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The Fate Sphere
Up front, let me try to clear up some potential misunderstandings: first, this is not a translation of the Fate Arcanum from Mage: the Awakening; for one thing, its scope is considerably more broad than what that Arcanum describes. Second, it is intended to be a replacement for the Entropy Sphere — but not in the sense of “let's strip capabilities out of Entropy to get something with a more focused concept”. If anything, the goal is to go the other way with it.
When Mage first came out, it was loaded with stereotypes and half-conceived ideas which later got refined and expanded on. Nowhere is this more true than the Euthanatos and Entropy: in 1e, they were initially portrayed as “death mages” whose whole raison d'etre was to find people who deserved to die and to kill them. In that framework, the Entropy Sphere was a reasonably good fit.
But since then, the Tradition has been greatly expanded, to the point that Entropy as written arguably doesn't suit them anymore. The Chakravanti, as they are once again calling themselves, do still engage in the practice of administering the Good Death; but that's only one part of what they do, and in fact is generally viewed as a last resort. Rather, they're keepers of the Wheel of Fate, maintaining the metaphysical cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth. The Greeks among them liken their purpose to the three Fates, and draw parallels between the Moirae and the metaphysical cycle: Clotho (Dynamism; the Spinner) is tasked with taking possibilities and making them real, Lachesis (Stasis; the Weaver) maintains, protects, and elaborates on what Clotho created, and Atropos (Entropy; the Thread-Cutter) breaks down what Lachesis builds, freeing up new possibilities for Clotho to actualize.
Some mages who are familiar with the Garou note a parallel between the Fates and the Triat that werewolves venerate; but it's worth noting that mages don't restrict themselves to that one possibility: Dynamism is a bigger concept than the Wyld; Stasis is more than the Weaver; and Entropy covers more than just the Wyrm. As written, the Entropy Sphere shows a bias in its presentation toward Entropy, which is consistent. But just as the Chakravanti have expanded beyond their original stereotype of assassins, so too should the Entropy Sphere be expanded beyond just Entropy to incorporate all three aspects of Fate. Some of this is just a matter of presentation: as written, Entropy includes a lot of probability manipulation (arguably Dynamic rather than Entropic) alongside its death and decay aspects. But it would be reasonable to get some expansion, and in some cases alteration, to the Sphere's capabilities with this broader concept of Fate in mind.
All that said: one goal I have is to completely rewrite Entropy's third, fourth, and fifth dots so that they no longer arrange four other Spheres in a hierarchy, with Forces and Matter on the bottom, Life in the middle, and Mind at the pinnacle. Instead, I want to start with the triune concepts of Dynamism, Stasis, and Entropy, and apply each of them to the conceptual “ladder” described in Mage: the Sorceror's Crusade:
Applying the metaphysical trinity to the concept of Fate, we get the following:
• Dynamism: Fate as luck and chance — probability manipulation should fall here.
• Stasis: Fate as destiny and order — pattern (not Pattern) manipulation should fall here.
• Entropy: Fate as decay and endings — death manipulation should fall here.
As well: if the Storyteller chooses to use the concept of Synergy (with its three flavors of Static, Dynamic, and Entropic), then Fate should arguably include the ability to sense and manipulate Synergy.
Thoughts?
When Mage first came out, it was loaded with stereotypes and half-conceived ideas which later got refined and expanded on. Nowhere is this more true than the Euthanatos and Entropy: in 1e, they were initially portrayed as “death mages” whose whole raison d'etre was to find people who deserved to die and to kill them. In that framework, the Entropy Sphere was a reasonably good fit.
But since then, the Tradition has been greatly expanded, to the point that Entropy as written arguably doesn't suit them anymore. The Chakravanti, as they are once again calling themselves, do still engage in the practice of administering the Good Death; but that's only one part of what they do, and in fact is generally viewed as a last resort. Rather, they're keepers of the Wheel of Fate, maintaining the metaphysical cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth. The Greeks among them liken their purpose to the three Fates, and draw parallels between the Moirae and the metaphysical cycle: Clotho (Dynamism; the Spinner) is tasked with taking possibilities and making them real, Lachesis (Stasis; the Weaver) maintains, protects, and elaborates on what Clotho created, and Atropos (Entropy; the Thread-Cutter) breaks down what Lachesis builds, freeing up new possibilities for Clotho to actualize.
Some mages who are familiar with the Garou note a parallel between the Fates and the Triat that werewolves venerate; but it's worth noting that mages don't restrict themselves to that one possibility: Dynamism is a bigger concept than the Wyld; Stasis is more than the Weaver; and Entropy covers more than just the Wyrm. As written, the Entropy Sphere shows a bias in its presentation toward Entropy, which is consistent. But just as the Chakravanti have expanded beyond their original stereotype of assassins, so too should the Entropy Sphere be expanded beyond just Entropy to incorporate all three aspects of Fate. Some of this is just a matter of presentation: as written, Entropy includes a lot of probability manipulation (arguably Dynamic rather than Entropic) alongside its death and decay aspects. But it would be reasonable to get some expansion, and in some cases alteration, to the Sphere's capabilities with this broader concept of Fate in mind.
All that said: one goal I have is to completely rewrite Entropy's third, fourth, and fifth dots so that they no longer arrange four other Spheres in a hierarchy, with Forces and Matter on the bottom, Life in the middle, and Mind at the pinnacle. Instead, I want to start with the triune concepts of Dynamism, Stasis, and Entropy, and apply each of them to the conceptual “ladder” described in Mage: the Sorceror's Crusade:
| • | sense it |
| •• | nudge it |
| ••• | make lasting changes to it |
| •••• | do something big with it |
| ••••• | do something really big with it |
• Dynamism: Fate as luck and chance — probability manipulation should fall here.
• Stasis: Fate as destiny and order — pattern (not Pattern) manipulation should fall here.
• Entropy: Fate as decay and endings — death manipulation should fall here.
As well: if the Storyteller chooses to use the concept of Synergy (with its three flavors of Static, Dynamic, and Entropic), then Fate should arguably include the ability to sense and manipulate Synergy.
Thoughts?
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