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[Dataweaver]

If you haven't already, you might consider picking up the Storyteller's Vault supplement “Darknet Markets”. My inclination would be to say that the Flicker Empire exists even deeper in “cyberspace” than even the Deep Web, but that it can directly access both the Deep Web and the Clear Web.

(Hopefully Digital Web 3.0 will address these issues in more detail.)...

[Dataweaver]

In terms of the Science/Faith/Magick triad, I'd never consider the Disparates to be examples of Faith; but otherwise, the associations are decent enough.

In terms of Nephandi/Marauders/___, note that the first two aren't really factions, per se; they're more like infections. And they don't align with the Metaphysical Trinity so much as they align with the flavors of Quiet: Marauders are literally examples of Madness incarnate; the Nephandi are reasonably close to Morbidity with their “we must kill Reality” mindset; so the third variety would be Denial-extremism.

...

[Dataweaver]

Science, faith, and Magic was the tagline for Sorcerers Crusade.

I have toyed with the idea of creating a “Synod of Doctrines” akin to the Council of Traditions or the Union of Conventions. And just as I have a few House rules that provide game system distinctions between science and Magic, I also have some House rules that distinguish system-wise between Magic and faith. And maybe someday, I will post them.

However, I would not want to see any of that in M5.

[Dataweaver]

M5's Magick system needs to be as flexible as possible; one of the primary draws of the game is how versatile the magick system is. Some things I'd change about the current system:

First, swap the placement of Spheres and Focus in the “Casting Magick, Step by Step” section: Focus: How your character does it should be presented in Step One: Effect, as part of how you describe the Effect; and Spheres: The Foundation of Each Effect should be in Step Two: Ability as part of determining if you have what it takes to attempt the Effect. I'd also love the Wild Talent section from the end...

[Dataweaver]

That's not how it works.

TC: Aberrant extends the Scale chat beyond 6. Scale 7 is “Supreme”, and includes such things as a metroplex spanning multiple cities (such as the Boston-Washington Corridor in the US); Scale 8 is “Bewildering”, and includes major landmasses. Scale 9 is “Inconceivable” and deals with the likes of entire continents it worlds; and Scale 10 is “Transcendent”, and deals with solar system and the distances between them.

Given That the Coalition Ark is 70km long, it would be Scale 7 (it's 700km from Boston to DC).

[Dataweaver]

Not all that familiar with Digimon; I'm watching the current reboot(?) of Digimon Adventure, largely for lack of anything else to watch, and while it's not quite my first exposure to the franchise, it's pretty close to it. That said, the most recent episodes have put forward the idea that there's a network space and a digital world, and they're related but distinct. I could see the Flicker Empire existing in something that is to the Digital Web as Digimon's Digital World is to the network; that is, they're not actually in the Digital Web itself so much as they're in a place that's “behind”...

[Dataweaver]

So, this is a question about DtF, not MtA? If so, it should probably be moved to the general WoD forum, which handles all gamelines that don't have their own forums.

From what I recall about DtF, it doesn't really deal with the Umbra all that much: apparently, the demons were imprisoned in the Abyss back before the Umbra was a thing; and as they re-emerge into the world of man, they're encountering it as a new phenomenon. The Fallen Angels from the Abyss, therefore, are not spirits in the sense of the ones we've seen in earlier gamelines like WtA, MtA, and WtO; they exist on this...

[Dataweaver]

The way I'm envisioning it, you wouldn't lose a potential source of replenished Willpower; rather, that would be what Paradigm (and Essence?) does: if you do something that affirms your Paradigm (and/or is in accordance with your Essence?), you regain Willpower.

[Dataweaver]

Something else I'd like to see in M5: move the Focus section into character creation, with the decision of what your Paradigm, Practice, and Instruments are being placed in Step One, and with the Paradigm, Practice, and Instrument write-ups being placed right alongside the write-ups for Essence (and, if it makes it into the core book, Resonance). In the interest of ruthless streamlining, I'd even consider the idea of scrapping Nature and Demeanor, and having Paradigm take over that system niché.

[Dataweaver]

This is what I've been trying to say.

Also, this.

And this, mostly. In particular, my argument hasn't been that the core book should sing the praises of the mages formerly known as Orphans and denigrate the ones who have joined the Ascension War. But M20 is over 600 pages long, and that's way too Long for a core book; M5 is going to need to be shorter, which means a combination of off-loading a lot of material into supplements and ruthlessly streamlining what stays. And a major page-saver would be to put off most of the Ascension War and related factions material for...

