paizo.com - Mage: The Awakening RPG

The Power to Remake the World

In an age long gone, mortals dethroned the gods and seized the heavens for their own. And for it, they were flung down into the world of clay, their minds clouded by ignorance. Only a bare few remember their birthright - the power of magic. If they cannot claim the heavens, they will make their own kingdoms on Earth.

A Storytelling Game of Modern Sorcery

• Provides everything you need to tell your own stories in the occult world of the Awakened, including details of the various orders and paths of magic, and many secrets of the World of Darkness. Requires the World of Darkness rulebook for play.
• Presents the most comprehensive and freeform magic system ever achieved in gaming, allowing characters to cast nearly any spell imaginable.
• Features Boston as a fully fleshed-out, ready-to-play setting.
• Features artwork by the acclaimed Michael Kaluta.

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Mage The Awakening is a weird beast, because it sort of is an improvement over its predecessor, Mage The Ascension, and yet, it isn't.

On the mechanics side of things, there are more explanations, more pre-made spells (or rotes), less room for wacky interpretations, so for people who like logic and structure, it's all good. For people who particularly liked the intuitive and creative magic of the Ascension, chances are you'll probably be left with a bitter taste in the mouth, at least at first, before you adapt to the new paradigm (seems appropriate for a Mage game, doesn't it?).

On the background side of things, the introduction of Atlantis is kind of cool, but many of the great things about the Ascension were taken out: Technocracy, War for the control of Reality, cool Traditions of Mages, and so on. The background of the Awakening is ... bland in comparison. Nice, but not "wow great". The Orders are the worst part of it, in my opinion: really bland, with no correlations in the occultism of the real world, simple adaptations of "vampire clans" with really sketchy political aims... I was waiting for much, MUCH more imaginative than that.

If you're into the NWoD to adapt its components to your own vision of things and change backgrounds, rules to suit what you envision for the WoD, you're going to be fine. It's an okay game. If however you're a huge fan of the Ascension and aren't prepare to modify stuff to suit your needs, you're in for a great disappointment, possibly at least.