[Excelsior] Campaign Rules and Details

[Being constructed]

Summary: Set in the early 1920's, right after the great war, a Mage: the Ascension game set in a variant world in which the Traditions gained a major victory in clawing back dominance in establishing consensus with a radical experiment by Philo Farnsworth and Nicola Tesla to provide a live demonstration of Science! in the form of an armored hero to help win WWI.  It was radically successful, and the resulting belief in 'Men of Power' resulted in each tradition fielding adventures as 'Mystery Men' who can achieve the achievable.  Super science and low grades of magic began to become available on every common drug store, and Magic has become popular among the elites.  The Technocracy has tried to fight back, but has been greatly thwarted by the tell all book by Son of Ether, Dr. Archielius deSombra aka "Doctor Shadows" resulting in a switch to an 'affirmative' belief in a scientific result rather than a naturally skeptical one.

There are side effects of this of course.  The Traditions never really had to play nice with each other, so now that they're actually winning the war for the first time in centuries, some of the traditions don't know how to reconcile how their radically different paradigms are going to work with the public view.  Right now, it seems 'anything goes' and in particular seems to manifest itself in the belief in heroes and super heroes.

Setting: The game will be taking place for now centered around the Discovery Society, a cabal of forward thinking traditionalists who want to inspire the public to even greater heights.  They have commissioned the mighty airship Excelsior! Wonder of the Skies to take the group from place to place as they explore uncharted areas of the world, fight bad guys, and pose for the cameras as their exploits are made known on newsreels, public televisions and news papers.

The mages, of course, are generally (but not always) behind the mighty heroes rather than in front of the camera, acting as support staff, advisers, or owners of the vessel.

System: Mage Revised (2nd Edition)
Character Generation Steps:
1) Pick a Tradition
2) Pick a Concept
3) Pick Spheres
4) Pick Foci
5) Pick Attributes
6) Pick Abilities
7) Pick Backgrounds
8) Refine the Character

Optional Steps
1) Refine your Paradigm
2) Play the Great Game
3) Build your Hero
4) More Rotes

Details
Traditions: Pick a tradition.  If you know Mage, you can play on of the regular book traditions if you so desire.  The heroic variants have only just appeared, but I'll be outlining the differences here.

Note: Each Tradition has secret bonuses,backgrounds and other 'toys' that you can take that are not immediately implied here since cooperation is not what it was only a decade ago among the 9.

Sons of Ether: Their heroes believe in Science! They use vacuum tubes, cathode rays, quantum mechanics and gadgets (crystals, N-rays, etc).  They started the hero wave, and have been riding it ever since.  While the Order of Hermes may be the traditional dominant faction in the old guard, of the rising powers, it is the Sons of Ether who lead the way with the gadgets of tomorrow!

Akashik: Heroic Akashiks have embraced the power of Do! and other martial arts to allow their heroes to fight evil the world over.  These stunning feats of martial power have impressed the world and caused an awakening in martial arts dojos the world over with Karate, Shianzu and Kung Fu being studied by civilians and military masters alike.  They also produce a few mentalists, taking advantages of the wake produced by the New World Order.  There is a burgeoning split between the mentalists and the masters of kung fu, as they disagree fundamentally as to which way to inspire the public.

Verbena - The traditional 'witches' don't do heroes so much as heroic support.  Craft shops have opened up left and right, and they've resumed their traditional roles as healers and mystic to the common folk.  Ironically, however, people find their magic a lot easier to swallow than that of the Order and so their belief and numbers have surged!

Order of Hermes - The Order of Hermes has been late to the heroic game, but some have finally acknowledge that the wind was turning.  A few wizards have tried to use their spells, but their high paradox failure rate oft has them come across as bumblers and fools.  A cadre of elites, however, have discovered that empowering mystic artifacts such as rings, lanterns and hats, allows them to empower others or directly take a hand in having a single magical device which can accomplish amazing things!

Euthantos - Most of this tradition has been left simply bewildered by all of the changes, but a small subset, haunted by the horrors of World War One, have instead embraced the horrors of death and war and created a series of 'regular men' who are thus capable of astonishing feats of martial skill and success.  These Daredevils have begun to take off and show the world what they can really do!  They are truly lucky!

Friction between the Heroic Euthantos and 'regular' Euthantos is greater than any other branch to the point that there is essentially a cold war between the two.

New World Order: The Technocracy has had a large element of defectors who have attempted to create a way to explain all of this in a way that is still repeatable by the public.  Though not fully accepted by the traditions at large, some have allowed these new scientific Mentalists to explore their powers with the rest of their Cabals.

Primogenitors: Like the New World Order, a handful of Progenitors have broken from the Technocracy at large to begin the creation of Stalwarts, beings capable of mighty feats of amazing power.  They use their understanding of genetics and the human brain to create individuals capable of feats of unparalleled power!

