Greater Proximi CYOA v.1.

1
Based on Mage the Awakening
by u/CritianCaceorte

Introduction
In the World of Darkness, there exists certain manipulators of reality, those who with but
a thought can change the world around them to suit their desires. They are known to the
populace of the moonlit world as “Mages,” those who have witnessed Supernal Truth. It
is a potent power, and a responsibility, for one wrong move can bring the fell energies of
the Abyss, known as “Paradox,” into reality to make a total mess of things. But so long
as these entities practice their art responsibly (or at least with some caution), they need
not fear that evil, and can enjoy their lives with supreme power at their fingertips.

Unfortunately for you, you aren’t one of them.

Under the command of the greater mage groups are a number of families, bloodlines
enchanted with Truth by greater powers to be able to wield magic as a native ability.
This enchantment is sadly limited, only permitting them to cast a few spells. All the
while, their bodies are burdened with unique Curses, the price for their bloodline’s
abilities. Thankfully, they do benefit from two factors: First, the rate of them becoming
Mages compared to the average person is substantially higher, orders of magnitude,
and so many are “cultivated” in a sense in the hopes that they too might Awaken to the
Truth. Second, they can pass their powers onto their children, and though the legacy is
not guaranteed to be passed down, it’s still well within coin-flip range, especially when
breeding within the bloodline (Magic can overcome some of the issues with inbreeding,
but the more distant the relation the better.) Still, their curse and their limited spell pool
means that compared to actual Mages, they are simply inferior in every way.

Fortunately for you, you aren’t one of them any longer.

There is a rare phenomenon, wherein a Proximi gets the opportunity to Awaken, and yet
fails the tasks required. While an ordinary human wouldn’t get any sort of consolation
prize, Proximi are different, and with their failure they still gain a greater taste of the
Supernal. You are one of these failures, and while the chances of you truly Awakening
at this point are quite low, you have still accrued enough Truth in yourself to gain a
degree of flexibility in your powers. While you might suffer the stares of disappointment
from others, you can still take solace in the fact that your status among your kind has
still been elevated… somewhat.
 Select Your Path:

All Mages find themselves Awakened thanks to the assistance of five different
“Watchtowers.” These Watchtowers flavor their powers as “Paths,” permitting them to
cast certain types of spells with impunity, but denying them the advantage of a single
aspect of reality. Proximi are also aligned to one of the five Paths, able to cast spells
from its Arcana as well as 1 other. As a Greater Proximus, you instead gain access to 3
other Arcana in addition to those provided by your Path.

A Path provides access to 2 Arcana, categories of reality that Mages and Proximi can
manipulate. It unfortunately also prevents them from choosing 1 specific Arcana, known
as the “Inferior” Arcana, though Mages can overcome this somewhat. Choose your
Path, note it’s Path Arcana and it’s Inferior Arcana (which you cannot select). Then,
choose 3 more Arcana to unlock.

Acanthus

Life is easy, if you know the score. Most people just haven’t realized the options that are
available to them. Associated with fairies and thorns, the Acanthus Witches gain access
to the Arcana of Fate and Time, able to manipulate destiny and the flow of time as they
see fit. This combination makes easy living for the Witch a true possibility, as they are
free from the tides of ill fortune. Unfortunately, they are subtle creatures, and so
something forthright such as the Arcana of Forces does not fit their repertoire.

Ruling Arcana: Fate/Time

Inferior Arcana: Forces

Mastigos

We are not a singular edifice, thinks the Mastigos Warlock. We are interconnected
threads of thought and sympathy, held together by walls of flesh and Lie. After gaining
this perspective on the World, Warlocks find it easy to manipulate the Arcanas of Mind
and Space, for distance is just as much a Lie as singularity. However, a chair has no
more mind than the void, and so Warlocks cannot change the Arcana of Matter with
much ease.

Ruling Arcana: Mind/Space

Inferior Arcana: Matter

Moros
 Nothing we own can last forever. These possessions we hold in our hands will
eventually be ground down to dust by universal entropy, just as we too much be
reduced to ash. The Moros Alchemist accepts this Truth, and demonstrates its
implications on their foes. Wielding the Arcana of Death and Matter, they bring the living
world closer to its inevitable end through ghosts and pillars of stone. Their materialist
worldview blinds them to other factors sadly, their oversight denies them the subtlety of
the Spirit Arcana.

Ruling Arcana: Death/Matter

Inferior Arcana: Spirit

Obrimos

The universe is a mechanical wonder. A fascinating design, so complex that even if it

has no creator beyond itself, its wondrous nature means that it deserves the worship it
receives. The Obrimos Thaumaturge loves the world around them, and sees its
splendor in everything they see. Their wondrous optimism combined with scientific
prowess permits them to alter the Arcana of Forces and Prime, working science and
magic with equal prowess. This positive outlook overlooks one of the fundamental laws
of the universe, and so Thaumaturges cannot reach towards the Arcana of Death.

Ruling Arcana: Forces/Prime

Inferior Arcana: Death

Thyrsus

The world is alive, as are we. We are all animals and plants, animated by spirits that
drive our instincts and abilities. Thyrsus Shamans see that beneath our shells of skin
lies the beating heart and the resonating soul, tied together by electric pulses directed
from our skulls. Life to them is a tangible thing, as are the spirits that dwell beside it, and
so they persuade the Arcana of Life and Spirit to help their cause. Being as tied to
instinct as they are impacts their aptitude for higher thoughts, and so Shamans cannot
touch the Arcana of Mind.

