[Mage: the Awakening] Silver Ladder + Adamantine Arrow Campaign Design Themes: Power

“Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.”
George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four

Magic, by its very definition, is power. The ability to twist reality to obey your will, to impose one’s desires upon the world is secretly everyone’s greatest wish.

Imagine what you could do with magic? Wealth, influence, youth and beauty would all be available to you. All that’s holding anyone back is their own morality and sense of ethics. That is the very reason why Mages are part of a horror game.

Even if you strip away the monsters and the strange phenomena in the game, the presence of a single Mage is reason enough to be worried. Mages are people possessed of a powerful will, and their abilities bestow a wicked sense of entitlement that is horrifying to think about.

If you can change the world to fit your vision, who’s to say that you don’t deserve to get the best of everything? Lovers, wealth, influence… all of it is ripe for the taking, and if you play your cards right, nobody will every know that you’ve been tweaking things.

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It is this thesis that constitutes the backbone of the SL + AA campaign that I’m working on. The players are new Mages in a town run by a Consilium that is barely functional. Corruption has taken root into the heart of the Consilium, and almost every mage is dirty in one way or another.

The Player characters now stand at a crossroads. Their task is to whip the Awakened of the city back into shape, to take over the Consilium and fix it. It’s a tall order, and who knows what atrocities they might have to resort to to make it happen… and how power might corrupt them as well.

The game will most likely take place in two distinct phases. The first phase will be the acquisition of power, the introduction of the cabal to the consilium, and their climb to the top. The second phase will be interesting, as their positions of power suddenly put them in situations where they must protect their power and advance their interests in the midst of those who have “better ideas.”

Combat is probably not going to be the primary focus of the game, though given that I’m seriously considering the Noir setting, it will exist in some form. The Adamantine Arrows of the team will be able to exercise their experience in the field of battl while the Silver Ladder will clash over ideology, philosophy and power brokering the factions.

While I’m certain that the Cabal might not necessarily want to be the kings of the city, they will at least want to be Kingmakers.

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At this point I’m considering Chicago as the city, but I’ll have to review the Chicago book for it. I won’t be sticking too close to the canon history of it, so I hope that people won’t be too picky with my lack of understanding as I live halfway around the world from the US and have never set foot on American Soil.

I’m thinking of making about six to seven other Cabals for the city, along with the Seers of the Throne and other residents. This will most certainly include several Apostate cabals from marginalized communities that might serve as new members of a new Consilium in the future.

I’m also considering thematically arranging the various Cabals along what kind of Power they specialize in. The Seers might specialize in one kind of power, while some Cabals might have access or dominance in another. Money, Sex, Influence, Connections, Might, Numbers, Ideology, Religion… all of these constitute power in one way or another so this might be a good way to arrange the various cabals that the players will end up interacting with.

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It’s a lot of high-level thinking so far, but with enough work I think I will be able to generate an interesting set of Cabals to work with. I’ll also see if I can slip in other NPCs of note that aren’t mages to flesh the setting out a bit more.

[Mage: the Awakening] Limited-Order Campaign Musing

Last weekend, I was talking to my players about limited-faction campaigns and how they’d turn out, and we decided to try applying that kind of thinking to a Mage game. The first game we’ve tried to play with this kind of thinking was with L5R, and the Lion Clan game was very successful, so perhaps we might be onto something.

That said, Mage is an entirely different kind of creature, so rather than restrict the players to a single Order, I figure that it might be best to adhere to a pair of orders instead. While I was initially looking at a globetrotting Mysterium + Adamantine Arrow game (something that I might come back to in the future), the alternative was to try out a Silver Ladder + Adamantine Arrow game instead.

In some ways, a game involving the SL and the AA is one mired in the discussion of Power. Authority and the Strength necessary to enforce such are core themes of both groups. Given this sort of setup, I’ve gotten to thinking that there might be something there.

I don’t have a complete picture in my mind yet, but the idea is a campaign about the acquisition of power and holding on to it. Given the city-focused nature of Mage: the Awakening, the closest metaphor I can think of is a crime story where a new gang moves into a city to try and take over. Games like Grand Theft Auto or Saint’s Row are good examples of this kind of story, where the focus is eking out a niche, then climbing up the food chain.

With regards to location, I’m seriously considering a fictional American city as to give myself some extra leeway to rely more heavily on cinematic tropes.

Mage is all about dangerous people doing dangerous and risky things in the name of power and hubris, and maybe learning to be a little wiser along the way. I’m still going over a few ideas in my head at the moment, and while I don’t have a solid pitch yet, I’m seeing it as a reflection of the original Sword of Damocles concept I had for a Seer game.

I’m still mulling it over in my head right now, but I think I might be on to something. Perhaps later this week I’ll be able to cement this all into a solid pitch that I’ll be posting here on the blog for my players to think about.

[Mage: the Awakening] Order-Inspired Campaign Ideas

I’ve recently been talking to Sheimaruen, one of the other GMs in my gaming group about Mage. The topic was that of how to come up with interesting new ideas for Mage campaigns.

I mentioned that there was some merit to limiting choice with regards to the player options, and that led us to talking about what kind of good limitations work best for Mage. Rather than limit the Paths available to the characters, we figured that it might be a better idea to constrain a games options based off the Mage Orders.

