Chronicle and Character Creation

What kind of story do we want to tell, and what kind of characters do you want to play in it?

Where do we want to set the game? I live in San Antonio TX, and there's a lot of interesting things to work with here. Or we can set the game in another big American city, like New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, or New Orleans. Or somewhere out in the Midwest or the mountains, or somewhere not in the US (although you'll have to forgive me for not being as familiar).

I'll always be a bit biased in favor of Seattle, but honestly San Antonio is fine with me.

Whoa! Holy crap!

I did not expect an invite (so soon)! :P

Stoked to be here. Hi all.

RE: location of the campaign, I'm happy to defer to the ST completely in this regard. If you want to play on some place you're personally familiar with, because that will make your experience easier/better? Perfect. Do that. I will adapt.

RE: the kind of story... I will say, I personally find the Ascension War really hard to understand. Like, I understand the motivation and end games but ... what I don't understand is how a cabal of Mages really shapes that. :P

And granted, as a player, that's not necessarily my job to understand, it still just makes the whole Ascension War thing kind of opaque to me. Like, I don't prefer a campaign that is a bunch of Mages killing each other so... how do you wage a war for reality that doesn't discuss focus on killing.

Point that I'm trying to get around to is; I personally prefer a Mage story that is more about, like, discovery. Discovery of Magely secrets, personal/character discovery. Discovery of a city's secrets. Weird metaphysical stuff that Mage touches on. Whatever.

To speak in terms of the M20 "Types of Chronicle" section (so that we're all speaking the same language), I'd say I tend toward a mix of "Urban Fantasy" and "Occult" genres, and an "Orphan Chronicle" or a "Traditions Chronicle" where the Sects aren't being too burdensome on the PCs (i.e. aren't trying to force them into the Ascension War).

I'm down with a "Everyone fighting a common Enemy"-thing, so long as fighting the thing doesn't necessarily require fighting. i.e. I don't want to feel like I need to create a Mage that can wield raw magical power in combat. I like infiltration and investigation and maneuvering and, yes, some combat.

Does any of that make sense?

Those are my thoughts.

EDIT: ugh, bunch of typos, but also had to add some clarifications

For the location/setting i'd be fine with San-Antonio, though when you mentioned mountains i remembered seeing"Rage across Appalachia". Yee-haw, perhaps?

As for the story. If we are going with what we landed upon in the IC, the spy-thriller motif, then i would prefer some backdrop for it, either as part of the chronicle or at least the prelude. Let us get to know our future betrayers, make connections to them, to make the split hurt and be meaningful. I do agree with emc, the grand plots never felt as fulfilling in Mage, as smaller, more personal ones. So i would also prefer to abstain from cleansing Control of Nephandic influence or becoming Oracles.

For character concepts i'd be fine following everyone's lead in theme. If it's fairly free, then i was ruminating on one idea for a while. A more soft spoken, quiet man, content with his place in life, follows his office crush to a series of meetings of a strange new-age group, ultimately joining the cult. The last thing he remembers is some "ultimate ritual" being performed. Next he is awake in empty room, everyone's gone and he is covered in gore, blood and viscerae. Something evil happened, and this newfound power of his surely stems from whatever happened. He is frankly scared of using his abilities and is suspicious of other's. Can fit a few different Traditions, but i initially imagined him a hermetic.

I'll go read through what was discussed in that thread...

Hello all! Glad to be here!

Public service announcement; the well-known Drive-Through site has a lot of M20 material on discount at present, if anyone is lacking anything. This being my first M20 game, I’ve picked up a selection.

I support the Storyguide using a setting they find familiar enough to reduce the burden. Being from across the pond, I will likely struggle with any specific geographical references, but that’s probably bound to happen to somebody. Last time, I dealt with it by building a mage who was a foreigner and hence understandably unfamiliar with their surroundings. If I’m truly stuck for a good concept I might even re-use that build, but I’d rather try something different.

Okay, so are we rolling with Traditions centered chronicle? And if so, which one everyone's feeling?

Another question is for ST - how much/little are we touching on technomagic? Would Etheretrites and VA's have stuff to do, or are leaning more on a mysticism/occultism angle?

So I'm hearing everyone's fine with San Antonio.

As far as the story, I want to make sure everyone's happy with it. I had originally envisioned something epic about exposing Nephandic influence in both the Technocracy and the Traditions, perhaps uniting both sides against a common enemy. But I'm hearing folks want something more grounded and down to earth, so maybe we should abandon the Nephandi idea and instead focus on awakenings and growth.

