/CofD/&/wodg/ Chronicles of Darkness & World of Darkness General

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>Question
Post Mages to build ourselves a consillium!

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New thread, so I'll repost it:

>>Has anybody actually started playing Mage 2e yet?

No.
If I play Mage, I play Ascension.

>implying anybody actually plays games

I / we do, but - again - only World of Darkness games.
My group needs a good lore, too.
Yeah, we're old timers, I know.

We're currently running a VtM game.
>ancient Rome
>Ventrue prince is an asshole (what a surprise)
>tells the group to hunt down a Celtic Baali
>The group: a Gangrel druid, a Brujah from Carthage and a "mysterious", special snowflake Lasombra

It's fun.
We don't even try to be historically accurate, just having a good time.
Rome can be creepy as fuck, with all the ghoul servants, corrupt politicians, infernalist cults, etc, etc.

Reposting my example Mages from last thread to get feedback:

>Lawrence (as in "of Arabia") is a recently-Awakened Acanthus being courted by the Mysterium and Guardians of the Veil, consumed by an Obsession to find the lost city of Ubar. She's a History student at the local university.

>NEEDS A NAME is a Moros Guardian fascinated with the Mystery of reincarnation; he believes Ascension is the only way for the inherently Supernal human soul to escape the Exarchs' prison. He may or may not fall to unsavory practices exploring the nature of the soul.

>Apis is a young Mastigos currently trying to find a way to do two things with magic; get her in her proper body without fear of dispelling, and carve the right sympathetic name on her soul.

>Python, an Obrimos fairly new to the Mysterium and intensely curious about the visions and dreams she seems to be receiving from a higher power. I haven't decided if it's a lesser Exarch, something Abyssal, or The Gate itself.

Ugh, OP, you're reminding me how poorly I did making that text overlay.

I don't know if Osiris works as a transgender narrative. I DO however think that an Osirian with the "traditional" missing piece works great as a transgender character. I thought of a concept that was basically an ambiguously sexed person who was flat as a Barbie down there, so they sort of flip flop between the Team Mom and Team Dad archetype.

Basically an androgynous Osirian who can't decide if they're supposed to be June or Ward Cleaver.

>I only play DEEP games you wouldn't understand
No one cares if you like oWoD more. But likewise, no one wants to hear you jerk off about how much better you are for it.

Ajax, Adamantine Arrow Acanthus of the Awakening Gambit. Has mastered Fate & Time, and a disciple of Mind. Politically apathetic, and joined the Arrow with the intention of protecting sleepers, and quietly pushing them towards Awakening.

Against most Mage stuff effectively yes. Legacy attainments are all natural from a Supernal point of view and therefore Indefinite or arbitrarily long duration is nearly indistinguishable from Lasting. Some dick with a Legacy with a dispellation attainment might be able to undo it if he can detect it, but other than that you're ironclad.

Like I said, I actually like them. I'll post my example as well.
>An Acanthus with Fate primary, Death secondary with the Shadowname Tiresias. Possibly stricken blind during whatever made them Awaken. I could go lame and say a hate crime for being trans, since that kiiiind of jives with the original namebearer, but Iunno.

>No one cares if you like oWoD more. But likewise, no one wants to hear you jerk off about how much better you are for it.

I was telling about my group and what kind of games we like to play.
It's a personal opinion.

Also this is still a "/CofD/&/wodg/ Chronicles of Darkness & World of Darkness General" thread, where we can discuss WoD, too.

I'm happy that you have your opinion, but let others have their own, too!

I mean, it certainly wouldn't be the orthodox telling of the story, but if you come at it from "Osiris has what is male cut from him and can then rule as a magical king" and also consider that there were female kings, you can almost make it work. Like I said, works better as a UA Avatar than as a CofD Mage thing, but it's what's on the mind.

I'm just trying to figure out how to make a trans mage not live in constant fear of having their shit dispelled.

From the last thread, to get feedback:
The only other thing that really bothers me is Proximus changes. I don't hate them, they're not bad. But they're not what I like out of Proximi. So here are my changes and notes on why I'd run them that way if I ever used them.

