World of Darkness/Mage/Character

=Attributes= All Attributes start at 1 dot. Prioritize the three groups: Physical, Social and Mental. Apply 5/4/3 dots to the three groups. Raise a Resistance Attribute by 1. Maximum Attribute is 5.

=Abilities= Prioritize the three groups: Physical, Social and Mental. Apply 11/7/4 dots to the three groups. =Ability Specialties= Specialties add a success to a narrow, specialized area of an Ability. Add 3 Specialties to the Abilities. An Ability may have several Specialties. =Path= Choose one of the indicated Paths (here). =Order= Choose a Pentacle Order, Ministry, The Dragons, Nameless Order or Orderless character. They should have bonuses and penalties that are commensurate.

=Nimbus= Choose the iconography of your Nimbus. =Dedicated Magical Path Tool= Choose a unique item that may be used as a Gnosis rating Yantra for your Praxis spells.

=Arcana= 6 dots, 3 must be in the Superior Arcana and both must be present. None may be in the Inferior. The possible combinations are as follows: =Rotes= Choose 3 rotes. You must be able to cast them.(here) =XP Costs=
 * Specialist: 3, 2, 1 or 3, 1, 1, 1
 * Balanced: 2, 2, 2 or 2, 2, 1, 1
 * Generalist: 2, 1, 1, 1, 1

=Gnosis= Start with 1. Pay 5 Merit or Bonus points to raise your Starting Gnosis by 1. Max 3.

=Mana= Start with full Mana, as per the Gnosis table. =Praxes= Choose a spell per Gnosis that is your Praxis. This must be rote. Praxis allows for the reroll of failed rote dice.

=Merits and Flaws= Gain 10 points of Merits.

High Speech
Means you know the High Speech, and may use it as a non-reflexive 2-point Yantra.

Sanctum
• to ••••• Prerequisites: Safe Place Effect: Your character has a Sanctum, in which she can safely practice her art away from prying eyes. This might be a dark cave, an apartment, a pocket dimension, or any other secure location she can claim. This Merit must be tied to a Safe Place Merit, and similarly can be shared within a cabal. Add her Merit dots to her Gnosis within the Sanctum for determining spell control. She can leave the Sanctum and retain those benefits on previously cast spells. But if she’s exceeded her Gnosis and adds any additional, controlled spells, the benefit goes away and she must Reach as if she’d cast each of those spells without the benefit. For an additional three dots (which do not count toward the 1–5 limit), your character’s Sanctum includes a Demesne.

Shadow Name
• to ••• Effect: Your character has a particularly developed magical persona, and is almost a different person when acting as a mage than in her mundane life. When purchasing this Merit, determine the Shadow Name and its symbolism. The character may use those symbols as a persona tool in spellcasting, worth this Merit’s dots. Additionally, apply dots in this Merit as a Withstand rating to spells that attempt to identify her or cast on her using the Sympathetic Range Attainment when in her mundane persona, to spells using the Temporal Sympathy Attainment targeting a time when she was in her mundane persona, and as a dice penalty to mundane skill rolls relating to identifying her as the same person as her magical self.

=Bonus Points= 10 (In reality, XP). =Secondary Abilities=
 * Size: Characters start at Size 5.
 * Health: Characters start with Size + Stamina in Health dots.
 * Speed: 5 + Strength + Dexterity
 * Willpower: Resolve + Composure
 * Wisdom: 7
 * Initiative: Dexterity + Composure
 * Defense: (Lower of Wits or Dexterity) + Athletics

=Experience point costs= Note that increasing Gnosis affords a single, free Praxis. &#42; Willpower increases whenever Composure or Resolve increase, and has a maximum rating of the combined dots in both Attributes. This cost is to rebuy dots of Willpower spent in play, e.g. to relinquish spells.
 * Attribute 4 per Dot
 * Skill 2 per Dot
 * Merit 1 per Dot
 * Arcanum to Limit 4 per Dot*
 * Arcanum above Limit 5 per Dot
 * Gnosis 5 per Dot
 * Rote 1
 * Praxis 1
 * Willpower 1 per Dot*
 * Legacy Attainments 1 (tutored)
 * Legacy Attainments 1 (no tutor)
 * Skill Specialty 1

=Path Tool Materials and Weapon alternatives=
 * Acanthus: Glass, crystal, silver, reflective materials; Rapier, bow, precision weapons
 * Mastigos: Iron, brass, leather, worked materials; Curved sword, whip, cruel weapons
 * Moros: Lead, bone, gems, buried materials; Hammer, mace, crushing weapons
 * Obrimos: Steel, petrified wood, gold, perfected materials; Double-edged sword, spear, noble weapons
 * Thyrsus: Wood, copper, stone, natural materials; Axe, sling, hunting weapons

=Pentacle Order Tools=
 * Coins or other symbols of material wealth, which represent construction, repair, and inanimate or intangible things that last beyond mere human lifespans. It is the Tool closest to the Fallen World, and so is often used to manipulate it directly, for money or other resources.
 * Cups or other drinking vessels can invoke healing, intuition, perceptual magic, and gathering together. Drinking from a shared cup is a common way to spread a spell among a group. It’s often seen as a symbol of female sexuality, though what that means depends on the mage.
 * Mirrors may be actual mirrors, polished plates, or reflecting pools held in containers of the appropriate material. They represent sight, soul, and the self, and are the Magical Tool most commonly used when the mage would work a spell upon herself.
 * Rods, wands, or staves are symbols of control — the ability to point and have a thing happen. Pointing a rod is a way of singling out a specific victim, while holding one is a symbol of rulership and command. It’s also used as a symbol of male sexuality.
 * Weapons, most normally knives, are symbols of thought made action — any spell that takes direct, decisive action on the world (or a person) can benefit from a weapon. While often used to harm, weapons also represent the mastery of intellect and will over the world.