Mage: The Podcast

The Dreamspeakers were assembled during the Grand Convocation by the Eurasian mages who weren't quite sure to do with the varied practices and paradigms of their indigenous peers. Indigenous magick is a varied topic with rich gaming opportunity, but how do we add it to our games while being respectful? James Sambrano, Mage writer and scholar of North American and African Indigenous practices provi...

The World of Darkness is inhabited with all manner of creatures and some are not unique to one line. Ghouls and and chimera are associated with vampires and changelings, but what about spirits? Spirits are associated with mages and werewolf alike and Axis Mundi: The Book of Spirits explores both sides...but mostly werewolf.  Adam and Terry walk through how to expand the Mage side, adapt the werewo...

Mage has mechanics for injury to the body with health levels and injuries to your grip on reality with Quiet, but what about anxiety, PTSD, and other debilitating conditions? James Davey is a long time World of Darkness fan who's designed a game with that question in mind where characters glimpse the size of the multiverse granting both great power but with great stakes. The game emphasizes rapid...

The Dreamspeakers were initially presented as the ragtag band that has been spoken to by Gaia but in Second Edition their draw and depth expanded considerably. They are the travelers through the Dreamtime, warriors of the visionquest, and keepers of the balance but what does this mean? Adam and Terry talk about their practice, history, and paradigm as they discuss The Dreamspeakers Tradition Book...

Mage is a game of hope, action, and hubris in a world that is dark. Sometimes the darkness wins and we go from punk and gothic to horror. Bryce Perry from the horror game podcast Darker Days joins Terry to talk about how to add horror to your mage game. Just a note, this episode contains discussion of body horror, family terror, harm to children and family conceptually and a number of other things...

The Umbra is explored by many Night-Folk with wraiths in the Shadowlands, changelings in the Dreaming, and Werewolves in the Velvet Shadow. What about mages? Adam and Terry provide a tour of the Tellurian and the Realms of limitless potential full of warring gods, metaphors made real and more than one set of dinosaurs in Beyond the Barrier: The Book of Worlds . Umbral Map - A translation of the Fr...

The world of Mage is one where characters have great power which must be exercised carefully or Paradox will strike. On the other side of the subtly coin is Exalted where whose tagline is "What legends will they tell of your deeds?" Exalted's 3rd edition is out and Chazz Kellner, Exalted author and cohost of The Story Told tells Terry about the high energy energy world of Creation and the systems...

Mage defaults to the Traditions, Technocracy, Nephandi and Marauders, but what about mages who've stepped away from the Ascension War? Crafts are groups of mages who often work tightly tied to a paradigm and culture and Book of Crafts dives into eight of these. Terry and Adam talk templars, dragon wizards, mambos, righteous crocodile gods, kahunas, and more. White Wolf Magazine - Magazine that ran...

Vikings! Runes! Thor! Woven anti-spear magic shirts! The Norse culture is a perennial favorite source of inspiration in the West but what was their magic like? Josh Heath of the Open Halls Project explains to Terry how to introduce Norse magic and supernatural elements into your Mage game. Open Halls Project - Josh's project to help serve Heathens in the armed forces Ghost Court - a ridiculous par...

Mage games aren't always at the gritty front lines of the Ascension War or hardscrabble games of survival, it has its places of wonder and hope. Horizon, the Stronghold of Hope is the seat of the Council of the Nine Mystic Traditions and there the nine Primii of the nine Traditions plan, argue, and often scheme in a rich fantasy setting with over 120 other mages. Adam and Terry give a scenic tour...

The early Nephandi were introduced as a tie in for Werewolf: The Apocalypse but over time they've gone from slavering cultists to the Wyrm to something more insidious. Satyros and Jax talk with Adam and Terry about the state of the Nephandi in M20 as revealed in Book of the Fallen and the heartache and tragedy in which the book was forged. 1d4 Con . Community convention in Shephardstown, West Virg...

Mummies, to quote the Euthanatoi "Are mummies stuck on the Wheel, or do they ride it like experts?" Originally stuck at no more than 42, a new breed of the immortal walk the earth. They fight the Wyrm in the form of Apophis but also fiercely contest the Web of Faith. Where did they come from, what can they do, and how can you use them in a Mage chronicle? Joel Cotton, veteran Mummy and Mage storyt...