Celestial Chorus - Like a fish on a bicycle, these heroes seem...out of place with the rest, but the power of faith is strong, and these faith based heroes use their belief in God (or Gods) to channel the forces of divinity.  However, of late, their efforts to create more of these heroes has slowed since there are rumors that their efforts are awaking other forms of faith based heroes...who are not human at all but demonic or godly in nature.

Void Engineers - Claims of powerful extra terrestrial technology has allowed a handful of Void Engineers to create heroes as well.  These ships from beyond inspire their beliefs with the power of science!

The Syndicate and Iteration X simply don't have 'heroes' yet, though they have supplied a lot of foes to Heroes.  Dreamspeakers and the Cult of Ecstasy don't yet have heroes either (of the new variety).  That is not to say you can't be the first or simply play a traditional member of either of these factions.  Virtual Adepts do not yet exist, though foreshadowing certainly exist inside the Technocracy.

2) Choose a Concept:

Inspirational Ideas: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Metropolis, Doc Savage, The Shadow, Tom Swift, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Rice Burroughs (John Carter of Mars, Tarzan), Flash Gordon, Golden Age Super Heroes (Superman, Namor, Shazam, Wonderwoman, Batman, the Flash, Hourman, Sandman), Cast a Deadly Spell, The Untouchables, Jules Verne

If you're still unfamiliar with Mage, pick a general 1920's pulp archetype and I'll help you find a tradition and mage paradigm that work with the character you've chosen.  You do NOT have to be a hero to be a very very effective mage.

Roles: Hero...your mage takes on a direct role and wants to be a hero or super hero to fight evil and make the world fit for civilized civilization...or the opposite.
Support: The Butler, the Airship Captain, the Scientist, the Spy, the Reporter, the Femme Fetal, the Diviner, the Plucky Sidekick, The Medic, the Engineer
Management: The Steering Committee (that creates missions etc), the Political Advocate, the ambassador from another organization

Note, there is the 'public' role with the Excelsior and then there is the membership role within the Cabal.  The Cabal is a traditional group of mages who band together to work for a purpose, which is to advance the Heroic agenda, encourage awakening through the paradigm change, stop the Technocracy from clawing it back and help the sleepers from threats from a million different directions.

It is perfectly possible to have your role be both the same publicly and within the Cabal.

3) Choose Spheres.

Without looking at the link, the spheres are Matter, Mind, Forces, Correspondence (Space), Time, Life, Entropy (Luck/Decay), Spirit, Prime (Metamagic) rated 1-5.  1 is basically detect, whereas 5 is total dominance (you could in theory make a nuclear explosion with enough effort.)

You get 4 dots for 'free.'

For those who don't know much of mage: Your primary 'magiciness' stat is Arete, or enlightenment or strength.  Your Arete has to be as high as the strength in a sphere...ie if you want Matter 2, you need an Arete of at least 2, but we're doing your primary 3 rotes first, which will help me make your character for you.

So make 3 starting primary rotes, like...

Faster than a Speeding Bullet: Time 3 - You alter time around you to move incredibly fast and gain more actions in a single round.

Unlimited Ammo - Matter 2 - Who needs to reload?

It's just a Flesh wound - Life 2- Shake it off hero!

The best way to think of what I'm looking for here is the Schtick that makes your character who they are that pushes the boundaries of reality...like a hunch, or being at the right place at the right time, or shooting a lightning gun etc.  If you can't decide, treat it as an "aspect" from Fate, which those who might not know mage I know will know at this point.

4) Choose Foci.  Choose the things that are associated with what you do...

For example, if you're a super scientist, a jet pack would help you make powerful Forces 3 Leaps hundreds of feet in the air.  A foci should be a physical thing, that - even if you don't NEED it because you're powerful enough or your paradigm doesn't require it....helps you do what you do.

If you don't know what to do here, I can assign you foci from the 'default' from your tradition.

5) Choose your attributes.  This is standard white wolf, but here is the summary.  You get 3 buckets...one with 11 points, on with 7 points and one with 5 points....Social, Mental, and Physical.  Choose which bucket you're putting points into and assign attributes. Attributes range from 1 - Aunt May strength to 5...Eintstein Intelligence.  2 is average.

Physical: Strength, Endurance and Dexterity
Mental: Intelligence, Wits and Perception
Social: Charisma Manipulation and Appearance

If you need help differentiating these, let me know.

6) Choose abilities.  Three buckets.  17/12/7.  Knowledge, Talents and Skills.  You can use ANY white wolf product to choose these including other WoD books, Trinity or Exalted.  But you'll need to justify how you got them.

If you don't know World of Darkness- Knowledge are...mostly mental skills that involve purely mental work like science, bureaucracy and such.  Skills are trained things like Driving, Fighting, Melee, etc.  Talents are natural or largely inborn that can still be refined, like Awareness, Alertness, Brawling and such.

