Mage - The Awakening - Demo - 6

Mage - The Awakening - Demo - 6, World of Darkness, Mage The Awakening

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Written by Matthew McFarland.
Playtesters: Matt Karafa, Jeffrey Kreider, Fred Martin-Shultz, Matthew McFarland, Keith McMillin, Dawn
Wiatrowski
© 2005 White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or reposting without the written permission
of the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for the downloading of one copy for personal use from www.
white-wolf.com. White Wolf and World of Darkness are registered trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc.
Mage the Awakening, Storytelling System, Gloria Mundi, Gazing into You, Driving Angry, A Nest of Vipers,
Siren’s Song, Made Men and The Feast are trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. All
characters, names, places, and text herein are copyrighted by White Wolf Publishing, Inc.
The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark
or copyright concerned.
This book uses the supernatural for settings, characters, and themes.
All mystical and supernatural elements are fiction and intended for
entertainment purposes only. This book contains mature content.
Reader discretion is advised.
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2
The Feast
Welcome to “The Feast,” the sixth installment of the
Gloria Mundi
chronicle for
Mage: The Awakening
. This
story removes the characters from the Boston area and
takes them to the quaint little seaside town of Waltman’s
Neck, which holds a terrible secret. A rogue Thyrsus mage
who goes by the shadow name Wendigo has formed around
himself a faithful cult devoted to the awful practice of can-
nibalism. This mage holds the town completely under his
sway, and he has even captured the Vice-spirit of Gluttony
to do with as he pleases (as well as a handful of local spirits
he has forced to act as his sentries around the town). The
characters have a chance to see what the Awakened are
capable of becoming if they give themselves over entirely
to their own hubris and vice. The characters can also ban-
ish the Gluttony-spirit, but the challenge in this story isn’t
defeating the spirit so much as
rescuing
it.
S
TORYTELLING
T
ECHNIQUE
:
ESTINY
Sisyphus makes an appearance in this story and demon-
strates his mastery of the Time Arcanum. His power might
lead the characters (and probably the players) to wonder
why he simply doesn’t look into the future and warn them
about dangers to come.
This is a fair question, unfortunately. Powers that allow a
character in a roleplaying game to see the future are always
difficult to manage. After all, if they give no information at
all, they’re useless. Furthermore, it’s very much in genre for
spellcasters to divine the future by staring into crystal balls or
casting the bones. If they give too much information, they rob
the players of the ability to truly experience the story. How, then,
should you handle powers such as the Time Arcanum?
ROPHECY
AND
D
OOD
The theme of “The Feast”
is
corruption
. “Power corrupts,”
the old adage goes, and in the case of Wendigo it’s certainly
true. His magical journey has left a terrible body count, and
he hovers on the brink of total madness. The characters
should take heed—this is what the World of Darkness does
to the incautious among the Awakened.
The mood of this story is
hunger
. Although the Gluttony-
spirit isn’t a spirit of hunger, it takes a back seat in this story
anyway. The true enemy here is Wendigo and his nameless
cult’s cannibalistic practices. Focus on meals in this story.
Ask what each character orders and spend time describing
the scents and flavors of the dinner that’s served to them
in Scene Two. If you usually order pizza during games, try
something lighter that won’t completely stuff the players.
(It’s difficult to think of food as tasting good when you’re
already full.)
AND
M
T
F
F
LUID
First, acknowledge that the characters can look into the
future, but that the future is constantly changing based on
what the characters do in the present. Indeed, by simply
observing the future, the characters are changing it. As
such, the characters cannot ever see the “objective” future,
because it doesn’t become objective until it becomes the
past. (And yes, that means that postcognition should be
fairly objective.)
HE
UTURE
IS
IFFICULTY
If a character comes to rely too much on divination, impose
penalties. Future sight is covert, normally, but constantly
drawing down of the laws of Arcadia (the Supernal Realm
ruled in part by Time) might invite retribution from the
Abyss if the character overdoes it.
