The character may not start with any skill in any of the magical skills, as training in these skills are supposed to unlock any magical potential in the character (supposition aside - until the character has paid the Karma cost to unlock the magical potential inside the character, no amount of training in any skill will let the character develop any glimmer of magical talent).
The character is considered a potential adept, though the character isn't aware of this. This type of character is never a full magician, no matter what.
As long as the character is "unmanifested", the character isn't considered a magician neither for wounds, nor for Essence loss and Body Index. This is consistent with the fiction in Awakenings, where treatment and inoculation of unmanifested magicians is discussed to some extent.
If the character ever pays an amount of Karma equal to 10 good Karma, and also burns one Karma Pool point, the character is considered "unlocked". This means that although the character hasn't necessarily manifested any talents thus far, the character should be considered a magician for purposes of treatment for wounds and use of stimulants. Any assensing magician will see this on a normal (Perception: 4) test, although the reason why isn't immediately obvious.
Immediately when the character is unlocked, the type of adept the character is should be determined by a random roll on table I. If bioware and cyberware implants would have reduced any Magic attribute below 1, then the character has unlocked his or hers potential to no use - the character has, through the character's own actions, rendered himself or herself forever mundane. Any geasa imposed on the newly-realized adept because of Magic loss should be determined by the Gamemaster immediately.
Any magician assensing the character after the potential has been unlocked and succeeding in a Perception: 10 can tell that the character can be trained as an adept. With 2 successes or more, the magician can even tell what kind of adept the character is, unless that is immediately obvious. When the character is told about his or hers adept status, all rules are immediately in force on the character - i.e., the character is magically active, with all the pros and cons of that.
This optional rule is easily extended to potential full magicians, in that they pay adept status, 15 good Karma and 1 Karma pool point to become full magicians. However, the character may choose at the beginning what kind of full magician the character will become - physical magician, shaman or hermetic magician.
The roll on this table is 2d6, added together.
| Table I: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Nega mage | Special1 |
| 3 | Shamanic adept | SRII page 1242 |
| 4 | Conjuring adept | SRII page 1243 |
| 5 | Physical adept | SRII page 1244 |
| 6 | Sorcerer adept | SRII page 1245 |
| 7 | Sorcerer adept | SRII page 1245 |
| 8 | Sorcerer adept | SRII page 1245 |
| 9 | Astral adept | Awakenings page 110 |
| 10 | Enchanting adept | Grimoire page 20 6 |
| 11 | Psionic adept | Awakenings page 104 |
| 12 | Elemental adept | Grimoire page 33 7 |
| 1: Nega mage special rules |
| The Nega mage is a totally non-magical
individual. Spell casters can cast powerful spells at a nega-magician all day
and not get anything but a splitting headache. Simply put - magic, in any
form, through any medium, will not touch a nega mage at all. This
immunity is of course extended to Health-spells and suchlike. However, only
spells directly targeted at, or including the nega mage in its area of
effect, will not affect the nega-mage at all. This does not mean that the
nega mage is immune to the indirect effects of spellcasting. Even though a
Fireball spell may not harm the nega mage directly, the exploding car next
to the nega mage is more than able to do so. Also, no matter what a nega mage
may tell you, they aren't bullet-proof. And just to state the obvious -
spirits or elementals will not be able to touch a nega mage, and neither will
a nega mage be able to touch a spirit or an elemental. A nega mage is
effectively "invisible" on the astral plane.
Special rules govern a nega mage's power. Even though a nega mage is free of the normal limitations of a mage (i.e., geasa and so on), every time a nega mage gets cybernetic or bioware implants, there is a chance the nega mage will lose his power completely. The nega mage rolls 1d6 against his new Magic rating, and if the result is greater than or equal to the new Magic rating, the nega mage will lose his nega power. This is done once for each and every implant the nega mage suffers, even though the Magic rating may not change. The nega mage may not ever initiate. When the nega mage's potential is unlocked, the nega mage needs only make one test to see if he has immediately lost his power because of cybernetic and bioware implants. |
| 2: Shamanic adept special rules |
| The shamanic adept's totem must be determined when the shamanic adept has unlocked his or hers potential. The Gamemaster may decide to let the player choose a totem based on how the character has been played, or the Gamemaster may assign a totem based on what he or she perceives as the character's true nature. Random determination of a totem is not advisable, because this violates the preceipt that "the totem chooses the shaman", and not vice versa. |
| 3: Conjuring adept special rules |
| The Conjuring adept may be either hermetic or shamanic in nature. The Gamemaster may randomly determine which one of these cases is true. If the Conjuring adept is shamanic in nature, the totem of the adept must be determined. The suggestions for the shamanic adept holds true for the shamanic conjuring adept, too. |
| 4: Physical adept special rules |
| A Physical adept may be either hermetic or shamanic in nature. If the Gamemaster chooses to or randomly decides that the new physical adept is a shamanic physical adept, suggestions for shamanic physical adepts are given in Awakenings, page 110. Even though the totem of the shamanic physical adept may be decided only semi-randomly (see the section on the shamanic adept), the exact, beginning powers of the physical adept (whether shamanic or hermetic) should be decided by the Gamemaster, based on what the Gamemaster perceives as skills and attributes often used by the character before the character developed his or hers physical adept powers. For instance, if the character is very good at throwing knives or shooting with a shotgun, the character may develop bonus dice in Throwing, or perhaps Firearms. Any geasa because of magic loss or foci for the physical adept's powers are also decided by the Gamemaster, and the Gamemaster should keep the powers a secret until such time it may be fitting to unveil the information. Also, an Astral Quest with a rating of the physical adept's Magic attribute will unveil the powers the physical adept possess. |
| 5: Sorcerer adept special rules |
| A sorcerer adept may also be either hermetic or shamanic. The Gamemaster should either decide that which seems the more fitting option of the two, or could decide randomly. If the sorcerer adept is shamanic, then the totem of the sorcerer adept should be determined according to the guidelines given for the shamanic adept. More information for sorcerer adepts is given in SRII, page 124. |
| 6: Enchanting adept special rules |
| An enchanting adept is only able to use the Enchanting skill. Details on the Enchanting skill is given in the Grimoire pages 20 through 27. Optionally, the Gamemaster may decide that the character is a druidic Enchanting adept, though these adepts would have a Celtic background, and would be very, very rare. For rules on druidic Enchanting, see Grimoire page 30. |
| 7: Elemental adept special rules |
| The element of the elemental adept must be determined. These elements are Air, Fire, Earth and Water. Rules for elemental adepts are given in the Grimoire, page 33. However, with the introduction of new elemental effects in Awakenings, the Gamemaster may decide to expand on the elemental adepts available, as not all magical traditions have only four elements. |
|
Taken from the pages of Jens-Arthur Leirbakk |