The Game: Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition
I remember picking up a copy of Vampire the Masquerade back in the early 90s and thinking it looked interesting, but nothing I was going to play really. Though my thought did go to moving the whole thing over to Ravenloft. It wasn't later until I had moved to Chicago to work on my Ph.D. that I found Mage.
The ground floor of the commuter train station had a bookstore in it. One of the pure joys of my daily commute. I picked up a copy of Mage: The Ascension (Revised) and thought that it was fantastic. While I would ultimately stick with WitchCraft, Mage continued to have a fascination for me. Moving back and forth between the systems I ultimately landed on the idea that a "Mage" was an evolved form of a "Witch." I did some refinements, mostly after Mage the Awakening was released, so eventually came to the idea of an "Imbolc Mage" the term borrowed from a friend that wrote about "Ascended witches." IT worked for me. Even in my D&D 3.0 days, an Imbolc Mage was a witch prestige class. My Imbolc Mage is even tied back to Amy and Megan. In one universe Amy is a good friend, in another Megan is her grandmother. In Scáthach/Moria Stewart's universe, she is the superhero Witchfire (but more on that tomorrow).
While Mage the Ascension grabbed my attention, it was Mage the Awakening that I created the more material for. I soon figured out why, it was that it was very close in feel to WitchCraft. I wanted to do something that took the best aspects, or more to the point my favorite aspects, of both games and use them together. I grabbed the Mage Translation Guide with great glee, but I never really did anything with it. With the release of Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition (and its nearly 700 pages) I just dropped all the work I was doing with Mage the Awakening.
This brings me to Bri.
Brianna was really my first character specifically for Mage the Awakening. I knew she was going to me an Imbolc Mage according to the myths of my game worlds so stating her up in Mage first made the most amount of sense. Given that her character birthday is coming up (February 1) I think she needs to be stated up for Mage: The Ascension.
The Character: Brianna
Of the members of this week's coven, Bri is the youngest and the most powerful. She is also one of the oldest characters I have made and have detailed this month. In my first Generation HEX game she was born February 1st, 2005, since that game was set in 2022 she would have been 17. Well, she will be 16 in a couple of days, so let's see how she looks for Mage.
One of the big changes right away is shifting her from a Verbena to a Sister of Hippolyta. While the game even mentions that these two should have merged a long time ago they are separate still. Given that Brianna is part of the Daughters of the Flame, the sisters feel like a much better fit really. This is also apparent in her Avatar and Destiny Backgrounds. She is going to do Big Things someday. But right now she is just a kid.
Brianna
Nature: Activist
Demeanor: Idealist
Essence: Primordial
Affiliation: Sisters of Hippolyta
Sect: Daughters of the Flame
Concept: Guardian
Attributes
Physical
Strength 2
Dexterity 3
Stamina 3
Social
Charisma 2
Manipulation 1
Appearance 3
Mental
Perception 4
Intelligence 3
Wits 3
Abilities
Talents
Alertness 2, Athletics 1, Awareness 1, Empathy 1, Intimidation 2, Leadership 1
Skills
Martial Arts 1, Melee 1, Research 1, Survival 1, Technology 1
Knowledge
Academics 2, Computers 1, Enigmas 2, Esoterica 2, Investigation 1, Occult 3, Science 2
Spheres
Life (Affinity) 2, Mind 2, Forces 1, Prime 1, Spirit 1
Backgrounds
Avatar 3, Destiny 3, Mentor 1
Arete 3
Willpower 5
Quintessence 5
Gender: Female (she/her)
Age: 16 (DOB Feb 1, 2005)
Hair: Red
Eyes: Blue
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 120 lbs.
Yeah. This makes me want to play Mage again!
I've recently realized how much I need to start paying attention to Mage, perhaps in both (all?) of its incarnations. Werewolf: The Forsaken is the only WoD setting, new or old, that I've ever purchased anything for with the intention of getting "into" it...mostly because I just like werewolves...but the Mage ideas of playing with reality from various points of view make it look like one of the most philosophically interesting game lines out there.
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