[OOC] [Mage: the Awakening 2E] The Supernal Suburbia

[Caladriu]

Haberdasher Yeah there's like 3 gay PCs in this crop of apps, I love it. Moonstone isn't really outgoing enough (yet) for crowded public Pride stuff, but a bar or club or burlesque show definitely!

[Haberdasher]

Caladriu Ragnar's kind if the same situation. He pretty much did enough to figure out that he was into men and not women, and that's it. Concern over his family's reaction kind of stunted his development. He's very new to both his sexuality and his Awakened nature. Two pees in a pod- and Vo could be the lesbian den mother.

[crapcarp]

Please let me know what you think about my comments.

Most certainly.

crapcarp - I find the idea of your character very, very cool. I've always thought it would be really interesting to roleplay a Hunter who went through a transformation to become something like a Kindred, Uratha, or Mage. The character background and description of his Awakening are both very fleshed out and rich. Great details and interesting ideas.

Thank you, I do try. I thought I might've written a bit too much, so it's nice to see that it's garnered a positive reaction

One reaction I had while reading your submission, similar to Moonstone's, is that your character is not necessarily going to have automatic access as a newly-Awakened mage to accurate, helpful, IC knowledge about magic-related issues. I've been a player in other campaigns with players who argued that they should have bonuses to certain checks or de facto knowledge about certain topics because of how they constructed their back stories. While I can definitely appreciate the ability to pull in plot hooks and use that well-crafted backstory in my story as a ST, I would ask you to have that knowledge represented in experience points through Merits or Skills in some way (e.g., Occult dots/specialties related to Awakened society or magical creatures). It's all too easy for Hunters to think that they know about what it was they're up against, but that information can be inaccurate or completely misguided, too.

Yes, I understand completely. I can definitely see munchkins and the like trying to do this sort of thing. As much as I've read up on Mage lore, I respect the particular rules and interpretations that the ST makes for their game, no matter how it might clash with the "canon". You're also right on the money that, though Hunters do have genuine experiences with the supernatural, they don't always completely understand what's happening, how, or why.

At the start of the game, Phoenix has only seen Awakened society from the outside looking in, at best. He knows that mages gather in secret meetings and rituals, but as to what's actually happening, your guess is as good as his. He also doesn't know the difference between an Awakened and say, Thaumaturges. He was only able to sense magic in general, so he just conflated various types of magic-users together.

The other thing I want to be transparent about, and this applies to everyone, is that I'm still learning the Mage 2E rules and I'm a relatively less experienced Storyteller. I am really excited about running this game, and I will do everything I can to make it interesting and well-written on my part -- and I absolutely encourage people to let me know as we go how they think I'm doing, for better or worse. But there's a possibility I'll make a bunch of mistakes, and I don't want to let you down because I don't fulfill the hopes you have for a long-term character like that. Does that make sense?

Yeah, that makes sense. Everyone's gotta begin somewhere. As for Phoenix's overarching story, I've made an effort to keep it as malleable as possible. Take the whole Tamer of Fire thing for example, the only real requirement of it is that he joins and eventually masters the Legacy. How he learns of it? Up in the air. Whether or not he finds a mentor and who that mentor is? Up in the air. The particular event of his initiation and advancement through the levels? All up in the air.

My point is, you most likely won't have to worry about fulfilling the plans I have for my character as I've left most of it up to the game itself.

[Beans]

Haberdasher Yeah there's like 3 gay PCs in this crop of apps, I love it. Moonstone isn't really outgoing enough (yet) for crowded public Pride stuff, but a bar or club or burlesque show definitely!

Vo's gay and probably has a pride sticker on her car or something. Probably went to at least one parade in the past and perhaps frequented a bar, but she's probably on too much medication these days for alcohol---and now with the divorce, going out will take a while because whoops self esteem what's that~

[Haberdasher]

Vo's gay and probably has a pride sticker on her car or something. Probably went to at least one parade in the past and perhaps frequented a bar, but she's probably on too much medication these days for alcohol---and now with the divorce, going out will take a while because whoops self esteem what's that~

Sounds like the three of them would be quite the interesting trio!

crapcarp, sounds like Phoenix has a lot of motivation to join the Guardians. His background as a Hunter who took on Banishers and the like would give the Guardians' philosophy that magic needs to be managed a lot of credence.

