Mage question

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Dug up an old copy of "Mage: The Ascension" second edition a couple days ago
and made the mistake of mentioning it to a friend. Who mentioned it to
another friend, who mentioned it to someone else. Now, my 6-years defunct
gaming group is bugging me to start a new campaign. Something about finding
out the fate of an NPC named Wilhelm. Anyway... White Wolf's apparently
releasing something called "Mage: The Awakening." Anyone know how it
relates to the book I have? new edition of the same game (like Mage
revised)? Something completely new?

Thanks. Defunct Storytellers need to know.

 

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Paul Fedorenko wrote:
White Wolf's apparently
> releasing something called "Mage: The Awakening." Anyone know how
it
> relates to the book I have? new edition of the same game (like Mage
> revised)? Something completely new?
>
Something completely new. Bottom line: All the gamelines you know of
ended, some with a bang, others with a whimper, and are all out of
print. The new games coming out are set in the New World of Darkness.

First, find the World of Darkness Rulebook, which has all the rules
mechanics of the new Storytelling system in it. Mage the Awakening will
be out...soon, I guess. Vampire the Requiem and Werewolf the Forsaken
are already out, but none of the core books will have the rules in
them. We're only just now getting info on the new Mage, much of which
can be found here:

http://www.white-wolf.com/index.php?line=news&articleid=213

> Thanks. Defunct Storytellers need to know.

Yervelcome!

Dex,
hoping the presence of Arcadia means a new Changeling will be in the
works...

 

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"Hand-of-Omega" <handofomega@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1116825673.047840.314790@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

>> relates to the book I have? new edition of the same game (like Mage
>> revised)? Something completely new?
>>
> Something completely new. Bottom line: All the gamelines you know of
> ended, some with a bang, others with a whimper, and are all out of
> print. The new games coming out are set in the New World of Darkness.

That's the one thing that always bugged me about White Wolf's games. The
over-arching story-lines. I'd prefer it if they just released a bunch of
books, kind of like "Here's the rules and everything you need to play/run a
mage/werewolf/vampire/whatever. Do what you will with it." Instead of
having a story that progresses with each new sourcebook or whatever.

> First, find the World of Darkness Rulebook, which has all the rules
> mechanics of the new Storytelling system in it. Mage the Awakening will

Now that's an interesting way of doing it. Makes more sense than making
three books which each rehash more or less the same rules, using different
names for some of the stats... I'm guessing it'd be kinda like the
equivalent of a D20 system for WoD, where each game uses the same mechanic
regardless of setting and all that?

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.whitewolf (More info?)

In article <9Cnke.899$dZ5.261899@news20.bellglobal.com>, "Paul
Fedorenko" <pfedorenko@look.ca> wrote:

> I'd prefer it if they just released a bunch of
> books, kind of like "Here's the rules and everything you need to play/run
> a
> mage/werewolf/vampire/whatever. Do what you will with it." Instead of
> having a story that progresses with each new sourcebook or whatever.

Sounds like you ought to check out Eden Studios' WitchCraft game line.
You can play mages, werewolves, vampires or whatever, and it's an
integrated set of rules, so there's no wondering "Does this Discipline
trump that True Magick," or "Do vampires fall prey to the Delirium?"

http://www.edenstudios.net/witchcraft/index.html

--
Tyler

m o c t o d o o h a y t a h c t i v o n i l b

Bac>|wards

 

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Paul Fedorenko wrote:

> That's the one thing that always bugged me about White Wolf's games. The
> over-arching story-lines. I'd prefer it if they just released a bunch of
> books, kind of like "Here's the rules and everything you need to play/run a
> mage/werewolf/vampire/whatever. Do what you will with it." Instead of
> having a story that progresses with each new sourcebook or whatever.

That's what they're doing with the nWoD, in fact. All the sourcebooks
take place at so-called "Time Zero," which is defined as the present
day, no matter what the present day is. If they release a book for
Denver that says Max Roman and Rachel Snow are ideological opponents but
still friends and that tension is growing, in two years there /will not/
be casual mention of the fact that the Max Roman / Rachel Snow conflict
in Denver has escalated into all-out warfare between factions, because
all the sourcebooks are set at "Time Zero."

The novels are set at "Time Plus One" and "Time Plus Two," building on
each other and the sourcebooks, but the sourcebooks don't reference the
novels.

> Now that's an interesting way of doing it. Makes more sense than making
> three books which each rehash more or less the same rules, using different
> names for some of the stats... I'm guessing it'd be kinda like the
> equivalent of a D20 system for WoD, where each game uses the same mechanic
> regardless of setting and all that?

Kinda. Technically, all the nWoD games are in the same setting -- the
nWoD. It's not like the oWoD where each game was sort of in its own
world and sort of not. So, the World of Darkness Rulebook is the
corebook, and Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, and Mage:
The Awakening are all supplements for that.

Oh, and Mage: The Awakening is due out August 15th.
--
Stephenls
Geek
"You do your arguments no favor by insulting those you ought persuade."
-Greg Stolze, Rites of the Dragon

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.whitewolf (More info?)

Paul Fedorenko wrote:

> Dug up an old copy of "Mage: The Ascension" second edition a couple days ago
> and made the mistake of mentioning it to a friend. Who mentioned it to
> another friend, who mentioned it to someone else. Now, my 6-years defunct
> gaming group is bugging me to start a new campaign. Something about finding
> out the fate of an NPC named Wilhelm. Anyway... White Wolf's apparently
> releasing something called "Mage: The Awakening." Anyone know how it
> relates to the book I have? new edition of the same game (like Mage
> revised)? Something completely new?