If you don't know, just put dots (1-5) into skills like you would in a system you know and I'll translate the skills for you.

7) You get 10 dots of backgrounds.  These can be from the same sources as abilities, but you must justify being able to have them.

Some ones worth noting...Resources, means you have a paycheck or some form of wealth, with 1 being a steady job on the airship and 5 meaning you're a gazzilionare.

Allies - Speaks for itself, but 1-5 means the power and quantity.

Contacts - Not the same as allies and a 5 means you have lots everywhere.

Arcane - You don't leave a trail! This is handy for stealth but not as important as it was now that the technocracy is on the wane.

Familiar - Helps you eat paradox to do niftier magics.  It can be a human or a sentient object etc.

Artifact - A magic item of power.  Note: "magic item" in this case can also mean super gadget.

Status - Your status in society.

Primacy - Your status in MAGE society, which is not at all the same thing.  You may choose to have an inflection of Heroic vs Regular mage society in this, and - more importantly, if are certain traditions must choose one or the other.  You can take the bg twice but will have to pay for it both times.

8) Refine your character - You get 100 freebie points to refine your character.  Before you spend these, speak to me because each tradition has unique options that the others might not get.

Some things you can spend them on.
Merits and Flaws - If you know what these are, you can spend up to 20 on Merits and get up to 10 from flaws.  I do not want to see one eyed one armed one legged orphans.

Background - Up to 25 on BG's at a 1 to 1 ratio, after that it is 2 freebies per dot.

Attributes: 5 per Dot.

Abilities: 3 Per Dot.

Arete:
Cost: 1 Free
2 - 5 Freebie
3 - 10 freebies
4 - 20 freebies
5 - 50 Freebies

Spheres: Up to an including 3 - 5 per dot, 4 - 10 Freebies, 5 - 25 per Dot (which means if you want arete 5 you can get one up to 5 but two 5's is almost impossible and 3 isn't happening)

Optional Steps
1) Refine your Paradigm - Your paradigm is what you believe about how reality is or should be.  This is important in mage, since the whole theme of the game is trying to shape reality to become like you want it to be either through your own individual actions or convincing the sleepers to believe in your paradigm though your inspiration.  You do not have to be evangelical about this...you can do it simply by being who you are, but that will still have a reflection in the dominant and temporary paradigm.

So tell me what your character believes reality to be? I will work with you on this and help make things clear if it still isn't.

2) Play the Great Game - Like every game I run, you will have the option of affecting the greater reality.  More rules will come on this, but it will basically involve some work on your part between sessions in the form of contributions, ideas, journal entries etc, in exchange for Glory Points which you can use in session or between sessions.

Some in game use of Glory Points - As Fate Points
To Change the Temporary Paradigm in the area (and thus make your own magical actions easier)
To Reroll
To make minor plot/setting alterations for 'coolness' factor

Some out of game use of Glory Points
Change the Dominant Paradigm (towards your faction, towards something becoming coincidental, making something else vulgar)
Unlock a Significant Setting Achievement/Alteration (BSD Walks the Spiral, Open the Umbra to Worlds Beyond, Time Travel, 2nd Level of Super Heroics, Alternate Universes Etc) (these will take LOTS of Glory Points)
Affect Politics/Faction dominance (Technocracy, Tradtions, Nephrani)
Wreak Chaos (Marauders, Random Paradox Happenings)
Snuff Chaos
Alter Theme (Other Splats, Descriptors, etc)

The latter is particularly important because I will work hard to make this about the players, and the ones that play the Great Game in addition to in game actions will help shape the nature of the campaign.

If interested, I need you to buy in.  You have 20 Stones.

Put them in none, one or many of the following areas:

For or Against -
Core - These are in the game regardless, but you can affect the rate in the game, as well as the strength of each faction
Traditions
Technocracy
Politics
Adventure
Combat
Puzzle Solving
Ascension
Exploration
Heroes

These are optional in the game and if the agregate total of buy in is -5, it will be made minor at best, if -10 it will be out of the game unless unlocked as a major achievement by other players.  5 will ensure a potential presence, 10 makes it a major theme.

Exalted:
Aberant:
Vampire: The Masquerade
Changling: Lost
Prometheus
Werewolf Apocalypse
Atlantis
Demon the Fallen
Wraith
Sorcerer
God Machine
Torg
Inglemia
Romance
Death Traps
Super Heroes
History
Fantasy
[Any particular individual Tradition/Group]
Scion
Mummy
Aliens
Inner World
Science!
HP Lovecraft
Doc Savage
Mysticism
Psionics

3) If you are a support character, you MAY make an individual hero associated with you.  This will be a free level 4 ally in addition to the regular allies stat.  Conversely if you choose to be a hero, you MAY make a support character as a level 3 ally with some additional hero abilities in addition to your freebies that will depend on your tradition.

4) You may gain an additional Stone or Freebie Point for every Rote you make and that I accept, up to ten.