Mage: The Awakening is a big game. It’ll be nine years old this August, and despite the second-largest product line of the new World of Darkness, we haven’t yet revisited everything in that great big turquoise corebook. Over the years, Awakening has developed into a distinct voice from its big brother Ascension. We’ve explored the orders, wandered the Astral Realms, seen the creatures Summoners bring into the world, been tempted by the Left Hand Path and learned the Imperial Mysteries.
It’s time to take Mage back to its core. Like the Strix and Idigam Chronicles for Vampire and Werewolf, we’re writing a new corebook for Awakening that takes the lessons we’ve learned over the line, our sense of what Awakening is, and presents it loud and clear. To focus this big, complicated game into something that can hook new players without sacrificing the rich world it’s established for its existing fans.
Mage is a game about secret knowledge and hubristic pride, about knowing too much, becoming separated from your peers by special insight into the incomprehensible forces and twisting occult conspiracies behind the World of Darkness. Mage is a game of power and hubris, of the temptation to allow your reach to exceed your grasp, of knowledge outpacing Wisdom. It’s a game about obsession, turning away from comfortable Sleep to chase the weird and the occult. It’s mages as Occult Detectives, confronting the supernatural of a gnostic world.
It’s about being Addicted To Mysteries.
The Fallen World Chronicle brings Mage into the God-Machine era of the World of Darkness. Getting here – to the point this blog starts – has been a labor of love, just over two years so far since I was brought onto God-Machine Chronicle as a freelancer and asked if the other games would be updated, too. It’s the book I became Awakening Developer to make, ably supported by a crack team of writers ranging from pillars of the Awakening world like Matt McFarland and Malcolm Sheppard, to returning freelancers from the traditional publishing days like Danielle Harper-Lauzon, Filamena Young, Eric Zawadzki, and Travis Stout, to newer faces like Tristan Tarwater, N Conte, Neall Raemonn Price, and Lauren Roy. I’m keenly aware of the big boots I’m stepping into – the list of Awakening Developers reads like a who’s who of White Wolf. Matt, Ethan Skemp, Eddy Webb, Bill Bridges, and more. Hell of an act to follow.
From here on out, Fallen World will be partly developed on this blog. I can’t promise a regular schedule for now, but I’ll try to give you something every week until release. Although “Supernal Saturday” has a ring to it, now I think about it.
As with Stew’s Idigam blog, the direction of the blog depends on your votes. At the end of each entry, I’ll give two choices about the next topic. Comment about which you’d prefer to see, but don’t worry if you get outvoted – everything will be revealed in the fullness of time. Also, be aware that while writers are writing some parts of the game will still be baking, and I’ll be keeping those topics “back” until later in the blog – so if you’re wondering why your pet topic never seems to come up as one of the choices, it’s probably because we’re still hammering on it backstage!
Next Blog, the eternal dichotomy: The Fallen World, or the Supernal World? Choose wisely.
Fallen world – for sure.
Its where all the games take place, and I want to know more!
The Fallen World! Let’s get things started at the roots!
The Fallen World…and be wise in your words. Us Guardians may seem silent these days but we are still vigilant.
Huzzah for the new; Mage core! I vote Fallen World, but I am also curious as to who the whole writing team is.
Must have skimmed the post. I see the names now. I need to stop posting whilst tipsy. 🙂
The Fallen World, please. I really need to start from the ground up on this one!
Supernal World all the way. I prefer a top down approach to learning…
I concur. Knowing cosmic motivations gives my games forward momentum for those seeking mysteries; my players.
Yeah, I certainly agree. Also, the Fallen World is pretty well described already in various books, while the Supernal Realm is left vague. Which isn’t inherently bad, but my curiosity is piqued.
The Fallen World.
Supernal World, since that’s where the arcana come from.
Holy crap holy crap holy crap I’m so excited! I’ve enjoyed reading every tidbit about GMC, Strix, Idigam, and Demon since you started announcing details back in the day. I yearned for GMC, and Demon was always close to my heart – after those two, Mage is one of my favorite lines, and I cannot WAIT to see what The Fallen World has in store!
On that note, I have to vote for The Fallen World!
And I want to second the notion that “Supernal Saturdays” makes me swoon.
Fallen World, please.
The Fallen World
Fallen world, please! Very excited to learn more about this chronicle book and how it will refine Awakening.
