As selected in last week’s poll, here is the full first draft of Tokyo in Awakening Second Edition’s setting chapter. Along with London, Tucson, Los Angeles, and Salamanca, it serves as an example of how Mage works in a specific setting, rather than the general terms we write most of the books in.
Tokyo, as you may be aware, holds a special place in the second editions of the World of Darkness; whether it’s vampire domains, werewolf hunting grounds, or changeling courts, Tokyo is always one of the examples. As with the other faces of Japan in the nWoD, the Tokyo Mystery comes by way of David Hill.
Tokyo: The Onmyodo
Awakened magic holds a unique seat in the world’s largest city. In Tokyo, spaces as small as rooms, or as large as entire neighborhoods can become magical “dead zones” where Awakened magic ceases to function, and where Mana bleeds instantly from any Pattern within.
The Awakened take these dead zones, these “Ansho,” very seriously. They’re charted and catalogued, studied and experimented on. After all, anyone traveling through Tokyo must avoid these spots, lest they find himself defenseless and drained.
Because of this, Tokyo’s Consilium stands mostly dominated by Mysterium interests. They’ve taken it upon themselves to spearhead the efforts to map the Ansho, and to disseminate up-to-date information to the city’s Awakened.
A History of The Awakened
The Awakened of Tokyo goes back nearly five centuries. The first known mage in the area was a (probable) Thyrsus called Nakatomi. The stories say that Nakatomi used his or her Life magic to empower the local fishermen to great success. At the time, Tokyo, or Edo as it was called during the period, was nothing more than a little-known fishing village.
Nakatomi’s magic helped the fishermen achieve great renown, which drew in much of Honshu’s growing population. For the next century, the influx of Sleeper citizens to Edo came with it an influx of Awakened residents. The Awakened flocked around Nakatomi’s guidance, and formed one of the oldest surviving Consilia in the world.
Edo grew rapidly, and remained successful long after Nakatomi vanished from record.
In the early 18th century, Tokyo became the first city in the world with over one million residents. Tokyo remained ever fresh and new, as it suffered frequently from wars, fires, and earthquakes which devastated its landscape, essentially forcing the city to start over and rebuild. In the Consilium, this has sparked countless debates, since many of the records have went with the fires. This includes all records concretely confirming Nakatomi’s existence, or any of Nakatomi’s words or behaviors. Every extant record is rumour and third-party heresay. No Consilium member still standing remembers Nakatomi, or even any true record of Nakatomi’s existence. Some claim to have Nakatomi’s first Consilium charter, but in a reproduced, unprovable form. This caused the Consilium to fracture into distinct factions.
In the past century, since World War II, Tokyo’s seen a radical uptick in mysterious phenomena all around the city. From hauntings, to new places of power, to clusters of rapid Awakenings, Tokyo seems every bit the eye of a supernatural storm.
Nakatomi-En
The standing Consilium is called Nakatomi-En, and maintains three major factions, each viewing Nakatomi with a different perspective, and following their teachings with a different driving philosophy. The factions refuse to use names, each referring to themselves as “The First Faction”, and the others as “The Second Faction (as a singular, not recognizing a third faction)”. They could be loosely named after their perceptions of Nakatomi.
One faction, Nakatomi-Sama, espouses that Nakatomi as a deified entity, as something beyond human, and beyond the Awakened. Their version of Nakatomi was a fisherman, he lived amongst men until Awakening, then ascended into something greater entirely. They believe that Nakatomi still exists, and he walks with them, guiding their actions. They hold up a series of writings attributed to Nakatomi-Sama, considering them the first law, and that of the utmost priority. While they do believe the Consilium can forge new laws, they may never amend or change the laws as set down by Nakatomi-Sama. This puts them at ends with all other mages in the Consilium, as dated laws define rigid roles within Awakened society, and refers to customs and practices that would have been considered archaic and outdated two centuries ago.
The city’s current Primus, called Kamakura, is a member of this faction. He cannot enact all his deeply conservative agendas thanks to the rest of the Consilium, but he does try. For example, none of his currently appointed advisors are women, thanks to a narrow reading of Nakatomi-Sama’s laws.
Another faction, Nakatomi-Senpai, teaches that Nakatomi was simply another mage, a renowned Thyrsus who helped raise Edo into a great city. Their version of Nakatomi was a young woman married to a fisherman. She Awakened during a time of famine, and her magic was able to bring Edo to greatness. She led and fostered the first Consilium through direct action, through example, and through community organization. Unfortunately, the faction has little concrete evidence of their stories, as all physical rolls and meeting notes from Nakatomi’s original Consilium were destroyed in the 1657 Great Fire of Meireki.
