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New World of Darkness: Mage
- Thread starter Rakor
- Start date
Ashrem Bayle
Explorer
Mage: the Awakening is awesome. I ran a game for about six months last year and had a blast with it.
Here's my best piece of advice:
Mage characters can do anything... anything. You can't possibly predict what they are going to do, so don't spend too much time trying.
For most games, I usually set up a series of events with some places for characters to make choices so as not to railroad too much. this approach is almost impossible in Mage.
Instead, figure out what the antagonists want. Figure out what they're willing to do to get it, and then consider how their plans will impact the lives of the players.
If you have a good idea of what the bad guys are doing, you can react better when the good guys try to screw it up.
Good luck!!
Here's my best piece of advice:
Mage characters can do anything... anything. You can't possibly predict what they are going to do, so don't spend too much time trying.
For most games, I usually set up a series of events with some places for characters to make choices so as not to railroad too much. this approach is almost impossible in Mage.
Instead, figure out what the antagonists want. Figure out what they're willing to do to get it, and then consider how their plans will impact the lives of the players.
If you have a good idea of what the bad guys are doing, you can react better when the good guys try to screw it up.
Good luck!!
Like AB I found MtAw to be an awesome game.
My only advice is a cautionary word. The game doesn't lend itself (IMHO) to be run as a casual game. The quality of the support material, flexibility of both system and setting, and the options for players make this a game that's best played in an immersive way. I wouldn't run a Mage game at a Con. Its not designed to be a pick up game. But if you want a really good and thoughtful RPG that requires effort from b oth GM and players to be played well, its great.
My only advice is a cautionary word. The game doesn't lend itself (IMHO) to be run as a casual game. The quality of the support material, flexibility of both system and setting, and the options for players make this a game that's best played in an immersive way. I wouldn't run a Mage game at a Con. Its not designed to be a pick up game. But if you want a really good and thoughtful RPG that requires effort from b oth GM and players to be played well, its great.
Ashrem Bayle
Explorer
I'd agree with this as well. It's a hard game to run, but if done right, it can be very rewarding.
Keefe the Thief
Adventurer
nMage is going to work or not based on what you mean with "casual." Low-prep, watching where the story leads you? Can work, if you familiarize yourself with rules and background enough. But if it means "my players won´t read or learn a lot of things" you´re in trouble - they have to know what they can do with Space 2 / Spirit 1 / Forces 3, and that´s a couple of pages of rotes and improvised spells.
Ashrem Bayle
Explorer
I created these for my group and found them VERY useful.
Mage Arcana - A file that explains in simple terms what can be done with each arcana at each level. Aims at new players and avoids rule-speak.
Mage Cheat Sheet - Helps the Storyteller run the game, including quick references to common spellcasting modifiers, improvised spell charts and other things.
Enjoy!
Mage Arcana - A file that explains in simple terms what can be done with each arcana at each level. Aims at new players and avoids rule-speak.
Mage Cheat Sheet - Helps the Storyteller run the game, including quick references to common spellcasting modifiers, improvised spell charts and other things.
Enjoy!
Ashrem Bayle
Explorer
Here's something else I wrote up for my group. It explains spellcasting in a way the books sort of imply or gloss over, but never really spell out for you.
The Casting of a Spell
What is it like to cast a spell in Mage: the Awakening? Part of that depends on the spell, but some things are universal.
The first thing one must do is form the imago of the spell. This is simply a mental picture of how you intend for the spell to take effect. You imagine your flesh rapidly regenerating to heal a wound, or lightning rippling from your hands to throw a bolt of lightning. This mental image must be very detailed, and specific, and thus forms the foundation of the spell itself. In the case of a rote, the imago is the same each and every time, thus making it easier for the mage to call it up as needed.
Once the image of the spell is formed in the mage's mind, he calls down a bit of Supernal reality. The moment the mage Awakened, his soul shed its Abyssal taint and connected with the Supernal World, specifically, with his Watchtower. Now he draws upon that mystical connection, his soul a conduit that pierces the Abyss between the two worlds, and mage wills a bit of Supernal reality into the Fallen World. He pulls it across the Abyss, and reshapes it with a combination of his imagination and understanding of the arcana involved in the spell.
Because the Supernal World is a "higher" plane of existence, its reality is capable of overwriting the reality of the Fallen World. Thus, when the mage changes the bit of Supernal reality that he invoked, using his mastery of the arcana, the effect is a change in the Fallen World.
The arcana represent the mage's understanding, and degree of control over, the laws of the Supernal World. A mage with knowledge of the Forces arcanum understands how forces such as fire and kinetic energy function in the Supernal World. Likewise, a mage who practices the Mind arcanum understands how the mind works according to Supernal Law, though not necessarily how it works in the mundane world, the Fallen World.
So, for example...
