[Mage: the Awakening] Legacy of the Stone Assembly

Annalist · Nov 10, 2008

Hella_Tellah said:
Oh man, I really want to make a Banisher who looks like Harrison Ford come chasing after your mentor!

I was actually torn between using either Gabriel Byrne or Rutger Hauer for Father Evans' look. But it was catching a rerun of Blade Runner on TV that nudged my decision in Rutger's favor. I'm pretty happy with the choice, although Gabriel Byrne in priestly attire (such as in Stigmata) would have also worked well.

magic_gathering2001 · Nov 10, 2008

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I'm not as good as Annalist, but here's Joseph.
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Hella_Tellah said:
I think the legacy is balanced and will work for your character concept. The fourth attainment, making a Sleepwalker, is powerful, but I think it will take us quite a long time to get that far, so if it needs changing we'll decide on that later. The oblation is really cool, but to be honest I usually use oblations as a background, downtime activity. I'll try to remember to get you some mileage out of it, though, because it's a novel and fun idea.

Alright, I'll put up the other attainment once I think of it. Actually, if anyone has any ideas that would help, but if not I'll come up with something.

As for the oblation, at the very least, its a way to roleplay that aspect of the character without taking too severe a penalty more than anything else. That is to say, Joseph will probably make an opportunity to do so, even if you do not explicitly include it in the story. If you roleplay downtime at all, there's that, but there are uses for it regardless I think. After all, sleeper rituals are certainly a place where you can gather unusual information that a sleeper may have overheard or seen, even if they don't know its significance. Not that I'm complaining if you want to incorporate it into the campain or anything.

On a completely unrelated note, what is the punishment for overstepping your ranks in arcana when improvising? Does it cost mana, cause a paradox, fail entirely, some combination thereof, or something else entirely?

Hella_Tellah · Nov 10, 2008

magic_gathering2001 said:
After all, sleeper rituals are certainly a place where you can gather unusual information that a sleeper may have overheard or seen, even if they don't know its significance. Not that I'm complaining if you want to incorporate it into the campain or anything.

Oh, I'll definitely find a way to use it in service of the story, no worries there. I just haven't quite thought of it yet.

My girlfriend has informed me that I have a (bad?) habit of thinking out loud and writing things just to make up my own mind on the subject. My comments on your Legacy specifically and character concept more generally were of that variety; I put my thoughts out there, publicly, in an attempt to better know my own mind on the subject. Know that I am not trying to dissuade you from taking your character in any direction you please. I'm making up my mind on how to include the character in the story, and I'm making that thought-process transparent. This is usually a sign that you've brought me something to think about, which is definitely good.

magic_gathering2001 said:
On a completely unrelated note, what is the punishment for overstepping your ranks in arcana when improvising? Does it cost mana, cause a paradox, fail entirely, some combination thereof, or something else entirely?

Rules Lawyer Answer: As far as the rules are concerned, dots in Arcana are an upper limit on what you can attempt, so if I were parsing the rulebook as a logical function, I'd have to say "null/does not compute." Attempting to cast a spell despite not having enough ranks to cast it just cannot be done. Solarious might be able to give a more satisfying or correct answer to this; s/he has clearly read more deeply in Mage than I have, enthusiastic as I am for the system.

Storyteller Answer: Try it and see what happens. :devil:

magic_gathering2001 · Nov 10, 2008

Hella_Tellah said:
Oh, I'll definitely find a way to use it in service of the story, no worries there. I just haven't quite thought of it yet.

I'll look foreward to it.

Hella_Tellah said:
... I'm making up my mind on how to include the character in the story, and I'm making that thought-process transparent. This is usually a sign that you've brought me something to think about, which is definitely good.

Alright I'll try to remember that for next time. I've just always taken everything on a forum at face value, cause its so difficult to imply emotion reliably. I'm glad I gave you something to think about though.

