When you create your character, please also consider the following:

Before I learned the Truth I was…

I learned the truth by…

Now I spend my days…

An Age of Terrifying Mysteries

It is a world lit by torch-fires and ruled by superstitions. It is a time

before the birth of reason and before humanitys dominion over the world.

This dark age is an epoch for castles, nobles, priests and wizards. Treading

in the shadows of the world, consorting with demons and monsters, these

magicians, holy men, philosophers and pagans wield unfathomable magic in

a world veiled in mystery.

An Age of Unparalleled Magic

Before the Technocracy existed a Mythic Age when magic ruled and science

was but a dream unborn. In these times mortal men and women cower amid

great wars and supernatural mysteries. Only wizards walk unafraid in the

revenant-haunted and wolf-infested night.

Mystic Fellowships:

Rare: Ahl-i-Batin, Messianic Voices, Old Faith, Order of Hermes, Spirit-Talker and Valdaermen

Arete remains in the form of Foundation, and still serves much the same purpose.

But the spheres are gone, instead replaced with four "Pillars" unique to each

Fellowship. What this reminded me of most was the path system in Vampire's

Thaumaturgy discipline, though definitely more broad. Dark Ages magic is much

more focused and specific than its modern day counterpart.

To those unfamiliar with Mage or its analogs, think of Foundation as a broad

representation of a character's magical knowledge, extended to that mage's

philosophical faction. The Ahl-i-Batin see their magical world through the

unity of Allah, while the Hermetics see it as a series of formula and a

definitive method to everything. The Pillars are the application of this

Foundation. Most of the Fellowships' Pillars are essentially the same, with

almost all having a way to heal, a way to hurt, a way to affect chance, and

general meddling with reality.

Paradox is replaced by Backlash, and is only accrued in the event of a botch.

Mages may be more focused in the Dark Ages, but they can sure mess with things

a lot more before they get spanked.

Once again, to those unfamiliar with mage, Backlash is what happens when

reality gets pissed at you. When you really fail a roll, you'll suffer

various penalties dependent on the magnitude of the failure and strength

of magics involved. You can have anything from simple minor insanity to

sprouting antlers to randomly having all the flesh be flayed off your body

in one chunk, in the most extreme of cases. Not fun. Not fun at all.