Your Mage characters, like any other human (or nearly-human) beings, have innate capabilities, weaknesses, limitations and strengths. Attributes gauge such potentials. With the simple 1 to 5 rating system, Attributes show not only how well a character performs in a given area, but elaborate on that character’s potential compared to others. Most people have Attribute ratings from 1 (poor) to 3 (good), with a rare few holding 4 (exceptional) or5 (world-class) capability.
In rare instances, heroic mages or otherworldly creatures may exceed the limits of human potential, as well. For each of the Traits listed, we offer some suggestions for Specialties. A Specialty defines an area of a Trait in which your character is particularly good. Feel free to customize your own Specialties with your Storyteller. In general, your character may have a Specialty in a certain Trait if you have assigned her four or more points in that Trait. You may also choose a Specialty with less than that, just for the purpose of character definition. Although you won’t receive any special bonuses on your dice rolls when your base rating is less than four, the early choice of a Specialty for your character helps you to describe your character more specifically, her goals and her history.

Physical

A character's Physical Attributes define how strong, agile and resilient she is. If you want to create an action-oriented character, you should take the Physical Attributes as her primary category. Such characters might include those who have military or police experience, Akashic Brothers, athletes or blue-collar workers. The character's history plus her focus on physical health help you decide how many points to assign to these Traits.

Strength

Hot smoke burned Donald's nostrils and filled his lungs with soot. Flames shot up the curtains and cast a devilish glow on the walls. The fire licked at him like a starved dog. Donald anticipated the bite at any moment. He had to get out of the room, but the earthquake had dropped a beam over the exit. just a couple of inches; that's all he needed to squeeze through the crack. His magic wouldn't help him — he'd used up all his juice surviving the quake. So, Donald wrapped his arms around the beam and put his back into it.

The points you assign to your character's Strength Attribute represent how much brute strength she has. Strength determines how much weight she can lift, carry or push. It directs how far she can jump. Furthermore, it expresses how hard she can hit another character or object, as well as how much damage she can do during hand-to-hand combat. When determining the damage your character inflicts with a hand-to-hand attack, you add her Strength score to your damage dice pool.

Specialties: Iron Grip, Powerful Arms, Reserves of Strength, Fists Like Anvils
x Abysmal: Lift 20 Ibs.; you're nigh unto dead.
• Poor: Lift 40 Ibs.; you're a wuss.
• • Average: Lift 100 Ibs.; you're Joe Average.
• • • Good: Lift 250 Ibs.; you're a stud.
• • • • Exceptional: Lift 400 Ibs.; you're an Atlas bodybuilder.
• • • • • Outstanding: Lift 650 Ibs.; you're a freight train.

Dexterity

The boat motor choked to a stop. The ensuing silence held a brooding menace. It and the unmistakable taste of dark magic made the hairs stand up on the back of June's neck. Something had gone terribly wrong. Someone had made it go terribly wrong. And then she heard the sound, Uke distant thunder—the roar of the falls. Theboat gathered speed, heading straight for destruction. "Damn it!" June hissed, rushing up to the deck. She assessed her options. Perhaps she could swim to shore. Perhaps she could fight the current. She wasn't at all sure she'd succeed. But there, just ahead, she spotted a vine hanging out over the water. If only she could make the leap and grab onto the vine before the boat sped deeper into the white-water, she might have a chance. June crouched at the bow with one hand on the rail....

The Dexterity Attribute measures a character's overall athleticism. It expresses a character's general physical prowess, including grace, speed, physical reflexes, hand-eye coordination and agility. Dancers, mechanics, artists, speed skaters, gymnasts, surgeons and good bartenders all have a high Dexterity.

Specialties: Lithe, Swift, Feline Grace, Lightning Reflexes
x Abysmal: No coordination; you have trouble just standing up.
• Poor: Clumsy; you trip on your own shadow.
• • Average: No klutz; you don't embarrass yourself often.
• • • Good: Smooth; you have athletic potential.
• • • • Exceptional: Graceful; you impress.
• • • • • Outstanding: Liquid; you inspire.

Stamina

The dunes stretched as far as the eye could see, but Haman knew that a road cut through to the north .He'd had a hard enough time escaping the crazy Son of Ether who had wanted to experiment an him with all those whizyng, whirring, whining contraptions. His head still ached from the din. His arm still hurt from the injection. There'dbe plenty of time to find out what the bastard had done to him once he got back to the chantry. For now, he just needed to keep going so he would get back. Haman had never appreciated the expression "cotton mouth" as much as he did at that moment. The wind blew hard, harsh as sandpaper on his dusty skin. One step after the other, lift foot, put it down. Haman wanted so badly to lie down and sleep. He had no idea how many miles he had walked or how many more he had to go. All he knew was that to stop was to die.

