Serge Yager

Player Name: Jeremy Silverstein

Character Name: Serge Yager
Concept:  Artistic Mage who lives in his imagination
Nature:  Kid
Demeanor: Innovator
Essence: Dynamic
Sect: Cult of Ecstasy
Age: 21

Pre-Awakened History: Serge Yager was born in 1996 in New York City to a loving family. He was born into a middle-class lifestyle, enough money to get by along with a few luxuries but nothing over the top.  Both of his parents worked, with his mother being a nurse and his father a computer engineer. Due to their busy work lives, Serge’s parents were rarely home and Serge was often left to entertain himself.  From a young age Serge had a profound fondness for cartoons and other visual media. He could often be seen in the living room watching television shows and mumbling to himself. When asked about his mumbling he would tell his mother that he was imagining himself as a character within the show talking with the other protagonist and going on amazing adventures. He always enjoyed the way the shows made him feel. The comedic moments made him laugh, the sad moments made him cry, and the amazing moments left him in awe. The characters portrayed were his friends and company when his parents weren’t home. When his schooling started, Serge could be often be seen day dreaming within class, imagining and creating his own cartoons and character within his head and interacting with them. It was no surprise when his favorite class turned out to be art class, the only class where he could turn his imagination into reality.

Serge’s life went on like this for several years, daydreaming and drawing the days away. His parents didn’t think much of it at first, and raised him to follow his interests. Only in his 7th grade did his parents realize the problem he had developed. Over the years, Serge had very few friends, alone most of his early life he was content with the friends he made up in his mind. Due to this, Serge didn’t have the best socializing skills and tended to stammer and stutter when talking to the other kids. This social awkwardness caused many of the other kids to avoid him and so Serge went back to his imaginary adventures and drawings of his characters. His parents, worried about their child, quickly sent him to a psychiatrist where Serge was prescribed with SSRI’s to help with his social anxiety.  At first Serge was glad that he no longer felt nervous when talking to the other kids and was even ecstatic when he got the courage to show them his art. Still always felt the same nervousness tucked deep within his heart and he couldn’t help but think that the only reason the other kids only now started to talk to him was because of those drugs.

Under the effects of the drugs, Serge became much more sociable. However it was under the effect of the medicine that Serge began to notice that he had a knack for reading faces. Whether it was by staring at the face of his friends or just by being within their proximity while he was drawing, Serge always seemed to know what his friends were thinking.  He didn’t really think much of it, attributing it to either dumb luck or an eye for faces.  

Serge spent his most of his time either drawing or looking at drawings on online forums. Even after so many years, Serge would still dream and daydream vivid adventures with him and characters that he created. However instead of hiding them he would bring them into reality through his drawings. It was a powerful feeling whenever Serge did this and he always wondered if all creators felt the same way whenever they created something from seemingly nothing but the thoughts in his head.

Serge’s fascination was not always limited to original art pieces. Some of his favorite art pieces were often fan art of characters from his youth. The idea of taking a character and changing it to your specifications, to recreate it in your own image, fascinated him. He recreated many of his favorite childhood cartoon heroes in his own image, either by giving them new abilities that he believed suited them or drawing them in contact with one another and imagining how a conversation between them would go.  The ecstasy that Serge felt when he was essentially ‘controlling’ these figures was something he craved.

Serge’s awakening occurred in the summer of 2011. He had learned that the creator of many of his favorite TV shows would be arriving in his city. Serge was, of course, ecstatic upon hearing the news and decided that the best way to meet what was essentially his hero was to paint him a picture of all of the characters he had created. Serge had never worked so hard in his life. Energized with a mixture of caffeine to help him stay awake and perhaps too many SSRI’s to help counter his nervousness, Serge was a maelstrom of creativity and imagination. He worked feverishly throughout day and night, drawing non-stop and taking little to no breaks. After 2 days his brow was covered in sweat and his vision was hazy. In the mystic gloom of the moonlight Serge could swear that he could see the characters that he drew leap off of the page and look at him. As soon as he finished his last pen-stroke Serge collapsed on the ground.