As for technomagic, I want you to play what you're going to enjoy. If you play a technomage I'll make stuff for you to do.

Hi everyone! I like what this is shaping up to be! I haven't had a chance to brainstorm character concepts but I will today and post here soon!

If the "epic" you describe above, JM, is more or less consistent with the "spy thriller" kind of discussed in the recruitment thread (plenty of venues for mixed styles of gameplay), I'm good with all that. Especially if that's what you've already been forming thoughts around. I don't want to make you redo work you've already done.

I have troubles, personally, attaching to the grand scale meta plot of Mage, but I can push through that.

I definitely understand/acknowledge that creating situations that bring 5 Mages in on things with gameplay requires a pretty epic scenario, so.... ultimately, I'm happy to go with whatever the ST wants to do.

There doesn’t have to be a grand epic plot for there to be Nephandi at the back of it behind a patsy or two.
Epic events can be hard to handle, but especially so for starting mages (which I assume we’ll be building as standard). If the game lasts long enough for the characters to grow into Masters, such plot lines could be worthy of them. If there is a potentially far-reaching plot afoot, what form might it take at street level?
As to concept, I’m hatching an Etherite interested in sound and vibration; I can think of rationales for several spheres at varying levels and I want to spend some time mining the Book of Shadows for ideas for suitable merits and flaws. The hardest part I often find is whittling down the Backgrounds I want to a sane level, and M20 has more than previous editions, and Avatar is now expected rather than exceptional.

We will be starting with the standard character build, so yes, beginning level characters.

What themes and ideas do you all want to explore in this chronicle?

I'm truly open. My experience with Mages (outside of using them as NPCs in other games) is limited.

I personally still think that the spy-thriller/going rogue is a good setup - we can begin with a short awakening prelude and then start with our new life at the chantry, where we will get to meet and form connections with each other and the higher ups (easy introduction), learn about our particular Tradition and settle into our focuses/paradigms. Once stuff hits the fan we can do the thriller, horror, drama, action., you name it.

Also if you're interested in Nephandi in particular feel free to include them. It's not like they HAVE to be some grand scheming overlords with otherwordly masters. Subtlety is their main weapon after all.

I also don't have strong interest in our PC's (or mine at least) becoming Masters/Oracles/Ascending. Keeping it (or starting at very least) at the low power scale and making advancements meaningful feels much more thrilling and rewarding.

All right. Shall we do individual preludes for everyone and then start off in a chantry?

I've created my character. I won't post it here in case we want to save that for a different thread. In summary he is a Cult of Ecstasy mage, a backpacking Tai Chi practitioner with a happy go lucky air about him; a Himbo if you will. I've taken 3 dots of Life and 3 dots of Mind.

Since the Chantry is going to already exist, and we’re likely to lose access to it in time, is it reasonable or safe to ignore the Chantry background?
Some of the others, like Library, could easily represent personal or at least portable resources, but Chantry is… awkward.

@ThetaSigma Please give me a book and page number to reference and I'll look at the background.

Core book, p.308-9.

I think we can assume for storytelling purposes that you all start as members of a Chantry without spending points on the background. You will be losing the benefits sooner rather than later.

I don't see a good template for Maqe characters anywhere here. We have a couple options. We can use the World of Darkness sheet and just add things like Spheres and Arete in the notes section. Or we can forgo building characters here on GP and you can create them using some other website or software and post them in a thread I create for this purpose. What do you all think?

I like the idea of building them outside of gamersplane (already did) and then also inputting it in gamersplane for quick reference.

I’m all for that as it will give me a place where they’re consolidated for me to reference.

Just to let you know, the ability names don't match up in the gamersplane WOD sheet

I know. I'm not good at coding or I would create a template we could use. Other than that I'm not sure what to do. We could just use a blank custom sheet and type everything in notes style. You won't have anything built into the die roller that way though.

It's all good! I just put the skills not listed in the Merits field since I don't have any Merits, and the Arete and Spheres in the Weapons field since I don't have any weapons, and my Paradigms, Practices, and Tools in the Notes field.... since I don't have any notes?

It looks like there isn't a WOD die roller. Unless that is something you need to enable?

Well that's great about the die roller. I'll look into it.

Would you submit your character to the game?

There are some V20 sheets. With a little work I can probably adapt one to M20.

That would be wonderful.

Gimme till the end of the weekend, maybe Monday.

Cool. Thank you very much.

Alright. Well, I'm no character sheet coding professional, but hopefully this will serve our needs.

Been a bit busy this week, so just had opportunity to check in. So to recap:

Setting is San Antonio, US, present time .

