Adam and Pooka discuss Algernon Blackwood’s fiction, his occult interests, his fascination with nature, and what his stories can teach Mage: The Ascension Storytellers about the sublime, supernatural uncertainty, spirits, Correspondence, Awakening, and psychological horror.Show Notes Mage 20 SRD Blackwood, the Golden Dawn, and psychical research Why “The Willows” remains influential weird fiction The sublime as a tool for Mage Correspondence and “A Victim of Higher Space” Magical instruments in “A Psychical Invasion” Hermetic magic in “Smith: An Episode in a Lodging House” Reincarnation and “Ancient Sorceries” Psychic vampirism and “The Transfer” Sleepers encountering the supernatural Playing Awakening instead of relegating it to backstory Using wilderness settings in Mage and “The Wendigo” Psychological horror without Nephandi or cosmic monsters Mystical isolation, obsession, and chantries Using Sphere perceptions to generate story hooks Why Blackwood may feel especially appropriate for Mage: The Ascension (Second Edition)A note on the 1910 wilderness novellaThe episode discusses Blackwood’s use of material drawn from Algonquin-speaking Indigenous cultures while distinguishing his Edwardian weird fiction from the living traditions he transformed.

Tomes of Magick: The Other Side of the CoinWe’re returning to Tomes of Magic in Translation with a Spanish-language introductory adventure for Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition.La Otra Cara de la Monera is an 18-page one-shot for two to five players that introduces the Traditions, Sphere magic, Resonance, Paradox, Avatars, and magical Focus through an investigation into a series of horrific supernatural crimes.The trail leads from an impossible murder scene to corrupted young mages, the Nephandus Mark Frazier, and an expanding metaphysical void that may eventually consume the surrounding neighborhood.We break down all seven scenes, examine the five pregenerated characters, and discuss what happened when the adventure was actually run for a table containing both new and experienced World of Darkness players.Show Notes Introducing new players to Mage Spanish-language M20 material Investigation using Sphere magic Resonance and Paradox Nephandi as introductory antagonists Magical temptation and corruption Focus, paradigm, and Avatars Collaborative Sphere effects Running the adventure as a one-shot What worked—and what could be changed—after actual playSpoiler warning: The adventure is discussed almost completely.

What happens when a Mothership scenario is brought into Mage: The Ascension?Adam examines Gradient Descent, a science-fiction horror scenario set aboard an abandoned android factory controlled by an AI called Monarch. The station contains valuable technology, discarded androids, copied human minds, unreliable allies, zero-gravity hazards, and an intelligence determined to make visitors question whether they were ever human.The episode considers how to use the Deep as an Iteration X construct, how Monarch might connect to the Matriarch or Threat Null, and how the scenario can work for Technocrats, Tradition mages, Disparates, acolytes, or extraordinary citizens.Show Notes Mothership - A sci-fi horror TTRPG with OSR-style, d100 rules and stress/panic mechanics, inspired by Alien and Event Horizon. Gradient Descent - A 64-page sci-fi horror megadungeon for Mothership, written by Luke Gearing, illustrated by Nick Tofani, published by Tuesday Knight Games (2020) Iteration X and Technocracy campaign hooks Correspondence, Life, Mind, hacking, and scenario balance Why the station works best outside the Umbra

The World of Darkness is as global a phenomenon outside the games as it is within. Many of the books have been translated by one licensee or another over the years, and a precious few have been created by and for the fans in other countries. In this installment of Tomes of Magick, Pooka cracks open the Mage chapter from 1997's Le Monde des Ténèbres: France, a French-only general WoD book that explores that country in the setting. What are the Verbena doing around the megaliths of Carnac? Who's pulling the strings of the then-nascent EU? Why is the Digital Web so weird in this part of the world? Listen in for these and other tantalizing questions.“Zoning boards are where the fight against the Technocracy must needs be fiercest and firmest.”Mage the Podcast social media linksWebsitehttp://magethepodcast.comPatreonhttps://bit.ly/MagePatreonBlueskyhttps://bsky.app/profile/magethepodcast.bsky.social Discordhttps://discord.gg/7rsy59Zz Mastodonhttps://dice.camp/@magethepodcast Pixelfedhttps://pixelfed.social/i/web/profile/792325079447125841 Threadshttps://www.threads.net/@magethepodcast