When he awoke he was no longer within his room but within a forest that seemed oddly familiar to him. Other than the fact that he had somehow mysteriously been transported to a forest, something about the forest seemed off, like it wasn’t really there.  Serge wandered the forest for a bit until he had the courage to reach out and touch one of the leaves. Instantly, as if responding to his touch, the skies grew dark and the trees began to morph into a large amorphous blob of what looked like black ink. Serge was paralyzed with terror in front of the eldritch monsters and taking advantage of his stillness, the ink monster lunged forward. Serge life flashed before his eyes and to his amazement he began to see those flashes appearing around him as if a mysterious artist was drawing the various events in his life.  Before the monster’s strike connected, one of the flashes depicted his psychiatrist and before Serge had a chance to even comprehend the bizarre nature of what was going on around him, the picture of his psychiatrist came to life and grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and hoisted him through the ephemeral portal that she appeared in.

Serge woke up with a start and once his vision cleared he found himself face to face with his psychiatrist, a beaming and somewhat creepy smile plastered on her face.  Wasting no time at all Serge began to blather out a string of incomplete questions.

“What the fuck? Who the fuck? Where the hell was I? What was that fucking monster?”

His psychiatrist, looking completely unbothered by Serge’s current confusion, began answering his questions in order.

“You passed out from Od’ing on those drugs I technically gave you. I used to be your psychiatrist but now I am your guide to this wonderful world. You were just taking a nice hike through the world created by your mind. And…I didn’t actually get a good look at that monster. If I had to guess I would have to say that it was your mind’s incarnation of you inner anxiety, fear, or the crippling realization of your insignificance. It’s probably the second one.”

Serge could only look at her with a dumb-founded stare as she began to explain to him the world he had just been brought into.

Awakened History: At first Serge didn’t believe a word that his psychiatrist had told him. After all who would listen to the person who claimed to have given you ‘magickal’ drugs to help awaken his potential? But Serge couldn’t deny what had happened to him that faithful day nor could he look past the evidence that his psychiatrist placed right in front of his face. His psychiatrist, which he now knew as his mentor, led him through the world of the awakened and taught him the basics of magick. His mentor’s style of teaching was odd, often time telling him to do completely odd things that seemingly had no relevance to his studies. Serge was surprised by how eccentric his mentor was, having seen her multiple times throughout his life he would have never guessed that this was her true nature. Once she felt that Serge was ready she had him initiated into the cult of ecstasy. Although hesitant at first, Serge found that he shared many of the Cult’s beliefs. The use freedom, creativity, imagination, that the Ecstatics encouraged resonated well with what Serge believed himself. He wasn’t a fan of the more…extreme Ectastics who worked their magick by breaking taboos or utilizing less age-appropriate methods. Nonetheless Serge honed his craft over the years found the instruments and practices that worked him. He also found that he became less reliant on the drugs, becoming more sociable and confident the more and more he interacted with the other Ecstatics. Although despite all that had changed for Serge, one thing remained the same, his day-dreaming. Except now Serge’s daydreams took place in the forest that he had awakened within and armed with his newfound knowledge he found that he had an even greater degree of control within his mind. Serge journeyed through the bowls of his mind, crafting and creating character and stories that he would later translate onto paper and then bring into the real world through his magick.

After his introduction into the awakened world, Serge studied with his mentor until he graduated College and then went with his mentor to Boston where he now comfortably resides alongside the other mages within the chantry. During his sleeper life he is merely a university student studying graphic design and animation. In his awakened life he studies under the tutelage of his mentor, honing his craft and sharpening his skills as well as offering his talents to anyone who might need them. Still Serge found time to practice his artwork and he was eager to spread showcase his art to the masses and go out into the world looking for new inspiration for both his artwork and his imaginary world.

Belongings: Serge is never without his sketchbook and something to draw with. He often times wears very plain clothing, preferring something easy to where rather than something elaborate or fancy. He also owns a few books detailing several historical runic languages which he often used in his magick. The rest of his belonging are fairly standard for a young student. School supplies, a laptop, textbooks, and other mundane objects are often present within Serge’s messy apartment.

Notable Inventory:

-Potion (given by Arn): Wards off spirits

-Two extremely vibrant, multi colored crayons (Given by Deaconess O'Conner)
  Gives a bonus of -2 difficulty to expression rolls while drawing with the crayons.

