The Organizations of Magick
One of Us!
FrankT:
oMage had a political system that was frankly too complicated. There was a Tradition group for every single magical sphere, plus an extra bonus tradition of the “Hollow Ones” who are jack-of-all-trades types and just do their own shit. The main enemies are the Technocracy, which comes in five flavors. There are also Marauders (madness mages) and Nephandi (demon mages). Also, oMage explicitly nyoinks all the other books, so you very explicitly have to worry about Vampires, Werewolves, Wraiths, Changelings, and Hunters.
But let's just focus on the factions actually in the oMage book: that's Akashic Brotherhood, Celestial Chorus, Cult of Ecstasy, Dream Speakers, Euthanatos, Order of Hermes, Sons of Ether, Verbena, Virtual Adepts, and Hollow Ones for team Tradition; and New World Order, Iteration X, Progenitors, Void Engineers, The Syndicate, the Nephandi, and the Marauders for team Antagonist. If that sounds like a lot, it's because it is. There are literally seventeen flavors of Mage running around. And that's just in the modern nights. In each previous era there are other factions that have apparently changed their name or died out like the Craftmasons and Ahl-i-Batin.
nMage doesn't really have a political system at all, because none of the mages actually aspire to anything in the world at all. Everyone's nominal goal is to phase out like dead Jedi and do stuff in an otherwise unreachable supernal world that is totally undescribed. But because it's a nWoD product, the player characters are nominally members of two or three different things, which each have five constituent types. There's no Council of Nine or Technocratic Union to be a member of or oppose – the bad guys just want to fuck with you because they are dicks. There are evil mages who dick with you because they think that is what the Exarchs want them to do, there are evil mages who dick with you because they are self hating
Jews mages, there are evil mages who dick with you because they are crazy, there are evil mages who dick with you because they worship demons who are dicks, and there are a couple of flavors of necromancers who dick with you just because. While the setting doesn't bother trying to integrate itself with the other splats, it does have a fair number of non-mage enemies available such as the demons and the leftover semi-autonomous super weapons of Atlantis.
So for team protagonist, there's The Adamantine Arrow, The Free Council, The Guardians of the Veil, The Mysterium, and the Silver Ladder, with the Orphans of Proteus, the Perfected Adepts, the Subtle Ones, the Uncrowned Kings, and the Walkers in the Mists as the Legacies. And for team Antagonist, we have the Seers of the Throne, Banishers, the Mad, Goetic Sorcerers, Ghost Mages, with the Tremere Liches and the Scelesti Accursed as the antagonist Legacies. And all of them have to be on one of the five paths: Acanthus, Mastigos, Moros, Obrimos, or Thyrsus. Theoretically, that's a veritable fuck-lot of mage flavors, because they are independent selections. You could be a member of the Silver Ladder on the path of Mastigos and attain status of Uncrowned King. It's nominally like 125 flavors of player character Mage. But in a really important way, all the resortment possibility doesn't mean dick, because you're still full up after putting five characters onto the table. So really we have like 5 flavors of protagonists and 5 flavors of antagonists... but 22 distinct pieces of information
AncientH:
Of course, in both oMage and nMage the Mages are explicitly human, as opposed to vampires and werewolves and such like. While the various groups all have their specialties, no one group or individual mage really has a leg up on the others in the spells they can potentially cast because they all use the same Spheres/Arcana. The exception to this in nMage is, of course, Legacies.
Legacies were a retarded effort to cram the V:tR concept and execution of bloodlines onto Mages – except, as I pointed out, mages are all human and thus this makes no fucking sense. Worse, joining a legacy is supposed to give you some special power, but again, everyone is borrowing from the same crayon box so there really is nothing that your Tremere Lich can do that a regular fucking necromancer cannot do. The legacies are fucking pointless drivel, and their very existence makes me angry.
FrankT:
White Wolf has always struggled with racism. Partly it's that it was made in Georgia. Partly it's because a lot of the people writing this stuff were not terribly well informed about the topics they were spouting off on, and they ended up saying things that were ignorant in a way that is actually pretty offensive. Sometimes White Wolf has just plain lost that struggle, as when they made Ebony Kingdoms or most egregiously when they wrote World of Darkness: Gypsies. oMage clearly treads clumsily on the line. There are three traditions given over to various different European magical traditions, and only one for “all of East- and South-Asian peoples and philosophies sort of rolled together, because you know, whatever”. But you know what? At least Asian people
exist in oMage.