Ruling Arcana: Life/Spirit

Inferior Arcana: Mind
 Choose Your Arcana:

Now that you have chosen your Path, you must choose your 3 remaining Arcana.
Remember, you cannot select the Inferior Arcana as one of your 3 choices.

Every Arcana lists their designation, their native Path, and a list of example spells that
can be made by combining the Arcana with the listed practices. This is NOT an
exhaustive list of spells, far more can be created than can be accurately described, let
alone listed, here.

“Designation” comes in two varieties, Subtle and Overt. “Subtle” Arcana tend to be
more, well, subtle and less likely to catch Sleeper attention. “Overt” Arcana are more
likely to catch Sleeper attention, thus causing more Paradox. This is not a definitive
divide: It can be pretty easy to be subtle with Overt Arcana spells, or be flashy with
Subtle Arcana spells.

Arcana Sign Name and Details

Death
Designation: Subtle
Path: Moros

The Arcana which governs the dead,

entropy and darkness. It is the province of
Necromancers, Shadowmancers and
those that seek the Erosion of all things.

Example Spells:
Deepen Shadows (Compelling)
Forensic Gaze (Knowing)
Speak with the Dead (Unveiling)
Ectoplasm (Ruling)
Soul Armor (Shielding)
Suppress Aura (Veiling)
Devouring the Slain (Fraying)
Ghost Summons (Perfecting)
Cold Snap (Weaving)
 Fate
Designation: Subtle
Path: Acanthus

The Arcana which governs destiny,

probability and oaths. It is the province of
the Gambler, the Witch and the Lawyer
who all together bind themselves and
others.

Example Spells:
Quantum Flux (Compelling)
Oaths Fulfilled (Knowing)
Interconnections (Unveiling)
Exceptional Luck (Ruling)
Warding Gesture (Shielding)
Fabricate Fortune (Veiling)
Grave Misfortune (Fraying)
Sworn Oaths (Perfecting)
Shared Fate (Weaving)

Forces
Designation: Overt
Path: Obrimos

The Arcana which governs gravity,

electromagnetism, and thermodynamics.
It is the province of the Physicist, the
Hacker and the Weatherman, who all
quantify universal energies.

Example Spells:
Influence Electricity (Compelling)
Sense Vibrations (Knowing)*
Tune In (Unveiling)
Control Heat (Ruling)
Environmental Shield (Shielding)
Invisibility (Veiling)
Telekinetic Strike (Fraying)
Velocity Control (Perfecting)
Gravitic Supremacy (Weaving)
 Life
Designation: Overt
Path: Thyrsus

The Arcana which governs plants,

animals and healing. It is the province of
the Botanist, the Zoologist and the
Physician, who analyze living things and
care for them.

Example Spells:
Cleanse the Body (Compelling)
Web of Life (Knowing)
Speak with Beasts (Unveiling)
Body Control (Ruling)
Purge Illness (Shielding)
Mutable Mask (Veiling)
Bruise Flesh (Fraying)
Honing the Form (Perfecting)
Transform Life (Weaving)

Matter
Designation: Overt
Path: Moros

The Arcana which governs solids, liquids

and gasses. It is the province of the
Engineer, the Shipcaptain and the Pilot
who all chart their course through
different mediums of materials.

Example Spells:
Remote Control (Compelling)
Craftsman’s Eye (Knowing)
Detect Substance (Unveiling)
Shaping (Ruling)
Alchemist’s Touch (Shielding)
Hidden Hoard (Veiling)
Windstrike (Fraying)
Crucible (Perfecting)
State Change (Weaving)
 Mind
Designation: Subtle
Path: Mastigos

The Arcana which governs thoughts,

emotions, and inner demons. It is the
province of the Psychic, the Therapist and
the Demonologist, who call upon abstract
concepts and ideas to further their goals.

Example Spells:
One Mind, Two Thoughts (Compelling)
Know Nature (Knowing)
Perfect Recall (Unveiling)
Memory Hole (Ruling)
Mental Shield (Shielding)
Incognito Presence (Veiling)
Psychic Assault (Fraying)
Enhance Skill (Perfecting)
Universal Language (Weaving)

Prime
Designation: Subtle
Path: Obrimos

The Arcana which governs Truth, Mystery

and Magic itself. It is the province of the
Willworker, the Cryptographer and the
Detective, who must reach into its depths
to find the answer.

Example Spells:
Dispel Magic (Compelling)
Sense Magic (Knowing)*
Sacred Geometry (Unveiling)
As Above, So Below (Ruling)
Wards and Signs (Shielding)
Supernal Veil (Veiling)
Aetheric Winds (Fraying)
Stealing Fire (Perfecting)
Channel Mana (Weaving)
 Space
Designation: Overt
Path: Mastigos

The Arcana which governs connection,

distance and movement. It is the province
of the Socialite, the Cartographer and the
Racer, who find the routes to their goals
and pursue them.

Example Spells:
Ground-Eater (Compelling)
Correspondence (Knowing)
The Outward and Inward Eye (Unveiling)
Scrying (Ruling)
Ward (Shielding)
Lying Maps (Veiling)
Co-Location (Fraying)
Web-Weaver (Perfecting)
Ban (Weaving)

Spirit
Designation: Subtle
Path: Thyrsus

The Arcana which governs spirits,

Essence and the spirit world. It is the
province of the Shaman, the Priest and
the Medium, who commune with the other
side in order to bring change and
harmony to our own world.