Now, this faction dominates the current Consilium electorate. They advocate strongly for citizen involvement, and attempt to give every Consilium member a role and responsibility as part of their citizenship. They also fiercely push to break Primus Kamakura’s prohibition on women in high governance. Unfortunately, the current Consilium law allows him veto power over fundamental changes in structure. So as it stands, he’s allowed appointing whomever he wants to advisory and delegate roles.
The last faction, Nakatomi-no-Mikoto teaches that Nakatomi never properly existed in a traditional sense. That it was something of stories. If it exists as a god or legend, that it’s irrelevant, because it has no noticeable hand in daily life, and no voice, mortal or Awakened, can influence it in any way. They believe that to lead Awakened society, one must become like unto legend. One must become more magically significant, and that the greatest masters of the art are inherently those which should shepherd the flock. They’re a stark minority group in the Consilium, which looks like a clique, a cult to most of those on the outside.
Their current leader, Taiyo, is a rumored archmaster. He’s easily the most potent Obrimos in Tokyo, and has been for a great many years. He may very well be the strongest mage in the city in terms of pure personal power. However, he’s outclassed by some of his ‘inferiors’ in social and political power.
This is particularly important because they believe Nakatomi never once laid down any sort of law, or even existed in the Consilium. Their belief, in its simplest form, is that the other two factions’ beliefs and even their doctrines are completely invalid. They believe the Nakatomi-Sama faction’s writ of law was pushed through illegitimately to avoid the will of the people. They believe the Nakatomi-Senpai faction push for social agendas that exclude merit and magical advancement from their natural state of rulership. If they have their way, control over Hallows and magical phenomena should be the metric for political power within the Consilium. It comes as no coincidence that their faction controls a wildly disproportionate number of these places.
Phenomena in Tokyo
The following oddities occur within the wards of Tokyo. The Consilium, and members of the Mysterium across the three factions track, map, and catalogue these occurrences.
Note that these things occur all across the Tokyo metropolitan area, and for an indeterminate distance outside it. The affected areas are quite massive, and ultimately comprise all of the formal Tokyo Metropolis, as well as parts of the Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Yamanashi, Saitama, Nagano, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, and Chiba Prefectures. As one gets further from the heart of Tokyo, they become less and less frequent.
The Ansho
The Ansho is the single most debated and studied occurrence for the Tokyo Awakened. Spots of the map, whether they be little alcoves or city blocks, are magical dead zones. A mage traveling through an Ansho finds herself quickly robbed of all Mana, and incapable of using spells.
Some mages (and more than a few Seers) have used the Ansho as ambush points, drawing their enemies in, remaining outside, and laying down attacks. In one famous case, in 1971, the Consilium Primus called Ikaruga was tricked into a warehouse Ansho, and a gang waiting for him inside stabbed him over one hundred times. The bureaucrat in charge of mapping the local Ansho kept this location secret, so none in the city knew of its existence. Since then, the incoming Primus Kamakura demanded that Ansho must be the purview of an entire Order (the Mysterium), and never should a single mage be the sole holder of any information pertaining to them.
The Mechanics of an Ansho
Every turn a mage remains in an Ansho, she loses a point of Mana. She cannot cast new spells at all. Her existing spells fade after a number of turns equal to her Gnosis. Spells targeting those within the Ansho have their Potencies halved each turn (round down) until they cease to exist.
The going theories are that Tokyo has small pockets of Abyssal energy that neutralizes Supernal forces within. Masters of Prime have had limited luck in shrinking Ansho through extensive rituals, but the effects are always temporary, and the costs far outstrip the benefits.
New Ansho come about only rarely, with roughly three to five new ones per year across the entirety of Tokyo. This is frequently enough that the Mysterium is justified in constantly searching for new ones. Their current, most successful method was inspired by astronomers’ research into black holes. They send out magical pulses, slow effects expected to bounce back. They scrutinize the return Supernal energies, and track gaps and slow points within the return signals. They chart these results, move locations, and “ping” again to triangulate before actively moving in to verify. This is typically done with a cabal sending a single member inside the suspected Ansho, who attempts to spellcast in numerous places to find its boundaries.
Beacons
There’s a saying in Japan, that the stake that sticks up will be hammered down. For the Awakened, this is a harsh reality of magic. Whenever a mage in the Tokyo area suffers from Paradox, it sends out a “beacon” that alerts those sensitive to the supernatural. It doesn’t inherently identify the offending mage, but all such creatures in a certain distance notice that something unnatural has occurred, and from what general direction it came.
