Mage the Ascension Question

Has anyone had any experience of this game?

It's published by White Wolf, although the core book is out of print and the rest of the books seem to be following the same way. It is available on ebay (surprise)

I see that GURPS also have a version of it as well. Will they differ much?

Thanks in advance.

Mage is probably my favorite White Wolf game. And, really, the only one I'd like to play again.

The system is interesting, but really I think it was the background and setting information that was the biggest draw. Not perfectly original, but dark enough and creative enough that I ran an online game for over a year.

I've no experience with the GURPS version, but if it's the same setting information presented with GURPS rules then I'd say the difference would be purely in the rules. WW's core system was flexible enough and the magic was similarly free-form that I imagine GURPS could replicate it: But it would definately have the GURPS feel. Mage was a World Of Darkness product and had the WoD rules feel to it.

--fje

AOS said:

Has anyone had any experience of this game?

It's published by White Wolf, although the core book is out of print and the rest of the books seem to be following the same way. It is available on ebay (surprise)

I see that GURPS also have a version of it as well. Will they differ much?

Thanks in advance.

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I own it, but I've never had the courage to try and run it
There are at least two editions of the game; the Second Ed is by far the most understandable. There is a Revised version as well, though what mechanics were changed I could not tell you. There were some changes to the backstory, the metaplot, and I think some of the various factions.

GURPS does indeed have a version of this, which I'm pretty sure uses Mage First Ed ideas. It's White Wolf's most complex and least understandable magic system done in GURPS terms. Make of that what you will The setting is virtually identical. The system is totally different.

I first saw it on another forum and it looked good from what I saw, with the whole magical thing looking amazing! Being as the White Wolf version is out of print I may try the GURPS version to read and see what I think, if I can't get hold of the WW version on ebay.

On the other hand as it has apparently been quite popular, they may release a deluxe version, LOL, you never know! :\

AOS said:

I first saw it on another forum and it looked good from what I saw, with the whole magical thing looking amazing! Being as the White Wolf version is out of print I may try the GURPS version to read and see what I think, if I can't get hold of the WW version on ebay.

On the other hand as it has apparently been quite popular, they may release a deluxe version, LOL, you never know! :\

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You can probably get it pretty cheap in a half-price/used book store. Or you can wait a couple months for Mage:the Awakening to come out, which is the new World of Darkness mage game.

AOS said:

Has anyone had any experience of this game?

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Yup. Mechanically it was OK - had a lot of potentially abusive loopholes, but pretty much all of them were obvious so it was easy enough to close them. I was not that thrilled about the backstory, mostly because I don't like seeing scientists and other rational folk classed as the bad guys. But it was easy enough to tweak that, at least so long as you avoid the supplements.

It's published by White Wolf, although the core book is out of print and the rest of the books seem to be following the same way. It is available on ebay (surprise)

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Mage: The Ascension was part of the first World of Darkness, a metaplot setting for most of White Wolf's modern day games. That metaplot, along with the ones for Vampire: the Masquerade, Werewolf: the Apocalypse, and several other games, has been wrapped up in an end of the world-type storyline. White Wolf published a new edition of their core ruleset last year (now in a standalone book called World of Darkness) and also a new edition of Vampire (subtitled "the Requiem") which introduced a new background. New versions of the two other major games are also coming - Werewolf: the Forsaken is supposed to be out soon, and Mage: the Awakening will be published later this year. So that's why the older stuff is going out of print - think of this as sort of like the shift from 2E to 3E in D&D.

Rules-wise, the new WoD rules have (IMHO) a lot of improvements over the original, and getting them in a core rulebook is nice. White Wolf's designers also seem to have learned a lot about what makes a game setting work, their background changes so far have been improvements by and large. On the downside, you have to buy two books instead of one to play (the core WoD rulebook, and then the book for whichever game you prefer).

I see that GURPS also have a version of it as well. Will they differ much?

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Hugely so in game mechanics. A lot of people liked the GURPS version because it was much harder to abuse, and a lot of people disliked it because of the "heavier" rules. So YMWV. I'm not sure if SJG plans (or has a license to) update the book to GURPS 4E.

Hi, AOS! I'm going to go ahead and move this to the General RPG forum, where it would technically go, and also to bring it some more attention.

We do have a good many White Wolf players on our site, who could tell you their experiences. I've never played it myself, however.

SWBaxter said:

I'm not sure if SJG plans (or has a license to) update the book to GURPS 4E.

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There was a lot of bad blood between SJG and WW over the handling of the original GURPS WoD books, so there is a less-than-zero chance that we will ever see G4e versions published.

KoOS

AOS said:

Has anyone had any experience of this game?

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Yes. I've played a whole lot of this game. Heaps of RPG goodness there.

Mage has, imho, what ends up being both the best and the worst magic system ever created. It is the worst in that, in the hands of a permissive or unwary GM, it is perhaps the most abuseable in existance. It is the best in that in the hands of the right GM, it is the most flexible and flavorful thing I've ever seen.

I looked over the GURPS version once, and did not care for it. YMMV.

Mage is the game where hippies, druggies, and goths save the world from industry, sanitation, and modern mediciene.