LogFAQs > #885442625

Lightning Bolt posted...

Definitely using Dynamicism for one character. It sounds exactly like what the "chessmaster" character would call it. Thanks!

But it feels a little formal to use generally. Something more evocative like "Force" maybe... I think the Force is taken though, especially in nerd culture.

It's literally the core premise of Mage: The Ascension.

Basically, the universe is balanced between Dynamism and Stasis - change versus status quo. It's also reflected in the Triat of Werewolf: The Apocalypse - to them, the entire universe is the byproduct of the tensions between the Wyld (raw, creative energy and uncontrolled chaos), the Weaver (a force for order that seeks to weave permanent meaning and purpose into the Wyld's dynamic potential), and the Wyrm (originally meant as a force for balance which would destroy the Weaver's excess creations and contain the Wyld's constant shifting, later bound and driven insane by the Weaver in an attempt to prevent it from destroying her creations, resulting in a new force of corruption and decay).

So in Mage every mage has an "Essence" that reflects the true nature of your soul, and two of those are "Dynamic" (the Avatar of Dynamism) and "Pattern" (the Avatar of Stasis). Though they also have "Questing" (the Avatar of Balance) and "Primordial" (the Avatar that reflects the deeper, more primal nature of reality). Each major faction of mages tends to correspond to one of those archetypes (and by extension, one of the Triat from Werewolf) - the Technocracy (the "evil" science mages that are generally antagonists for players) represent Stasis, and share the Weaver's desire to "calcify" all of reality into easily defined categories and principles that are unchanging and eternal, the Marauders (insane agents of chaos driven mad by their own power, who blindly seek dynamic change through destruction and represent the mindless Wyld), the Nephandi (utterly evil demon worshippers and nihilists who seek the absolute destruction of reality itself or the corruption of everything that exists, just as the Wyrm does), and the Traditions (the "good guy" mages most players play as, who tend to exist as more of a force for balance between dynamism and stasis, and thus theoretically represent the Wyrm in its original role, before it was imprisoned by the Weaver's webs and driven insane).

The upshot of all of which is that mages are generally seen as dynamic forces fighting against static reality (because the Weaver and the Technocracy are generally winning their wars), imposing their will against "The Consensus", which is basically the combined subconscious beliefs of the greater mass of humanity (ie, gravity works and things "fall down" because most people believe that things SHOULD "fall down". A mage is someone who effectively convinces reality around them that sometimes things can "fall up", and thus make themselves fly).

Depending on how you look at it, the constant struggle between the two opposing forces of change and stasis can be painted as "growth versus stagnation" or "free will versus determinism" (if you're more on the side of dynamism), or as "random chaos versus structured meaning" or "anarchy versus order" if you're falling more on the side of stasis.

The idea being that neither extreme (either constant meaningless change or eternal unchanging paralysis) is all that appealing, and the ideal state is a balance between the two. Change given meaning, structure that can evolve and adapt, and so on.

For the full Order versus Chaos motif you could even go with the terms Apollonian Dionysian, but that's less how Mage treats it (and is more how Amber treats it).


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