[Dataweaver]

Reread my earlier comments about Unit 8: I'm in full agreement that what we got during the Kickstarter was woefully inadequate; and I really hope they take such feedback to heart and beef it up considerably. What I'm saying is that, first, the fact that the compiled manuscript isn't different from the pieces released during the Kickstarter means nothing; and second, that the final say as to what will go into the book is theirs, not ours.

[Dataweaver]

This is an analogy that I can't really comment on, as my familiarity with Vampire is almost null. I mention this only in case you have the mistaken idea that I'm trying to make Mage more like Vampire.


Actually, the whole point of M20's new Focus system is that the Traditions aren't the foundation of a mage's entire practice. That is, unlike earlier editions where “mad scientist” and “Son of Ether” were pretty much considered synonyms, where if you wanted to play the former you had to look up the Theory and Practice sections in the write-up of the latter, M20's revision...

[Dataweaver]

Remember, Instruments don't necessarily have to be physical objects. In fact, I tend to see what you do (using the physical tools, if any) as being more important than the tools themselves. Instruments include Blessings and Curses; Dances, Gestures, Postures, and Other Movement Practices; Eye Contact; Formulae, Equations, and Sacred or Advanced Mathematics; Group Rites; Languages; Meditation; Music; Numbers and Numerology; Ordeals and Exertion; Prayers and Invocations; Social Domination; and so on.

The point isn't so much to require “stuff” as to require Practice-appropriate...

[Dataweaver]

Specifically, TC:Aberrant will be including rules for “reverse engineering” Nova-Tech, such that given enough time and effort an innovation created by a Nova can eventually be turned into something that's mass-produced and a ubiquitous part of society that for all practical purposes has nothing to do with Novas anymore.

And yes, I could see Hard-tech FTL being developed in this manner: it started out as Q-Tech, but it's now available to anyone with the time and resources to build it.

[Dataweaver]

For what it's worth, I'm not suggesting that the secret societies be left out of the core book entirely; but I could see reducing them to an appendix that gives only the essence of what each one is, with even the one-page write-ups of each Tradition, Convention, and Craft being postponed for an appropriate supplement. Instead, include something like the Arcane Approaches write-ups found in Mage Made Easy, and relegate individual Traditions to something like “Society of Ether: Gadgeteers and Mad Scientists who deal in rejected and fringe sciences and seek to expand mankind's horizons until everything...

[Dataweaver]

I'd agree with you if M5 went with Orphans as described in M1, M2, or MRev; but if they go with M20-style Orphans, that's a whole different matter. See the sample characters in Book of Secrets (pp.176–187): other than Sanjay Sachdeva, none of these characters state an allegiance to any faction in the game; and in the case of Tanisha Royale, it's explicitly stated that she isn't an Akashic disciple. All but one of these characters could easily be Orphans in the M20 sense.

And it's in that sense that I could see M5 focusing on “Orphans”. Not the practitioners of gutter magick of...

[Dataweaver]

The more I think about it, the more I think that the Magickal Feats scale needs more than just “X successes” near the top end. It kind of already does, in that once you get into Feats that require double-digit successes to achieve, there's a difficulty modifier that kicks in (see “outlandish to god-like feat” under Magickal Difficulty Modifiers, M20 p.503). But I'm of the opinion that that's not enough: really big feats shouldn't just require more successes and increase the difficulty; there should be Instrument-like requirements for such Feats that get increasingly onerous the bigger the Feat...

[Dataweaver]

If I recall correctly, Guide to the Technocracy made the point that the Technocracy's control over governments and corporations is far less extensive than they would have you believe — which is to say, the world's governments aren't all run by the NWO, and there are corporations that the Syndicate doesn't control.

In many ways, it's the same issue as “what kind of supernatural entity is [insert famous person here]”?

But in a homebrew or head-canon? Sure; why not? In particular, unless fame brings some sort of magical resistance with it, why wouldn't the rich and famous...

[Dataweaver]

Their last, collective manuscript was merely the various independent paths glued together. It says nothing about what changes may or may not be made post-Kickstarter.

And yes, they do read the feedback. This has been shown in previous Kickstarters. It's up to them whether or not they agree with the feedback and act on it — we won't know that until the pre-release copy goes out on DrivethruRPG about a month before the finished project does — but they do read it.

And we will be getting a companion book for TR; check the stretch goals. IIRC it's going to include Technomancer's...

[Dataweaver]

The Order of Hermes has “one way” to do Magick. The Celestial Chorus has “one way” to Sing of the One. The Akashayana have “one way” to bring unity between body, mind, and soul. And so on: each Tradition has “one way” to do what they do.

In a very general sense, at least.

When you get to the particulars, there's a lot of room for variation within any given Tradition's Focus. In that regard, the Union isn't much different: it's composed of five Conventions, each with its own Focus that defines the “one way” that that Convention does what it does;...