I'm gearing up to really dig into nMage and I was wondering what books people would recommend getting and which I should avoid.
White Wolf's World of Darkness
Must-Get
Intruders: Encounters with the Abyss
Astral Realms
Predators (yes, it's a Werewolf sourcebook, but it's also your Spirit sourcebook for Mage)
Good
Guardians of the Veil
Seers of the Throne
Avoid:
Free Council
The Legacies books
How could you forget Tome of the Mysteries? It's the mage book. Often referred to as the missing second half of the core book.
Because, well, in retrospect you really do need to be careful with it.
For example, the Wisdom essay which suddenly declares that making zombies is a Wisdom sin is incredibly bad, the chapter on magic items has major issues, and quite a few of the spell examples are very poor.
- Location
- The Pleroma
Tome of the Mysteries and Sanctum and Sigil are books a lot of people found helped them understand the corebook better.
Astral Realms and Summoners open up the playing field by quite a bit.
The Order books and Seers of the Throne are all worth having just to expand on the rather slim concepts in the corebook.
Most of the other books are either extremely focused (Banishers, Imperial Mysteries) or are somewhat hit-or-miss (Grimoire of Grimoires, Intruders).
I would also recommend reading the section on the Shadow in the nWerewolf core at a minimum. In addition, if you want to have hunters be antagonists, get Witch Finders just for the Knights of Saint George.
Edit: Also, there's a set of houserules that, while it does significantly alter the actual gameplay by a huge amount, also reworks Spirit, Prime, Time, and Fate to be significantly better than their core incarnations.
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- Location
- Italy
I'm curious about this, where can I find it?
- Location
- The Pleroma
Main Page | The Act of Hubris | Obsidian Portal
Now, there's a whole lot of stuff there, so in some more detail, Spirit also gains the ability to awaken objects so it's not as much a "talk to invisible NPCs" Arcana, Fate and Time get more things that aren't just dice tricks, Prime manipulates symbolism as well as being the counterspell/metamagic Arcanum... here are some sample rotes:
Invisible Hand (Spirit ●●/Covert/Veiling) This spell conceals the telltale marks of an ideology, governing principle, or overarching agenda in a target's activity, hindering attempts by others to discern motives or predict results. It's useful in casing buildings or spreading unpopular ideas.
Bleak Aspect (Prime ●●/Covert/Ruling) This spell draws forth the stark and depressing resonance of a landscape, poem, or other element of the scene. It subtly deadens sound, drains color, and darkens thoughts, boosting or hindering efforts at changing the subject's demeanor and applying Edges or Difficulties to mental or social tasks that would be impacted by the conjured mood. Area and Target factors increase the scope of the effect.
Step Off the Stage (Fate ●●●●●/Vulgar/Unmaking) This spell withdraws the caster or another target from the flow of events, turning them into a bystanding observer. The spell's subject falls beneath the notice of most characters and beyond the reach of most phenomena – they become invisible to destiny, going unnoticed and unaffected by anything that would need to specifically acknowledge, interact with, and target them. This effect allows a mage to politely excuse themselves from war-torn battlefields or stroll into guarded compounds without leaving a shred of evidence behind. While the spell is active, however, its subject is helpless to affect other characters or things or even draw their attention – coincidence simply conspires to keep them uninvolved. Unwilling targets must suffer a severe consequence to be fully affected by this spell.
Saw It Coming (Time ●●●●/Covert/Patterning) This spell allows a caster to warn their past self of coming danger or difficulty. While it's sustained, the caster just happens to have made some preparation for an obstacle that has arisen in the current scene – a hacksaw to get through chains, a torch to ward off vampires, or a phone call ahead to bypass security. These preparations have to be something the caster could have reasonably accomplished on their own during the downtime between recent scenes. Each preparation is lasting, but increases the cost of subsequent castings of Saw It Coming in the same scene to a minimum of one Mana as though it was a sustained copy of the same spell.
- Location
- Italy
Ah, I was hoping it was something else, I already knew about that one, not fond of it, and calling it an "improvement" is giving it too much credit IMO. Thanks anyway though.
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Ridiculously Average Guy
I'm you, but stronger
- Location
-
...On that note, has anyone run Tron in WoD?
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Things I love about WoD #59: Just how inhuman and freakish the vampires can be. Not just 'is like a corpse or is really evil or turns into a bat' inhuman, but 'spawn of the damned, the shadow out of the corner of your eye, a monstrous cult leader that can turn into a winged, blood-biting serpant' and other such oddities.
That's called "A Digital Web-based chronicle."
