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11:44, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Dreaming the Impossible Dream: Mage the Ascension.

Posted by truemane
truemane
member, 2106 posts
Firing magic missles at
the darkness!
Thu 4 Jan 2018
at 13:56
  • msg #1

Dreaming the Impossible Dream: Mage the Ascension

Hello Rpol!

Having a look at my docket, I think I have room for one or two more games, so I thought I'd toss out a request for that rarest and most elusive beast in all of Rpol-dom: Mage the Ascension!

MtA is my favourite RPG of all time, but I've found over the years the things that interest me most about it are not the things that seem to interest most other people. So even when a game comes up, and I apply and get in, I find that very quickly we're spending all of our time doing things I'm not excited about.

So if anyone is up for it, I would love to work with you to put together a game of Mage.

What I want, most of all, is to play up the 'mortal' side of Mage. Mages have to eat, sleep, pay rent, go to the store, just like the rest of us. They just happen to be able to do magic while they do it. But they have mothers, fathers, children, friends, associates. Most games seem to exist in a bubble where everyone you meet or talk to is a mage or a consor or a demon or a vampire or whatever. But 'in real life' most of the people a Mage would know would be just folks. And, most of the time, a mage is just folks too.

So that's the main thing I want. I want to play a character with a detailed mundane life. With all of the stuff that most of us have to deal with. Bratty kids. Wife in rehab. Dying grandmother. Jerk co-workers. And I want to see them navigate those things with magic as a factor. Do I just use it to solve all my problems? Who knows about me? How do I hide it? What are the ethical implications of paying my rent with gold I conjured in the garage? I can shake the Pillars of Heaven but how can I make my kid take out the trash?

Not that I want the game to be filling out tax forms and running quarterly sales meetings. Fighting cyborgs can be fun. Dealing with rampaging Marauders and Nephandi can be fun. Working around persnickety Masters and upstart Novices can be fun. But those things should intrude on my life, not BE my life. Those things should be the stressors on my domestic situation, not the other way around. It's a subtle difference, but an important one.

Some other things/notes/thoughts:
  • I would prefer a solo game. Or at most a duo. Any more than that and we basically become an adventuring party, which is the opposite direction of where I'd like to go.
  • No Tradition politics or emphasis on the Ascension War. I find the political side of canon Mage to be its least compelling feature. I'd be thrilled to just chuck all of it and do something else. But, at the very least, if organizations are going to fight, have them fight over tangible things. Real things. Resources. Assets. Influence. No voting on the laws of physics, please.
  • Not a starting level character. I don't need to be Twinky McManySphere or anything, but I'd like to have some options and variety, and starting characters have little of either.
  • The ability to actually DO magic. Again, I don't want to be pulling the moon from the sky or causing earthquakes, but I'd like to walk around in my life doing magical things as though they were no big deal (because to a mage they wouldn't be). So maybe some hand-waving of minor effects, only rolling when magic is dramatically important, or whatever makes you the most comfortable, but every single tiny application of my life's work shouldn't be a big deal, mechanically.


And so what's in it for you? Well, I'm a dedicated player and very much a team player. I write well and take things seriously (but not TOO seriously). So long as we're on the same page I'm totally supportive and willing to go along to get along. I don't like fighting over rules, I don't need to always win and I don't need to always have the spotlight. I don't mind providing most of the plot momentum. I'm good at having goals and chasing goals, so if you'd rather build me a sandbox and facilitate, I'm down with that. I also don't mind running through a strong story where I'm mostly reacting to what you toss at me.

I would be willing to discuss running a solo for you in return. I have to be careful about my time commitments, but I could do it so long as whatever you wanted from me didn't include a lot of tactical maps and combat. I'm conversant with a wide variety of systems and genres, so if there's something out there you want but can't find elsewhere, feel free to ask.

Okay. That was a lot. Thanks for reading. If any of this sounds like fun to you, let's have a no-obligation chat! Responding here or on Rmail is fine.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the user at 14:03, Thu 04 Jan 2018.
Gamer75
member, 316 posts
Thu 4 Jan 2018
at 21:14
  • msg #2

Dreaming the Impossible Dream: Mage the Ascension

If you find someone who would rather it be a duo game I'd be another player but I don't think I can run a game there. I like the idea tho, this is how I always picture superhero games but it make sense for Mage also
truemane
member, 2107 posts
Firing magic missles at
the darkness!
Thu 4 Jan 2018
at 21:41
  • msg #3

Dreaming the Impossible Dream: Mage the Ascension

You called that one. That is exactly how I like my superhero games too. Saving the world's got nothing on explaining to your SO why you missed your anniversary dinner without mentioning the bank robbery you stopped.
truemane
member, 2127 posts
Firing magic missles at
the darkness!
Sun 9 Sep 2018
at 23:17
  • msg #4

Dreaming the Impossible Dream: Mage the Ascension

Hopeful (and long overdue) bump! Contact me via rMail if you'd like to talk this out!
This message was last edited by the user at 13:45, Tue 11 Sept 2018.
tutunaku
member, 49 posts
Thu 27 Sep 2018
at 05:07
  • msg #5

Dreaming the Impossible Dream: Mage the Ascension

I have some time, and the 20th Anniversary Edition pdf somewhere.

Do you have a preference for setting? I've wanted to run something in a fictional Wyoming.
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