Editing Mage: The Ascension (section)

===Making a Mage===
A mage has a composite soul, with a special portion acquired at birth called an Avatar, which is what grants the mage her magical abilities; a mage's Awakening to magical ability is specifically the awakening of the Avatar portion of her soul.  There are four types of Avatars: three corresponding to the [[Metaphysic Trinity|Metaphysic Trinity (Dynamicism, Stasis, Entropy)]], and a fourth middle ground; from [[Dynamicism]] comes ''Dynamic'' avatars which urge toward acts of creation, from [[Stasis]] comes ''Pattern'' avatars which urge toward protection of what is valuable, from [[Entropy]] comes oddly named ''Primordial'' avatars which urge toward elimination of the worst parts of reality, and the middle ground is ''Questing'' avatars which urge toward higher quality and harmony of the Metaphysic Trinity.  Players choose their Avatar type as part of character creation; depending on the game your [[gamemaster]] runs, the impact of your character's Avatar type could range from center-of-plot to inconsequential.

The difficulty of playing ''Mage'' often begins right at character generation, since newly Awakened mages are almost always incapable of grasping their capacity to bend reality. They're forced to fit their newfound powers into methodologies and belief systems that help them rationalize what they're able to do. This is called a "[[Reality Paradigm]]" ("Paradigm" for short) - and is by far one of the most difficult character creation experiences you can come across in table-top gaming. A paradigm is not only a belief system but also delves into your character's backstory and psyche - you have to craft an entire, logical reason for your character to be able to do magic. Maybe they're a Wiccan who believes they're chosen by the Goddess, or a devout nun who practices humble miracles on behalf of the Lord, or a strung-out hippie who believes they can see beyond reality and time when they listen to the Grateful Dead; it's a fair bit deeper than just picking a nature and a demeanor. 

Crafting this "reason" for their magic likewise brings with it the process they use to cast their magic. While someone who believes themselves a hermetic mage may chant in Latin and have specially prepared ritual circles, the nun example above would have her rosary beads and meaningful passages from the Bible to make her magic. The concept and Paradigm of a mage naturally flow into the process of their magic. While having your character be a member of a Tradition (discussed below) helps with figuring a lot of this out, you more often end up with people tossing aside interesting characters to just play easy-to-make Neo-Pagans.