-Book of Runes (Given by Mr. Bergen)

-Red book of something? (Given by primus Steelhaven)

Stats:

Attributes:

Physical Attributes (Tetiary)
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 2
Stamina: 2

Socials Attributes (Primary)
Charisma: 4 (Trustworthy)
Manipulation: 4 (Charming)
Appearance: 2

Mental Attributes (Secondary)
Perception: 2
Intelligence: 3
Wits: 3



Abilities:

Talents (Primary)

Alertness: 2
Art: 4 (Pencil Sketches/Drawings)
Athletics:
Awareness:  2 (4 freebie points)
Brawl:
Empathy: 2
Expression: 3
Intimidation:
Leadership:
Streetwise:
Subterfuge: 3
Lucid Dreaming:

Skills

Crafts:
Drive: 1
Etiquette:
Firearms:
Martial Arts:
Meditation: 3 (Daydreaming and focusing the mind)
Melee: 1
Research: 2
Stealth: 2
Survival:
Technology: 2

Knowledges

Academics:
Computer: 1
Cosmology/ Subdimensions:
Enigmas:
Esoterica: 2 (Runic Language)
Investigation: 2
Law:
Medicine: 1
Occult:
Politics:
Science:
Vampire Lore: 1
Fae Lore: 2
High Ritual: 1


Backgrounds:
Avatar: 3
Demesne: 3
Mentor: 2 (Cult of Ectasy Psychiatrist who provides Serge with  the tools he may need for his magick and expertise when needed)
Node: 1
Library: 1

Resources: 1 (Online art commisions)

Merits:

Danger Sense (Perception+Alertness to sense when something bad is about to happen)
Faerie Affinity:

Description:

------

Focus:

Paradigm: Due to barriers placed early in life Everything we know is an Illusion. You mus pierce that illusion to expose that Everything is Chaos – You Only Think it Makes Sense.

Growing up with television and media this is a belief that Serge wholeheartedly accepted ever since his childhood. Seeing the creative characters and worlds created by the sleepers inspired his artistry when he was young and now inspired his magick. The power of imagination, creation and of molding something to your image. Serge believes that the world is what one makes of it. Architects design and create massive buildings. Musician write and create music that shapes and influences the minds of so many. Everybody has created vast worlds within their own imaginations that may have been influenced by the aforementioned musicians. The ability to create and influence something within the chaotic world is shared by everyone.

The only difference between mages and sleepers is that mages learn to free themselves from the petty restrictions placed by the sleepers. They learn that there are no such things as rules, regulation, laws of physics, or freedom of speech. The world was a canvas and mages learn how to paint their wills onto that canvas.

Practices: Reality-Hacking + Witchcraft

Serge believes that imagination and belief are everything when trying to manipulate reality to your whim. Everything is chaos and therefore everything can be manipulated, shaped to one’s desires. Just like a paintbrush to a canvas, a pencil to a paper, or a chisel to a stone slab anything can be easily shaped if one knows the right tools to do so.

The use of witchcraft comes from Serge’s mentor. While many of the more extreme practices that came with witchcraft repulsed him Serge found himself attracted to others. Due to his artist background, Serge knew the power of symbol, often employing them within his own artwork.  The symbols used by witch’s often reached outside the comfort zone of many mainstream sleepers, after all  the image of a sword piercing a bloody heart is bound to illicit a much greater reaction than a simple heart-shape.  Another aspect that resonated with Serge was the need to connect with your target. Whether that be through true-names, eye contact, or just talking to them non-stop the idea that you needed made sense to Serge. After all, creators need to understand who their audience is if they wish to affect them in any meaningful way.

To perform his magick, Serge often uses the aforementioned practices to help guide his own mind, reaching a flux state in between reality and a realm beyond where rules didn't exist and anything is possible. This state is often achieves while he is meditating (or daydreaming) or while he is drawing pictures however he can use drugs to quickly reach this state should the need arise. In this state he focuses his minds and guides the energies of those around him using the power of his will and imagination. Imagining how he wanted the world to be and then using his focuses as a gateway for his imagination to enter into the world. Influencing and twisting the worlds to his own desires.