>Proximi get one free Reach; or maybe just their Blessings default to Instant
>Proximi Paradox doesn't fuck up the spell entirely, just fucks up them
>Sleepers don't increase Paradox for Proximi
>Sleepers DO suffer Quiescence, but no more than for any other supernatural event in the WoD.
I like Proximi to feel more like occult psychics or whatever than the more wizardy style of thing that Mages do. I like their powers to feel innate to them as opposed to calling down hire powers. I love the way the Curse works now, but I hate that my Proximus concept that I was looking forward to updating doesn't work anymore because a lot of the themes I wanted to do with an orphaned Proximus are impossible.

He was from a Dynasty of Crusaders and soldiers that tended to get themselves killed. His mother was injured fighting something, and ended up leaving her baby in the snow outside of a strip club where she could hear some people coming to smoke or whatever, and he got raised by them. He grew up a comic book loving weirdo who did parkour, and he ended up seeing a mugging, jumped down to help, and when the person tried to stab him, the blade broke off on his stomach instead. He later developed other powers, like Celestial Fire and Body Control, and decided that since he didn't know his real parents, he MUST be an orphaned alien. He sewed a costume and became a vigilante.
pastebin.com/nmJbCFKs

I like Python and Lawrence. Here's one of mine.
>Machiavelli, a Mastigos, has been a Guardian cleaner for as long as he cares to remember. When he and his closest friend were apprentices, his friend was far too greedy with reach, and the paradox released an abyssal entity. The entity possessed his friend, and Machiavelli landed the final blow. Since then, he hunts abyssal leaks with a passion, and masks any guilt he feels towards killing those who don't deserve magic.

I'm so torn between "sad trans Tiresias" and "true to legend cursed with the other sex and kind of okay with it." To me personally, Mage is a game with much less gender-related angst; you fix it with magic and move on.

Now, Promethean? You can write some suicide-inducing queer narratives with that game.

Lawrence is fun because I like a Shadow Name born within living memory, but already moving towards the realm of myth. Plus it's a fun excuse to have a crossover character and rock a sweet tulwar as a Dedicated Tool.

Machiavelli is neat! UA has a faction very similar to the Guardians called The Sleepers, and their fluff revision for the new edition of that game is that they largely recruit from mages who have grossly fucked up; it's kind of like a support group for recovering alcoholics and an internal magic police all at once. Drawing on the guilt, regret, and "I have personally known bubris" angle for the Guardians is a great approach.

Hell, I bet most Guardian recruits are found and brought in because of their first Paradoxes.

All these stupid trannys trying to change from one pathetic form to another one.

- The Daksha

>I / we do, but - again - only World of Darkness games.
>My group needs a good lore, too.
>Yeah, we're old timers, I know.
"My shit is better than yours" is a personal opinion, but still an annoying, masturbatory one.

I don't see how that works better in UA.

As for a trans mage, well, even if their shit gets dispelled, they can generally put it back. That's how I did it. You don't really have to be *afraid* of that happening. I mean, it's unlikely that will get randomly dispelled, and even if it does, that's still rarely going to be as bad as missing hormone pills/patches/shots, which has to deal with actual physics and biology, and the crash that comes from missing dosages of medications.

Many Faces (or hell, Mutable Mask) , cast ritually with a Rote and a Yantra and take Reach to use Advance Duration. Take -10 and make the spell Indefinite. Spend a dot of Willpower to Relinquish it. I mean, dispelling minor beneficial spells seems like it would be a violation of the Lex in most places.

I didn't say Tiresias was sad. I was thinking just shy of that witty queer stereotype. They're blind, but they're not really bothered by it. I was also thinking about having them just flipflop between male and female. Or be female bodied by identify as male. Or just be queer seer, without the blind aspect, not that blindness would really bother a Fate mage.

We can't all be hermaphrodite space Nazis.

do you gain attainments as soon as you have the relevant arcanum dots or are they purchased separately?

How would you flavor a Tremere house made up of The Mad? I personally am seeing them consuming the Subtle Arcana to try and repair the cracks within their own souls, but the repairs are never good enough...

