Hi. I'm new to Fate and have been working on ways to adapt World of darkness supernatural templates especially for Mage: the Awakening. Inspired by DFA's Mantles here is an attempt at this.
Supernatural Templates
Creating supernaturals in Fate:WoD is done by applying a template to a mundane character. To do this create a character as normal, although with all the extra aspects that are part of the supernatural template, it may be advisable to limit mundane character creation to only 3 Aspects – a High Concept, a Trouble, and one other.
All supernatural templates work in basically the same way, whether for Mages, Vampires, Changelings, Werewolves or any other supernatural type. The template is made up of the following:
Supernatural Aspect – This is the “Permission” aspect i.e. that gives the character permission to use supernatural powers. It is made up of 2 parts. The first part is simply a combination of the supernatural’s nature and their faction. For a Mage this would be Path and Order, for a Vampire Clan and Covenant, for a Werewolf Auspice and Tribe, and for a Changeling Seeming and Court. The second part (after a colon, of course) is a more narrative description of the character based on the first part e.g. An Arcanthus mage of Mysterium may be described as a “Witch who plays with the strands of fate to solve mysteries”, or a werewolf Rahu of the Iron Masters might be described as a “Proud warrior who protects the urban streets of their territory.”
Supernatural Trouble – Each supernatural type has a specific Trouble that relates to their nature as supernaturals – Paradox for mages, Hunger for Blood for Vampires, rage for Werewolves, etc. These are defined troubles that work the same for all of the same type of supernatural.
Supernatural Condition Track – Each supernatural type has a source of supernatural strength that they can use to power their supernatural abilities e.g. Mana for Mages, Blood Potency for Vampires, Glamour for Changelings etc. Characters have 5 boxes to track and check one box every time they use their supernatural powers.
Supernatural Talents – Each supernatural type has access to specific Talents that represent their supernatural abilities e.g. Arcana for Mages, Gifts for Werewolves, Disciplines for Vampires etc.
Supernatural Stunt – The Supernatural may choose one stunt for one of their Talents that represents a special use of that Talent or one they use most frequently and are thus well practiced in e.g. s mage’s rote.
Mage
• Supernatural Aspect – Mages get their power from Awakening into an understanding that reality is more malleable than the “sleepers” understand. Different mages awaken into different Paths of magic (Arcanthus, Mastigos, Moros, Obrimos, and Thysrus) which gives them access to different Arcana and belong to different Orders (Guardians of the Veil, Mysterium, Adamantine Arrow, Free Council, and Silver Ladder) that represent different political and philosophical approaches to engaging in the magical world.
• Supernatural Trouble – Mages are able to bend reality to their will but reality doesn’t always appreciate it! When a mage engages in vulgar magic i.e. magic that cannot be explained by coincidence, such as a fireball or teleporting, the Mage is subject to paradox. This means that they suffer magical consequences depending on the power and nature of the spell cast. A minor effect only results in a minor weird effect e.g. they smell of elderberries for a week, while a powerful spell results in a much greater paradox backlash e.g. teleporting from London to Paris may result in significant physical or mental damage or an abyssal creature being released who will hunt down the Mage. The player may spend a Fate point to mitigate the effects of paradox. A mage can also choose to invoke paradox when they fail a casting roll in return for a fate point.
• Supernatural Condition Track – Mages get 5 boxes on a Mana condition track and mark one every time they cast magic. Once they have marked off all the boxes they must rest before casting more magic.
• Supernatural Talents – Mages have access to Arcana that give them power over particular aspect of the material, magical, and spiritual world (Mind, Time, Space, Forces, Prime, Spirit, Death, Life, Matter, and Fate). Each Path gives a mage access to 2 Arcana (Arcanthus – Fate and Time, Mastigos – Mind and Space, Moros – Death and Matter, Obrimos – Prime and Forces, and Thysrus – Spirit and Life). The player starts the game with +2 (Fair) in one of the path’s Arcana and +3 (Good) in the other. These levels have specific meaning when it relates to Arcana. +1 (Average) allows the mage to perceive and know thigs about a thing that is part of the arcana (e.g. seeing spirits in an area, seeing a person’s aura, reading a person’s thoughts or emotions, knowing what kind of material something is made of etc.). +2 (Fair) allows the mage to influence things in the purview of the Arcana but not control them (e.g. make someone calmer or more agitated, communicating with spirits or ghosts, speeding up healing or slowing the spread of poison). +3 (Good) allows the Mage to control elements of the arcana (e.g. mind control, forming water into shapes, telekinesis), +4 (Great) allows the mage to transform elements of the arcana (e.g. shape-shifting, turning lead into gold, changing a person's memories), and +5 (Superb) allows a mage to create or destroy an element of the arcana (e.g. creating water or fire out of nothing, regrow a limb, death ray!)
• Supernatural Stunt – Mages have two Rotes, magical effects based on their arcana that they do on a regular basis and so are better practiced at doing it. Usually this involves adding +2 to the roll for that effect.
