Mage The Awakening 2nd Edition Books

[Karina Edling]

Thisquestion: Which Mage: The Awakening sourcebooks are essential? is obviously related and Which Mage: The Awakening sourcebook (if any) has info on mages' daily, non-adventuring lives? is tangentially related.

This almost comes down to "How much has changed between the two versions?". If there are fundamental differences, then the older books will be of no help and I'll have to wait for updated versions. If the changes are minor, then likely all of them will play well. It could also be that some material that was formerly supplemental has now been incorporated into the core making a prior book less appealing.

I am particularly looking at "The Tome of Mysteries", but that book also looks like the one most likely to have been superseded either by rules changes or having its best material built into the new core book.

On the other hand, books of lore (Astral Realms, the tarot book) will still be good for you, and even the old books will have examples of rotes and legacies that, under the new mechanics, will be even easier and better to use.

David Brookshaw, the developer of Awakening 2nd Edition, recommends the following 1E books for a prospective 2e player: "Astral Realms, Secrets of the Ruined Temple, Left Hand Path, the six Order books, Intruders, and Summoners"

Mage: The Awakening is a tabletop role-playing game originally published by White Wolf Publishing on August 29, 2005, and is the third game in their Chronicles of Darkness series. The characters portrayed in this game are individuals able to bend or break the commonly accepted rules of reality to perform subtle or outlandish acts of magic. These characters are broadly referred to as "mages".

As with the other games in the Chronicles of Darkness, the history presented in the game provides for some ambiguity. However, the "origin story" of magic and mages is less ambiguous than that of vampires or werewolves.

In the mythic past, a mysterious island existed with a single towering mountain, encircled by dragons that lived upon its summit. The mountain called to humanity through dreams and visions. Over time, the dragons left and the mountain continued to call. Some humans answered the call and sought it out. The humans who moved there discovered the first secrets of magic, and through magic they created the mighty city-state now known as Atlantis, Meru, Lemuria, etc. though its true name has been lost to time.

Over time, the mages became filled with hubris, and began fighting over how best to lead the world. The battle separated the Earth into the Fallen World and the Supernal Realm, with the chasm of the Abyss in between. The Fallen World is the world where humanity now exists, and the Supernal realm is the realm of magic, where the victorious mages of long ago now reside. The Abyss that separates the two worlds prevents most of humanity from awakening to magic and hampers the power of mages trapped in the Fallen World.

Mages believe that the Supernal Realm is the truth of reality and the origin of magic. It is ruled by the Exarchs, powerful mages who have established themselves as its rulers. The Exarchs wish to snuff out the memory of "Atlantis" and knowledge of magic so that they will remain the supreme masters of reality. They are more godlike forces than human beings now; however, this means that they must influence the Fallen World through servants.

Fragments of the organizations, artifacts and writings from the First City survive to the present day, and mages hope to use this knowledge to further their various causes, by gaining a stronger connection to the Supernal Realm.

The process of awakening can be slow or fast, but there are two major ways in which the event may manifest: the Mystery Play (in which the mage's senses blur the real world and the magical symbolism of their awakening) and the Astral Journey (which takes place entirely within a dreamscape of the prospective mage). In both sorts of "awakenings", the mage-to-be goes on a journey that culminates with them arriving at or in their respective Tower and inscribing their name upon it.

After awakening, a mage typically joins one of the five Orders, although some choose to remain free of political connections, or remain outside of mage society due to ignorance, and are called apostates. The Five Orders are united in their opposition to the Exarchs, and four claim a heritage going back to the First City.

The Orders have competing agendas and opposing beliefs, leading to a lack of cooperation and trust, however this does not lead to open warfare between the Orders. When enemies of the Orders, such as the Seers of the Throne, appear, the Orders put aside their differences, as their squabbles are petty compared to the battle between the Oracles and the Exarchs.

Magic is simply the ability of a mage (or "willworker") to impose their will onto reality. Mages are able to do this because of their sympathetic connection to the Watchtowers in the Supernal Realms, because their names are inscribed upon it, and because they realize the Fallen World is a lie.