Functionally, this affects vampires, mages, werewolves, and other characters that exist as mostly supernatural beings. It affects “lesser supernatural beings” such as vampire ghouls, and shapeshifters’ close relatives if they possess any Supernatural Merits pertaining to their conditions. As well, human characters with Supernatural Merits are affected. The beacon goes out in a radius 10 meters per dot of the mage’s Gnosis, plus one for every success on the Paradox dice pool. The dice pool must be successful for this to occur. Characters are affected as if they possessed the Unseen Sense Merit. They do not know the source, nor do they understand it in any way. They just know something is “off”, and from what general direction it came. Curiously, an Ansho blocks the effect radius of these beacons.
Tokyo’s Orders
The Awakened Orders exist in Tokyo, as with most cities. The five (or six) stand strong and populous among the metropolitan area’s nearly 40 million people.
The Adamantine Arrow acts as the front line against the strangeness. Inevitably, many of the phenomena that occur within Tokyo are followed immediately by manifestations of the Abyss. Younger Arrow refer to these monsters jokingly as “random encounters”, as a way to diffuse the utter horror they face as their friends and compatriots fall at the tentacles, teeth, and miasmas of the unknown. Unfortunately for their efforts, the Consilium stymies many of their more important agendas by drowning every military excursion in extensive red tape. The Arrow cannot take action without three delegates from Kamakura’s advisement panel, or a majority vote from the city at large. This means getting over one hundred Awakened to both congregate, and agree on a single agenda. (This also assumes a unanimous vote, since over two hundred Awakened reside in the metropolitan area.) Surprisingly, this has occurred three times in the Consilium’s recorded history. In two of these missions, the delay brought on by the vote nearly meant the end of the city as a whole. In one, the delay meant the monster in question collapsed under the weight of its own Paradox before the Arrows arrived.
The Free Council runs around like a desperate, dying animal. They have numbers and potential, but they’re spinning their wheels constantly, trying to lobby and fight for the Nakatomi-Senpai faction. They push hard for women’s representation in the council governance, and they fight hard to push out Kamakura so the Consilium charter can be amended. Kamakura’s defense against their efforts has been to put into place an extensive system of replacements that are each presented politically as worse than him. Some are downright fascist, and he manipulates these perceptions well to denigrate the works of the Free Council. So the Councilors toil endlessly in a political, PR, and logistical war they’re unlikely to win in their lifetimes.
The Guardians of the Veil act mostly as an internal affairs department for the Consilium. They’re a small group, barely recognized to have any significant power in Tokyo. But the Consilium will empower them to act against problem elements. Unfortunately, these priority targets tend to be members of the Free Council, and any other currently dissenting group. Kamakura barely hides his contempt for his enemies, and wields that transparency as a weapon. Everyone knows that speaking too loudly will leave you open to attacks. The Guardians know this, and see it as a regrettable truth of their situation. Ultimately, they will only strike down a Consilium member that has made mistakes, so their public warning to Tokyo is to keep everything above the table, and don’t take major risks.
The Mysterium heavily overlap into both the Nakatomi-Sama and Nakatomi-no-Mikoto factions. Almost all the Nakatomi-no-Mikoto faction hail from the Mysterium. Many of the Nakatomi-Sama faction, including Kamakura himself and all his advisors are of the Mysterium. Clearly, the Mysterium receives grossly preferential treatment. Mysterium members get first pick of territories, and this is always couched under coincidental terms. Nearly every Hallow in Tokyo beyond a tiny Mana trickle is under Mysterium control.
While they are clearly a significant power in Tokyo, maintaining that status keeps them from the levels of advancement, research, and exploration they’d like. Most of their efforts are spent establishing and defending an unassailable position in the city.
A single (but large) Mysterium cabal singlehandedly spearheads research, investigation, and procurement for all occult phenomenon in Tokyo. They’re sufficiently large that they contain smaller splinter cells tasked with specific areas of specialty. For example, they maintain a sub-group responsible for charting Hallows all across the city.
The Silver Ladder are nearly an independent interest in Tokyo. While they exist within the Consilium, they mostly deal with the Sleeper world, trying to manipulate it into their ideals. They do this separate of the Consilium’s bickering and politicking, except in the rare cases where Consilium law debates focus heavily on Sleeper relations.
The Silver Ladder’s agenda in Tokyo focuses on pushing the exploratory spirit among the Sleeper population. This is a holistic approach, focusing on religion, art, and the sciences. They push the populace to think in new ways, and to innovate. This even means approaching long-established and religious principles with a new mind. This puts them at odds with the Seers of the Throne on occasion, but the Ladder works closer with organizational politics, rather than the mass media.
