Affinity Spheres and Specialty Sphere: Each Traditions lists two "Affinity Spheres". A character chooses ONE of these Affinity Spheres as hes "Specialty Sphere" - the Sphere in which sheh receives hes bonus dot and which has a lower experience cost to improve.
Gauntlet: The Gauntlet is not the harsh barrier it is in the normal M:tA handbook. It is more like the one described in M:SC - a coldness detected as one passes through. As such, the Storm Warden Merit is not exactly a "best buy", unless you expect the non-existent Technocracy to thicken the Gauntlet during the course of the Chronicle.
Can I play a Sorcerer or Psychic? I would not recommend playing a Sorcerer/Psychic for the entire Chronicle. I fear you won't have many opportunities to shine in the company of Magi. It is possible, however, for an Awakened Mage to learn Path Magic, though it means that hard-won experience won't be going to Spheres and Arete. You can do some pretty neat stuff with two dots of Enchantment, but you can do a whole lot MORE with two more dots in Prime.
While the idea of a Sorcerer Awakening during the course of the campaign sounds pretty exciting, I worry about two things: party balance before, and party balance after. You will, no doubt, be the weakest member of the cabal, at the beginning. Since, after you Awaken, you would normally gain quite a few new abilities, plus (possibly) keep all of your old ones (making your Mage more powerful than the existing PCs), certain balances must be added into the picture. If you are still interested in playing out the Awakening of a Sorcerer once you've realized and accepted this, I won't try to deter you further.
I have a few suggested methods of creating a Sorcerer who will eventually Awaken.
1. Build your character as a Mage, but using the number of points in each category a sorcerer would receive - Attributes, Abilities, etc... (trust me; it'll make sense in a minute). Then build it again as a beginning Sorcerer (keep the same attributes and abilities, and comparable Backgrounds). Figure out how much experience it would take for your Mage to learn the Path knowledges (Psychic or otherwise) your sorcerer started with (35 to 105, depending on the rating of Paths). This is quite a bit of experience, but Sorcerers have other disadvantages that may reduce this cost:
-10 XP for the two-point attribute deficit
-10 XP for the shortage of ability points
-2 XP for fewer Backgrounds
+6 XP for more Freebie points (unless you want to really speed things up by sacrificing these)
------
So, reduce the total conversion XP cost by 16
When you spend enough experience to "Awaken", pull out the Mage sheet, and add the final Paths and any new attributes/abilities you bought along the way. "Mana" Background can become "Avatar" Background. "Guide" can become "Familiar", or be added to the "Avatar" rating (up to limitations).
This is the hard way, requiring more math than my brain normally cares to handle. It works best if you intend to stay a Sorcerer for awhile before Awakening. It gives you a goal to work towards, allowing you to spend experience on other things, if you want, until the big day when you open your Eyes. It is best if you want to show a person STRUGGLING to achieve Illumination.
2. Make a Mage character, but spend as many points as you can "sell" (to a minimum of the standard Attribute and Ability points listed in Sorcerer), and spend them on Paths. The only catch is that you don't have access to your Spheres or any other Mage-only attribute (except for Avatar/Mana, and other such similar abilities) until you Awaken. This means you will be EXTREMELY weak at the beginning, and so this will only work if you expect to Awaken within the first three sessions, or so. This is cool as hell, however, since it shows how much of an impact Awakening can have on a person's life, granting hem a power greater than any sheh has ever had. It is good if you want to show how EMPOWERING Awakening can be.
3. A blending of the other two. As #2 above, except you get to spend as many additional points on Paths as you're willing to buy in experience later. This is a compromise, but has the potential to backfire. It isn't as quick as #2, and leaves your Sorcerer more vulnerable than #1.
4. As #3, except that you can Awaken anytime, but lose any Paths you did not "buy" before doing so. This is not quite as neat as #2, but it shows how much Awakening CHANGES a person - ravaging hem even as it illuminates hem.
I hope that helps. I don't have the original Sorcerer book, so I'm making these up myself. I think they all would work well, depending on what you are going for in character-development. Enlightenment is a life-changing experience, whether you PURSUE it, CLAIM it, or SUCCUMB to it.
So, I guess the answer to your question is "Yes, you can play a Sorcerer/Psychic who will eventually Awaken, but not an ordinary Sorcerer."
| Back to Rules | Back to Mage: Epic Fantasy | Back to Role-Playing Games | Back to Creation | Home |
© 2002 by Eric Zawadzki
Please respect the time, energy, and creativity that went into this project.