[rwknoll]

Yeah, I'm totally digging the synergy between a number of the character submissions. I hadn't planned on it, but I can try to incorporate more of the local LGBT culture into the setting if that would be helpful.

[Haberdasher]

Yeah, I'm totally digging the synergy between a number of the character submissions. I hadn't planned on it, but I can try to incorporate more of the local LGBT culture into the setting if that would be helpful.

That would be neat. I say go for it, provided all the players that you choose for the game are interested in that becoming part of the setting.

[Caladriu]

It doesn't need to be front and center, but I always liked the idea that ~divergent sexual and gender identities~ are a bit more prominent in mage society, just because there aren't exactly "institutional barriers" to touching the Supernal. I'll spare the thread a long boring lit-crit essay on Awakening as a metaphor for coming out and perceiving the Fallen World differently because of your experiences and the imagery of respectable La Grange suburbanites taking covert trips downtown to live their true secret lives, but like, there's roleplay content there.

It was originally kind of a throwaway line, but I increasingly like Moonstone being into pole dance and drag and similar performance stuff (because it is Fun and Good). Some kind of queer-friendly club or bar or performance space would be a good stock location in La Grange for cabal meetings and story hooks.

[Haberdasher]

It doesn't need to be front and center, but I always liked the idea that ~divergent sexual and gender identities~ are a bit more prominent in mage society, just because there aren't exactly "institutional barriers" to touching the Supernal. I'll spare the thread a long boring lit-crit essay on Awakening as a metaphor for coming out and perceiving the Fallen World differently because of your experiences and the imagery of respectable La Grange suburbanites taking covert trips downtown to live their true secret lives, but like, there's roleplay content there.

It was originally kind of a throwaway line, but I increasingly like Moonstone being into pole dance and drag and similar performance stuff (because it is Fun and Good). Some kind of queer-friendly club or bar or performance space would be a good stock location in La Grange for cabal meetings and story hooks.

And Ragnar sitting in a corner of the gay bar, telling anybody willing to listen that European mythology is way gayer than most people realize, with pictures to boot.

[rwknoll]

Still catching up on some of the posts from today and responding to people who had questions, so bear with me.

Understood! I'm more than happy to gate knowledge behind an Int+Occult or Politics roll where each success yields a rumor about some specific phenomenon we're dealing with, or something along those lines. I'd rather be helpfully spouting the information you want to make available to the party than spoiling surprises and making the strange and exotic seem familiar and boring.

There's definitely part of me that wants to make use of all those misspent years reading Mage books, but I fully sympathize with wanting to keep your game world under your control as an ST, so to speak. I'll play with the approach that "the world consists of the stuff that the ST describes, don't assume other things exist until they're on-screen."

That sounds really reasonable and helpful to me. Again, it's not like I'm trying to wrestle control away from the players or something; I just want in-game knowledge to be reflected in stats and spent experience. My hope will be that all players will feel comfortable asking me to reconsider a ruling, or whether they have issue with something I've said or decided. My style as storyteller is to be a narrator, not a dictator.

Tambov - I appreciate the added information. It's giving me a little more to go off of, but I still don't feel like I know much more about your character. What's he doing in Chicago? He can choose to make "cryptid hunter" an Obsession and focus of his Awakened life, but what else is there to him besides that? I can see the direction you'd like him to go in, but I'm asking instead for everything leading up to that point. The rest will come through roleplay and in-game experiences.

wtaylorjr2001 - I like how you're trying to get your character connected more to others. Could you maybe tell me more about Michael's personality and pre-Awakened life? Again, the parts that come after his Awakening can be handled in-game and through roleplay. I'm also having a harder time reading through your post because of the formatting. You can erase the parts about "correction", "link to game", etc. I can figure that out based on how it's written.

Haberdasher - Really digging the background and the info you've provided. I like the idea of a character who has a lot of questioning going on his life, and how you've left it open for the future to see how he changes and evolves over time. And I absolutely hope that the game provides characters with a sense of advancement and progression.

