Mage the Ascension: Turmoil in the Dark Ages

Edit: Disclaimer - this is not canon-compliant with Dark Ages: Mage, due to the fact that I don't have that book. Expect me to make things up for areas where there isn't any available information. Also, we are using Spheres instead of Foundations for Mage powers.

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Mage the Ascension: Turmoil in the Dark Ages

The year is 1211 AD, and Europe has plunged deeper into the Dark Ages. Seven years ago, the Fourth Crusade concluded with the Sacking of Constantinople, the greatest Christian City on Earth, by the very people sworn to protect the Christian Faith. In this bloody debacle, both sides were at fault, betraying and deceiving each other not knowing that they were merely pawns in a greater game; the supernatural intrigues of Vampire and Mage both. For the hidden forces in the World of Darkness work to further their ancient agendas, no matter how many innocent Mortals are slaughtered among the way.

But there is hope. Theodore I Laskaris, the Emperor of Nicaea and the legal heir of the Eastern Roman Empire, has temporarily turned the tide of Turkish expansion in the Battle of Antioch on the Meander; this heroic victory has bought time for the supernatural organizations still loyal to the Legacy of Greece and Rome to gather together and make one last attempt to repair increasingly wide breaches in beliefs and methods. Factions of the Messianic Voices, Artificers, Hippocratic Circle and Order of Hermes have decided to hold this meeting in the city of Nicaea, where the Christian Faith once clarified its canon and dogma. Time will tell whether this will avert the coming battle between Reason and Tradition...

In the west of the Balkans, then called the Haemus Mountains, Boril of Bulgaria is preparing to invade the so-called ''Latin Empire of Constantinople', the nation of travesty set up by the Crusaders after their 'Fourth Crusade'. Siding with him is an entire tribe of Werewolves, the Silver Fangs, who fancy themselves the nobility of their race. Unknown to him, the Vampires that now control the former lands of the Eastern Roman Empire have arranged for his defeat; planning to outwit the Werewolves instead of fighting them head-on. Who will win in the coming conflict?

In Turkish territory further east, the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum is in a civil war as Kaykaus I fights with his brothers for the throne of the Sultanate, giving their Christian neighbors peace for a time. But sinister forces are at work; Vampires and Mages work to influence the succession, with the Werewolves being kept out of the halls of power and into the countryside. But among their ranks are the Baali and Nephandi; dark examples of each group who believe in plunging the world into pain and suffering, madness and rot. But the Assamites, Vampire-Assassins who purge Infernalism from their own kind, work to ensure that the Infernal does not succeed.

But traders from Western Europe are bringing new ideas, new currents of thought; among these traders are Mages known as the Craftmasons, and they also bring hope - Hope that the common man shall be free from the chains of mortal subjugation and supernatural predation, and be free!

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OOC Note: This game is an Open World RP where multiple PCs can start at multiple places, although they are still encouraged to interact with each other through magical or mundane means.

Available Races and Magical Factions

- Vampires (With GM Permission)
- Werewolves (With GM Permission)
- Magi (Artificers)
- Magi (Craftmasons)
- Magi (Messianic Voices)
- Magi (Cosian/Hippocratic Circle)
- Magi (Old Faith)
- Magi (Order of Hermes)
- Magi (Ahl-i-Batin)

Available Mundane Factions:

- Latin Empire of Constantinople
- Bulgaria
- Seljuk Sultanate of Rum
- Empire of Nicaea

Edit: Basic Character Sheet:

Name:
Appearance:
Age:
Sex:
Skills (Mundane Skills and Magical Ones; add Spheres here if you're a Mage):
Short bio:

There are 9 different types of Magic Power.

Correspondence: The magic of Communication and Transportation
Entropy: The magic of Fate and Death
Forces: The magic of fireballs, lightning strikes, and freeze rays
Life: The magic of healing or Biological construct
Matter: The magic of matter and manipulating it.
Mind: The magic of Enthrallment, Empathy, and Mental Organization
Prime: The magic of magic, making magic permanent, affecting people's magical circuits
Spirit: The magic of the Soul, and manipulating the unseen supernatural worlds of ghosts and ethers
Time: The magic of Time, and Time Manipulation

Each type has a measured level of power from 1 to 5. Note that from Level 2 onward, every example listed on the list are merely suggestions; if you have the required level for one type of Magic, then you can do every sort of spell equivalent to the examples listed. For example, Level 2 Correspondence allows not just messaging and warding, but also scrying; any Mage that can do one of those things can do all of them and equivalent miracles.

Level 1 is sensory; you can see magic of the type you select, as well as see the hidden secrets of the Universe.
Correspondence: You can detect portals, teleporting people, and attempts to spy on you with Magic. You also have a perfect sense of direction.
Entropy: You can see Ghosts, magically sense dead bodies and decaying objects even when they are hidden from you, and abnormalities in luck/fate.
Forces: You can see outside the range of visible light (infrared, ultraviolet, etc) hear sounds outside the normal hearing range, and see magic spells that affect those things.
Life: You can sense living beings and organic matter and instantly diagnose any form of disease.
Matter: You can see the composition of inorganic matter, as well as small details in craftsmanship; you can instantly know if a bill is counterfeit.
Mind: You can sense the minds of Humans and Animals, and detect Mind Control.
Prime: See all Magic, but not know what type a certain spell belongs to.
Spirit: See nature spirits and other dimensions (Hyperspace).
Time: See people stopping or speeding up time. You also know what time it is even without seeing the sun or having a watch.

