

Mage: The Podcast
Mage: The Podcast
A podcast dedicated to exploring the Mage: The Ascension, a role-playing game (RPG) based in the World of Darkness.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 16, 2021 • 1h 4min
Scion: Dragon/Mage: the Ascension Crossover with Danielle Lauzon
The world of Mage is teeming with strange creatures so why not add dragons? Scion: Dragon explores the powers and agendas of the mythic creatures and their heirs and developer Danielle Lauzon shares how dragons can go in your Mage game.The Kickstarter campaign!Scion core books:Scion: Origins - Book outlining starting Scions and the storypath system Scion: Hero - Book on more powerful Scions Danielle's author pageDanielle's Twitter account

Jan 9, 2021 • 1h 13min
Tomes of Magick: Sorcerer Revised
The grip of Paradox has tightened but sorcerers, psychics, extraordinary citizens, and practitioners of limited or codified magick are unhindered. So what are they up to? Adam and Terry talk new groups, new paths, new systems, and PSYCHIC POWERS in Sorcerer Revised.Next Book: Lost Paths: Ahl-i-Batini and TaftaniWorld of Darkness: Sorcerer - Prior Sorcerer book which was less free-form and overall smallerPrior Episode on SorcererHunters Hunted II - Another book on antagonists including some magickal and semi-magickal societies as well as numina.True Faith was not in this book but it's expanded in Tradition Book: Celestial Chorus

Jan 2, 2021 • 1h 10min
Call of Cthulhu and Games We Stole from in 2020 with Mike of Darker Days Radio
What games did you play in 2020, and more importantly, what hacks, mechanics, settings, and ideas can we take from them to bring into Mage? Mike from Darker Days Radio talks Sanity from Call of Cthulhu, quick stats from the Pip system, focus from Soulbound, and more as we review the games we played in 2020.Games mentioned Wrath and Glory - The story of eight systems cut off from the rest of the Warhammer world Pip system - A simple stat system that's kid-friendly Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition - Recent edition of one of the oldest RPGs Tomb of Dreams - Exalted 3e quickstart game Soulbound - Another Warhammer game which is where the Focus discussion comes from Mork Borg - Black metal d20 RPG Genesys generic system - Fantasy Flight's house system where each die roll tells a story Revised Mage Quickstart - Simplified version of Mage RevisedPodcasts mentioned The Story Told - Generic RPG podcast which also does a recurring Exalted liveplay Gehenna Gaming - Horror gaming rpg group Darker Days Radio - Horror RPG podcast Systematic Understanding of Everything - An Exalted explainer podcast

Dec 26, 2020 • 36min
Tomes of Magick: Dragons of the East Bonus
A bonus episode to go with our episode on Dragons of the East. Adam Simpson offers some ideas for bringing East Asia into your Mage Chronicles.Seven Branch Sword https://michael-chen-mg2n.squarespace.com/news/2017/10/12/legendary-7-branched-sword-of-japan https://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-other-artifacts/seven-branched-sword-mystical-ceremonial-sword-japan-003185 http://nihonshoki.wikidot.com/scroll-9-jingu (look for Death of the King of Baekje)Books Religion in Contemporary Japan by Ian Reader. University of Hawaii Press 1991 Japanese Religions Past & Present by Ian Reader, Esben Andreasen & Finn Stefansson. University of Hawaii Press 1993 Ninja Attack! by Hiroko Yoda & Matt Alt. Kodansha International 2010 True Path of the Ninja by Antony Cummins & Yoshie Minami. Tuttle Publishing 2011 Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa. Kodansha International 1967 (1992) Yokai Attack! by Hiroko Yoda & Matt Alt. Tuttle Publishing 2008 Kojiki by Donald L. Philippi (translator). University of Tokyo Press 1968 The Classic of Mountains and Seas by Anne Birrell (translator). Penguin Classics 1999 The Journey to the West by Anthony C. Yu (translator). University of Chicago Press 1977

Dec 26, 2020 • 1h 37min
Tomes of Magick: Dragons of the East
Dragons of the East vastly expands Mage Revised’s territory by outlining the Awakened world in large parts of East Asia. Adam and Terry review the major points like the mysterious new groups ranging across Mongolia’s steppes to the dense forests of Vietnam and an ancient conspiracy of the Dalou’laoshi that lurks in the edge of the Technocracy....maybe.Show Notes This book: Dragons of the East Next book: Sorcerer RevisedNotes Book of Crafts episode Midnight Express Episode on the Wu-Keng Ailon Rouge's Chantry Project

Dec 19, 2020 • 1h 4min
The Order of Hermes in the 21st Century with Stephen Michael DiPesa
For over twelves centuries the Order of Hermes has pushed will as the key of magick, where do they stand in the 21st century? Stephen Michael DiPesa authored Tradition Book: Order of Hermes and Blood Treachery and shares where he thinks the Hermetics would be today.Stephen's written for a number of other games and White Wolf lines and shares his experiences as an RPG writer.WoD Books: Blood Treachery - Revised book outlining the Wizards March declared against Clan Tremere Tradition Book: Order of Hermes - Revised Tradition Book Infinite Tapestry - Revised book on the Umbra Mage Storytellers Handbook - Handbook outlining a dozen dozen directions to take a Mage game Ascension - The last book of Revised Mage the Awakening: Second Edition

Dec 12, 2020 • 1h 16min
Tomes of Magick: Blood Treachery
The Order of Hermes is cut off from the Horizon Realms that form the basis of its power and struggling to find its footing after realizing they can no longer destroy the Technocracy. What's a Tradition to do? Decvlare war on the Tremere to try and get their stuff back! Blood Treachery advances the Revised metaplot with a bang weaving a tale of magick, blood, hubris, and guncotton in an exploration of what the Order has become but might yet be. Adam and Terry walk through what's changed from the Hermetic magick that makes your blood explosive to the new Astral Courts and the revelations as to the true reason Mistridge fell.This book: Blood TreacheryNext book: Dragons of the EastOthers references: House of Tremere - Information the historical Tremere Clanbook: Tremere - Revised book outlining the hierarchy Tradition Book: Order of Hermes - Revised book on the Tradition written in the wake of the Wizards March.

