And among all this chaos ... the Mage stands tall, looking to Ascend.

Oh, it's not all fuzzy bunnies, being a Mage. There's pain, and death, and the rest of the World of Darkness to contend with. But Mages have something to fight for other than survival. They have ideals. (Perhaps morbid ideals, but nobody ever said morbid is wrong ...) They have dreams. And, in the World of Darkness as in our own world, the perception of reality shapes reality itself. (Okay, I play too many Malkavians in Vampire. So sue me.) This is what it means to be a Mage.

It would take far more space than I have here to explain the worldview behind Mage. Suffice it to say that Mage (at least Second Edition) is positive in outlook, with a scope that encourages the imagination. This setting focuses on wonder, pain, and Ascension to a higher state. The group Storyteller will either love this game or hate it: love because of the openness of a magic system that's actually -realistic- (okay, you Christians are probably laughing at me now - oh well), or hatred because you've just spent twenty hours of preparation on Umbral Lords and now your players just want to use the spirit world to break into a Technocracy stronghold.

When I read this book for the first time, it was almost a spiritual experience. This is what a magical RPG is supposed to be like, in my view. However, hack-n-slashers can wreak havock on the system, mainly through over-use of Forces. I find that taking Forces away entirely is the best way to deal with this nuisance ... although with a group of powermongers, perhaps Werewolf would be a better game for you.

Warning: Revised Mage takes all the wonder and hope out of the setting and leaves you with the same old gloom and croon of the rest of the World of Darkness. The developers certainly did a wonderful job of making sure that the backstory fit the rest of the WoD, but I'm rather sorry to see hope go. (Life is painful enough without vicarously living through a rotting pile of bones, IMHO.) So, I proudly recommend Mage: The Ascension Second Edition to the Real Roleplayers and Loonies out there, Revised Mage to the Real Men among you (heaven help us all), and Harvard to the Munchkins that exist like worms at the heart of every gaming group...


Not for everyone...   November 26, 2000
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

yes, I gave it five stars, and I will get to the why. But I do believe, like other reviewers, that this game might not suit everybody, and it is certainly not easy to either explain nor play without running into some quite peculiar pitfalls. I started out with RPGs when I was 12. I have read, played and "directed" at least 10 different RPG systems. Fantasy, star wars, star trek, marvel superheores (anyone whot thinks I was waaay to deep into it is absolutely RIGHT, I was positively addicted). I even wrote a short monthly column on RPGs for an "alternative culture" magazine for a while. So when my best friend and companion in roleplaying introduced me to White Wolf games (with a copy of Mage as a birthday present), I was openly distrustful. (Mages with computers? you gotta be kidding me!). However, I overcame my first impression and read it, read it and re-read it. I was hooked! What was going on with this game was REAL MAGIC! All the other RPGs I have played and directed have the same problem: magic is a static thing, confined to the stereotypes which are known by all: wizened old men, reading out of musty old books, recipes including bat dung and frog eyes. Interminable list of spells, some of them useless, some inaccessible until the characters were incredibly powerful already, and the eternal problem of mages being weak and useless once their spells were spent. Mage: the Ascension is my favorite RPG (out of, like I've mentioned, many others I've met and struggled with for a while). But, it's not for everyone. It's not a game you can throw at the players out of the blue. It's a challenging game for the Storyteller. Yes, it's White Wolf as far as the basic system is concerned, but the Storyteller must do extensive homework ,and at least skim some of the reference works and recommended further readings given by the authors (some of which, BTW, are very good). Otherwise any chronicle will look and sound bland. I agree with other reviewers in that the designers reach out for much and leave a lot of spaces and gaps: I believe this to be intentional. The flexibility implied by a game where reality is "up for grabs" does not allow any hard-and-fast rules regarding the nature of the stories or the possibilities of what the players might do. For example: the Technocracy's struggle can (in my opinion) be seen as equally "noble" than the one from the traditions, in that they can be understood as seeing themselves as protectors of humankind from "what's out there". They can also be insane megalomaniacs out for world domination, will ye or nay ye, but it's another thing the Storyteller must decide beforehand. The Traditions are another kettle of fish: in my opinion they are more guidelines than models to build characters upon. For example: the Akashic Brotherhood is way too big, attempting to encompass many different real-world beliefs in one page of description. Again in my opinion, an Akashic can be fashioned after Indian yogis or Tibetan ascetics just as they can be made to look and act like your regular action-film martial arts master. I tell my players not to delude themselves into thinking that all Akashics are bald, and assume kung-fu stances, and that not all Dreamspeakers wear loincloths and beat drums. The Avatar is another thing that most people I know who've played Mage seem not to understand. It's a great tool for the players to relate to their character and for Storytellers to keep the pace of the story in moments when the players seem to lose track of everything that's going on under their noses, but, again, if the Storyteller is not consistent with the Avatar thing, it either gets left out altogether, or the players see through it and cry foul when the Storyteller turns their Avatars on them. As for the system: I believe it to be a blessing, through and through. White Wolf's system really lets you forgo dozens o dice rolls, and its by far more "realistic" than any other RPG system in my experience. All the White Wolf books insist on it: tell stories first, roll dice only if it helps the story. Because, despite the occassional confusion in interpreting this or that (or finding stuff in the index: I agree, it's dreadful), can anybody deny that a magic system like this would be flat-out impossible to run with any other set of RPG rules? It's a great game, folks, but in order for it to be truly enjoyable and all that it can be, it does require more careful attention and input than other RPGs. Take the contents of this book as GUIDELINES, to be greatly expanded upon, and more than any other RPG let a lot of you into it. Do not be afraid to innovate, to discard what you don't like, and I venture to say that it will prove an unprecedented, exciting experience for all RPG enthusiasts, players and gamemasters alike.


