Mage Sphere Information
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General Information
With the beginning of this version of the MUSH, we have come to the realization that the stories of mages, sorcerers, and psychics are essentially the same type of stories, and thus we have decided to place them in one sphere. The application processes are slightly different but they will fall under the general guidelines.
The thing that sets a mage, sorcerer, or psychic apart from the other supernatural races in the World of Darkness is that at the core, they are still human. If a psychic, mage, or sorcerer gave up their powers, they could live as a normal human and there would be no difference. A vampire, a werewolf, a fae, a demon, or a wraith cannot say that. And from this difference in this version of Metro will our stories spring. There will always be the temptation to return to the everyday life. There will be the pain of working and living among people that have no idea what is out there. There will be the thrill of being the elite among humanity of the power and the glory to which other people are blind. If you want to be all that you can be, read all the instructions listed below, write up your application, and e-mail it to escalusmetro@gmail.com. You can +mail the mage staff questions about your application, but +mailed or +jobbed applications will not be accepted.
At the present time, all spheres are open. At all times, all ideas are given equal consideration with the exception of Orphan mages and lone-wolf sorcerers and psychics. Those applications must be extraordinary to be considered. At this time, familiar and bygone applications are not being considered. Marauder applications will never be considered.
Theme
DURING the first iteration of Metro: Toronto by Night, I went for high epic. With the restart I want to make this a more personal mage game. This is not a statement that one style of story is better than the other; it is a simply a change in my approach. My new theme-words are similar to my old theme-words, but the scope has narrowed from collective cost to personal cost.
ABANDONMENT: Before the Avatar Storm, the greatest teachers and centers of learning, the brightest spots in the Ascension War, were the Masters and the Realms in the deep reaches of the Umbra. While the true battlefield was on the Earth, as a mage you could have been comforted to know that in worlds like Doissetep, Autocthonia, and Horizon, magickal potency the like of which was seldom seen had your back. Now, they are gone in the terrible energies of the Avatar Storm. The ways of the Umbra are just as dangerous now as the Shadowlands were before. From the Masters and the Oracles and the Patrons and the Computer and all the demigods of magick in the spirit worlds, there has been no word. A single mage may be the only one of their faction within one hundred miles. You are alone.
APATHY: For those who feared and hated the world in which the Ascension War raged, the end of it was a relief, until they realized that what remains of a bonfire is only ashes. Humanity has rejected Ascension. For the old warriors who remain, despair is never far away. They suffered and fought in vain. New mages question the desire for Ascension itself, and the path of selfishness is now more attractive than ever before.
HOPE: But yet, this remains. There will always be hope as long as someone realizes this simple truth: as long as the will is the way, as long as magick exists, there is a chance to restart the War, to guide humanity to Ascension. To those who dream of a better world, it is a fitful flame, and it must be tended..
Toronto's Mage population is as diverse as its people. The atmosphere of the city is that of ashes and rain, an endless drizzle that seeks to put out the dying fire of souls. For further information as to the views of each faction on the current situation, please see:
Sorcerers and psychics do not have their own page.
Application Requirements
If you want to apply for a mage/sorcerer/psychic character on Metro: Toronto By Night, you must meet the following requirements.
A. You must be online at least five hours a week. This can be one five-hour stretch at a time, or forty minutes a day. Now, I will abide by the general rules of the MUSH, but if you fail in this particular sphere requirement, there will be IC repercussions. Of course, if your mother died, you have to move to Turkey, or you are going to lose computer connection, arrangements can be made, but they MUST be made before hand. It takes two minutes to write a +mail to me.
B. You must be doing something. I should run a scene for you at least one a month, and it should not be just a "preparation scene." I have had PCs who have never requested a scene from me in two years. I will warn you if you are not active enough (aside from time on). After that warning, there will be IC repercussions.
C. You must keep IC and OOC separate. I do not care how much you are provoked, I do not care how well you know someone from previous games, there will be OOC repercussions for systematically being unable to keep OOC and IC separate.
D. You must have a copy of Mage Revised or Sorcerer Revised. I do not care how you get it, but you must have the appropriate book and you must read it.
E. You must accept my definition of my professionalism. I define professionalism as being online as much as I can, of running any scenes that you request, of devoting my creative energy towards this MUSH. I will lose my temper. I will make snap decisions that turn out to be wrong, and I will not commit seppuku because I do. This is my hobby.
F. You must read and learn my house rules, including the rules for applications.
G. Read and follow the instructions in the links below:
Application Slots
I will not be employing faction slots on this game. In other words, I will never say "I have too many Hermetics." I will have preferences, if you ask, but they will not be based on a statistical distribution.
There will be ethnic preferences in this sphere. Each of the subspheres will have three slots reserved to these particular cultural bodies: Native American, French Canadian, and East Asian. Applications that take into account these ethnicities will get priority.
Mages: Asian (1); Native American (1); French Canadian (3) Sorcerers and Psychics: Asian (0); Native American (1); French Canadian (0)
There will be a limit of three Kinfolk (1) and three Kinain (3) slots, with the permission of their respective sphere leaders, in this game. The number in parentheses above is the number of slots open.
In order to get the feel I am looking for in terms of composition, I am installing a new limitation to characters: age limitations. Your starting Arête limits the age you can begin at, dependent on subsphere, as follows.
ARETE 1: Nephandi 15-20, Traditions 18-22, Technocracy 21-25
ARETE 2: Nephandi 21-25, Traditions 23+, Technocracy 26-30
ARETE 3: Nephandi 26-30, Traditions 28+, Technocracy 31-35
ARETE 4: Nephandi 31+, Traditions 33+, Technocracy 36+
Sorcerers cannot be younger than the number of total ranks in paths plus 20. Orphans must multiply their Arête times the number of spheres and add that number to 20. Orphans cannot start with Arête over two.
Nephandi will be limited in Avatar. It is very advantageous for a Nephandi to have the highest Avatar rating possible, but there are not going to be six Nephandi with Avatar 5. Thus, I can and will reject applications if there are too many Avatar 4 or 5 Nephandi.
