Mage: The Podcast

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.”

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

We climb John H. Steele’s Tower of Babel, a Mage novel full of creators, characters, conspiracies, and reality getting mighty leaky around the edges. It’s metafiction, Technocracy trouble, dream-tower theology, and one poor writer learning that when your fiction talks back, maybe don’t answer after drinking.
Show Notes
Tower of Babel - Book man invents fascist action guy. Fascist action guy becomes real. Magic happens. Bureaucrats get spooky. Reality files a complaint.
John H. Steele - wrote lots of White Wolf fiction, helped shape the Clan Novel Saga, and used the pen name Gherbod Fleming.