

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

Apr 25, 2020 • 1h 14min
Technocracy Reloaded Kickstarter Preview with Danielle Lauzon and Travis Legge
It's been almost 7 years since the last Technocracy-only book came out. So what are they up to now? Technocracy Reloaded, the upcoming M20 release on Kickstarter starting April 28th answers that question in spades. Developers Danielle Lauzon and Travis Legge sit down with Terry for a wide-ranging conversation on how the Technocracy has been updated for the 21st century. Has there been a civil between the Syndicate and the NWO? What's it like having a family in the Technocracy? Can one of the Fallen possess a HIT Mark? Listen and find out!M20 Technocracy Reloaded Kickstarter will come online on Tuesday, April the 28th, at 2pm Eastern US time! Keep an eye on http://theonyxpath.com/ to see when it goes live and please consider backing this wonderful book!Prior Technocracy books:Guide to the Technocracy - 2e Update on the monolithTechnocracy Bundle - All the Technocracy texts at a good priceTravis has worked on: All the Scarred LandsDanielle has worked on: All the CoD and ScionOnyx Path's Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/theonyxpath

Apr 18, 2020 • 1h 14min
Tomes of Magick: Book of Mirrors: Mage Storytellers Handbook
Mage is a sprawling game and while it has dozens of supplements, how do you put them together into an actual game? Book of Mirrors: Mage Storytellers Handbook was written to provide ideas on alternative chronicle settings, some basic how tos, and an invaluable survey of the Ascension War. Adam and Terry walk through what it has to offer and provide recommendations for the parts that haven't aged so well. Book of Shadows - the player guide for Mage for 1e and 2e Book of Madness - a fuller look at the Nephandi and most aspects of the Marauders Wraith the Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition - A comprehensive summary of all of Wraith for people looking to explore the Labyrinth/Labyrinth connection.Gaming Resources: Bonus Experience - a podcast on game design and operations from two industry professionals Geek and Sundry's genre how tos - Geek and Sundry has published many guides on how to storytell by genre High Programmer Guides - Advice columns from a while ago The White Wolf subReddit - A WoD/CoD/Storypath subreddit with a fair amount of Mage advice Mage Onyx Path forums - Onyx Path's forums with regular ST Q&As The Angry GM - A GM advice series. Basics of Improvisation for GMs Guide to Providing Clues Notes on Railroading

Apr 11, 2020 • 1h 1min
Enemies of Ascension: The Dauntain, Thallain, and Adhene with Charlie Cantrell
Mage has the Marauders, Nephandi, and Technocrats as default antagonists, but what about something a little off the beaten path? In Enemies of Ascension, we look at antagonists Storytellers can introduce and NPCs players can encounter from the wider World of Darkness. Charlie Cantrell, Changeling the Dreaming: 20th Anniversary writers talks to Terry about the Adhene, Thallain, and Dauntain from the world of the Changeling and how to add them to your game.Charlie's Books: Changeling the Dreaming: 20th Anniversary Edition - Big book o' Changeling Kiths of Arcadia - Book adding the Kiths from the Arcadia card game Fragments of the Lycian Dream - Overflow material from Changeling Players Guide Changeling Players Guide - More Changeling! Changeling V5 Conversion Guide Other Changeling Books: Denizens of the Dreaming - Outline the dark-kith from the Dreaming Book of Lost Dreams - One of the books containing Changeling crossover rules Changeling Storytellers Guide - The other book containing crossover rules Dreams and Nightmares - a listing of Chimerical creatures Autumn People - Original reference for the DauntainRadio Free Arcadia - Charlie's imprint

Apr 4, 2020 • 33min
Tomes of Magick: Angel of Mercy & 1e Storyteller Screen
The first Mage Storytellers screen came out in 1993 and is a late entry for Tomes of Magick. This screen had a player-facing image that has caused a lot of talk over the years. Angel of Mercy is an adventure that was included. Hear all about what's in it and what it can do for you. Adam Simpson also adds some material to his earlier discussion of published adventures for Mage the Ascension.Mage ST screens at Dragons TroveMage ST screens at eBayStorytellers VaultOur executive producers are: Richard “Bat” Brewster Ira Grace Michael ParkerBecome a supporter of Mage: The Podcast.Contact us at magethepodcast@gmail.com with feedback and comments and please help extend the reach of the show by sharing it with friends.Subscribe to Mage: The Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and TuneIn.Join our Discord server.