While single-Order games are nice, I think there’s some measure of tolerance in the idea of mixing 2 Orders together to create a campaign. Some of the ideas that came up from this discussion included:

• A Silver Ladder and Adamantine Arrow campaign based off the idea that the Consilium is a metaphor for organized crime. A cabal of Silver Ladder mages with Adamantine Arrow backup moving into town with the express agenda of taking over the city’s current ruling faction makes for an interesting game involving politics, combat and a lot of back room deals. Fun opponents for this include a well entrenched cabal from the Seers of the Throne or an old boy’s club of mages who don’t like the new upstarts. Think Saint’s Row meets Awakened Magic.
• A Mysterium and Adamantine Arrow campaign that plays up the whole Occult Pulp angle. A special cabal of mages recognized by and sponsored by the Order itself to travel around the world to liberate Magic from those who would abuse it. This team would be composed of those who specialized in acquisitions and would run into all sorts of threats from strange creatures guarding Atlantean ruins to the Consilium of other countries.
• An all-Guardians campaign usually works well, but mixing that with the Free Council might be interesting to come up with a techno-thriller of Occult Espionage featuring Techgnostic solutions to stranger problems dealing with forces of the Abyss or of the Exarchs. Think John Constantine meets James Bond.

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Out of the three I have to admit that the second one sounds the most interesting to me. That said I think I could run the first one very well too, as long as I get to stick to street-level stuff first. Eking out territory ala Saint’s Row does sound like something that works in the context of Mage after all.

I think I might have found the next game I’ll run after HERO. Just need some extra time to plan it out. What do you guys think? Which campaign concept should I try fleshing out?

[HERO 6th] City of Champions – Teen Conflict

One of the things to consider when running a teen supers game is the idea of making certain that there’s a good mix of conflicts that matter to the protagonists. Given their age, this conflict can come from several sources: friends, family, society and the occasional super-villain.

I’m currently trying to build momentum for my HERO game, and doing so means that I’ll have to consider how to introduce a wide array of conflicts and plot hooks that don’t always involve punching bad guys in the face. Thankfully teen games are full of melodrama and even the most trivial things can be a matter of life and death. I’ve been musing about which issues might be worth exploring and here’s a short list of what I’ve come up with:

• Peer Pressure and Bullying – An ugly topic to be sure, but one that is relevant in any educational institution. While the classes in Claremont Academy are small, there’s enough students around to jockey for dominance. This can take the form of physical and psychological bullying. Embarrassment  physical harm, intimidation and other tactics can be an issue I can bring up.
• Sex- Sex is a pretty big deal to teens… and to everyone else. It’s a powerful motivator for teens of both genders and everyone wants to be desired, especially at an age where everyone feels awkward. That said, this is a touchy issue, and I’m still on the fence if I want to bring up the more hot-button issues of date rape and teen pregnancy onto the table just yet.
• School Shootings / Suicides – Another unpleasant issue that can be brought up in the context of play. There aren’t any easy answers to these, but it’s a significant and possibly life-changing event for any person, whether teacher or student.

While this list might seem to be perhaps a little too dark and grim, I think the actions of the Player Characters should serve as a means to uplift the setting towards a brighter future. Teens might idolize adult heroes, but seeing a fellow Teen pull off something amazing galvanizes them to action.

Obviously I’ve only touched on the bigger issues, but there are several smaller hooks that can be used in the game. Not everything has to be depressing, but I don’t think I want to whitewash the setting either.

[Fantasy Craft] Jianghu: A Wuxia Campaign, Subplots

I’ve been checking out the Subplots available in the Fantasy Craft core rules for the Wuxia campaign I’m planning so far, and I’m pretty happy to see that most of them work for any genre.

With regards to my campaign, I’d probably allow the following as they all suit the Wuxia Genre very well.

Cursed – This is a fun one, this can be a springboard for many interesting Xia which are working to rid themselves of a curse, or just lead to all sorts of happy complications of being plagued with misfortune.

Dependents – This is a tough one, but still fits Wuxia. From parents to siblings to loved ones, many Xia worry about those who might be targeted by their enemies. Perfect for games with characters sporting a vigilante angle like Iron Monkey.

Hunted/Wanted – Being the roving do-gooders that they are, the Xia can have this one as they gain greater infamy for fighting against the corrupt government. Likewise, bounty hunters and mercenaries might want them for the price on their heads.

Mentor/Patron – Sifu! Some Xia are lucky enough to have good teachers… others might find that the price of learning their martial arts is much more costly than they thought.

Military/Political Entanglement – An excellent Subplot for Xia courtiers and spies, as well as those who serve as Generals or Magistrates.

Mistaken Identity – This is as surprisingly common plot device in Wuxia novels. Many a Xia has cursed being born with a face remarkably like a famous (or infamous) person.

Nemesis/Rival – Ah, the eternal Rival. Nowhere is it more appropriate than in a Wuxia campaign that often culminates in the final showdown between bitter rivals.

Search – The search for the Azure Dragon Halberd or some other item of great significance is a central plot in many Wuxia fiction.

Secret Identity – Much like in Hunted/Wanted some Xia hide their identities when they spring into action to better operate in dangerous areas where the Empire’s forces are in full strength. Who would ever think that Li Ping the Physician was actually the notorious vigilante that calls himself The Silver Fox?

Troubled Romance – Romance has a strong place in Wuxia fiction, often with interesting twists such as mixing it up with the heros nemesis, who will only marry a man who can defeat her in single combat.

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As you can see, all of these have a place in the campaign, and I might provide this shortlist to my players to work with when they put their characters together. I’ll see if I can also ask for them to pick Subplot elements that affect them as a group as opposed to just the character as well.