Fallen World, please!
If the Outside Context Problem is THE ENTIRE PLANET, I’d like to know exactly what kind of problem it is.
Fallen World!
Fallen World! Will be glad keep up with this blog.
Supernal World!
Fallen world, because it is where the Silver Dream are going to happen
Fallen World
Fallen World Chronicles for sure!!!
Oooooh baby, IT BEGINS!
I actually don’t even care which topic we get. But I’ll say Supernal World to be difficult.
Supernal!
I already live in the Fallen World.
Definitely the Fallen World.
I’ve been waiting for this one.
Fallen World for now. I’ve enough Supernal goodness to work off of in Imperial Mysteries until we get to it in this devblog.
Fallen World. Start and the beginning and build our Ladder from there.
I vote for the Supernal.
So excited!
Fallen World please 🙂
You… you just had to ask it that way didn’t you?
You do lovely work, truly, but right now your just being mean.
But I am, as always, a dutiful child of the Fallen Word. Keep your secrets about the above if you must.
Vote: Fallen World
Fallen World! I must add that I am super excited about this next release. Awakening is hands down my favorite RPG of all time, and I am completely loving the energy and mysticism that Dave has inyected into the games he has developed so far for this line. I just wish I could have it in my hands already to start cranking out new stories!
Fallen World, all the way!! I’m following your work since Reign of the Exarchs AP, and you have never let me down, sir. Pretty excited to finally being able to pierce the Veil!
I’m super excited to see this! I’ll cast in my vote for the “Fallen Realm” (tough choice, though). I’m looking forward to future posts.
I know almost nothing about this game, but I am proper chuffed for Fallen World Chronicle! So gimme Fallen World! Show me what’s worth getting excited about Mage.
And so our dev blog mystery play to the watchtower of the FW Chronicle begins. Fallen World, if you please.
That’s… a tough choice. I think I’m gonna have to go fallen world though, I get the sneaking suspicion it will be a pretty big deal in the fallen world chronicle.
On a tangentially related note: can we expect to get more on the lower depths in the new book?
Probably not more than you already know. More than the one line in the Lexicon they get in the original corebook, but a survey of the game’s setting wouldn’t be complete without them.
Fallen World definitely. I knew what the Strix were, and I found out what the Idigam were. The Fallen World is definitely the least direct out-of-context problem of the books, and I’m intrigued by how you can make the world we live in the out-of-context problem.
So gimme!
And thus Mage descends.
Fallen World-I do like the Supernal, but over the years I’ve heard them be pushed so erroneously that it’s time to hear why mages adore-and despise-and above all else, explore the Fallen.
It begins!
I’ll have to choose the Fallen World.
No matter how they might try to tell you that it’s just the shadow on the cave wall, cast by the Supernal, the Fallen World is where all the messy fun happens.
Fallen World Pls!
supernal realm. want to see the big picture.
supernatural world
and yes, supernatural saturday sounds awsome
I can’t believe more people aren’t helping vote for Supernal Saturdays! 😀 haha
Supernal world, please!
I never tire of the detectives comparison.
Fallen world, please.
I’m so excited for this blog! Let’s go with Fallen World, seems like the obvious place to start.
Fallen World, because I wanna know how the new mages see that clay stuff 🙂
Fallen World.
Why, Fallen World of course.
Supernal World
Fallen World Please
Is this book and the new Werewolf one going to be Kickstarters or are they being printed as full books?
Neither Idigam nor Fallen World will have kickstarters. We don’t need one to get the word out to buyers who might have drifted away as in a cWoD game, and part of the goal of this project is to have a corebook that’s concise and clear, not expand it up with stretch goals.
It will be available from DriveThru as print on demand, same as the Strix Chronicle.
I’m going to have to give a petulant “AAAAWWW!” at that one, as I s hoping for the shiney-shiney of a special edition.
Nevertheless, and having satisfied myself that the B&S PoD (TLA, BTW) actually comes out as a very nice book, I’m definitely investing in the hardback hard copy.
Also: Supernal Realms. I think we’ve got a idea for the Fallen, but I want to see what can be done for the Above.
Yay, FWC blog has started!!!
I will go with Fallen World – I’m intrigued as to how it’s BIG GAME PROBLEM like Strix and Idigam are. And I’m ( to make poor pun ) Addicted to Mystery (of it)! 😀
Fallen World.
