It’s not the seventeenth century any more.

I see there is more than one Magus on the site, built around updating the concept of secret knowledge for the modern world. This version is based more explicitly on the avatar path in Ascension of the Magdalene, adapting it to a situation where crazy adepts, rather than studious occultists, are the true experts in magick. The other purpose of this avatar path is to make a viable character for the proto-adept: the PC who starts out not knowing any magick but becomes an adept during the course of play.

In older days, the Magus exemplified careful research, dedicated study, extensive practice and complete devotion applied to the occult sciences. Those who tread the path of the Magus forsook their preconceptions to explore the true nature of reality, in all its mystical glory of interconnected meaning.

That was then; this is now. Magick today is twice-separated from the glory days of the Magus. The rise of rationalist science excluded the occult from its purview and discovered genuine truths about the nature of reality – less comprehensive than those sought by the Magus, but more objective and reliable. And then (or perhaps simultaneously) postmodern magick created an occult underground which displaced the ancient wisdom of the Magus in favor of freakish insanity and unnatural obsessions.

But while archetypes may diminish, or evolve, they don’t simply disappear. There’s still a Magus in the Statosphere. If there’s anyone in the occult underground today who knows about the current status of the Magus – which is dubious – it would be an interesting case study: did the Magus change by the usual process of a new ascension? (It could have happened during the nineteenth-century occult revival, or around the time the first postmodern adepts appeared.) Or did the rise of other archetypes, scientific and technological, push the Magus in a new direction by impinging on it in the Statosphere?

Attributes: The avatar of the Magus is the student of magic. These days, that means avatars are really into the occult, to the point that they’ll keep looking for wheat no matter how much chaff they have to work their way through. Obviously, such people are likely to find their way into the occult underground. When they do, they’re immediately tagged as magick groupies, heading for breakthrough as an adept or some (other) sort of nasty fate. This view is generally correct.

Unconscious avatars of the Magus aren’t actually rare (that is, not by occult underground standards of “rare”), but there’s no reason to identify them as avatars. Furthermore, making it to the higher levels of avatar attunement is so unlikely that it’s entirely possible no one living has done it. It is entirely possible that all avatars of the Magus are unconscious, and nobody realizes that this path even exists.

It is not uncommon for avatars of the Magus to pursue ritual magick: they don’t actually need the Authentic Thaumaturgy skill, because their avatar skill works to cast rituals. However, unless you can read character sheets, the difference is entirely invisible.

Taboos: The Magus is fascinated by the study of magick, which overwhelms all mundane concerns. If a Magus recognizes something mundane as being more important than the pursuit of the Art, he has transgressed. It is a violation to learn any mundane skill to a level higher than his skill in magic (“Occultism” or whatever he calls it). Furthermore, the Magus must devote himself to gaining mastery of magick. Surrendering or abandoning a source of magical power is definitely taboo.

Because a Magus can never place mundane concerns over mystical, and because in today’s world the link between magick and insanity is strong both in reality and in the popular mind, a Magus violates taboo if he seeks psychological healing. Technically, it is not taboo to seek healing of hardened notches, only failed ones.

Note that all adepts, by definition, are obsessed with something which they interpret as magick but which the collective unconscious of humanity does not, be that books or money or drink. As a result, it is not possible for adepts to channel the Magus: the obsession which gives them their power is itself a violation of the avatar taboo.

The Sword Bridge: An avatar of the Magus who goes insane on the Self meter will automatically become an adept. If he has an obsession which fits an existing school, or which can be built into a new school, fine. If he doesn’t have an obsession, or if (as is often the case) he’s obsessed with magick as such, the precise stress which tipped him over into insanity should determine how his obsession changes and what magick school he joins or creates.

