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The Avatar

I want to make clear that this is a VERY IMPORTANT thing to think carefully about. The aspects of your character’s Avatar and the choices of its Essence will determine the ultimate magical goals that your mage will feel compelled to pursue. It should reflect the core concepts of who your character is or will become. More importantly, it will play a pivotal role in the growth of your mage as they strive for greater enlightenment and power via moments of challenge and growth called Seekings.

An Avatar is effectively a spiritual guide—though in rare instances an Avatar may be manifested in the “real world”—that helps a mage grow in understanding and power. The way an Avatar guides a mage can take many personas: from that of a patient teacher, a caring parent, to a brute who forces understanding. Whatever role it takes, the connection between a mage and their Avatar is the key to mystic understanding. The stronger it is to you, the more a mage understands.

The form the compulsions and guidance from an Avatar take stem from the Avatar’s Essence—the persona of the Avatar itself. There are four common types of Essences: Dynamic, Pattern, Primordial and Questing.

Dynamic Essence

The Dynamic Avatar is chaotic, impulsive, alive with energy and desire. It seeks endless challenge and the birth of new forms.

Pattern Essence

A Pattern Essence prizes order, structure, and balance. These Avatars speak in systems and patterns, and can take the form of mathematical visions, ancestral laws, or cosmic rhythms.

Primordial Essence

The Primordial Avatar speaks in symbols older than language, and moves through instinct, fear, hunger, and awe. This Essence destroys old forms and sows chaos to bring about renewal and rebirth.

Questing Essence

Looking for answers, testing limits, and demanding growth through experience falls under the purview of a Questing Essence. It builds upon a series of experiences to reach some eventual goal.

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