Yes, it's marginalizing for there to be only one flavor of Asian mage in oMage. But in nMage, there are
zero flavors of Asian mage. Also zero flavors of Native American mage. And zero flavors of Middle Eastern mage. And that's considerably more marginalizing of colored people. All magic comes from reincarnated Atlanteans, and those guys were recognizably Europeans. No one else gets any magic unless they are “culture bearers”, having been given the spark from Europeans in the past.
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[/img]
I don't think nMage went out of its way to be racist or anything, but it's so insular that it's just sort of racist by default.
AncientH:
As bad as White Wolf generally is at attempts at cultural verisimilitude or sensitivity, the fact that nMage is actually worse at it does not frankly come as a terrible surprise. It is to be remembered that in oMage, the bad guys were more or less grounded into the real world of that setting, running governments and corporations and so forth, and when they did the whole ridiculous Year of the Lotus bit there was specifically a faction of the Technocracy running shit in Japan.
Actually, slightly more needs to be said about this: WW games are by and large
amazingly centered around white people. The closest thing to a default game setting for V:tM for many years was Chicago, and any time you ventured outside of Europe/the United States/Canada you were setting yourself up for some Special Native Magic Bullshit, and such efforts almost always followed the attempts of white people to go to these strange new places like “the Far East” or “Africa.” The approach to some of these places as exotic and exciting varied from hamfisted to insulting. For example: All of Africa (except ancient Egypt!) shares one big afterlife, and unlike all the other kingdoms of the underworld the animals get to pal around there too. Why is that? Isn’t that a bit insulting, to consider all Africans like that and equate them with animals? Bullshit.
Year of the Lotus of course was WW’s eighteen month love affair with anime, because their early attempts at Asian vampires were deemed too shitty and racist even for them. Mage didn’t get a vast amount of love from YotL, but maybe that’s for the best, because seriously we can only take so many manga-style drawings and hamfisted efforts at squeezing different flavors of Buddhism together and calling it the Middle Kingdom.
Anyway, nMage removed the connections that the oMage traditions et al. had with the real world aspects of the setting in favor of more Atlantean bullshit, which pretty much put the kibosh on any efforts to expand the cultural milieu. Normally you might expect them to expand the nMage cultural horizons slightly by stealing a bit of sunshine from other sourcebooks, but they kyboshed crossovers so effectively that didn’t really happen either. This also means they rather hamstrung themselves when it came to referencing/stealing from various real-world occult traditions, which were the bread and butter of oMage.
FrankT:
One of the most subtly frustrating things in Mage of every version and edition is that it never really delivers on the core premise: making magic through mimicking traditional sorcery. Instead it runs headlong into the Shadowrun problem: traditional magic is based on
rituals, but in the
game you're casting magic on the fly in lieu of pulling out a pistol and shooting someone. Producing a magical effect takes
seconds, and there just isn't
time to boil a cauldron or put on a special hat or read a poem about your penis.
This is most painful in oMage, where they try to get you to embrace traditional magical paradigms when explaining how you effect magic upon the world. But in game, transmuting lead into gold takes 3 seconds. What
possible paradigm of traditional
anything is going to be recognizable in a 3 second abridged format? The Sons of Ether are supposed to be “mad scientists”, but all the shit they can do takes a finger snap's worth of time to come into being and they never actually spend time slaving away in a lab to make a new creation.
Here, nMage actually benefits from reducing all its magical trappings to some incoherent ramblings about Atlantean runes. Yes, their magic is over and done with in the time it takes to throw a brick, but since all that's happening is some glowing runes show up while you shout a few words of Atlantean. I mean, it's boring and stupid, but at least it fits with the combat-speed timeframes the magic actually has to work with.
AncientH:
You can sort of argue that oMage makes do because all the old-school occultist stuff is really just what the Sorcerers are supposed to be doing, but here again life tends to fall down because this is a game and no one wants to cover your ass in combat while you mix potions in your little fucking pot. So just as Mages can bend reality by squeezing their buttcheeks together firmly, so can most sorcerers and blood mages and everyone else manage to do
something in your average combat round.
Now the exception to this are rituals – which, despite what you might believe, are more a thing for vampires and werewolves than practically anything else. Rituals for any brand of WW magic, old and new, were always terrible haphazard things which were just catchalls for effects generally too shitty to justify being their own dot on a power, and the amount of time they took was always and forever a complete ass-pull. Mage rotes sometimes include weird timing, but for most of the game using extra time was just an optional thing for flavor or, at best, some crappy little bonus.