Theme/mood - spy-thriller (beginning with it at least).

Characters:

Theta - "musician" Etheretrite

ems - HG?

Skair - a tai chi ecstatic (reminds me of that guy who had a "pay it forward" tai chi youtube channel, massaging random people on the street)

Ma - ??

me - a shook corporate drone?

Also, how do you want to handle the..uuhh.. backstories, i guess you could say. Do we post info about characters here or do we roll similarly to how your V5 chronicle went - base stuff here, exploring it in the prelude/game itself?

Edit: also, gj on the sheet. I've done revised one, but didn't manage to fix the M20, so it's great that it is available!

For your characters I’d like to see brief synopsis of their backstory and personality here. I’d like to do preludes for everyone and explore things further there.

Hey, maybe a funny question but can we take Backgrounds over 5 dots? (It says it's optional, figured I'd at least ask.)

I've never actually made a char sheet (that is not an npc sheet) on GP. Is the only way to fill it editing the sheet's code? Filled the one Ma made here, clicked on "create character" but none of the editing stuck. Similarly, when i click on a pencil icon to edit the sheet and then try to affect some changes on the "preview" page by adding stuff and pressing "save" - nothing is actually saved.

Click "Create Character" first. It will have you name the sheet, then it loads the sheet you can properly fill out.

Most of it has fields you can click on to just fill in, although some things (like Merits and Flaws) you have to go into the code and fill in that way.

Hey all. As you submit your characters we’ll start the preludes.

I think we should stick with 5 dots.

Sorry, I am generally not able to be active on weekends, so I'm catching up on what's been discussed here...

No worries. I’m excited about this game, but I don’t expect a fast posting pace. 3 or so posts a week is good.

Five dot limit. Heard.
Removes the private jet from the online cart.

lol

Okay, i've redone and submitted the sheet. Will write the summary later today. I've also pulled both Nature/Demeanor and one Merit from Revised core, hope that's fine. Will post screens of them later just in case.

Sounds good.

Summary.

Description: John (Dorgraff) is his mid to late 30s; Caucasian; slightly taller than average height; slim, bony build; starting to get that receding hairline a little bit.

Background. Originally from midwest, John grew up in a regular, full family, with multiple siblings (3 sisters). It was a bit overwhelming at times, being a quieter one in a family of rambunctious loudmouths, but it was a happy childhood. Not wanting to get stuck in the place he grew up in, he moved all the way to Texas for college, settling at UTSA. After finishing with a degree in Economics, he joined the workforce, entering Credicorps as a low-level office drone. He managed to get promoted to a mid-tier manager, but never advanced further (nor had any interest in it).

Personality. John is a quiet, calm and collected type. He listens more than he talks. He offers his opinion when he feels it is needed, but otherwise follows the status quo, unwilling and uninterested in challenging it. In group settings he mostly falls behind the most charismatic leader, unless there is someone with more sound ideas. What he really enjoys are the quiet times, when the time seems to stay still. His awakening really traumatized him and since then he became much more gloomy and contemplative. The guilt and fear are looming over, affecting both his sleep and waking hours.

Awakening basics. Invited by his cubicle-mate, a girl by the name of Latisha, on whom he had a pretty strong crush on, to a meeting of group with dubious name "HAPPINESS! NOW!", he inadvertently joined a small new-age cult. It began pretty simple, but soon the rituals and ideas performed by their leader became more and more involved. He never believed in the whole occult nonsense, but he didn't want to leave Tish alone there (and, thought loath to admit it, simply wanted to spend time with her). The final ritual is when his awakening happened. The memories of the event are hazy, but what he does remember vividly is being covered head-to-toe in guts, blood and god knows what else. He seemed to be the only survivor of this event.

Goals and dreams. He truly believes that whatever "awoke" him has left its mark on him. It's like this invisible slimy hand that caresses his back that he can't shake. He tries to learn more about magic in hopes to get rid of the feeling. The idea that there was no monster or magic at the ritual and that it was him who killed everyone in the cult group due to violent awakening is incomprehensible. He believes that there is an unseen force, an unspeakable horror who brought him over to this world of supernatural, because he needs it to be true, otherwise he is simply a murderer, one who lost control and killed a girl he really liked.

Habits and hobbies. He took to smoking again after his awakening. He is pretty thorough and keeps a bunch of notes, both handwritten and digital. For hobbies, he enjoys reading, music and most of all walk in nature, especially near water, which always had a calm effect on him. He even wanted to get a boating license and a boat, but was always putting it off.