Instruments:
- Artwork
- Drugs
- Symbols
- Language (Serge talking enthusiastically/acting out characters)
- Eye Contact
- Meditation
- Writings, Inscriptions, and Runes


Sphere:
Mind: 3
Correspondence: 3
Entropy: 2
Time: 1

Arete: 4 (8 freebie points spent) + (1 seeking)
Total Willpower: 5
Remaining Willpower: 4/5
Quintessence: 1/3
Paradox: 4

Freebie Points Expenditure:

8 points: 2 dots in arete
4 points: 2 dots in awareness
2 points: 1 dot in art
1 points: 1 dot in mentor background

3 points: Danger Sense Merit

Remaining xp: 89/125

- 16xp : +1 Corr (Corr 2 -> Corr 3)
- 8xp: +1 Entropy (Entropy 1 -> Entropy 2)
- 3xp: +1 Drive (Drive 0 -> Drive 1)
- 7xp: +1 Time (Time 0 -> Time 1)
- 2xp: +1 Fae Lore (Fae Lore 1 -> 2)

Successes in storage:

- 1 (From arm-making)
- 1 (From mind-shield making)
- 1 (From mind guide spell casting)
- 1 (From Detailed Room Description)

Notes:

- Giovanni Boss is hiding small teenager in building

Very nicely written up character I like him. Take three extra freebie points for the well written background. I will write a introduction post for him. I am thinking he and his Mentor have been living in one of the other Chantries in Boston, which there are five of in this game, and that he will be moving to Steelhaven now, since his Mentor think the time have come for him to stand on his own legs in mage society while at the same time she will be no more than twenty minutes by car away if he gets into trouble. That explain the new face at Steelhaven and is a way to bring him into things.

Thank You! I really wanted to create a mage who could draw things and have them come to life within peoples heads .

Should I spend the freebie points right away?

Also I realized that I didn't give much personality to my mentor despite her being part of my background? Would it be better if I gave her a personality/name just in case Serge ever calls upon her?

Yes if you want to please do spend the freebie points right away.

I was going to ask about that the name and personality of his Mentor, she might come more into play in the story there are quite a few of these characters that could need a therapist after all that have happened in the game, she will likely be involved in the game even if Sarge do not need to call for her aid.

Also how do Sarge's Avatar appear to him and how do it communicate with him?

Serge's Avatar appears and communicates to him through his dreams or through hallucinations when Serge is day-dreaming and not paying attention to the world around him. His avatar doesn't appear as any one thing but has numerous forms (often times taking the form of eccentric characters and monsters you may find on television shows). This is enforcing Serge's idea that magick and the world itself is chaotic and isn't tied to any one form. When communicating through dreams, Serge's avatar likes to shape the world inside Serge's mind, using Serge's overactive imagination against him when guiding on the path to ascension.


Serge's Mentor:

Name: Angelica Boudavich

Personality:

During her normal life she takes on the alias of Dr. Boudavich and works as a psychiatrist, offering her therapy for anyone in need of help. When talking with her patients, she is often upbeat and cheery and her patients often find those positive emotions infectious.

In her supernatural life Angelica takes on the role as one of the members of the Cult of Ectasy. In her life among mages she often times employs her psychology talents to help mages deal with traumatic events that they may have experienced. She doesn't shy away from using the full extent of her mind magick to help locate and fix problems that her patients may be having.

When in the presence of other mages, Angelica is often quite talkative and loud. Talking in an arrogant tone that makes her seem like she knows more than anyone in the room (which often true given her aptitude for mind magick). However she is never intentionally malicious and will always try to help those around her, even if her solution are a bit...strange.

(This is just a brief summary. If you need change or add anything go right ahead.)

Angelica works very well, the rest of her personality can be flashed out during play.

Thank you then I have some idea for how to roleplay his Avatar.

No Merits or Flaws?

Well they are not mandatory but if Jeremy want them he is welcome to add them now that we are just ehm...housebreaking his character.

I really want to get a merit but the only book I have available to me is the M20 Core rulebook and their aren't many merits in that book.

I'll keep looking for a fun 3 point merit that I might be able to get.

Any suggestions are welcome .

You can use any merit you want from any WoD book that is suitable for mages as in not other critter specific or if it is something you want but do not remember the name of just let me know what the Merit do and I am sure we can work something out.

I believe this list should be quite accurate. Merits & Flaws

Thank you Warp.

Thanks Warp!

I think I'll spend the remaining 3 freebie points on the Danger Sense merit

Many of the Flaws and Merits are the same in M20 as before so should be on that excellent link Warp posted (and there are a few in the main book), though a few are tweaked. I have the M20 Book of Secrets and CoX Trad 2e book; if want me to look up anything for you just shoot me a PM.

Danger sense works just note it up on your character sheet.

Would it be all right if we explained some of our rotes/effects to you in this thread, just to see if they make sense before I used them in game?

That works for me.