NCREASING
D
3
P
T
HEME
I
ACTS
This works better for Merits such as Dream than for
actual uses of the Time Arcanum, but it still bears noting,
especially if you wish to use prophecies in your chronicle.
Giving a symbolic representation of what might happen makes
it easy to interpret what actually
does
happen retroactively
in order to fit the prophecy (something that hasn’t escaped
charlatan psychics and prophets in the real world). The vision
or prophecy should still contain enough information to be
useful, but it should be loose enough to encompass several
different interpretations.
INTS
, N
OT
F
General Modifiers
Dice Modifier Situation
+1
Each Paradox roll after the first made
for the same caster within the same
scene. This modifier accumulates with
each roll, so the third roll made for a
mage within a scene has a +2 modifier.
In the case of an extended casting, this
modifier applies to successive Paradox
rolls made within the same
day
.
–1 The mage is casting a rote
+2 One or more Sleepers witnesses the
magic (vulgar magic only)
Before Paradox dice are rolled, the caster’s player can
announce that his character is trying to
mitigate
the chance
of a Paradox by spending Mana to ease the passage of the
spell into the world. One Mana is spent per die the player
wants to subtract from the Paradox dice pool. This is a
reflexive action. Points cannot exceed the amount of Mana
the mage is normally allowed to spend per turn, based on
his Gnosis. (Tyrrhenus and Niamh can spend two points
per turn, while the other characters can spend only one.)
This limit includes the amount of Mana that must be spent
for the spellcasting itself (for an improvised spell using a
non-Ruling Arcana, for example).
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The mage does not invoke a Paradox
and the next Paradox roll made for him in the same scene
(for an instant casting) or within the same day (for an
extended casting) does not suffer the usual, cumulative
+1 dice modifier.
Failure:
The mage does not invoke a Paradox.
Success:
A Paradox occurs, regardless of the cast-
ing’s success or failure (see “Casting the Spell”). The
number of successes on the Paradox roll determines
its severity.
Successes Severity
1 Havoc
2 Bedlam
3 Anomaly
4 Branding
5+ Manifestation
In addition, the caster’s player subtracts one die per Para-
dox success from his casting roll. The worse the Paradox,
the greater the chance that the spell doesn’t succeed, or
at least doesn’t succeed as well as it otherwise would have.
Either way, the Paradox still takes effect.
Exceptional Success:
The mage suffers a Manifestation
Paradox.
YSTEMS
Time 2 doesn’t allow detailed visions of the future, just
answers to easy, yes-or-no questions. Likewise, if a mage with
Time 2 knows that she has enemies with the same Arcana
as her, she can weave a shield around herself to prevent spies
from looking forward (or back) in time to see her activity.
The magic system is clear on the permutations of Time
magic, but for now, use the effects listed on the Arcana
handout as a yardstick.
EMEMBER
THE
S
N
EW
S
YSTEMS
—
P
ARADOX
E
XPANDED
The rules presented with “Gazing into You” offer a very
brief (and perfectly serviceable) explanation of Paradox.
At this stage of the chronicle, however, the characters
are growing powerful enough to cause more dramatic
Paradoxes, and are interacting with other mages who can
do so. As such, a slightly expanded version of the Paradox
rules is in order.
A Paradox might occur in the following situations:
• The mage casts a vulgar spell
• The mage casts a covert spell that a Sleeper witness
believes is improbable
In any of these cases, the Storyteller makes a Paradox roll to
see if the casting character has invoked a Paradox. The Paradox
roll’s base dice pool is determined by the caster’s Gnosis.
Gnosis Base Paradox Dice Pool
1 1 die
2 1 die
3 2 dice
4 2 dice
5 3 dice
The base dice pool is also modified by various conditions,
including successive Paradox rolls. The more rolls made for
Paradoxes, the higher your next dice pool becomes.
4
H
R
ACKLASH
After the Paradox roll is made and the number of successes
is revealed by the Storyteller, a caster can attempt to contain
the Paradox in part or in full with his own flesh. He can
choose to convert Paradox successes to bashing damage on
a one-for-one basis. This effect is called a
backlash
.
