LAST UPDATED:
3/23/05

OVERVIEW
- Traditions Mages
- Technocracy
- Sorcerers & Other

RESTRICTIONS
- Traditions Mages
- Technocracy
- Sorcerers & Other

CREATING A M:tA CHARACTER
- Traditions Mages
- Technocracy
- Sorcerers & Other

BOOKS IN USE
- Traditions Mages
- Technocracy
- Sorcerers & Other

MAGE THEMED MEDIA

LINKS TO MAGE RELATED WEB SITES

   
Mage: the Ascension

Marty McFly: Wait a minute, Doc. Ah... Are you telling me you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean? 
Dr. Emmett Brown: The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style? 

-- Back To The Future I (1985)

OVERVIEW:

Traditions Mages:

There is no formal hierarchy or structure to Mage Society in general, and whatever does exist, there is definitely not one in DC for Traditions Mages. You will not assume to know even who is whom without finding out IC. 

You are free to try and form a Cabal IC if you wish. There are players looking for Cabal members but you must find them in RP.

There are nine Traditions which one may belong to. Akashic Brotherhood, Celestial Chorus, Cult of Ecstasy, Dreamspeakers, Euthanatos, Order of Hermes, Sons of Ether, Verbena, or Virtual Adepts.  Those who are outside the Traditions are either the Hollow Ones, Orphans or Disparates

Technocracy:  There is a structure to the Technocracy in DC. More information will be given to your PC by the Crat ST upon character creation. 

See Also: http://www.white-wolf.com/Games/Pages/MagePreview/technocracy.html

 

• Article One: Bring  order to the universe. Predictability brings safety. Once all is discovered and all is known, Unity will be won.

• Article Two: Convince the Masses of the benevolence of science, commerce and politics, and the power of rationality. Conflict and suffering will be eliminated in our Utopia.

• Article Three: Preserve the Gauntlet and the Horizon. Chaotic individuals who open gateways with impunity threaten the stability of our world. Uncontrolled portals also allow outside forces, such as Nephandi, access to our world. This must never happen.

• Article Four: Define the nature of the universe. Knowledge must be absolute or chaos will envelop all. The elemental forces of the universe must not be left to the caprices of the unknown.

• Article Five: Destroy Reality Deviants. Their recklessness threatens our security and our progress toward Unity.

• Article Six: Shepherd the Masses; protect them from themselves and others.

NOTE: Article Five can be defined several ways. Reality deviants can be physically destroyed or they can be converted. The N.W.O, for example, favors the second method. If a reality deviant has been converted to the cause, then he is not only destroyed, but harnessed to strengthen the Union.

[Thanks to The Dark Citadel for many of the Technocracy notes herein.]

Sorcerer / "Hedge Mages": There is no formal hierarchy or structure to Sorcerers (Hedge Mages) either, even less so than Traditions Mages. Characters should not assume to know even who is whom without finding out IC. 

"We need more input. We gotta fill this thing up with data. We gotta make her as real as possible, Wyatt. I want her to live. I want her to breathe. I want her to aerobicize. " 

- Garry Wallace in "Weird Science" by John Hughes (1985)

RESTRICTIONS:

THE TECHNOCRACY IS CLOSED AS OF MAY 2005.

NO MAGI OF ANY OTHER TYPES WILL BE ACCEPTED

AFTER JUNE 4th, 2005.

Restricted Characters are legal,  but may only be run at ST's discretion:

- Traditions Mage players may not run a Nephandi or a Maurauder as a PC. Celestial Chorus, while not restricted, will tend to be very adversarial to other supernaturals so please bear this in mind if choosing to run one in a crossover game with 9 other genres active

- All Mage PC's may start out with an Arete of up to, but no more than, 3.

- The Technocracy ST has no current restrictions on character creation.

- The Sorcerer ST has no current restrictions on character creation. 

PLEASE NOTE: What was once known as Hedge Magic or Numina, is now called Static or Linear Magic, in 3rd Edition.