Ashrem, an Obrimos, having grown tired of fighting, decides to end the present conflict with a good old fashion fireball. First, he imagines flames erupting from his hand, streaking toward his enemy, and exploding in a massive ball of fire that fills the room.
[From a rules standpoint, it is at this time that you determine the factors involved in creating the spell.]
Confident in his knowledge and ability to wield the Forces arcana, he now calls upon the Supernal World. Through the soul's unhindered connection to the Supernal World, he wills a bit of the Supernal across the Abyss, and into the Fallen World, where he shapes it with his proficiency of the Forces arcana.
[Gnosis determines the strength of the connection between the mage's soul and the Supernal World.]
Once he has created the spell's imago, and he has called down a piece of Supernal reality into the Fallen World, he uses his knowledge of the Forces arcanum to shape it. Ashrem isn't a physicist. He doesn't understand the hoops molecules and energies would have to jump through for a person to throw a fireball using the physics of the Fallen World, but it doesn't matter. He understands how it works in the Supernal Realm, and that's what counts.
[This is where the dice come in. The player rolls his Gnosis plus the Arcana required by the spell. For the spell to work, his knowledge of the Arcana must be complete, and his wielding of it accurate.]
Ashrem's an experienced sorcerer, and the Supernal reality successfully blends with the Fallen, resulting in a ball of fire that forms in his hand and streaks out to incinerate his enemies, just as he had imagined.
Ah....but what about Paradox?
What Ashrem did was not possible according to the Fallen World's laws of physics. The typical reaction a spectator would have from witnessing such blatant use of magic would likely be "That's not possible!"; and that's not good.
When a mage casts a spell, and the spell's end result is something that could happen according to the laws of the Fallen World, that spell is called a Covert spell. The spell is subtle. A witness, and indeed even reality itself, doesn't perceive anything out of the ordinary. Or at least, it isn't something obviously supernatural.
On the other hand, spells that produce effects that are obviously supernatural, such as the above fireball spell, are called Vulgar spells. When the mage casts a Vulgar spell, he does so like any other. He forms the spell's imago and invokes a bit of Supernal reality into the Fallen World with the intent on shaping it with his knowledge of the arcana. However...when a spell is Vulgar, the Supernal reality imposed onto the Fallen World does not tend to blend correctly. Because the effect of the spell is something that cannot happen in the Fallen World, it is very much like driving a square peg into a round hole. The mage can hammer it in with his will, but the end result will not be a natural fit.
When this happens, the Abyss may attempt to flood into the seams, filling the cracks in reality. This is called a Paradox. Not all Vulgar spells invoke a Paradox, but many do. In such cases, the mage can sense the presence of the Abyss as a sickening taint that floods through his soul along with the bit of Supernal reality he has called down. Before the spell is complete, he may decide to try to contain the Paradox, drawing it into his Pattern. Doing this is very painful, and most unpleasant for the mage. Another manner of negating a Paradox is to ease the insertion of Supernal reality into the Fallen World by infusing your spell with Mana, effectively lubricating it, making the transition easier. Mana is essentially distilled Supernal reality sometimes found in the Fallen World. Mages often store mana in their pattern to ease that casting of powerful spells, or simply for Paradox mitigation.
Left unchecked, a Paradox can be a terrible thing to witness. As the Abyss taints reality, the mage my find himself the victim of his own spell or be mentally scarred from his soul's exposure to the Abyss. Local reality may be torn asunder, or sometimes the mage's Vulgar magic acts as a gateway for an Abyssal entity. Some mages speculate that each Paradox makes the Abyss grow wider, making it more and more difficult for future Sleepers to Awaken.
And Sleepers pose a problem. Every individual who has not Awakened to one of the Watchtowers suffers a curse called the Quiescence. Each of their souls is smothered in Abyssal taint. This taint not only keeps them from Awakening to the Truth, but also acts as a sympathetic connection to the Abyss. Thus, in a case where a Sleeper witnesses a Vulgar spell, the Abyss senses the infraction through the Sleeper's tainted soul; making a Paradox much more likely and possibly more potent. In a manner of speaking, the Sleeper's soul "tells on" the offending mage.
The Casting of a Spell
What is it like to cast a spell in Mage: the Awakening? Part of that depends on the spell, but some things are universal.
The first thing one must do is form the imago of the spell. This is simply a mental picture of how you intend for the spell to take effect. You imagine your flesh rapidly regenerating to heal a wound, or lightning rippling from your hands to throw a bolt of lightning. This mental image must be very detailed, and specific, and thus forms the foundation of the spell itself. In the case of a rote, the imago is the same each and every time, thus making it easier for the mage to call it up as needed.
Once the image of the spell is formed in the mage's mind, he calls down a bit of Supernal reality. The moment the mage Awakened, his soul shed its Abyssal taint and connected with the Supernal World, specifically, with his Watchtower. Now he draws upon that mystical connection, his soul a conduit that pierces the Abyss between the two worlds, and mage wills a bit of Supernal reality into the Fallen World. He pulls it across the Abyss, and reshapes it with a combination of his imagination and understanding of the arcana involved in the spell.