A backlash is voluntary. If the mage is willing to suffer,
he can eliminate any portion of the successes he wants to,
or eliminate them all, as long as he has enough Health to
withstand the damage. A self-sacrificing mage could even
choose to use his last Health, thereby probably rendering
himself unconscious.
Backlash damage cannot be healed with Awakened
magic, such as with the Life 2 “Self Healing,” or with Pat-
tern Restoration. Armor and magic do not protect against
backlash damage.
Depression (mild):
The invoking of a Paradox sends the
mage into a bout of depression for the Paradox’s duration.
He loses one Willpower point, and no Willpower points
can be spent. In addition, he suffers a –1 dice penalty when
contesting or countering Death magic. He suffers –1 dot to
his Resistance Attribute when resisting Death magic. (See
the spell description for the specific Attribute used.)
NOMALY
Reality cracks open and something impossible takes place.
The area affected is usually a radius around the caster of
20 yards per dot of the highest Arcanum used in the spell
that invokes the Paradox. Anomalies are not affected by
Sleeper Disbelief.
Anomalies are unpredictable. You might base the effects of
an Anomaly on the caster’s Path (a Moros mage, for instance,
might attract ghosts or cause objects to become brittle and
breakable). Or, perhaps the Anomaly is dependant on the
mage in question. (If Niamh attempts a Spirit spell and you
roll an Anomaly, a haunting melody might fill the air, lull-
ing everyone in the room and subtracting one die from all
Strength and Resolve rolls.)
URATION
Paradox’s duration depends on the Wisdom of the caster
who invokes it. (A Havoc Paradox lasts as long as the spell
that goes haywire normally would.)
Wisdom Bedlam
Anomaly, Branding, Manifestation
10 One scene One scene
9 One scene One scene
8 One scene One scene
7 One scene One scene
6 One scene One scene
5 One scene One scene
4 Two hours 24 hours
3 12 hours Two days
2 24 hours One week
1 Two days One month
ARADOX
D
RANDING
The mage’s body is afflicted by his misuse of magic. He wears
the spell’s warped skein on his skin. The extent of the Branding
depends on the Arcanum dots used in the spell. For instance,
Tyrrhenus uses Kinetic Blow and the Storyteller rolls extremely
well on the Paradox roll, granting Tyrrhenus a Branding. Since
Kinetic Blow is a Forces 2 spell, he gains a Witch’s Mark—his
eyes become faintly luminous for a duration determined by
his Wisdom rating. If Sisyphus uses a Time 5 spell and the
Storyteller rolls a Branding, though, the effects are much more
severe. Perhaps Sisyphus grows a pair of short, sharp horns on
his forehead and exudes an odor of dust and ash.
T
YPES
OF
P
ARADOX
Here we present some brief notes on the five different
types of Paradoxes.
ANIFESTATION
An entity from the Abyss enters the Fallen World. It
manifests somewhere within the area around the mage who
invoked it, usually no farther away than 10 yards per dot of
the caster’s Gnosis. It does not necessarily appear within
sight. It might manifest below the mage, in the sewers, or in
an unseen room beyond the nearest wall.
As with Branding, the Arcanum dots used in the offending
spell determine the power of the Manifestation. At one dot,
the spirit is roughly equivalent to the Gluttony-spirit—fairly
weak, but capable of some annoying poltergeist-like effects.
At two dots, the spirit is analogous to the spirit-sentries,
with more power over the Fallen World. At three dots, the
being is as powerful as the Sloth-spirit in “Gazing into You”
AVOC
Choose a random target for the spell other than its intended
target. If the spell affects living beings, the caster is included
in the pool of targets. In addition, the player rolls Wisdom.
If this roll fails, the spell reverses itself—a blessing becomes
a curse, a perception spell blinds the target, etc.
EDLAM
The character develops a derangement for the appropriate
duration. These derangements are generally more dramatic than
those acquired “naturally” through degeneration. An example:
5
B
A
P
B
M
H
B
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