NOTE March 2005: We will accept Mage characters, including Crats, only if they are designed to fit into the current storyline without a lot of bother and handholding from the ST's. You are responsible to design a compatible character. See your ST for help if you are stuck.

 

*NOTE: MORATORIUM EFFECTIVE 7/11/04 --

We will no longer be accepting new Technocracy PC's in this chronicle, unless the ST's lift this restriction prior to the completion of "Time of Judgment." We may consider NPC's on a case by case basis but it is highly unlikely.

 

As of August 2004, we know of no plans for White Wolf to provide for Crat PC's in the new WOD 2.0, and so we currently anticipate phasing this genre out in the course of the TOJ Chronicle. If this changes, you will be notified here as we learn more. There is to be a Mage game of some sort eventually, however.

 

Those players who already had Technocrat PC's approved by July 2004 may continue to play them, move them to someone else's game, or withdraw them entirely.

"Anyone who falls flat on their face is at least moving in the right direction -- forward." - Professor Ned Brainard in "Son of Flubber" by Disney (1963)

MAKING A M:tA CHARACTER:

There are slight differences in the making of a Traditions Mage, a Technocrat, or a Sorcerer, but they will be blended together into one set of instructions when possible.

GYPSIES: WOD Gypsies WW2223 (Has not been superceded as of 2004). Use only for reference; powers will be converted to Sorcerer equivalents for Crossover compatibility.

1. Name: Put the name of your character 

2. Player Name: Put your name (and preferably also your email address).

3. Chronicle: Put "Washington, DC By Night" or just "DC By Night" or "11th Hour"

4. Nature: Choose from the list HERE (Link Under Construction) . This is your true Nature, not the face the world sees. This aspect is vital, as you must act in the spirit of your True Nature to regain lost or spent Willpower.

Some temporary sites for help on Nature & Demeanor 

(These are incomplete but decent enough to help):

http://www.geocities.com/nsc_obt/overviewN_D.html 

http://d.dominodeveloper.net/members/thespiralarms/clubd.nsf/nd?OpenPage 

http://www.homestead.com/autarkis/Archetypes.html

5. Demeanor: Choose from the same list as #4. Your Demeanor is the face you put on to the world, how you act. Nature and Demeanor must not be the same type.

6. Essence (TRADITIONS): Each character has an "Essence," an inner self that often manifests itself through the character's Avatar. There are four basic essences:

• Dynamic, a person driven to change who often flits from one task to the next
• Pattern, people who try to build something lasting from chaos, often seen as the opposite of Dynamic
• Primordial, old souls that draw their essence from the beginning and end of the universe
• Questing, eternal "Galahads" that strive for balance and purpose

[6] TECHNOCRACY -- Eidolon: (Equivalent to Essence)

[6] SORCERER -- Residence: (As in "Haven."  Not related to Essence; it just happens to be #6 on the sheet in that slot, for whatever reason.)

7. Cabal (Traditions): Most PC's will not start out part of a Cabal. You may add it later.

• [7] Convention (Technocracy): (Equates to Tradition.)

-- Iteration X - Biomechanics, Time-Motion Managers, Statisticians, Macrotechnicians

-- New World Order - Ivory Tower, Operatives, Watchers, (Q-Division)

-- Progenitors - FACADE engineers, Genengineers, Pharmacopeists

-- Syndicate - Financiers, Disbursements, Enforcers, Media Control, Special Projects Division 

-- Void Engineers - Border Corps Division, DSEATC, Earth Frontier Division, Neutralization Specialist Corps, Pan Dimensional Corps, Research & Execution

• [7] Society (Sorcerer): Sorcerers owe more of their knowledge of "magic" to the mentors and/or groups that instructed them from the beginning. For more information on Societies please read Chapter Four of Sorcerer Revised.

