Around 17:00 your commentary made me giggle. As an Akashic Brotherhood that knew a sniper rifle was being leveled at him, I thought a bit, won the initiative, and held my action. Storyteller "What do you do?" "...I CATCH THE BULLET..." The room fell silent for a bit. Storyteller "OK, and just HOW do you do this?" Mind of 3, Forces of 2, Time of 1, and Do of 4. I know where he is aiming, I know how fast the bullet travels, and I know how long it will take to get here. 6 successes, vs his 2 -DAMN
GREAT point on "...This is NOT a game for power gamer's..." I've BEEN the same Akashic Brotherhood, Aikido adept for 14 years! And thank GOD for GREAT Storytellers! You are a RARE breed, and you have MY thanks ...where ever you are ;)
O h man i wish i had seen this video like 10 years ago when i used to RP lots. I loved the concept of Mage but lacked the maturity to fully comprehend it. You break it down really well for the 'layman' Definately subbed so i can check out your other videos.
This is one of the rare exceptions where it is more challenging to convey the setting than it is to learn the core rules. Although if you can pull it off, the results can be spectacular.
Awesome video full of great advice, I just picked up Mage20 from the Onyx Path giveaway and your advice has really helped with understanding the "groundwork" of the game is and can be. Thank you so much!
Mage20 was really good. I was actually part of the feedback team on that book. Had several long talks and review sessions with Phil regarding it. I thought it was well done. We are currently playing OWoD.
Thanks brother, I appreciate that coming from you. Yes, it is a great game but it isn't the easiest game to learn and I think you have to be way more restrictive one what the players can play to make the game work correctly.
Actually i would recommend that for any WoD run the first few sessions with your characters as humans, introduce them to each other, interpersonal relationships form as they experience the wirdness of the world of darkness. Then blammo, turns out your rich old uncle who got you all together is a Vampire. Or the old manshion you inherit is a node. This works for just about any WoD game except Wraith, which i never figured out how to make work anyways.
@23penguins32 oh, I have plenty of confidence they'll get it & do fine with it. But there are those growing pains. Another good thing with learning this system is it gives them something to push forward into other WOD games & adds a lot of depth that way. Also, a you mentioned this magic system can help you add flavor & detail to that of any other game. WOD in general has had a huge influence on my D&D games for example.
The awakening reminds me of the dialogue of "Vivec" in the Elderscrolls universe and a concepts in quantum mechanics. There is a lot a mage could get away with within the confines of the laws of physics and quantum mechanics. He/her she may "not" be able to do certain things, but to someone with sufficient scientific knowledge there is quite a bit that the universe can "do." For example, separating the oxygen from hydrogen in water, and ignite the hydrogen. Alter atoms/subatomic particles...
Very solid talk. In all the years I've run WoD, I've only run one Mage game, and it was more than a bit difficult. The point you touched on about the Traditions being at odds was a massive plot pusher in that game, and, unfortunately, wound up killing it. PC's just could not get along. I'd like to play in another Mage game. Only played in one once as well. Most people just aren't willing to give that system a shot. Honestly, I can't blame them, as I've only done it once myself. -Roy.
@ulkem yeah that is a problem if you are looking through the rotes that have just been come up with by people. I'd look for a complete list from the mage books. There are a few of those rotes that have been come up with by the mage writers that are a bit questionable though.
@Wintersverd It really come down to the massively flexiblity of the game. Also the politics in mage can be outstanding as long as you keep the amount of quintessence rather low, the players will start being shade to get all they can.
@23penguins32 I've actually used the mage system in D&D for a class I created, it worked pretty well; although, it took the player time to figure out what to do with it.
I've been asked to run Mage which won't likely be until 2014 but I'll likely have the co-creator of Mage playing in it, so that should be helpful towards what you're looking for. You are right though, it isn't an easy game. It is by far the most complex of the WoD line.
@ZeroBrutus I've yet to have the chance to play that one, but it did look interesting & I would be up for trying it. I'm a huge fan of Wraith the Oblivion.
@23penguins32 They have time period books for Mage; although, they change the game in a few ways that I didn't like in either case. He's told me they're having some problems. He's one of the people I put this together for, so I hope it is helpful for him.
@omaman92 Thanks, I'm listening to it now, the volume is fairly loud on this one. I can hear it, did you turn your volume all the way up? You might have a low volume on your comp. I don't know.
@ulkem That's weird that you weren't able to hear it. Yes, Mage is by far the most complicated of the WW games. It is highly open ended. You really need to understand how it works, paradox, the spheres, combining the spheres, really there is a lot to learn. Then you have to start learning the horizon realms and other worlds. You might be able to find a rote list online but they don't have one in any book. There are lots of Mage books that have rotes in them, they are scattered.
