Luminous Beings [Mage: The Awakening]

Mage: The Awakening, Open Development



The people have spoken, and so Nimbus it is.

Some supernatural beings in the World of Darkness are possessed of an “aura”, a spiritual presence that tells those so sensitive that the being is something else. Vampires have a predatory aura, werewolves have a powerful, feral mein about them. Mages’ souls are wrapped in the stuff of the Supernal, marking them as glorious and terrifying. Their Awakened state stirs the Supernal World around them, causing subtle effects in Fallen reality.

This phenomenon, this Nimbus, is based on numerous factors including her Path, Legacy, and other pieces of personal symbolism. Her Shadow Name and her magical tools can influence its appearance, for example. The main part of a mage’s nimbus is wholly invisible except when spellcasting, and even then only to Mage Sight most of the time.

A Nimbus takes three forms, a Long-Term Nimbus, an Immediate Nimbus, and a Signature Nimbus. Each comes into play in different circumstances.

Long-Term Nimbus

The Long-Term Nimbus is a series of subtle coincidences that surrounds your character. These are purely story-based effects, bits of strangeness that align with your character’s Path. For example, around Thyrsus, spirits are more likely to show up, strange pathogens infect people, and likewise terminal diseases can vanish. Moros bring ghastly hauntings, decay, rust, and mechanical breakdowns. Obrimos cause religious revelation, extreme weather swings, or blackouts. Acanthus cause strange luck, lost memories to rise up, or to see possible fates. Mastigos cause people’s fears to well up, and sometimes they see their internal devils.

It’s important to note that the Long-Term Nimbus is not a controllable force; it’s just a matter of strange, fractal geometry in the universe. Patterns converge around your character’s life. However, a character’s Gnosis determines its general potency. It can become truly obvious at six or more dots of Gnosis. The Long-Term Nimbus affects places, people, and things associated with the mage – associated by ties of magical sympathy, not geographical location. While Gnosis determines how strong the Long-Term nimbus is, Wisdom defines how far along the mage’s sympathies it spreads – the lower the farther. At high Wisdom only a mage’s Sanctum, magical tools, and close associates are touched by her magic, while an unwise mage finds his Nimbus spreading to friends, family, and personal haunts. Since time immemorial, however, organized mages have known that keeping a spiritual separation between one’s magical and mundane lives alleviates the Nimbus’ effect — adopting a Shadow Name causes the Nimbus to “ground” onto the mage’s magical life, so that – for example – his Sanctum and Apprentices are touched rather than his home and children. Especially strong Nimbuses do still leak past a Shadow Name’s protection, but not to their full extent – a Moros Master whose Sanctum is avoided by all living animals and attracts ghosts in great numbers might only create a gloomy atmosphere in her family home.

The exact rules for Long-Term Nimbus are still in flux, as they depend on careful balancing between the Sympathy Chart and the Tiered effects of Wisdom.

Immediate Nimbus

The Immediate Nimbus is the powerful aura directly surrounding the mage, wrapping close to her gnosis and flashing out as the Supernal World ebbs and flows against her. Under Mage Sight, when the mage casts a spell, it flares in a sensory display iconic of her Path. On occasion, it becomes visible even to Sleeping eyes albeit in a muted, toned-down form. Mages can deliberately reveal their Immediate Nimbus, but it also manifests involuntarily when the mage fulfills their Virtue or Vice triggers to regain Willpower. The Immediate Nimbus appears based mostly on the character’s Path. It’s a force, a halo of raw creation stuff. Sometimes, this is visible, sometimes it’s a sensation, a smell, or a muddy, primal emotion. For Thyrsus, this might look like a mist of blood, or might cause a deep rutting instinct. Moros might cause subtle rot around them, or melancholy. Obrimos bask in holy light, or cause remarkable inspiration. Acanthus appear as if time bends around them, and cause fatalism. Mastigos glow with a sickly green fire, and cause temptation to swell in onlookers.

When the Immediate Nimbus flares, it causes a Nimbus Tilt unique to the character, affecting onlookers according to and an interaction of the mage’s Gnosis and their Resolve. The effects last only a few seconds (longer for lower-Wisdom mages) and although Sleepers are affected they suffer Quiescence once the Tilt ends, making them forget what they saw. Mages are only affected by the Nimbus of much stronger mages against their will, as they add their own Gnosis to resist. Other supernatural creatures tend to have aura effects that cause long-term Conditions instead of Tilts. When a mage is targeted by such an effect, she can flare her Nimbus and contest it with a Resistance Atribute + Gnosis roll.

During character creation for Awakening Second Edition, you craft your mage’s custom Nimbus Tilt, which then grows in power as they increase in Gnosis. You can choose positive, negative, or a combination of mechanical effects.

Signature Nimbus

The Signature Nimbus is just that, an identifier your character leaves on the things her Awakened soul has touched. When she uses a spell, praxis, rote, or Attainment, she leaves little wisps of her identity on that magic. A mage utilizing focused Mage Sight can recognize those signatures she’s seen before. If the signature comes from a particularly great Gnosis (6+), it offers a bonus to rolls to scrutinize that pattern. For every dot of Gnosis above five, add one die to relevant dice pools.

Signature Nimbus looks the part of residue from the Immediate Nimbus. If your character has a fiery Immediate Nimbus, her Signature Nimbus might be charring and ash, for example. Or if her Immediate Nimbus causes intoxication, her Signature Nimbus might feel like a hangover.

If a mage wishes, she can imprint her Signature Nimbus clearly onto an object, place, or person, marking them invisibly with her power. Spend a Mana. In this case, add her Gnosis to any rolls to scrutinize that Nimbus. Doing this causes the subject to be affected by the mage’s Long-Term Nimbus, but it wears off after a period of time determined by her Wisdom tier.

Next Week!

Just to keep you guessing, we’ll head back out to the settings. We’re going to see one of the sample Consilia, but rather than a choice of two, let’s make it one of three! In the city of Los Angeles, the Astral Realms leak into the material world, causing visions and prompting dreamers to spout prophecy into a city bitterly divided between Assembly and Consilium. With ten Order Caucuses, can the Pentacle spot the signs of impending disaster in time? Across in Arizona, the city of Tucson is a haven for the Nameless, rebuffing the Phoenix Consilum’s attempts to bring them into the fold. From the empty tower of Mission San Xavier Del Bac, phantom bells ring out across the Supernal World. Finally, half a world away in Tokyo the Consilium squabble over the meaning of their inheritance from a legendary founding figure, and struggle to map and understand the shifting zones of dead magic that drift across the city.

So, LA, Tucson, or Tokyo?