8. Tradition: Akashic Brotherhood, Celestial Chorus, Cult of Ecstasy, Dreamspeakers, Euthanatos, Order of Hermes, Sons of Ether, Verbena, Virtual Adepts, or The Hollow Ones

Joshua's Mage Resource Page, listing each Tradition and an explanation of it:

http://members.tripod.com/~mage_resource/tradition.html

• [8] Mentor (Technocracy): Leave blank if you do not yet have one.

• [8] Mentor (Sorcerer): Leave blank if you do not yet have one.

9. Faction (Traditions):

• [9] Amalgam (Technocracy): A group or team of Technocrats who share a common mission or goal for the betterment and/or forward movement of the goals set by the Technocracy as a whole or a specific Convention, depending on the makeup of the Amalgam. Traditionalists would use the term "Cabal".

• [9] Concept (Sorcerer): There is an actual list of concepts HERE (link under construction). We do realize that some of them may not fit exactly but do the best you can. Concepts are usually a 1-2 word root-level label for who your character is at the core (not in a supernatural sense). Examples might be: Drifter, Intellectual, Party Animal, Politician, Misguided Prophet, Socialite. These are stereotypes and needn't be literal; details would be covered in your background.  

  Temp Link containing examples of Concepts:

  http://www.virtualsolarsystem.com/venus/ladynightspirit/Concept.htm

10. Concept (see above #9 Sorcerer): Same as above. Technocrat CS's apparently do not have Concept on them.

11. Attributes: You will have 7/5/3 (Mage/Crat) or 6/4/3 (Sorcerer) starting dots, to spend in three categories (Physical/Social/Mental) in whatever order most suits your PC (Primary/Secondary/Tertiary). Give thought to spending them according to the kind of person your character is, not what looks neat or what you think you have to have to keep from being killed.

12. Abilities (Talents/Skills/Knowledges): You will have 13/9/5 (Mage/Crat) or 11/7/4 (Sorcerer)  starting dots. You may not have anything above 3 dots in Initial Stage here. Please do not "Min-Max" either (where you have all your dots in just a couple areas, and nothing anywhere else). Also, remember new characters grew up in the modern world. That means it is unlikely you don't know at least a LITTLE Computers and how to Drive. Some may not, but you should be able to justify this in their background.

Each Character class has some slightly different Abilities

• TALENTS: Sorcerer has Instruction & Intuition (for a total of 12, not 10)

• SKILLS: Crats have Energy Weapons, Hypertech, & Research (total of 10) instead of Crafts, Meditation & Performance. Sorcerer has the same Skills as Traditions + Animal Ken & Research (total of 12, not 10)

• KNOWLEDGES: Crats have Finance & Politics instead of Cosmology & Occult (total of 10). Sorcerer has the same Knowledges as Traditions + Culture & Lore (for a total of 12)

• Temporary Link on Abilities (Current List Only, No "System"):

• http://www.pen-paper.net/wod.php?op=abilities 

• Temporary Link for TALENTS: http://www.darknexus.com/WhiteWolf/talent.html

• Temporary Link for SKILLS: http://www.darknexus.com/WhiteWolf/skill.html

• Temporary Link for KNOWLEDGES: http://www.darknexus.com/WhiteWolf/knowledge.html

NB: Specializations (Attributes and/or Abilities) -- 

If you have a 4 or higher, you may take a specialization in something, but the bonus rerolling ONLY is done when you are using that specific specialization. 

Example, if you have an Appearance of 4 and your specialization is "Sexy", you only get the bonus when you are trying to deliberately be "sexy" in your RP.

13. SPHERES: Mages have 9 Spheres to work with, one being the specialty of each Tradition. Sorcerer does not use Spheres.

Traditions Spheres: Correspondence, Entropy, Forces, Life, Matter, Mind, Prime, Spirit, and Time. 

14. Advantages --

Backgrounds - Traditions: You have 5 starting dots for Backgrounds (we highly recommend at least Resources 2 in order to be able to afford to live in DC at all, but you can also buy this up with Freebies later.) You also start out with WP 5.