Dec 5, 2020 • 1h 21min
Magick and Music in the 60s with Satyros Phil Brucato
JFK was just been inaugurated as president, Patrice Lumumba is assassinated the Berlin Wall is built, Elvis returns, Motown is founded, and the Cold War is in full-swing but what's going on in the Awakened world? Mage Developer Satyros Phil Brucato walks through ideas in using the 1960s as a chronicle setting, how it's informed by what came before, and how it sets the stage for our modern Ascension War.References: The Avengers - British espionage TV show Get Smart - American spy parody James Bond - British secret agent movie series based on books by Ian Flemming Gojira - 1954 kaiju film introducing Godzilla The Warmth of Other Suns - Book about the internal Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson Sun Ra - American composer and experimental musician with a cosmic philosophy Parliament-Funkadelic - American funk collective headed by George Clinton Baader-Meinhof Group - Far left German militant organization about which numerous films were made Velvet Underground - American rock band headed by Lou Reed The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard book set in an earth rendered largely uninhabitable Slaughterhouse-Five - Book by Kurt Vonnegut Music: A Subversive History - 2019 book on the cultural importance of music Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - Tarantino film set in 1969 LA The Prisoner - British avante garde science fiction film The Doors (movie) - Film about the music group the Doors through the 60s and 70s Malcolm X (movie) - Documentary based on Malcolm X's autobiography Standing in the Shadows of Motown - Documentary on the story of the Funk BrothersSatyros Valhalla with a Twist of Lethe - Satyros' book of short fiction Satyros Patreon Mage Made Easy - Satyros' guide to simplifying M20

Nov 28, 2020 • 1h 12min
Tomes of Magick: Dead Magic
With the master's gone, how is an Adept to achieve Mastery? By learning the secrets of the ancients through a mix of cultural outreach and maybe a little grave-robbing. Dead Magic explores the magic of the cradle of humanity, the ruins of Babylon, the forbidding tracts of North American of Arctic, and the visceral practices of Greece. Adam and Terry tour through the ruins of past magick and give recommendations on how to bring the contents into your game. Warning! This is a Black Dog Game Factory supplement and is a bit more gorey and bad-touchy than most Mage books.This book: Dead MagicNext book: Blood TreacheryRework of Giant’s Playground by AdamShaping up the Giant’s Playground should remain within Revised Edition’s parameters of keeping things on Earth so no portals to the Umbra or Horizon Realms. Making it mystically interesting goes against Revised Edition’s rich character development but I swear I’m going to print some T shirts with the message “Rage Against the Rich Character Development”. Yes, this is a reference to page 81 of The Bitter Road.The Giant’s Playground is a popular destination for visitors to Namibia although very few suspect its true significance. Mages who venture beyond the most popular rock formations and explore the interior will eventually reach a point where their mystic senses are aroused (Awareness + Perception or Wits, diff 6). Those who score 3 or more successes get a sense that space is stretched and wound differently than normal. Those with less successes get a feeling the place is special somehow and are free to try their first level Sphere senses. Those who botch become convinced someone has set a trap for the Awakened and will want to leave.The first level of Correspondence is enough to let mages perceive an entrance to the Playground’s true interior. The first level of Spirit should also be enough to let a mage open their senses to the spirits of the land who will guide the mage to the entrance. Once inside the true Giant’s Playground the visitors disappear from the view of aerial observers and Sleepers. The old, squarish rocks loom higher and closer as the visitors walk and form a labyrinth. Visitors will need an excellent sense of direction or the favor of the local rock spirits to find their way out safely. Correspondence magic is more difficult to use here, as if normal notions of space, volume and distance don’t apply.There is a palpable sense of power here. Old designs scratched into the stones hint at forgotten rituals. Those with Spirit magic will find it markedly easier to communicate with rock spirits here (Axis Mundi pg. 122).Some passages of the labyrinth, always open to the sky, lead to chambers that surround low, flat rocks roughly 10 feet in diameter. It isn’t hard to imagine the mages of long ago conducting rites here but information on what was done or who did it is lost to time. All Sphere magic used to scry here is blocked. The mage sees an image of an enigmatic stone idol.Members of the Ngoma claim the site is sacred and forbid others to visit. However, they do not guard it or interfere with anyone who has visited. The members of the Mad Zimbabwe sect of the Euthanatos will not speak of it at all.

Nov 24, 2020 • 18min
Minisode: Mage Merch with Rusted Icon
Rusted Icon is the licensed provider of World of Darkness glassware, badges, decals, and LARP tools other neat stuff including a full line of Mage Sphere glasses, and Tradition and Convention decals. Khris talks about running a small business, working with White Wolf, and his love of roleplaying. Between now and December 1st, use the code 'MTP20' to get 20% off of your entire order.Rusted Icon's web pageRusted Icon on Instagram