I’ll definitely be using awakening to run the mages in the background of our game but will be borrowing heavily from ascension with the technocracy and stuff concerning the deep umbra
Thoroughly enjoyed this episode. It provided context for some of the founding concepts and systems I’d otherwise be unaware of. The idea of mortal belief pushing back, beyond just paradox, was very interesting. I especially liked the idea of all the doors in a building locking in response to vulgar magic. Reality pushing back and acting like a pressure gage for players, the needle heading towards red. Adding an immediate obstacle to be resolved and a foreboding sense of danger building. The section on the awakened being responsible for the darkness in the world and how this forms grudges between factions felt like a great primer for new players. This is something that could fit on an index card and highlight why each faction is hostile towards the others. The explanation of Oracles and why a Mage may leave Earth were very useful as well. Lots to takeaway here and I do hope this ends up becoming a series of episodes.
An especially useful episode for storytellers, full of handy hints and tips. I found sections on pacing, planning vs improvisation and NPCs particularly helpful. From two storytellers of Mage who’ve run games for me, I know they’ve struggled with having a workable plot when your characters can literally do anything they can think of. With that in mind, this episode is a must for new Mage storytellers and a helpful exploration for anyone more experienced who’s run into difficulties on occasion.
started with 1e, bought the book last year but didn't get around to cracking into it last month. this video's helped put a lot of that lore into perspective, and i think i favor a lot of it over newer stuff. the creative ways for dealing with paradox spirits especially seems cool. not sure if my players are familiar with mage, but i know beyond a shadow of a doubt they aren't familiar with mage 1e. i'm looking forward to turning them on their heads with all this.
I ran a few 1e games when I got the POD of the book (Really wanted the core book of every edition). The thing that completely flabbergasted me system wise is that there seem to be no rules for Rituals or extended casting rolls. Which means that if your effect needs 4 successes and you have Arete 3, well, spent a WP and hope every die is a success! Add to that the rule that says that if you fail an effect the consensus has rejected that change and you cannot try it again that scene. Want to fly, but failed the roll? No more flying that scene! Mental! Was a fun iteration of the rules to run though...
They eventually come back big in the book Ascension as an optional plot line where they're at war with the Zigg to steal Avatars. Their mystery was surprisingly well done and I wonder how much more we could have gotten without spoiling it, but yeah, they're pretty great.
As someone who used to play a lot of Mage and is really curious about Mage the Awakening, it is hard to explain how useful and intersting your videos are. Thank you.
Some time in the future we'll be doing a several episode run on the antagonists, groups, neat places, and stuff of Awakening. Just not sure when. -Terry
You guys both mentioned 2077, but what I think you meant was Cyberpunk 2020 or RED, because that's what you were describing. 2077 isn't a tabletop, it's a video game. If you count Edgerunners, it's also an anime. Cyberpunk 2077 installed empathy into my cyberbrain and then turned it on for the first time. The scene with the doll for Automatic Love and the story of Joshua for the Sinnerman sidequest both absolutely changed my life beyond any reversal or repair. Edgerunners gave me the permanent sadness debuff alondside constant aoe psychic damage.
The way it was described to me was that the module we were using based on the video game as an expansion for the RED core game and the extension were billed as 2077. -Terry
I skipped the KS and am chewing on it as more times goes on. The price point is a bit much for what I think I'd get from it but maybe I'm undervaluing the artifact.
I like how the author mentions that if a player wants the cannibal flaw they should get their heads checked out… vampire was always the most popular line
I loved the talk about numbers and probability distributions, i is definitely the goofball friend of the protagonist who is actually useful, and I think one of my favourite probability distribution that I have not seen used in TTRPGS is the way DotA 2 uses pseudo-random distribution, where every time you don't get a crit (or a chance based special effect) you become more likely to get it, for example on the first swing the chance to crit is like 0.3% to crit, on the next swing its 1.5% then 3.2% etc, the effect is that it feels like the normal distribution but it's very unlikely that you never land a crit, and when you haven't landed one in a while it's like you've 'charged' it
Ive had this idea for my Mage chronicle that Night Folk are ironically apart of Consensus therefore they dont cause paradox. In this way for Technocrats hunting nightfolk is busy work not the top priproty. It also gives the technocracy an ideaological division as to what reality should look like.
Hard to answer because I'm very happy with M20 as it is. But for M5 I think Like @Forsparda, It might be good to access the magic(k) rules in the sames part of the book. But It'll be important to make sure that the game conserve it's freedom of options, wether it is in its magic(k) system or in its storytelling instruments: I hope that we won't have any moral system of conduct like humanity, or rage... But it's very important to devellope the relationship with avatar. But I have somehow the impression to not be in the majority when saying this, who knows this is maybe just an impression?
I think the relationship with the Avatar is all over the place at tables. It can range from "practically the Shadow from Wraith or Beast from Vampire" to "it's just the thing that lets me shoot out magick". Some development or even options there would help.
