1. Character concept—what kind of person are you?
2. Choose your Path:
    1. Acanthus - Fae/Arcadia-themed, “Enchanters”, Time/Fate ruling, Forces inferior.
    2. Mastigos - Hell/Demonic-themed, “Warlocks”, Space/Mind ruling, Matter inferior
    3. Moros - Underworld-themed, “Necromancers”, Death/Matter ruling, Spirit inferior
    4. Obrimos - Heaven/Light-themed, “Theurges", Prime/Forces ruling, Death inferior
    5. Thyrsus - Wilderness/Nature-themed, “Shamans”, Life/Spirit ruling, Mind inferior
3. Choose your Order:
    1. Adamantine Arrow - Challenge is magical, existence is war, adaptability is strength, service is mastery, enlightenment is honor
    2. Free Council - Humanity is magical, destroy the followers of the lie, democracy is truth
    3. Guardians of the Veil - Magic is fragile, Paradox strengthens the Abyss and punishment answers pride, merit must guide the Fallen World, sins for an end grant Wisdom (see also in book additional beliefs of the Guardians that are ostensibly secret)
    4. Mysterium - Magic is alive, knowledge is power, knowledge must be preserved, knowledge has a price
    5. Silver Ladder - Magic is humanity’s birthright, imperium is the sovereign right of all humanity, the Awakened are one nation, the Sleepers follow, the Silver Ladder is the path to victory
    6. Seers of the Throne - Not always allowed as a PC; they serve the Exarchs who created the Lie. Magic is payment, mages who serve the exarchs faithfully will be rewarded, divination reveals the tyrants’ will, from the iron pyramid comes prestige and servitude
    7. Apostate - Didn’t join an Order, don’t want to join an order
    8. Nameless - You’re part of a different small organization with different tenets and less global reach
4. Determine three (3) Aspirations, which are goals you (OOC) have for your character, so they can be things your character doesn’t want but that you want to see happen.
5. Choose Virtue and Vice. Virtue should be a point of self-confidence/self-actualization that is also easy to ignore; Vice should be a short-term, quick source of distraction from the world.
Example Virtues: Hopeful, Loving, Honest, Trustworthy, Loyal, Ambitious, Just, Generous, Patient, Courageous
Example Vices: Pessimistic, Hateful, Deceitful, Ambitious, Cruel, Addictive, Hasty, Corrupt, Greedy, Dogmatic
6. Distribute Attribute points (5/4/3) with one starting in each Attribute. Afterwards, add one (1) dot to any resistance Attribute (Resolve, Stamina, Composure).
7. Distribute Skill points (11/7/4). You may want to revisit this after you add Rotes (step 14) to make sure you have a good pool for them. If you chose to be in an Order, add one (1) dot of Occult.
8. Select three (3) skill specialties.
9. Describe character’s Nimbus, which is kind of like an Anima banner, if you’re familiar with Exalted—a sort of cool light show/aura that appears around them when they cast obvious magic, and that is sort of a magical signature left on your work.
10. Distribute six (6) dots in Arcana. 3-5 must be in your Ruling Arcana, both Ruling Arcana must have at least one dot, and none can go to your Inferior Arcana.
11. Gnosis: you start with one (1) dot in Gnosis. You can increase this with Merit dots or Experience.
12. Distribute ten (10) Merit dots (see pages 99 and 104 in the book for Merits). If you chose to be part of an Order, you receive High Speech and Status (Order) 1 for free.
13. Apply any starting experience given. See p. 83 for the experience costs table.
14. Rotes are spells where casting them may use an associated Skill as a bonus, do not have a base Mana cost from Inferior/Common Arcana, have longer Reach, and hide the caster’s identity. Select three (3) spells to be Rote spells from the spell lists in the book. These should be things that your character can cast with the Arcana they currently have.
15. Praxes are spells where casting them gets an exceptional success at 3 successes and do not have a base Mana cost from Inferior/Common Arcana; choose one (1) spell per dot of Gnosis you have to be Praxes. These should be things that your character can cast with the Arcana they currently have.