrsus can delay the onset of fatigue (Forge Rest; FC p. 110)

Two-Dot Spells
Spirit

Most Thyrsus can protect themselves with ephemeral armor (Ephemeral Shield; M:tAw p. 246)
Most Thyrsus can grant to others Mage Sight to percieve the strength of the local Gauntlet (Grant the Second Sight; M:tAw p. 247)
Most Thyrsus can summon local spirits by name or nature (Lesser Spirit Summons; M:tAw p. 247)
Most Thyrsus can see across the Gauntlet (Peer Across the Gauntlet; M:tAw p. 247)
Most Thyrsus can weaken the effects of non-combat Numina targeting them (Spiritual Bulwark; TotM p. 23)
Most Thyrsus can recognize a spirit's strengths, weaknesses, and powers (Analyze Spirit; Myst p. 204)
Most Thyrsus can read a spirit's Ban (Read Spirit; AA p. 188)

With risk, most Thyrsus can make themselves tangible to spirits in Twilight, although not gosts (Gossamer Touch; M:tAw p. 247)
With risk, most Thyrsus can fortify or weaken the Gauntlet at a Hallow (Place of Power; M:tAw p. 247)

Life

Most Thyrsus can perfectly control their own body functions, including breathing, reflexes, metabolism, and circulation (Body Control; M:tAw p. 181)
Most Thyrsus can cause a base lifeform to follow any one of its instincts they wish (Control Base Life; M:tAw p. 182)
Most Thyrsus can heal the wounds of animals and plants (Heal Flora and Fauna; M:tAw p. 182)
Most Thyrsus can toughen their bodies to protect themselves from attacks (Organic Resilience; M:tAw p. 183)
Most Thyrsus can cleanse others of drugs, toxins, or poisons (Purify Bodies; M:tAw p. 183)
Most Thyrsus can cure themselves of sicknesses and diseases (Self-Purging; M:tAw p. 183)
Most Thyrsus can grant another Mage Sight to see vitalic animation (Visions of the Living World; M:tAw p. 185)
Most Thyrsus can perform physical tasks as rote actions (Puissant Skill; Myst p. 195)
Most Thyrsus can activate a body's autonomous functions in the absence of those functions' usual triggers (Trigger Autonomic Function; Myst p. 196)
Most Thyrsus can draw nutrients from their own body fat to obliviate the need of one day and night's food and rest (Simulate Basic Needs; Ban p. 57)

With risk, most Thyrsus can grant the features of one base life form to another base life form (Transfer Base Features; M:tAw p. 184)
With risk, most Thyrsus can transform one base life form into another base life form (Transform Base Life; M:tAw p. 184)

At cost, most Thyrsus can heal themselves (Self-Healing; M:tAw p. 183)
At cost, most Thyrsus can lengthen their own lifespans and boost their heath and the speed of their healing (Body Mastery; Myst p. 195)

With risk and at cost, most Thyrsus can transform base organic matter into tasty and nutritious food (Bread Alone; TotM p. 64)

Three-dot Spells
Spirit

Many Thyrsus can create containers to trap souls (Soul Jar; M:tAws p. 248)
Many Thyrsus can force spirits to perform simple actions (Control Spirit; M:tAws p. 248)
Many Thyrsus can exorcise possessing spirits (Exorcism; M:tAws p. 248)
Many Thyrsus can summon any spirit of any power, known to them or not (Greater Spirit Summons; M:tAws p. 249)
Many Thyrsus can shield themselves against spirit powers (Numinous Shield; M:tAws p. 249)
Many Thyrsus can restore severed souls (Restore Lost Soul; M:tAws p. 250)

With risk, many Thyrsus can harm spirits (Harm Spirit; M:tAws p. 249)
With risk, many Thyrsus can reach across the Gauntlet to manipulate objects on the other side (Reaching; M:tAws p. 250)

At cost, many Thyrsus can forge pacts with familiars (Familiar Pact; M:tAws p. 249)
At cost, many Thyrsus can heal spirits (Restore Corpus; M:tAws p. 250)

With risk and at cost, many Thyrsus can awaken a dormant spirit slumbering within an object (Rouse Spirit; M:tAws p. 250)
With risk and at cost, many Thyrsus can open hole in the Gauntlet through which anyone can pass (Spirit Road; M:tAws p. 251)

