43
votes
Accepted
Is there any documented proof of Mage: The Ascension writer intoxication?
To give some background to the creation of World of Darkness, the initial idea was put forth by Mark Rein-Hagen in a car trip with Stewart Wiek and Lisa Stevens:
While Rein-Hagen was on the road with ...
- 1,060
39
votes
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Why keep your own Paradigm as a Mage?
Because of confirmation bias
The act of Awakening is not described as a coherent, logically sound philosophical reasoning that leads the Mage to believe in his paradigm over ones of his peers. ...
- 17.1k
31
votes
Accepted
How can I make an overbearing government's unwelcome attention convincing without it dominating screen time?
The Government has no time for small fries like you
Technocracy appears to be a monolithic Big Brother, spying on everyone at all times, but the truth is that their goals can leave even the best ...
- 17.1k
31
votes
How do all the World of Darkness and Chronicles of Darkness RPGs connect?
Connections and Lack Thereof
World of Darkness (Classic) and Chronicles of Darkness (formerly unofficially known as 'new' World of Darkness) are a spiritual predecessor/successor pair, not part of the ...
31
votes
Is there any canon lore reason why urban werewolves haven't destroyed vampires (or vice versa)?
Vampire Elders are more powerful than the most powerful Werewolves.
While PC werewolves are much more powerful than PC vampires, the upper end of their power scales are very different - even before ...
- 13.7k
30
votes
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Is there any canon lore reason why urban werewolves haven't destroyed vampires (or vice versa)?
The werewolves are likely to win almost every battle, but the vampires would likely win any full scale war.
Overall they aren't likely to care too much about each other. The vampires have every ...
- 33.3k
28
votes
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Are Old and New World of Darkness the same or different worlds?
Despite the many similarities, they are different games with different systems and settings.
nWoD is a reimagined oWoD. The relationship between the two is much like that between 1970s Battlestar ...
- 14k
26
votes
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Can we ignore or keep playing after the Apocalypse and keep canon?
Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition.
The sourcebook explicitly tells that there is no "fixed" canon history, you can play as you want to (the Avatar Storm didn't happen etc.), but it does ...
- 2,180
26
votes
How do I handle a character bent on diablerie of an Antediluvian?
Why do you have to "handle" this?
The player has agency. You can give him information that says that facing an antediluvian is a bad idea. You can telegraph all kinds of ways that should the ...
- 33.2k
25
votes
Accepted
Why do the antediluvians want to consume their spawn?
Because they can't eat anything else.
A vampire's (effective) generation has a significant effect on their power level in a variety of ways. This includes the maximum amount of vitae they can hold, ...
- 55k
25
votes
Accepted
Where do the symbols for the Spheres in Mage: the Ascension come from?
As Guybrush McKenzie’s fine answer notes, Wikipedia claims these are alchemical symbols depicted in Symbols, Signs, and Signets by Ernst Lehrer, 1950. However, I haven’t been able to find a copy of ...
- 346k
24
votes
How can I handle a player who seems to utilize skills their characters don't have?
The leadership scenario is sometimes inevitable depending on the players you have. It's natural for more experienced players to fall into a leadership role because they have more experience and newer ...
- 797
24
votes
Accepted
What factors led to the poor reception and early cancellation of Wraith: The Oblivion?
Wraith was challenging to run, and didn’t offer the same social rewards as Vampire, Werewolf, or Mage.
As an "oldbie" of the era, Wraith was my jam. I remember going and acquiring it the day ...
- 54.3k
22
votes
Accepted
What happens if a character's declared action becomes impossible?
The action is wasted, at least as it was intended
The major basis for that statement is that combat rounds in V:tM are three-second slices of time with simultaneous actions. The initiative order is ...
- 21.6k
21
votes
Is there any canon lore reason why urban werewolves haven't destroyed vampires (or vice versa)?
Numbers, for one thing.
There's about a tenth as many werewolves as there are vampires, and those are divided among thirteen tribes. (One estimate sets the number of Glass Walkers and Bone Gnawers ...
