As a Mage, you will find that your life becomes a balancing act in a way you might not have expected. You want to save the world, sure, but can you understand it any longer? Does it even seem worth saving? If so, would you be able to explain your master plan to anyone in a way that they will understand?
These seem like odd questions, but one of the crucial reasons that mages past and present have failed to bring about their much-lauded "universal Ascension" is because many of them have lost contact with the very Sleepers they insist they're trying to help. Even the Technocracy relies on Sleeper agents for their "pr." for this reason. It's hard to relate to humanity when you keep thinking of them as sheep (at best) and you as the shepherd.
Even so, this distance is perfectly natural to understand. When you are capable of summoning storms practically out of thin air, or teleportation, or telepathic contact, or wandering into an alternate reality, it becomes kind of hard to relate to most of humanity, who can barely make it out of bed in the morning. How well are "normals" able to relate to the blind, or the crippled, or even the elderly with their (relatively minor) difficulties? It is even more difficult for mages to relate to Sleepers.
In order to simplify an obviously complex problem, I have lumped all of these loose ends into a background that I refer to as Mundanity. It is a measure of how well the mage understands and empathizes with normal people. If a mage works in a soup kitchen and is active in city hall trying to make the world a better place, he is more likely to understand and have compassion for people than if he sits in a little room on Horizon studying ancient runes and symbols of Ultimate Power.
As a side note to those who question the need for this Background, it is not a device to "create depth" or produce "angst." It is a fundamental exploration of the paradox of being a mage: In order to Ascend, they must eventually overcome themselves and their human understanding of reality. Yet it is their humanity that allows them to develop, grow, and interact with the "Sleepers" they are trying to help. It might help to think of Mundanity as a "counterpoint" to Arete; a representation of the shadowy un- conscious part of a mage's mind that doesn't want to understand everything about everything, but instead wants to have a happy, normal life surrounded by friends in a simple, easy-to-understand world. In other words, the part of the mage's mind that still thinks like a Sleeper.
Put another way: have you ever understood or learned something about someone or something that you wished you could forget, because it didn't jibe with your world-view and consequently made you see things in shades of gray, instead of black and white? If you have, then you know how uncomfortable and painful that necessary part of life can be. Now imagine being a mage, someone who learns of something like that at least once a week, and has to keep on learning those things no matter what the cost, driven for Ultimate Understanding like a vampire for blood, because not doing so can be fatal or worse. Now you begin to understand what it must really be like.
Mundanity is basically a limit on how many dice a mage can use on her Social rolls when they involve Sleepers. They cannot use more dice than they have in their Mundanity Background. To Sleepers, a mage with a low Mundanity count is unnerving to be around and difficult to communicate with (and vice versa). This reaction is mostly unconscious and difficult to circumvent; however, at lower levels plenty of reasons begin to manifest for normal types to stay away from the mage in question. This does not apply to Awakened beings (vampires, mages, werewolves, etc.), or to "Aware" humans (those with Numina or who have had extensive contact with the supernatural), who may actually find the mage more interesting (although at lower levels of Mundanity even these beings may choose to avoid contact with the mage.)
A starting mage has their Mundanity rating set at 10-Arete. Thus, if she purchased her Arete up to three, she would have a 7 in her Mundanity Background. This can be adjusted upwards if the player has purchased Merits reflecting high involvement with Sleepers (any Ties, Nightclub, high Allies or Influence, etc.) or downwards if the player has Flaws of a psychological or mystical nature (Strangeness, Nightmares, Obsession, etc.) It is ultimately the Storyteller's call.
There are many things that cause a mage to lose his Mundanity. Here is a list of possible causes:
Like vampires, who roll their Conscience to fight the loss of Humanity, mages can also avoid losing their Mundanity. However, their roll is somewhat unusual: they have to fail an Intelligence roll. This represents the mage blocking off the event which caused her to gain a deeper insight into the universe, deliberately ignoring the deeper implications that event brings with it. The "lower" the difficulty, the more horrifying, fascinating, or downright thought-provoking the event in question is. "Failing" the roll means that the mage has successfully avoided thinking too long or too deeply about the event, treating it as an odd occurrence unrelated and unimportant to his world-view. "Success," however, means that the mage understands at least some of the implications and can't help questioning old assumptions that were pre- viously unquestionable. A botch means that the mage becomes obsessed about the event (as per the Flaw) or goes into Quiet, which could cause further Mundanity loss. A willpower point can be spent to turn a "success" into a "failure" (or a botch into a "success.")
Mundanity loss is not restricted to encounters with the extreme or the supernatural; far from it, in fact. Moral dilemmas relating to the mage's interaction with humanity or other sentient beings are also good reasons for a Mundanity check. Here is an example:
Elias DesChampes, Order of Hermes Disciple, is walking through the bad part of the city in order to reach his chantry. Along the way, he sees a young woman asking passersby for money, food, whatever they can spare. She, and the young child she carries in her arms, is disheveled, dirty and obviously malnourished. No one helps her. Although his meeting with his mentor is important, Elias wants to help. Suddenly, he recalls his mentor lecturing him on Destiny and how the forces of Entropy are vital to the function of the world, and not to be tampered with lightly. Seeing an obvious conflict between his understanding of the world and his human empathy, the Storyteller calls for a Mundanity check (difficulty 7; while the solution seems obvious, Elias is not social or particularly empathetic to the underprivileged.)
Note that most humanity/true understanding conflicts will not be so obvious. But, at higher levels of Mundanity, even the little conflicts should call for a Mundanity check, while lower levels of Mundanity should be correspondingly more difficult to lose. A Storyteller is encouraged to make a "Hierarchy of Sins" customized for each of his/her player-characters.