Sheet explanations.
His Wonder, the lighter, is a gift from one of his hermetic teachers.
The Demesne realm is also something that came from his hermetic teacher - as his sleep became worse and worse, plagued by nightmares each night and affecting his studies, he was advised to try and take control of his dreams. Little by little this small corner of his psyche grew, becoming his own dream-fortress. It looks like the office that the "HAPPINESS! NOW!" rented and inside are all the people who were in the group with him, acting like his confidants and advisors.
Natural Channel Merit is something others noted, which he completely attributes to his awakening beliefs. "Touched by the Other to be a gate of some kind".
Similarly with his heightened sensitivity to supernatural phenomenons (Awareness 5) - "it is the taint of the Abyss that lets me feel it all so keenly".

I think this is all. Feel free to ask any question, or provide corrections.

@JoshuaMabry I'm leaning toward a "modern Mesoamerican" member of the Celestial Chorus. But I want to clear the concept with you first, as the character would not be a very standard member of that Tradition. As indicated, the character would view the Divine not through a/the "One", but through the Mesoamerican pantheon.

Not a Los Sangrientos, or even Itz'at or anything.

But, the character would be a part of a Sect of the CC, that is polytheist, or that accepts polytheists (the Monists?), but doesn't subscribe to the usual Christian-vibes of the CC.

Short of that, I'm wondering if an Orphan would work? Since we're all starting as a member of a Chantry, doesn't seem like a great fit, but wanted to ask.

Maybe my problem with Ascension War-focused chronicles is I really just don't like the Traditions that much :P

We can work an orphan into the chronicle if that’s what you’d prefer. I’m interested in your Choirister though. Could be fun.

I hope to have the first preludes for John and Ezekiel started in the next twenty four hours.

Would it bother anyone, if I were to play a character of an ethnicity/culture that I, as a player/IRL person, am not of?

My desire and intent is to treat the character and culture with respect ofc (specifically, my interest for the character is in the ancient Mesoamerican theology), but as a person who doesn't have the lived-experience of a person of color, I may get things wrong about that person or experience. And so wanted to provide everyone the opportunity to say no.

I'm asking essentially as a Safety Tool (Lines, Veils, X-cards) so no hard feelings if the answer is "Please don't."

The character/concept would heavily pull from themes (for Paradigm, Instruments, and Practices, etc) and potentially names (of deities) of ancient Mesoamerican religion the likes of which I can discern by googling - which is to say, I do not and have never practiced this religion and have no first-hand knowledge or understanding of it - and would be basically entirely using it thematically, but with the desire to venerate it in our shared fiction that we'll be creating.

Apologies for delay, my etherite concept is shifting a bit as I (re)learn bits of the system.
Have I got it right that a Wonder/ Item has to be bought both as a background *and* as an item with freebie points? The example ones seem to have both costs…

Just to keep those involved abreast, my character is getting pieced together but it's a bit slow since I'm trying to cross check information so what I submit makes some sort of comprehensive sense and doesn't have any glaring oversights. (Which, it still will, but probably fewer.)

I ended up putting most of the weekend into the sheet, which put my character off. My week has been busier than originally planned. It was supposed to be next week that was busy, but it got moved up a week (money talks). Still, I should have my character sorted shortly in spite of the upswing in work.

I'm planning for a Syndicate member of the Union. (I was thinking he could be "on loan" as a sort of liason and an attempt to foster good will if we need a reason for an eclectic group.) Not a lot of experience as a Mage (very recently awakened), but a solid head for business and a keen mind for invention.

@emsquared I’m fine with your choice as long as you do your best to avoid stereotypes and be respectful.

@MaJunior You can run a technocrat if you want, I’ll find a way to work them in.

I also find myself a little behind this week. I’ll get preludes started as soon as I’m able.

@ThetaSigma I think that’s correct, but I’ll double check soon.

Appreciate the support GM, but after sleeping on it, I think I will back down from the idea and character concept.

Part of my motivation for the concept was to try to kind of just bring some southwest flavor to the chronicle.

But upon reflection I don't think that it's my place to do that in that way.

So instead, I think I will be reverting to the aforementioned Orphan concept, if that's ok?

Basically a "crustpunk" kind of "urban mystic" or shaman-esque mage.

I had never really looked at Choristers before, being an atheist IRL :P, but after reading up on them for my previous concept, I can probably actually spin this Orphan as Celestial Chorus if that helps fit the character into the chronicle/Chantry more easily?

@emsquared You can play a Choiristor (sp?) if you want to. I can make an Orphan work as well.