Hella_Tellah said:
Rules Lawyer Answer: As far as the rules are concerned, dots in Arcana are an upper limit on what you can attempt, so if I were parsing the rulebook as a logical function, I'd have to say "null/does not compute." Attempting to cast a spell despite not having enough ranks to cast it just cannot be done. Solarious might be able to give a more satisfying or correct answer to this; s/he has clearly read more deeply in Mage than I have, enthusiastic as I am for the system.

Thats what I was thinking, but with improvised (read using the creative thaumatergy or whatever the name of it is) spellcasting, we won't know until after the spell is cast.

Hella_Tellah said:
Storyteller Answer: Try it and see what happens.

I guess I'll find out... Joseph will probably do it at least once before he learns his lesson.

Annalist · Nov 12, 2008

*pin drop* So... this thread seems to have lost all momentum.

Does anyone want any help statting up their PC? I'm all done with mine, so I'm available to lend a hand if needed. B-)

Hella_Tellah · Nov 12, 2008

We're pretty close to done with recruiting now, although we're still taking applications. Here's an update on everyone's status:

Application Statuses
(Stati? Do I get to be a Latin geek when it's a Mage game? I think I do.)
Here's where everyone stands on their applications. Remember, get them in and complete by Thursday at midnight to join!

Annalist
Character sheet: complete
Character concept: complete
Writing sample: complete

BlueLotus
Character sheet: complete (that is, if you want to use the "translation" I did)
Character concept: complete
Writing sample: complete

magic_gathering2001
Character sheet: complete
Character concept: complete
Writing sample: complete

Shayuri
Character sheet: complete (except for a shadow name)
Character concept: complete
Writing sample: complete

Solarious
Character sheet: not yet submitted
Character concept: complete
Writing sample: complete

Walking Dad
Character sheet: nearly complete
Character concept: complete
Writing sample: not yet submitted

Don't get the impression that, once submitted, your character is set in stone. I usually let people in my real-life games fiddle with their character sheets for the first two sessions, so you folks are welcome to move and change things freely within the first week. Just get something we can run with for now.

Cabal Stuff
Here's what we have on the Cabal so far:
Name: The Midnight Vigil? Shadow Hunters? Shadow Seekers?
Location: Cambridge (so far this is the consensus, at least)
Great Rights:
Right of Crossing - 2 Yes
Right of Emeritus - 1 No, 1 Maybe
Right of Hospitality - 2 Yes
Right of Nemesis - 2 No
Right of Sanctuary - 2 Yes

magic_gathering2001 · Nov 12, 2008

I liked the twilight vigil for the cabal name, but if people do have a problem with the twilight part, midnight vigil sounds good to me.

Annalist · Nov 12, 2008

This makes for an odd-sounding cheer but, "Hooray, the end* is near!"

*In reference to the chargen deadline, and not the biblical Armageddon. 'Cause that would be bad.

magic_gathering2001 · Nov 12, 2008

Annalist said:
This makes for an odd-sounding cheer but, "Hooray, the end* is near!"

This might be an odd question (irregardless of the fact that it has little to do with the quoted text, but when is november 13? and when is midnight in GMT? (I can't figure out/am not motivated enough to change it...)

Annalist said:
*In reference to the chargen deadline, and not the biblical Armageddon. 'Cause that would be bad.

I don't know about that. After all, it would make a great 10 minute story to tell all of the other dead before you all get resurrected. And it would be a great I told you so moment.

Hella_Tellah · Nov 12, 2008

magic_gathering2001 said:
This might be an odd question (irregardless of the fact that it has little to do with the quoted text, but when is november 13? and when is midnight in GMT? (I can't figure out/am not motivated enough to change it...)

For me, it's midnight tomorrow. That would be 8AM GMT on Friday...I think.

When I was studying abroad in Spain, I had an awful habit of calling people back home in the wee hours of the morning, so bad was I at converting time zones! I can explain the economic trends and policy decisions that lead to the fall of the Spanish Empire, but an eight hour time change flies straight over my head.