Ictus.
Formerly middle management, awoke to Mastigos after a stroke while driving lead to the death of his family, and he clawed his way out of Pandemonium to regain some sense of self-repect.

Joined the Silver Ladder, and tries to help people.
By pushing them until they break down and face their problems.
It's not pretty, but he swears it works.

Not particuarly good at much other than Mind.
Sees his Awakened abilities as a tool rather than an ends.

Arcanum attainments are free for hitting the proper rating. Legacy attainments have to be bought.

>House
>Made of The Mad
Pick one.
The Mad are Mad, they wander through their life in a fugue-like state.

>If I play Mage, I play Ascension.

Jesus titfucking Christ

>only World of Darkness games

Jesus cleveland steamer Christ

>currently running a VtM game.

Jesus rimjobing Christ

Luckily they got one whose Obsession is teaching others his Legacy. He's busy teaching all the new bottomed out on Wisdom suitable candidates his new Legacy, by force if necessary. If they don't throw recruits at him he starts making new ones the hard way.

throwing around an idea for an Obrimos Mad One who's obsessed with nuclear radiation and trailing the stuff all over. It's entwined with his nimbus and irradiating his old buddies too, maybe.
i'll sleep on it.

Would a Legacy based on manipulating radiation and radioactive materials be Left-Handed?

Obrimos with Matter arcanum?

No. Why would it be?

Call him Ahab.
youtube.com/watch?v=RrkzIN2eP0U

How can we make this work with the Tremere? Maybe one of the Tulpas is a representation of the Soul devouring aspect of the group.
>"Insert your medallion, turn the handle, and meet the greatest, the funnest, the pitiless PACK OF SOUL EATERS!"

So, let's say your PC starts with a 4-dot Goetic Familiar that's the incarnation of humanity's understanding of the concept of "Waifu".

What sort of Influences would she have? Would she be too strong to make as a starting Familiar, forcing you to just use a fictional character underneath her rulership instead?

>So, let's say your PC starts with a 4-dot Goetic Familiar that's the incarnation of humanity's understanding of the concept of "Waifu".
Let's not.

Why not? Waifu definitely exists in the Temenos; you'd think that she would be a valid familiar, right?

I prefer to think that the people who gain Real Ultimate Power in the World of Darkness aren't weebs.

Well it sure beats a Usudwirku infected Gangrel Bloodline that uses Majesty+Aninmalism to get people high on shrooms.

I think everyone got his own understanding of this concept, in truth.

But what if they are? What if guys and gals with shadow names like Musashi, Kitsune and Naruto even formed a cabal?

I'm gonna make a vampire that snorts cocaine

The Diamond and Seers would both agree that this cannot be allowed and wipe them out.

Have fun wasting your money.

VtM question on torpor: has anyone ever modified the rules for awakening from torpor? I ask because my aprty just torpored a Sabbat Ventrue and they are thinking of blood bonding him, however that means they will have to wait forever for him to awaken. Which kinda ruins any momentum.

So I'm thinking of removing the time constraint if they feed him to full health or something. Thought?

Or just get a coke whore to snort it for you.

Eh, at least it's better than being a Vampire Meth-addict, that's gonna have it's own problems.

I was meaning more the Cocaine isn't really going to do anything to do.

This is how I promethean

Sounds like a good Free Council cabal to me! They've even got a decent theme besides "LOL technomagic".

Weeabooism is a pretty valid focus for a Legacy. So is the furry fandom. And baseball. And Anonymous. And zen and the art of motorcycle repair.

You could always have an NPC with some expertise in kindred physiology or thaumaturgy provide a method of waking him up earlier in return for a future favor (and the NPC can always hold the implicit need for secrecy over them if they get cold feet later on). Alternatively, if they've got some especially trusted ghouls he could always be used as a portable wine-press for juicing up if they're required to travel for extended periods without access to their masters (along with all the terrible risks this would entail); kine blood goes in, vitae comes out.

And Feng Shui?
youtube.com/watch?v=H39P67tAau4

Goes without saying.

Brainstorming a bit more, not all mages awake as adults, right? It could be a cabal where all members are apprentices in a 15-17 range. Their mentor could or could not be a Mage antagonist in disguise.