Mar 28, 2020 • 1h 32min
Paradigm Deep Dive: Indigenous Magick with James Sambrano
The Dreamspeakers were assembled during the Grand Convocation by the Eurasian mages who weren't quite sure to do with the varied practices and paradigms of their indigenous peers. Indigenous magick is a varied topic with rich gaming opportunity, but how do we add it to our games while being respectful? James Sambrano, Mage writer and scholar of North American and African Indigenous practices provides some best practices, pitfalls, resources, and recommendations to adding these paradigms and practitioners to your Mage game.A Tribe Called Red's tracks "Before" and "Soon" from We are the Halluci NationResources James' Patreon where he writes stories and provides commentary Gods and monsters show - Previous episode on M20 Gods and Monsters Creating Indigenous Stories in Werewolf - interview with James on Werewolf the Podcast Blood and Dreams - 2e Tradition book collection containing Dreamspeakers, Verbena, and Cult of Ecstasy Tradition Book: Dreamspeaker - Revised book on the DreamspeakersOther Books Atlas of a Lost World - Book about what Ice Age North America was like and how the peoples of the era likely dealt with it 1491 - Book on what the pre-Columbian Americas were like Standing Rock protests - Protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline going through sacred territory Debt: a 5000 Year History - A book on how the notion of economy and exchange have changed over time The Island at the center of the world Notable People Joy Harjo - First Indigenous Poet Laureate of the United States Joseph Boyden - Canadian author who writes novels about the First Nations. A Tribe Called Red - Canadian music duo that incorporates First Nations musical elements

Mar 21, 2020 • 1h 12min
Tomes of Magick: Axis Mundi: The Book of Spirits
The World of Darkness is inhabited with all manner of creatures and some are not unique to one line. Ghouls and and chimera are associated with vampires and changelings, but what about spirits? Spirits are associated with mages and werewolf alike and Axis Mundi: The Book of Spirits explores both sides...but mostly werewolf. Adam and Terry walk through how to expand the Mage side, adapt the werewolf side and explore what strange and wonderful creatures you can add to your chronicle.Other Books Mentioned Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition - Current Werewolf core rulebook W20 Umbra: The Velvet Shadow - Best resource for the Vidare Spiritum and the Midrealms Bygone Bestiary - Collection of physical entities that have fled to the Umbra who may sometimes pop onto this side of the Gauntlet from time to timeOther Notes Menger Sponge - 2-dimensional object in 3-space that firebirds live in Anders Mage Page 2.0 Spirits - A big collection of spirits from Anders and co. Rising Fortune: NYC - A Discord chronicle for Mage run by Charles Siegel

Mar 14, 2020 • 54min
Midnight Approaches: Mechanics and Ideas from The Midnight World with James Davey
Mage has mechanics for injury to the body with health levels and injuries to your grip on reality with Quiet, but what about anxiety, PTSD, and other debilitating conditions? James Davey is a long time World of Darkness fan who's designed a game with that question in mind where characters glimpse the size of the multiverse granting both great power but with great stakes. The game emphasizes rapid character and story creation, and a core clock mechanic that drives plot, character advancement, tension, and possibly personal doom. Learn what you can steal!The Midnight World on KickstarterThe Midnight World on FacebookThe Midnight World on TwitterThe Dark Archive Podcast on the World of DarknessMage the Podcast Episode on Quiet, Madness, and Morbidity