> Thanks. Defunct Storytellers need to know.

The new games are unconnected to the old ones. If you're interested in
playing a Mage: The Ascension campaign, you're not going to find the
Awakening material all that useful. On the plus side, it means you've
already got the material you need -- or else if you want to get
sourcebooks, you can probably pick them up used for cheap.

Unless you'd rather wait and get in on the ground floor with Mage: The
Awakening, of course, but from what we've seen there are some key
differences between it and Ascension. They're most vehemently not the
same game. M:tAw doesn't seem to have a Technocracy, for instance, and
there's no consensual reality or paradigms.
--
Stephenls
Geek
"You do your arguments no favor by insulting those you ought persuade."
-Greg Stolze, Rites of the Dragon

 

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Paul Fedorenko wrote:

> That's the one thing that always bugged me about White Wolf's games. The
> over-arching story-lines. I'd prefer it if they just released a bunch of
> books, kind of like "Here's the rules and everything you need to play/run a
> mage/werewolf/vampire/whatever. Do what you will with it." Instead of
> having a story that progresses with each new sourcebook or whatever.

Well, White Wolf has promised to ease up on the metaplot this time
around. Exactly what that means in terms of metaplot content, only time
will tell.

> Now that's an interesting way of doing it. Makes more sense than making
> three books which each rehash more or less the same rules, using different
> names for some of the stats... I'm guessing it'd be kinda like the
> equivalent of a D20 system for WoD, where each game uses the same mechanic
> regardless of setting and all that?

Sort of. Basically, the WoD Corebook tells you how to make a normal
human and each splatbook has what amounts to a template in d20 terms,
which takes a human and changes it into whatever splat you're running.
The system is much cleaner and easier to crossover, since everything
starts from the same book.
For example, humans have a stat called Morality, ranges from 1 to 10
and generally measures how sane/sociopathic your character is. When it
drops below 6 you begin picking up derangements to represent the
psychological impact on your life. When you make a human into a
vampire, Morality changes to Humanity, which carries a few minor
implications, but by and large works the same as Morality did.
By the by, using the corebook by itself sets the stage perfectly for
a cthulu-esque horror game with a troupe of humans slowly degenerating
into madness as their Morality slips away.

 

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Stephen Williams wrote:

> Well, White Wolf has promised to ease up on the metaplot this time
> around. Exactly what that means in terms of metaplot content, only time
> will tell.

See my post, above. To rephrase if you never got it...

In theory, it means all the books are set at Time Zero, and the
setting's timeline never advances; this means that while new aspects of
the background may be revealed as time goes on and supplements are
published, the setting never actually changes dynamically over time --
if Miami by Night is published in 2007 and Bob the Daeva is Prince but
his advisor Ted the Nosferatu is secretly plotting to overthrow him,
then there will never be mention in another sourcebook that Ted has
successfully overthrown Bob and plunged the city into chaos. Ted will
be eternally plotting against Bob... at least until you run a game in
Miami, in which case anything goes. The supplements are a snapshot in
time, and the setting is static until the players and ST do something
with it.

So yeah, no metaplot.

> Sort of. Basically, the WoD Corebook tells you how to make a normal
> human and each splatbook has what amounts to a template in d20 terms,
> which takes a human and changes it into whatever splat you're running.
> The system is much cleaner and easier to crossover, since everything
> starts from the same book.
> For example, humans have a stat called Morality, ranges from 1 to 10
> and generally measures how sane/sociopathic your character is. When it
> drops below 6 you begin picking up derangements to represent the
> psychological impact on your life. When you make a human into a
> vampire, Morality changes to Humanity, which carries a few minor
> implications, but by and large works the same as Morality did.
> By the by, using the corebook by itself sets the stage perfectly for a
> cthulu-esque horror game with a troupe of humans slowly degenerating
> into madness as their Morality slips away.

Although Morality pushes in a different direction than CoC's Sanity
rules. Sanity degrades as your character experiences things, but
Morality only degrades as your character makes choices. Your PC won't
go insane from seeing an eldrich horror, but he might do so when he
decides that the best way to kill it is to dynamite the museum it's
hiding under and never mind the innocent bystanders killed in the blast.
--
Stephenls
Geek
"You do your arguments no favor by insulting those you ought persuade."
-Greg Stolze, Rites of the Dragon

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.whitewolf (More info?)

Stephenls wrote:
> Stephen Williams wrote:
>
>> Well, White Wolf has promised to ease up on the metaplot this time
>> around. Exactly what that means in terms of metaplot content, only
>> time will tell.
>
> See my post, above. To rephrase if you never got it...
>
> In theory, it means all the books are set at Time Zero, and the
> setting's timeline never advances; this means that while new aspects of
> the background may be revealed as time goes on and supplements are
> published, the setting never actually changes dynamically over time --
> if Miami by Night is published in 2007 and Bob the Daeva is Prince but
> his advisor Ted the Nosferatu is secretly plotting to overthrow him,
> then there will never be mention in another sourcebook that Ted has
> successfully overthrown Bob and plunged the city into chaos. Ted will
> be eternally plotting against Bob... at least until you run a game in
> Miami, in which case anything goes. The supplements are a snapshot in
> time, and the setting is static until the players and ST do something
> with it.
>
> So yeah, no metaplot.

See also: Exalted.
--
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Richard Clayton
"During wars laws are silent." -- Cicero