Level 2, is where you can do the little power stuff. You can affect things in small ways:
Correspondence: Send messages that cannot be intercepted, or cast a mystic ward, stopping incoming teleporters or preventing magical eavesdropping.
Entropy: Affect probability in small instances (like dice rolls), Break simple machines, predict future, talk with Ghosts.
Forces: Featherfall, Ball Lightning; Control existing Sound, Light (including Radiation), Heat, and Kinetic Energy. Cast holographic illusions (as opposed to mental).
Life: Heal yourself (Just yourself, not others), control insects, fungi, and plants.
Matter: Make an excellent counterfeit bill, transmute lead to gold.
Mind: Give someone a mental compulsion, cast mental illusions (as opposed to holographic ones).
Prime: Create Magitech, Set magical patterns, enchant a weapon to do damage unhealable by magic.
Spirit: Commune with Nature Spirits.
Time: Get a prediction of the future (not perfect), see events in the past (this, however, is unless counteracted with magic).

Note: As said, the examples listed above are just suggestions; if something falls under [Insert Sphere Here], isn't listed, and is equivalent to this level, feel free to have that spell as well.

Level 3, is more powerful and allows you to push others...
Correspondence: Teleportation, SuperSpeed. You can also see multiple places simultaneously.
Entropy: Break Complex Machines or Structures, Raise Skeletons
Forces: Palpatine Lightning Attacks, Fireballs, Telekinetic Assault, create Light, Sound, Radiation, and Heat, as well as other natural forces.
Life: Heal others, enhance your eyesight, grow your fingernails into claws, control Animals. You can also turn lesser forms of life (snails, insects) into other lesser forms of life (turnips, orchids).
Matter: Turn lead into fog, solid into liquid, ice into burning plasma.
Mind: Mental Command on a conscious level not subconscious or Dreamwalk.
Prime: Create complex magitech. Create biological magi-constructs (non-perpetuating), blast people with bolts of silver light whose damage cannot be healed by magic.
Spirit: Summon Nature Spirits, Enter Hyperspace by yourself.
Time: Slow Time to a crawl for you, loop time for a few seconds (Requires the permission of the majority of players and the GMs).

Note: As said, the examples listed above are just suggestions; if something falls under [Insert Sphere Here], isn't listed, and is equivalent to this level, feel free to have that spell as well.

Level 4, is super powerful and has to be earned during gameplay.
Correspondence: Mass Teleportation or Portals. You can also use this spell in conjunction with Mind and Life to appear in multiple places at once, cloning yourself.
Entropy: Destroy Living Things, Create Complex Undead (with Prime).
Forces: Summon Storms, Fire Rain.
Life: Affect Life in Complex ways.
Matter: Create stable forms of matter that have magical properties (Orichalcum, Mithril, Nihilitic Fluids)
Mind: Dominate a person or Brainwash.
Prime: Merge Magitech into any human form, suck out magical energy from ordinary objects.
Spirit: Create Nature Spirits, and stay in Hyperspace for years without needing to eat, sleep, and drink.
Time: Set time (Conditional effects that go off on specified conditions, for example; pressing this trigger causes your gun to emit a fireball.). Stop Time.

Note: As said, the examples listed above are just suggestions; if something falls under [Insert Sphere Here], isn't listed, and is equivalent to this level, feel free to have that spell as well.

Level 5 is deity-like, and unavailable to players and requires GM permission to even try to do.
Correspondence: Warp Space, Teleport to anywhere.
Entropy: Destroy Thoughts and ideas, Perfect Prediction of the Future.
Forces: Summon Hurricane or equivalent natural disasters.
Life: Perfect Transformation to another form.
Matter: Make materials that shatter the Laws of Physics.
Mind: Mass Mental Control, Permanent Enthrallment.
Prime: Make a place of Power of any scale, Siphon Magical Energy from Other Mages.
Spirit: Bring Cthulhu-level entities into the material world.
Time: Time Travel (Forbidden forever).

Note: As said, the examples listed above are just suggestions; if something falls under [Insert Sphere Here], isn't listed, and is equivalent to this level, feel free to have that spell as well...Not.


After reading the above hider, if your character's a Mage (not a Vampire or Werewolf, but a Mage), distribute 12 points among the 9 Spheres; you can have up to Level 3 in any of them:

Correspondence:
Entropy:
Forces:
Life:
Matter:
Mind:
Prime:
Spirit:
Time:

1.) Cooperative storytelling comes first. You are not here to godmode by gaming/breaking the system to make yourself as powerful as possible. You are not here to use your powers to brute-force all obstacles the GM brings before you, or use sophistry, psychological tricks, or 'mental influence magic' to win every diplomatic confrontation. If you find 'Storygaming' an ugly word, this is not the RP for you.
2.) Nor does an angsty backstory that fits various 'story beats' make your character good if their purpose is to defeat everyone and establish themselves as superior top dogs and otherwise make it an arms race with the GM on who can godmode more. If you're not going to use your angsty backstory to make a good story, this is not the RP for you.
3.) That said, powerful characters and angsty backstories are permitted, as long as they are made by players who are willing to cooperate with each other and the GM to make a good dynamic story that isn't just 'X overpowers Y' by bending the rules so far they break, violating the spirit of said rules, and (to quote Dave Brookshaw of Onyx Path publishing) of course, common sense.
4.) If you cannot obey the prior three rules, you don't need to respond to this thread at all; there are other games for you.
5.) Do not be an asshole.
6.) Post length is five sentences minimum, but longer posts are encouraged, of course. GMs are also bound by this rule.
Mage the Ascension: Turmoil in the Dark Ages

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BiffleChump

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