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

[ChaosArchon]

It kind sucks given I was the one who initally asked for the game to begin with but oh well, I guess the rules are different off GitP forums...now to begin again the month and a half long wait for a Mage ST!

[Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon]

I'll admit, waking up to this pretty much made my morning. Thank you.

I don't mind having Lynx going to UChicago at all. I think a FYS would probably fit better than an introductory physics course for him. As Haberdasher suggests, Ragnar could also be a T.A. at the FYS, which means Lynx would know (of) the both of them.

While we're on the subject, since I haven't actually decided what Lynx would study abroad yet, Comparative Literature would be a good fit, I think. Could also strengthen his and Ragnar's bond.

I'm down with Lynx being a part of a LGBT student group too.

[Caladriu]

Thanks for picking me! I'm looking forward to this game. I'll keep thinking on Path, it might depend a little on what Arcana other people are looking at. Binder and Ragnar especially, do you know what you want to focus on?

Here's an actual concrete connection: Moonstone has stopped into Marlin's Books once or twice for the ol' "see if the occult bookstore has any Real Stuff we need to get our hands on" routine.

[crapcarp]

crapcarp - By having the rest of your Hunter cell suddenly die at the moment of your Awakening, we might be missing out on a really prime opportunity for plot hooks! I have 2 alternate suggestions for tweaking this. First, we could say that the other Hunters in your cell were all severely injured or maimed, mentally traumatized, or killed, but not all of them died. Or, I'd like you to add that your Hunter cell worked with another one in the Chicagoland area, and they've been trying to figure out what precisely happened to you after the Awakening event. Suffice to say that they're very curious about the things they've been able to figure out so far, and they're looking for you.

The point of the rest-of-cell-death thing was to create a plot hook with whatever killed his comrades while removing any constraints of a Hunter game since this isn't one. Though if you wanna explore a plot hook of how some Hunters familiar with Phoenix from before he Awakened would react to him becoming a mage, well then let's go with the latter alternative.

In fact, it makes sense. After all, Hunter cells can settle their differences in order to team-up against powerful creatures. A powerful creature could easily take out an entire cell (Phoenix was dead at the time the rest of his cell was killed). I'd like to discuss with Caladriu about the possibility of Hakim being the target of that hunt. Just an idea.

Well, that's sad, I had high hopes for this

I'll still read it to see how does Phoenix do.

Yeah, it is unfortunate (although kinda funny since before I thought I was the one not getting in). Perhaps they'll meet at a different time/chronicle, who knows?

[rwknoll]

Thorbes ChaosArchon - Like I said, I am very sorry that I couldn't pick everyone who submitted a character. This is my least favorite part of PbP games. The only way to avoid this issue is to take the first few players who apply, but I feel that it is more fruitful to take more player submissions and make decisions after everyone has had a chance to apply.

As I said in my post, I would be willing to consider running 2 games so everyone has a chance to play. I would need some time to figure out different plot hooks, but that's not the worst thing. I had some ideas of running another game out of the Colorado area, with more of a rural feel. Would that interest you?

[Thorbes]

The point of the rest-of-cell-death thing was to create a plot hook with whatever killed his comrades while removing any constraints of a Hunter game since this isn't one. Though if you wanna explore a plot hook of how some Hunters familiar with Phoenix from before he Awakened would react to him becoming a mage, well then let's go with the latter alternative.

In fact, it makes sense. After all, Hunter cells can settle their differences in order to team-up against powerful creatures. A powerful creature could easily take out an entire cell (Phoenix was dead at the time the rest of his cell was killed). I'd like to discuss with Caladriu about the possibility of Hakim being the target of that hunt. Just an idea.



Yeah, it is unfortunate (although kinda funny since before I thought I was the one not getting in). Perhaps they'll meet at a different time/chronicle, who knows?

Yep, it's ironic. I will follow your adventures as a reader, though

[rwknoll]

For the players who weren't selected for the Chicago game (Retias wtaylorjr2001 Thorbes Tambov ChaosArchon):

For the second game I would be willing to consider running, I'm thinking of a setting in Colorado (probably outside the Denver area) in which the Gauntlet is particularly weak, and experiencing odd fluctuations that lead to frequent and temporary Loci opening. There would be a very active and disturbed Werewolf population attempting to investigate and curb spirit-related issues, which would lead to conflict (and, at times, potential alliances) with the Uratha. The PCs would be exploring Mysteries related to the disturbances in the Shadow and Fallen worlds, including other Mages who might seek to take advantage of the local issues to gain power.

Would that interest you?

[wtaylorjr2001]

I would be interested in playing.

[Haberdasher]

Thanks for picking me! I'm looking forward to this game. I'll keep thinking on Path, it might depend a little on what Arcana other people are looking at. Binder and Ragnar especially, do you know what you want to focus on?

