Author Topic: oWoD Mage campaign help  (Read 4240 times)

Offline absolon

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oWoD Mage campaign help
« on: June 20, 2012, 01:04:55 PM »
I am being invited to a 2nd edition Mage the Ascension game. I remember reading the books for these years ago but I can only vaguely remember most of the mechanical ins and outs. I'm rereading some of the material but I lack context how good/bad things are. We are in the modern era, so no Dark Ages stuff will be available, but all other materials are good. My character concept is somewhat a reflection of me so I'll be with the Sons of Ether and the spheres that I am most attracted to are Matter, Mind and Correspondence. Other than that, I am in the dark about what merits to take, how much Arete I should try to get, Willpower, skills, etc. Any help with these matters so I can ensure that my character is optimized enough to deal with supernatural foes would be greatly appreciated.  :)

Offline Azremodehar

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Re: oWoD Mage campaign help
« Reply #1 on: June 21, 2012, 12:38:34 AM »
Standard character creation, I'm assuming? I don't have my books to hand (will later, when I get home), but I think it goes without saying that you want as much Willpower and Arete as you possibly can. Willpower is always important, and your Arete rating determines the level of sphere access you have; for instance, if you have three dots of Arete, you can have up to three dots in any given sphere, but no more.

That said, IIRC, the max starting Arete you can have is five, which is all right, since it potentially gives you access to five dots in any single sphere. I recommend doing this, because Arete is one of the most annoying (and expensive) stats to raise via XP. Willpower is also expensive to buy, but cheap with freebies, so there's that.

Do you have any ideas re: Nature and Demeanor? Essence?

In general, I recommend a couple of dots in Resources and Node if you can afford them, but there are other priorities.

Offline absolon

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Re: oWoD Mage campaign help
« Reply #2 on: June 21, 2012, 09:20:22 AM »
Yes, standard character creation. Nature is Visionary, Demeanor is Pedagogue, and my Essence is Questing.  My backgrounds are Avatar 3, Resources 2, Mentor 1. Arete costs 4 freebie points per dot, and the guideline in the book is to start with no more than 3 (my ST is going with that). I got a 7 Willpower (also at his behest), so I've got points to spare! I've got 5 freebie points left and no flaws or merits taken yet. Any suggestion on Flaws and/or Merits to take? Don't worry about story and/or background, as I tend to try to get mechanics to work first and foremost.
« Last Edit: June 21, 2012, 10:51:10 AM by absolon »

Offline Braininthejar

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Re: oWoD Mage campaign help
« Reply #3 on: June 21, 2012, 10:20:04 AM »
If you can justify it as a son of aether, one dot in Enthropy can help a lot.

Offline Azremodehar

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Re: oWoD Mage campaign help
« Reply #4 on: June 21, 2012, 05:42:41 PM »
If you can justify it as a son of aether, one dot in Enthropy can help a lot.


I second this. A dot of Entropy can go a long way towards making your rotes coincidental, and mitigating the risks of Paradox.

As for Merits... There's one with a variable point cost, I can't remember what it's called off the top of my head, but it basically gives you some shiny invulnerability. At 16 points, IIRC, it makes you unkillable by anything except a single special thing, like the Lance of Longinus, or Excalibur, or something else along those lines.

Offline absolon

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Re: oWoD Mage campaign help
« Reply #5 on: June 23, 2012, 01:42:40 PM »
Ok, so Immunity is one to keep in mind. As it pertains to other backgrounds and merits, I'm finding myself attracted to Arcane and Circumspect Avatar respectively. What are thoughts on these two and other possibilities?

Offline Azremodehar

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Re: oWoD Mage campaign help
« Reply #6 on: June 23, 2012, 04:36:13 PM »
I like Arcane. The ability to go unnoticed can never be underestimated for a mage.

Also - what books are you allowed? Anything in Mage 2nd ed? Or just the main book?

Offline absolon

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Re: oWoD Mage campaign help
« Reply #7 on: June 23, 2012, 08:09:28 PM »
Anything in 2nd edition, but all is subject to approval (no surprise there). What about Legendary Attribute? The simple example of Super Stamina that lets you soak anything is interesting and is quite a bit less expensive than immunity, but is more subject to chance. One thing that comes to mind though, just theoretically...what if one took the Immunity Merit and said, "I am immune to the negative effects of Paradox?" Is there a precedent for that?

Offline Azremodehar

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Re: oWoD Mage campaign help
« Reply #8 on: June 23, 2012, 09:06:23 PM »
Legendary attribute is cool, but ultimately not as good as Immunity, IME. You can always create a rote to give you better soak - or to decrease your odds of being hit altogether (caveat: I have a personal preference for high Dex over high Stam, just because it gives you better initiative. Um).