Adam and Heilong discuss the Sphere of Prime. Is it worth keeping?  What can it do for you?  How does it affect quintessence and other things?  Is Primal Utility a thing? Tune in and hear about new possibilities for bringing the Sphere into your games.Mage the Podcast social media linksWebsitehttp://magethepodcast.comPatreonhttps://bit.ly/MagePatreonBlueskyhttps://bsky.app/profile/magethepodcast.bsky.socialMastodonhttps://dice.camp/@magethepodcastThreadshttps://www.threads.net/@magethepodcastDiscordhttps://discord.gg/V6QNT8b8

We climb John H. Steele’s Tower of Babel, a Mage novel full of creators, characters, conspiracies, and reality getting mighty leaky around the edges. It’s metafiction, Technocracy trouble, dream-tower theology, and one poor writer learning that when your fiction talks back, maybe don’t answer after drinking.Show Notes Tower of Babel - Book man invents fascist action guy. Fascist action guy becomes real. Magic happens. Bureaucrats get spooky. Reality files a complaint. John H. Steele - wrote lots of White Wolf fiction, helped shape the Clan Novel Saga, and used the pen name Gherbod Fleming.

Adam swims with the sharks to bring you information and ideas to help you add the Rokea, the shape shifting sharks of the World of Darkness, to your games.  What are the Kahu hiding? What lies at the bottom of ocean trenches? Why don’t sharks floss? Tune in and find out.Show Notes Rokea - Immortal weresharks, ancient sea-born shapeshifters who form Slews, use electric “Sending,” heal in saltwater, and ally with Mokolé.

Adam and Pooka discuss Dark City (1998). Another movie that paints the World of Darkness on the screen for you to see. This one aligns so closely with Mage: The Ascension (First Edition) ; watch out for Paradox. Can this inspire you to portray Sphere effects in your game? Is it a good example of a mage’s Awakening? Can bald, creepy kids boost your game to the next level? Tune in and find out!Show NotesDark City (1998) - An amnesiac fugitive hunts his identity while evading police and reality-warping “Strangers.”The Paradox Wheel - An online resource for Mage fans by DrunkDez.

Adam talks about Emmy Allen’s Stygian Library, the library that doesn’t end. Will your players find the knowledge they’re looking for? Can they evade the mysterious librarians and their super computer? The sister volume to Gardens of Ynn is full of ideas that may find a place in your Mage games. Just watch out for the ink blots. They stain.Show Notes Stygian Library overview (DriveThruRPG) - A strange old place, part haunted mansion, part endless library tucked outside the world. Coins and Scrolls - OSR procedural dungeon design basics Mage: The Ascension (White Wolf overview) - At its heart, Mage is all about the long road to Ascension. Nt just for one soul, but for all of humanity. Trouble is, nobody’s pinned down exactly what that means or how you get there. Umbral Realms & High Umbra concepts - Folks also call it the Spirit World, the Shadow, or the Velvet Shadow, one of those places that’s right there beside our world, even if you can’t quite touch it. It runs alongside the everyday, separate but close, like a reflection in a dark window just waiting to be noticed. Procedural generation in RPGs (design concepts)- “Xandering” a dungeon means designing it like the old-school masters did (full of branching paths, secret routes, and meaningful choices) so players truly explore and shape their own adventure instead of being led down a straight, railroaded path. Ternary computing background (for Virtual Adept ideas) - A ternary (sometimes folks say trinary) computer is just a machine that counts a little different than most. Instead of using the usual on-or-off binary way of thinking, it works in threes. So where regular computers use bits, these use “trits,” giving them an extra option to work with each step of the way.

Pooka and Lee discuss Such Pain, the first Mage novel published in 1995.  Can novel-length stories help you envision the world of Mage?  Did the author hit it out of the park with this one?  Hear Pooka and Lee’s review of the book.  Their commentary highlights how the World of Darkness was a little different during Mage’s first edition.Mage the Podcast social media linksWebsitehttp://magethepodcast.comPatreonhttps://bit.ly/MagePatreonBlueskyhttps://bsky.app/profile/magethepodcast.bsky.socialMastodonhttps://dice.camp/@magethepodcastThreadshttps://www.threads.net/@magethepodcastDiscordhttps://discord.gg/7rsy59Zz