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[Bluecho]

63) Invitations have been sent out to all the occultists in the city, from the entirely mundane dabblers, to Sorcerers (both solitary practitioners and members of other groups, like the Arcanum), to full mages of the Traditions and Disparates and Orphan scholars, and to vampiric blood magicians like the Tremere and even the lone Assamite Sorcerer. Obviously, the degree to which the sender is apparently aware of even low-key or secretive individuals is disturbing.

The invitation is to an auction of occult items and texts. A list of items for sale was included with the invitation, and...

[Bluecho]

324) Tracking Death In [Flaw]: The Dark Umbra is a place of elemental death - Entropy is strongest there, and paints the place in a coating of gloom, malaise, and decay. If a Mage travels there - through an Agama Sojourn, spending time in the low Penumbra, or even somehow physically traveling to the Shadowlands - they can find themselves carrying a bit of it with them when they return. They stink of the grave, and look pale, with a waxy complexion. They kill grass beneath their feet, and those footfalls can also decay wood flooring and lightly erode stone and other earthen ground. As if their...

[Bluecho]

Fair enough, though personally I wouldn't agree that Santa Muerte veneration (or, indeed, Brujeria for that matter) quite fit with the religions and practices the Bata'a are into. I classify the latter as needing to have imported African beliefs somewhere in the syncretism in order to qualify. Whereas Brujeria - and Santa Muerte worship as a subset of same - is typified by specifically American native beliefs mixing with Catholicism. Without the African element, it's a sufficiently different beast that it should be approached as its own magical tradition. The elements of having been ripped from...

[Bluecho]

This is also true. Mage: The Ascension has an unfortunate habit of pigeon-holing certain groups into the "Evil Group" stereotype. And, in order to magnify the evil of the group, they make their methods more extreme or despicable, regardless of whether the actual, real-life groups did it. Often arbitrarily. Which is weird, given that many of the groups that are portrayed sympathetically in MtAs have methods that are just as unsavory or unsettling to most people as the ones that get the shaft. How are the Aghori (the real world ones, not the cartoonish charicatures) particularly more evil...

[Bluecho]

This is where you and I differ. You say that making the Nephandi about Destruction makes them make more sense...and then say this is a good thing.

I disagree. I think the Nephandi's motivation making sense is counter to how I prefer them: Evil because their motivations are antithetical to what reasonable people want.

You're free to run the Nephandi however you choose, but I prefer the Nephandi representing Evil that is not only absolute, but senseless. It makes their atrocities all the more horrible, as they serve no purpose, ultimately, than to be done for their own...

[Bluecho]

Except, of course, M20 explicitly states that Technocrats can't do that. Period. Other technomancers might be able to overcome their Instruments, but Technocrats can't. Not just because of their Paradigm, but because of the Conditioning that all operatives undergo when they join the Union....

[Bluecho]

24) The Rock [2 pt Artifact]:
Not just any rock, but THE Rock. A polished, irregularly shaped gray stone, small enough to fit in the palm of the hand. It's magic is simple: when thrown, it hits harder. A strong arm can easily slay a pig with one hit from this projectile. Otherwise, there is nothing significant about the stone in and of itself, magically or aesthetically.

The real reason why The Rock is significant - relatively - is because of the rich, extensive LORE surrounding the stone. It is a legendary chunk of earth, with hundreds of tales told about it. Most serious mage...

[Bluecho]

Exactly.

Remember, everyone, that back in the Renaissance, the Order of Reason divided itself into Outer and Inner Labyrinths. It was a secret, initiatory society, so parts of its knowledge base was withheld from members until they achieved higher ranks, like all secret societies that are built around initiation. The Outer Labyrinth - made up of the unEnlightened Brethren and those Enlightened members of Arete 3 and lower - were deliberately made unaware that what they were doing was anything supernatural, superhuman, or super-scientific. To the point where Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade...

[Bluecho]

Well first of all, Fetishes can be obtained through the Mage getting the spirit to inhabit the item willingly. Second, Djinn are often coerced or forced, but they don't have to be. They are rational spiritual actors, and can be bargained with just like any other Umbrood. More readily, actually, since all Djinn are sapient by default. Lost Paths even has rules for when a mage wants to do the non-standard thing, and gain the services of a Djinn through respect and bargaining, rather than by invoking the Solomonic Code....

[Bluecho]

Indeed, even a scientist understands the psychological power of a lie, if it comes from a perceived authority on the subject. Even if the agent cites a study that is bullshit, if they can make their listener believe it, it can change how they think (if only by virtue of the target believing really hard that they ought to be thinking in a certain way).

Although that sort of thing could extend even to Life effects as well. The Placebo Effect is a known factor in medical science, to the point where it's firmly in the Consensus. If the right words - coming from a supposed expert medical...