Ok then, I think I prefer the concept as an Orphan. Hurdy Gurdy, or "H.G." or "Hurdy" or "Wells" as his friends who are into brevity may call him... is the person you avoid on the street. The person you try hard to not even look at, but without looking like you're not trying to look at him.

Cuz he looks like the person that... has made some bad choices in their life (shall we start with the facial tattoos and facial piercings and hand tattoos?) and... anyway, by the looks of him, you just don't know what he's gonna do - and asking you for change looks like it could be the least of it.

He's a crusty, gutter-punk. Layers of loose, ragged, filthy clothing. More than one scarf... or at least one scarf made of multiple different fabrics... Sides of his head shaved. Short, bowl-cut bangs, with a long mullet-like cascade of unwashed hair down past his shoulders.

Just about everything about him is a transgression against societal norms.

Especially the fact that he's happy. What an asshole.

Word is that he grew up in Austin (yup, that makes sense). Happy kid, happy family, some natural athleticism, smart kid, did fine in school (up until he dropped out). Just wasn't into "that kind of life". You know the one: Get a job, so that you can buy a car to get to the job, and buy a house to sleep in while you're not at the job, so that you can work at the job until you're too old to work, and hope that in the meantime you saved up enough money at that job, to not die too quickly?

Pass.

So anyway he came of age on the streets. Doesn't have many people in his life from his past anymore. And those that are in it now are mostly transient figures. Maybe they're just on the Street for a short while. Maybe they're just some trustafarian that gets scared off when things get too real. Maybe they die.

And he's okay with all that. It's not like he doesn't like people, or doesn't make connections - he does. But... ALL of this is passing, he can SEE it. Everything. But especially people. And so he prefers to live in the Now.

He Awakened shortly after he moved out onto the Street for good (maybe 6 or 7 years ago now) - right before he almost died for the first time. What a trip that was... But despite almost dying several other times since, he's learned to survive. He's got his wits about him, streetwise, sneaky - you know; real survival skills. Learned some coding stuff even a few years back, through a youth training program after getting arrested (those non-profits, trying to get kids off the streets - Bless their hearts!). He learned a thing or two about his rights, also through a streets outreach program put on by some non-profit.

Anyway, he doesn't have a lot of money, but what he needs... the universe just kind of seems to provide.

He loves the city. He loves the streets.
Character sheet submitted.

A question for everyone. Right now this game is public, which I believe is the default here. Do we want to keep it public or change it to private?

Personally? I'm fine either way.

However... I will say that if we think it may get into some touchy subject matter we should probably make it private though, to be safe. But -- if we know we're keeping it PG-13, it's probably fine to leave it public.

Just my two cents.

Agreed on every point. I think public games benefit the community, but a game that crosses common boundaries should be private.

Also, I had forgotten to increase my Arete, so had to go and make an edit to my character sheet, if you had already looked at it JM?

I know some STs consider Arete an XP tax, and some don't... @JoshuaMabry do you have any "special" feelings or house rules around Arete?

@emsquared I’m still getting back into the rules set. It’s been a while since I’ve run Mage. Like… twenty five years or so. As of right now no house rules or specific thoughts on Arete.

Fair enough.

I'm also returning to Mage for the first time in about 7 or 8 years, and the last time I played it, it was actually the "Sorcerer's Crusade" version, which is essentially oWoD2E but... less Paradox :P

So also absorbing changes/new information (not that Arete is one of them).

I'm curious as to what you mean by that.

---

As for private vs public, i say we leave it public and if something, mm, "nephandic" comes up, then we close it down.

---

So in the end we seemingly ended up with 3 Traditions mages, 1 Orphan and 1 Technocrat. I think including HG would be simple, but how do we plan on incorporating Ma's syndi investor? Will it be like 2 parallel stories - one at the Chantry, the other at Construct, which will merge, putting all of our guys together? Or is the character a Syndicate turncoat?
Granted my knowledge of Mage's metaplot and lore is much worse than Vampire, from what i remember and know the Traditions and the Union are, at best, rivals, while most of the time outright enemies, what with all the "reality deviants", "pogroms" and "social conditioning". So i'm wondering how that will work. I'm struggling a bit to understand why would Technocrats send a liason to either a deviant's Chantry or to some group of rogue Traditionalists.

My main worry is that the 4 of us will be hanging out at the Chantry, getting lots of scenes and banter between us, while our future Syndicate comrade would be locked in his own story for the time being.

I think I can find a way to tie everyone together fairly quickly. If nothing else I’ll run separate threads until I can get all of you in the same location. It shouldn’t take too long.

Fair enough. I interested to see how it all plays out, maybe pick some ideas for later use myself.