A smart Storyteller or player will notice the elegant bind: the more the mage truly understands *Reality*, the more removed she becomes from mere "consensual reality." In game terms, the more the mage gains Arete, or insight into the fundamental nature of the universe, the less able she is to interact with the people who live in it. Conversely, the more a mage clings to his Mundanity, the more difficult it will be to advance in Arete, even to the point where attempting to save his Mundanity by failing his Intelligence roll may cost him his chance to gain more Arete (but only at very high levels, say around 8+). She simply will not be allowed to go on a Seeking unless she gives up her attachment to these *outmoded beliefs* she calls "humanity." This is the paradox that mages everywhere face. The stress of developing both Arete and Mundanity at the same time with all the effort that implies is excruciating, and has driven many a mage to madness, self-destruction, burnout, or cynicism. But a smart mage realizes that precisely this effort was what allowed the early Order of Reason so many of its successes, while their later detachment from humanity is what allows the Traditions so many of their successes today. To those who seek an external form of Ascension, the pain is well worth it, and even those who strive for an internal Ascension argue that simply cutting off one's humanity is one more way of straying from the path to Ascension.
9-8. Definitely offbeat or eccentric. "Trivial" matters do not much interest you, and you may find yourself gravitating toward the fringes of society to look for stimulation. Typical artist/bohemian outlook.
7. You start preferring the company of the Awakened (or at least the Aware) to normal people. You have difficulty even feigning interest in what a Sleeper has to say. Normal people become uncomfortable around you (although some find you fascinating.)
6. A psychiatrist would declare you clinically insane. You develop the Flaw of Confusion when around groups of Sleepers. You tend to drift away from mages who do not share paradigms similar to yours. Tend toward obsession in some personal goals. Must occasionally make a Wits + Awareness roll to remember not to perform vulgar magick in the presence of Sleepers.
5. Obviously insane or profoundly disturbed. You become more concerned with abstract ideas and personal goals than with people or events. You gain one point in Arcane which you cannot shut off. You also gain the Flaw of Strangeness. -1 die from your Social rolls when dealing with Aware people.
4. You live in a surreal, abstract world. Ordinary people would start to question your humanity. Gain another point in Arcane which cannot be shut off (total: 2). You sometimes have the Flaw The Bard's Tongue, sometimes not. -2 dice from your Social rolls for Aware people, and -1 die from Social rolls around Awakened beings, who begin to bother you (and vice versa). Gain +1 difficulty in any rolls involving Quiet.
3. You appear completely inhuman to ordinary people. Sleepers appear to be about as sentient as ants to you. Your Strangeness Flaw becomes more potent, as once per game you accidentally set off a vulgar effect without realizing it. Gain yet another point of Arcane that you cannot turn off (total:3). -2 dice from any Social rolls involving Awakened beings; Aware beings now react to you the way Sleepers would. You have +2 difficulty to any rolls involving Quiet.
2. Your though patterns, your world-view, your daily life: three things that are no longer comprehensible to ordinary people. Being around anyone else, even mages with a similar paradigm to yours, is excruciating. You now have four points of Arcane that cannot be shut down. Gain +1 point of Paradox when using vulgar magick. -3 dice from your Social rolls involving Awakened beings. You now have +3 difficulty for any rolls involving Quiet.
1. Extremely alien view of reality. Only the most abstract thoughts and beings can hold your attention for any length of time. You discomfort all Awakened beings, except mages, as you discomfort Sleepers. You now have 5 points of uncontrollable Arcane, and gain +2 additional Paradox when you use vulgar magick.
0. Completely alien, even to fellow mages. You cannot even be classified biologically as human. One push could send you into Marauder-hood, or Ascension (or maybe both!) Gain +3 additional Paradox whenever you use vulgar magick, and you have +4 difficulty with any rolls relating to Quiet. If you haven't confined yourself to a suitable Horizon Realm by now, you should, for everyone's sake.
In order to role-play the gradual inward focus of a mage who has lost Mundanity, it is important to know that, at least in the early stages, the Tradition of a mage will reflect how the mage acts as he loses his Mundanity. An Akashic Brother, for example, will become so focused on inner harmony that she may no longer want to grow and learn, because that would disrupt her precious stability. An Order of Hermes mage will lose her empathy for humanity and become more and more abstract and detached in her reasoning, and *humanity* will become one concept out of many. An Euthanatos will kill everyone who has not achieved his full potential, regardless of circumstances. Technomancers (including Sons of Ether and Virtual Adepts) become more focused on theories, gadgetry, and "the big picture" that on the human condition. (Think of Dr. Frankenstein!) Dreamspeakers become more attuned to the spiritual world, and less to the physical. Choir-mages may mutilate themselves to demonstrate their devotion to the One over the physical world, etc.
Regardless, all mages who lose their human perspective share one common trait: their circle of friends and outside interests becomes smaller and smaller as they focus on more and more abstract pursuits. They even become detached from their Traditions as they slowly realize that much of the "truths" are just biases inherent in their metaphysical philosophies. Keeping this fact in mind will help players who are playing mages act accordingly. Remember, above all, that this is a role-playing game, and the above chart is a guideline, not a straitjacket.
As a side, I do not wish to imply that a mage should always err to her humanity and all will be well. Many "human" traits that have held mages back from Ascension include: greed, intellectual sloth, power- lust, jealousy, bigotry, stubbornness, arrogance and hubris, etc. These too are part of the human condition. But becoming a pure mystick also has its price, a price any mage should tremble at paying. The solution lies, as always, in an optimal balance. Difficult as hell? Certainly, but isn't Ascension worth it?