Going into this, I expected that the hardest part was going to be having to read the same basic Storyteller rules for the nth time in my life. But actually, it wasn't that bad. The new version is more streamlined and does some interesting things with player agency and narrative mechanics. I'll probably have to read it a couple more times before it really clicks, but I'm certain that's inevitable. Changeling: The Lost, 2nd Edition is coming in a few days and I probably won't be able to resist getting Vampire and Werewolf indefinitely.
I think the best way to approach Mage is to pretend the rest of the World (sorry, Chronicles) of Darkness does not exist. This has always been an issue with White Wolf crossovers to some degree. Vampire is set in the World of Darkness, and then each subsequent game introduces its own unique cosmology that is pretty interesting in its own right, but doesn't really play nice with anything that has come before. The pieces sort of fit, but sooner or later, you have to make one game subordinate to the other, or at wind up mangling the metaphysics of one or more of your settings.
If I'd read the WoD games in anything resembling the semblance of the right order, this would be a trite observation by now, but because I wanted to read a new book first, I wasted it on Mage: The Awakening, 2nd Edition. It does indeed fit the pattern that goes all the way back to Werewolf: The Apocalypse. It is a very interesting modern fantasy game, but it is most definitely not a Mage supplement for the setting established in Vampire.
It's hard to tell, though, whether that is as big a deal as it should be. In the first edition of the nWoD, all the supernatural types shared the same core book. They didn't work together any better than they had in the oWoD, but there was a clear editorial intent there. It wasn't that weird if you wanted to play a vampire in the Werewolf game. In fact, the rules made it pretty easy.
With second edition going back to an all-in-one core book for each supernatural type, it's unclear whether crossover optimization is any longer a priority. There is some mention of crossover rules, but nothing as prominent as Requiem 1st Edition's "Supernatural Conflict" sidebar.
I guess that means I should proceed as if Mage: The Awakening is its own distinct thing, and not worry about it as a World of Darkness game.
I think it's pretty good, but it suffers from being a World of Darkness game.
Oh, it's nothing in particular. It's more of a general feel. Mages get their magic because they have a vision of the Supernal realm, where the true forms of all the exists casts a shadow on the Fallen world, creating the reality we know as an imperfect copy of the sublime. Once the mage has seen the truth of this other realm, they can call the Supernal laws into the real world and reshape it according to their desires. But there is a problem. The mages have enemies. A powerful group of godlike beings, known as the Exarchs, who reign in the Supernal realm and want to keep its power for themselves. Through their agents, the Seers of the Throne, they strengthen the Abyss, the vast gulf of negative spiritual power that keeps the Fallen world in darkness.
Which is fine, as far as it goes. Its a powerful conflict, with stakes that are simultaneously political, spiritual, and metaphysical. Magic isn't just a superpower, it's filled with mystery and peril. So far, so good.
Where it goes wrong is in the game's pessimism. Nonmagical people don't just lack abilities, they succumbed to The Lie. If they witness undeniable magic, they go insane and unravel it with their disbelief. The very laws of the universe conspire to keep humanity ignorant and afraid, and even if mages were interested in helping them, they have to be extremely circumspect. Again, it's not necessarily a bad setup, but something about it feels vestigial. Like, the mages are fighting a long-term war against near-impossible odds, so obviously things are going to be shitty for awhile, perhaps even the foreseeable future, but the way the game frames the conflict, victory is a foolishly idealistic dream.
And there's no real need for that. The world as it is is enough of a vale of tears, what with the inevitability of sickness and heartbreak and all. And the mage setting is demon-haunted besides. So why shut down hope?
It's not as bleak as it could be. And it's not as if the tone is written in stone. You can play the game hopefully easily enough. I just think it sometimes goes a little too far in trying to make its dark world a World of Darkness. Take its focus on mysteries and exploration and make it a bit more pulp and a bit less horror and Mage: The Awakening comes to be a great contemporary fantasy game on its own right.
Nitpick aside, I really like this book. It dramatically improves the spellcasting system from previous versions of Mage, its organizations and fantastic locations make for compelling plot hooks, and overall, it just works well as a stand-alone game. It's been so long since I read first edition that I cannot compare them accurately, but if I remember correctly, M:tAw 1st had more of the stuff I didn't like in it, so I'm pretty sure this is going to be the definitive version of Awakening for me . . .
At least until 3rd edition comes out.
UKSS Contribution - In Salamanca, Spain there is a library where books that were never written magically appear, last just long enough to inspire their readers with a bit of otherwise unattainable knowledge (from new magical spells to advances in cutting-edge science) and then disappear. I think something like that might be at home in one of UKSS's centers of learning.
No comments:
Post a Comment