- 54.3k
19
votes
How to protect my human from vampires
Some ideas :
The easiest thing to do is to misdirect your enemies by giving them the impression that the human is under the influence of an elder vampire of the city - someone they wouldn't dare to ...
- 417
19
votes
Accepted
Restoring a Vampire to mortal life
Maybe.
Rumours speak of a sacred few who have escaped the Curse of Caine and
become mortal again. Such stories of Redemption have existed for
centuries, as have tales of eternal Damnation. If ...
- 4,150
19
votes
Accepted
How can I entice my tactical players to embrace cinematic combat?
Stunt Dice
This comes from Exalted. Give them a bonus of +1 to +3 dice when they're:
Trying things that they haven't done before
Describing their actions with flair and flavor
Do not give the bonus ...
- 3,512
19
votes
How do I handle a character bent on diablerie of an Antediluvian?
You don't.
You do want to wake Ravnos? Welcome to the end times! If the player wakes Ravnos, then the following happens canonically, and I strongly suggest you grab the books Gehenna, and maybe ...
- 40.1k
19
votes
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What are the main changes from Vampire: the Masquerade V20 to V5?
The main system changes
Vitae is no longer tracked through a blood pool. Instead, up to five dice in every test pool are replaced with contrasting-color "hunger dice"; the more of these ...
- 54.3k
19
votes
Accepted
Would a nuclear weapon be morbidly efficient against an Antediluvian?
If you've got a risen Antediluvian in your game, what you've got is a Gehenna chronicle, one where the end of the world of vampires is nigh. Time of Judgment: Gehenna has some things to say about the ...
- 54.3k
17
votes
Accepted
Blood bonded through human victim
Depends
The wording in that section of the rulebook (3rd Edition p218):
Each sip of a particular Kindred's blood ... If a being drinks three times, on three separate nights, from the same Kindred, ...
- 4,249
17
votes
Accepted
Can you raise a discipline to 5 at character creation?
Each character starts with 3 dots worth of Disciplines, so if you put all three into the same dot, and then spend 14 of your 15 Freebie points on the same Discipline, you could very well do so. There ...
- 4,148
17
votes
Accepted
How to play Appearance straight and right?
What is Appearance?
Appearance is a long-troubled stat, which in WoD 20th Anniversary and at the tables of many reasonable GMs has been interpreted as "ability to give a good impression based on ...
- 17.1k
17
votes
Does a Prince in Vampire: The Masquerade approve their own childer?
Yes.
The third and fourth traditions are absolutely bent in favor of Princes. That's the way that the founders of the Camarilla wrote them. It is certainly good practice to foster your childer before ...
- 54.3k
17
votes
Accepted
Does having a bigger die pool mean you botch more often?
That's a quirk of 1E mechanics regarding botches. In earlier versions, a botch was defined as "more 1s rolled than successes." The current rule, "no successes and at least one 1," makes the problem go ...
- 54.3k
17
votes
Why does Vampire: The Masquerade have clans that are made or supposed to be unplayable?
I can't speak to ST decisions, as every ST is allowed to determine for themselves what would and wouldn't work for their own game. That's entirely their prerogative.
STs aside, given Vampire's 20th ...
- 179
17
votes
Accepted
About the Cosmology of Mage the Ascension
That image you're using is one I created for the Unofficial White Wolf Wiki. I founded the Wiki, work for the current publishers of Mage, and 2001's Guide to the Traditions was my first RPG credit. I'...
- 194
17
votes
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What was the 13th Vampire clan before the Tremere appeared?
5th edition use the same setting as the previous Masquerade games, just altered a bit by the passage of time. For "canon purposes," you can safely assume the big stuff is the same unless it'...
- 29.1k
16
votes
Accepted
What is the minimum essential reading for a new Mage: The Ascension player?
If more info is needed / required with regards to the Quickstart rules, then there's:
Chapter Eight:
Rolling Dice
Difficulties
Actions: The various Types
Failure
Success
Chapter Nine:
Part I: ...
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