Most Ladder members maintain at least nominal leadership or advisory positions in Sleeper organizations, corporations, temples, or other facets of local culture. The current head of the Order stands at the head of an international corporation’s board. This corporation, called The Hototogisu, has a hidden branch which interacts diplomatically with other supernatural entities in Tokyo, including vampires, obake (shapechangers), and other, stranger things. This puts the Silver Ladder in a position of unique privilege, since they can make connections with things outside the Orders when in specific need. These favors do not come cheap, and often ripple outward into unforeseen consequences, but can bring massive and near-immediate benefits.
The Seers of the Throne struggle a conceptual battle in Tokyo that keeps them from actively engaging the Five Orders. Tokyo stands as a dichotomy between the Exarchs’ interests and a push for Awakening. In one block, you may have an eighteen story building with video arcades, movie theaters, computer stores, and other altars to the worship of Sleeper science. On that same block, you might have a Shinto shrine that sees thousands of visitors daily, many of which never question the truth of a spiritual otherness in all things. While people text message on smartphones fitted with processors that would have been considered supercomputers a decade ago, they ask you your blood type because they believe it comes with an ingrained personality archetype.
The Seers battle in the media. They push hard into television, radio, and magazines. They influence popular comic books, attempting to discredit and poke fun at occult interests. They market science fiction as a series of admirable goals. They present Shintoism and Buddhism as “old Japan”, trying to present the culture the possibility of moving forward and away from religion and animist spiritualism. They’ve had some success, but the Orders scoff, claiming that if the Seers were really making any progress, ATM machines would be open past 7pm.
(DAVEB’S NOTE – of everything in this section, It’s this Seer bit that stuck out at me while redlining. Seers aren’t cMage Technocrats, and they should absolutely use Sleeper’s religion against them as well, so expect the wording of this part to change a bit)
The Conceptual Ki
The Awakened of Tokyo use the word “Ki” (pronounced “Key”) for what most mages call Mana. However, this word has many other meanings. It refers to the air, the atmosphere, flavor, heart, mind, spirit, emotion, humor, intention, and the human will. While it isn’t inherently the word one would use commonly for all those concepts, it’s an umbrella word that contains all those ideas. It’s important to note that this is both a linguistic and cultural difference. Japanese is a highly contextual language. For example, the word for “foot” and “leg” in Japanese are the same. Without context, a reader or listener might not understand of which you speak.
When a Tokyo mage speaks of Ki, she may be speaking of any of these concepts, or all of them. Awakened society sees this as a boon, since it allows for more and more open speech. A discussion of Ki at a local ramen bar might seem a little quirky, but not completely unordinary because of the context. Similarly, they don’t linguistically differentiate Mana from Tass; Ki covers both concepts just fine for them.
Next Week
We continue to bounce around Awakening like a pinball machine, looking at one of two prongs of the magic system: Creative Thaumaturgy or Attainments?
[HYPE INTENSIFIES]
Voting for Creative Thaumaturgy. I don’t think we’ve had much info on that yet compared to attainments.
Creative Thaumaturgy! I started the sticky thread on two iterations of the forums. I definitely want to know what we’re in store for.
I vote for Attainments, this time.
Creative Thaumaturgy
Attainments. And loving Tokyo
Attainments please 🙂
Oh, and are we still on couse for a release during spring?
Attainments– they’re such an interesting new part of the system I really want to know more.
Whelp, now everyone knows my e-mail address I guess? Not sure how that happened…
You put your email address into the username box. I’ve edited it out of your message.
Creative Thaumaturgy!!
Creative Thaum please.
Ansho and beacons are very cool phenomena. Good writeup.
I vote Creative Thaumaturgy.
While Attainments sound interesting, I would prefer to learn about the Creative Thaumaturgy: It is after all the backbone that the system stands on, so…
Creative Thaumaturgy vote from me!
Attainments! I want to start converting Legacies.
We’ve already had the Legacy rules. This would be the other attainments – Mage Armor, summoning, how sympathy works, that kind of thing.
you really need to find a new name for them Legacy Attainments and normal Attainments will cause to much confusion
Yeah; with that in mind, I’m voting for Creative Thaumaturgy.
Do the Orders have regional names, like the Adamantine Arrow did?
Creative Thaumaturgy. 🙂
Hrm, tough vote.
I’d say Attainments, since those are newer.