Their's just two effects that I had in mind. I'm still new to Mage's magick system so I might've gotten something wrong:

See Auras - Mind 1
Tools: Eye contact or Drugs
Effect: The standard rote that all Initiate of the mind learn which allows them to see the color of their target's aura and determine their emotional state.

Serge has a number of ways to invoke this rote. One way is to use simple eye contact. By using the eyes as a window into his targets mind, Serge can see the chaotic nature of their emotions. By interpreting this chaos within his own mind, Serge can see the aura of his target.  

Using specialized drugs provided by his mentor, Serge can also invoke this rote by altering his own state of mind. In this altered state of mind Serge is able to see and concentrate on the chaotic mental emanation from his target and allows him to interpret them as colors and auras.


Inkblot Test - Mind 3 and Entropy 1
Tools: Artwork
Effect: Taking inspiration from his mentor's roots in Psychology and the famous Rorschach test, Serge is able to cause his target to see their fears in his artwork.

First Serge draws ambiguously shaped images (with hidden arcane runes if Serge has the time) and then presents those images to his target.

The Mind 3 effect allows Serge to bring hidden thoughts into the surface of the targets mind and Entropy 1 allows Serge to find memories that will have the greatest emotional impact and specifically showcase flaws within the target. Hidden fear, insecurities, or shameful memories.

Then a minor Mind 2 effect alters the target's perception of the ambiguous picture and causes them to see those memories in the chaotic messy pictures.

Serge can choose not to see the memories as he brings them to his target's mind, instead relying upon their description of the images to understand their fears. This way, Serge can bypass the taboo that comes with Mind magick's that invade the privacy of others.

Both of those works well.

I've been meaning to ask. How are dice rolls handled in this thread. Do we roll them ourselves and post the results?

Also do we have to wait until a dice roll is requested or can we say "I'm going to try and lie to this guy" and roll Charisma+Subterfuge?

We roll our own dice at home and post the result. If you wish to say you want to lie and think a roll is appropriate in that or any other situation then please just do so.

But obviously - please don't lie about the result of the die rolls.

Yeah that might not have been the best example to use

I have a feeling Serge is going to fail a lot of physical-oriented rolls in the future.

Not all characters have to be very physical, we have three player characters who are decent in a fight, Serge have allot of other useful skills.

Sorry it's a bit late but here are some of the rote ideas I had for Serge. Let me know if their is anything wrong with them.


See Auras - Mind 1
Tools: Eye contact or Drugs
Effect: The standard rote that all Initiate of the mind learn which allows them to see the color of their target's aura and determine their emotional state.

Serge has a number of ways to invoke this rote. One way is to use simple eye contact. By using the eyes as a window into his targets mind, Serge can see the chaotic nature of their emotions. By interpreting this chaos within his own mind, Serge can see the aura of his target.  

Using specialized drugs provided by his mentor, Serge can also invoke this rote by altering his own state of mind. In this altered state of mind Serge is able to see and concentrate on the chaotic mental emanation from his target and allows him to interpret them as colors and auras.


In the Zone - Mind 1
Tools: Drugs, Art, Meditation, Symbols or saying a cool catchphrase (Language)

Description: Cultist's are often known to ignore their surroundings while they engage in their pleasures and this rote helps to achieve that state of mind.

This Cult of Ectasy rote allows the cultist to ignore everything in their surroundings and clears their mind of all distractions sending it into a hyper focused state that allows them to concentrate solely on completing a single task to the best of their abilities. This can include singing, dancing, punching, drawing, lockpicking, and many others.

While they are in this state of mind the Cultist must be solely focused on completing the task they used the rote to do and pay no attention to what is going on in their surroundings.

Effect: For each success on the Arete roll devoted to the effect, lower the difficulty of the actions that the Ecstatic is focusing on by one.


Mood Swings - Mind 2
Tools: Art and Eye Contact

Description: A common Mind Rote that allows the user to shift the mood of their target to one of their choosing. This can have a variety of effects depending on the situation (Feeling fear and paranoia in the middle of combat or feeling extremely trusting while in the middle of a risky deal).

Serge and Ange often use this rote to help alleviate fear and paranoia within others, helping to calm them down.

By adding Correspondence to this effect Serge can affect anyone anywhere as long as he possesses a connection to them (such as knowing their face well enough to draw them) and garners enough successes.

By adding Entropy 1 Serge can read the chaotic strings of fate and karma and learn what mood would be most beneficial or detrimental for his target to be in and force that upon them.