The Mind Mage

Open. Thoughts leak in — and out. Most people just think you're introverted.
You are a 2nd-year student at the Cyorian Royal Magical Academy.

1. Origins

Pick 1. Your origin grants a Connection — a person, organization, or access you can leverage during play.

Origin	You come from...	Connection
Early Admit	You arrived young: genius pressure, faculty scrutiny, and classmates who resent you.	Academic Patron: intervention, 1/arc.
State Orphan	Raised by the state's institutions: bureaucratic blindspots and hard pragmatism.	State Network: bureaucratic blindspots, 1/session.
Temple Acolyte	Raised in or near a [[Triumvirate Church\	temple]]: discipline, meditation, and protective magic.

2. Attributes

Fixed array. Sum +4.

Attribute	Score
Mental	-2
Social	0
Physical	-1
Memory	2
Calculation	1
Finesse	1
Willpower	3

Mana: 4 + Highest of (Calculation, Finesse, Willpower) = [7] Boxes Ready Glyphs: 2 + Highest of (Calculation, Memory) = [4]

3. Starting Schools

2 dots in Illusionism — the home of mind magic — grants 2 Spell Formula

Baseline casting starts with your school-native starter glyph. You may hold a number of Mastered Spells in active recall equal to your Memory attribute. Mind magic is heavily restricted by law — the Church and the Crown take a very close interest.

4. Playbook Moves

Signature Move (auto-granted)

The Open Condition: You were born "Open" — psychic noise leaks in whether you want it or not. When you're in a crowd or psychic noise, roll +Willpower.

10+: You keep your head; the noise is a murmur you can ignore.
7-9: A migraine builds — take -1 ongoing to concentration until you're alone and quiet.
6-: You broadcast — someone catches your surface thoughts, or you lose composure publicly, and the GM makes a hard move.

Choose 2 of 6

Surface Read: When you focus on a person and listen to their surface thoughts, roll +Willpower. 10+: you learn their current intent and emotional state — truthful. 7-9: you get the truth, but they notice your attention — the GM chooses how they react. 6-: you catch something you shouldn't — a buried thought that disturbs you (mark Sanity) or their suspicion — and the GM makes a hard move.
Uninvited Guest: When you push past surface thoughts into memories or feelings without consent, roll +Willpower. 10+: you get what you reached for, cleanly. 7-9: you get it, but suffer psychic feedback — mark 1 Soul Integrity or 1 Sanity — and they may realize what happened. 6-: the mind pushes back violently, someone senses you (another mind mage, a ward, the Church), and the GM makes a hard move. The law treats this as assault.
Psychic Static: When you emit a burst of mental noise to jam another mind reader or rattle a target, roll +Willpower. 10+: they're disrupted — take +1 forward against them, and your position stays hidden. 7-9: they're rattled (-1 forward to them), but your position is broadcast to anyone psychically sensitive. 6-: the static backfires into your own head, and the GM makes a hard move.
Quiet Mind: You know the closing technique. When you seal your mind against the noise, the headaches stop and you pass as merely introverted — but you go blind: you can't sense psychic signals, can't use your reading moves, and can't tell when someone is using mind magic on you. Opening again is a moment of vulnerability.
The Weight of Minds: When the pressure of other people's minds becomes unbearable, you may vent it in an emotional outburst. Clear all Sanity from psychic overload, but the GM chooses the relationship you damage or the secret you reveal.
Under the Mask: When you act withdrawn to avoid notice, roll +Willpower. 10+: you're just the quiet kid — nobody looks twice. 7-9: someone clocks you anyway — the GM chooses who and why. 6-: they misread you as hostile or suspicious, and the GM makes a hard move.

[!NOTE] Session Zero

Mind magic involves reading and invading other people's minds. Agree at the table how far this goes — what's in-bounds, what's off-limits, and what the group wants to fade to black. The moves are written to keep the fiction honest: every intrusion carries a cost, and the law is always watching.

5. Starting Gear

A hooded cloak and a sketchbook (you draw to focus)
Calming tea that takes the edge off the noise
A note from a professor who noticed you're "quiet"
A cheap Standard Focus you barely use

6. Bonds

Format: "I have a bond of [Emotion/Concept] with [NPC Name] because [Reason]."

Someone here is the only person whose presence quiets the noise because...
Someone here asked you a question you answered before they spoke, and they noticed because...

7. Advancement

Fiction-first milestone hooks — the GM can use them when you spend SP/IP or when a chapter closes. Growth shows in the story, not on a table.

Open doors. Whose thoughts do you refuse to read, and why? What are you protecting by not looking?
The voice in your head. Which memory or secret is starting to define you — and is it even yours?
Boundaries. When someone tries to get inside your head, who do you become?