Here's an actual concrete connection: Moonstone has stopped into Marlin's Books once or twice for the ol' "see if the occult bookstore has any Real Stuff we need to get our hands on" routine.

Ragnar's Arcana is giving me a little trouble. I think Ragnar, at this point, sees the universe as made from the interaction of seven of the Arcana: woven from Space and Time, given movement and shape by Forces and Matters, and the drama of life being the cycle of Life and Death; and all six ruled over by the laws and patterns governed by Fate. Not sure seven Arcana is feasible, but I do think it ties into the Renaissance man mentality that Ragnar has: try to know at least one thing about every subject, and try to know everything about at least one subject.

Besides, when I ask myself, "what do I see Ragnar doing as an acknowledged Master in a consilium?", he's the quiet type who can basically corral people into doing what he wants them to do, the mentor type who never seems to take direct action, but is actually working feverishly behind the scenes, and if he ever does act directly, he knows a few ways to really mess your day up.

[Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon]

Lynx will focus on both Spirit and Life arcana. The original concept of him also had Matter, which tied in with the Lords of the Inanimate legacy. The more I think about him, though, the less I see him focusing on the material aspect of existence - on the other hand, nobody can really deny the efficiency of being able to get the spirit of a computer to just turn itself on and unlock encrypted contents,, or opening a door with a soft murmur, or having a gun eject its clip with a look. But there's no denying that, right now, he's not going to shy away from the ecstasy of flesh nor the spiritual that exists all around.

We'll figure it out eventually.

[MagicSwordsman]

Wooo! I got picked

MagicSwordsman - Your character has some very unique facets to his background that I am really interested in exploring with you. First, you're the only character who seems to be in a committed relationship or with kids. You're also the only hetero member of the cabal. The way Marlin feels about the LGBT community may influence how easy it is for him to come together with the others to form a cabal. If this feels forced for you, or if you don't have any particular reason for Marlin to meet up with the others, we can also say that he has met some of them (probably Ragnar at least) at a guest author seminar hosted by the University of Chicago.

Marlin is totally cool with LGBT, but I can't see him participating in the LGBT community, even as an ally. It just wouldn't really be on his mind (at least, until he joined a cabal with 5 non-hets, lol).

Ideas for connections:

Vo: If they both went to the U of C, then it's possible that despite winding up with completely different degrees, they ran into each other a couple times, or had a class together. Depending on the timeline, Marlin may have had Vo as a TA or professor? Then putting neighborhood gossip on top of that would give reason for Marlin to have thought of her recently. "Did you hear what happened to Vivian a couple blocks down?" "Wait... Vivian McAllister? I think I had a couple classes with her..." He'd probably write a short letter to show his support since it's more polite than showing up and rubbing it in her face.

Here's an actual concrete connection: Moonstone has stopped into Marlin's Books once or twice for the ol' "see if the occult bookstore has any Real Stuff we need to get our hands on" routine.

Definitely! It's possible that Moonstone was even on Marlin's short list of people to invite to his "ritual," though no one ended up getting actually invited. I also like the idea of them very occasionally playing chess at the park.

Ragnar/Pheonix/Lynx: It's possible that they came looking into Marlin's small collection of occult books while doing research, or that they met at the library; Marlin would make extensive use of the library even if his wife didn't work there.

Regarding Arcana, I'm thinking of starting Mind 3, Space 2, Spirit 1, but I'd also eventually like to expand further, into Prime at the very least.

[rwknoll]

I was hoping to have some down time today to write a more detailed post, but I'm turning out to be really busy today.

For the 6 PCs: Please start working on your character sheet, using the standard rules for new Mage characters. Try to include skills and merits that you think reflect the character concept you submitted. Let me know if you have questions, and I will help as I can.

Also, please put the character sheet in your original post with your character concept and background info, in a text format so I can read it.

[ChaosArchon]

For the players who weren't selected for the Chicago game (Retias wtaylorjr2001 Thorbes Tambov ChaosArchon):

For the second game I would be willing to consider running, I'm thinking of a setting in Colorado (probably outside the Denver area) in which the Gauntlet is particularly weak, and experiencing odd fluctuations that lead to frequent and temporary Loci opening. There would be a very active and disturbed Werewolf population attempting to investigate and curb spirit-related issues, which would lead to conflict (and, at times, potential alliances) with the Uratha. The PCs would be exploring Mysteries related to the disturbances in the Shadow and Fallen worlds, including other Mages who might seek to take advantage of the local issues to gain power.

Would that interest you?

That sounds pretty cool, yeah

[Haberdasher]

rwknoll Since our characters are fairly recently Awakened, do they not have Order status, and with that the rote skills, dot of Occult, and High Speech Merit that they would get with Order status?

[Caladriu]

And presumably no rotes, either. But do we get a Praxis since those are free? Also, not that I'm planning to do this myself, but can we exchange merit dots for Gnosis as usual?