Eight years after Ascension , convention books NWO , Progenitors , Syndicate , and Void Engineers completed the splatbooks of Revised. Developer Ryan Macklin talks their origins, themes, and Katanas and Trenchcoats . Ryan Macklin's webpage The Forge archives - a popular 2000s RPG forum Fate - Complete system SRD Primetime adventures - TV emulation RPG Cortex Plus - RPG system powering Smallville Dresden files RPG Michelson and Morley Mythender Katanas and Trenchcoats - An RPG love letter to the ...
Jan 15, 2022•59 min•Season 3Ep. 185
Terror lurks beyond the Gauntlet . Threat Null will co-opt any agent who's been Processed leaving the Void Engineers as earth's sole defense. Adam and Terry talk time travel, guns, spaceships, and guns for spaceships. Convention Book: Void Engineers - This book Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition Quickstart - Next book Action Scientist shirt - Enlist today. Max Tegmark's levels of the multiverse - A theory that posits mathematical objects as quite real. Usurper of the Sun - Manga Adam m...
Jan 08, 2022•1 hr 44 min•Season 3Ep. 184
Mikaela Sims , ST of As Above, So Below shares advice on improving actual plays and hopes for the World of Darkness streaming community then Terry and Josh answer listener questions in a year end Q&A. Onward to 2022! Mikaela Sims Twitch stream - Where the show is being streamed As Above, So Below episode 01 - Where it starts Ko-fi for the Stream - Chip in if you'd like the participants to get scale pay Books Josh and I mention: Chronicle Builder's Guide for Vampire: The Masquerade - Recent b...
Jan 01, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Season 3Ep. 183
The Syndicate tried to fund the Union to success but the Financial Crisis crashed the Cash-or-Credit Convention . Adam and Terry talk Primal Utility , the current board, and Technocracy civil war in Convention Book: Syndicate . Hypereconomics and Primal Utility with Victor Kinzer - Episode talking hypereconomics Convention Book: Syndicate - This book Convention Book: Void Engineers - THE LAST ONE...
Dec 25, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 3Ep. 181
Mage is full of conspiracies but what about hypercompetent assassins for hire? Monica Speca joins to explain how to add assassins and assassin societies to the World of Darkness from Trinity Continuum: Assassin Trinity Continuum: Assassin - The book we're talking about Trinity Continuum Core - Core book for Trinity Continuum Crazy 88 (Youtube Clip) - Killer society from Kill Bill Leverage (TV Series) - TV show that inspired flashbacks in a number of games The Warriors (Video game based on a movi...
Dec 18, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 3Ep. 180
The Progenitors grab at a perfect deathless future but with great moral peril. As the Ethics Council replaces the Administration, Adam and Terry talk action scientists and hyperintelligent whales in Convention Book: Progenitors . If you’re listening to this before December 21st, applications are still open for the Jackalope Live Action Roleplaying event Mage Noir set to happen in Austin, Texas, the weekend of April 2nd. It’s a LARP game set in the 1950s, and I’ll be there as a sage bartender...p...
Dec 11, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Season 3Ep. 179
Four guests! Charles Siegel talks about adding sorcerers to M20, the Hermetic Hipster talks new Tradition Backgrounds, TL Webb talks mages in Texas, and Thrice Great introduces a persistent text Mage game you can go join . Strange Yesterdays - My book on alternatives to the Revised metaplot Liberation Mush - An online persistent text game you can join Mush Clients - Software required to play Liberation Wiki - A great introduction to Mage and the world of the Liberation MUSH Hermetic Hipster - Yo...
Dec 04, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Season 3Ep. 178
Ascension may have come but we have Conventions to update and Convention Book: N.W.O. is the first of the early 2010s books under CCP Games . Adam and Terry talk the Data Sphere , the Greylocke Incident, and ATLAS units for the N.W.O. . Show Notes Convention Book: N.W.O. - This book Convention Book: Progenitors - Next book...
Nov 27, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 3Ep. 177
Mage the Ascension contains all sorts of magickal books , but how do magic texts in our world go from unearthed to on a bookshelf? Translator and RPG writer, Brian Johnson talks paradigms, spells, and library adventures. Brian's freelancer webpage Forged by Dragon's Fire - Book containing books Brian's References : Sophie Page has studied a whole collection of magical texts from the 14th-century library of St. Augustine's abbey, Canterbury; her PhD thesis on the topic is here (access with free r...
Nov 20, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 176
All things come to an end but Mage and Ascension , the last Mage book for eight years, provides five such endings. Adam and Terry talk the death of Senex , the return of al-Aswad , asteroid impacts and the Zigg'raugglurr . This book: Ascension The next book: Convention Book: N.W.O. World of Darkness: Time of Judgment : The book that provided end time scenarios for the other lines Note! Our current plan is to read the four Revised Convention books then review Sorcerers Crusade before reading M20...