As for the writeup, nice. I like the idea the primary mage opponents are not always Seers (there’s their whole lobbying against Shinto thing, but that’s background chatter and likely to be changed). Here, it’s the corrupt wings of the Nakatomi-Sama (and politics so poisonous that the Silver Ladder itself is going “screw this, we’re out”).
I’m honestly a little more interested in the Beacon phenomenon. Ansho are explicable, but the sudden Universal Unseen Sense (Paradox)? That’s something already worth interest from that alone, plus the mechanics of giving the supernatural populace a sense of dread.
I was quite relieved to read your editorial note about the Technocracy… I was wondering about that.
Also: I like the Dead Zones with teeth.
(As Seidmadr says: Creative Thau is the backbone, so I also vote thataway.)
Creative thaumaturgy.
I really hope to see more things like Dead Zones, like aspects that can be attached to a city or location that can enhance its mystery.
Creative Thaumatgury all the way
Creative thaumaturgy
Creative Thaumaturgy is looking good.
Creative Thaumaturgy.
Amazing writeup, but just what is “The Onmyodo”? Is that the blanket term for the Tokyo Consilium?
I’m voting for Attainments! I want deets on Legacies and how they work!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onmy%C5%8Dd%C5%8D
Creative Thaumaturgy.
Creative Thaumaturgy.
I’d have thought that the Mysterium and the rest of the Diamond would be comfortable with conservative and archaic rules and policies. #FreeCouncil
Speaking of, I’m betting the Council likes Senpai.
Presumably someone with a significant legend would be a more potent Supernal Symbol and they do say that power flows from the barrel of a gun. So, these guys kinda scare me.
One vote for Creative Thaumaturgy
Attainments, please.
So stuff we’ve learned.
Consiliums are retconned to be no older than 500 years or so.
The Mysterium are still the worst when in power.
Something something dead zones.
I don’t hate this but clearly we picked the city that was in most need of some editing. There’s three or four different themes going on here and not enough room to explore any of them. I’d actually be okay with an individual Seer Tetrarchy that has picked one side of the religion/science debate as long as it wasn’t presented as an Order-wide attitude, especially in a culture where that debate isn’t as clear cut or bitter as the US or Great Britain.
In other words, I’d probably run the local Seers as trying to START the religion-science fight, or at least get it as angry as it is in other countries. Also I really really hope there is at least one sample city where the Pentacle functions.
Anyway I vote for Attainments.
Since Arcanum Attainments are something totally new to 2e, they definitely receive my vote.
Creative Thaumaturgy!
I like the Tokyo writeup, except I normally don’t like that much politics in my Mage settings. I would prefer to cut out some of the text referring to politics and maybe add a third strangeness even if its not too in-depth. I think that would follow the theme of “Addicted to Mystery” of this book much better.
I know its wikipedia so its not the best of sources but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_cities_throughout_history shows multiple cities hitting the million+ mark before Tokyo.
Yeah, it was the first city in Japan to hit one million. I think that’s a typo. It’s well accepted that Rome hit a million people at some point during the Empire.
Also, Attainments.
A few more details on the political balance would be helpful. If Kakumura’s views are so problematic for the Arrows, Libertines, and Thearchs and unpopular as portrayed, why has no one taken any of this to a Convocation? A chronicle centering one an effort to fix Tokyo by removing whatever obstacles keep said Convocation from happening would be fascinating but more detail is needed to make it work.
Attainments.
Is Primus a different term for Hierarch? The attitude of Kamakura reminds me of the Nemean.
For me, portraying the political landscape is the hardest part in the making of a setting, so I like that each setting seems to show different relationships inside the Pentacle: Tokyo has a strong and very conservative Cosilium and a very weak (or non-existant) Assembly, LA appears to have a Consilium that’s as strong and influential as the Assembly and Tucson’s strongest groups are the Nameless Orders, which implies a Consilium and Assembly who don’t have too much power.
I hope the other two settings show other possibilities, like an Assembly that’s more dominant that the Consilium or a more cohesive Pentacle (unlike the Consilium and Assembly of LA) or a place where the Seers are the dominant sect, and the Pentacle has to be way more discrete and paranoid than usual.
Let’s see if I can hit the Awakened pinball’s jackpot: I vote Creative Thaumaturgy
Do Anshu vanish after awhile? One kind of assumes they have to, otherwise I’d expect the Mages to have left by now or set up a quarentine or something.
I hope you guys can manage to make me like the Diamond this time around, but the Mysterium here isn’t really helping. I’d kinda like to like the Mysterium, but I’ve yet to be able to get past the introduction of their book without being too irritated to continue. The intro fiction didn’t help either.
