Foci vs Resonance

In the endeavor to provide the flavor of character that each mage should possess, players and storytellers should consider the differences between the use of foci and the use of resonance. Each of these bears great consideration as they are the paints which color the otherwise transparent magicks wielded by Mage the Ascension sorcerors. It is important to really pay attention to these aspects of the craft of a mage, for they are what make him different from any other willworker. 

A focus is the physical representation of the studies of the mage. A focus, as the name implies, is something which allows the mage to concentrate his efforts to alter reality, something which helps him overcome whatever mental stumbling blocks hold him back. Whatever form it takes, the focus is symbolic to the mage. It gives him the center of belief in his will necessary to enact it. Yet, the focus is also the limit, for the mage depends upon it, and thus it is difficult to truly awaken to the knowledge that it is just a tool, that he does not need it. 

The focus serves a similar purpose in the roleplaying game, Mage the Ascension. The form it takes shapes a great deal of the character in some way, for it tells us what is important to him. Since these items will be such an intrinsic part of the character's every magickal action, the player should carefully choose something that yields itself to being used in ways that he envisions his character would use magick. The rules reinforce its importance, by actually investing it with the power to limit the mage, without his focus he cannot perform his magick unless he eventually realizes that it is unnecessary. It is this inability to perform magick within the rules without the focus that insures the continual coloring of a mage's magic by specific thematic devices or objects. 

Suppose you possess Mind magics and are a Son of Ether. Perhaps you use your Telepathy Machine. If an Son of Ether has a telepathy machine, that means that he has "researched" the machine, and it allows him to read and project  thoughts. In a manner of speaking what he has actually achieved is a theory of how the mind works that allows him to perform the magick. This is the Awakening. It is the machinery which is his focus. A focus is the physical representation of the studies of the mage. 

So what if he wants to take control of someone's thoughts, via a mind  2 or mind 3 effect. The machine wasn't designed to do that. Would he need to "tinker" with it, to get it to perform the new task, or would he need to design a new machine? Or would he "invent" a machine which performs tasks through mind-n where n is the level he knows? I would favor the n-level machine, which really means that he is discovering further "implications" of his theory. 

For a Son of Ether, one cannot abandon any foci until he achieves level five Arete. It is possible for the Son of Ether to eventually discover that the machine is unnecessary. Perhaps in a comic book fashion, the machine has altered his own mind so that it can interact with the mysterious wavelength which he has proven radiates from all minds. 

I mentioned the difference between foci and resonance above. A mage requires a focus to perform magic until he eventually learns to discard it.  It is possible that in the case of the Son of Ether with the telepathy machine that his focus is actually simply a single component of the machine and that the component works in any machine which fits the design. The focus is an integral part of the mage's magick. The focus is the physical representation or "result" of the Son of Ether's studies, the culmination of his research into his theory of the universe which lifts him above the normal person. If you have ever read Frankenstein, you will see that the awakening for the Dr is the discovery that ancient discarded sciences bear great truths. This is his achievement of Arete. For Dr. Frankenstein, the awakening of his spheres of magick was the realization that the power of lightning combined with certain chemical elements could bring life to the dead body. His foci were the lightning and the alchemical substances. Foci and resonance may both be physical objects, but a focus must be something the mage can use. 

Resonance, on the other hand, is the overall surroundings or feel which always assist the mage. In the case of a Son of Ether, a beneficial resonance is given by having a laboratory filled machinery or a big beautiful klunky device strapped to his back. While all of these items surrounding the Son of Ether are not his focus specifically, they still assist him in his work. Dr Frankenstein did not truly require the bed of metal which strapped the dead body down, or the assistance of Igor, but all of this helped. 

This is resonance, as it is helpful but unnecessary. This is the difference between a focus and resonance. Resonance in the case of a more mystical mage will be magical circles inscribed upon the floor, lots of spell scrolls, or it may just be something seemingly undetectable such as a ley line. But for the technomage, resonance is normally created by the technological surroundings and tools he can access. Those shelves of old junk computer parts aid the Virtual Adept every bit as much as the ancient burial ground aids the Dreamspeaker. 

Sanctum is resonance painstakingly built into a place by a mage who wants a safe area to perform magic, a reality friendly to his paradigm.