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First of all, let's begin with the core concept of Mage the Ascension – The reality is shaped by what people think that is true.

When the majority of people believe in something and it applies to everyone, it's called Consensus, but some special people, the Mages, can shape reality by their own beliefs thanks to their strong willpower, and the more natural it looks the easier it is for them.

And don't think that a Mage is a Gandalf style wizard, They are person with a strong believe that might sound slightly fantastic but some will find it believable; A martial artist that do superhuman feats but says that it's just discipline and training; a person that says that can see ghosts; that friend that always have good luck so you wouldn't be surprised if they tell you something really convenient happend to then; And of course, the more Gandalf style ocultist wizards.

But how does magik works?

If it's magical or fantastical thinking (which most humans have in one or anothet way), possibly a Mage can do it for real if they belive that is real.

But here's the catch: Remember the Consensus?, imagine it as the flow of a river. If a Mage follows what the popular belives, they move easily to manipulate reality, but if the swim against this consensus, it's their idea versus the belief of the majority, so it would be really hard to swim against the current of all that people's beliefs.

How does it works mechanically speaking in game?

Basically a Mage has 2 core elements: Spheres and Arete.

Spheres: Determines in which areas of reality the Mage has control and how much domain he has over them. (1 Sense - 2 Improve - 3 Control - 4 Create - 5 Master).

Arete: Determines how strong is the Mage's Magik, how conscious he is about the universe (and maximum knowledge about the spheres). In game it also determines how many dices the character rolls when doing a Magik.

The 9 spheres of reality:

Correspondence: Connection between elements and dimensions of space.

Entropy: Decay but also luck and fate.

Forces: The elemental energies (Fire, electricity, gravity, inertia, etc.).

Life: Heal and alter living beings.

Matter: Unanimated objects.

Mind: Everything related to minds and the consciousness of being.

Prime: Understanding of the primordial energy that within all things.

Spirit: Otherworsly habitants.

Time: The time.

Now for real! – How to do Magik

1.- The Mage first identity what she want to do.

(Ex. Break a wall).

2.- The Mage determines the tools she gonna use to do it.

(Ex. Her bare fists).

3.- The Mage determines HOW is she doing it.

(Ex. In this case, she will use the martial art knowledge she archived through years of training at the Akashayana dojo and the Force sphere to increase the streng of her punch to be able to break a solid wall which otherwise would be impossible for a human – Basically she is using Magik in a way she believes is possible and doing something a normal human wouldn't be able to do).

4.- Roll Arete to determine if your Magik works and a characteristic+skill for the action itself.

The factioooons! 🎵🎶

There are many factions in the setting, but there are 3 (or 4) main factions.

The Council of the 9 Traditions: The main characters, they do more mystic or fantastic Magik and fight to control the consensus so their Magik still possible in this world.

The Technocracy: The main rival of the traditions, originally the main villain but now more of a gray antagonist. They are also playable. They try to control the consensus too and use technology that is "illuminated" – basically technology that is so advanced that is Magik even if they will NEVER say it that way. They fight every supernatural creature they find to protect humanity from them.

The Nefandii: The main evil guys and real villains of the plot. They are infernalists and want the descense and destruction of humanity instead of the Ascension because they say the universe original state is chaos because they are mad. They are NOT gray, they are all sociopaths so they are not and should never be played.

The forgotten 4th group: The Disparate Alliance: A group of Mages' factions that hate the Technocracy but don't like the more conservative view of the 9 Traditions so they founded they own group but are not too many of them and they are usually hiding.

Extra: The Merouders: Mages that went mad and now destroy reality wherever they go, and the reality hits other Mages instead of them so they are dangerous but are individual Mages, not a faction exactly.

Okay so this is really extence already so I'll explain the groups in the two main playable factions to finish.

The 9 Traditions:

Akashayana: Mystial martial arts

Celestial Chorus: Religious mystics from monotheistic religions.

Chakravanti/ Euthanatoi: Followers of the Karmic will.

Kha'Vadi/ Dreamspeakers: Shamans and tribal Mages.

Virtual Adepts: Computational and telecommunications Mages.

The Order of Hermes: Traditional high Mages (mostly medieval European practices) who organize themselves in Houses depending of their main practice.

Sahajiya/ Cult of Extasis: Uses human feelings and strong experiences to see beyond perceptible reality.

Society of Ether: Mad science.

Verbenae: Witchcraft and pagan practices like druidcraft.

The Technocratic Union:

Iteration X: Mechanic and computer science.

New World Order: Control of information, propaganda and secret agencies.

Progenitors: Organic sciences (sometimes chemistry too[?)

Syndicate: Here comes the money, money money money money money. (Economy in general).

Voide Engineers: Protect the world form creatures from the outer space – Astronomy and geography.

Epilogue and how to learn more:

The two main factions are fighting to dominate the consensus and this is a big part of the plot.

The Nefandii are causing chaos too and all the other factions hate them.

- If you want to start playing I suggest to start by watching youtube videos that are simpler than reading the game manuals.

- After that you can download the free Quick guide for Mage the Ascension 20th anniversary to understand the basics.

- In Whitewolf Wiki you can read more about lore and factions.

-If you really want to read the core book, I suggest starting for the MTA 20th anniversary edition because it has a lot of the lore of the game, all the main factions and is the most complete version because it unifies lore and mechanics from all the previous versions.

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If the person that made the question or anyone else have a specific question please feel free to ask. I wanted to explain as much as I can without making the text too complex but if anyone have more questions, general or more specific, I will be happy to answer them 😄.