Synopsis:
This will be a gritty and dramatic modern Mage the Ascension game set in current day Detroit. I am not opposed to NSFW or gore. I do prefer players 21 or older. This game will wade deep in philosophical and theological waters.
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The Fall of the Pogrom based on Mage the Ascension (not awakening)
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The 1990s were some of the hardest times to be a mystic. The philosophical rise of modernism was at its crescendo and people were certain there was a right way and a wrong way to do all things. Even people of a progressive persuasion abandoned their “live and let live” viewpoints and adopted harsh views of political correctness. This rigid world view was all part of the Technocracy Pogrom to shut down and control the paradigm in every culture. Those who control the prevailing paradigm, control the power and can subject anyone else to their will.
With every crescendo there is eventually a denouement.
The internet was on the rise and there were a series of wars online between the technocrats who were trying to squash mysticism and the virtual adepts who used their computers as a focus for their magic. The dot.com crash in 2000 was in part due to the ensuing wars between those of a creative technical magical bent and those who wanted technical spirituality to die a quick and merciless death. While the technophiles locked horns in an epic battle for the internet, the rise of postmodernism as a philosophical view began to engulf colleges, universities, business views, and more. Multiculturalism, deconstruction of traditional views, and the slow erosion of propaganda became so common place normal folks who benefitted from power and bias started to realize that what they had been told might not be valid. While that meant that people were questioning things like why their country was at war, it also meant some questioned routine health benefits like fluoride in water or vaccinations. Belief in conspiracy theories was an outgrowth of a post-modernism and are now currently threatening the pogrom’s control of the mass of humanity.
By the 2008 crash and ensuing “great recession” movements like Occupy Wall Street openly talked about how broken and paid for that the US government officials were. Add that to the growing citizen concern about the controls and surveillance on the internet, and even normal humans were starting to wonder why such control was necessary. Who was the government, or rather those who shape the reach of the government, really looking for? It obviously wasn’t serial rapists, pedophiles and murderers, because those were at an all-time high. The New World Order was gaining too much control, but also exposing itself in the meantime.
The technocracy’s New World Order and the virtual adepts continue their war, but the other traditions have been struggling. Hermetic chantries in pocket dimensions have been disconnected from this world by the Void Engineers. The drug war sent many Ecstatics to safer countries as they were being targeted and arrested for ‘drug trafficking’. Many Akashics have been recalled to protect Tibetan Chantry from the Chinese technocratic pogrom. Dreamspeakers have thrived and expanded due to newfound wealth from casinos. Their new power and influence extends to communities near their cities, and several of their chantries are thriving. The Sons of Ether have been but absorbed by the virtual adepts, but have been focusing their work on nanites, 3d printers and other sciences that change what we assume about creating matter out of thin air. Verbena have been growing at a steady but very slow rate and have made more inroads in Europe than in the United States except in cities like Salem Oregon and Massachusetts. The Celestial Chorus is likely the most fractured of all the traditions because of the lack of faith as an outgrowth the rise of atheism (thanks pogrom!) and political and social attacks on Islam, social justice oriented Christianity, etc. Other traditions have drawn those who awaken into their fold as paths less reviled than believing in a God. Due to the rise in conflicts between magi and technocrats, the Euthanatos have managed to move out of their stereotypical death cult background and into a more ordered and systematic tradition open to explaining why it is that they give the good death to those who threaten others. This unveiling from secrecy has generally been accepted by other traditions, though they may be uneasy about the focus on death. The Euthanatos have learned to hybridize their viewpoint to work in conjunction with other magi. Even the magi who were once called Orphans are now choosing other traditions or at very least working with the Euthanatos on very rare occasion to protect themselves.
You are a new cabal of the best that the traditions have to offer. You were hand picked to represent your tradition, or were at very least expendable. Your goal is to shift the paradigm of Detroit, to weaken the pogrom, to undermine the Technocracy. You are all nearly adepts and can speak a sort of Esperanto to discuss the spheres of magic with your collegues. (Life, Matter, Entropy, etc.) You were chosen for your creativity and strength of paradigm (in whatever that may be).
Setting: Detroit has been falling off the map of Technocratic influence for the last 25 years. It’s nearly dystopian in terms of economy, infrastructure, etc. Syndicate headquarters here is failing miserably. Iteration X has few if any functioning robots. The New World Order can’t seem to keep CCTV up and running properly. Progenetors act more like a medical corps for the few Technocratic agents left.
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OOC
This game is based on Mage the Ascension. You need to make a character from the nine traditions. Orphans would not be chosen for this assignment; however they could be a local mage and added later into the plot.
Every time you cast magic, you must say how and why your spell would work in conjunction with your belief system: the more exquisite the detail the better. All magi require a focus or several foci to work magic. The more overt the magic (ie: how obvious is it to “muggles/sleepers”) the harder you will be smacked by paradox. You have some control as to how that will play out.
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Your character should include the following:
1) Your tradition and view of your tradition?
2) Your paradigm/philosophy/religion (should be more than just a tradition name but personal world view)?
3) Your awakening story?
4) Your foci?
5) Why you were chosen for this assignment?
6) What are your spheres of understanding magical understanding? (You have 3 free points in your tradition’s strongsuit, like entropy for Euthies, and 5 more to distribute between any of the spheres as you see fit.)
7) How does your view of the world, magical understanding, and back-story intersect?
8) How does your avatar (a spirit being that helped you awaken, not unlike a spirit animal, angel, your-godself, etc.) manifest.
The character sheet need not include these answered in any specific order.
This wiki page should be of help to those new to the universe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mage:_The_Ascension#Council_of_Nine_Mystic_Traditions
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Notes:
A) None of the white wolf books after 2001 are accepted. No crossovers into other white wolf stories. (i.e.: no fae, werewolves, vampires, etc.)
B) I am not going solely by white wolf books and may change things based on the need of this format and for story purposes
C) No wallflowers: Post at least once a day. If you can’t let us know why in the comments. Vacations and trips out of town can be accommodated for.
D) Men playing woman, women playing men, and people playing gay, bi, or transgender folks are all fine if thoughtfully done. If I notice flat or ugly stereotypical responses or insensitivity ooc, I will call you out on it and could dump your character.
E) Players are allowed to use real life organizations and situations as they would fit their character. In fact, it’s encouraged. If it exists in real life you can probably use it. We are using a modified Dresden Files RPG rule about Setting creation where each player helps define the setting so it’s not all on the shoulders of the narrator. This should make it easier for you to make posts.
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We currently have 11 magi. I think that’s plenty. however if we have a character drop, I may do a call for a specific type of player. Thanks again for your interest, but we are not accepting characters at this time.
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Our Google Doc Folder:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B7_mq1EWFQPlM0hmVll2S1VKb1E&usp=sharing
Hosted and narrated by:
Kammy (Kammy989)
Started 07/05/14.
Scenes played: 13
License: Community License