As for the Paradox thing... I don't think there's any errata for that? I mean, obviously everything is subject to approval, and the ST can always say no, but it couldn't hurt to ask, I suppose. I actually did let the player take that once, with the condition that I gave him a secret flaw*: he was a Marauder, and nobody with less than... gah, it's been forever, I think it was less than seven Arete and five dots of Mind? Was able to figure it out.

So all of his Paradox backlash hit the other characters. So while everyone was patting each other on the back, because they had a party member 'immune' to Paradox, who could do some awesome blatant stuff when they needed it done, well...  :plotting

Alas, the game fell apart before it came to a proper conclusion, and I wonder to this day how that would have gone...

The moral of the story is: Be careful what you wish for, your ST might be a Literal Genie.

*I also gave him seven freebies for it, and he was so ecstatic that he never looked further than beefing up his Force and Prime spheres.

Offline Keldar

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Re: oWoD Mage campaign help
« Reply #9 on: June 24, 2012, 02:28:23 AM »
Immune to Paradox is a Marauder thing, so there is a very specific precedent for it.

You may want to look at the Familiar Background, it eats paradox and can boost Arete and act as a Mentor.  The strongest Background IMO.

Offline Azremodehar

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Re: oWoD Mage campaign help
« Reply #10 on: June 24, 2012, 03:03:39 AM »
Immune to Paradox is a Marauder thing, so there is a very specific precedent for it.

You may want to look at the Familiar Background, it eats paradox and can boost Arete and act as a Mentor.  The strongest Background IMO.


Exactly. Which is why I made the player who wanted to do that a Marauder. He thought he could cheese out of Paradox. Nope.

Also yes on the Familiar bg. It's a good one.

Offline absolon

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Re: oWoD Mage campaign help
« Reply #11 on: June 24, 2012, 09:44:40 AM »
I had an awesome idea for a flaw:

Being one of the Sons of Ether and loving technology, and being a geek, likes comic book characters. Getting to use Super Science is his chance to be like the characters he used to read and watch when he was younger. There are two that he loved above all others: Dr. Doom, and Batman. If a supernatural being (doesn't matter what kind) managed to pull off really being Batman (using magic, super science, disciplines, gifts, whatever) and looked the part, my magic would have zero effect. There HAS to be a guy out there who, after getting their powers, decided that they were going to at least look like Batman and do all the things that Batman can do.  :D

Hell, anyone wearing a Batman costume could be immune. Think about how much someone would have to swallow their pride, in order to make SURE they had the best advantage on me, to have to go to Walmart at 3:00am and get some cheapo Batman costume and wear it to face me.   :lmao
« Last Edit: June 24, 2012, 09:47:46 AM by absolon »

Offline Azremodehar

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Re: oWoD Mage campaign help
« Reply #12 on: June 24, 2012, 05:20:33 PM »
I had an awesome idea for a flaw:

Being one of the Sons of Ether and loving technology, and being a geek, likes comic book characters. Getting to use Super Science is his chance to be like the characters he used to read and watch when he was younger. There are two that he loved above all others: Dr. Doom, and Batman. If a supernatural being (doesn't matter what kind) managed to pull off really being Batman (using magic, super science, disciplines, gifts, whatever) and looked the part, my magic would have zero effect. There HAS to be a guy out there who, after getting their powers, decided that they were going to at least look like Batman and do all the things that Batman can do.  :D

Hell, anyone wearing a Batman costume could be immune. Think about how much someone would have to swallow their pride, in order to make SURE they had the best advantage on me, to have to go to Walmart at 3:00am and get some cheapo Batman costume and wear it to face me.   :lmao

Sounds like some flavour of derangement. Deep in your heart and soul, you believe Batman is real. And you believe in Batman, to the point where you can't bring yourself to harm anyone who might be Batman, however slim the odds. As a result, your subconscious prevents you from actually using magic SCIENCE! against them.

Sounds kind of really silly, but if it fits the tone of the game...

Offline absolon

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Re: oWoD Mage campaign help
« Reply #13 on: June 25, 2012, 03:43:36 PM »
Ok, so I've gotten merits/flaws/backgrounds worked out with my ST. Now the work focuses on how to use my spheres to their upmost. I am sticking with Matter 3, Mind 2, Correspondence 1, so I will be a rather subtle mage to say the least. My mind buzzes with the possibilities of Matter's powers (I am a chemist IRL as well as in game, so like to think that makes me exceptionally dangerous with this one :) ) and correspondence is not that advanced yet, but has great sensory applications that are easy to imagine. Does anyone happen to have experience in using Mind? I think it has great potential to accomplish great things for me/my allies and against my enemies. However, I can only think it it in the theoretical and having examples of regular and exceptional use would be handy. Anecdotes are encouraged, as context is clarifying, as well as fun.