Mar 7, 2020 • 1h 16min
Tomes of Magick: Dreamspeakers
The Dreamspeakers were initially presented as the ragtag band that has been spoken to by Gaia but in Second Edition their draw and depth expanded considerably. They are the travelers through the Dreamtime, warriors of the visionquest, and keepers of the balance but what does this mean? Adam and Terry talk about their practice, history, and paradigm as they discuss The Dreamspeakers Tradition Book.Midnight Express Wu-Keng episode - BK and Terry talk Wu-Keng307 RPG Podcast - Terry talks about Spheres, Adam talks about factionsDomain level play - RPG play at the level above troupe playBook of Crafts episode - Dreamspeakers are listed as reaching out to some Crafts but their invite is refused.The Mohawk Ironworkers - Group of indigenous construction workers behind the trope of First Nations skyscraper builders

Feb 29, 2020 • 1h 10min
Adding Horror to Mage with Bryce Perry from Darker Days Radio
Mage is a game of hope, action, and hubris in a world that is dark. Sometimes the darkness wins and we go from punk and gothic to horror. Bryce Perry from the horror game podcast Darker Days joins Terry to talk about how to add horror to your mage game.Just a note, this episode contains discussion of body horror, family terror, harm to children and family conceptually and a number of other things. Look below to get an idea of what we go over.The Baali - Group of vampires who do terrible things to keep dark things asleep.Friday the 13th - Archtypal slasher film where kids are killed off in revenge.Consent Checklist - One method of verifying and checking what game types and themes players are or are not ok with.Consent in Gaming - A Monte Cook Games publication on how to tackle adult themes.The Lottery - Short story about a community that practices an annual sacrifice ritual.The Wicker Man - Movie about an out of towner brought in as sacrifice to a dark thing10 Candles - A gothic horror game (rather than survival horror) where everyone dies at the end.Betrayal at the House on the Hill - Board game of discovery then action where tension builds with an omen mechanic.The Expanse RPG - a Green Ronin game, variant of AGE with a number of interesting mechanics like Churn to create tension and Fortune to replace Health.Dark Heresy - Game set in the Warhammer Universe with purity and sanity mechanicsJacob's Ladder - 1990 film about someone recovering from trauma and it not going well. Psychological horror.Faculty of Horror podcast - a non-scary discussion of horror movies and how they work.Cosmic Horror in Mage - Our episode on cosmic horror Sins Washed Away - the latest CoD publication from the Darker Days folks

Feb 22, 2020 • 1h 43min
Tomes of Magick: Beyond the Barrier: The Book of Worlds
The Umbra is explored by many Night-Folk with wraiths in the Shadowlands, changelings in the Dreaming, and Werewolves in the Velvet Shadow. What about mages? Adam and Terry provide a tour of the Tellurian and the Realms of limitless potential full of warring gods, metaphors made real and more than one set of dinosaurs in Beyond the Barrier: The Book of Worlds. Umbral Map - A translation of the French map of the Umbra Mars Trilogy - Sci fi books by Kim Stanley Robinson where a central theme is "how much should we leave a place unchanged? Anders Mage Page Realms - Realms you can insert into the Umbra of your Chronicle. Anders Mage Page Umbrood - Umbrood you can use in your Chronicle. The Sandman comics by Vertigo - listed in Book of World's recommended reading list and Adam seconds that opinion. You can not only get great ideas for realms large and small but also see different ways to travel between them.Episodes Mentioned: Tomes of Magick: Digital Web - Adam and Terry discussion the technomancer's favorite Zone, the Digital Web. Verbena Tradition Book - The Seasonal Realms are discussed as mysterious places where no one quite knows where they came.Books Mentioned : The Infinite Tapestry - Revised edition guide that expands many Umbral locations Umbra: the Velvet Shadow - Werewolf 20 guide to the Umbra Wraith 20 - Core book outlining life as a Wraith Book of Oblivion - Wraith 20 guide to areas beyond Stygia and the Shadowlands Orpheus Rules - Game were you are mortals projecting into the Underworld Scion: Origins - Scion 2e guide to characters and introducing the pantheon and such The Primal Order: Pawns - Worth a look for ideas on Umbrood. Chessboards: The Planes of Possibility - Adam highly recommends this book for ideas on Umbral realms and how to travel between them.