AshenFox
Copy Control, we are a go.
- Location
- Sector 13
I import my Digimon.
@EarthScorpion, @Aleph - So! Reading Kerisgame reminded me that I really like the idea of Styles.
Are they balanced for use in an oMage game? What are xp costs and training times/conditions like? I think you had some general guidelines on making Styles written up somewhere that I can pull up - anything to add to that?
Are they balanced for use in an oMage game? What are xp costs and training times/conditions like? I think you had some general guidelines on making Styles written up somewhere that I can pull up - anything to add to that?
Aaron Peori
Rest in Peace
I import my Digimon.
Also known as "A digital web based chronicle where everyone has Spirit dots."
@Aleph @EarthScorpion
It's been a few days since the discussion, so it may be a bad idea to bring it up, but I had a thought relevant to the "exalt in wod" talk. It was mentioned that an infinite XP E10 exalt is completely misrepresenting them, but one of the things I've noticed is the Adorjan Charm Mad Soul Wisdom, which can reduce the XP cost of her charms, essence, willpower, and virtues to 0, which when combined with a mutation remover gives you unlimited XP for her charms only, and sets you to E6, WP10, and all virtues 5. Assuming no homebrew and Sorcery spells from her initiations not counting for the discount, how would an all adorjan scourge cope in the world with all her charms?
It's been a few days since the discussion, so it may be a bad idea to bring it up, but I had a thought relevant to the "exalt in wod" talk. It was mentioned that an infinite XP E10 exalt is completely misrepresenting them, but one of the things I've noticed is the Adorjan Charm Mad Soul Wisdom, which can reduce the XP cost of her charms, essence, willpower, and virtues to 0, which when combined with a mutation remover gives you unlimited XP for her charms only, and sets you to E6, WP10, and all virtues 5. Assuming no homebrew and Sorcery spells from her initiations not counting for the discount, how would an all adorjan scourge cope in the world with all her charms?
Aleph
Princess of Stabbity
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Broken Soul Wisdom
"... curing any of these derangements imposes a special Training effect on the patient, forcing her to pay back the free experience gained from her madness."
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I am trash who gets random ideas way too often.
At least it's a vague opening chargen thing rather than something actually dangerous like a fully developed plot.
At least it's a vague opening chargen thing rather than something actually dangerous like a fully developed plot.
Unnamed Vampire Quest I'm Not Going to Run Because Holy Shit Three is Enough
"In the edges and corners, dirt gathers. Ask anyone. People miss it, under tables, around the corners, in the edge of one's eye. But that's just dust, dirt, the matter for a cleaning crew. But darkness festers, and in the corners of the world, in the cracks and crevices, there is more than dirt.
There are beings. They prey on us, they eat us. They steal us away, steal our souls and make us our slaves, and they use religion and cults and science and magic, any way they can.
Out damn spot, for they feed on blood.
On life itself. Out damn spot, but they will never be cleansed.
There are many kinds, there are many ways they can come about, but the word for them is so very simple. Vampires.
But why am I telling you this? You know it already.
You're them. You could have been otherwise, and I wonder what brought you here. What brought you to me.
God, of course, he sends everyone to me eventually. God gave me a mission, god made me a janitor, and I'd be a shitty janitor if I missed a spot. Probably, you didn't ask for it. Probably, you never wanted to exist.
Why should I care?
Goodbye, Vampire."
*****
There is just a moment, just a moment left, but a moment stretches as far as a mile when after that moment rests death. What were you, what did you become, and what might you be if you don't die here, shot by some vampire hunter, trapped and staked and beaten?
Maybe you deserved it. Maybe you didn't. Maybe this moment is five weeks into your life, or maybe you have been killing longer than he has been living.
What, may I ask, is your gender?
[] Male.
[] Female.
There are names, there are words, but you were a thing a little beyond names and words. Once a person wrote in blood these words, and muttered them, and thought them good.
Once a fool died and breathed his last these words.
Which two of these words resonate most with you?
[] Daeva, the false gods.
[] Ventrue, the sick and damned lords.
[] Gangrel, the bestial vagrants.
[] Nosferatu, the horrible cursed monsters.
[] Mekhet, the watchers in the dark.
*****
A/N: Yeah, this is not actually going to be started anytime soon because holy shit, I have way too much to do. There's a reason you're choosing two, and if I was actually running it, I might explain more and also implement a 'voting without explanation is half-vote' because I don't want people to just choose randomly.
