Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition
I started my three-decade romance (29 years to be exact) with the World of Darkness waaaaay back in 1991 with the first edition of ‘Vampire: the Masquerade’. Vampire is, definitely, my first love, and it will always hold that prime position in my heart of hearts.
When the original WoD game lines ended through the late 90’s and early 00’s, I was bereft, but I still had that massive collection of core and supplemental books that we all can attest to.
Despite buying the books, I never more than lightly read Mage: the Ascension. That’s my own fault.
When the 20th Anniversay esitions if the World of Darkness games were announced, I was, of course, excited like I was a teenager all over again.
I eagerly bought the premium color copies of all five core games as they released, devoured the new updates to Vampire, and gave them all the choicest of new homes on my bookshelf.
Now, back in the swingin’ 90’s, I had a couple of friends who really enjoyed Mage, but they never ran even a single session of it, so I never got to play the game. But I always play the Wizard in high-fantasy games like D&D, so i saw my copy of Mage 20 (M20) sitting there all perfect and flawless on its shelf, and I decided “What the hell. Let’s go for it”.
So now I’m hooked reading about this game!
Author’s note: As of the writing of this article, I am a little over halfway through the book. So as my understanding of the game improves, expect more articles about Mage to be mixed in with my articles about Vampire. Youve now been warned.
First Impressions
The first impression you get when looking at the M20 core book, is that this fucker has some heft! Pardon the language, buts it’s actually quite a large book. I mean, I’m not intimidated in any way by depth and volume of content, quite the opposite! The more Lore, background material, character customization, and fluff you can throw into a TTRPG, alk the better in my opinion.
I think it weighs in at a hefty 200-250 lbs. or so, but thats just my guesstimate. The cover is a beautiful royal purple, and designed with a ruffled silk cloth appearance. Contrasted by the striking gold lettering, and even just the outward appearance is a thing of beauty in itself.
Cracking the book open feels like you’re about to dive into a tome from Gandalf’s private library, which is an awesome feel all alone. The pages are wonderfully designed, with beautiful borders, gorgeous illustrations on the pages that compliment the subject matter thoroughly. On every page.
In all my years, rarely have I seen a core book for any TTRPG that’s as beautiful, well coordinated, and laid out as M20 is.
As I’ve said, I’m only a bit over halfway through the content, but I’m loving what I’m reading.
The World of Darkness, in all of its gritty, evil, darker-version-of-our-real-world glory, is maintained and wonderfully represented as it is in the other World of Darkness games like Vampire and Werewolf. If you’re at all familiar with Werewolf, then you’ll quickly recognize a bit of the topography of the game.
I love the descriptions and explanations to the Umbra as a whole and its various “levels”. I love the descriptions of the umbral realms, deep umbra, and all of the various… planes(?) of the multiverse that are described within. Theres so much depth of lore already, and then the authors and designers go on to hint at Realms yet undiscovered, and the hints at the Realms even farther out past what is known by Mages… really there is that aire of “infinite possibility” within these pages.
The Traditions
Similarly to how Vampires or Werewolves are grouped into Clans and Tribes (respectively), Mages are grouped into Traditions. Each Tradition seems to be more of a philisophical and intellectual grouping more than a hard “you are this” grouping like you have with the Clans and Bloodlines in Vampire. I assume that if a Mage wanted to change or abandon the Tradition(s), one definitely could. (Of course, as i said, im still very new to this particular section of the WoD, so if I’m wrong, I’m sure I’ll be corrected. 😁)
Out of the Traditions I can remember off the top of my head, the Verbena stick out to me nearly immediately. As a Wiccan and Witch in real life, there seems to be a sort of kindred-spirit there. But then, the Sons of Ether and the Hermetics also intrigue me, so there’s that.
Forgive me if I am brief on any if these topics. Im still learning the game, and diving in with only Vampire as a good reference point, so there’s a ton of knowledge I haven’t been exposed to yet, but I do know that Mage fits very well into the rest if the WoD, and I’m excited to keep exploring it.
Overall, (and my memory is failing me as I write this in some free time at my mundane job) I love what I’ve read so far.
I knew that M20 would be packed with Lore. All of the 20th anniversary games are.l, but I was unprepared for the volume of Lore waiting for me. Out of all of the games, Vampire is the one I know that has as much Lore behind it, and I’m loving the deep dive into it. I can tell already that it will take me quite a while to learn Mage as I have done with Vampire over the years, but this book has me intrigued and excited enough to do just that.
And sure, I know it sounds like I’ve been a gushing fan-boy for most of this article, and in a way, I am. But the book is worth it in my opinion, and I’m sure I’ll love the game even more as I continue to read and absorb the knowledge.
Personally, I’m really looking forward to reading about the specific rules and systems of the WoD as they pertain to Mage, and the Spheres and their myriad possibilities to reshape reality itself.
I’m excited to dig into … everything to do with Avatars, Paradox, Oracles, the Technocracy, etc. Just the promise that it all holds is wonderful and new right now, and I have to remind myself that I have to put the book down every so often.
Final Thoughts
I’ve got a lot more to read, and I definitely look forward to it. In much the same manner that Vampire captured my heart and imagination back in the early 90’s, Mage is bringing all those “good feels” right back again as I delve into it in 2020.
I feel that I cheated myself by only lightly reading about Mage during its heyday, but I have the opportunity to rectify that now.
One thing I do love about all of the 20th Anniversary game editions, is the cleaned up rules for cross-overs between the different games. The ability to cross and mix the different games into one another only deepens and enriches the World of Darkness, and I can easily see Mage being the easiest of the five to mix in with the other four. And I do have a brief, shallow base of knowledge of Mage already from my past, but I realize upon really diving into the game, that my knowledge was like one snowflake on an iceberg of a game. And the promise of that much more game really excites me.
I can’t wait to keep reading and studying Mage for years to come. I know I’ll be able to do the Mages justice when I mix them into my Vampire Chronicle (when the Story needs it, of course).
But I also hope that I do get to play Mage. As I’ve said, I love Vampire. But Vampire is a game that I love, but don’t get to play, as I’m usually the one Storytelling and running Vampire. I know I’m light-years away from ever ST’ing a Mage game, and while the thought intrigues me, I think I’d much rather be a Player in a Mage game.
But I love what I’m reading, and I’ll reiterate that Mage has definitely become the strongest “second love” of the WoD for me.
I fully plan on buying the ‘Gods & Monsters’ title, as well as ‘Book of the Fallen’ in the near future, and delving into those to further increase my understanding of Mage and all of its infinite possibilities.
The title and core idea behind this blog is “Nocturnal Gods”, and how the powers of Vampires really do make them akin to God’s if the night. But just based off of what I’ve read so far, Mages easily fit within that ideology as well.
So, as I keep reading and learning, expect more articles about Mage to be liberally mixed in with my articles espousing my sickeningly cloying love of Vampire.
I know I’m definitively excited for this journey, and I hope I can entertain you with it along the way.
Until then, I’ve got a book to continue reading.
~Nox
Lasombra, 7th Gen (and now also an initiate into the world of Mage)
Morte Ascendo
Nocturnal Gods 