Sounds like good ideas -- and then breaks down...   August 7, 1999
 5 out of 9 found this review helpful

Oh, White Wolf has brought another helping of teenage angst into the world. Mage is the second most intriguing concept they have come up with (Changeling is the best), but it falls apart is so many ways that it is hard to tell where to begin. I guess the magic is the best place as it is so central.

Everything in Mage is about personal and collective perceptions. Good start. Magic doesn't usually work because most people do not believe that it can work. Again, good. Therefore when a magus attempts a spell around nonbelievers there is a high chance of failure unless the spell is incredibly subtle. Wonderful!

And when a magus attmepts a spell with no nonbelievers around, there is a high chance of failure...

Why? If the use of magic or science is based on personal beliefs and biases, then a magus in the presence strictly of other magi or off by himself should be able to go to town; this would fit with the underlying philosophy. Not so! The world itself, which appears to be the ultimate Tabla Rasa in so many instances, reacts negatively to the magic.

I am tired of the Doomed Gothic-Punk world of White Wolf. Most of the ideas are retreads of my high school days (I graduated in 1977...). Magi with guns just seems silly. Magi with computers is interesting, but seems to work at cross purposes to the underlying premise of the game -- belief systems.

Nice for some ideas; poor if you actually follow the philosophy out to its logical conclusion.

The gaming system itself is nothing to write home about, either. Not really bad, but not really good. It just sits there.

Most of the 15-25 crowd will adore this game. I'll stick to Ars Magica


Reality is yours...if you can control the power   December 11, 1999
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

Dark forces approach, bent on world corruption. Technocratic minions seek to turn the world's mortals into mindless sheep and calicify the world in an order of static reality. And mad magicians wield their power without the knowledge of what they do. And you, a human Awakened to the power of Magick possess the key to stopping them all, unless you destroy yourself first. The third book in the World of Darkness series, Mage: The Acension is a story of human beings given power to fight back against the supernatural forces such as vampires, werewolves, and other, darker minions. Choose from one of nine traditions or seek your own path as you attempt to master your Magick and gain wisdom on your path to Acension. But beware, for because you exist, you have made enemies uncounted, who stand in every shadow ready to strike. Humanity is depending upon you to protect them from the dangers they are unaware of. You'd better not let them down...


Complex intellectual game of Magic(k) in the modern era   April 16, 1998
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

If you want a game to melt your mind, pick up Mage. This is the third of five lines of game books in the World of Darkness, and the one with the most hope. In Vampire, Werewold, and Wraith, you play the monster. In Changling, you play the doomed to die crazy hero. In Mage you wrestle with Reality. Your views shape the world around you. You are fighting other views, that clash with yours, to the point where your magic can be harmful to you. Overall, this is a great game. The layout is average, the system is standard White Wolf. The philosophy is fantastic. The world is what you make it. Literally. Things exist and happen because people believe they do. Your job is to change or survive people's beliefs. On the negative, the index is one of the worst I've seen. 1st Edition Mage had a much better index. The index is too short and not nearly complete enough. It even lacks the normal page framing, making it look like the authors forgot to do it before sending it to the printers, and just whipped something together. If you use this book and this game, make sure to use sticky notes for your most common rules...