FrankT:
In those few cases where magical things take enough time to actually do something magical
looking to make them happen, it tends to take the form of enchanting or ritual sendings. These rules make us very sad. The most basic enchanting takes the form of pumping Prime into stuff in order to replicate other spheres/arcana you don't have and break the game. More advanced enchanting is for moving dicepools around in order to acquire dozens of dice on boosted actions and
really break the game.
AncientH:
Enchanting was never something that White Wolf was ever really consistent about. There were dozens of unique or spontaneous artifacts for each setting, and on top of that vampires, werewolves, etc. all had their own rituals and powers and crap to make other little artifacts, and then oMage had their special talismans and foci that they could make and use, and none of that shit was balanced against each other. Ghost help you if you were a vampire and picked up a pinecone dagger or glaive or some shit, because there was never any indication of what the hell would happen. Dozens of rituals and several paths of Sorcery were devoted to making various charms, talismans, potions, and weapons, and they were all generally really rather crap.
The basic rule of thumb was that whatever level your enchanting magic was in, the product would be one or two levels shittier than that. In oSorcerer for example, at three dots in Alchemy you could make a knife that deals aggravated damage, and at four dots you could make bullets that burst into flame (for an extra two dice of fire damage). This doesn’t sound bad until you realize that at three dots other sorcerers are throwing around lightning bolts and catching bullets in their bare hands, and that’s all shit that mages could do a dot earlier. And of course Alchemy wasn’t alone, since there was also Enchantment in the same fucking book which basically did the same damned thing as Alchemy, although its effects were generally better. For example, three dots of enchanting got you magic bullets that do an extra two dice of damage without bursting into flame, and at four dots you got a knife that stabs directly for the heart that does Str+5 dice of damage.
So really, the only purpose of being an enchanter/alchemist type in WW is to make all the magic goodies to power up your coterie. Which is basically the same complaint that people had in Shadowrun, where the mage-enchanters spent all their time enchanting instead of Shadowrunning because they made more fucking money that way. It’s a valid complaint, but it mostly only applied to sorcerers, vampire blood mages and the like, because despite having several supplements devoted more or less entirely to new magic items for your Mage, most of the time it’s easier and more effective to just do the fucking spell yourself when you have need of it. Actually enchanting something was never exactly arduous, it just required extra time and energy for no fucking purpose – and that’s if your Storyteller allowed you to do it anyway.
Storytellers didn’t even think of magic items as treasure per se. This was not a setting where everyone is running around with +1 flak jackets and whatnot. Magic items were
always some sort of deus ex machine/macguffin plot point. In the fucking
Giovanni Chronicles they have special magic shrouds that let people see into the Underworld
just in fucking case nobody has managed to put any dots into Necromancy yet, and then they are never every mentioned anywhere else ever.
…so that’s a lot of ranting to say that, in general in oWoD and nWoD, enchanting was a mass of rubbish that the game designers rightly feared would be exploited by the players, and the systems were so idiosyncratic and scattered that practically nobody followed the rules as written because they were rubbish. nMage did make an effort to sort shit out a little, and they made a bit of a hash of it. They separate magic items into “Enhanced items” (read: normal items made better), “Imbued items” (read: has a spell effect on it you don’t have to maintain/can use), and “Artifacts” (read: storyteller bullshit/anything goes). It is at once simple and fundamentally flawed. But then we get into some serious bullshit, because five dots of the Matter Arcanum lets you make “thaumium” and in other supplements you get to make various True Metals and things. It’s all very annoying because these are magical substances that clearly do not fit into any of their enchanting categories and shows they just did a really shoddy job at this whole enchanting business.
There are also various wands and ritual paraphernalia you’re nominally supposed to muck about with for a bunch of spells/rotes in o/nMage, but how much you actually depend on that nonsense is entirely determined by how far the stick has been shoved up your Storyteller’s bottom that day.
FrankT:
Not just items could be imbued with magical effects you don't care about, there were also magical
places. Some of these were naturally occurring, like a Werewolf’s Cairn. Others can be made through time and effort. What they actually
do varies a lot, but mostly revolves around letting you do bigger magic while you're in one and attuned to it. This is usually somewhat on the pointless side, because magic is a 3 second affair that you do on the fly. Being able to throw bigger, better, or cheaper fireballs while in your house is generally somewhat on the pointless side
because people rarely go on adventures while still at home.