Yeah, thanks for the note. I was wondering why the Technocracy had shown up suddenly. Is it possible to play a Seer who is a “good guy?”
Holy crap, the Hototogisu are playing at a MUCH higher level than first hinted. Dammit, I have to run a Tokyo game…
Creative Thaumaturgy, because it’s the element of Mage I ceaselessly struggle with.
Creative Thaumaturgy, please!
attainments pls
Loving it so far, as usual.
If by Attainments, you mean “Arcana Attainments”, then that’s where my vote goes. Otherwise, it would be Creative Thaumaturgy.
Creative Thaumaturgy!
Also dddaaammmmnnnnnn. The Hototogisu seems to have their fingers in every pie.
First of, I vote for the Attainments.
Now, let’s go to mine thoughts on Tokyo write-up:
1.What is Onmyodo? What is Primus? Is it other name for Hierarch? Why it’s not Japanese title?
2.Are in Japan other names for Paths and Orders? It would add a bit cultural favor. If not – how MEDIVIAL European Mysterium ( and other Pentacle Orders ) get to the Japan?
3.I very dislike there is not mentioned of more “religious mixture” in Japan, with Shinto, Buddhism and Christianity having a large impact on spiritual life of modern inhabitants. Especially for Awakened, whose spirituality and magic is based on symbols, many times found in religion. Sorry, but Shinto priest character ( followed by “modern samurai”) should be iconic for Japan mages.
4.I very dislike the Adamantine Arrow has hands tied by local politics – and nothing does with it. Arrows are first mages I think about civil disobedience. I can understand the Caucus, as a whole, officially abstain from breaking Consillium rules. But individual mages should look for troubles and fight with “monsters”, instead of waiting for mass voting on taking actions.
5.Tokyo Tower is not center for weekly attacks of giant monsters. 😉 But seriously,
something about intense geomancy and Shadow spirituality in area would be cool.
One plus in now write-up is Hototogisu come again, and has total sense in Silver Ladder context.
For the Arrow part – remember that acting unilaterally and against the wishes of their superiors (in whatever sense) goes directly against one of the Five Fingers, Service is Mastery. They are knights in the most traditional, feudal sense of the term in a lot of ways, and a faction that draws most of its inspiration/symbolism/doctrines from warrior castes and cults in Japan of all places would surely be adamantly (ha!) opposed to civil disobedience.
It’s most traditional faction. In AA book there is also one that try’s to “fix” the Supernal Oath taken and if they see that participants “do not fulfill their roles” ( like Hierarch being tyrant than Awakened Judge ) they go against Oath themselves. I agree that most Arrows would follow general Caucus attitude, but also there should be some individual Arrows going with civil disobedience. Hell, they own Order is known from in-fighting of ideologies in Caucuses.
You’re killing me, here. I wanted Attainments the last time it came up, but I have to vote for Creative Thaumaturgy. It’s always been my favourite part of the game.
Do the dead zones appear and disappear or can we expect an apocalyptic
“in 100 years all of Tokyo will be one gigant Dead Zone”
Hard choice but: Creative Thaumaturgy
I’d hope for the latter. It’s certainly a more interesting and threatening mystery to uncover why Tokyo’s super all is slowly dying, than to just have ‘oh yeah, these things come and go. *shrug*’.
An accumulation also begs the question of whether it will stop when all Tokyo is magically dead, or if this is the beginning of the end for mages? Will the world eventually lose magic? Is this an end game Exarch gambit? Is it the final triumph of the Abyss, as it eliminates all possibility of resistance to its incursions?
Dave – does ‘ATM’ mean ‘automatic teller machine’ or similar? If so, please kill the phrase ‘ATM machine’ with fire! 😉
Why’s that? We call them ATM machines here. I’d venture to say pretty much no Japanese people actually know what ATM stands for; it’s just the term used for those machines.
Is it not something widely used?
ATM stands for “Automated Teller Machine,” so calling something an “ATM machine” amounts to calling it an “Automated Teller Machine machine,” which is redundant and awkward.
Also, unless your speaking from experience, I wouldn’t bet on no Japanese person knowing what ATM means. The internet is a thing, and they’re pretty plugged in (possibly depending on demographic).
I am. Most people I’ve spoken to don’t know what the acronym stands for.
Also, you’d be surprised to find how not plugged in they are. My neighbour and I are good friends. She’s about 30. She’s fluent in English, and university educated. She doesn’t own a computer, neither does her husband. They both have smartphones, but don’t have email accounts (outside their carrier-provided ones, which they don’t use). They use some social media, but very casually.
