XPost: alt.magick.chaos   
      
   From: https://github.com/alt-magick/Mage-The-Ascension   
      
      
   Mage: The Ascension   
      
      
   Mage: The Ascension is a roleplaying   
   game set in the World of Darkness, a   
   dark, gothic-punk alternative version   
   of our own reality. In this setting,   
   magic is real but hidden from most   
   people's perception. The game revolves   
   around mages - individuals who can   
   reshape reality through the power of   
   will, belief, and understanding.   
      
   The Technocracy stands as a powerful   
   organization seeking to control reality   
   through science, technology, and   
   rational thought. They view magic as a   
   dangerous threat to human progress and   
   work systematically to suppress and   
   eliminate supernatural elements.   
      
   The central conflict in Mage: The   
   Ascension is the struggle over the   
   nature of reality itself. Mages   
   fundamentally believe that reality is   
   malleable and can be shaped by human   
   will and belief.   
      
   Roleplaying happens inside of scenes.   
   In fact, the entire game exists in   
   scenes. The most powerful scenes are   
   those that surprise both the   
   Storyteller and the players, revealing   
   stories none could have anticipated.   
   The beauty of roleplaying a scene lies   
   in its uncertainty. Neither the   
   players, or the Storyteller know   
   exactly how the scene will unfold.   
      
   A scene is a temporary collaborative   
   reality. A shared imaginative space   
   where individual creativity merges into   
   a collective experience.   
      
   Like most role playing games played   
   around a table, we use dice to   
   determine the whims of chance. Anytime   
   a character performs an action under   
   adverse conditions or when the outcome   
   is unclear, his player rolls dice to   
   see whether the task succeeds or   
   fails.   
      
   You just need two six sided dice to   
   play. I have changed this from the   
   original game, Mage: The Ascension from   
   rolling a ten sided dice. I did a   
   little math and it just made since.   
      
   For a success in this game, rolling a 7   
   or 11 with two 6 sided dice has the   
   odds of 2/9 which is 0.2222.   
      
   A typical success in Mage is made by   
   rolling a 8, 9, or 10 on one 10 sided   
   die, which has the odds of 3/10 which   
   is 0.3.   
      
   So, with a few other modifications the   
   game mechanics are basically the same.   
      
      
   Attributes and Skills   
      
      
   Characters possess a variety of traits,   
   describing their innate capabilities,   
   trained skills, and even how many   
   wounds they can suffer before dying.   
   Two types of trait are especially   
   important: Attributes and Skills. Each   
   of these traits is rated in dots (●),   
   ranging from 1 to 5, much like the   
   five-star system many critics use to   
   rate movies. For example, a character   
   might have a Dexterity Attribute of ●●●   
   (3 dots) and a Firearms Skill of ●● (2   
   dots).   
      
   Whenever your character performs an   
   action that calls for dice rolls, you   
   most often add the most appropriate   
   Attribute to the most appropriate   
   Skill. When your character shoots a   
   gun, you add his Dexterity to his   
   Firearms for a total number of dice   
   rolls.   
      
      
   Modifiers   
      
      
   Various conditions and circumstances   
   can greatly improve or hinder your   
   characters tasks, represented by   
   bonuses and/or penalties to your dice   
   rolls. On one hand, quality tools might   
   give him a bonus to repair a car. On   
   the other hand, a thunderstorm might   
   cause hazardous driving conditions,   
   levying a penalty on any driving rolls,   
   and a distant target is hard to hit   
   with a gun, represented by range   
   penalties.   
      
   For example, when shooting a target 30   
   yards away with his Glock 17 pistol,   
   your character suffers a -2 penalty.   
      
   The Storyteller determines whether or   
   not any circumstance imposes dice-roll   
   modifiers and how great those modifiers   
   are.   
      
      
   Dice Rolls   
      
      
   So, we can say that that the number of   
   times you get to roll the dice is   
   determined like so: Attribute + Skill +   
   modifiers (if any) In general, bonuses   
   are always added before penalties are   
   applied.   
      
      
   Rolling the Dice   
      
      
   Now that you know what to roll, lets   
   see how to read the results. Each roll   
   uses two dice, and a result of 7, or 11   
   is considered a success. You might have   
   more than one of these, in which case   
   you have multiple successes. The dice   
   don't just tell you whether your   
   character succeeds or fails it shows   
   you how well he does. If none of your   
   die rolls succeed, your roll fails.   
   Obviously, the more die rolls you have   
   the better your characters chances of   
   success, and the greater your odds of   
   gaining multiple successes.   
      
      
   Snake Eyes   
      
      
   If one of your rolls turn up snake   
   eyes, it cancels out one success. If   
   you roll snake eyes, and none of you   
   other rolls succeed it is a botch.   
      
      
   Second Tries   
      
      
   When a roll fails, you can try again   
   with a +1 difficulty modifier.   
      
      
   Fighting   
      
      
   Combat Fighting is a series of die   
   rolls, until someone surrenders or is   
   rendered unable to fight. The rolls   
   determines whether or not your   
   character hits and how much damage he   
   inflicts on his target. The number of   
   dice rolls is determined as above, but   
   a knife is more deadly than a fist, and   
   a gun is more deadly than all. Each   
   success gained on your attack roll   
   represents a point of damage inflicted   
   against the targets Health trait. If   
   the target has no more Health left, he   
   is unconscious or dead (depending on   
   the type of damage done).   
      
   There are two types of damage: bashing   
   (caused by blunt weapons such as fists   
   or clubs; these wounds heal quickly),   
   lethal (caused by sharp weapons such as   
   knives and bullets; these wounds heal   
   slowly). There are a number of   
   complications involved in combat, such   
   as a targets Defense Rolls, which are   
   subtracted from any attack successes   
   targeted against him.   
      
      
   Actions   
      
      
   The number of times you roll for an   
   action is made up of an attribute added   
   to an ability. Each of these are given   
   a rating from 1 to five:   
      
      
   1) Poor   
      
   2) Average   
      
   3) Good   
      
   4) Exceptional   
      
   5) World Class   
      
      
   That dice pool is then modified by one   
   of these levels:   
      
      
   +1) Easy   
      
   +0) Routine   
      
   -1) Moderate   
      
   -2) Difficult   
      
   -3) Challenging   
      
   -4) Hard   
      
   -5) Exceptional   
      
      
   The number of successes you have is   
   also given a rating from one to five:   
      
      
   1) Marginal   
      
   2) Moderate   
      
   3) Good   
      
   4) Excellent   
      
   5) Phenomenal   
      
      
   Traits   
      
      
   The attributes your character has are   
   listed here, they are divided into 3   
   categories:   
      
      
   Physical:   
      
      
   Strength - Physical Power   
      
   Dexterity - Athleticism   
      
   Stamina - Toughness   
      
      
   Social:   
      
      
   Charisma - Charm   
      
   Manipulation - Persuasion   
      
   Appearance - Attractiveness   
      
      
   Mental:   
      
      
   Perception - Insight To Surroundings   
      
   Intelligence - Pure IQ   
      
   Wits - Intuition & Instincts   
      
      
   Abilities are also divided into 3   
   categories:   
      
      
   Talents:   
      
      
   Alertness - Attention to Your   
   Surroundings   
      
   Athletics - A Talent With Sports   
      
   Awareness - You Can Sense The Presence   
   of Magic   
      
   Brawl - Skill With Unarmed Combat   
      
   Dodge - Avoiding Physical Danger   
      
   Expression - The Art of Communication   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)