Example Spells:
Gremlins (Compelling)
Know Spirit (Knowing)
Exorcist’s Eye (Unveiling)
Opener of the Way (Ruling)
Cap the Well (Shielding)
Shadow Walk (Veiling)
Erode Resonance (Fraying)
Spirit Summons (Perfecting)
Reaching (Weaving)
 Time
Designation: Overt
Path: Acanthus

The Arcana which governs the passage,

the flow and the understanding of time. It
is the province of the Seer, the Daredevil
and the Theorist, who try to understand
the effect that the ages have on
themselves, others and their environment.

Example Spells:
Red Light, Green Light (Compelling)
Divination (Knowing)
Perfect Timing (Unveiling)
Hung Spell (Ruling)
Constant Presence (Shielding)
Shield of Chronos (Veiling)
Shifting Sands (Fraying)
Acceleration (Perfecting)
Temporal Summoning (Weaving)
*: Not an official printed spell, but used for ease of explanation.

Choose Your Practices

The final step, or close to it. Unlike your less fortunate brethren, you are able to create
and cast spells by combining a given Arcana with what is known as a “Practice,” or a
method of magic. The Practice is the thing which tells the spell what to do, while the
Arcana tells it what to target/affect. Sadly, unlike Mages, you will have to learn each
Practice for each Arcana individually, rather than in chunks as they do. Perhaps this will
prove to be enough incentive to push yourself further, or maybe it will serve to be the
thing which humbles you in the end.

First, you gain the first 3 Practices of your Path Arcana for free, due to your
strengthened connection to the Watchtowers. You then gain 18 points to put into the
rest of your Arcana.

Every practice has a different cost associated with them. You can purchase the 1-point
Practices (Compelling, Knowing, Unveiling) as you see fit. In order to purchase the
2-point Practices in an Arcana, you must purchase every 1-point Practice before them in
that Arcana, and the same goes with 3-point Practices. So, for example, you could
purchase every available Practice in a non-Path Arcana, or you could spread them out,
and then have a few points remaining for some 2-point Practices.

There is an additional benefit to purchasing all of the Practices in an Arcana’s “level.”

Doing so forms a “Dot” of that Arcana, which provides greater power and more
importantly flexibility to that level’s Practices and below. At base, casting a spell requires
5 hours of work, targeting yourself or someone you are touching, and then delivering an
effect that will only last a few seconds. To be blunt, that’s terrible. For every Dot you
have in an Arcana, however, you gain a “free” point of something called “Reach.” Reach
is a very useful thing, it’s a very precious thing, you will treasure your Reach because it
can do stuff like the following:

● Make casting a spell take only a few seconds

● Make the spell affect a target within sight
● Make a spell last for at least an hour, likely more.
● Make a spell harder to dispel and resist.
● Make the spell affect multiple people/lots of space.
● If you have 1 spell active already, cast another one and maintain it.

Certain spells can also use Reach in more creative ways, so many that they cannot be
listed here. And did you notice how I said that Dots give you “free” Reach? What’s paid
Reach then, some sort of DLC?

Not really. When casting a spell, if you Reach beyond the “free” points you already
have, you bring Paradox into the world, which if handled poorly can infect the spell,
infect you, or summon some monster that man was not meant to know. While you might
not bring as much Paradox into the world as a Mage could, you can still risk enough to
cause serious consequences. You can prevent Paradox by spending Mana, but that
stuff is precious and not easy to recover.

Now that digression is over, let’s go back to the main point: Divide your 18 points among
the Practices below. Remember, you're purchasing the combination of the Practice with
its Arcana, not just by itself. Examples listed correlate to the Example Spells listed in the
Arcana descriptions.

Practice Symbol Practice Name, Description and

Examples
 Compelling (1)
Nudging a preferred, but possible
outcome into reality. Examples include:
● Death: Cause shadows to deepen
and grow larger.
● Fate: Eliminate bad luck when
attempting a task.
● Forces: Turn on or shut down
electrical devices.
● Life: Accelerate the immune
system to remove a toxin.
● Matter: Make a mechanical object
move per its function, such as a
piston or a light switch.
● Mind: Have two trains of thought
going in your head simultaneously.
● Prime: Negate a spell’s effects
temporarily.
● Space: Cover more distance when
moving.
● Spirit: Cause the spirits of an item
to act up, making it difficult to use.
● Time: Choose the timing of an
automated event, such as a traffic
light or an automatic door closing.

Knowing (1)

Understanding the subject and its details.

Examples include:
● Death: Find out how a corpse died
and when.
● Fate: Get an alert when a specific
action/circumstance was done
by/to a target.
● Forces: Sense tremors in the
ground from earthquakes to
footsteps.
● Life: Sense how many living things
of a certain type are in the area.
● Matter: Understand how an object
is used best.
● Mind: Find out a target’s
personality.
● Prime: Detect when magic is used
in your presence and where.
 ● Space: Detect how someone is
connected to something else, like
blood relations or ownership.
● Spirit: Figure out a spirit’s name,
powers and general potence.
● Time: Gain a vague idea of how
the future might look like.