Here is the Banisher Scelestus I mentioned.

>Nemo, an Obrimos Banisher, was a timid man in his early 40s before his traumatic Awakening. When the scale were ripped from his eyes he could see people who through will alone twisted reality until it screamed in pain. He would have been driven mad by the things he could see, but not comprehend if not for the serendipitous intervention of an Acamoth. With the things Nemo could see with his Mage Sight, it wat not difficult for the Acamoth to convince Nemo that it was not just the Awakened that were wrong, the world itself was fundamentally flawed in ways that meant changing it, not just preserving it, was the correct course of action. In exchange for preventing Nemo’s psyche from being ripped apart by Supernal forces, Nemo sacrifices Awakened victims to the Acamoth so they may both bring about the world that should be. To help cover his tracks and pick his targets, Nemo has become quite skilled at not only Prime, but Space as well.

Noice.

Also, I was thinking he took the shadow name, Nemo, because he's just some nobody who seeks a world that does not exist.

scp-wiki.net/sarkicism-hub
Would these guys be a good Left-Handed Life Legacy?

Yeah, I guess. I think I'll stick to the rules then and have a local Tremere know a ritual because that's the best go-to clan for this (even though Tremere will be the last to help them at this point)

youtu.be/5N5zfBzzTvs

Watching this I couldn't help but think about Time Mages

They both have their strong points though; Classic had its 90's cheese, metaplot, and more focused splats. Chronicles has better crossover play, and
Toolkit.

Does everyone in an Awakening campaign have to be of different paths?

If I wanted to listen to retarded gender and queer faggotry then I'd hop over to the RPGnet forums or tumblr

Don't cabals usually center themselves around a theme most times?

Nice

No, they should all be Acanthus.

Are there any Vampires that make use of Heavy Metal?

Everyone appreciates Metal, user.

Or you could deal with it.

Toreador/Daeva?

Maybe their agenda is to set off a lot of nukes and study the patterns that emerge. You don't need creepy attainments to get your Legacy outlawed.

I don't know how you could possibly be into either WoD if you can't stand queer content.

youtube.com/watch?v=eK3sDc4Rlfw
youtube.com/watch?v=M2_xsfiAHaU
So, is Echoes ability Forces, Mind or both?

Easy. When I play or run that shit, we don't go full tumblrtard.

It's all over the books. Why bother playing a game if the mere presence of queerness seems to get you triggered?

Truly the best way to do things. I'm not even being sarcastic here, if you can handle things reasonably, you're a good person, which is a rare thing today.

What sort of loot can you get from Sabbat vampires? I'm stuck, because I can't think of anything particularly useful other than a vaulderie cup and some common items like weapons, a phone, cash, etc

I can ignore the book's bs. I just csnt stand it when I read this bs on forums.

If you flip out at people talking about aspects you don't like, can you really be said to be handling it reasonably?

Odd items symbolizing the bonds between pack brothers

Unless they're shovelheads, little bits and pieces of their lives outside of being combat fodder. Even someone whose existence has been reduced to 'nocturnal predator' likely has some sort of personal effects. Trinkets from parts of their mortal lives they've fixated on, trophies from prey, tat from places they've been, that sort of thing.

Sorry. Just didn't expect to find that kind of crap here of all places on the internet

What's the best Clan and bloodline to sell crack to children in VTR?

Wasn't there an extinct mexican ventrue cocaine bloodline?

Don't look at me like that, I just post homebrew. Speaking of, one idea I had was a Gangrel Bloodline with, of all things, Majesty as their fourth discipline. They believe that their control over their Beast marks them as the kind of people who can actually lead vampires into a new era...though if you knew about their weakness, you'd wonder who is really in control of who.

The weakness of this bloodline is due to their origins. As descendants of the Savages, they already have frenzy problems. But having one foot in the blood of the Serpents brings to light a new issue, if someone does something that contradicts one of their Bans, they fly into a Frenzy immediately, simply put: They get really fucking triggered.

>Wallets and wallet shit
>guns
>knives
>other weapons
>pictures of cute Cammie sluts they've diablerized
>items autographed by famous Archbishops
>secret ritual shit to get into contact with his or her secret Tal'Mahe'Ra handlers.