Temporary Link for Backgrounds (Current List only, no "System"):

http://www.pen-paper.net/wod.php?op=backgrounds

Another temporary Link for BACKGROUNDS (Multi-genre, no System):

http://www.darknexus.com/WhiteWolf/background.html

Backgrounds represent items, people, or other resources the character can call on in the course of the story. 

Here is a list of Traditions backgrounds, each of which can go up to five dots:

• ALLIES: Friends who can be counted on to help the character out. They probably know of his magickal abilities. One dot (one ally of moderate power) to five dots (several high powered allies, or more of a lesser power).
• ARCANE: The ability to go unnoticed, or avoid attention. One dot (easy to overlook) to five dots (harder to find than a needle in a haystack).
• AVATAR: The mystick self of a mage; also determines the amount of quintessence (magickal essence) a mage may store at any given time. One dot (one point of quintessence, weak Avatar) to five dots (five points of quintessence, very potent Avatar).
• DESTINY: A mystic who has, or is supposed to have, a special part in future events. One dot (a Mage of merit) to five dots (A revered Mage, destined to shape worldwide events).
• DREAM: The ability to tap into the "universal subconscious" to learn things not yet known. One dot (Hazy bits of information) to five dots (astounding insights are possible).
• FAME: The character's renown in the mortal world. One dot (locally known) to five dots (worldwide renown)
• INFLUENCE: The character's political or social sway or power in the mortal world. One dot (always called on when you raise your hand) to five dots (when you talk, people take notes).
• LIBRARY: A library of tomes with occult knowledge. One dot (a collection of new age books) to five dots (a hoard of lost secrets and a sea of common knowledge).
• MENTOR: An older mage, a spirit, an Avatar, or other person/creature who teaches the character. One dot (unimportant or distant master) to five dots (powerful or influential master).
• NODE: A place of power to which the character has access. One dot (one quintessence per week) to five dots (five quintessence per week).
• RESOURCES: Wealth, belongings, and monthly income. One dot (self-sufficient) to five dots (fabulously wealthy).
• TALISMAN: An object of power, imbued with magick that the wielder can use. Talismans cost TWO background points (or Freebie Points) per dot. One dot (a "weak" item) to five dots (a powerful magickal device).

Backgrounds - Technocracy: Technocratic PC's get 7 starting dots for backgrounds. Technocracy-Specific Backgrounds include:

• Allies
• Backup
• Cloaking (Arcane)
• Companion (Familiar)
• Destiny
• Device (Talisman)
• Enhancement: Either Cybernetics or Gen/bio-engineering that make you more than human...for a price. Handled on a case by case basis and needs to be monitored carefully for abuse and min/maxing. This background may only be purchased up to five.
• Genius (Avatar)
• Hypercram (Dream)
• Influence: The normal spread of 15 areas.
• Laboratory (Sanctum):
• Library
• Patron (Mentor)
• Repository (Node)
• Requisitions: Similar to Resources, but applicable only within the Union to access goods, services and personnel.
• Resources
• Secret Weapons: An experimental Device that is temporarily assigned to you for testing.
• Spies (Contacts)
  

Backgrounds - Sorcerer: Sorcerer PC's have 5 starting dots for backgrounds. 

• Mana is pre-inserted.

15. Arete:

• [15] Enlightenment (Technocracy): Equates to Arete. 

• [15] Hedge Magic Paths (Sorcerer): 

16. Paradox:

• [16] Starting Primal Energy (Technocracy):

• [16] Rituals (Sorcerer):

17. Quintessence:

• [17] Technocracy - SKIP

• [17] Mana (Sorcerer):

18. Willpower:

• [18] Willpower (Technocracy):

• [18] Willpower (Sorcerer):

19. Faith:

• [19] Technocrats do not have a Faith rating.