Unveiling (1)

The uncovering of hidden information;

where Knowing directly transmits the
information into the brain, Unveiling must
still be detected by the senses, it just
exposes the information to see.
● Death: See, hear and talk with
ghosts.
● Fate: Detect supernatural
influences on the character’s
actions.
● Forces: See and hear
electromagnetic waves, such as
radio transmissions, satellites or
wi-fi.
● Life: Communicate with animals.
● Matter: Detect a specified
substance and the amount of it in
an area.
● Mind: Remember a memory
perfectly.
● Prime: Sense ley lines and flows of
Mana in an area.
● Space: Sense everything within
visual range as if it was
unobstructed, such as seeing
through doors and hearing muffled
sounds clear as day.
● Spirit: See, hear and talk with
spirits.
● Time: Perform an action at just the
right moment.
 Ruling (2)

Exerting control over phenomena within

the Arcana’s purview. Examples include:
● Death: Generate and shape
ectoplasm like a ghost.
● Fate: Bless/Curse a target with
amazing/horrible luck.
● Forces: Direct, increase or
diminish heat energy in an area.
● Life: Accelerate a body’s healing,
slow its breathing and other
general “subconscious” acts.
● Matter: Alter the shape of an object
without changing its state of
matter.
● Mind: Banish a memory from
recollection.
● Prime: Enchant an object to make
spellcasting easier.
● Space: View a target from a far
distance.
● Spirit: Open a subject up to be
affected or even possessed by
spirits.
● Time: “Freeze” a spell to be used
for later. It still takes up space
while frozen, but does not count
down duration.

Shielding (2)

Protect a subject either from or by using

the Arcana. Examples include:
● Death: Protect the soul from being
manipulated, injured or stolen.
● Fate: Protect the subject from any
attempt to alter their fate.
● Forces: Provide a comfortable
room temperature regardless of
location.
● Life: Push the body to remove a
disease from it.
● Matter: Prevent “passive” damage
from a type of material, such as
radioactivity or lung congestion.
 Bullets are not passive.
● Mind: Protect the mind from
intrusion.
● Prime: Prevent magic from being
used on the subject.
● Space: Prevent a location from
having its dimensions tampered
with.
● Spirit: Seal away a source of
Essence for spirits.
● Time: Prevent a subject from being
eliminated from the timeline via
time travel.

Veiling (2)

Hides a subject either from, or using the

Arcana. Examples include:
● Death: Suppress a target’s “aura,”
preventing emotion-reading.
● Fate: Allow a subject to temporarily
use an item or negate a curse by
tricking it to ignore an event.
● Forces: Change the flow of light to
become invisible and/or inaudible.
● Life: Change your outer
appearance to look like someone
else. Internals are the same.
● Matter: Hide an object away from
view.
● Mind: Make living things ignore
your presence.
● Prime: Hide the subject from
magical detection.
● Space: Confuse a target’s sense of
direction to always go the wrong
way.
● Spirit: Be invisible to spirits.
● Time: Cannot view a subject’s
future or past.
 Fraying (3)

Injure a target in a non-lethal manner.

Targets do not have to be people and can
be other things under the Arcana, like a
belief (Mind) or the present (Time).
Examples include:
● Death: Can further injure an injured
subject to restore Mana.
● Fate: Make a bad circumstance
deadly, increasing the damage
dealt.
● Forces: Smack a target with kinetic
force.
● Life: Bruise the target’s flesh,
breaking open blood vessels.
● Matter: Move the wind to smack a
target.
● Mind: Cause the target to develop
a headache from strain.
● Prime: Call in Supernal energy to
strike the target.
● Space: Overlay two locations, so
that stepping away from one
teleports you to the other.
● Spirit: Erase a spirit’s connection to
a subject, potentially exorcizing
them.
● Time: Undo a brief moment in time
and act again, but retain current
injuries and ailments.

Perfecting (3)

Improve and repair a subject, potentially

beyond their limits. Examples include:
● Death: Summon a specific type
of/individual named ghost to your
location.
● Fate: Make a magical oath
between two subjects, who receive
protection to ensure its stability.
● Forces: Alter the direction or
velocity of a moving object.
● Life: Increase physical
performance of a living subject.
 ● Matter: Make an item exceptionally
easy to use.
● Mind: Increase a subject’s ability to
perform a skill they know.
● Prime: Allow a Sleeper to see
magic without issue for the
duration.
● Space: Increase the level of
connection between two subjects.
● Spirit: Summon a specific type
of/Individual named spirit.
● Time: Increase the amount of time
a subject has compared to the rest
of the world, thereby increasing
their speed.

Weaving (3)

Alter the capabilities of a subject without

changing its fundamental nature.
Examples include:
● Death: Rapidly decrease the
temperature in a room, coating the
floors in ice.
● Fate: Cause injuries and
circumstances to be shared
between two subjects.
● Forces: Change the direction or
amount of gravity emitted by the
planet/object in an area.
● Life: Change the body to include
miscellaneous features, such as
claws, scales or other details.
● Matter: Change an object’s state of
matter WITHOUT increasing or
decreasing its temperature. Make
liquid steel at room temperature.
● Mind: Allow the subject to
understand, read and write in any
language.
● Prime: Transport Mana directly into
your body, refueling you quickly.
● Space: Lock down a location,
making nothing able to leave or
enter. This includes air. Be careful.
● Spirit: Touch and interact with
 spirits in the spirit world.
● Time: Summon a past version of a
subject to replace their present self
for the duration.

Curses

And now, for the true last step. As a Proximus, you suffer from a curse inherited through
your bloodline, the price for your power. As “only” a Greater Proximus, you still suffer
from its effects, which can become aggravated when exposed to Paradox.

Choose 1 Curse to be your own, and note its persistent and aggravated effects.

