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?
Comments
112 responses to “Luminous Beings [Mage: The Awakening]”
Tokyo!!!!
I vote Tokyo.
Tokyo. I’ve already got a Consillium for Kyoto 😉
“the Astral Realms leak into the material world”
Well now I have to vote for LA, as much as I’d like to see Tokyo (since that’s, IIRC, the one city that’s present in all three of Vampire’, Werewolf’s, and Mage’s new corebooks).
Also Promethean’s and Changeling’s.
Tucson man, sounds like a blast.
Btw, are you all still on course for a release during the spring?
This seems to be a bit of a weird double-post (this one was the first one I made, but the system told me to begin with was a “double-post”).
Please don’t count this vote.
So is marking places with their Nimbus a way for Cabals to mark their territory/sanctum/what have you, or do Cabals get their own form of ‘pseudo-Nimbus’ connected to the Sigil (or, indeed, am I just talking our of my ass)?
I like the idea of a merged cabal nimbus myself, so even if that’s not a thing I’d probably make it one.
Tucson man, sounds like fun.
Btw, are you all still on course for a release during the spring?
??????orz
Okay, apparently it’ll accept Japanese unicode in the comment writing box but not the final comment. I’d like to see Tokyo, please!
LA’s premise sounds very interesting!
As an Angeleno, how can I resist seeing how weird my city truly is? LOS ANGELES.
Tokyo, please.
Tokyo.
LA, please.
Since Shadow Names are linked to Nimbus, do Orders and Cabals have something similar to Nimbus, or is their Shadow Name useful for something else ?
And Tokyo. I want to know what is “dead magic” (hoping it’s not some kind of Death Magic)
Shadow Names have always existed as a sort of firewall against Sympathy. This is just one more instance in which they fulfill that function.
It’s not about “dead magic”, it’s about “zones of dead magic.” I guess Mage corebook contains something about these zones, but now I can’t remember…
High end Prime and/or Death Magic as I recall, places where its _really_ hard to use magic, hefty penalties to all casting rolls, and possibly some penalty to Artifacts and imbued items as well. Its been awhile. Always struck me as Doomsday Protocol type of thing, if someone is about to kill you horribly, knock out everyone’s magic for a little and hope a good right hook can save your life where your Adept/Single degree Master skill would not.
I’m liking the sound of Tucson.
Gotta go with Tucson. Very interested in the Nameless.
Hoo boy.
I’d like to see Tokyo, hoping we might see some Abyssal not-at-all-goodness.
Also, hooray for custom Tilts! Really shows that a mage is someone unique and special in the world, and makes them as unpredictable as they should be.
Los Angeles, because I’m a sucker for the Astral realms and anything connected to them. Also seeing the Diamond and the Free Council as proper opposed factions sounds worthwhile.
Not the Free Council and Diamond – the Assembly and Consilium. Both have all five Orders in them!
Remind me, what’s the difference between the two? One is a democratic voting block, the other a more formal ‘royal court’ type deal?
LA
My vote is for Los Angeles, please.
Los Angeles
I am voting for Tucson because it sounds the most like the game I am currently running and I need all the plot seeds I can get.
Tokyo!!
Well let’s go to the great city of LA.
A city of mad prophets? Sign me up for L.A., my friend!
Los Angeles.
Tokyo a hundred times over.
C’mon LA!
Also – very cool! I’m extremely intrigued by crafting your own Nimbus, complete with mechanics this time.
Also – wow, seems like being an Obrimos – or *friends* with an Obrimos – would be a LOT better than being sympathetically connected to a Moros or Mastigos…
I’m not so sure – ever have a real crisis of faith? That’s the sort o thing I can imagine friends of an Obrimos being plagued with
No always.
Your good friend the Obrimos might be a find and upstanding fellow, but when you’re with him, I’d imagine it’s often way too hot or cold, anything electrical might not survive for long (say goodbye to your Iphone or even your car), and anything close to crisis of faith would be grueling, and certainly make sure you’re nowhere near a nuclear power plant if you ever want to have kids . . .
