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>Question:
How did Atlantis work in your games?
>5th editons cliffnotes
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/CofD/ & /wodg/ Chronicles of Darkness and World of Darkness General
Connor Evans
Xavier Ortiz
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I joined the game a ways in when they started; there are about nine of us, and we run it with two DMs because it's a lot to handle. We're a group of friends that have been RPing and writing together for a long time but even then it's arduous, but addictive.
The campaign was inspired by Stranger Things, because it had just come out. It began with everyone as normal humans. The lives of a group of college-age kids playing D&D in an apartment were upset when a strange monster broke in and abducted their friend. They set out to find him; a couple of kids, a cop, and a doctor from the local hospital. From what I heard they ran around town for months chasing down leads, and encountering new factions and night folk. By the time they had tracked the beast down and killed it, their friend was gone-- abducted by a powerful Moros mage for reasons unknown.
The doctor was eventually revealed to be the leader of the local vampires, one of the kids died in a motorcycle chase and became a Geist, and the mage just obliterated the cop. He also became a geist. Another one of the kids got abducted by the Fae and spent a few months in Arcadia, then came back within days in real time. Another kid hooked up with a local master-dude and became a mage apprentice. During the search they also met up with some werewolves who had moved into the area, looking for an artifact that might have been tied to the mage. Everyone agreed to help one another so that all the tasks could be more easily done. So by the time I came in, there was only one regular human left.
And then I came in, playing a redneck ex-marine who won the lottery and moved to the area so that he could find and kill Bigfoot.
Angel Allen
Gradually, the plot shifts from finding the lost kid to the MacGuffins that the werewolves are looking for, though the plot thread isn't forgotten. My character comes in when the group are in dealing with a pack of Pure who are pushing the local packs out of the area. It turns out that there's a powerful artifact hidden somewhere in the town and they're an advance group sent to scout the place.
We kill the pack leader and send the rest of his pals running, but the Pure are really dead-set on finding this thing so they send in yet another pack, whose alpha is a cell phone company CEO and searches with a lot more finesse. He basically replaces the police force with private security and makes our lives a hell of a lot worse.
During this arc we find the lost kid and kill the moros guy in an epic multi-level boss fight in the sewers. The kid's alive, but in a coma, so we put him in the hospital and focus on this macguffin, which may or may not bring about the apocalypse.
we eventually locate it within a specifically designed labyrinth in the underworld, accessible only by an avernian gate in an abandoned nightclub, guarded by a nightmarishly scary guardian. We sort of go back and forth over whether or not we should leave it where it is because it's safer or whether we should just take it. We decide to leave it, but the Pure pack leader forces our hand by sending in a gang, during which one of our characters dies (a changing breeds were-raven who replaced one of the werewolves) and then occupying the nightclub with his bought out police force.
Cameron Russell
>How to geek the mage ?
>Can humans or other splats hope to go toe to toe with a mage, or is an indirect approach safer ?
First and foremost, it's very unlikely that a character will even know the mage is a mage. The Quiescence prevents anyone without a supernatural merit, without any exception, from remembering any supernal magic at all. Even watch a video or reading an account triggers memory alteration or loss.
And, yes, it's possible to kill a mage, although very difficult. Mages' powers are very varied and quite strong. Don't assume you can surprise them, know that many have effective insta-kill or equivalent spells that can affect an area or multiple targets, virtually all mages have one or more means to quickly escape danger, and all have some forms of reflexive Mage Armor.
If a mage escapes and seeks revenge, the assailant might as well update his will and commit suicide, for the alternative is to ghastly to contemplate.
Also, mages are very social beings and group together for mutual protection. If you manage to kill one, don't be surprised if his cabal or friends decide to retaliate. Again, magic ensures there are fates far worse than death, and your loved ones might now be targets.
If you manage to know about mages and decide to hunt them, your career will likely be very short, painful and messy. It's certainly possible, but the risks invariably outweigh the rewards.
Mason Williams
We go back and forth on schemes trying to kill this mother fucker, but he's ridiculously hard to reach, and it's difficult when some of us are more willing to just murder innocents. Eventually, one of the werewolves just gets tired of waiting and goes to the guy's cell phone factory to just straight up assassinate him during the day, and we go to bail him out. It ends in a major fuck up right outside the front door, and the were-raven's player who just re-rolled a were-tiger gets her ass handed to her by the Pure's totem who is a rank 4 lightning spirit. She berserks, and my guy has to face her down in the street or she'll fucking murder the rest of the unconscious party. So I put her down, and hastily grab my pals and drive off before the cops arrive.
Jordan King
there's a fuckton more but im losing steam. We've had a Mastigos master mage at one point who got hit by a Barrett .50 cal round and basically died in one shot, and my redneck dude just got his arm lopped off by some asshole True Fae. A lot of characters have been switched out or retired or blown to hell.
The moral of the story is, if you don't have an Acanthus with you, don't fucking go into the Hedge.
Carter Hall
>and all have some forms of reflexive Mage Armor.
So like
if a mage steps on a land mine or is stabbed while he sleeps
he can cast a spell and just be ok?
Elijah Ortiz
Mage Armor is not a spell, it is an Attainment. Mage Armor is a power a mage obtains when he attains two dots in any Arcanum Each of the 10 Mage Armors provides a different defense. For instance, Forces Armor provides one level of armor, including against fire and electricity, per level of Forces, while Death Armor provides an advantage similar to vampires where all damage is considered Bashing and you will not keel over when all your health boxes are full. Other armors provide significant Defense bonuses, often against firearms and surprise attacks.
Note that two dots in an Arcanum also provides access to the Shielding Practice, that depending on circumstances, can be quite impressive. For example, a Forces 2 spell can effectively render a mage immune to ALL kinetic damage - bullets, knives, land mines, etc. would all be useless against such a mage.
>Don't bring a gun to a fight with an Obrimos
Matthew Kelly
Hm
as someone who's never played mage, this just sounds like wish fulfillment trash. What's the point?
David White
It sounds impressive against street level threats, but mage is not a street level game. Bullet immunity doesn't help you when you're up against old gods clawing at the foundations of the world or sentient memes enslaving swaths of people.