The Story Thus Far

Breakin' the law, breakin' the law

2005-04-20T01:41:19Z

Ok, for those without regular access to the Mage corebook (I think it's only Dave and Brian, right?), I have attempted to provide an all-text pdf of it. I hope the link works; leave a comment if it doesn't.

Here goes nothing.

I'm preparing a "Getting to know your NPCs" document for you all, but here's a question: I intend to fast-forward through the week your characters spend arranging cover stories for the trip to Egypt and training with Jack (and generally getting to know your HQ). Since the Mage system is to wide-open, would you prefer to spend the next session playing one of your group training exercises, that you might better get to know what you can do and how you can do it, or would you rather just jump right in? I'm fine with either, just let me know.

Intro to the intro

2005-04-13T04:36:40Z

I don't want to assume you know more than you do about Mage, so I'll define some necessary vocabulary. If you've ever read the Mage book, skip to the paragraph that begins "In the chronology of the game".

Your character has an awakened Avatar, which is what allows him/her to alter the fabric of reality (work magic). Each Tradition-- for that matter, each mage-- has its own idea of what the Avatar actually is. Is it a fraction of an ancient and cosmically powerful being, a shattered bit of a god's soul that has attached itself to yours? Is it simply part of your psyche? Is it unique (inborn) to mages, or do all humans have an Avatar, only most don't realize it? Is it a psychic parasite? Does it even exist, or is it just a normal part of the brain that is inactive in most people? If so, perhaps the concept of "Avatar" simply a construct to allow the mage to understand something s/he can't explain. Regardless of what your mage believes, the fact remains: magic is real, you can do it, and the thing that separates those who can work magic and those who can't is called an Avatar.

At some point, your mage came to understand that Reality is spelled with a lower-case "r", that the immutable laws of the universe aren't all that absolute. You can change things, if you want. This is called an Awakening, and all of you have had one. Your Awakening was the exact moment you realized you stepped outside of the normal world, and you can't go back. Think the White Room scene in The Matrix. That's everything your character knew until just over one year ago.

In the chronology of the game, it is March 2, 2005. Approximately one year prior, you were approached by a representative from the Tradition to which you now belong and began your basic training as a mage. These are the only conditions of your character history that I will decide. You can invent the rest, but I need to know as much about your character as you do. Things to consider:

-What were the circumstances of your Awakening? Was it a Buddha-nature moment of enlightenment while contemplating a stone? Did it happen during sex? Maybe you got just a little bit higher than you usually do. Maybe another mage "activated" you. Maybe you were just sitting on the subway. Again, it's up to you, but I need to know.
-Where are you from? You can be from any country, have any ethnicity. Mages come from everywhere.
-Your character cannot have been born before 1971.
-What is your relationship with your Tradition? Were you initially approached by a Virtual Adept, only to realize that you'd be more at home with the Sons of Ether (unlikely, but possible)? Do the V-As still give you the cold shoulder?
-As you as you joined the ranks of your Tradition, you chose (or were assigned) an alias, complete with social security number (or whatever countries that aren't America use), passport, home, etc.
-You need to have a focus for each Sphere you can use. It could be anything from a pair of goggles to a shark-tooth necklace to a kata to shouting "abracadabra!" and waving your hands (note: using that last one will get you constant mockery and scorn). Think about what kinds of foci would be appropriate for your character.

This is far from an exhaustive list. That's it for now. More to follow. First basic intro session today (wednesday) at Matt's, 7.30 PM.

Welcome

2005-04-10T04:45:44Z

I intend to use this journal as a repository for information which you might feel necessary or helpful during the course of the game.

For example, go here for a possibly-helpful rundown of the 9 Traditions. The page you'll be sent to is for the Akashic Brotherhood, only because they are alphabetically the first. The left sidebar has links to the other 8, as well as tons of other shit that you don't need. A few words of warning: read only the fluff. I am drastically altering the Mage system for our game, and everything mechanics-related you might find on these 9 pages will almost surely be false. However, the site still gives a good rundown of each Tradition's motivations, how it perceives and practices magic (no "k", 'cause "k"s are for fags), and how it relates to the rest of the Nine. Also, the descriptions might give you ideas for Rotes; by all means, use them if you like them, but I have to approve it first (to avoid what Matt fearfully calls "Lawn Chair Syndrome"). Chances are I'll have to work with you to tweak it, but since Mage is a game about inventing possibilities, I'm always open to new ideas.

I'll be posting some background information as to the setting and story later, but I want to mention this disclaimer immediately: we are not playing in the World of Darkness. Just typing that name makes me want to find someone wearing a black trench coat and beat the fuck out of him (note: videotape of you beating the fuck out of a trench-coat-wearing, military-booted, long-black-dyed-hair-hanging-over-greasy-faced, i-listen-to-the-used-and-i-think-that-makes-me-cool Spookyspooky-Darkdark will get you great rewards).

However, we are also not necessarily playing in the modern world as we know it. It's almost exactly like this one, only a little more brutal. Think Baz Luhrman's Romeo and Juliet, film noir or any Quentin Tarantino flick: violence is the norm, brutality almost expected. In the cities, the cops are either on the take or too afraid of retribution (both within the force and without) to really serve and protect, unless something really, really big happens. It's generally assumed in New York (where the game starts) that if the police actually bothered (and risked) apprehending someone, they must have done something terrible. Anything less is generally ignored by the city at large (or taken care of by the neighborhood). Basically, imagine if, after September 11th, America became even more of a surveillance state, only instead of everyone being idiotically concerned about every little crime, they instead became so obsessed with the larger catastrophe looming just over the horizon, they ignore the smaller everyday acts of inhumanity. It's modern day, but slightly meaner.

It is not gothic-punk. Not everything is suffused with empty religious symbology. No-one wears spiked bracers. Mostly importantly, I won't be taking myself too seriously, and neither should you. This is more Fight Club, less Dark City.

I hope to have Brian, Dani, and Matt together to do character creation on Wednesday, preferably at 6.30 or so, preferably at Matt's (I'll ask you in person at Spelljammer, Matt). I can take care of Dave at another time, assuming he ever spends a night not gaming. Bring a bunch of d10, since i've only got a few to go around, and have an idea of who you'd like to play (gender/nationality/personality, not Tradition/Spheres). I'll have hardcopies of the character creation rules on Wednesday, and I plan on putting them up here by Monday night. I hope to have basic background story up after Spelljammer on Sunday. Let's see if any of that actually happens.