That said, it’s less about being connected, more that they just don’t care. I’ve lived in Pennsylvania, and I have no idea what MAC means, and that’s what most people call ATMs there. I don’t particularly care what it stands for; all I care is that I know what big money-delivery box it stands for.
And yeah, I get you on the “M” as “Machine”, but then again, there’s a clear argument that common usage considers the acronym its own word, independent of its component parts. I tend to favor common usage over academic accuracy in RPG materials.
They’re called ATMs here, but I’ve not heard anyone add “machine”. (Do combini in the countryside not have 24hr ATMs, then?)
They don’t have PIN numbers, they have ansho bango, which is a bit scary for mages.
David Chart: Conbini (specifically 7-Eleven) do have 24 hour ATMs. But the problem with them is, you have to get everything in 10,000? increments and they have spotty coverage for some banks. My local bank’s card won’t work at 7-Eleven after (I think) 7pm. It might be 8 or 9. I know it doesn’t work in the middle of the night.
In the city, you have a couple of other options, like Citibank ATMs. But they’re harder to find.
And yeah… If I had more space, I’d fuss with ansho bango.
Tau: I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE.
It may be common spoken usage in Japan (I assume that’s what you mean by ‘here’, apologies if incorrect), but when written it looks like the writer didn’t know what the ‘M’ stands for. (I know you know.)
I now understand your reasoning, but I would suggest that the majority of readers would be native English speakers, to whom it will stand out and look like an error.
Do ATM machines require a PIN number?
I really hope the dead zones aren’t cumulative. If they fade in and out you have the possibility of someone discovering some sort of pattern and the inevitable story when someone figures out a way to either predict or control their appearance and use them as a weapon.
I expected something different from that title…
Anyway, if Attainments includes the Arcana ones, then Attainments all the way.
Is the The Hototogisu Corporation an official Silver Ladder cryptopoly?
Are crytpopolies the same as in 1e?
Attainments please
Attainments!
Thank you for finally previewing a setting! 😀
I’m so fulfilled that I’m not even going to vote. From here on out I’m just going to enjoy the ride
Attainments!
I vote Attainments.
Hmm, I’m not so sure the honorifics “sama” and “senpai” are usable in a formal title for an organization. I’ve never seen it happen, for sure.
Also, any word on official translations of the Orders in Japanese? It’d be nice to see official ones, but players in Japan have done their own:
???? (kongou no ya) – Adamantine Arrow
??????? (shikiri no shugosha) – Guardians of the Veil
??? (hiouden) – Mysterium
???? (gin no hashigo) – The Silver Ladder
????? (jiyuu hyougikai) – The Free Council
??? (dattousha) – Apostate
There’s an entire fandom of WoD in Japan that have done some basic translations of terms, mechanics, and fluff in some of the books, actually, so maybe you guys could reach out to them.
Oh, for next week, I vote Creative Thaumaturgy! That’s the beating heart of this system and the one I’m most curious about.
Lol, apparently Japanese characters aren’t supported. Oh well!
I’m unaware of these fans! Have them hit me up. MachineIV at gmail. I’d love to talk to them (and possibly game with them).
I’ll also note that those terms are NOT formal titles for organisations. They’re wildly informal, and I’ll note that clearer in the second draft. There are no formal names, because that would be like recognizing the tryst, and they’re unwilling to do that.
And yeah, the forum software doesn’t like ????
Creative Thaum!!! 😛
That passage about the Seers of the Throne stood out for me too. The Seers =/= science. The Seers sourcebook even makes it clear that science brings people closer to the truth, which improves their chances of Awakening, which the Seers do not want.
Yes, really looking forward to seeing the Seers section refocused on furthering Quiescence and the Lie.
Otherwise I do like the notion that the Mysterium locked down most of the city’s resources on a pointless doctrinal squabble, while in more mundane circles the Silver Ladder and the Seers fight a far more vital battle for the hearts and minds of Tokyo.
My redline for it is something like “you know the sheer insane pressure of working life for young adults in Japan? They’re probably making it worse wherever they can.” A Seer Ministry based on “you are a cog in a machine” Something like that. Another faction / localised Ministry that lost big in the end of empire but is still hanging on in there with some elements of traditionalist society, too.
Ah, churning out salarymen and office ladies, while the Silver Ladder are pushing Datsusara. That’d be a very quintessential Japanese cultural struggle.
That sounds more like it. Good idea.
I mean, science fiction is imagination.
The biggest pressure for young adults in Japan now is actually having a working life better than part-time employment.
I would very much like to see how Attainments are getting jiggered.