Arcana represent the understanding a mage has over particular facets of reality, and govern their ability to affect those aspects. Subtle Arcana (Death, Fate, Mind, Prime, and Spirit) are those that deal with the more ephemeral matters of existence, while Gross Arcana (Forces, Life, Matter, Space, and Time) are those relating to the physical aspects of the world.

Covert spells are those that do not outwardly appear magical, and therefore do not automatically risk backfiring (called Paradox), while Vulgar spells are unmistakably magical, and risk backfiring. All spells have a greater risk of Paradox when they are cast in the presence of Sleepers, or non-Awakened humans. Supernatural beings, or humans that have some hint of the supernatural about them (i.e. Ghouls, Sleepwalkers, and Wolfblooded) do not contribute to Paradox.

First, yes this is my first review for RPG.net.Second, both reading and playtesting the new Mage: The Awakening has formed my opinion of the game.With that said, here's my review of the new World of Darkness (WOD) game of high magick (oops..) - Mage: The Awakening.

Production:

Mage: The Awakening is the fifth iteration of the game (Mage: The Ascension 1, 2 and Revised, Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade and Dark Ages: Mage) originally created by Stewart Wieck and White Wolf Game Studio(WW). In general Mage is a pleasant looking product. A 400 page hardcover book with a full color cover, gold metallic ink type and a nice coated varnish presentation of the Path Pentacle.The interior is two-color, black and gold metallic inks. The pages are solidly stitch square bound and I have not experienced any problem with loose pages or the books spine breaking. I do have two issues with the interior production of the book though. One, that the black ink smeared at the touch in my book when I first purchased it. Two, that the gold ink makes reading sometimes difficult depending on the light. But even with these problems, the new World of Darkness Books are far better in appearance and production value than most of their predecessors.

Art & Design:

The interior art is hit and miss. Michael W. Kaluta produced all of the illustrations in the book. There has been much debate as to whether having one person do all the art was a wise decision. Let me simply state that I like Kaluta and always have. But I think the game, in terms of aesthetic appeal and also presentation of the setting, would have been stronger with a mix of artists. Mr. Kaluta is superb in creating the runes of the Arcana and I personally loved his illustrations of the Watchtowers and Path Pentacle but he sometimes falls short in his illustration of characters.

The book is designed to look like a sorcerer's diary complete with handwritten pieces and a stitched spine look. Sections of the book look rushed and the typography can make some parts difficult to read. As an example - the idea of making the Rote section three column - like a certain game publishers Player's Handbook - is cute, but it makes the text hard to follow when combined with art and the large script used in the spell titles. Many times it just plain looks bad. Overall it's a nice piece, though I think it falls short of the Vampire and Werewolf core books in terms of visual vitality.

Content:

The book is divided as so: A prologue of setting fiction. An introductory chapter. Four chapters detailing the game. Two appendixes. An epilogue of setting fiction. An index, and finally a character sheet at the end.

Prologue:Mage: The Awakening opens with eight pages of introductory fiction. The story, written as a journal by a new mage, frankly left me cold. It was solidly written and helped to introduce the settings take on mages and mage society but it just didn't have the imaginative "spark" and tone that I've come to expect from White Wolf introductory fiction (see more about this at the end).

Introduction:This truly begins the book. A single page of "flavor" story text (a format which is used throughout) is followed by an introduction to the basic concepts and themes of the setting. It also includes the ubiquitous World of Darkness Lexicon.

I've always found it interesting that White Wolf chooses to put the Lexicon in the front. I usually don't read it till I've read through much of the book. Back of the book might be a better place perhaps?

Chapter 1: The Secret WorldThe background setting, which includes a link to a sunken island called Atlantis, has caused some controversy amongst Mage enthusiast. Personally it is as interesting as any other legend or myth that's been used in the WOD core books. My only problem with this section is that, like all the other flavor text, it is flat and not terribly fun to read.

Chapter 2: CharacterThis section details character generation and does a servicable job of it. On the surface the number of options presented to a Mage player are staggering but this section does a good job of trying to help the player focus all the detail down into a playable character. Like all WOD books it is probably best to go in with a solid idea of what you'd like to play and then find a way to use the mechanics to get there.

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