Except for the religious aspects, think of the downside of the Obrimos Long-Term Nimbus to be not at all dissimilar to the effects of White Counsel wizards in the Harry Dresden books.
Harry’s effect on electronics is a prime example of a high Gnosis Obrimos. Not all high Gnosis Obrimos, mind, but if you want to go that route that’s how you’d do it.
Good points! 😀
As presented, I don’t think this nimbus is really my cup of tea, but we’ll see in the book how it really is.
These descriptions seem like too overt.
To me, this doesn’t sound like much difference from 1e, except the effects have actual mechanics backing them up. As you say, though, we shall see.
(Voting for Tuscan)
It isn’t. We’re trying to be clearer about it, and to give options beyond “+1 to Intimidation” for the immediate nimbus, in the line of second edition aura mechanics, but the Gnosis 6 tipping point, the area that you touched things associated with you and left your magical fingerprint on your spells… All from 1st ed. Like sacraments, many groups forgot about it.
Tucson!
All of three of the cities sound intriguing, but I’m going with Tokyo.
I like this quite a bit. Will legacies change or modify over time a mage’s nimbus in addition to her soul?
LA.
Yeah, they should be incorporated into it the way your dedicated tools and Shadow Name are.
I pledged before I vote for Tokyo, so I do. But would not be disappointed if Los Angeles would win, also. 🙂
One more for the question about cabal and it’s Sigil having problems like individual mages and their Shadow Names.
Long term nimbus really reminds me of the effects of Legend and Fate Binding in Scion. I don’t mind seeing cool ideas slip back and forth across the worlds at all. I’m reminded of how similar Titans and True Fae were as well. Looks like some powerful narrative tools in Nimbus.
Tucson: I’m deeply curious about Nameless Orders as the consolidation of all the Ascension orders into the Pentacle was one design choice that I didn’t really care for even as I understand that they reflected specific traditions from Atlantis rather than all magic users everywhere.
Los Angeles!
I vote for Tokyo.
TOKYO
Tokyo.
Tokyo please.
Tokyo!
Tuscan, please; I’d like to see more of a place where the Orders don’t dominate.
LA.
Nimbus stuff is quite cool.
Ha, and I thought it would be a no brainer to choose between Tokio and whatever. How silly of me.
Let’s see Tucson then, Nameless need some love.
This is a neat kittle mechanic. Love it.
Tokyo.
Difficult choice, but I think I’ll vote LA this time around.
I have a question. I know you mentioned that New York was cut from the book for space reasons, but you may release it as a PDF once the book was out. Is that still the case?
Great stuff, as usual.
Unless we can get it into a different book, yeah.
Tokyo, man. I love me some Dave Hill stuff.
I’ll have to vote for Tokyo!
Tokyo
Tokyo.
It’s a toss up between the city of mega-crossovers (Tokyo), the smaller city of the G-M cross-over (LA, thanks to the Demon Seed Collection) or Tuscan?
Meh, I’ll get them all when I buy the book but I’d like to give the Nameless some love now. Tuscan it is.
Demon Seed Collection and Demon Interface. Someone’s gotta take down Unicorn!
Are the Long-Term Nimbus effects always detrimental or annoying, or could they sometimes be positive?
Although LTN effects not directly controllable, is there a way to influence them mechanically or with Arcana like Prime?
The Immediate Nimbus is generally invisible to Sleepers. Can other supernaturals and Sleepwalkers see your Immediate Nimbus similar to other mages?
Other supernatural beings can only see it when you make it visible in the Fallen World, (like deliberately flaring it,) unless they can somehow see the Supernal World.
Nimbus can absolutely be positive – even for the immediate Nimbus you can build your Tilt so it gives bonuses to everyone in the vicinity rather than penalties.
Prime is indeed the Arcanum with “affects Nimbuses” in its purview. Last edition, Prime let you *not* leave your signiature nimbus (then called “resonance”) on the subject of a spell, and to cast without flaring your nimbus in people’s Mage Sight.
are changelings able to see the supernal?
I’m wondering if they can if they stumble onto a Supernal Verge myself. Can they forge a Contract with the Supernal if they are in a Supernal Verge? If so, how would it affect their Mein and Clarity?
