Mage: The Ascension (Mage)

Rating:
Summary: Anyone who dislikes this game must lack imagination.
Review: Thats right. You'd have to be right out of the box of Autumn People if you think this game suxs. Seriously, this game is the best as far as the World of Darkness goes. I mean yeah the others do have some definite things running for them but come on. You get to toy with peoples beliefs here, even if that person happens to be an Atheist. The problem is those types might find this game frightening especially when they realize that reality IS up for grabs and regardless of belief its gonna be exactly the way you percieve it. Maybe some people can't handle that kind of responsibility and try to play ignorant to it. Well the Technocracy likes people like them and I like to watch them squirm to define something vulgar as a rational thing. Some people will never learn. But enough about people who such cause they can't figure a good cronicle to run, Mage: The Ascension is a book worth reading for enjoyment of reading alone. Hell I've been playing the game for years now and I still can't help but pick the book up and re-read it every once in awhile. As player and storyteller of this game I must admit its one of the most fascinating roleplaying game I've ever played.

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Summary: Great role-playing that requires you to think.
Review: The worst part about the book is design. It's often difficult to look things up. Other than that, Mage is a wonderful role-playing world which requires thought and imagination. Anyone who thinks that mages are weak is kidding himself. Sure, if you go toe-to-toe against a Black Spiral Dancer with a beginning character, you're toast. The trick is to use your brain so you can anticipate, avoid, or escape the situation using your magickal abilities, which are insanely powerful in the Mage world. Only munchkins don't like Mage. You know who you are.

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Summary: The Warriors Of Ascension Are Among Us!
Review: This book is absolutly the greatest. I have been roleplaying for ever and found this game to be the most fun. It places you in many odd scenarios against REALLY nasty forces, try it some time!

Rating:
Summary: An eye-opener of a game.
Review: This game has an incredible backstory that makes reading thrrough it a pleasure. The concepts behind it are so advanced and complex that most gamers I know wont even touch it for fear of migrains. That aside the concept is just to incredible to be ignored . Imagine if you will that you could manipulate reality itself by a willpower and enlightenment alone. You could do the immpossible and the unimagined. For you 'make belive' events are an everyday occurence. But your not alone. Other seek your path and their own. Wittnes the Techonracy who devotes itself to the preservation of mankind by destroyng 'reality deviants'. Or the Nephandi who seek to destroy and corrupt all exsistence for their dark masters. Then their our the Mauraders. Wyld incarnate, they do things that shouldn't be done or that are impossible even by mage standards. And lastly the Nine Traditions whos eek to walk the Balancing Path. Also you your power is limited by what is belived 'possible' by the masses. The harder you push rerality the harder reality will push you back (and it will)! This balance of power and potential is what makes the game so much fun.

Rating:
Summary: An eye-opener of a game.
Review: This game has an incredible backstory that makes reading thrrough it a pleasure. The concepts behind it are so advanced and complex that most gamers I know wont even touch it for fear of migrains. That aside the concept is just to incredible to be ignored . Imagine if you will that you could manipulate reality itself by a willpower and enlightenment alone. You could do the immpossible and the unimagined. For you 'make belive' events are an everyday occurence. But your not alone. Other seek your path and their own. Wittnes the Techonracy who devotes itself to the preservation of mankind by destroyng 'reality deviants'. Or the Nephandi who seek to destroy and corrupt all exsistence for their dark masters. Then their our the Mauraders. Wyld incarnate, they do things that shouldn't be done or that are impossible even by mage standards. And lastly the Nine Traditions whos eek to walk the Balancing Path. Also you your power is limited by what is belived 'possible' by the masses. The harder you push rerality the harder reality will push you back (and it will)! This balance of power and potential is what makes the game so much fun.

Rating:
Summary: It lacks charisma
Review: This game is kind of silly. It is based in a pseudo-philosophy of reality and how to alter it. At first it appears interesting, but after playing Mage a few times, i thought it sucked. The pseudo-philosophy i'm talking about is rather annoying because of paradox rules: If you do really weird stuff with magic, it can backlash just because most people don't believe in it and you can go nuts and stuff. It's like their beliefs prevail or something.I can't understand why vampires can do all this awesome things with their powers but mages can't (at least in front of common people). Some scenarios, like shelters for mages in the Umbra, are so bizarre that are not believable, and most of the different groups of characters suffer from a serious lack of charisma, unlike vampires, for example. The only cool stuff here is the variety of powers; I even borrowed some for my Witchcraft adventures. Comparing the two games, I concluded that Mage sucks bigtime because it just doesn't have a really "mystical" atmosphere. Witchcraft does.

Rating:
Summary: The best game in the World of Darkness
Review: This is the best game in White Wolf's game universe. I have never played a game with so many possibilities. This book is the core rulebook for Mage the Ascension Second Edition. The book contains everything you need to understand the Mage universe. Every aspect of the game is elaborated on fully or contains enough information for you to come up with the rest of the details. The book focuses on the Traditions but there is also a good amount of information on the Technocratic Union, Marauders, and Nephandi for you to use. The worlds beyond the Gauntlet and Horizon are also touched on along with sample umbrood. With this book any game is possible. You want to play a fireball-chucking mage? No problem. How about a hacker from the Matrix? There's a Tradition available just for that. Want to play a tough martial artist who can catch bullets? There are rules for that too. This is a great book that can stand alone without supplements, unlike its revised edition.

Rating:
Summary: one of the better WW games
Review: this is the most amazing WW book I have read thus far. Just as awesome as Vampire the Masquerade. While Vampire deals more with religion and the dark side this deals with philosophy and pure individualism. Pure genius.I am a pagan/satanist and love history and philosophy.This book opened my eyes to the greatness of the World of Darkness. I didn't particularly enjoy the Hollow Ones though. Just a ploy to get people into Vampire etc. into the game? The Celestial Chorus is a group that I question. If they are all uptight christians and such then how come their not insane. Most christians I have met are against witchcraft in any form. Oh well, in any case it was a great book that helped flesh out characters you could play in any medium. Excellent!

Rating:
Summary: One of the better White Wolf games!
Review: To be quite blunt I am really sick of some of White Wolf's games. Vampire, Wraith, and Werewolf are very depressing. The most horrible part is Vampire and Werewolf seem to be the most popular games. Why play something that just makes you sad. But when White Wolf releases a game that doesn't put the end of the world on your shoulders, I love it. That is why I would recommend "Mage the Ascension" and "Changeling the Dreaming." Both games are upbeat in their own way. Mage is good because there is no end of the world looming over them. Basically who wins the Ascnsion war will decide Earth's fate. In my opinion that is a hell of a lot better than what they give you in other Storyteller games. Plus the game is really GREAT. With magic rules that are beyond compare, a great setting, with great ideas. So why the hell are you still reading my rambling review, order the book!

Rating:
Summary: Love the System, Don't love this addition.
Review: While the white wolf system is usually thoroughly enjoyable, I have found that the Mage characters start off fairly weak, easy pray for any others. The book itself was fairly easy to follow, but a little too much game specific information that newbies would not understand. I have also found the combat system to be a bit clunky at best.

The play section was misorganized (Character creation should come before playing rules) and the whole 5 pages that explain the rules do a poor job.