Mage: the Ascension 5th edition hack

Here is a link to the “5th Edition” hack of Mage: the Ascension, originally created by Patrick MacNamara, updated by Terry Robinson.

The Quaranzine

Some creators here in Korea (including myself), got together to write an RPG fanzine, ‘The Quaranzine’: a collection of system-agnostic tabletop RPG content made by eight different authors. Inside you will find tables to generate random NPCs and monsters, rules for running a tavern, rules for building an adventuring base, a dungeon, an essay, and two NPCs/adventure locations.

We have now published The Quaranzine on Itch, Lulu and DrivethruRPG. You can find the links here:

Itch (free download): https://ialath.itch.io/the-quaranzine

Lulu (pay the printing costs): https://www.lulu.com/…/paperback/product-5n5g66.html…

DrivethruRPG (with optional donation to Doctors Without Borders): https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/372931/The-Quaranzine

We are not getting any payment or proceeds for this, we decided to do it because it was fun. Anyway, please check it out! But if you decide after reading that my part was the worst bit of the whole thing, please don’t tell me.

World of Darkness games: progress update

This year I made a plan to run five separate games of each of the five old World of Darkness games: Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Wraith: the Oblivion, and Changeling: The Dreaming. Of these five, I have so far run two, Vampire and Changeling. Here is my progress preparing for the other three.

Werewolf: the Apocalypse

The plan for Werewolf was for a Rite of Passage story, where the players are newly found Garou, maybe only a few weeks after their first change. They have been gathered up a by a Sept (the Roscommon Sept), given some basic knowledge about their new abilities and the world, and then sent to perform the Ritual that will make them truly members of the Garou nation.

This story has the working title ‘Rage across the UP’, as it is set in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan state. Most of the characters will have only a limited understanding of what they are, and what their connection to the Umbra is. The exception is the Metis character, who was raised by the Sept. They have all spent a bit of time at the Rose Caern before being sent on their Rite of Passage. Of course, all this background information should be revealed in flashback, as the story starts when the Rite starts.

The story will start the moment they get out the van in Hiawatha National Forest, with the instructions “Survive. Make contact with your totem. Find your quest. Forge your pack”

I chose the UP as it has wolves living there, as well as a copper and nickel mine (Eagle Mine), construction of which was protested against by the Ojibwe people of that area. The story will take place as much in the Umbra as it will in the material world, and the spirits the characters meet there will be somewhat informed by Ojibwe stories.

Progress: 60% (setting is there, but needs to be fleshed out more, characters are in development)

Wraith: the Oblivion

Wraith stories are often very personal, as the major conflict of any Wraith story is between the psyche and the shadow. And so this story would have to written with a lot of collaboration with the players.

But, having said that, one of my favourite movies is ‘Orfeu Negro’ (Black Orpheus), and so the idea of setting a story in Rio de Janeiro during the Carnaval, or in a Spanish-speaking Latin American country during a All Souls Day celebration appeals to me very much. I like the idea that there are older courts of the dead, which were demolished by the Stygian colonialism. And having a culture that has strong traditions of remembering the deceased would also allow for some interactions between the Quick and the Dead.

Progress: 2% (just an idea so far)

Mage: the Ascension

I was not initially planning on a Mage: the Ascension game, as I felt there was no much left that appealed to me. It lacks a lot of the horror tropes of the other games, and felt too ‘superhero’-y.

But a couple of things changed that. Firstly, I started listening to Mage: the Podcast, and hearing enthusiastic people speak about something they love can help you remember the cool parts of it again. Simultaneously I have been watching the ‘wit and folly‘ YouTube channel videos, and apprecating her analysis of mythology in modern culture. One thing that she has opened my eyes to is the BU (Bangtan Universe), a fictional alternate universe created by Big Hit Entertainment for the band BTS, that goes around their music and videos, linking them together in a band mythos.

I live in Korea, but I’m not really a k-pop fan. But wit and folly pointed out that the BTS videos and stories make use of Jungian tropes. For example Abraxas appears in the BU, and he is another name for Hermes, linking to the Order of Hermes from Mage.

So I had the idea of a Mage: the Ascension story where the characters (the mage cabal) are in a K-pop band. Or rather, they are K-pop trainees:

The trainee process lasts for an indefinite period of time, ranging from months to years, and usually involves vocal, dance, and language classes taken while living together with other trainees, who sometimes attend school at the same time, although some trainees drop out of school to focus on their careers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_idol#Trainee_system

Trainees are often not well supported financially during this period, and need to be supported by their families or by working part time jobs. So have a group of newly awakened Mages, who are also struggling to become K-pop idols, might make for a fun story.

Korea would be an interesting place for a M:tA story, because the tension between what society wants for you (and from you), and what allows you to grow as an individual is interesting to explore. Recent Korean TV and movies have looked at this a bit (Parasite, and the new Netflix series, Squid Game). The stress placed on young people to succeed is high, and is known as Hell Joseon. So in the game, the ideas created by the Technocracy about how the world should be run would be prevalent (as they are everywhere in the world).

But it should still be fun! Whether it’s meeting Akashayana mages at the top of tall mountains, hunting down Nephanic monsters in run-down apartment buildings, or trying to avoid Iteration X HIT Mark V hunters while on the way to your own concert, all of these might make for a very different kind of Mage game.

(Note: I would probably only run this game for people who live here, or were of Korean descent.)

Ultimately, Mage is a game about surviving the ascension war, and achieving spiritual enlightenment, either personally, or some mass awakening of the unEnlightened Sleepers. And it may be that the goal of becoming K-pop idols may not be compatible with the goal of increased spiritual enlightenment.

Progress: 10% (idea developed a bit, but needs characters and more stories)