The Stamina Trait represents your character's ability to withstand physical stress. It is a measure other body's resilience, toughness and adaptability. It expresses how long your character can continue to exert herself and how much physical punishment she can withstand before suffering trauma.

Specialties: Tireless, Tough as Nails, Resilient, Pain Resistant
x Abysmal: Dying; your body is falling apart.
• Poor: Wimp; you're tired after brushing your teeth.
• • Average: Couch potato; you can run a mile, if you have to.
• • • Good: In shape; you work out regularly.
• • • • Exceptional: Stalwart; you swim in Arctic conditions.
• • • • • Outstanding: Formidable; even torture can't break you.

Social

In general, mages are social creatures who need one another to survive. They have their politics in the chantries and among those in their same Traditions. Each Mage character has Social Traits that represent how well he maneuvers in social situations. Representing a character's social graces and general attractiveness, these Traits express the character's ability to make an impression on other people. Characters who are performers, politicians, models or con men will have high scores in the Social Attributes.

Charisma

Tina followed her mentor into the conclave, glancing around at all the strange faces with more than a little trepidation. She felt like a debutante appearing for the first time in an unforgiving, closed society of demigods. Her mentor had warned her about the hazards of making enemies in this crowd. With a deep breath, she lifted her chin and put on her most charming smile. The first introduction, of course, presented Tina with the challenge of winning over the Hermetic mage, Marcus. "How do you do?" Tina deferentially dropped her gaze. "I've heard so very much about you." "?ll good, I hope," Marcus replied, crushing Tina under the hard scrutiny of his ice-green eyes. Tina didn't bother to lie, "Your... discipline is legendary, sir." She peeked up at the man and caught the twitch of a near-smile on his Ups. She'd said the right thing.

A character's Charisma score shows how charming and likable she is. It represents her ability to flirt, please, compliment and impress others. She may do so through a look or a conversation, though having the Charisma Trait doesn't necessarily grant the character a silver tongue. She may stumble over her words, but do it in such a charming way that everyone forgives her and likes her all the more for her clumsiness at expressing herself. It also may indicate her ability to get along with people from all different walks of life. A charismatic individual doesn't necessarily get people to do what she wants through looks or force of personality; rather, she causes people to like her and to want to help her.

Specialties: Sex Appeal, Winning Smile, Inspires Protection, Social Flexibility
x Abysmal: Belligerent; people actively dislike you.
• Poor: Socially inept; you offend others often.
• • Average: Acceptable; you don't turn people off.
• • • Good: Likeable; you make friends easily.
• • • • Exceptional: Congenial; you impress immediately.
• • • • • Outstanding: Irresistible; you can't lose.

Manipulation

Charles put a scowl on his face. "I can't believe you would do this to me," he murmured to the young woman. Turning his back on her, he wrapped his arms around himself. "Shit, Geri." "I... Charles, it was only one conversation. I swear I didn't tell him anything he didn't already know." Charles suppressed his smile. "You confirmed it though, didn't you?" Charles had needed some special information spread to the right people, and his beautiful messenger had complied. But, me final play had yet to be made. "I'm so screwed." He put his hand over his face. He felt Geri's hand touch his shoulder and /orced a /linch. Geri pulled her hand away and said contritely, "I didn't mean to get you in trouble, Charles. Tell me how I can fix it."

This Trait has many nuances. It covers a character's ability to get others to bend to her whim, to spot when someone else is manipulating her and to hide her true motivations. In many ways, it also represents a character's honesty and frankness. On one hand, a character with a low Manipulation score will have more trouble getting others to see things her way or to do what she wants them to do. On the other hand, the same character will probably seem more honest because she doesn't have the ability to hide her true feelings. She may want badly to bluff, but her poker face sucks. A character with a high Manipulation score, however, can use guilt, blackmail or cleverly chosen arguments to control someone without that person becoming aware of it. Doing so often involves dishonest methods. Manipulation is used to trick, bluff, fast -talk and railroad another character. If your character is attempting to manipulate someone, her target doesn't have to like her. Manipulating someone differs from using Charisma, in that manipulating doesn't have to involve winning over the target's affections. Hate can be a powerful motivator, and a skillful manipulator can get even her enemies to do what she wants by using subtle or deceptive methods. A botched Manipulation role may alert the target to the fact that your character is attempting to bamboozle her, which could result in resentment and future distrust of your character.

