In which Matthew interviews Satyros Phil Brucato, the developer for Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition.
* Content Warning: Phil discusses his experience with rape and abuse (33:00 to 40:00 and 43:00 to 45:30)
* Matthew talks about how the process works between him as in-house developer and Phil as Mage 20 developer
* Phil writes a lot on his own books. How does he stay objective?
* The Mage brain trust
* Phil gives some writing advice
* How to get into Mage 20
* Book of the Fallen and working with uncomfortable material
* How to run stories of mages coming into their power
* How Phil started on Mage and what he would do differently
* A quick peek at Gods and Monsters
* The Trio recap
* What books and media make you uncomfortable?
* Blooper after the music!
It was an interesting interview throughout, and I look forward to seeing the upcoming supplements.
The discussion on how to make Mage more accessible, I do think that focussing on a more human level is important, if that happens to be at a street level or any other human level.
If M5 comes around in a few years from now, I think it might be an idea to review how much the game hangs on the various factions and groupings in the game. Possibly, the game could pull that aspect back a little – possibly a bit like Wraith 1st edition, where there were Guilds, but more in the background of the game – and try to have Mage characters built up from a more grounded level.
Either way, best of luck with the ongoing games of Mage (and the rest of the WoD games).
What movie squicks me the most? Where The Dead Go To Die. Not because of any gore but because of the subject matter, especially in the 3rd part. All kinds of trigger warnings if you want to search it out.