Nov 13, 2021•1 hr 53 min•Season 1Ep. 175
The Rich Bastard's Guide to Magick adds magick for movers and shakers and two of the authors join us! Lauren Roy as developer and Josh Heath as author talk hypercars, Porthos ' grimoire and rich-ass Templars . Get the book Lauren M Roy 's other books...
Nov 06, 2021•45 min•Season 3Ep. 174
Terry ran a Mage one shot for some players with mostly D20 prior experience. The session highlights the power and morality of what a mage does in the hands of new players. Mage 1-page per Sphere references by Mark Hope - You likely need to be a member of the FB group to grab them. The Nine Spheres by Charles Siegel - A more expansive coverage of the Spheres Support the show on Patreon...
Nov 05, 2021•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 4
The Mage: The Ascension Revised take on the Virtual Adepts mixes fashion, modernity, and a bit of 1e kookiness in with the last published Tradition Book . Adam and Terry talk the Turing virus, the Tesla vaccine, and mid-2000s clothing choices. Show Notes This book: Tradition Book: Virtual Adepts Next book: Ascension...
Oct 30, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Season 3Ep. 173
The Technocracy is a staple of the Mage canon but it brings along with it assumptions on how science works. Victor and Terry discuss Occupy Horizon, crowd effects, and six new technomagick Crafts . Executive producers! Check the Patreon or the Discord to vote on which group should receive a write up. Poll runs through November 15th. Shadowbound - Victor's Wraith project...
Oct 23, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Season 3Ep. 172
The Verbena Circle introduced in the 90s is now grown and tackles the contemporary problems of some very old practices. Adam and Terry talk deadly healing, the limits of Merlin, and the Paths of the Wyck in Tradition Book: Verbena . Tradition Book: Verbena - This book Tradition Book: Virtual Adepts - Next book...
Oct 16, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 3Ep. 171
Jason Pitre is a writer and developer whose games often focus on beliefs and the fight to change them which really sounds like Mage. Jason is also a big Mage fan and talks how to adapt his work for your table. Genesis of Legend Publishing - Jason's firm RPG Design Panelcast - A podcast Jason rights on game design M5 Hack - From our Patrick McNamara interview plus what Terry put together. Jason's Game Spark Roleplaying - a game of shifting beliefs Spark Roleplaying on DrivethruRPG After the War o...
Oct 09, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 3Ep. 170
Seeking to reverse the Curse of Caine , vampires say "dare we spit in God 's eye?" while mages grab a hose and say "hold my beer". Adam and Terry talk forbidden texts, Cold War Technocracy , and so many NPCs in The Red Sign . The Red Sign - This book The Yellow King RPG - A Pelgrane Press book including four time periods The King in Yellow - The short story collection containing the stories that contains references to the play....the King in Yellow...
Oct 02, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Season 3Ep. 169
Chaos magic seeks to boil ritual to its essence and change the world while discarding the baggage of previous movements but how to add it to a Mage game? Yui joins to talk egregores , servitors, sigils, and Speed posters. Penny Dreadful Mage Novel Grant Morrison on Sigil Creation - Note, this video starts with him literally screaming Liber Null & Psychonaut: An Introduction to Chaos Magic - One of the popular texts on chaos magic. Condensed Chaos - Phil Hines' chaos magic book Yui on Twitter...
Sep 25, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Season 3Ep. 168
Tradition Book: Sons of Ether gives a sneak peak of what the end times in the World of Darkness could be but first it shares much more. Adam and Terry talk Ethics Councils , missing archmasters , and some crackpot science . Next: Tradition Book Verbena Flash Gordon - On The Planet Mongo - Titan Books The Shadow Out of Time by HP Lovecraft Some Thomas Dolby She Blinded Me With Science Flying North I Live In A Suitcase Windpower One of Our Submarines...
Sep 18, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Season 3Ep. 167
Mage can often provide surreal moments but how do you run a game with the surreal baked in without breaking everything? Chazz and Terry talk surrealism in Mage, references, and things to steal from Invisible Sun. Invisible Sun Preview - A free preview of the game Invisible Sun - The whole game Itras By - A surreal game in a strange town Dreamhounds of Paris - Game of surrealists discovering the dreamlands Lacuna - Surrealism of strange agents fighting things they don't quite understand Teratolog...