Oh man - you love your Mage: The Ascension! Hey, maybe you forgot to mention Mage: The Ascension! It seems that Mage: The Ascension ascends your every expectation! ASCENSION! MAGE!
@boltorange Well, all games really depend on the GM. But Mage offers the ability to combine every sort of game into one game in a seamless fashion, no other game I know does that. It also has the dark gritty feel of WOD & a high concentration on rp, it was one of the games that revolutionized the hobby.
Ah; thanks for the video, this seems to be helpful. Thank you a lot. I am curious how would you run an awaking scenes? also what do you think of sorcerer's crusade?
I wonder why there and little to no videos on the awakening.... I'm kind of trying to use this for nwod Mage since it doesn't seem many touch base on it. Cool vid ^^
@ulkem hmm, that's odd. Take a look at my most recent vid & let me know if you found the sound there low too. Obviously, I want to address this, thanks.
@PaulSimardPsy Mage is a very interesting game. I hope you have a chance to run or play it at some point. It has very different challenges from Vampire or Wraith.
It is a complicated game so it is best if you start with low amounts of spheres and slowly build. They start you with too much. You can really make an extremely powerful character at creation which can overwhelm a starting player.
I am not a big fan of the metaplot, I like some of the rules in Revised but for me I actually pick some rules from all three of the editions and mix and match as I see fit.
I do play Mage (actually I'm a consultant for Mage20), besides that I do play other WoD games. There is a VtM game posted on YT where I play with the creator of VtM. There is also a WtA live play game posted on YT where I play a werewolf. I really like VtM and WtO (though I haven't been able to play Wraith in a long time- love the game though). I really dislike CtD (then again - it seems most people do).
@LordSathar I love Wraith. I need to put some Wraith videos up. I'm not really a big fan of the players knowing each other as humans. I like to start them as humans but do the game one on one. Then move to the supernatural phase where I introduce the characters.
@Murmig I played the NWOD Mage The Awakening. It was okay, I think Ascension is much better though. I think overall NWOD isn't as good but it is still an enjoyable system.
I liked the metaplots in and of themselves as story ideas, what I did not like was that it was a metaplot, if the storyline was presented in a story supplement it would be great, it was shaping the entire setting around it that I am against.
@23penguins32 just getting all their heads around the way magic works in the game. It really isn't an easy thing & the biggest flaw, yet also a strength in some ways of the system.
@boltorange Yes, VTM was the keystone game but it is all part of the same. No what GURPs does is totally different. What Mage does is you can play the mage game with politics, horror, mystism, & the real world, then go to a realm in the umbra that is something straight out of a D&D, cyberpunk, or even cartoon game. The reason it works well is that the transition are not artificial, they feel real. It is a hard game but if you work & learn it, it tells excellent stories.
we will be streaming a Mumble playthrough of Mage on my twitch channel (my first mage game) if it's funny enough i might even upload it to RU-vid ^^ /origamioctopus on twitch. the character creation is allready there!
I'm at least passing familiar with all oWoD and nWoD worlds, and I'm very familiar with both Vampire settings. That said, I love these reviews of settings I've only touched the surface of. Mage always seemed like one of their best. A few questions: 1) Why are werewolves always dicks? 2) Are traditionless mages analogous to Caitiff? 3) Is the Technocracy the Mage's Sabbat? (Shadowy unbeatable organization) 4) What's the "generation" stat? Ritae? How similar to generation is it?
Mage the Ascension will be releasing a Mage 20 later this year. You should get that, it looks like it'll be a really solid game. I know this as I've done some consulting for the author of it. But if you want to use this info for another mage game please do. Never allow any cannon info to limit good ideas.
A question: How would you handle vampire and werewolf without disciplines and without gifts? Maybe with something a little more like mage's magic system? Like skills or attributes or abilities?
@woodwwad Man, I've been thinking of getting myself Mage: The Ascension, along with the New WoD counterpart, although I wonder if you've got any love for the new - don't know much about it! Anyhow, I adore the Old WoD lore and factions, so I hope me getting this book'll ignite that furnace of inspiration that've been shut down for some time.
Just out of curiosity, you mentioned that a starting character could have a Sphere of 3. Is this only in the revised edition? I'm using 2nd unrevised, and it looks like a base character could only have two points in a Sphere right off the bat. (given 15 freebie points, you would need to spend four for another Arete, then 7 for the Sphere).
@falloutmnky Ah, very cool. You are trying to ST Werewolf? I would think it is the easiest of the WOD games to run, it is a lot like D&D. The spiritual aspect of the game is very interesting & werewolf is a good game to learn to give you a base for the umbra which transfers over nicely to Mage. Mage & Wraith are the two really difficult games in the line but for different reasons. Both wonderful games.