I would only change one of each. The setting change I would make is that Terry is no longer just a podcaster only, but a podcaster with creative direction at Paradox who has dictation over the coming media landscape for Mage. The system change I would make is that Terry would be given more power to storytell as he sees fit, thus making my setting change more applicable and appropriate. Cmon Paradox. Give this man a job.
@@terryrtalks as I remember, they're mages who are so traumatised by their Awakening, that they hunt down other mages. I found the Technocracy just not a great concept for some reason.
Easy, Id put all the rules together make them super simple to find all of them for any part, like all the rules for familiars and the drawbacks instead of being spread throughout the book they would all be condensed into one section, combat? everything you can do in combat all in one chapter clearly marked everything from init to weapons, no rules in sidebars or tables in the other end of the book, imagine all the rules for casting magic, the bonus's the drawbacks everything in one chapter simply called "The arte" no you dont have to hunt around all rules about magic are there and only there, skills, talents and knowledges clearly marked followed by any secondary's. I suppose what I'm saying is that I would just hire an editor that isn't psychotic
@@terryrtalks i have been dealing with wod editors since the 90s i am well done with their shenanigan's, after thats done we can talk about changing something crunchy or canon based
@@ObossRocks that answer doesn't feel very thought out, by that logic I could say "go watch an action-adventure movie if you want it that bad" or "go play a dark fantasy videogame if you want it that bad"
something about creating a sheet to track a romance feels very inorganic and weird, also if your writing an rp where your characters are fucking keep that to yourselves maybe
Wait, so is the implication that your arm was in a brace because the pre release mage copy broke it? Or because you broke it getting the pages all sticky?
Never going to be a fan of narrative game design. It's always putting the cart before the horse. We don't go fishing to get fishing stories, we go fishing to catch fish and sometimes a real organic story comes out of it. Likewise the conflation of storytelling and roleplaying will always be a blight on the hobby.
Not that ive had the chance to run (m)any games, but next time i do: im making everyone dress in full character costume and turning the tabletop on its head and making my players go outside for every game session. Y'all are going to touch grass and like it!
You guys seem to be failing to think holistically about the worlds you're exploring lately. Belief in angels is so far removed from the spirituality interwoven into most eastern cultures that they are not remotely comparable. Much of the eastern nations still believe in and practices ancient forms of magic, like: literally, in real life. Take one look at how well Japan has done as a nation since abandoning war and living peacefully with their nature through Shinto teachings. Being brainwashed by the Lie of superstition is not an awareness of the forces that shape Concensus, so it makes perfect sense actually that these cultural paradigms would operate on entirely different structural foundation.
I like to run the syndicate as having caught onto and purged Pentex influence from the convention. And now have just the biggest wounded pride induced *hateboner* for the corporation. To the degree that if they get a chance to hack away at the hydra. They’ll take it with gusto.
I gotta be real I got real confused I thought at first this was a podcast about being a legit mage and trying to ascend then you started talking about books and shit
No, for that you want Martin Faulks, Arcanvm and Esoterica, though you should look into the concept of 'shadow history' because for as dense as Mage players can sometimes be, their insights are far from useless. Every tiny gem of knowledge is one worth transmuting into your own artifice and praxi.
Given there was a lot of AD&D references, that got me thinking what if the Obyrith are the leftovers of Wyrm/entropy/Nephandi of WoD who sent their mental essence across the void between universes. creating the shard of ultimate evil and plunging the D&D multiverse into it's own slow death.
Scattered thoughts about the book: I do like the Hsien a lot, even though it's confusing how they're part of the Changeling line despite having nothing to do with Changelings in any way. I wish we had more detail about the Kiths (and a rabbit kith, so we could play moon rabbits) and what an average session looks like. The Yin and Yang worlds are a bit confusing too. Yin is just the Underworld, okay, gotcha. But the Yang world is the Middle Umbra *and* the Hight Umbra *and* the Dreaming all at once? And the Yomi hells are in between the Yin and Yang worlds? Too confusing. I rather like the fact the Hsien are firmly part of the Celestial Bureaucracy, reminds me of the Sidereal Exalted. I think one could tell a fun chronicle with the Hsien, Wu Lung and the Chinese mummies for example.
Yeah, the break out is odd and doesn't quite map to anything. It almost feels academic in terms of how hard it is to exist in the Otherworlds until you've refined yourself to some point and then you're not given much to do.
Most that I have ever learned about the Euthanatos , keep up the good work. They should make a TV series about this stuff , if done right it could be big
This was a very interesting and enlightening conversation. Thrice Great is aptly named...this is my literal 3rd time listening and I've already ordered the main book and an extra one to pique my interest. Cheers on your excellent interview and this is, though very niche, a fascinating subject. Cheers! To all Mages.....