Life

Many Thyrsus can cure others of their diseases or sicknesses (Banish Plague; M:tAw p. 185)
Many Thyrsus can trigger chosen instincts in complex animals (Control Median Life; M:tAw p. 185)
Many Thyrsus can strengthen the bodies of others against attacks (Organic Shield; M:tAw p. 187)
Many Thyrsus can silence a creature by paralyzing all organs it might use to produce sound (Enforced Silence; GotV p. 188)
Many Thyrsus can rob a target of all useful motor control (Palsy; GotV p. 189)
Many Thyrsus can disrupt targets' motor skills and emotions through induced brain chemical imbalance (Chemical Imbalance; TotM p. 65)
Many Thyrsus can induce vertigo with a touch (Induce Vertigo; Ban p. 58)
Many Thyrsus can enhance their heath and healing speed and prolong their lives, within limits (Body Mastery; GoG p. 32)

With risk, many Thyrsus can wither the form of a base creature, complex animal, or themselves (Degrating the Form; M:tAw p. 186)
With risk, many Thyrsus can transfer features from one complex animal to another, or to a base life form (Transfer Median Features; M:tAw p. 187)
With risk, many Thyrsus can transform one complex animal into another (Transform Median Life; M:tAw p. 187)
With risk, many Thyrsus can change their own facial features (Two Faces; M:tAw p. 188)
With risk, many Thyrsus can manipulate vegitation to hold a target in place (Gaia's Hold; AA p. 180)

At cost, many Thyrsus can heal the wounds of other humans (Healing Heart; M:tAw p. 186)
At cost, many Thyrsus can raise their own physical attributes or those of a base lifeform or complex animal (Honing the Form; M:tAw p. 186)
At cost, many Thyrsus can smell like stronger predators to predators and smell non-threatening to prey animals (Scent of Nature; GoG p. 139)

With risk and at cost, many Thyrsus can grant themselves the physical features of base life forms or complex animals (Transform Self; M:tAw p. 187)

...

I'll save my commentary for after I can read this document properly formatted as a forum post, and not a .txt document full of vbcode.

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by Stephenls

Some time ago I made this post. The idea was that the Path descriptions in the Mage corebook are soft-headed cliché bullshit that appear to have been written on autopilot and best ignored (sorry, anonymous author, but I'm tired, and don't sugarcoat well when tired), but the idea of paths is salvageable. The most direct, visceral, immediately useful way to figure out how the paths might influence the personalities and behaviors of the mages upon them is to figure out how having two favored arcana, from which one can cast improvised magic freely, might shape a mage's area of competence. Area of competence shapes behavior, and also shapes area of confidence, which shapes personality. If you can see and talk to ghosts whenever you want, you are likely to become over time a different person than you would be if you could only do that by expending precious magic juice (or couldn't do it at all) but could instead immediately perceive both the outcome of an imminent "random" event and how that outcome will effect your own future. (That's Moros and Acanthus, respectively.) This would be the case even if both hypothetical yous had started as exactly the same person!

This post is a revision of that one, expanded along three axes (I love that the plural of axis is indistinguishable from the plural of axe):

If I understand you correctly, your point isn't to change anything at all, but to examine what already exists. As you say, the path descriptions have almost no bearing on what a character is like. An Obrimos is angelic and often religious... why? They don't particularly travel between worlds well, or heal or bless those who come near them. They excel at blasting crap, or flying, or becoming invisible, or conjuring things from nothing, but this doesn't exactly scream "angelic" to me (except in a rather hermetic "angels of the four elements" kinda way), and certainly nothing that would encourage one to find god.

This differs from, say, Clan or Covenant, because a Clan gives you a weakness and set powers: All Daeva are weak to their vice, and thus prone to emotional outbursts of self-importantness, pettiness, lust or rage; Furthermore, all Daeva are phyiscally strong, quick and impressive, making them the most super-heroish of the clans. We can see why Daevas might be come across as primadonna-ish. Likewise, Circle of the Crone members have access to witchcraft. Bam, they're witches. Carthians have access to loads of contacts and allies within their particular venue. Bam, Carthians are movers and shakers of the political world. A Daeva Carthian, thus, is exactly what one would expect a Daeva Carthian to be.

So, discarding soft, fluffy descriptions that have absolutely zero mechanical bearing on our characters, what does being an Obrimos really mean?

I like your methods. I did something similar with the Rotes and their associated Order and Ability, to see what Order was associated with what spell and, more importantly, which spells were they really good at.

[Mathias Jack]

All I can say for now, is that I post to subscribe, not only to the thread, but to your concise methodological approach to the Paths that is just quite brilliant, Stephen.

I am not convinced that WW will ever do a second edition of Awakening, but they should consider hiring you for the core book if they ever do - hell, they already recognize talent since you've developed two books for them.