Against my better judgement (I sense this is just one of those ways in which you and I differ, in our philosophy of the game, reversia), I'll bite.

By that, I mean: I've literally never once seen a starting Mage character that didn't have at least one Sphere at 2 dots.

And that makes sense right, because a "1 dot Mage" is... imo ... not going to be very fun or even feel Mage-like to play (you can't affect reality at 1 dot).

So anyway, that "fact" (I know, it's not a fact, and is just my personal POV) is reflected in my previous statement, which is true based on my personal Mage gaming experience - I've never seen someone create a starting Mage that didn't have at least 2 dots in one or more Spheres.

Did anyone here build their Mage with 6 Spheres w/ 1 dot in each? It'd be pretty funny if I was immediately shown to have an incorrect premise...

But anyway, given that you cannot begin with a Sphere ranked higher than your Arete?

Perhaps one can then see how it is silly to start the characters with just 1 Arete?

You know (as ST) that literally everyone will need at least 2 (because, again, "no one" - yes, I'm sure there's someone - builds a Mage with 1 dot in 6 Spheres).

So then, as ST, you know that every single character will have to pay 4 XP/Freebies, during character creation to purchase that Arete-which-everyone-needs.

So why have them do that, when they could have been using those XP/Freebies for something else which would make the characters more different from each other?

Why charge everyone XP/Freebies to be the same (for the most basic "privilege" of having 2 dots in a Sphere)?

Hence: XP tax.

It's something that everyone pays for, it's a pass-through mechanic that literally everyone has to pass through to be able to have their charger even do what the game promises you're supposed to be able to do - at character creation, for no good reason, particularly during character creation because it just decrease everyone's ability to do more interesting things at character creation.

The principle continues similarly into game play though.

In response to that pass-through/XP tax dynamic, I have seen STs:

1. start all PCs at Arete 2
2. start all PCs at Arete 3 (when it was realized that every single player built their character with a 3 door Sphere)
3. I've seen STs get rid of XP AND Seekings in play, completely, and just have everyone's Arete go up at "Milestones" in the narrative (essentially treating the cabal's "adventures" as Seekings)
4. I've seen STs increase the Arete it requires to forego elements of Focus because they raised starting Arete

Lots of ways to approach Arete, including "by the book" ofc, just depends on what the group wants out of the experience.

But Arete is definitely a weird XP tax built into character creation.

And in a 5 Mage cabal? Where we can "afford" to specialize a bit? I'd be curious if any of us didn't build our Mage with a 3 dot Sphere?

Are we all paying 8 Freebies to be the same? If so, that's just a little silly imo :)

Maybe one (or all) of you know @MaJunior's character outside of your life in the Chantry, and he's someone you can turn to when shit starts going down.

Posted some snippets to start off the preludes for John, Ezekial and Hurdy. I'm trying to leave as much of the plot of them up to you all. I'll roll with what you give me there.

Well.. You have now. :3 Enter my John the Hermetic Corporate guy, with Arete 1.

I do agree that our mindsets are pretty different. While i get the desire to start doing "real magic" from the start, it always felt less interesting to me. So i, for one, would almost never raise my starting Arete above 1. Why? Because then i will miss out on TWO whole Seekings! And those are one of the best, juiciest roleplaying opportunities for Mages!

I also feel like starting at Arete 1 is actually quite lore fitting - after your Awakening your perception changes, you see the world differently, for what it really is. You feel it. And having your mind "opened" across 6 different parallels/spheres feels much more true to the idea, than having only a couple. It also is good for beginning characters, as you learn your magic and solidify your beliefs, that fuel it, in play, thus making for an overall more solid character-concept in general and magic set/paradigm in particular.

And it's not like Arete 1 mage cannot affect change. He simply uses his enlightened perception and then affect the things he sees regularly. A surgeon would use Life 1 to check for the patient's health, than perform surgery better. A gambler would see probabilities of winning with Entropy 1 and then bet his money. Is that not magical? Is that not mystical? Feels pretty magey to me.

I don't if i'm in the minority on this, but i feel like starting from the very bottom offers much more advantages in general than getting a headstart.

I had a feeling... lol

Here we go!
That's actually fun to have different types of Mages in play. Guess we'll see how it works on both side. Who knows, maybe i'll convert you all to my heretical views by the time we're done. :3

Having personal connection might not be a bad idea. For my guy, college/Economics degree can be a potential link. Went to the same college or met at some corporate conference/get-along. Hell, maybe Syndicate own the corp i work (though i actually picked one from the list of Pentex's sub-divisions from wiki, just for fun) for and the guy was my boss or something.