● Abyss Sense
○ Persistent: When near an Abyssal entity or a subject/location coated in
Abyssal energies, your mind gets muddled and you become more
confused the closer you get to the source.
○ Aggravated: You become so doused in Paradox that you become
immersed in the Lie, being treated as a Sleeper for the purposes of
Paradox for other spellcasters. In addition, whenever your spell falls apart
due to Paradox, you suffer injuries.
● Plant Body
○ Persistent: Your body has a high percentage of plant matter mixed in,
which gives you a permanent injury that will never heal. It won’t hamper
your movement, but it is somewhat painful to move.
○ Aggravated: You must sleep the night away directly on a patch of soil,
otherwise your injury will worsen until you eventually die.
● Clouded Eyes
○ Persistent: Your eyes aren’t the best, making your vision much worse than
normal.
○ Aggravated: You become totally blind for 24 hours.
● Third Eye
○ Persistent: You have a working, very prominent third eye on your
forehead. It gets irritated by dust and the like just like your other two.
○ Aggravated: The third eye becomes so irritated that it starts leaking blood
down your face, which is quite painful.
● Oath-Tongue
○ Persistent: All Mages have access to a special language which helps them
cast spells. You are vulnerable to a specific dialect of that language, and
are forced to obey all commands given in it.
 ○ Aggravated: You become vulnerable to any magical language, and must
obey any commands given in those tongues.
● Soul Consumer
○ Persistent: Your soul is slowly being devoured over time, and must be
replaced somewhat frequently, either through Death magic or the
assistance of a Mage. Having a different soul in you besides the one you
had from birth doesn’t change your magic in any sort of way, but it might
change your personality.
○ Aggravated: Your current soul is consumed utterly, and you are left
soulless. Without a soul you have no will or personality of your own, and
must have it replaced quickly to prevent ego death.
● Make Your Own?
○ You can make your own Curse as you see fit, so long as it’s a noticeable
affliction even at the Persistent level. Curses can never provide any
benefit unless the benefit is heavily outweighed by the downsides, like
with Third Eye.

Goals?

This is but an optional section, but you can decide for yourself what you want to do with
your life now that you have the power that you do. Choose as many as you’d like.

● Avoid Mages: For some, this is a given. Mages tend to gather favors from your
kind at best, and exploit them for resources and labor at worst. Perhaps it’s just
best to avoid them altogether, as best you can.
● Networking and Schmoozing: …Or you can go in the opposite direction and
make some connections! As a Greater Proximus, you have a higher sort of rank
in Mage society, giving you valuable opportunities to form some new bonds and
business deals.
● Second Chance: Ah, you still hold to the hope that you can become a Mage
yourself someday? Well, I wish you good luck, because if you weren’t able to cut
it the first time, it’s going to be very difficult to get a second opportunity to
Awaken.
● Start a family: At least, that’s the PG name for it. Turns out that one of the
benefits of being a Greater Proximi is that they are absolutely guaranteed to pass
down their bloodline to their children, even if the other partner isn’t related to the
family at all, making them a valuable source of new members of the family.
● Exploit your Lessers: Whether that be the other Proximi, or even the Sleepers
who don’t realize that magic is real, you are going to lord your power over them,
at least in a subtle manner. Might put you on a magic watchlist.
 ● Help those below: The opposite of the above. With your greater ability to wield
magic, you have a better chance of helping others with their issues, even if you
cannot do so overtly.
● Make money: There are so many ways to exploit magic for moolah, some of
which are even legal!
● Whatever you want: Ultimately, your goals are your own, and you can come up
with whatever projects or missions that you so desire.

Of course, that’s not the extent of your choices, at least, it doesn’t have to be. You can
grasp for more, more power, more power than you can ever conceive…

…But such hubris has its price…

 Paradox

Paradox is the energy of the Abyss, pure anti-reality that is brought into the world when
a mage pushes their Reach too far, or when they utilize obvious magic in the sight of
normal people, known as “Sleepers,” whose minds break and bring in the Abyss when
witnessing such actions. As a non-mage, the amount of Paradox you can bring in is
fairly limited, at most enough to aggravate your curse, but if you want… further power is
yours, if you’re willing to risk the cost.

You can take on points of Paradox for more power. More options for Paradox points are
shown down below, but at its most basic you can always take on a point of Paradox in
order to increase the number of points you can spend on Practices by 6.

Such arrogance has its downsides, of course. For every point of Paradox you take on,
you increase the risk of Abyssal interference in your magic. Compare the table below to
the amount of Paradox you’ve grabbed. When you reach certain thresholds, the twisted
manifestation associated with that threshold becomes possible when you cast your
magic in front of Sleepers or use more Reach than you have available. The chance is
initially low, but if you acquire points in excess of a given threshold, that manifestation’s
probability of occurring increases. By the time you get to 5 points above the threshold,
that manifestation is practically guaranteed to happen.

In addition, having additional Sleeper witnesses beyond just the first increases the
amount of Paradox points you are considered to have. In front of a small group, your
Paradox rating is considered to be 1 higher. In front of a large group, its 2 higher. When
witnessed by a large crowd, it increases to 3 points higher than normal. This rule does
not apply if you don’t take any points of Paradox, but if you take even 1, these rules
apply.

Finally, repeated calling upon the Abyss makes it easier to draw it in further. Every
Paradox-incurring spell within the last hour increases your Paradox rating by 1.

Thankfully, Paradox does not occur in every circumstance. If a spell is not-obvious and
can be explained away, then Sleepers will pay it no mind. If you cast a spell within the
free Reach you have available, then none of the Abyss is conjured. But hubris affects
every mage, and the same with you. How long can you put off reaching for just that
extra drop of power? How long can you stop an emergency in front of a crowd? That’s
the risk of Paradox, the risk of power.
Paradox Rating Abyssal Manifestation

1 Undo a Reach for a spell, or apply one

that twists the spell in a negative
direction.

Examples Include:

1. Making a single-target attack into

an AOE that hurts the mage.
2. Cause a spell that should only take
a few seconds to cast take hours
to complete.
3. A Time spell that freezes a
person’s bodily state now also
paralyzes them.