Thank you for this. I was using the old post for player inspiration and now it is has been updated. I is happy.

[Jon Chung]

Ah, excellent. I've been using the old post as well. Saved.

[Stephenls]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

If I understand you correctly, your point isn't to change anything at all, but to examine what already exists. As you say, the path descriptions have almost no bearing on what a character is like. An Obrimos is angelic and often religious... why? They don't particularly travel between worlds well, or heal or bless those who come near them. They excel at blasting crap, or flying, or becoming invisible, or conjuring things from nothing, but this doesn't exactly scream "angelic" to me (except in a rather hermetic "angels of the four elements" kinda way), and certainly nothing that would encourage one to find god.

This differs from, say, Clan or Covenant, because a Clan gives you a weakness and set powers: All Daeva are weak to their vice, and thus prone to emotional outbursts of self-importantness, pettiness, lust or rage; Furthermore, all Daeva are phyiscally strong, quick and impressive, making them the most super-heroish of the clans. We can see why Daevas might be come across as primadonna-ish. Likewise, Circle of the Crone members have access to witchcraft. Bam, they're witches. Carthians have access to loads of contacts and allies within their particular venue. Bam, Carthians are movers and shakers of the political world. A Daeva Carthian, thus, is exactly what one would expect a Daeva Carthian to be.

So, discarding soft, fluffy descriptions that have absolutely zero mechanical bearing on our characters, what does being an Obrimos really mean?

I like your methods. I did something similar with the Rotes and their associated Order and Ability, to see what Order was associated with what spell and, more importantly, which spells were they really good at.

Exactly.

[Ferrinus]

It really is amazing how disappointing the Path writeups in the corebook were. I was sold on the Paths the moment someone pointed out that each path had two Arcana that represented the material and metaphysical incarnation of some unified concept (so Obrimos were basically the path of raw power, Mastigos were the path of perception, Acanthus were the path of causality, etcetera), but instead of any sort of cool elaboration on this we got the fact that Moros are prone to wearing funeral colors.

There's sort of seeds of truth in the descriptions, though, however unintentional they may be. Not all Acanthus are going to be happy-go-lucky tricksters, but the Acanthus path certainly allows you to get away with being one, because you know that everything's going to end up going your way. There's no special reason the Obrimos should be religiously or militarily inclined, but awakening as one might indeed give you a towering ego just because of how up-front and flashy the powers you've gained are...sure, you're not actually more magically powerful than all those other guys, but your power is much more visible and in-your-face. Etcetera.

[Mathias Jack]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

This differs from, say, Clan or Covenant, because a Clan gives you a weakness and set powers: All Daeva are weak to their vice, and thus prone to emotional outbursts of self-importantness, pettiness, lust or rage; Furthermore, all Daeva are phyiscally strong, quick and impressive, making them the most super-heroish of the clans. We can see why Daevas might be come across as primadonna-ish. Likewise, Circle of the Crone members have access to witchcraft. Bam, they're witches. Carthians have access to loads of contacts and allies within their particular venue. Bam, Carthians are movers and shakers of the political world. A Daeva Carthian, thus, is exactly what one would expect a Daeva Carthian to be.

So, discarding soft, fluffy descriptions that have absolutely zero mechanical bearing on our characters, what does being an Obrimos really mean?

A similar approach was actually used by WW when writing the Requiem book, The Blood, and how disciplines affect the user. The Tome of the Watchtowers would have been better if it had followed this same methodological approach.

I like your methods. I did something similar with the Rotes and their associated Order and Ability, to see what Order was associated with what spell and, more importantly, which spells were they really good at.

Care to share? It would be interesting to see the results of this approach applied to the Orders.

[DaveB]

Originally Posted by Mathias Jack

Care to share? It would be interesting to see the results of this approach applied to the Orders.

The Order books (well, apart from Free Council) already do this - they've got sections on the rote skills and how they apply to the Orders' magic.

I like the sum-ups up thread;

Acanthus : Causality
Mastigos : Perception
Moros : Transition
Obrimos : Power
Thyrsus : (I'm going to say "Living", but I don't just mean the Life Arcanum)


Don't discount, though, the effect the Path Realm has on the Awakening Mage, either - I think many Obrimos cling to religious beliefs more than other Paths simply because they spend their otherworldly sojourn in Heaven. Firey, scary, Heaven, but Heaven nonetheless.

[Ferrinus]

Originally Posted by DaveB

Thyrsus : (I'm going to say "Living", but I don't just mean the Life Arcanum)

Growth? Hunger? Evolution?