Quick Q: Are we going to be able to raise backgrounds with XP?

Obviously not all Backgrounds would be available to raise after creation, but I decided I'd ask. It might help with some of my indecision. Lol

@MaJunior We can certainly negotiate that.

Interesting. Like what BGs?

I've certainly seen things like Status or Allies or Contacts, or even Resources, go up through roleplay and narrative developments in the story.

Raising then with XP in play is a new and intriguing option to me.

>raising Backgrounds with XP

But why? If you're willing to buy it with Xp, then you're clearly interested in it. Wouldn't it be more fun to roleplay for it? Certainly would feel more satisfying to earn them in play instead of through XP, no?

Sounds good!

Good to know, I've never once played an NWoD product.

I like it, so long as you're not required to spend XP on it, to gain a narrative benefit.
Oh you're preaching to the choir, here.

This is the way I've always played it, and seen it played.

Particularly with these 2 qualifiers:
EDIT: and vice versa you can't get rid of a Flaw that you took XP (Freebies) for, without paying it off with XP.

RE:
Again, agreed!

I don't see that as a bad thing though. The ST should be able to "take away", or another way to put it: you should be able to lose something if you mess up big enough, no? If your grasp upon it is "only" narrative?

I wasn't joking when I said it's an interesting prospect to me.

Few Backgrounds that I could earn in the narrative would be important enough to me to spend XP on to protect them. But they do exist...

You were. The trait wasn't considered improved until you spent the XP. Didn't matter how many nights you spent at the gym, your Strength wasn't better until you spent the XP... just like it didn't matter how much stock trading you did, you didn't have more Resources until you spent the XP.
If it's just earned through narrative, sure. That said, I've seen some rather malicious STs, so... the "XP insurance" makes sense. 🤷‍♂️
Why would you think there's no roleplay involved? You still have to justify raising the background, the same way you justify raising any other trait through experience. You generally don't get to improve your Strength if you never hit the gym, just because you have some extra XP to spend. Flipside: No matter how much you roleplay hitting the gym, you generally don't just get a free dot of Strength without paying for it.

Why would Backgrounds be any different?

That's.. weird to me. If you still need to do the rp legwork to get the Backgrounds, then why even spend the xp? The idea that fluctuations in Backgrounds is some sort of potential ST powertrip also feel odd. Backgrounds are simply narrative elements given mechanical form. Were i a player whose Background was about to go down or be removed (whether through my own roleplaying or just the story moving in that direction) i'd welcome it and would mark it off myself even if i'm not asked to. Nor would i ask for the XP back, because i've already spent them. Actually the same would apply even if it wasn't a Background, but, say, Ability or an Attribute.

Kind of a baffling and a bit worrying take for me. As an ST, do i now have to worry about people feeling like i'm screwing them over if one of their Retainers dies or a mechanical penalty arises from narrative events? That's just wild.

I feel, personally, that it might be a mindset from more crunch-heavy games, which might not be as applicable everywhere (as in WoD).

Or maybe i'm just the odd one out. It is certainly interesting reading different views and ideas and comparing the takes.

Just to clarify - i don't have a problem with people raising starting Arete or using Xp for Backgrounds, i just personally don't really get it.

Because Backgrounds are narratively earned. So i assumed that using using the XP to raise them was meant as a substitute for gaining them narratively.

See now you've lost me though.

Can't say I've ever once been denied raising a Attribute or Ability with XP because I didn't RP out an analogous narrative venture.

That's what you're doing in the story to earn XP, that's in the background in the moments we don't zoom in on, that's... not required because they have assigned XP values.

Backgrounds don't have that.

Hence I think our confusion.

If I may weigh in, I think some backgrounds can be earned through role-play and storytelling. Without spending xp.

WoD has always been kind of weird in this regard.

It has a foot in both worlds.

It's core mechanic is very narrative facing, and "progressive" or lite-ish.

But it's combat mechanics are very, very traditional and as crunchy as nearly any "crunch heavy" game you can think of.

It's combat resolution "flow"/rolls are broadly the same as Shadownrun's, for example!

So don't pretend like this system is a pure-white bastion of rules-lite-ness.

It's not.

🤣

I think we were talking about nWoD with that bit.

Or at least that's what I was asking about.

I actually agree with needing to rp any increases in stats. I'd raise an eyebrow at least as an ST, if a player barely uses, say, Strength, and then decides to raise it with XP without an explanation. You don't just get stronger. Or smarter. Gotta put some work in, either actively using it or passively during downtimes.
I think the reason why the combat mechanics are so out-of-whack is because it is a narrative-first game, emphasizing social aspects over tactical.