• [19] Faith (Sorcerer): 

20. Secondary Abilities (Traditions only, Crats & Sorcerer Templates don't have a slot for this but if you can find room in the Primaries somewhere, you can add them manually.):  Please add these in before you switch from Initial to Freebies Stage. The Template crashes if you don't. There is a list of currently approved Secondary Abilities HERE (link under construction).

 

(here is a temp link to use to get an idea of some of them and how they relate to primary abilities: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1903/vtm/ability.htm

Another temp SA link from VOE. Useful in a general sense but do not take as canon and definitely do not use any "house rules" FF junk:

http://www.vampyresofeurope.com/chargen/secondaries.htm

21. Merits & Flaws:

Temp Links to use for Merits & Flaws. The VOE one is incomplete and VTM -centric in coverage; the Pen&Paper one doesn't give details but it DOES give the sourcebook for tons of them in every genre so you know what's currently legal and what isn't.

http://www.vampyresofeurope.com/files/play-pack/meritflaws.htm 

http://www.pen-paper.net/wod.php?op=meritindex

http://www.blarg.net/~rain/ats/Merits.html

http://www.blarg.net/~rain/ats/Flaws.html

http://darkstone.udic.net/merits.htm

http://www.darknexus.com/WhiteWolf/merit.html

http://www.darknexus.com/WhiteWolf/flaw.html

http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Parc/2606/mf.html

 

22. Resonance (Traditions Only):

23. Notes/Extras/Descriptions/Other: If you need space for miscellaneous things.

After you make your first pass through, go back and spend your 15 (+ Overages) Freebie Points. Make sure you have chosen your Merits & Flaws, & Secondary Abilities, and added any notes to Miscellaneous, prior to switching to Freebies stage.

• A fairly exhaustive, comprehensive list of Technocratic Devices (equates to Talismans) and Enlightened Science Procedures (equates to "Rotes" or other Effects), with Sourcebook references, can be found here: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/1738/creation.htm#2

Professor Hathaway: So tell me, Mitch, are you gonna miss your friends? 
Mitch: Well, no, I think I intimidate other kids. 
Professor Hathaway: Good boy. 

-- Real Genius, 1985

SUGGESTED SOURCEBOOKS:

Backgrounds, (book) WW****, pg. *
Merits and Flaws, (book) WW****, pg. *

- Dr. Harry Wolper in "Creator" (1985)

WHO APPROVES YOUR SHEET / WHO IS MAGE ST?:

• Traditions Mages & Sorcerer: Jon

• Technocracy: slander

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." -- Arthur C. Clarke

- Brian O'Blivion, "Videodrome" (1983)

MAGE THEMED MEDIA:

BOOKS: Harry Potter Series (Traditions), Anything by William Gibson (Technocracy/VA's), Day of the Jackal (Euthanatos)

MOVIES (Traditions): Lord of Illusions, The Absent Minded Professor [SoE], Son Of Flubber [SoE], Weird Science [SoE], Real Genius [SoE], Back To The Future I-III [SoE], Creator [SoE], Boondock Saints I & II (Euthanatos), Se7en (Euthanatos), The Dead Zone (Euthanatos), Thunderheart (Dreamspeakers), The Cell [Quiet], Kissed [Euthanatos], The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen [SoE], Night of the Comet [The Red Star]

MOVIES (Technocracy, Virtual Adepts): The Matrix I-III, Men In Black I-II, Minority Report, Blade Runner [Replicants/Constructs], Videodrome, Hackers, The Net, Blue Thunder, War Games,  Lawnmower Man, X-Men [Progenitors], Gattaca, Terminator I-III ,  Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within [Void Engineers]

MUSIC: "Police State" by Birmingham 6 [Technocracy], "The Becoming" by Nine Inch Nails, "Secret Agent Man" or "Mr. DNA" by Devo [Technocracy], Anything by Kraftwerk [Technocracy - Iteration X]

POETRY:

TELEVISION: Mission Impossible [Technocracy], X-Files [Technocracy], Max Headroom [Technocracy/VA's], Without A Trace [Technocracy - NWO], C.S.I. (Crime Scene Investigation)  [Technocracy]

THEATER:

VIDEO GAMES:  Ninja Gaiden [Akashic Brotherhood], Deus Ex Series [Technocracy], Resident Evil [Corporate Conspiracy/Technocracy]

LINKS TO MAGE RELATED WEB SITES:

 
Click to subscribe to 11thHourMage

Acolyte (Mage Mortals) NPCs Index: http://www.pen-paper.net/wod.php?op=npc&npctypeid=7

Arcanum (Mage Mortals) NPCs Index: http://www.pen-paper.net/wod.php?op=npc&npctypeid=7

Artificial Intelligence NPCs Index: http://www.pen-paper.net/wod.php?op=npc&npctypeid=38

(Celestial Chorus) Eternal Grace Congregation Church (FICTITIOUS, but amusing. There is no #3601 on Calusa Club Dr. in Miami, and their phone # is a 555 exchange ): http://www.father-ramos.com/

Consor (Mage Mortals) NPCs Index: http://www.pen-paper.net/wod.php?op=npc&npctypeid=7

Familiar NPCs Index: http://www.pen-paper.net/wod.php?op=npc&npctypeid=36

First Teams (Pentex Mortals) NPCs Index: http://www.pen-paper.net/wod.php?op=npc&npctypeid=7

Gypsies NPCs Index: http://www.pen-paper.net/wod.php?op=npc&npctypeid=15

Hunter's Solace: A Project Twilight RP Site: http://web.ukonline.co.uk/urbanbuda/

Mage NPCs Index: http://www.pen-paper.net/wod.php?op=npc&npctypeid=3

Mage Primer: http://ucsub.colorado.edu/~bonhama/mageprim.htm

Mage Timeline of History/Events: http://www.gehenna.org.uk/~dirk/timeline/magetime.htm

Pentex Equipment & Info: http://www.mants-lair.org.uk/Wyrm/pentex.htm

Predaphile's M:tA Page: http://www.geocities.com/predaphile/wod-mage-index.html

Technocracy Lexicon: http://www.geocities.com/techknox/terms.html

Void Engineers (Crats) NPCs Index: http://www.pen-paper.net/wod.php?op=npc&npctypeid=7

White Wolf Mage Developer's Mage: http://www.white-wolf.com/Games/Pages/MageHome.html

White Wolf Mage Developer's Technocracy Page: http://www.white-wolf.com/Games/Pages/MagePreview/technocracy.html

White Wolf Official Mage Page: http://www.white-wolf.com/mage.html

William's Unofficial Mage Mechanics FAQ: http://www.geocities.com/qryph/Mage/Unofficial_Mage_Mechanics_FAQ.html

 Euthanatos:

Conner MacManus: Now you will receive us. 
Murphy MacManus: We do not ask for your poor, or your hungry. 
Conner MacManus: We do not want your tired and sick. 
Murphy MacManus: It is your corrupt we claim. 
Conner MacManus: It is your evil that will be sought by us. 
Murphy MacManus: With every breath, we shall hunt them down. 
Conner MacManus: Each day we will spill their blood, 'til it rains down from the skies. 
Murphy MacManus: Do not kill. Do not rape. Do not steal. These are principles which every man of every faith can embrace. 
Conner MacManus: These are not polite suggestions, these are codes of behavior, and those of you that ignore them will pay the dearest cost. 
Murphy MacManus: There are varying degrees of evil. We urge you lesser forms of filth, not to push the bounds and cross over, in to true corruption, into our domain. 
Conner MacManus: For if you do, one day you will look behind you and you will see we three, and on that day you will reap it. 
Murphy MacManus: And we will send you to whatever god you wish. 

-- "Boondock Saints I" by Troy Duffy (1999)

All Gaming Sourcebooks & Materials for this campaign are 

© 1990-2004 White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.