Sep 11, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 3Ep. 166
Wonders trace back to 1e but in Forged by Dragon's Fire they are completely fleshed out. Adam and Terry talk Wonders Artifacts, Inventions, Talismans , Devices, Periapts , Matrices, Fetishes , Grimoires , Principiae, and Familiars . Books Technomancer's Toybox - 2e Technomancer book Mage Storytellers Companion - Previous book on new Wonders M20 Gods and Monsters - Big book of familiars Forged by Dragon's Fire - This book Tradition Book: Sons of Ether - Next book...
Sep 04, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Season 3Ep. 165
Patrick McNamara ran a Mage hack based on Vampire the Masquerade 5th edition for Club Penny Arcade and shares his tweaks, hacks, ideas, and what it's like running Mage the Ascension for one of the most widely known groups in tabletop play. Key Books: Vampire the Masquerade 5th edition - Foundation of the system Mage the Awakening 2nd edition - Foundation for Reach used to determine Paradox dice M20 Quickstart - a pretty good run-down of the M20 rules Animal House Podcast Animal House Video Anima...
Aug 28, 2021•53 min•Season 3Ep. 164
The Order has lost Doissetep , waged a questionable war against vampires and lost many masters but the Hermetics are far from defeated. Adam and Terry talk new houses, new praxes, new rotes, and new chantries in Tradition Book: Order of Hermes . Things mentioned! Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica - Rare book library The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast - A podcast that covers much of the corpus hermeticum Embassy of the Mind - Hermetic documents Books! Tradition Book: Order of Herm...
Aug 21, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Season 3Ep. 163
Sleepers wildly outnumber the Awakened but a few know something about the supernatural and use it to their own ends. Josh and Terry talk the Orpheus Group, Pentex, the NSA, and the Arcanum, what they know, and how to use them. Sources: Pentex W20 Book of the Wyrm W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook Subsidiaries: A Guide to Pentex Arcanum Mage Chronicles 2 - Includes both Halls of the Arcanum and Ascension's Right Hand Halls of the Arcanum The Orpheus Group Orpheus: End Game - Lots of inf...
Aug 14, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 3Ep. 162
The Umbra contains mysteries and wonders enticing to mages seeking wisdom and power. But how to navigate the Otherworlds and secure their boons? Infinite Tapestry answers this in spades and Adam and Terry talk patrons, realms and planets. Books mentioned: Infinite Tapestry - This book Beyond the Barriers: The Book of Worlds - Previous Umbra book for mage W20 Umbra: The Velvet Shadow - Werewolf book that outlines the Middle Umbra...
Aug 07, 2021•1 hr 35 min•Season 3Ep. 161
Mage has many strange places and the Umbra doubly so but how can we use them in games? Charles and Terry talk Autochthonia , The Fortress of Government , The Far Shores , and the Copernicus Research Station Books mentioned: Beyond the Barriers, the Book of Worlds - The first book about the Umbra Infinite Tapestry - Revised book about the Umbra...
Jul 31, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 3Ep. 160
Dead Magic II tells of magicks rare or hidden but not yet gone, some ignored by the major players, and some that lay in wait. Adam and Terry talk rune magick, the Dreamtime, lightning divination, tikis, and of course the Salmon of Wisdom. Dead Magic II: Secrets and Survivors - This book Licensed Mage Tarot deck - Reasonably priced version of the Mage tarot for less than the infinity dollars of the 90s one. Tarot Art Pack - Just the pictures, free! Tarot Sleeves - Sleeves for tarot cards Storytel...
Jul 24, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 3Ep. 159
Mage is a big setting with big questions and M20 provides a set of Future Fates to help a Storyteller build their setting, but how do you use them? Victor and Terry walk through the options presented and share their experience building Mage worlds. Books discussed: Ascension's Landscape - Terry's Storyteller Vault title on the topic. Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary - Contains all the Future Fates...
Jul 17, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Season 3Ep. 158
With Fallen Tower: Las Vegas , Revised brings the total number of Mage city books....to one! Vegas is a city where money and magick flow freely and Adam and Terry talk questionable Nodes, neat rotes, and an Awakened mime. This book - Fallen Tower: Las Vegas Next book - Dead Magic II: Secrets and Survivors Above Las Vegas Support us on Patreon...
Jul 10, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Season 3Ep. 157
Kathy Ryan was on the Mage train since almost the beginning and she shares her experiences adding Amanda and Senex, shifting the Marauders and the Nephandi, and some of her notes for what her M20 metaplot would have been. The Show Our Patreon! Rich Bastard's Guide to Magick - Preorder for M20 high power book Books mentioned Book of Worlds - Book where we get information about Amanda's Avatar and the twice-born. Swords of Faith - The compilation of the Euthanatoi, Celestial Chorus, and Akashayana...
Jul 03, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Season 3Ep. 156