2 Your magical pattern, the stuff that makes

you you, is infected with the Abyss. This
is a type of status effect thats for a day
before settling in further. You can “burn” it
out of you, though doing so is painful. If
you allow the status effect to settle in,
then removing it actually injures you. The
greater your Paradox rating is, the more
injured you become when burning it out.

Examples Include:

1. You gain a magical aura tainted

with the Abyss. This aura can be
by Mages, who have learned to
either avoid individuals with this
taint, or kill them to prevent further
spread. In addition, probability in
your presence goes wonky,
producing strange results that are
rarely beneficial.
2. Your spells become more brittle,
requiring you to spend Reach in
order to solidify them for casting.
The amount of Reach needed is
equal to your Paradox rating,
rounded down.
3. The hour-long recurrence rule
 becomes a permanent occurrence.
Whenever you cast a spell that
invokes Paradox, your next spell,
so long as this status remains,
considers your Paradox Rating
increased by 1 per prior invocation.

3 The spell becomes twisted enough that it

changes targets entirely, targeting the
worst possible choice in your eyes.

Examples Include:

1. In a hostage situation, an attack

spell that should harm the guy with
the gun instead of the hostage
instead does the opposite.
2. A spell meant to heal a person that
you touch instead heals the
healthiest guy in the room.
3. A spell to send a signal to a certain
computer instead sends it to your
enemy’s devices.

5 The environment becomes so saturated

with Abyssal energies that it twists into
nightmarish environs. This environment is
almost always dangerous and looking to
harm you and whatever you love as much
as it can.

Examples Include:

1. A swamp filled with liquid fat and

surrounded by shadowy grasping
hands that claw at your ankles.
2. A desert heat that moves moisture
from the living into the inanimate,
leaving mummified corpses and
loose mud.
3. A hurricane gale that robs those hit
by hit of their senses.

7 A “living” entity from the Abyss is

summoned to torment you for your hubris.
Examples abound, but regardless of the
 specific anti-reality it represents, it comes
in two different forms:

1. An invisible entity that lives in your

mind, whispering temptations
about power and knowledge.
Taking it up on its offers will
drastically increase your Paradox
Rating over time.
2. A manifest embodiment of
anti-reality, such as a moving
storm that distorts basic math
formulas so that 2 + 2 = Raccoon,
or a walking corpse that causes
inanimate objects to decay like
living organisms.

The higher your Paradox Rating above

this point, the stronger an Entity you can
summon.

Other Uses for Paradox

You can acquire points of Paradox for other things as well. Some of these are listed
down below:

Enhanced Rituals

For the price of 1 Paradox point, you can speed up your ritual times to become equal to
a starting Mage’s. This reduces the amount of time your Rituals take from 5 Hours to 3
Hours. Further Paradox reduces this further: from 3 hours to 1, from 1 hour to half an
hour, from half an hour to 10 minutes, and from 10 minutes to a minimum of 1. By
multiplying the amount of time that your Ritual takes from this new time requirement,
you can increase the power of your spells slightly per time interval, to a maximum of 5
extra intervals.

Magical Tools

For the price of 1 Paradox point, you can add ordinary objects and actions as “tools” for
casting spells, making them easier to cast. A tool has to be something that thematically
fits with the type of spell you are casting, or synchronizes with your Path in some way.
Certain magical environments can also be used as a tool if they meet these
requirements. Sacrificing precious objects, or even lives, can also help, though the latter
is highly looked down upon even if you are only using a gallon-bag’s worth of mice.

You can use up to 2 tools for casting. For an extra point of Paradox, you can increase
this limit by 1, up to 6 for a total of 5 Paradox points.

For an additional point of Paradox, you can learn High Speech, the language of the
Universe and Truth Itself. High Speech is a fantastic tool for casting spells, though only
Mages can understand it. Using High Speech in front of Sleepers makes them think you
are speaking gibberish and causes Paradox. Finally, High Speech is Truth, you cannot
use it to lie or embellish.

Paradox Protection

Yes, it’s ironic, that in order to protect yourself from Paradox you need to draw upon it in
the first place. For the price of 1 point of Paradox, you can internalize the Paradox that
you cause, injuring yourself, but preventing the Abyssal energy from roaming free. This
ability to trap Paradox is based on mental stability, those who are at peace with
themselves can contain more energy than someone who is barely functional. However,
even the most enlightened man on Earth cannot contain massive amounts of Paradox
equaling a rating of 6 or more, and believe me you can hold a lot less of that. The
average person, if they have the ability to contain Paradox, can reliably contain 2 points
worth of Paradox, reducing the rating by that amount. Sometimes you can contain more,
but assume that 2 point reduction to be the standard.

This containment, of course, isn’t painless. For every point of Paradox contained, you
suffer internal injuries that only time can heal, using magical healing only makes things
worse. The more points you contain, the longer it takes to fully heal, you can probably
contain about 6 points total in a given hour before you risk death.

Additional Arcana

Even five Arcana at your disposal simply isn’t enough. For the price of 1 Paradox point,
you can add an additional Arcana which you can purchase Practices from. This does
not include your Inferior Arcana, which you can never acquire. This benefit stacks up to
4 times, for the remaining 4 non-Inferior Arcana.

Higher Practices

Oh boy. Here we go.

 So, those practices that were shown off earlier? That’s just the baby stuff, the things
newbie Mages learn in like a year. These though? This is the advanced stuff, college
level things that can take up to a decade to learn. And for the low, low price of some
Paradox, they too can be yours.

