It’s just … yeah. There’s a lot more going on than most people realize. The idea of a reality consensus is … you know? It all comes together when people … when there’s a belief that is as pervasive as … cars weren’t a thing, and then … people, right?

I wrote a thesis on the nature of when it comes to the nature of … so space and how the empty expanse is really more of an energy field that we … the perception of it all. I didn’t get into Princeton with it but I have a copy in my room if you—

No, don’t come in. Never come in my room. This is my space. You have all of the … the void, this is for me. I just need a place that is for me—just me, there’s no one else here—and just for my own thoughts. Filled with my … just me. Stay out.

If you need me, I’ll give you some of my time, but there are things … important things I have to … study.

The core idea behind this spacey, privacy-demanding Mage comes from a mix of the characters Snow and Gordon from the 2002 film Solaris, of which I’ve previously written a review. While at first the above may seem just to be a slice of character quirks and not a more fleshed-out concept, I think it’s important to look at the reasons why they are how they appear.

Did having their minds opened to the power infinite break them? Did they see something beyond mortal comprehension? Are they simply ill-equipped to explain the thoughts and ideas that burst out of every firing neuron? Are they even from this plane of existence—do they doubt their own reality?

We also look at the reasons they value their privacy and can launch into violence to protect it. They demand the ability to create and maintain a place that is safe and wholly theirs, whatever that means. Is there a dark doppelgänger laying in the shadows of their impenetrable quarters? Do they possess some artefact or sliver of true reality that they can’t trust to or with anyone else? Is there knowledge which can doom mankind within?

I think this concept may be a difficult one to portray as a viable PC but that the opportunities are vast and varied for an NPC. Look at the way Kris—Solaris’ protagonist—interacts with both Gordon and Snow. He’s confused, inquisitive, but cautious and almost methodical as he tries to unravel the mystery of their personalities. I think it would be a good study in the way PCs could interact or approach someone with such a frantic yet muted ability to communicate the information, the research, or the innate knowledge that they possess, and which forms a key piece of the PC team’s quest or search.

Header image of Jeremy Davies as the character Snow.