Awakening doesn't really include the actual methods by which a character invokes their Magick (without a k in Awakening), any Mage in Awakening can just wiggle their fingers, it's not important how or why they think they can do it, just that they are. In Ascension, the how, the why, is extremely important and characterizes a mage.
@Wintersverd It is excellent, unfortunately a lot of what made the game great made it too hard for some to get their heads around, reflecting the less than amazing sales.
Yeah, but it also seems to gut the heart of Mage, that anything can be Magick. Faith, science, theurgy, hermetic arts, martial arts, controlled drug use, and ancient spirits are all means of evoking the power of will. As far as I know, mage the awakening has magic being an art on its own, not the highest extension of ways of thought.
Having arrived from The Awakening, it feels so.... Sterilized, in comparison. Yeah, you can flavor whatever you're doing, but it's not important to the game, whereas in Ascension, it's extremely important. It helps you know what you can and can't do, it characterizes the mage, and it just... It's beautiful.
Man, even tough all this is interesting and I really want to learn about the mage, 30 minutes is a long video man. But yeah this was very interesting, ecspecially since I'm mainly a white-wolf player but have never played mage.
Mage sounds like a cool game to play, but it also sounds very complex to learn for both GMs and players. Is there a way you could give an example of gameplay?
@woodwwad I think you can't hear with laptop, minitop and stuff like that. I can't hear you as well because I'm on laptop lately. Since the day you uploaded this video I've been trying to watch but I can't. When I get my hands on a normal, regular, beautiful pc I think I will hear loud and clear.
If you meaning using an open system like mage's for powers, I wouldn't do that with vtm or wta, I think a static progression is far better for each of those games.
@hammeredshitsteak well, it really isn't possible to explain how to run a game in a 5 minute long video. I've gotten a lot of requests for this vid & it is only 29:42 ;)
@boltorange I think a lot of people have a reaction similar to what you are describing. They can really be hard to get your head around & the system just a fairly poor job explaining it but if you can get your mind around them, it opens doors in gaming like no other game.
Well.. I'm on my pc now I can finally watch the video with a very good sound. I've been reading corebook of the mage and.. It's awesome and all. But being new, I don't want to GM any game. I can do wrong, it's very complicated even for mature minds. If I start to play right now, it can develop exp for me but if I know something wrong it'll be harder to fix in future. Do you know any official book that shows rotes of traditions?. Not like example but a list. Just for rotes or how they can be done
@herkles1 I did not like Sorcerer's Crusade or Mage Dark Ages at all, they monkeyed with mechanics in a way that made you have to relearn everything & it seemed like a much poorer system to me. I would just use the current mage book to run it with lighter paradox & rename a few of the trads. I think I'll have to put an awaking scene in the list of request vids. It would be way to hard to try to explain in a post.
Well, it's the way you say it. A thug or a mobster? A daemon would be something hated and infernal while a spirit would seem a little more... "noble" or "elegant" and maybe, just maybe positive.
I have master many game in WoD (vampire,werewolf, wraith, changeling, mommy, kindred of the east), but SADELY i never fond a player how prouve to be abel to play a Mage. Sad
Well there is certainly nothing wrong with that. Yes, the mage metaplot was pretty bad. A lot of the white wolf metaplots were bad honestly; however, all the of the lines have a few bright spots here and there metaplot wise.
@woodwwad I looked up on the internet and found some sites but they are not really appropriate to the logic of the mage and %90 of them are vulgar. I note down every rote I come across with. I'm good with the spheres and combinations and tapestry. Researching about the other worlds right now. When I'm done with it I'll go look up for other tradition books.
I'm guessing you're trying to use the D&D definition? The word was highly corrupted in that usage. The word daemon simply means nature spirit and is actually usually used in referring to "good" spirits of a non human origin, especially nature spirits. So they would be exactly the type of spirits that werewolves associate with.
I see. I LOVE the mage and vampire and will easily modify them to fit my world, but, werewolf (actually, only the gifts) feels very unnaturally to me. I handle disciplines as powers vampires get from daemons, they can create their own and make lv. 6+ and combo disciplines. Werewolf gifts just don't have the same appeal to me.
@Onionkid99 Werewolves are dicks because the rage inside them, even 1 dot, causes them to be less in control of themselves than the most roided out person you could imagine. + they are just dicks, see Githyanki. 2. Yes, they are in fact both in the Outcasts book. 3. No, The Tech is the most powerful force in the WOD, they are the servants of the Weaver & they win. 4 arete, it's more like level in D&D, or level of spells you can cast, than generation but that's the closest stat
