[Mage: the Awakening] Legacy of the Stone Assembly

Hella_Tellah · Nov 6, 2008

Let's talk about the Cabal a bit. The Cabal needs a few things: a name, a base of operations, and a statement of intent on the five Great Rights. Let's start with the headquarters.

The game will take place in the greater Boston metropolitan area, so any of the neighborhoods or adjoining towns will work well. I can give you all kinds of information on these places, so just ask away. The neighborhoods marked with a star have well-known mages living in them, so you would probably interact/compete/ally/fight with another Cabal or solitary mage from time to time there. This is not a complete list, but a selection of neighborhoods that I think you'll find most appealing.

Allston: loud, youthful and cheap; Boston College and Boston U are here.
Brighton: quieter neighborhood near Allston, full of grad students.
Brookline*: sleepy community of professors, also the main Jewish neighborhood.
The Fens: a bog along the Muddy River, hotbed of illegal activity.
Mattapan: formerly a Jewish neighborhood and a flashpoint for violence in the 60s, now a quiet residential neighborhood home mainly to Middle-Class Blacks, with some Haitians.
Dorchester: racially integrated neighborhood of Victorian homes. Good for mages looking for a quiet place to stay.
Roxbury*: neighborhood most associated with crime, poverty, and urban decay. The "wrong side of town".
Back Bay*: wealthy neighborhood of brick row houses and upscale boutiques.
The South End: by far the "hippest" neighborhood in Boston. Home to the more affluent members of the gay community.
Beacon Hill*: Old money, neither trendy nor hip.
North End: Little Italy on the waterfront. Home to the historic Copp's Hill Cemetary. A little loud since they put in a highway through the middle of it.
Downtown*: Skyscrapers and big business. Frequent construction has damaged the once-potent Hallows that exist here.
Chinatown: Center of sex trade and gang violence, although progress has been made recently. The part of Chinatown known as the Combat Zone is rumored to be a naturally-occuring demesne, as paradoxes are rarer here.
South Boston: Usually called "Southie". Blue-collar and Irish, with nearly as many churches as bars. Stuck in the '50s.
Roslindale: Ethnically diverse; hip but a bit rough.
Cambridge*: Harvard, MIT, Buddhist temples and new age bookstores.
Somerville: Cheap housing in a suburb favored by college graduates.
Salem*: A historical hotbed of Awakened (naturally), Salem is the seat of the Consilium. It's also full of new age spiritualists and tourists.
Danvers*: a village on the edge of Salem, home to an insane asylum and a well-known hunting ground for Tremere liches.

I think Cambridge fits this group best, but the choice is entirely up to you guys. What do you think?

Annalist · Nov 6, 2008

As far as locations go, Cambridge (or even Somerville) would be a perfect fit for my character. So I'll toss in my vote for Cambridge, but will gladly defer to the group majority if they decide otherwise.

Annalist · Nov 6, 2008

The Great Rights

I think that the Right of Sanctuary is a no-brainer and should definitely be included. And as a new cabal that's most likely the low man on the Consilium totem pole, it'd be prudent to institute the Right of Crossing and the Right of Hospitality. Though I think we can do without the Right of Emeritus since it doesn't seem like we're a pretentious bunch that would want it. I'm sure we could all be respectful to each other without requiring formalities. As for the Right of Nemesis, I'm wondering what the possible consequences are with or without it.

Hella_Tellah · Nov 6, 2008

Annalist said:
As for the Right of Nemesis, I'm wondering what the possible consequences are with or without it.

The Right of Nemesis basically means that if a Mage comes into your territory looking for one of their enemies, you won't interfere. This can easily conflict with other Rights, though. If a fellow Mage comes asking for protection under Hospitality, but another Mage has declared him a Nemesis, whose claim do you uphold? If a Mage comes hunting for someone under Nemesis, and in the process of hunting that Nemesis triggers a paradox that taints your Hallow, do you go after her under the Right of Sanctuary, or let it slide under the Right of Nemesis? On the other hand, it dovetails nicely with Crossing. You allow other mages to pass through your territory unmolested by you, but you make no promises about protecting them from their enemies while they're in your territory.