My Ladder brothers and I must know the situation on the ground before we can begin to plan our ascent!
as above, so bellow
So… Which is that a vote for?
I vote for Fallen World. It’s the more important one, as we play in it. I wanna know what changes between the editions.
Hard choice to make. I’ll go with Fallen World, that’s where the mages are wandering on a daily life.
Ohh – this is exciting.
Fallen, please.
Fallen World.
Fallen world, please.
Also, do you suppose this will be done by summer of 2016? I would be delighted if that were the case 🙂
Summer 2016? Gah. It should be out this winter – either the end of 2014 or the start of 2015, depending on how long post-writing development, layout, and art direction take.
I’ve held off from starting this blog until the book’s been well underway. I should be bringing most, if not all, of a first draft to GenCon next month for fans to look at.
The Fallen World.
Fallen world goddamnit
It looks like Fallen World is pulling ahead; so I’ll vote for Supernal World.
Fallen World please – that seems like the best starting point for a newb like me.
I never really got into either incarnation of Mage (not because I wasn’t interested, but because I was already so invested in Vampire, Werewolf and Changeling), but I started lurking around the Awakening forum when The Left Hand Path came out. The new chronicle book sounds like a great jumping on point and your occult detectives/addiction to mystery angle makes me think that Awakening is a world I should get to know. I’ve got the corebook now, so I’ll be going through that alongside these blogs to get up to speed. I’m excited to see what you’ve got in store for us.
Yay, Awakening Blog! I didn’t expect one of these until next month.
Let’s take a look at the Fallen World then.
Vote for the Fallen World, with the proviso that I want to hear as much about the Supernal World as possible later.
Great News! I vote for the Fallen World!
Fallen World, absolutely! We need to know the mundane before we can appreciate the Supernal 🙂
I can’t believe the blog’s already happening!!
Fallen World! Fallen World! Fallen World!
I’m going to vote for the Fallen World. It’s where all my friends live.
I don’t know how far into development you guys are with this book but I’m going to ask that you reserve some space for Archmastery if at all possible. Out of all the game lines, not having rules for [insert “Power Stat” here] 5-10, Mage is hit the hardest, I feel. My troupe could have used Imperial Mysteries YEARS before it came out.
Magi who reach Gnosis 6+ aren’t all Archmagi – there are more Gnosis 10 magi running than Archmagi
It’s true, and this is one of the many topics which will be clearer in the new book – when Awakening’s core was written, Bill and Malcolm had an idea of what the 6th to 9th dot Practices did, but it wasn’t until Tome of the Mysteries that we really had a clear view of what Archmasters were. Seers of the Throne, Imperial Mysteries, and Left Hand Path built on that.
We’re looking to have a short description, no rules, of what Archmasters are like so that Storytellers who only have the Fallen World Chronicle can understand their place in the game’s world and use them as Storyteller Characters. A page, at most.
Yes ! It finally begins !
Voting for Fallen World offcourse !
YES! Yes! yes!
Oh and Supernal World please
I animated some zombies and they all vote for the Fallen world, while I, I reach for the Supernal!
[Vote for Fallen, resisting great temptation]
The Fallen World!
Fallen World.
Fallen World
Ah bliss!
And the Fallen World, if you please, preferably with a few of those Mysteries tossed in.
Supernal, let’s visit and knock the exarchs down a peg.
Fallen World please…and I’m glad to see I can expect an Origins 2015 release 😉
Vote: Fallen World
I am so stoked about this new edition in line with the God-Machine and other Chronicles. In my heart of hearts, I hope this becomes a Mage core that I can hand to first time players and get them excited. I have loved the Awakening line of books to death, own every single book. But it’s a killer to have to add to a game pitch “…you got to read some other books beyond the core to really start getting an idea how exciting this game can get…”. Hope the new core comes out swinging!
That is the intention! Mage is blessed with a very strong line of supplements, but as deep as the original corebook is (everything’s in there if you know where to look) we’ve had nine years to get a better idea of what the game’s like to play, and innovate on how we design and most importantly present our games. It’s the benefit of hindsight, and the desire to do the game justice.
Mage is already a great game, and was my favorite White Wolf game before I started writing for it. We want to make it even greater.