And shovelheads will have random human shit, anyway. Pieces of their former lives as street people and lowlives.

>What sort of loot can you get from Sabbat vampires?

HIV and a cocaine dependency

>pictures of cute Cammie sluts they've diablerized
>items autographed by famous Archbishops
10/10

Little pocket-sized copies of the Code of Milan

Oh, that's a good one, thank you!

I've gotta ask again: am I reading this stuff about Nimbus Tilts correctly? If you choose to have your Nimbus give a bonus toward a skill, you can then basically give people +1 and 8-again on rolls with that skill at no cost whenever you feel like it? That seems fairly strong.

Something terribly subtle and mature.

Some autistic Sabbat cunt's chart showing every vaulderie he's ever done, and every resulting vinculum, with dorky little calculations estimating the strength of the existing vinculi.

Alright you slack-nimbused, abyss-stretching, quiescence-spewing, sacks of awakened flesh, LISTEN UP! I am Interfector Ryczek! I am in charge of training you, backwood maggots, in the Arcana of Time and Fate! In my time in the Diamond Orders I have personally trained more than fifty initiates and I am proud to say almost fourteen of 'em have yet to try to kill Hitler!

Pic related it's the Sympathetic Yantra I'll nail your ass with if you ever pull a stunt like that.

Like a baby on a stick?
Ha, I like this one, thanks

But I got Death and Matter

>Like a baby on a stick?

Exactly. Just a token needlessly cruel, disgusting thing. Maybe a poorly filmed home video of the pack's rowdier member gangraping a Toreador ancillae with fire pokers or something

Sorry, I got Death and Life. It's fun to lead armies of undead mutated monsters to wreak shit for you.

Dammit I did not want to picture Soldier as an Arrow Acanthus, I don't think the timeline could handle the stupidity.

What do people think about the Beaten Down special rule? I reckon it sounded interesting, but it might be annoying to manage. Anyone had experience with it?

>Okay, so Fate 4 + Time 2 mage is in a gunfight with a Seer, and he's going to try to turn them into a member of the Free Council by retroactively fucking with Fate. He Reaches to get Temporal Sympathy, Sensory Range, and Advanced Duration. He'll be probably be eating some Bashing damage from Paradox, but he figures it's worth it. He gets one free Reach, so he gets 4 Paradox dice, and probably eats one or two successes on those dice as Bashing damage.
>He then casts the spell. He gets 4 Potency as the Primary Factor, and he's working against a Medium Temporal Sympathy (Mage as he is now to Mage as he was immediately following Awakening), so that's Withstand 2; a starting mage probably has 2-3 points in Resolve, so he's looking at a Withstand of 3-4. His base dice pool is Fate 4 + Gnosis 3 (the minimum for Fate 4), so he has seven dice, plus Yantra bonuses. He spends two dice to increase Potency by one, two dice to increase Duration to One Day (long enough for the young Awakened to come into contact with someone who can induct them into the Free Council, surely), and as a Mage with 3 Gnosis, he gets 3 Yantras. One is the Sympathetic Yantra, to hit his younger self. One is a silver coin on a necklace, used to represent him flipping his allegiance from one side to another. One is a glass rod, used to project the Mage's power from himself to his opponent. He gets five dice to roll, and almost definitely scores at least one success.
>The Seer is now been retroactively turned into a member of the Free Council.

I still kinda want someone to prove or disprove this spell to me.

There's no need to disprove it.
I do have one question, though. Why is a Gnosis 3 Mage having trouble killing a starting mage?

>Division Six has been tricked into working under a Seer Pylon.
>Knights of Saint George are working for things from the Abyss.
What next, a Hunter group that is unknowingly in the service of the Tremere?

>There's no need to disprove it.
Really? So it is possible? I am not trying to start flamewar again - I do truly just want to know if this is possible spell.

>Why is a Gnosis 3 Mage having trouble killing a starting mage?
Gnosis 3 isn't that much far away from starting mage. In fact, starting mage can have Gnosis 3, if he spends all his Merit points on it.