Mages who do not uphold Nemesis see those who do as aloof and a bit vicious. It connotes a Darwinian outlook on Awakened society. Mages who do uphold Nemesis see those who don't as interventionist, territorial, and idealistic. It's said that a Cabal that does not uphold the Right of Nemesis probably never had a Nemesis themselves. The Consilium Heirarch, who is known as "The Nemean," is a big proponent of the kind of approach that the right of Nemesis suggests.

Annalist · Nov 6, 2008

Hmm. Life as a Mage sure ain't simple. Ah well, here are my votes:

Right of Crossing - Yes
Right of Emeritus - No
Right of Hospitality - Yes
Right of Nemesis - No
Right of Sanctuary - Yes

Annalist · Nov 6, 2008

Since Spirit seems to be a common Arcanum among the PCs, I figured that I'd suggest The Twilight Vigil as a possible Cabal name.

Hella_Tellah · Nov 6, 2008

Good ideas, Annalist. I don't want to give it the Official ST Blessing, because that stuff's up to the players. What do you guys think?

Have you decided which one of those three characters you're going to run with, Shayuri? I really liked the backstory you wrote up for Juno Reyes, but I'm sure anything you came up with for the other two would be equally fun.

Shayuri · Nov 6, 2008

Arr, I'm sticking with Juno, I think.

She's younger, brasher...should be more entertaining, albeit also more trouble waiting to happen.

I'll get some sheetwork up asap.

Solarious · Nov 6, 2008

Hmn. A Mage the Awakening game. I happen to like nWoD, but have had trouble getting a group of interested people who would play/run a mature game (ie. no running yourselves and making broken custom prestige classes for yourself). I've recently been delving into Actual Plays at rpg.net, and it sounds really fun, so I would like to sink some of that wasted money into some enjoyment!

I would like to say for the record that I like the idea of paths and watchtowers. I don't neccessarily agree with some of the crap writing and assuptions that some of the writers have made in the core and in the Tome of the Watchtowers, but they do make for some of the most interesting ideas: the gross/subtle pairings of arcana (where one is the Supernal Truth and the other is a inverted Fallen reflection of the Supernal); the swearing on your Watchtower being as solemn an oath as you can make without making a Fate-bound oath; and the powers that come most naturally to you as a member of that watchtower's path defining you rather than the fluff of writers who didn't do as stellar a job as they could have.

All this being said, I don't have the core nWoD book, but with the number of the supplements I have, there is a lot that can be infered from the statblocks and other things. My combat-foo is weak, however, so I'll leave that to others who are more familiar with the system.

As for the Five Great Rights, I think following 3 or 4 of them is best. People who don't follow at least 3 are usually considered lax and not taking them seriously (unless they have a good reason for it), while apparently only the most uptight of the Silver Ladder follows all 5 rights. Annalist's list of choices isn't bad, although we should discuss the goals of the Cabal itself and the location/terratory we'll claim before voting on them.

While I've always loved the enchanter's path, with Time divinations and Fate manipulations (broken 8 and 9 agains aside, everyone should grab a dot for Winds of Chance), but the cabal seems in desperate need of Space wards, while I have a love for Mind magic, which is incredibly powerful arcanum in it's own right. Looks like I'm putting together a Mastigos for my first character after all!

Hella_Tellah · Nov 6, 2008

Awesome, Solarious! Glad to have you aboard.

To clarify my stance on paths and watchtowers: I don't ban them or remove them, but I make them optional. I prefer having everyone's Awakening be different, and if swearing an oath to your Watchtower fits your character, then that's how it goes down.

Really, I just want to leave the option open for players who find the system restrictive. When I first played Mage: the Ascension, I was pissed that I had to be a martial artist in order to be really skilled in Mind. I've also had one player complain that he wanted his character to be a mechanic, focused on forces and matter, and he didn't feel like either Obrimos or Moros really fit. On the other hand, another player in that same game took one look at Thyrsus and said, "that's what I want, right there." So you can go ahead and make a Mastigos mage, with my full support and blessing; I'm just leaving the options open.