Wonderful news! My vote goes for the fallen world. Best to start with the prision of the dreamers so we know how to break free…
Fallen world! Glad to see posts starting, reading your actual plays got me into mage.
Fallen World please !
And congrats to getting me quite excited, Dave.
Fallen World, please.
Oh, the Fallen World, definitely. We need to start in the this Lie we live in before we see the Truth it reflects.
Both! …That’s an option, right? …Please? …Pretty please?
…You sadistic bastard. Fine. If I absolutely HAVE to choose…let’s go with Fallen.
Supernal World all the way!
Fallen World, since the supernal is a place in which most mages spend a grand total of what, 10 minutes of their lives in?
I’ll go with the Fallen World, of course.
Fallen World is juicy!
I vote for Fallen World. I want to know how the God-Machine fits into this since Mages are playing in what’s essentially the God-Machine’s home turf.
I really doubt the God-Machine will be mentioned in the Fallen World Chronicles. Blood and Smoke, the Vampire revision, didn’t mention the God-Machine at all, and as far as I can tell the Idigam Chronicles aren’t going to mention the God-Machine either. So there’s no reason to think the God-Machine will be making a notable appearance for Mage.
The God-Machine was really just an optional setting for Mortals that also lead into Demon. It’s an entirely optional antagonist for the other settings, freeing the other supernaturals up to focus on Antagonists that are more central to their existence like the Strix, Idigam and (presumably) the Exarchs/Abyss or some other remnant of Atlantis that will come back to haunt the Mages.
The Supernal World, definitely. We know so little about it compared to the Fallen World.
I really hope you guys make rotes more integral to the mage experience. My players usually don’t even bother with them because they’re “just extra dice”. Otherwise, WOOH!!
Supernal Realms, plz.
Which topic would show most clearly what you have changed? That’s the one that gets my vote.
Both! I’ll put you down as Undecided.
The Supernal Realm’s secrets are closed off to all but the Archmagi. Understanding this and turning one’s gaze to the world one lives in is the first step along the path of Wisdom.
(Totally vote Fallen World)
I vote for Fallen World.
There seems to be a movement from positive words like “Awakening” to negative ones like “Addicted” and “Obsessed”. Is there still an inclination to liberate the Fallen World from the Exarchs?
I know it’s -called- the Fallen World Chronicle but I feel like we know how the theme of that realm will be re-imagined for the new edition: a world of Mystery and the stage on which the backstage drama plays out on.
So I’m more interested in seeing the Supernal World, which gets my vote*. I’m interested in knowing how that part has been re-imagined to reflect the other changes coming, and the other changes we know about which includes the Fallen.
*unless voting for the Fallen World will reveal some of the new Mysteries settings like Vampire domains or Werewolf hunting grounds; in that case, the FW gets my vote
And I thought the changes for Mage Sight were going to be spoiled first, Dave :p I swear I remember you saying that at some point. Either way I’m excited 😀
I said “In three to four weeks”. Obviously depending on what people vote for.
(Would one of the two choices this week include a Mage Sight spoiler? Who knows! Choices, choices…)
Yay!!! I’ve been waiting for this blog. Should be fun.
I vote Fallen World.
Fallen World Please!
I think that the biggest problem that the original Awakening corebook had is that it wasn’t grounded at all. Its first chapter focused way too hard on the nature of the Supernal and the Atlantis myth, dedicated tons of pages to that and not on on what it actually means to be a mage, why any of that stuff actually mattered.
Therefore, I say Fallen World.
Supernal, please.
Let’s keep it gritty. Fallen World please.
Mage is my favorite line and I’ve loved your AP threads. I’m really looking forward to the updates no matter which wins. But my preference would be for the supernal.
I arrive late, yet full of enthusiasm. This post has made my day. Thank you, Dave.
Let us merge with the Supernal World.
The Fallen world. The Supernal always has to wait, and that is right.
My vote goes to the Supernal World.
I’m eager to know how does the Sun look outside of Plato’s cave.
At 79 to 23, it looks like Fallen is winning!
Ooh! One other thing! Could you guys find a way to reintroduce the Digital Web? With the concept of the God-Machine, I think it’d be all the more worthwhile to try as an experiment! 😀
Fallen World Please! I think its important to ‘build up to the Supernal’ but first we need to exercise and experiment about the WORLD, we come from, and live in before we even touch on the supernal.
Fallen World of course!