Thorbes - Based on the concept you have of your character, which profession do you think he would have sought out before his Awakening? I can understand why a Moros would enjoy a career as a forensic pathologist. I think of surgeons as being mentally quick on their feet, decisive, and good under stress. Forensic pathologists may be more methodical, analytical, and interested in justice even if it means doing the "dirty work." Try to think beyond the character stats and more about what implications that career choice might have for Bardo.

crapcarp - Thanks for the comments, and the understanding. I didn't get the sense that you or any players are trying to "Munchkin" the system, I just wanted to be mindful that characters whose pre-Awakening backstory actually includes other mages don't have some kind of advantage over characters who are ignorant of mage society.

Caladriu - Your example/points are really spot on with what I had in mind. I think it would be possible to incorporate that into the story without making it front and center of everything that happens. Chicago is generally a very diverse, welcoming community and I think it would be interesting to consider how these issues play out in a (fictional) supernatural world.

On a side note, I'm kind of surprised no one has submitted a Mastigos character yet. A well-crafted character concept with a Path different from the other submissions would definitely get serious consideration. In general, the character submissions that are impressing me so far have a clear and compelling character persona, an interesting and fleshed out pre-Awakening history, and a clear reason for them to live in the Chicagoland area.

[Haberdasher]

Haberdasher - Really digging the background and the info you've provided. I like the idea of a character who has a lot of questioning going on his life, and how you've left it open for the future to see how he changes and evolves over time. And I absolutely hope that the game provides characters with a sense of advancement and progression.

Thanks! I had a few character concepts in my head, but the one that struck me most was the character who was big on cycles and patterns in the world, who was fascinated by how the Arcana were connected: Life begets Death, which begets Life; Forces shape Matter, which fuels Forces; Space and Time together are the fabric of reality; and they are all held together by knowable, predictable laws, by Fate. Then it turned into a character who sees the threads of Fate in science, in history, and in culture. And the Path that best personified that awareness, in my mind, was the Acanthus.

[Thorbes]

Well, Marvin's motivation for becoming a doctor was his own hereditary weakness, so perhaps his specialty and career could go in that direction, he wants to make people healthier, there's not much you can do for a corpse . That could streghten the posible bond with Vo, as my first instinct was for him to be one of the doctors involved in her case. Both being very different aproaches to the same Path is another nice touch. So, maybe my initial idea of a surgeon is still ok (plus I wanted his Tool to be a scalpel)

[Retias]

I'm a little overwhelmed by all the apps here. :O Need to go through and try to pick out possible links Sara/Spider could have to people.

And to add to it, Sara is possibly bisexual.

Connection ideas!

Vo: Both of them see a hidden world of science and numbers, albeit in different fashions. (Physics and code). They've both also been wrapped up in scandals that has had a big impact on their lives and how others see them.
Moonstone: I'm not sure here, I have the impression he won't really be known in La Grange until after his Awakening.
Lynx: Hm, again, not sure on pre Awakening ties.
Michael: Sara loves sci fi, and chess. Chess is great too. So that's two possible ways she could gotten ties to him.
Bardo: Possibly that link through Vo that was mentioned?
Phoenix: Sara is a talented hacker and problem solver. Perhaps she got caught up in one of his hunt even if she didn't know what was going on.
Ragnar: Perhaps the two of them met in college? Like Vo, he's studied science, which may interest Sara.

[rwknoll]

It's ok if you think of the connections to other characters after being selected. It might be hard to make all of them work just because of the number of characters. Also, don't feel like you need to make someone part of the LGBT community to fit in just because several other characters are. If that's what you had in mind already, totally cool.

Some ideas that could work that others haven't mentioned yet:

-- Some could be old high school friends, or grew up in similar neighborhoods
-- Some could be actual relatives (siblings, cousins, or even have a generation gap for characters with a wide enough age difference)
-- Friend of a friend; maybe you've only met the other person once or twice, but you have a mutual friend in common.

Feel free to create NPCs who may be a part of your back story. I would be curious to know more about the kinds of people who are important in your characters' lives, to add potential plot hooks.

As a heads up, I am going to be on a family vacation from Friday (7/1) through the following weekend (7/10) with somewhat fewer opportunities to post. My plan as of right now is to make selections tomorrow, so I can help with actual stats and character creation over the course of the next week. I can also use down time to flesh out my initial story ideas, and maybe kick off the game if I have enough time to do that. I'll be back and ready for a regular posting schedule on Monday, 7/11. Let me know if anyone has concerns about that.

[CarnivalCash]

I must admit I'm interested. Probably gonna whip something up for this.