Mage: The Podcast

Adam and Pooka discuss Algernon Blackwood’s fiction, his occult interests, his fascination with nature, and what his stories can teach Mage: The Ascension Storytellers about the sublime, supernatural uncertainty, spirits, Correspondence, Awakening, and psychological horror.
Show Notes
Mage 20 SRD
Blackwood, the Golden Dawn, and psychical research
Why “The Willows” remains influential weird fiction
The sublime as a tool for Mage
Correspondence and “A Victim of Higher Space”
Magical instruments in “A Psychical Invasion”
Hermetic magic in “Smith: An Episode in a Lodging House”
Reincarnation and “Ancient Sorceries”
Psychic vampirism and “The Transfer”
Sleepers encountering the supernatural
Playing Awakening instead of relegating it to backstory
Using wilderness settings in Mage and “The Wendigo”
Psychological horror without Nephandi or cosmic monsters
Mystical isolation, obsession, and chantries
Using Sphere perceptions to generate story hooks
Why Blackwood may feel especially appropriate for Mage: The Ascension (Second Edition)
A note on the 1910 wilderness novella
The episode discusses Blackwood’s use of material drawn from Algonquin-speaking Indigenous cultures while distinguishing his Edwardian weird fiction from the living traditions he transformed.

Tomes of Magick: The Other Side of the CoinWe’re returning to Tomes of Magic in Translation with a Spanish-language introductory adventure for Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition.
La Otra Cara de la Monera is an 18-page one-shot for two to five players that introduces the Traditions, Sphere magic, Resonance, Paradox, Avatars, and magical Focus through an investigation into a series of horrific supernatural crimes.
The trail leads from an impossible murder scene to corrupted young mages, the Nephandus Mark Frazier, and an expanding metaphysical void that may eventually consume the surrounding neighborhood.
We break down all seven scenes, examine the five pregenerated characters, and discuss what happened when the adventure was actually run for a table containing both new and experienced World of Darkness players.
Show Notes Introducing new players to Mage
Spanish-language M20 material
Investigation using Sphere magic
Resonance and Paradox
Nephandi as introductory antagonists
Magical temptation and corruption
Focus, paradigm, and Avatars
Collaborative Sphere effects
Running the adventure as a one-shot
What worked—and what could be changed—after actual play
Spoiler warning: The adventure is discussed almost completely.

What happens when a Mothership scenario is brought into Mage: The Ascension?
Adam examines Gradient Descent, a science-fiction horror scenario set aboard an abandoned android factory controlled by an AI called Monarch. The station contains valuable technology, discarded androids, copied human minds, unreliable allies, zero-gravity hazards, and an intelligence determined to make visitors question whether they were ever human.
The episode considers how to use the Deep as an Iteration X construct, how Monarch might connect to the Matriarch or Threat Null, and how the scenario can work for Technocrats, Tradition mages, Disparates, acolytes, or extraordinary citizens.
Show Notes
Mothership - A sci-fi horror TTRPG with OSR-style, d100 rules and stress/panic mechanics, inspired by Alien and Event Horizon.
Gradient Descent - A 64-page sci-fi horror megadungeon for Mothership, written by Luke Gearing, illustrated by Nick Tofani, published by Tuesday Knight Games (2020)
Iteration X and Technocracy campaign hooks
Correspondence, Life, Mind, hacking, and scenario balance
Why the station works best outside the Umbra

The World of Darkness is as global a phenomenon outside the games as it is within. Many of the books have been translated by one licensee or another over the years, and a precious few have been created by and for the fans in other countries. In this installment of Tomes of Magick, Pooka cracks open the Mage chapter from 1997's Le Monde des Ténèbres: France, a French-only general WoD book that explores that country in the setting. What are the Verbena doing around the megaliths of Carnac? Who's pulling the strings of the then-nascent EU? Why is the Digital Web so weird in this part of the world? Listen in for these and other tantalizing questions.

“Zoning boards are where the fight against the Technocracy must needs be fiercest and firmest.”

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Adam and Heilong discuss the Sphere of Prime. Is it worth keeping?  What can it do for you?  How does it affect quintessence and other things?  Is Primal Utility a thing? Tune in and hear about new possibilities for bringing the Sphere into your games.

Mage the Podcast social media links
Website
http://magethepodcast.com

Patreon
https://bit.ly/MagePatreon

Bluesky
https://bsky.app/profile/magethepodcast.bsky.social

Mastodon
https://dice.camp/@magethepodcast

Threads
https://www.threads.net/@magethepodcast

Discord
https://discord.gg/V6QNT8b8