Mage:the Awakening is out. Opinions?

[teitan]

I must have this... if anybody is dissatisfied with their purchase and wants a slew of D20 Modern books (D20M, UA and Apocalypse) email me in private frater.uranus@gmail.com

 

[Infernal Teddy]

I must have this... if anybody is dissatisfied with their purchase and wants a slew of D20 Modern books (D20M, UA and Apocalypse) email me in private frater.uranus@gmail.com

You know, that might actually be worth buying the damn book - just to make that swap...

 

[tetsujin28]

The NWoD strikes me as kind of blah. Sure, it's a much better ruleset, and the OWoD had a lot of really really dumb stuff, but the new lines are missing that "wahoo" factor.

 

[Wormwood]

The NWoD strikes me as kind of blah. Sure, it's a much better ruleset, and the OWoD had a lot of really really dumb stuff, but the new lines are missing that "wahoo" factor.

I couldn't agree more. It seems that WW made a terrible mistake by actually listening to their fans.

The fans bitched about the metaplot and they bitched about the system being unbalanced—so here comes nWoD with no metaplot and a balanced ruleset. But no real personality or passion.

YMMV.

 

[SWBaxter]

The NWoD strikes me as kind of blah. Sure, it's a much better ruleset, and the OWoD had a lot of really really dumb stuff, but the new lines are missing that "wahoo" factor.

I haven't read the new Vampire, so I can't comment there, but the NWoD Werewolf stands up well next to the old version, IMHO. The catch is that you need Predators and/or Hunting Grounds: Rockies to really see all the themes at work, and get examples of how to use them in a campaign. The rulebook alone is likely to leave a prospective ST scratching their head about what sort of game to run, the supplements are what makes the lightbulb go on.

NWoD Mage seems likely to be the same, but moreso. I didn't hate the background and setting stuff, it just didn't do a great job of showcasing what a Mage campaign would be like. There's plenty of room for weird and "wahoo" type stuff, just not much that grabs me and says "this is what's cool about playing/STing a group of Mages".

 

[Samurai]

I couldn't agree more. It seems that WW made a terrible mistake by actually listening to their fans.

The fans bitched about the metaplot and they bitched about the system being unbalanced—so here comes nWoD with no metaplot and a balanced ruleset. But no real personality or passion.

YMMV.

Well, I hadn't bought oWoD in many years (Changling was pretty much the last book I got), but nWoD has got me back into it and buying books again, so it has worked for me... I like it.

 

[Umbran]

The NWoD strikes me as kind of blah. Sure, it's a much better ruleset, and the OWoD had a lot of really really dumb stuff, but the new lines are missing that "wahoo" factor.

Well, part of the problem here will be the usual problem of comparison. You're comparing something you've little 3experience with to something for which you've old and fond memories. It's like getting a new pair of sneakers of blue jeans - the new ones generally look inferior to the old until they've been broken in a bit...

 

[Psion]

The new rules are so much better than the old, IMO.

Enough better that I am, like, actually going to play it. Something I swore off in the last oWoD game I played like, what... 6 years ago?

 

[wingsandsword]

Oh, one more thing that's new with New Mage over Old Mage, your morality counts.

Remember that Old Mage didn't have Humanity or any other moral indicator, but with New Mage, just like mortals have Morality, Vampires have Humanity and Werewolves have Harmony, Mages now have Wisdom.

Wisdom is the morality path of Mages. It has all the sins and restrictions of human Morality, except it's even stricter, because there are lots of moral restrictions on magic. Destroying or harming souls is a quick way straight down, while things like mind control or frivolous use of magic are sins at the higher levels. Some things that mages can do to produce great power (creating a Demense) are almost always Wisdom sins (sin at just 4 Wisdom, since you're damaging your own soul for potentially greater power).

Also, like Werewolves, mages with high Wisdom get bonuses when socializing with spirits, while mages of low Wisdom get penalites when using social abilites on spirits, and the most moral and wise of mages also get bonus dice to resist supernatural powers of demons and other abyssal creatures. The Wiser the mage, the lesser the effects of Paradox as well (Bedlam, formerly known as Quiet, is much shorter for high Wisdom Mages, other paradox problems are also much shorter).

 

[tetsujin28]

The new rules are so much better than the old, IMO.

Enough better that I am, like, actually going to play it. Something I swore off in the last oWoD game I played like, what... 6 years ago?

The rules are a lot better, but not so much better that there aren't other games out there that I'd rather play.