No
In Blood and Smoke, Uncanny Perception gives an example of seeing “The glowing halo of a mage’s nimbus.” When using that power specifically are they briefly seeing the Supernal, then, or would they only see a generic interpretation of the nimbus based on the Beast’s perceptions, rather than seeing the true form of it?
First Tokyo.
Second, this sounds pretty neat. We can fluff what our Nimbus looks like however we want, right? Subject to Path restrictions anyway?
As long as your Storyteller agrees, yes.
Tokyo, please. Side note, any cities in Canada getting the supernatural treatment any time soon? Maybe not for Mage, but I bet Toronto would be a great Changeling setting.
Requiem has Montreal as the Pit of the Nameless.
Well I’d normally vote otherwise, but you made LA seem to interesting to miss: so make it the city of angels for me.
Long-term Nimbus sounds like a quasi ‘fluff mechanic’ – an in-universe explanation for why Plot happens to Mages, basically. But then the severity and radius of its effects are matched by more ‘crunchy’ mechanics. I’m concerned that’s a weird thing to fine-tune.
Mummy has a ‘why Plot happens’ mechanic with unease Sybaris, but it seems, from what we’ve heard about Nimbus, relatively straight-forward in comparison: “How much Sekhem do you have and how much Memory do you have? Okay, this is a fluff description of what happens.”
And why does the Immediate Nimbus reveal itself upon fulfillment of Virtue/Vice? It seems like it would come up often. Thematically I thought Virtue/Vice was the last shard of a Mage’s humanity, mechanically. Here, though, it’s connected to how the Supernal wraps itself around you. I can understand that, perhaps, but I’m curious if it fits thematically with what you want out of Virtue/Vice for Mages.
THANK YOU for finally just giving out a setting. I almost don’t even want to vote…
…but I’ll vote for Tucson! 🙂
I like the effects and how they’re described. The only thing I’m not enthusiastic about is the naming of the different types. “Long-Term” is kind of bland, I think. I might look at terms like “Malignant” or “Pervasive” to describe these kinds of Nimbus effects. Just a thought.
Also: LA.
I second this idea, I love the concepts but Long-Term is indeed a little bland. Also I vote… erm… LA.
Tokyo
Los Angeles
Tucson!
Los Angeles, I’m in love with the Astral Realms.
Speaking of those, will the MtA 1.0 Astral Realms book still be valid after MtA 2.0 is released?
Long term Nimbus seems very similar to Ta’vareen from the Wheel of Time. Anyway I vote Tokyo!
They all sound great, but if I am to pick one I vote Tokyo.
Tuscon, but all three sound interesting.
LA
Tokyo.
Definitely voting LA.
Also, how much will the book provide in the way of guidelines for designing a mage’s nimbus tilt?
Tokyo!
It is such a tough decision. I guess I will have to vote for Tokyo, although there will be no disappointment from me if LA wins in the end.
Tucson
Tokyo please!!!
Tokyo!
Los Angeles please.
I vote for Tokyo – anything that moves settings away from the American or European focus, which the WoD has got a lot better at over the years.
LA, as usual. 🙂
eyyy, Tucson. we don’t turn up much in WoD products. I look forward to my first opportunity to go “pff, suuure!”
Tokyo.
I vote Tokyo!
LA.
Los Angeles please!
Looks like having a mentor with high Gnosis and low Wisdom is a particularly exciting experience/well of plot hooks…
Will there be a “Mage the Awakening 2nd Ed. Deluxe” kickstart?
(P.S.: I vote Tokyo too)
Always Tokyo good sir.
i vote LA
I vote for Los Angelos and all the Philip K. Dick references you can throw at me.
Tokyo, please!
[…] Mage: The Awakening 2e: Luminous Beings […]
Tucson!
While I can see Nimbus being a very good way to add depth and flavor to the “I roll dice, stuff happens” aspect of the game, I can’t help but feel that it can also clutter a scene. Some players, I can already tell, will want to have me narrate it to them, and will want to narrate it when they cast spells- and other players will roll their eyes and think “yeah yeah, get on with it”. I’m not sure how to overcome this and make both sides happy.