The Cult of Ecstasy explores the liminal spaces between the magickal and mundane and between the emotive and cerebral to return with wisdom.  Plus sex, drugs, and various musical genres not exclusively rock. Adam and Terry discuss the Cult's varied methods of exploring outer and inner spaces of experience, their history, and their magick. Show Notes: Ascension's Landscape is free on the Storytelle...

Two interviews!!! Why aren't old books available in PoD? What's next for RPG book publishing? Where does your $45 for a hardback go? Matt McElroy answers these questions and more in a sit down with Terry Robinson from PAX Unplugged.  Then, Travis Legge gives a short sneak preview of Technocracy Reloaded, as well as how to make the ST Vault work as a creator and a year in review of the Onyx Path's...

Patriarchs or pariahs? Servants of the One or Sactimonious willows? All, none? The Celestial Chorus has morphed considerably from harbingers of armageddon to crypto-Catholics to egalitarian home of all religions. Find out how Chorus has changed over its multi-millenium history and where it's trying to go with Adam and Terry. Traditions Gathered 3: Swords of Faith Useful conversation on religion in...

Two interviews this week! First, World War II shook the mortal world providing example upon example of how no dark forces in the shadows are required for there to be atrocities. But how did the Awakened respond? Matt Webb of Jackalope Live Action Studios talks about the setting and process for Mage Noir, a boutique LARP set in 1940s America. Second, so why does Mage look like it does? Rich Thomas,...

The mystery and mood of Mage are heavily informed by the art and artistry on the Mage tarot deck. Every edition of the Mage Core Rulebook has featured The Magician. and almost every book leads with a card or spread. What are these cards? Why are they special to Mage? What can they add to your game? Terry sits down with occult instructor and author of Nothing But a Pack of Cards , S Rune Emerson to...

Mage is often an intimate game revolving around neighborhoods, a small cast, and the hopes and perils of magick. But sometimes, Mage is about making sure space dragons don't eat your voidship and that may take depleted uranium and some Accelerated Force Cannons. Void Engineers is very much for that second type of game. Adam and Terry dive into the first real look we have of mages in space and far...

RPGs have changed over time and one new family of play options involve handing players ways to change the story outside of the actions of their characters. Matthew Dawkins is an in-house developer for The Onyx Path and talks with Terry about ways to bring metanarrative tools into your games as well as some healthy speculation about what M5 should be. Also, if you see this before December 5th, anot...

The Council gets their Tradition books, the Technocracy gets their Convention books, but what about the Hollow Ones? Not necessarily Orphans, not quite a craft, these creatures of modernity claim to go back to at least the Jazz Age but how do you play one? Outcasts: A Players Guide to Pariahs was the first supplement to give more information on this collection of goths and romantics along with inf...

James Estes, former Mage writer and current professor and library director, takes some time to talk with us about religion in Mage. Can it contribute something to our Chronicles and how should we handle it? He also shares his experiences about writing for Mage and offers advice for those thinking of contributing to Storytellers Vault. James Estes bio James Estes Web site Wesley Theological Seminar...

Mage's Second Edition Core Rulebook had a strict page count and clocked in at fewer pages than First Edition. So what were these missing pages and where did they go? Hidden Lore was the collection of all the materials that ran over the page count and for the Second Edition Storyteller it's your best source for additional rotes and systems as well as an entire cabal.  Terry and Adam discuss what to...

Not every rule makes sense in every Mage game, but how do you figure out what to change and know when to change it? Monica Speca, developer and writer for Onyx Path Publishing walks through the design considerations for making the rules of the game fit the game you want to play. Learn about mechanics like momentum, stunts, investigation, stress, and relationship tension Jenga towers. Bonus Experie...

Second Edition's intimacy and depth is sometimes viewed as a radical departure from First Edition's cosmic stories but what are the nuts and bolts of the differences? Was the change sudden or gradual and how was Brucato's vision implemented in a core book? Adam and Terry talk about how mechanics, mood, setting, and metaplot changed and what you should remember when looking back on Second Edition's...

How do you do The World of Darkness in the happiest places on earth? What's magick like when the sun doesn't set for weeks at a time? How does the Syndicate deal with social democracy? What are trolls really like and what is a well-pisser? Karl Erik Larsen Hoftaniska of the Symposium Podcast answers these questions and more. Correction! Erik corrected himself to say that the Nordic countries were...