By paying 1 point of Paradox, you can acquire 1 of the four Practices listed below for a
given Arcana. Those listed below have ratings just as the prior ones did, though you
don’t need to pay for them with Practice points, the Paradox covers that. They simply
determine what you have access to: In order to purchase a 4-point Practice for an
Arcana, you need all of the 3-point Practices for it, and so on for the 5-point stuff.

Because of how much you are reaching beyond your grasp here, you cannot form Dots
by purchasing all of the practices of a given level, it's simply beyond your ability. There
is no limit in how much Paradox you can spend here, so long as you follow the above
rules and realize just how much Paradox you’re taking on in the pursuit of greater
power.

Practice Symbol Practice Name, Description and

Examples

Patterning (4)

With this, a spellcaster can completely

transform a target into something else
within its Arcana’s purview. By combining
multiple Patterning Arcana, you can
transform a subject into something from
an entirely different Arcana, like turning a
person into a walking pillar of flame with
Life and Forces. These transformations
are temporary without a lot of reach, so
be careful. Examples Include:

● Death: Cause a ghost to manifest

physically by “transforming” its
state of existence.
● Fate: Lay a curse on a person that
gives them terrible luck if they do
not work to fulfill a specific
objective.
● Forces: Transform kinetic energy
 into heat, light into gravity, and so
on within a given area.
● Life: Transform a seed into a
fully-grown tree for the duration of
the spell.
● Matter: Make a wall become as
insubstantial as a mirage, allowing
you to walk right through it.
● Mind: Gain extensive knowledge of
a skill, study or trade that you know
nothing about.
● Prime: Grant a target, even a
Sleeper, the ability to see Magic
with their bare eyes. Any Paradox
from this spell applies once it ends.
● Space: Teleport to another location
by “transforming” your current
position.
● Spirit: Change a spirit into one that
embodies an entirely different
subject, from Dogs to Explosives
for example.
● Time: Place a target in a temporal
stasis, “leaping” them forward in
time until a given moment.

Unraveling (4)

This practice tears away at a subject’s

pattern, changing it for the worse in the
process. This can ALWAYS be used as a
deadly weapon against people, though
the form of it varies depending on the
Arcana.

● Death: Exorcize a ghost by

removing the conditions that allow
it to remain in that area.
● Fate: Undo or modify an oath
binding a subject so that the old
version no longer applies to them.
● Forces: Call down a bolt of
lightning without the necessary
weather conditions to fry a target.
● Life: Drain a target of their life,
potentially killing them in the
 process. Using the drain to heal
yourself also requires Life +
Patterning.
● Matter: Raise up spikes of earth to
pierce the target.
● Mind: The subject’s mind is
muddled, reducing the speed at
which they can think or process
information.
● Prime: Erase a spell that you can
see.
● Space: Cut the lines of sympathy
that connect the target to other
people, making relationships such
as “parent-child” or “Owner-object”
meaningless.
● Spirit: Burn a spirit with a scream
of Essence.
● Time: Age a subject drastically,
potentially killing as a result.

Making (5)

Generate something within the Arcana’s

purview ex nihilo.

● Death: Create a ghost for a person

that never existed.
● Fate: Grant someone a grand
destiny, such as to become a
righteous hero or a dreadful villain.
● Forces: Create energy out of
nothing.
● Life: Generate a disease,
potentially one that has never
existed before (which is a very evil
thing, because no one’s immune
systems are calibrated to handle
it).
● Matter: Make inanimate matter
appear out of nowhere.
● Mind: Generate a new
consciousness entirely within
someone’s mind, able to think on
its own without using the person’s
gray matter.
 ● Prime: Produce a font of Mana.
● Space: Create a pocket dimension
that you can only enter through
teleportation.
● Spirit: Create a spirit in whatever
subject area you choose.
● Time: Stop time so long as you do
not move other things or use magic
that creates/changes things. Doing
so ends the spell immediately. You
can still touch stuff without issue.

Unmaking (5)

Remove a given subject from existence.

● Death: Annihilate a soul.

● Fate: Make a person a pariah,
excommunicating them from the
world’s attention.
● Forces: Remove energy entirely.
● Life: Destroy someone, leaving no
atoms behind.
● Matter: Destroy something, leaving
no atoms behind.
● Mind: Destroy someone’s mind,
placing them in a vegetative state
they can never recover from
without Making.
● Prime: Create a zone of anti-Magic
where no spells can be cast.
● Space: Prevent a person from ever
making connections again.
● Spirit: Annihilate a spirit.
● Time: Reduce the amount of time
taken by a project, such that
something which could take hours
occurs in seconds.
 Q&A

● So, what’s going on here? What even is a Proximi, or a Mage?

