Rules reference
Skills in Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary
Skills overview and how checks typically work. Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition is a tabletop RPG where you play as Awakened mages who can bend reality through the Spheres. As a mage, you belong to a Tradition (like the Order of Hermes, Verbena, or Virtual Adepts) and use your understanding of reality to cast magic, all while managing Paradox and Consensus.
Key points
Skills describe trained competence. Use this page to quickly understand what the skill list covers and how to pick priorities.
Copyable facts
- 9 Spheres: Correspondence, Entropy, Forces, Life, Matter, Mind, Prime, Spirit, Time
- 9 Traditions: Order of Hermes, Verbena, Virtual Adepts, Akashic Brotherhood, Celestial Chorus, Cult of Ecstasy, Dreamspeakers, Euthanatos, Sons of Ether
- Arete system: Determines maximum Sphere dots usable in effects
- Paradox mechanics: Accumulates from Vulgar magic
- Coincidental vs Vulgar magic: Coincidental generates less Paradox
- Quintessence: Fuels magical effects
What’s in this system
Full Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary skills list (35)
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
| Alertness | |
| Art | |
| Athletics | |
| Awareness | |
| Brawl | |
| Empathy | |
| Expression | |
| Intimidation | |
| Leadership | |
| Streetwise | |
| Subterfuge | |
| Animal Ken | |
| Crafts | |
| Drive | |
| Etiquette | |
| Firearms | |
| Martial Arts | |
| Meditation | |
| Melee | |
| Performance | |
| Research | |
| Stealth | |
| Survival | |
| Technology | |
| Academics | |
| Computer | |
| Cosmology | |
| Enigmas | |
| Esoterica | |
| Investigation | |
| Law | |
| Medicine | |
| Occult | |
| Politics | |
| Science |
Examples
Example: When to roll
Roll when the outcome is uncertain and matters. If it’s routine and no one at the table cares about failure, just succeed and move on.
Example: Make stakes explicit
Before rolling, say what success gives you and what failure costs (time, exposure, resources, harm).
Common mistakes (smallest fix)
- Mistake: Rolling without stakes. Fix: Say what success changes and what failure costs before rolling.
- Mistake: Treating failure as ‘nothing happens’. Fix: Fail forward: you still learn something, but pay a cost (time, exposure, resources, harm).
Mage FAQ
What are Spheres in Mage M20?
How does Paradox work in Mage?
What's Arete in Mage?
What's the difference between Coincidental and Vulgar magic?
What are Traditions?