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

[rwknoll]

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?

Great question! I forgot to mention this. Assuming you intend your character to join an Order, go ahead and pick your Order and indicate all of the things that normally provides (i.e., free dot of Order Status, rote skills, 6 dots of rotes, free dot of Occult, High Speech merit). However, you will not have access to any of those features in-game until you are initiated into the Order. This will happen early in the game, with the intention of very quickly getting the PCs together, forming a cabal, being presented to the Consilium, and having the opportunity to join the Order of their choice. Those bonuses will become active once you are in the Order.

Caladriu - Yes, pick Praxes as normal. You can exchange Merit dots for Gnosis per the standard rules. That means you can technically be Gnosis 3, but especially for characters who wanted to have connections with Awakened society before their actual Awakening, it would be harder to pull off while keeping true to your character concept. If someone in that position really wants Gnosis 3, we can talk about it and discuss pros/cons.

[Retias]

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?

I'm interested for sure, but can we create a seperate thread for it? I'd find it hard to seperate the games in one thread.

[rwknoll]

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.

I mean, I can see the dilemma. A lot of the Arcana are really neat and provide fascinating abilities and attainments. But don't forget the rules on distribution of dots among starting Arcana (e.g., most spread out allowed could be 2, 1, 1, 1, 1) and the fact that your Path has very important impacts on how Ragnar would understand magic. He can still be a "jack of all trades" if he desires, but his true understanding of magic is always going to be through the lens of his Acanthus Path. There isn't a "universal" Path. If you're stuck, try reading through the Acanthus Path description again and think how the details there might relate to Ragnar's personal philosophy and Obsessions.

[rwknoll]

I'm interested for sure, but can we create a seperate thread for it? I'd find it hard to seperate the games in one thread.

Yep, that was my plan. Just haven't had a chance yet. I can probably set it up in the next day or two, and we can discuss further. Anyone have a neat idea for the game? :P

[Tambov]

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?

Sounds Fun. And there's a good excuse to have a Familiar as a starting character.

[Tambov]

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.

What about Life 2/Spirit 2/Matter 2?

[Haberdasher]

rwknoll Thanks! I was doing a little reading, and actually dug up a copy of Awakening 1e. I took a look at the Walkers in Mists, and decided that the druid imagery fit with the Merlin/Dumbledore/Gandalf archetype that I was envisioning for Ragnar down the road. So that cleared up what Arcana I want to focus on: Fate primary, then Space and Time secondary, and finally Life tertiary. I'm also thinking that the théarchs' religious philosophy is particularly appealing to Ragnar, since a big part of his backstory is not being satisfied with Sleeper religions, and the Silver Ladder's philosophy could be a real "Aha!" moment for him. Plus the Silver Ladder's focus on leadership ties into the Merlin flavor for Ragnar: even if he's not leading the cabal himself, he's definitely throwing his two cents in for the benefit of who ever is.

[Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon]

What about Life 2/Spirit 2/Matter 2?

It's either going to be that or Life 2, Spirit 2, Matter 1, Other arcanum 1. I'll figure it out in time, of course.

Really looking forward to this now. It'll be strange to be a player, and equally strange to not use the houserules I have in my own games. Hopefully I won't forget anything.

[Thorbes]

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?

Sounds even more interesting than the former game

Are you sure you can manage two games at once? If so, I would be totally down for it. Bardo would be troubled without easy access to Spirit, but that's a hook unto itself. I also have a nice niche in mind for him.

[ChaosArchon]

Yep, that was my plan. Just haven't had a chance yet. I can probably set it up in the next day or two, and we can discuss further. Anyone have a neat idea for the game? :P

I was thinking maybe we start off in Egypt circa WW2. I think it would be kind of fun to be a group of Allied Mages fighting Nazi Mages and solving strange, ancient mysteries.

[Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon]

Yep, that was my plan. Just haven't had a chance yet. I can probably set it up in the next day or two, and we can discuss further. Anyone have a neat idea for the game? :P

I was thinking maybe we start off in Egypt circa WW2. I think it would be kind of fun to be a group of Allied Mages fighting Nazi Mages and solving strange, ancient mysteries.

Incidentally, I tried to run a WW2 campaign, only the players were the Nazis / Seers. It began in November, 1939; the group consisted of an Acanthus WW1 Veteran soldier; a Moros scientist working on nuclear warfare; and a female Obrimos Daksha member of the Gestapo. Officially, they were members of the Ahnenerbe - but they were secretly an infiltration cell meant to root out and hunt down Supernal threats to the Reich.

Sadly, it only lasted a couple of sessions. They went and solved some communication mysteries in Stralsund involving some British Pentacle spies, and there was a monster that was killing greater spirits all over the country. Then the group fell apart because of time commitment issues...

I'm now running a campaign set in Basque, 1992, in an alternate world where Germany won WW2... Which is ultimately what would've happened if the WW2 campaign had continued. We just finished our 14th session, and I just finished writing today's recap. It ended up 5.5 pages long... Ah, good, tiresome fun.

[Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon]

As I'm making Lynx, I realise I've got a minor disadvantage with being a foreign exchange student: I need to spend 1 of my 10 Merit dot on Language (English). I don't really mind doing so, but I'd like to know your opinion on this issue, rwknoll. After all, native language is Norwegian.

[Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon]

I did not mean to triple-post :< I am bad at this.

I've begun on the character sheet. It looks like arse right now, to be honest, but it's better than nothing.

[rwknoll]

So I definitely had a typo. I meant does anyone have a neat idea for a game title. The story idea I had is in a previous post: rural Colorado, Gauntlet splitting and Loci forming, conflict with Werewolves and other Mages, etc. Sorry about that.

[ChaosArchon]

Wolfpack Mountains?