The former Magus is a prodigy of magick. All the points in his Avatar: the Magus skill will turn into points in his new Magick skill, over no longer than a couple weeks. A typical self-taught adept takes ten weeks and five experience points to stabilize his new insights: a former Magus doesn’t have to spend the experience points, and the higher their skill, the less time to make the switch. (There are rumors of fledgling adepts manifesting great power within minutes of their breakthrough: if those stories are true, they were probably avatars of the Magus of above 50% skill level.) They’ll also usually pick up formula spells: six minor spells as usual, and one significant spell for every 10% of their former Avatar: the Magus skill.

A Magus who is mentored into an adept school will similarly have their skill blossom with amazing speed, though they usually get only the formulas their mentor teaches them. If a Magus runs into an adept looking for an apprentice early in their history with the occult underground, it will probably be a violation of taboo for them not to volunteer. With a little more experience, however – in particular, once they know adept magick comes in a number of incompatible flavors – the Magus can reasonably decide that they need to find the true underlying secrets of magick, which the adepts clearly don’t know. Once he goes crazy, of course, he will be convinced that he’s finally figured out The Key Of It All.

Symbols: The symbols of the Magus are old-fashioned: staves, beards, robes spangled with stars and astrological symbols, and the whole cluster of images associated with the tarot.

Masks: There are no cultists following Masks of the Magus at present. If there were any, Hermes Trismegistus would be the obvious choice.

Suspected Avatars in History: The archetype goes back to legendary figures of antiquity. There were lots in the Renaissance period: the top names are Agrippa and John Dee. The Magus had another (so far, final) wave of popularity in the late 19th and early 20th century, of whom Aleister Crowley is the most well known.

Channels:

01-50%: The aspiring Magus seeks magical knowledge and experience. When he encounters an Unnatural stress check, he can roll his Avatar: the Magus skill; if it succeeds, he doesn’t take a failed or a hardened check. If the avatar check fails, he then rolls a stress check normally. If the avatar fails both rolls, and as a result either runs off in a panic or attacks someone or something identifiably magical, this violation of his proper attitude toward the supernatural means that the failed notch is taken on the Self meter instead of the Unnatural.

Furthermore, every time the avatar rolls a matched success or critical on his Avatar: the Magus skill (no matter why the check was made), one of the hardened notches on his Unnatural meter is healed – or his Self meter if his Unnatural hardened gauge is completely clear. This effect is involuntary and cannot be avoided.

51-70%: At this level, the Magus may make an Avatar: the Magus check to identify any magickal spell, ritual or artifact that he witnesses being used. A random magick effect will be identified in terms of its school but not necessarily its effects. This won’t give canonical names (unless the Magus already knows them, of course); it just lets you say “that guy doesn’t really know how to crack a safe; he’s using magick,” or “holy shit, that drunk is calling up a demon!”

If the check fails, the avatar should roll whatever Occult Knowledge skill he has: a success means the effect is misinterpreted in terms of his favorite occult tradition – only if both rolls fail will the avatar realize he doesn’t know what’s going on.

A matched failure on an Avatar: the Magus check to identify magick is a rank 7 Self check. A critical failure will automatically add one failed notch to the avatar’s Self meter without any sort of roll (and, on the positive side, without any sort of freakout).

71-90%: At this level, the avatar may make an Avatar: the Magus check to become instantly aware of all currently-functioning spells or enchantments within fifteen feet or so. (Technically, it’s a number of paces equal to the tens place of your avatar skill.) This does not apply to unnatural creatures, except those that were enchanted by deliberate human handiwork. This effect lasts as long as the avatar concentrates.

A Magus of this level will become a spontaneous adept if he goes crazy on any stress gauge, not just Self. If he’s already crazy, it will happen the next time the appropriate stress hits.

91%+:A Magus at this level has become attuned to magick in a way that even adepts are not. Whenever he is affected by a spell, he can roll Avatar: the Magus. If he succeeds and beats the casting roll, the spell doesn’t affect him, and the Magus gains one minor or significant charge depending on the nature of the spell. The adept loses the charges normally. A Magus who is affected by a major magick effect (including a major Unnatural phenomenon), or is simply within nine paces of an adept who creates a major effect, draws a significant charge: the major effect doesn’t change in any way and he gets no protection from it.