Where this sort of magic site shenanigans gets game breaking is when it comes to enchanting items and buffing one's person. Once you make magic that you can “take with you”, those magic sites become a tremendous power option. Of course, it's a power option that will usually boost just one of the players at the table. Both because many characters simply do not “buff”, and because not everyone is going to be able to attune and benefit from the same sites.
AncientH:
oMage power sites are called
nodes, and were basically the intersections were several Tron lines came together, and if you were a very lucky Mage indeed then it created
tass, which is a kind of fossilized Quintesssence that you can carry around and eat like meth candy whenever you need a hit of magic. Mages could even bust into werewolf cairns and Tremere vampire strongholds to harvest them for magical energy, but this was generally considered a Bad Thing. Of course, sufficiently powerful mages could also just rearrange the local ley lines and make their own nodes, so the whole point was a bit moot.
nMage power sites are
demesnes, which again is stolen from Vampire for reasons no one can understand, and they’re meant to be a bit like Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum, where you keep all your cool shit and magic is easier…although, as Frank said, you don’t normally have a lot of people in your home so you wonder why that’s a major concern.
FrankT:
Aside from conquering a site that serves no purpose but to exacerbate power discrepancies within the team, there's actually fairly little that the other characters would want to help your character with in Mage of any flavor. In oMage, each character is trying to use their phenomenal cosmic power to be a terrorist who overthrows society and ends the unnatural acts of refrigeration. But it's generally fairly hard to come up with terrorist activities that everyone's abilities are even helpful for.
nMage of course has it worse, because there isn't really a great reason to do anything. Indeed, the supposed goal of the game is not for your character to fight and defeat the evil mages or even to acquire vast cosmic power. It's supposed to be to throw off wants until you are so wise and disconnected from things that you no longer even have selfish thoughts and then ascend off in a puff of golden smoke. Why or even
how the other player characters are supposed to assist you in this endeavor is beyond me.
AncientH:
Yes, the whole gaming concept of playing a Mage is pretty much the same difficulties involved in playing a vampire. Back in my one brief stint gamemastering oMage, I sorted this shit out by insisting that everyone be a member of the Order of Hermes; they could be from different Houses if they wanted to, but by gumption they would all act like teammates or assholes who at least knew each other and cooperate to achieve vital mission objectives like dealing with the demons in the phone lines that the lich upstairs was certain was running up the telephone bill. (Of course, then one of the PCs asked on the sly if he could be a Tremere vampire and we’d nod/wink through his magical whatsits.)
And really, a single-Tradition campaign is not a bad way to go, because it at least gives the PCs a reason to cooperate and be together and do shit. Unfortunately, with only 10 Spheres/Arcanum this generally means quite a lot of overlap.
Really, I think the sheer difficulty of character interaction is one of the reasons that Mage novels just didn’t really exist as a thing, while they did something like forty or fifty vampire novels. Vampires in V:tM or V:tR are recognizable as vampires, oMages and nMages are much more difficult to portray with anything like the verisimilitude unless you try to cop off the Harry Dresden novels, and even then you’re looking at a) a fair number of artificial limitations that don’t apply to Mage, and b) a bunch of shit your average Mage cannot do.
Which is annoying. At one dot of any Sphere or Arcana you have potentially infinite power stopped only by really incredibly vague limitations and a mage’s own knowledge and creativity. Really, the only limits on mages beside personal flaws are the fact that bigger and more powerful mages tell them not to do certain things, and presumably can enforce that because they are bigger and more powerful indeed and can take anything you throw at them. Except…well, the various nMage organizations aren’t quite set up like that. It’s not a working society by any means, it’s not even as organized as the freemasons or the Ku Klux Klan or the Catholic Church, so without any kind of central authority everybody’s at a bit of loose ends. It’s like the writers took the bits they liked out of oMage and then didn’t really think of ways to implement them.
Like, dueling. Magical duels were kindof sortof a thing for the Order of Hermes and the early Tremere in oMage, and that was about it because the other Traditions didn’t give a damn about that sort of thing. It was a formalized ritual duel where mages stood in their circles and took turns trying to kill each other in a civilized fashion, and I rather enjoyed that in my own campaign because it was a bit like Pokemon challenges with a bit of blood and bile, but it never really caught on in oMage and while they do have a section on it in nMage, I cannot for the life of me see why anyone would do it given that is both easier to run your opponent over with a car and call it coincidental and to just tell whoever wants the duel to go fuck themselves in quite elaborate fashions, possibly with the aid of charts.