[Bluecho]

I suspect John Courage not being stopped by the Technocracy is a combination of several factors. First, like Ambrosia said, he probably has friends high up in the Union, both known and unknown to him. Some might see him as a necessary check to Union corruption (while providing a cover of plausible deniability), some might support him out of rivalry with other Union bigwigs, and others might have particular plans that factor Courage into, like a piece on a board.

Second, and also like Ambrosia said, the common agents love him. He's too great an urban myth, as well as perversely a good...

[Bluecho]

Yeah...any game or story is invariably slave to the Anthropic Principle. There's no reason to believe that shards of the Pure Ones wouldn't rather merge with the stars in the heavens. But stories about the stars themselves wouldn't be very interesting to a human audience or player base, unless the stars in question were assigned so many human qualities - made so anthropomorphic - as to cease being "Stars" as we understand them. They would essentially BE humans. Just, you know, more glowey.

Mage: The Ascension is, principally and specifically, about humans and their beliefs....

[Bluecho]

I agree with Ajax. While it would be all well and good to argue about a version of the Nephandi that are a persecuted, misunderstood minority, that is not a version of the Nephandi that is supported seriously in any Mage: The Ascension text. We have no alternative to the idea of the Nephandi being categorically evil presented in the 20+ years of material printed about them. If that seems one-sided and weird, I don't know what to tell you. Except that this is how it is.


On another note, I want to challenge the proposition that targeting Widderslainte for termination is morally...

[Bluecho]

62) A gang of youths in identical hand-made masks have been causing minor mischief for a year now. The police find them troublesome, but ultimately a minor problem (especially in light of more serious police work that needs tending to).

All this changes after Imbolc - one of the four seasonal Gaelic holidays - when the gang's activities began to take a darker turn. Their masks - previously mocking and playful faces with tongues sticking out - have morphed into sinister visages, with piercing eyes and toothy grins. Where before they would simply egg and toilet paper a house or throw...

[Bluecho]

23) Cross of Shame [4 pt. Artifact]:
Crafted by a Southern preacher and Chorister, this silver cross necklace was rolled out during the height of the American civil rights marches of the 1950s. Taking to heart the ideals of nonviolent protest - as begun by Ghandi and implemented further by Martin Luther King Jr. - this Wonder aids the wearer in pursuit of that goal. When the user is attacked - whether by stick or bullet or fire hose - the attacker is made to feel great shame. Moreover, it makes those around the attacker feel disgust toward the latter.

System: One Mind 2 effect...

[Bluecho]

Martial Arts, for one. Putting aside the mystical themes - which obviously don't come into play with the strictly rationalist Technocracy - an Enlightened agent can work wonders with the proper application of physical might and scientific principles.

Speaking of scientific principles, a Technocract could employ them in conjunction with materials lying around to do their work. Basically imagine MacGuyver, except with Enlightened levels of brilliance.

Even "technobabble" can be used in creative ways. Like a Technocrat forcing a person to puke, just by rattling...

[Bluecho]

68) A short woman - max four feet tall - with dyed pink hair and pigtails. She's a mechanic, with a sardonic sense of humor and a complex about her height. Hates being called "little lady", or variants thereof. Hates being mistaken for a child even more. To compensate for her smallness, she loves to built powered armor and mini mecha in her garage. She may be small, but by her mind she will wreck havoc. The rest of her Enlightened Science is brought about with small gadgets and gizmos, her tool belt, and an understanding of physics and engineering.

Joins either the Society...

[Bluecho]

320) 'Til Your Fingers Bleed [Burn]: When a musical magician creates magick, it is done by pouring their Will into their literal Instrument. Where the fingers meet the strings, the keys, or whatever, is where the magus and their instrument become one. But such a point of union can be frayed if the magician puts too much force - too much damned intensity - into their performance. In moments of high passion - the kind of passion that would move Reality into a wildly different shape - the user unknowingly digs deep into their instrument, until their fingers bleed. Is this merely zealous commitment,...

[Bluecho]

1) No, you would not get Genetic Flaws for an Effect that is temporary. It's only for permanent Effects (which would probably mechanically be symbolized by the character gaining dots in the Enhancement background, along with the Genetic Flaws).

2) I don't know for certain, but I would think that physical traits reflecting Attributes >6 would depend more on the character's Paradigm. If it's a Progenitor or Etherite using medicine to bolster their muscle mass, then obviously they would look as swole as they are. If it's a mystic channeling the strength of Samson, the beasts of the...

[Bluecho]

[Inspired by the singular Andrealphus The Painter. Because life can only be described as a series of obligations in-between getting to talk about Andre.]


22) Cloak of Many Colors (7 pt. Artifact):
The prized clothing of an artist mage, this combination of flowing robe and accompanying cape sports a high collar, manifold pockets, and a dizzying array of colors and patterns. The fabric, however, seems unmarred by paint, despite it being the creation of a painter, who wore the cloak even when hard at work in his studio. Some claim the artist painted the cloak into being,...