Specialties: Persuasive, Seductive, Well-Reasoned, Guilter, Deceiver, Conniver
x Abysmal: Dispiriting; people ignore you.
• Poor: Transparent; you have no poker face.
• • Average: Inconsistent; you fool some of the people, some of the time.
• • • Good: Guileful; you have a few good lines and methods.
• • • • Exceptional: Convincing; you play people and usually win.
• • • • • Outstanding: Conniving; you always get your way.

Appearance

Dewy had a mission at the World's Ether Fair. He needed aid to pursue research on his invention, the Mass Super-Condenser. His turn at the podium arrived. It took him a moment to get the papers in order, then he pushed up his glasses and peered out at the judges. "Good afternoon, fellow Etherites," he began. That's when Miss Lana Tulane entered the room , making her presence known by carelessly dropping a book. All eyes turned. As the entire roam watched, Lana blushed and apologized. Several men rushed to pick up the book for her. Dewy sighed. Once again, Lana had managed to steal his thunder. He finished his presentation, but he had lost the interest of the crowd. At the end, they asked no questions. They thanked him, assured him they'd consider his proposal and then called for Miss Lana Tulane to please come up and give her presentation. Dewy fumed and plotted his revenge.

The Appearance Attribute represents your character's overall attractiveness. It includes her physical beauty, her grace and those indefinable qualities that make a person appealing. This Trait has little to do with verbal expression or social smoothness, but it defines the first impression the character makes, even before she has opened her mouth. Though we would like to deny it, a person's physical appearance affects how others treat her. A beautiful character will not always get special considerations from everyone, of course. On the contrary, there may be some who abhor the beautiful people. This Attribute affects not only a character's ability to flirt the newest member of the chantry into submission, but it also improves first impressions, aids in making a musical or theatrical performance more affective and adds to a character's ability to convince others in a debate. However, simply a high Appearance score, doesn't give a character the social graces to use it properly. Someone with a low Charisma Attribute looks good standing around, but she ruins the effect as soon as she speaks. Some first impressions may rely on an Appearance + Ability roll while later actions use a Charisma or Manipulation + Ability roll.

Specialties: Sexy, Respectable, Expressive, Otherworldly, Earthy
x Abysmal: Hideous; you barely pass for human.
• Poor: Ugly; you need a paper bag to get a date.
• • Average: Unimpressive; you blend with the wall.
• • • Good: Attractive; you get second looks sometimes.
• • • • Exceptional: Beautiful; you could work as a model.
• • • • • Outstanding: Exquisite; you stop traffic.

Mental

The three Mental Attributes define your character's mind. The scores you choose for these Traits reveal your character's memory capacity, intelligence and alertness to details in her environment. If your character is a scientist, university professor, doctor, journalist, air-traffic controller, stand-up comedian or any oilier concept that requires quick mental acuity or high IQ, then you'll want to make the Mental Attributes your primary category.

Perception

The caller had said his name was "X" and that he had information Casey needed. He had named the meeting place and insisted on anonymity. Casey couldn't pass up the opportunity. He waited in the cool stairwell, hoping desperately that it wasn't a set-up. Pitch darkness clutched at Casey, putting his nerves on edge as footsteps echoed up the stairwell toward him. This was it — the moment of truth. X stopped on the landing below. An electronically altered voice spoke out of the darkness, saying, "I know who broke into your sanctum, Casey, but I need something from you in return." The scent of lilacs drifted up from below, tickling gently at Casey's nose and his memories. A smile touched across his lips, and his fears drained away like dirty bath water. He knew that per fume. "Tell me what I can do for you," he answered.

This Trait expresses your character's ability to notice details in her environment. Sometimes, the character actively applies her perception, such as when she's searching for something specific. The majority of the time, however, it's an intuitive awareness that allows her to catch details via one of her five senses. Although she may see, taste, smell, feel or hear something that others would overlook, it doesn't mean that she has the experience or knowledge to identify that thing. A character's Perception score helps her find, spot or recognize things. This awareness includes spotting an ambush, noticing that lost keys are peeking out from behind the dresser, finding clues in piles of useless junk, hearing the hesitation in one's answer to your question and catching secretive glances exchanged by two people who are hiding something.

