Obsessions are just like long-term Aspirations, except they relate specifically to a mage’s compulsion to explore the mystical in her life.
They could be goals to learn or research specific things. They could be player goals for the character to encounter certain strangeness in the world. They could be goals to use magic in new or extreme ways.
Every Awakened character receives one or more Obsessions. This depends on your character’s Gnosis dots.
A character with one or two Gnosis dots has only one Obsession.
A character with three, four, or five dots of Gnosis has two Obsessions.
A character with six, seven, or eight dots of Gnosis has three Obsessions.
And a character with nine or ten Gnosis has four Obsessions.
In addition to the Arcane Beat from resolution, resolving an Obsession also gives the character a point of Mana.
Additionally, Obsessions apply any time an Aspirations could apply. For example, they influence Social manoeuvring actions.
Any time a character uses Focused Mage Sight Scrutiny and an Obsession applies, the Obsession adds a die to the attempt.