"In the edges and corners, dirt gathers. Ask anyone. People miss it, under tables, around the corners, in the edge of one's eye. But that's just dust, dirt, the matter for a cleaning crew. But darkness festers, and in the corners of the world, in the cracks and crevices, there is more than dirt.
There are beings. They prey on us, they eat us. They steal us away, steal our souls and make us our slaves, and they use religion and cults and science and magic, any way they can.
Out damn spot, for they feed on blood.
On life itself. Out damn spot, but they will never be cleansed.
There are many kinds, there are many ways they can come about, but the word for them is so very simple. Vampires.
But why am I telling you this? You know it already.
You're them. You could have been otherwise, and I wonder what brought you here. What brought you to me.
God, of course, he sends everyone to me eventually. God gave me a mission, god made me a janitor, and I'd be a shitty janitor if I missed a spot. Probably, you didn't ask for it. Probably, you never wanted to exist.
Why should I care?
Goodbye, Vampire."
*****
There is just a moment, just a moment left, but a moment stretches as far as a mile when after that moment rests death. What were you, what did you become, and what might you be if you don't die here, shot by some vampire hunter, trapped and staked and beaten?
Maybe you deserved it. Maybe you didn't. Maybe this moment is five weeks into your life, or maybe you have been killing longer than he has been living.
What, may I ask, is your gender?
[] Male.
[] Female.
There are names, there are words, but you were a thing a little beyond names and words. Once a person wrote in blood these words, and muttered them, and thought them good.
Once a fool died and breathed his last these words.
Which two of these words resonate most with you?
[] Daeva, the false gods.
[] Ventrue, the sick and damned lords.
[] Gangrel, the bestial vagrants.
[] Nosferatu, the horrible cursed monsters.
[] Mekhet, the watchers in the dark.
*****
A/N: Yeah, this is not actually going to be started anytime soon because holy shit, I have way too much to do. There's a reason you're choosing two, and if I was actually running it, I might explain more and also implement a 'voting without explanation is half-vote' because I don't want people to just choose randomly.
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notanautomaton
I've got 99 quests, I've finished one
No. You are not allowed to do this. If you start another quest, I will do... something. I'm not sure what yet, but it'll happen.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
*Flails*
But vampires!
And don't you like my Quests?
*flails more*
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Drop a Quest based on a fandom I don't care about, run this instead
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Drop a Quest based on a fandom I don't care about, run this instead
Two of my Quests are Changeling Quests. One of them is Naruto that I like a LOT.
See the difficulty, don't you? I know you like Changeling.
I'm also surprised it has caught your attention, since right now the opening fiction bit is somewhat lacking in details, as it were. Just an idea of 'why not start at the end and work your way back' and some other stuff, including a desire to go grittier, darker, and more brutal.
But yeah, I have two Changeling Quests, and I'm sure you wouldn't want anything to happen to them.
((One of them is even turning one tomorrow, the poor dear!))
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well, my very first attempt at a Quest ever was Vampire, and it was "you wake up at the bottom of a lake, a bullet in your head," with chargen being progressively regaining your memories of how you got to that point while healing. So even if it's a different, I get some similar vibes from that OP, which makes me interested in it.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Oh, wow. And the next stage of Chargen would have been picking a starting time, and then character-building by interests, skills, and job. Like instead of making people do math, I'd ask, 'What were you known to be good at, what was your job, a hobby you liked' to do that.
Also, I was probably going to be leaning heavy on body horror, the fact that blood is messy, and...oh, of course.
You know how Changeling Catches and how quirky and weird their magic is encourages Changelings to act like real weirdos?
Vampire powers either A) Require you to smear your blood on everything like you're some sort of suicidial asylum patient, B) Be an incredible, endless gaping asshole C) Utterly separate you from any inkling that you are human in any way, or D) All of the above.
Vampire powers in 2e at least basically say, "No, you're not 'basically just a normal guy who feeds on a few vitea every so often', you're this horrific monster who has angry rats come up and lick where you've bled and become your slaves, and that's the least creepy thing you can do."
It's all very thematic.
The starting time would probably be influenced by the choices they make, to get good and dark themes. Like being something Ventrueish in the American south at the start of the civil war, making slaves of men. Or etc, etc.
Dig into the bowels and underbelly of American history and culture. Genocide, murder, slavery, war, filth, drugs and lies.
You know, happy topics!
Basically, if I did it, it'd be probably be almost too bleak.
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Digital Darkness(Digimon/WOD)I import my Digimon.
Chloe Sullivan
Subdefective
- Location
- 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale CA
Scribd is hate. got a copy i can actualy access?