Questing for a Dynamic Pattern

I continue to miss Terry. The best host Mage the Podcast ever had was also a sounding board for my ideas. Our discussions through Internet calls allowed me to put my thoughts into words and that showed weaknesses that needed to be hammered out. A few discussions recently with Heilong, a long-time Mage fan, are meeting that need. As we discussed Mage’s themes the topic turned to Essences and I was reminded how at the game’s start, the Ascension War’s factions were each linked to an Essence to emphasize the concept’s importance. The diagram was not neat and tidy, however.

The Essences are:

• Dynamic – positive change, needed change
• Pattern – structure, order
• Primordial – primal, eternal principles
• Questing – searching for balance or solutions
• Infinite – totality, all-encompassing

The Essence model was:

• Technocracy – Pattern taken too far
• Marauders – Dynamic taken too far
• Nephandi – Primordial taken too far
• Traditions – Dynamic

First Edition had a stronger emphasis on Essence. Essences faded in later editions to little more than trivia. Like alignments in Dungeons & Dragons, it become more of a personality test. Zero Edition was a fascinating read because it made Essences one of the key concepts of the game. What made the Traditions the heroes of the game was not justice or morals but wisdom: they were the only ones with the proper sense of proportion. Dynamic, Pattern and Primordial are poles or cardinal directions. Many times a situation is improved, a solution is found, by leaning towards one of the cardinal directions.  There are other times when no leaning, or finding the right balance between cardinal directions, is the answer. That was Questing Essence. Infinite Essence was a mysterious, hypothetical Essence that no one understood. It was for Storytellers that wanted to explore the topic in their own games.

On reflection, it appears the Traditions may have represented the Questing Essence as they were trying to push society towards a healthy balance. Perhaps balance, at least in this context, can’t be taken too far. This cleans up the Essence model as each of the original factions in the Ascension War represents an Essence. Alas, problems remain.

First, Primordial is about eternal principles. Some things just don’t change. Linking that to the faction that wants to unmake the universe sort of works but it is a tenuous link.  Also, the Nephandi are more about evil than primordial chaos or lack of structure. Second Edition re-wrote the Primordial Essence to make it more sinister. That makes its association with the Nephandi work better but I was never happy with that view of Primordial. I stick to the First Edition writeup.

Second, assigning the Traditions to the Questing Essence is a weak connection. Stewart Wieck was clear in saying the world needs more Dynamism to cure excessive Pattern.  The majority of Tradition mages had Dynamic Essence in 1st Edition.  The Traditions weren’t trying to find the correct balance, they were trying to nudge away from Pattern and towards Dynamism. They weren’t questing for the right answer. They knew it.

The Essence model undergirding the Ascension War isn’t perfect but it goes a long way towards making the Essences more concrete in the game. I still intend to use it for more philosophical moments that come up in the game when players peel back the deceptions and the noise to see the true condition of the mystic conflict that animates mage society.

I also plan to pull in some of the enticing details of Zero Edition where Essences were linked to the destinies & political factions of Awakened society.