Anime So how do you actually play WoD Mage?

[Fedora Master]

I'm most familiar with Werewolf, where combat is often "I hit the monster with my claws".

Looking at a game like Mage, where free form spell creation is the core of the whole thing, how the hell do you run that? Obviously newly awakened characters are restricted but with a bit of creativity you can derail the whole session easily enough. Then I'm looking at higher level play, where antagonists can have 5+ Dots in something and essentially control reality on a whim, how the fuck do you get any semblance of plot direction out of this?

 

[Kev Inkline]

Think of it as an online forum where everyone's an admin.

 

[Fedora Master]

Think of it as an online forum where everyone's an admin.

So it's just one-upmanship for man children

 

[FritzedProcess]

Think of it as an online forum where everyone's an admin, but everyone has to pretend shit happened because of glitches or forgetfulness to prevent everyone else from figuring out they have admin powers, or they get banned. M:TA has to be the hardest WoD game to run, because of all the out-of-the-box thinking that has to take part by everyone for it to run properly. Otherwise, you have dudes walking around with a gross of pencils, teleporting them into the heart of vampires with Correspondence and Matter, or somesuch. The Narrator forgetting about Paradox doesn't help, either.

Magic is expected to be used in a roundabout way to appear casual to the common observer, or it'll come back to bite the Mage in the ass.

 

[Fedora Master]

Magic is expected to be used in a roundabout way to appear casual to the common observer, or it'll come back to bite the Mage in the ass.

Right, in the mundane world. Go outside, as any mage inevitably will, and you can ignore Paradox. All the big dick mages and antagonists are in or from other planes. Soooo...

 

[Alex]

Back when I tried to run this, I had a house rule I wanted to use where spells of x power would require extended rolls of y length. For instance, a spell that required 5 successes to be cast, it would need to be rolled in increments of months (so, you roll your arete, count the successes, and that is a month of work), or something to that effect. I also had some ideas for making paradox matter even in the umbra, at least if you weren't in the deep umbra or a horizon realm matching the logic of the spell. Unfortunately, the game never went that far and I don't really care much for the setting anymore. But yeah, it doesn't work so well the way it is described in the main rule book out of the box.

 

[Caim]

I'm most familiar with Werewolf, where combat is often "I hit the monster with my claws".

Looking at a game like Mage, where free form spell creation is the core of the whole thing, how the hell do you run that? Obviously newly awakened characters are restricted but with a bit of creativity you can derail the whole session easily enough. Then I'm looking at higher level play, where antagonists can have 5+ Dots in something and essentially control reality on a whim, how the fuck do you get any semblance of plot direction out of this?

This is how magic works in Mage: The Awakening. Start from the top left.

Is it clear now? Please do tell because I have no idea what the fuck is going on.

Or are we talking about Mage: The Ascension (the one in the same setting as Vampire: The Masquerade)?

 

[Alex]

I'm most familiar with Werewolf, where combat is often "I hit the monster with my claws".

Looking at a game like Mage, where free form spell creation is the core of the whole thing, how the hell do you run that? Obviously newly awakened characters are restricted but with a bit of creativity you can derail the whole session easily enough. Then I'm looking at higher level play, where antagonists can have 5+ Dots in something and essentially control reality on a whim, how the fuck do you get any semblance of plot direction out of this?

This is how magic works in Mage: The Awakening. Start from the top left.

Is it clear now? Please do tell because I have no idea what the fuck is going on.

Or are we talking about Mage: The Ascension (the one in the same setting as Vampire: The Masquerade)?

Well, WoD nowadays refer to old WoD, so I assume it is the Ascension.