○ Mages are people who have investigated the supernatural elements in
their lives, and in doing so forged a connection between themselves and a
group of places known as the “Supernal Realms,” the source of all Truth.
They see the world we currently live in as the “Fallen” World, one
constructed of lies. This… isn’t entirely accurate, but that’s semantics.
○ Proximi are individuals whose very DNA has been enchanted by higher
powers (not mages… technically) so that they can use a limited array of
magic. Proximi can learn in their lifetimes somewhere between 10-30
individual spells, which they call “Blessings.” As a price for wielding this
magic, they also have a Curse, one which is always a part of them and
which gets worse when they are exposed to Paradox.
● What is Paradox?
○ It’s the energy of the Abyss, the thing which makes our world the “Fallen”
World. The Abyss is a great void filled with “anti-reality”, contradictions and
stuff that just generally doesn’t make sense, like 5 - 3 = Lemur. When
Paradox is brought into the world, the Abyss grows, and so general policy
among Mages is to avoid bringing in Paradox unless absolutely necessary.
○ Another thing the Abyss does is cloud the eyes of most people, which
makes them “Sleepers.” Sleepers cannot witness magic without
undergoing a psychotic break, and if they do, they bring Paradox into the
world. Also, any magic they witness starts to break apart, so best to keep
it out of sight.
○ However, if a Sleeper is exposed to magic in the long-term without
realizing it, it’s possible for them to lose this curse. Those who do so are
referred to as “Sleepwalkers,” which Proximi are a category of. They can
view magic without going psychotic… well, at least as much as any typical
person can, it’s just not something they’re compelled to do is all. Being a
Sleepwalker used to be the natural state of humanity before the Abyss
came to be, but now the vast majority of people are Sleepers.
○ To give an estimate, approximately 1% of the global population are
Sleepwalkers. And approximately 0.8% of those people are actually
Mages. That seems miniscule, but for reference, that’s around half a
million people. I personally go for a fraction of that, but those statistics are
the closest thing we have to canon.
● What even is a “Greater” Proximus then?
○ Something I made up. I was inspired by some homebrew rules (seen
here), and some things in canon that caught my eye. One of the nice
 things about Proximi compared to most Sleepwalkers is that they have a
much higher chance of Awakening as full Mages, so I wondered to myself:
What would it be like to have that opportunity and fail? Most Sleepwalkers
(and especially Sleepers) who have the chance to Awaken fail because
they aren’t willing to take the plunge, but Proximi already have some
measure of magic, so what happens when they have a momentary
connection to the Supernal? Thus, this CYOA was born.
● Is there anything people can do to stop magic without Paradox?
○ Mages have several unique tricks up their sleeve in this regard, but those
aren’t available to you or even most people on earth. I’ve listed a few
down below:
○ First, most spells that target sapient entities (that is to say, anything that
has thoughts) have to overcome some kind of natural resistance in order
to work, though other kinds of resistance exist. You can’t just mind control
someone if they have a strong will. In order to do so, you have to beat
them with sheer power. Without going into the complex specifics in Mage
the Awakening, consider every spell to start with a “Power” rating of 1. For
every dot above 1 that a Mage or Greater Proximus has for that Arcana,
they automatically increase the Power rating of the spell by 1 regardless of
the Practice used. In addition, by making the spell more difficult to cast,
they can increase the Power of the spell. Extending ritual times and using
tools help with this, allowing the spellcaster to draw on further power
without an increase in difficulty. Once Power is calculated, compare it to
the resistance rating of the subject. If Power is higher, the spell goes off.
The more Power exceeds the resistance, the greater effect the spell has.
Fraying and Unraveling spells that deal damage notably don’t have to
deal with resistance, as the whole point of them is to “reduce” that
resistance. Other Fraying and Unraveling spells still have to deal with it.
○ Types of Resistance include:
i. Death: A ghost’s rank in the hierarchy determines their resistance.
The vast majority of ghosts have a rank between 1-2.
ii. Fate: The compulsions of destiny are resisted by a person’s ability
to manage their emotions, given an arbitrary value of 2 for a typical
individual. Children generally have a value of 1, which is probably
why there’s so many child heroes running about.
iii. Forces: Most of the “lesser” practices don’t need to worry about
resistance. For the greater practices of Unraveling and Unmaking,
to remove or annihilate energy they need to overcome the amount
of energy present. Using heat as an example, room
 temperature/22* Celsius is about resistance 1, while book
burning/233* Celsius is about resistance 5.
iv. Life: Living things use their health and vitality to resist hostile
body-affecting spells. For mind-affecting spells, they use their ability
to manage emotions. In either case, the average adult human’s
resistance is about 2.
v. Matter: Inanimate objects withstand alteration through their
durability. Liquids and gasses have no resistance, while solid
objects vary between 0 (slime, bread) and 3 (steel). Extra layers
can increase this value.
vi. Mind: For spells that affect their emotions, people use their ability to
manage such to resist. For more direct control or mind reading,
their willpower is used instead. This is generally 2.
vii. Prime: We’ll get into this later.
viii. Space: The level of connection or sympathy between two things
determines how difficult it is to use it for a spell. Using a person’s
coworker to affect them is more difficult (3) than simply using a
blood sample (1).
ix. Spirit: A spirit’s rank in the hierarchy of the ephemeral determines
their resistance. For most spirits, that’s 1, though higher ranked
Spirits abound. If a spirit’s rank is 6 or higher, they are immune to
Spirit magic.
x. Time: When using or viewing a person’s past or future selves, the
resistance is based on how different that person is from those
distant versions. A sealed room that has not changed is pathetically
easy (0), while a Mage before their Awakening is quite difficult to
view or affect (3).
○ Certain Prime Practices can also help with this. Prime + Compelling can
temporarily disable a spell, Prime + Shielding can protect someone from
magic, and Prime + Unraveling can negate and destroy a spell.
● Are the example spells mentioned the only spells we get with a particular
Practice?
○ Absolutely not! Greater Proximi are not like their lesser brethren, only able
to learn specific spells. They can learn Practices organized under the
Arcana, which opens up a vast array of possibilities! The examples
mentioned are just that, examples, and used just to demonstrate what you
could possibly do. For more examples of spells, here’s a list of spells from
official material. The First Edition stuff isn’t organized using this system,
but you can still draw inspiration from there. There’s also a google doc of
homebrew spells you can use, but the quality there is sometimes middling.
Viewer beware, and all that.