Friday will see a game of more or less vanilla Mage with the lady friend and a friend of her's. They've expressed a wish for some modern day spell-slingin' action, and I've not hosted a contemporary game in, oh, about three or four years now. I've also yet to run Mage-as-written. My lady's friend is a n00b as far as Pn'P RPG's are concerned, though she's done a bit of MMO-roleplaying. All in all, I expect this'll be a very refreshing change of pace. Hopefully for the lot of us.
In this post I'll put down some of my ideas, mostly so that I can see how it fits together, and so that the girls can look it over. And who knows, some blog-sourcing may come out of it as well.
My first thought was to have the PC's be part of some occult organization. I'm debating whether or not to use one of the factions from the Mage-book for this, or if should create some other group, akin to U.N.C.L.E. or S.H.I.E.L.D or the Inconnu or some such. The reasons for doing this are many, but guidance and support rank high on the list. Getting the characters together for the story without any awkward finagling also counts here. Tomorrow I'll reread the section about orders in the core-book, and decide on which way to go here.
The next thing I need to decide is where to begin. With this I'm thinking location. I'm not all too keen on tying the game to a city. If I'm going WoD, I'd like to be able to use the entire map. The above mentioned conspiracy-issue will also facilitate this. Besides, there are so many neat locations I'd like to be able to visit. So far I have two ideas. One is to send them to Egypt on a relic-hunt, the other is to set the first story in northern Mexico. Both regions are ripe with chaos and action, and I can see the supernaturals being drawn to them like flies to fresh manure. I've done a bit of digging in old news already, but there's still a ways to go before I commit.
Lastly, I need to skim through the rule-book once more before the game to review the rules. The astute reader will know that the rules I've been using in my Pius-game have been trimmed of all fluff, and that I've house-ruled a lot of other stuff as well. I'd like to try to stay closer to the base-line for this one. Only problem is that I've never done that with nMage.
So, there you have it, my gaming chores for the next couple of days. It should be enough to keep me busy, I'd think.
[Picture source: Lee Bermejo]
The man moves across the planet and is already doing his M:tA thing. I like the way you operate! Good luck with the game!
ReplyDeleteMan, I want to play Mage again. It's the coolest WoD game. hands down.
ReplyDeleteMaking the characters part of an organisation will definitely make introductions easier, travelling as well. I've only played city-based Mage games, but I love the idea of going places. Very cool.
@ Christian:
ReplyDeleteYou know how it is, a man's gotta have a game.
@ Jedediah:
There's room at the table for you ;)
Wait, let me pack an overnight bag and I'll fly out to Canada. I could be there at around eight pm if I call in sick at work, but I need to be back Saturday evening for my Cthulhu round.
ReplyDelete...on second thought, lets not go to Camelot.
BoW to the Master. Northern Mexico sounds like SERIOUS trouble. Should be very good, indeed.
ReplyDelete@ Jedediah:
ReplyDeleteYes, you're right, it's a silly place.
@ Eirik:
Well, the girls have expressed a wish for Egypt, but if the game has legs, Mexico needs to be visited.