OOC Discussions

[ManWithDoor]

Standard OOC Thread. Feel free to discuss any topic you would like.

[ManWithDoor]

I'm much more used to being the GM of a weekly in-person game, so I'm sure there will be a learning curve with running a PbP game. However, I will try to be as responsive as possible to all you players. Partly I'm doing this because I think Mage is a fun time, but also for the enjoyment of having a great time collaborating telling this Story.

So if you need to get ahold of me, you've got a bunch of options. There's of course simply posting in these Forums, and the PM system. If you need to get ahold of me on a quicker timeline, or simply need to have more of a conversation with a faster back-and-forth than can be done on-site, you can also get ahold of me through Facebook or Skype (both ManWithDoor / Joshua Percy).

For at least the next year I'll be flying a lot for work, so there may be communication blackout periods that last a few hours. So if I don't immediately respond, please be patient as I may not be ignoring you, but may instead be dozing on a flight from San Francisco to Boston. Except you, Hayabusa. Always assume I'm ignoring you.

[TetNak]

I'm debating here. On one hand, I have no knowledge of Mage the Ascension. I do have Awakening, and I've actually read the entire source book from cover to cover many years ago. I found the crunch insane. It was never intuitive to me on how to cast rotes or what they could actually do. I found the theme lacking as well. That being said, I always/always/always want to support our non-d20 games.

Can you either point us to a webpage or give us a summary of the theme exactly. I remember all the Paradox stuff, Atlantis, etc, from Awakening, but I don't know what's germane. In any event, I'm okay with not playing as well, as letting others get in before myself is more important if you have enough players before you count me.

[ManWithDoor]

I'm more than happy to get a bunch of players interested. To be realistic, most games I've played have a pretty solid drop-out rate at the very beginning. While probably 4-5 players makes a stable long-term party, if we have more than that to begin I'm fine with it. Better than capping it at 4 players, then only have 2 stick it out for more than a couple months.

The Wikia is a good place to start. Just remember that your character wouldn't know everything you could research. "Knowledge Is Power, Guard It Well" isn't just true in 40K:
http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Mage:_The_Ascension

The TVTropes entry is pretty solid. the 1d4Chan entry is rather cynical, but I can't say it's untruthful.

[Hayabusa]

Except you, Hayabusa. Always assume I'm ignoring you.

Oh, I always do, mate. We have a long history of ignoring me.

[ManWithDoor]

So this has nothing to do with Character Creation, but I don't really know how to make Maps and other aides for the characters. I don't anticipate maps mattering all that much, but sometimes it's useful to visualize the field.

For my pen-and-paper RPGs I use "Roll20" (https://app.roll20.net/). Would that be a viable alternative for the group? I wouldn't even need to post an update to the Map here in the Forums, since you could just sign in and see what's going on. It also can store a bunch of information about characters and notes all in one place, rather than having to hunt through a Forum Thread. What do you think?

[Hayabusa]

Fine with me. (I love maps but I really suck at making them.) Whatever helps to get the game started and keeping it run is good with me really.

[Hermit]

I see no issue with using Roll20 either, so by all means go ahead. I'm expecting great things to come of this game.

[Scout89]

The problem is that Roll20's mobile support is not good and I'm usually check here on my phone. I could only see the map at home.
Now I have an alternative. I have developed a map tool for my campaigns. It is very crude. I don't even have a front end for it. But if you'd want to use it, I'd build one quickly. The advantage is that it generates a PNG so you can embed the map using a simple IMG tag.
You can check my 5e campaign to see how it works.

[OptimusReim]

I also check in from mobile usually but whatever works for you I can work with.