Hm. So the Seers control mass media, do they? Suddenly I got this idea for a chronicle where the Seers and the Silver Ladder battle it out for control of vocaloid software. Can you imagine the stuff a mage could pull in a concert where the audience KNOWS the star is a hologram? Subtle Supernal imagery galore! Oh, and attainments please.
The obvious question about Nakatomi is why not use Time magic to settle the debate? 1657 isn’t too distant to recover the records.
The Ansho are more powerful than the dead zones created by Prime 5 and even Abyssal Verges (which would argue against them being pockets of Abyssal energy). Out and out banning new spells etc. is too much. Same thing with Beacon. Both screw the players and don’t really fit with the legendary or the anime/manga Tokyo.
Creative Thaumaturgy.
A vote for Attainments please.
Though Tokyo wasn’t the one I wanted to see still thanks for the write up.
As for the next post i’m a bit torn cause both choices seem interesting. I think i’ll stick with what i voted last time – Attainments.
Creative Thaumaturgy please Dave
I’m having trouble deciding between Attainments and Creative Thaumaturgy, but I do have one request: can whatever examples you give include Fate and Time effects? The Acanthus are my favorites, and they were the only ones not to have any spells in their preview.
Hard choice. I think I’d rather see the mechanics for, hmm, Creative Thaumaturgy.
Very cool to see the orders acting within the context of a greater set of philosophies or agendas than themselves.
Oops, I’d also like to read about creative Thaumaturgy
I vote Attainments!
Creative Thaumaturgy is a core part of the system, yes, but these “Arcana Attainments” are new, and I am very interested in how they work. Both the “old” stuff (Mage Armor, Summoning, the sidebar stuff), and any new ones; some Arcana didn’t have anything specific to it that was something like an Attainment, like the Life Arcanum. Though I guess Body Control could be one, since every Life Legacy and its mother wanted it.
Also, I echo that maybe these “Arcana Attainments” maybe need a differing name, though I can see why they are called Attainments and all that.
Which books would you recommend if I wanted to attain a better understanding of the Seers?
Their first edition splatbook is really quite excellent.
Creative Thaumaturgy. And please tell me you’ve made Rote Crafting easier for the storyteller.
And could we get more Cryptid and Nemean support?
Also, when discussing setting locations, are you finding enough space for game line overlap? Like, I’d love to hear more about the Shadow in Tokyo, at least as it relates to Shamans, and Spirit practitioners in general, for example. Or having NEATs or Otaku in in the Consillium, as sample concepts might be an interesting angle.
Creative Thaumaturgy
Well that worked out. I think I like the Beacon’s more than I like the Ansho, its a big crossover engine for the crossover city, which I like. Although I kinda want to figure out what happens when one forms, that’ll be a lot of fun.
And a city where I’m more interested in the Ladder than anyone else probably counts as some species of miracle. I love them, sure, but they tend to get caught up in the Great Game and fall off being dynamic actors in their own right.
And can we roll out Attainments? I’ve been dying to learn about the new summoning tech for ages.
I vote for attainments.
Creative thaum please!
Whaaaat!! Are you going toput Salamanca as one of the specific settings of Mage?!
Oh, wait. I am excessively on fanboy mode. Let’s take a breath.
First of all: Attainments, please.
Second: Are you referring to Salamanca, as in Spain Salamanca? (if that’s the city you’re talking about, it’s my city, so i’m sorry about the intensity)
Third: Back to the top. I must read all the rest. xD
The post about Mage Society (https://theonyxpath.com/a-well-armed-society/) mentions something about efímera-gates in Salamanca, so the city is probably full of ghosts and spirits.
Thank you very much, sir Phobos! i’ll go to read the thread then.
Create me some Thaumaturgy!
I vote for Attainments.
Creative Thaumaturgy
First: Attainments.
Second: I fucking knew Inoue Akio was a mage.
My vote is for Attainments.
Personally I’d rather have a better idea of what I can do magically /without/ spell casting.
Tokyo looks really good. I’m digging all the creativity that has gone into this.
Nice stuff. Looking forward to seeing the end product.
Another tough choice, but I’m curious about attainments so I’ll go with that.
‘tainments. Gotta get an insight on the armour.
I wonder, how does Kamakura maintain his authority and promote his faction’s agenda with the majority set against him? Unless the leaders of the Nakatomi-Senpai are either corruptible or sheepishly obedient, he would seem to be set on a narrow and treacherous path.
As for our next subject, make it Creative Thaumaturgy. My current problems don’t leave me with time for soul shaping, and no grimore holds a solution for me. It’s time to think outside of the book.