Specialties: Alert, Insightful, Intuitive, Thorough, Experienced
x Abysmal: Oblivious; you wouldn't notice an elephant if it sat down beside you.
• Poor: Inattentive; you don't pay much attention to what happens around you.
• • Average: Heedless; you catch the gist of your surroundings.
• • • Good: Sensitive; you're aware of moods and textures.
• • • • Exceptional: Alert; you have a keen awareness of your surroundings.
• • • • • Outstanding: Intuitive; you sense things most others never would.

Intelligence

Peenngsrillat the illuminated phosphors of the screen, Cathrine brushed an errant strand of hair back for the third time before turning away and rubbing her temples. In her mind's eye, the numbers and symbols still flickered. For the last two days she'd fought over the code in most of her spare time. Unlocking the original encryption proved difficult enough. Once she had the file open, it proved to be a mass of disorganized data. She had to sort through it all to find the key numbers that would let her unlock the meaning behind it. Leaning back in her chair, Ca thrine thought back to some of the flickering numbers. The patterns were there, just out of grasp of her conscious mind. The numbers hadn't been bit'twiddled or reverse-encoded or tweaked in a fashion that she recognized... until she stopped and thought about what a Technocrat would do. No Technocrat would ever encode a file without error-correction. In a sudden blast of inspiration, she spun her chair back in front of the monitor and flexed her hands as she prepared for a night's work.

The dots in a character's Intelligence Trait define what most people would classify as "smarts." This Attribute represents her facility for solving problems, remembering facts, evaluating situations, reasoning and making leaps of logic. It expresses her innate ability, though it doesn't necessarily mean that she had years of education. A person can have a powerfully logical or deductive mind and still be a store clerk who didn't finish high school. Other factors play into a character's career choice, though any character with a college education or an intellectually demanding position should have that ability reflected in her Intelligence score. This Trait deals with calculating skills and the character's memory threshold. It doesn't necessarily imply that the character has common sense, street smarts or wisdom. A very intelligent person could also be the one who trusts the shady character in the alley, who pulls out her wallet to count her money in front of the crack house or who keeps misplacing her car keys. On the other hand, intelligent characters are the ones who come up with creative and thorough solutions to problems, who see situations from multiple sides and who learn quickly.

Specialties: Book-Smart, Creative, Analytical, Logical, Subject Authority, Good Memory
x Abysmal: Moronic; you can't rub two neurons together (IQ 60).
• Poor: Thick; you have trouble with child-proof lids (IQ 80).
• • Average: No dummy; you were a "C" student (IQ 100).
• • • Good: Smart; you do the hard crosswords for fun (IQ 120).
• • • • Exceptional: Brainy; your intellect leaves most others in the dust (IQ 140).
• • • • • Outstanding: Genius; you solve universal mysteries (IQ 160+).

Wits

The situation soured quickly. Minx cowered behind a couch with the newly Awakened girl, trying to think fast as she looked into the girl's large, blue eyes. Those eyes held terror. Damn, Minx thought. I have to get her out of here. A brick came through the front window and soon the agents would follow. Minx glanced around the house. "This way!" Minx whispered. She scurried toward the kitchen door, pulling the girl along by the hand. The back door tempted, but Minx knew they'd catch her if she left the house. She pulled the back door open, but kept the girl from fleeing. "No, not that way." Instead, she headed for the basement. The two crept down the stairs, listening to their pursuers' footfalls cross the house and go straight out the back door. Minx and her charge hid in a shadowy comer. They waited until nightfall, then slipped out under cover of darkness.

Your character's Wits score represents her ability to think quickly, to react with expedience to critical situations and to creatively find solutions to immediate problems. This Attribute Trait reveals a character's level of adaptability to changing circumstances and her cleverness in extracting herself from difficult situations. Unlike the Intelligence Trait, it expresses a more immediate and pressing mental acuity. It's not about how much you know or could know, but rather about how quickly your mind reacts to surprises, ambushes, cutting comments and the unexpected in general.

Specialties: Ever-Ready, Witty Conversationalist, Intuitive, Combat Reflexes
x Abysmal: Dense; you just can't keep up with changes.
• Poor: Slow; you're an easy target.
• • Average: Paced; you figure things out eventually.
• • • Good: Snappy; you often have just the right response.
• • • • Exceptional: Sharp; you can handle almost anything.
• • • • • Outstanding: Instinctual; you don't even break a sweat in a gunfight.