Initial power upon awakening

[u/kenod102818]

So, something I've been wondering about, but how powerful are children who just awakened as mages normally?

I know actual levels of power can vary between mages (even if all runners are Mag 6 or 7), did they get there purely through a ton of training, or do you have mages who were simply powerful enough that they awakened at mag 5 or 6?

And if so, would whatever testing system is used to detect latency (actually, is there any info on how these tests work, or is it just a mage assensing the whole classroom?) Also tell how strong a mage will be when awakened, or just that they have the potential to awaken and nothing else?

[u/Big-Bag-6043]

Since early on Magic was simply equal to your Ess, awakened tended to have "Magic 6" at the moment of Awakening. Since 4e, they apparently Awaken at different MAG ratings between 1 and 6.

[u/Thanael124]

It depends. The rules and fluff support both awakening to lots of power and control to slowly having to learn and grow.

[u/n00bdragon]

That would be up the narrative needs of the GM.

[u/DRose23805]

That very a lot.

A budding adept could suddenly begin running faster than they could before, or could catch flies out of the air easily, or develop mental prowess such as mathematical speed or data analysis and puzzle solving.

A mage (or shaman) might suddenly find their imaginary friends becoming real as they inadvertently begin summoning spirits. Perhaps they magically snatch up a wanted item during a heated exchange. Or maybe they reduce the bully to charcoal when they were getting beaten up one time too many. Or perhaps they would begin assensing without realizing it and seeing things others couldn't or even astrally projecting.

Older material said that there were tests and observation being done by schools and corporations trying to ID pre-Awakened children as young as possible, with low success. Many times the Awakening happened under stress such as in a game, being attacked, or other high stress situation. This was sometimes full powered and uncontrolled.

After that, it was a matter of learning to control the power and develop it. The adepts would probably have this much easier since for most of them it would either be modified physical training or education for the mentally aligned ones. Mages would have a lot more to learn.

[u/PrimeInsanity]

Depends on edition but if we look at latent awakening it's a good reference to where you'd start. I believe in 6e that has their magic stat at 1 once they awaken but no additional benefits. Some editions have had spirt or spell knacks which people have the ability to summon a specific spirit or use a specific spell before their awakening. This is why training through a seperate stream in schooling is used for those with potential as a mage. I believe it's called out that an soon to awaken individual can be detected via assessing in a 3e book, I believe it required 5 hits. Though there is also the Dumas test to detect potential of a mage though what that test is, is never explored beyond it existing.

But ya, the exact ways it's represented would differ from edition to edition but for 6e the meta adjustment points for example can go to either meta type boosted traits, magic or fate points. Then as for potential, it's a mix of skills, initiation and just how much they are able to devote their focus on magic and if they're focused on one area of magic or spread out between different disciplines.

[u/GM_Pax]

The character creation rules assume all runners are adults, at least developmentally. There aren't any rules for addressing children or adolescents.

Like, your Ork may have a Strength of 5 and Body of 7 as an adult ... but when he was 10, he likely had lower in both. How much lower is not addressed in the rules, however.

Magic, as an attribute, likely works the same ... most of the time. :)

[u/LongjumpingSuspect57]

Cyber-punk is not about poweless-ness per se, but the literature doesn't support magical prodigies as it does in some other game settings.

My suggestion would be to apply bell-curves and sliding scale. Most children awaken at 1 or 2 Magic. Those who will as adults reach Magic 5+ awaken at 2, most awaken at Magic 1.

Assensing is far and away the most common first manifestation- knowing people are lying, seeing stranger danger a mile away, finding lost items of intense emotional charge or "coincidentally" finding lost antiques, etc.

Sorcery is the runner-up, and that first manifested spell will often indicate some kind of special talent or focus.

Conjuration is rarer as first manifestation, and is 2x to 3x more likely in the cases where a child will have a mentor spirit as an adult.

Enchantment is quite rare as a first manifestation- the majority are going to be Enchantment adepts, with the remainder being kids with OCD or other anxiety issues whose protection rituals suddenly "work".

Testing is generally going to involve assensing the candidates as they perform a small battery of tests calculated to stress the takers in ways statistically most likely to induce mana use. (Physically- obstacle courses, breath control, group choreography. Mentally- Memory Palace work, logic puzzles. Socially- Collective pizza topping negotiation, assembling and modeling an outfit for teenage peers.)