I have been a sucker for Mage: The Awakening since the 2000s. Its setting, cosmology (e.g. the five Paths and Supernal Realms), factions (particularly the Seers as antagonists), and magic (the ten Arcana) appeal to me far more than Ascension's.However, I am not a fan of its mechanics, whether 1e or 2e.I have tried GMing some fan-made conversions, such as an Urban Shadows (PbtA) hack, and a Fate Core/Accelerated hack. They were... okay, though the Arcana felt a little same-y (as expected from a rules-lite narrative conversion, for good or for ill). For example, both times, there were few ways of capturing how the Fate Arcanum is a jack-of-all-trades that can do a little bit of anything (especially mundane actions), but nowhere as effectively as other Arcana in their specialty.Earlier, I was in the mood to run Mage: The Awakening 2e again. I wanted to run a comprehensive, premade adventure; the only one available was The Lost Athanaeum [sic], a dungeon crawl. Despite me being a great fan of grid-based tactical combat games such as D&D 4e, Path/Starfinder 2e, Draw Steel, and indie titles such as Tom Abbadon's ICON and level2janitor's Tactiquest (and some non-grid-based yet still reasonably tactical games, like 13th Age 2e), dungeon crawls have simply never appealed to me. I do not like dungeon crawling, whether as player or as GM. Still, The Lost Athanaeum seemed interesting enough, and I wanted to broaden my horizons.I gathered two players, whom I knew reasonably well (and whose experience lies mostly in crunch-oriented, mechanics-heavy game), and ran The Lost Athanaeum. I had the privilege of speaking to the author of the adventure every step of the way, constantly gaining clarifications on how various rooms and contrivances were "supposed" to work; it was very helpful, and I am grateful to the author.Unfortunately, I bailed out halfway through.(Continued.)
Mage: The Awakening 2e feels too mechanically broken for to me to run. It is not broken in the sense that players can get ultra-creative and enact all sorts of wacky hijinks with magic (though certainly, that can happen). To me, it is broken in the sense that players can buff themselves with boring "Do things better" spells and brute-force challenges with bloated, rote action, 8-again dice pools and endless stacks of beneficial Conditions: which is the most banal way in which PCs can be broken! The spell control and spell relinquishment rules are useless when replenishing Willpower is trivial, and when there are many ways to end a spell before it can be a problem.I was already outright banning the more egregious "Do things better" spells, like Fate's Exceptional Luck and the Reach options of Serendipity. (I was also banning Shifting Sands, because time travel is a headache.) Even then, the game still felt more like generic superhumans infallibly brute-forcing their way through every task, rather than wizards creatively warping reality to solve problems in novel ways.The Lost Athanaeum is serviceable. It is long, at 103 pages. Despite this length, it is not written in the manner of, say, a D&D 4e or 5e or Path/Starfinder 2e adventure, in the sense that it is very "Some assembly required." The Storyteller frequently has to make calls on how to mechanically resolve a given course of action, and often has to decide on appropriate opposition themselves. The adventure feels like it is intended to be run by someone who is simultaneously: (1) highly experienced with running Mage: The Awakening 2e, (2) highly experienced with running dungeon crawls, and (3) readily able to make rules calls and improvise appropriate opposition. It is tough.One irksome bit of the adventure is that it frequently instructs the Storyteller to punish the PCs for "cheating," but seldom ever defines what "cheating" is for mages.What are your thoughts on Mage: The Awakening 2e?
Oh hey Edna, been a while. How are you doing? Still enjoying Eberron and anime-Planescape?
>>98089673Eberron, yes, I still run. Planescape, less so.
>>98089100Skill issue. The game isn't for you. You're just not a creative, intelligent, or imaginative enough person to play, let alone run mage, if all you can think of is brute-force solutions to problems.>factions (particularly the Seers as antagonists)That's exactly who would blame basketball for being unable to make a jumpshot. Figures you'd like them. That and all the angel crap.Thanks for bumping a 40k thread off.
>>98090539You're rude. And weird.
>>98089088Edna, it never ceases to boggle my mind that you get so involved in games that you obviously not only hate the style of, but are actively incapable of playing/running because of whatever you're neurodivergence is. Any time you talk about anything that isn't a very, very strictly controlled game, its apparent that you don't understand it and you aren't having fun.I guess it's a somewhat noble character trait that you're so willing to try different things, but you are utterly incapable of dealing in the abstract, and anything that requires any kind of large scale dm fiat sends you into a tizzy. Why do you keep doing that to yourself?
>>98096610This. I don't know what compels them, but it's been a consistent feature in the Chronicles of Darkness space (especially Play by Post) since pre-covid.I don't think it's hostile or mean-spirited on their end, but after so many failed attempts, why keep trying when you have such a backlog of proof that what you're doing isn't working? Why not change your approach?
>>98089100I have never seen a useful module for any White Wolf game (or their Onyx Path successors) and would reflexively disbelieve that someone could make one for Mage (any edition/line). My condolences to you for struggling with them.That said, I do wonder how much of the issue comes from Storytelling approach (banning common spells would suggest you are uncomfortable with the game as intended), Awakening's metaphysics (the Atlantean paradigm leaves little room for gaps and flaws in a mage's repertoire), and player buy-in (since good players tend to be less boring).
>>98096610>Why do you keep doing that to yourself?More like why do you keep replying to TouhoufagHe's been doing the same thing for two decades
>>98097507See you when this thread reaches page 10 my friend.
>>98096610>its apparent that you don't understand it and you aren't having funI think if they actually weren't having fun they would stop doing it. We must imagine Sisyphus happy.
>>98089100>Even then, the game still felt more like generic superhumans infallibly brute-forcing their way through every task
>>98096903>banning common spells would suggest you are uncomfortable with the game as intendedto be fair, often what's written in a book has little to do with what the writers (who usually play with their personal version of the rules) intend
>>98096610>>98096903I really, really, really like the setting, cosmology (e.g. the five Paths and Supernal Realms), factions (particularly the Seers as antagonists), and magic (the ten Arcana) of Mage: The Awakening. I have been fascinated with it since the 2000s.Unfortunately, no system I have tried has managed to capture it in a way that satisfies me, and I have already tried out PbtA- and Fate-based alternatives.>banning common spells would suggest you are uncomfortable with the game as intendedYes, I am uncomfortable with the game as intended. I find the Fate Arcanum to be the most egregious of them all, followed by the Time Arcanum.>Awakening's metaphysics (the Atlantean paradigm leaves little room for gaps and flaws in a mage's repertoire)I do not have an issue with the five Paths, Legacies, and so on. I do have many, many problems with the core spellcasting mechanics, such as the way the spell control and spell relinquishment rules utterly fail to act as a safeguard against layering on dozens of buffs.
>>98089088Mona is so cute.
It feels weird anyone would write a dungeon crawl for a WoD game anyway desu.
>>98097900Holy shit I haven't seen this Pilipino in years...
>>98096903>(banning common spells would suggest you are uncomfortable with the game as intended)Just being real, is there any actual WoD game where out-of-the-box you SHOULD be completely comfortable with the game as intended? Because their actual mechanical design has never been the best and I think a soft "don't be a dick" player etiquette really applies to almost every WoD game.
as much as I love Mage the Awakening, there really aren't any decent premade adventures. Reign of the Exarchs comes close, but has so many breaking points and absolutely wouldn't work in a current-day setting. >>98097900what about the setting cosmology fascinates you so?
>>98089088Do. Not. Post. Stupid. Fucking. Anime. on A. Western. Board.
>>98109585>he says, posting stupid fucking anime.
