Template:Character Creation Finishing Touches

Step Five: Finishing Touches

Paradigm, Practice, and Instruments

Magick is not merely a set of spells—it’s a direct expression of the mage’s belief about how the world works. The Traditions understand that reality is shaped by conviction, meaning that a character’s Paradigm, Practice, and Instruments aren’t just flavor—they’re the spiritual and philosophical backbone of their magic.

Together, these three elements form the Focus: a unified framework through which a Tradition mage interprets the world and enacts change upon it.

Paradigm

The Paradigm is your mage’s core belief about how the universe functions. Is reality a dream? A divine construct? A program running on a higher machine? This belief is more than just a worldview—it’s the lens through which your mage channels their power. Every Effect your character attempts should, in some way, make sense within the logic of their Paradigm. A Dreamspeaker might view reality as shaped by spirits, while a Hermetic may believe in immutable laws of universal correspondences.

When choosing a Paradigm, consider:

• What is the nature of reality?
• What causes things to happen?
• What forces does your mage believe they’re calling upon—or becoming?

Practice

Your Practice is the method by which your mage enacts their Paradigm. It’s the system or discipline they’ve trained in—what they've learned to do in order to make magick work. While two mages may both believe in divine will, one might express it through ascetic meditation while another chants verses from sacred texts. Examples of Practices include High Ritual Magick, Shamanism, Martial Arts, Yoga, Hermetic Invocation, or Alchemical Transmutation.

The Practice serves as a structure that grounds your mage’s understanding and implementation of their beliefs. It also informs which types of Instruments they’re likely to use.

Instruments

Instruments (Also called Foci) are the tools your mage uses to apply their Practice and express their Paradigm. These can be physical items—like prayer beads, ritual daggers, or incense—or symbolic behaviors and routines, like dance, code-writing, fasting, singing, or complex equations. Instruments help your mage focus their will and refine their intention.

A new character must begin with at least seven Instruments that they commonly use, ideally spanning a range of Spheres and situations. Seven is both a symbolic number and a useful one—helping ensure the mage’s focus is broad enough to handle a variety of magical tasks. Over time, as a mage’s Arete (Enlightenment) grows, they may gradually move beyond needing some of these tools, but in the beginning, Instruments are a vital part of performing magick.

You are free to create new Instruments or combine existing ones with Storyteller approval, as long as they make sense for your character’s overall concept. Hybrid focuses are also possible—for example, a Virtual Adept who integrates chaos magick into their hacking rituals, or an Akashic who combines meditation with bone-setting techniques.

Willpower

Mages often refer to themselves as Willworkers. In game terms this is actually quite literally the capital-T truth. Willpower determines a mage’s maximum number of Arete Traits and can be used to boost a spell’s power so that it has a greater effect.

Each character starts with 5 Traits of Willpower at CC.

Rules for what Willpower Traits can be spent on can be found in MET Laws of Ascension on pages 117-118.

Resonance

All mages have a certain Resonance, which can be thought of as a specific flavor tied to each mage's magick. These individual spins on the magic a mage performs colors their magick subtly when they perform them. The larger amount of Resonance a mage has, the more clearly it can be seen in their Effects

During the CC process a character will be assigned one Dynamic, Entropic or Static Resonance Trait.

An expanded explanation can be found starting on page 119 of MET Laws of Ascension.

Negative Traits

Each Negative Trait taken converts to an additional Free Trait that can be spent later when assigning Free Traits. You may take up to five Negative Traits.

EDITORS NOTE:

Should an ST, narrator, or another character in a challenge call out one of your negative traits you must bid an additional trait for the challenge. If you do not possess that negative trait, the aggressor must bid another trait in that challenge.

Common negative traits include Clumsy, Callous, or Forgetful.

Merits and Flaws

You must have Storyteller permission to take Merits and Flaws.

Merits At CC you may purchase Merits at cost, up to seven Traits worth of Merits total, with Free Traits. Once past the first seven Traits of Merits, the cost to purchase a Merit with Free Traits increases to twice the Trait value listed; after CC, Merits may be purchased with XP at twice the cost of the Trait value listed in the Merit’s description.

Flaws During the CC process, Flaws may be taken for additional Free Traits, to a total of seven Free Traits. In the case you gain a new Flaw in the course of play, you will not be granted new free Traits to spend, even if your character did not take Flaws up to or exceeding the seven Trait cap at CC.

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Free Traits

A character has a default of five starting Free Traits. Additional Free Traits can be earned by taking Negative Traits, Derangements or Flaws at CC.

Free Trait Costs

• One Free Trait buys an additional Attribute Trait.
• One Free Trait buys an additional Ability Trait.
• One Free Trait converts to an additional Background Trait, subject to Storyteller approval.
• Two Free Traits grants you an additional Arete Trait. You cannot raise that rating above a total of three Arete Traits in this manner, though. A first-time player’s Arete is capped at 2 in Inheritance of Ashes.
• Three Free Traits can be converted to an extra Willpower Trait, to a maximum of 10 permanent Willpower Traits.
• Three Free Traits allows you to learn the first level of any Sphere, subject Storyteller approval.
• Free Traits may be spent on Merits. For additional information see the “Merits” section at the bottom of the preceding page.

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Earning Additional Starting XP

All characters are automatically granted an additional 30 XP after character creation. An additional 30 XP, for a total starting XP pool of 60, can be earned by writing a backstory (minimum 1 page double spaced for 10 XP), completing the “Initial Character Information Sheet” for another 10 XP, and submitting a completed “Avatar Guide” for the last potential 10 XP.

Each draft of the backstory will be given an XP value based on the quality and length; if not full value is awarded, a total of up to three backstories may be submitted for revised Additional XP earning. With the initial starting XP, no more than half of the XP earned may be spent on Merits and/or Spheres.

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Spending Additional Starting XP

New Attribute Trait — One Experience per Attribute Trait. New Ability Trait — One Experience per Ability Trait. New Background Trait — One Experience per Trait with Storyteller approval. New Sphere — Four Experience Traits for Initiate or Apprentice level; eight Experience Traits for Disciple or Adept level; 12 Experience Traits for Master level. These costs increase to five/10/15 for Spheres other than your specialty Sphere. New Arete — Four Experience per Trait (A first-time player’s Arete is capped at 2 in Inheritance of Ashes. All new characters are capped at Arete 3). New Rote — One Experience Trait for each Sphere level used in the rote. New Specialization — One Experience Trait in an Ability you have at least four Traits in. New Willpower — Three Experience per Trait. Buy Off Negative Trait — Two Experience per Trait. Buying Merits — Merits may be purchased with XP at twice the cost of the Trait value listed in the Merit’s description. Buy Off Flaws — A flaw may be removed from a character’s sheet at twice the cost of the Trait value listed in the Flaw’s description.