Because the Supernal World is a "higher" plane of existence, its reality is capable of overwriting the reality of the Fallen World. Thus, when the mage changes the bit of Supernal reality that he invoked, using his mastery of the arcana, the effect is a change in the Fallen World.
The arcana represent the mage's understanding, and degree of control over, the laws of the Supernal World. A mage with knowledge of the Forces arcanum understands how forces such as fire and kinetic energy function in the Supernal World. Likewise, a mage who practices the Mind arcanum understands how the mind works according to Supernal Law, though not necessarily how it works in the mundane world, the Fallen World.
So, for example...
Ashrem, an Obrimos, having grown tired of fighting, decides to end the present conflict with a good old fashion fireball. First, he imagines flames erupting from his hand, streaking toward his enemy, and exploding in a massive ball of fire that fills the room.
[From a rules standpoint, it is at this time that you determine the factors involved in creating the spell.]
Confident in his knowledge and ability to wield the Forces arcana, he now calls upon the Supernal World. Through the soul's unhindered connection to the Supernal World, he wills a bit of the Supernal across the Abyss, and into the Fallen World, where he shapes it with his proficiency of the Forces arcana.
[Gnosis determines the strength of the connection between the mage's soul and the Supernal World.]
Once he has created the spell's imago, and he has called down a piece of Supernal reality into the Fallen World, he uses his knowledge of the Forces arcanum to shape it. Ashrem isn't a physicist. He doesn't understand the hoops molecules and energies would have to jump through for a person to throw a fireball using the physics of the Fallen World, but it doesn't matter. He understands how it works in the Supernal Realm, and that's what counts.
[This is where the dice come in. The player rolls his Gnosis plus the Arcana required by the spell. For the spell to work, his knowledge of the Arcana must be complete, and his wielding of it accurate.]
Ashrem's an experienced sorcerer, and the Supernal reality successfully blends with the Fallen, resulting in a ball of fire that forms in his hand and streaks out to incinerate his enemies, just as he had imagined.
Ah....but what about Paradox?
What Ashrem did was not possible according to the Fallen World's laws of physics. The typical reaction a spectator would have from witnessing such blatant use of magic would likely be "That's not possible!"; and that's not good.
When a mage casts a spell, and the spell's end result is something that could happen according to the laws of the Fallen World, that spell is called a Covert spell. The spell is subtle. A witness, and indeed even reality itself, doesn't perceive anything out of the ordinary. Or at least, it isn't something obviously supernatural.
On the other hand, spells that produce effects that are obviously supernatural, such as the above fireball spell, are called Vulgar spells. When the mage casts a Vulgar spell, he does so like any other. He forms the spell's imago and invokes a bit of Supernal reality into the Fallen World with the intent on shaping it with his knowledge of the arcana. However...when a spell is Vulgar, the Supernal reality imposed onto the Fallen World does not tend to blend correctly. Because the effect of the spell is something that cannot happen in the Fallen World, it is very much like driving a square peg into a round hole. The mage can hammer it in with his will, but the end result will not be a natural fit.
When this happens, the Abyss may attempt to flood into the seams, filling the cracks in reality. This is called a Paradox. Not all Vulgar spells invoke a Paradox, but many do. In such cases, the mage can sense the presence of the Abyss as a sickening taint that floods through his soul along with the bit of Supernal reality he has called down. Before the spell is complete, he may decide to try to contain the Paradox, drawing it into his Pattern. Doing this is very painful, and most unpleasant for the mage. Another manner of negating a Paradox is to ease the insertion of Supernal reality into the Fallen World by infusing your spell with Mana, effectively lubricating it, making the transition easier. Mana is essentially distilled Supernal reality sometimes found in the Fallen World. Mages often store mana in their pattern to ease that casting of powerful spells, or simply for Paradox mitigation.
Left unchecked, a Paradox can be a terrible thing to witness. As the Abyss taints reality, the mage my find himself the victim of his own spell or be mentally scarred from his soul's exposure to the Abyss. Local reality may be torn asunder, or sometimes the mage's Vulgar magic acts as a gateway for an Abyssal entity. Some mages speculate that each Paradox makes the Abyss grow wider, making it more and more difficult for future Sleepers to Awaken.
And Sleepers pose a problem. Every individual who has not Awakened to one of the Watchtowers suffers a curse called the Quiescence. Each of their souls is smothered in Abyssal taint. This taint not only keeps them from Awakening to the Truth, but also acts as a sympathetic connection to the Abyss. Thus, in a case where a Sleeper witnesses a Vulgar spell, the Abyss senses the infraction through the Sleeper's tainted soul; making a Paradox much more likely and possibly more potent. In a manner of speaking, the Sleeper's soul "tells on" the offending mage.