Wait... isn't this you bro? ;)

Every single trait in the game is earned narratively.

You still spend XP.
Honestly? Yes.
(Just about everyone I've ever played with would feel that way -- the only question is if they'd say anything.)
No disrespect intended, but I think you might be. 😂
You are the only person I've talked to in my 20+ years of playing O/NWoD with your particular outlook. Not a bad thing, just rare from my experience.l
Ok. Why spend the XP to raise your Strength? Or Intelligence? Or Firearms? Or Science? Or Sphere/Discipline/Gift? What do you see as the difference?
So is every other trait in the game. Again, what do you see as the difference?
Unfortunately, not as uncommon as you might hope. Like I mentioned, I've seen some rather malicious STs
It's a mindset that player characters should be treated as equal. It isn't about how much crunch a game has, it has to do with players having the same opportunities.

If every player at the table was getting 5xp a session but you only got 2, would you be ok with that? The idea is, whether it happens premptively or retroactively doesn't really matter. End of the day, I feel most people would argue they're effectively the same end result.

Please don't think I'm being confrontational or argumentative. That is honestly not my intent. We just have very different perspectives so I'm elaborating from "my side," but I don't want it to feel like an attack or anything. I know sometimes nuance is lost via written word (texts, forums, etc.) and I don't want you to think I'm trying to be a dick.

To avoid loss in translation...

I am largely just trying to "take the piss" as they say. With the push back and forths.

But I truly wouldn't be happy if an ST killed a Retainer and didn't, very soon afterward, give me/allow me to find or pursue a narrative lead on how to replace them with an equivalent NPC. (And, yea, I think just about anyone I've ever played with would feel similarly.)

EDIT: I state the above just to reflect my general understanding of the "XP as plot armor"-thing. Most definitely not as any sort of "warning" or anything to our ST (which in retrospect I felt like there was a danger of that interpretation). I think we're all just WoD wonks who have too much time to post at the moment :P

But I think I've actually been pretty lucky tho with STs over the years.

None that I would consider malicious.

Certainly one tho that had some reeeeal Mary Sue NPCs that they would NOT tolerate the PCs messing with... which wasn't fun. But not outright malicious.

Same here really. I just found the differences in outlook interesting.

When you brought up the XP, i thought it was presented as an alternative to rp'ing. So instead of spending time in scenes building bonds with your future Retainer, you'd cut that out with a short explanation and spend the XP, like "i dominate this security guard to come to my flat, feed him my blood. now he is my retainer." Or saying "my previous investment paid off, huge profits, buying another point of Resources". Which honestly would be fine as well. It is a game after all, so if that sort system is more enjoyable - why not?

The difference with Backgrounds is that i see them more as notes than mechanical elements. I imagine the devs added the mechanical aspects for them so it wouldn't feel like a "waste" of Freebies at the creation stage. Spending freebies on Abilities or Attributes bolsters their respective dice pools, while Backgrounds, without their mechanical elements, would be just markers and notes of what your character already has.

Guess i now have to figure out how explain my particular sensibilities if/when i start another game. Last thing i want are players being annoyed or resentful, while i'm none the wiser.

Sorry to have gone quiet; preparing to go on holiday with family always takes a lot of time, and I will struggle to free up much time for at least the week I’m away.

Got sick myself this week, been mostly resting. Thankfully doesn't seem to be anything serious. Hopefully we'll switch to the second gear semi-soon, as everyone becomes less busy. I quite enjoyed the first few back-and-forth prelude posts.

Sheet is submitted, really just working out the backstory at this point.

Quick Q: Are there any (Technocracy-related) businesses in the area you want to say James was hired on at? For story purposes, I mean.

If I have to choose one just to have one, I'll pick Sunburst Enterprises International (which is a Pentex subsidiary), but I figured this was a good time to see if I could help our ST out at all.

Well, i actually picked a Pentex subsidiary for John as well, Credicorps (wiki says - Credicorps, a credit management firm that Rushing uses to get dirt on others.). So maybe i switch to Sunburst or you to Credicorps to build a possible connection? Or make some connection between the two companies - one did some contract work for the other and there was an intersect that way. Or do we abandon the prior knowledge all together?

Hey folks. Sorry I wasn’t active over the weekend. I’ll have some more posts up in the preludes in the next twenty four hours or so.

No worries! Weekends are weekends. I know for me sometimes I'm more busy than I am during my work week, and sometimes I don't leave the house till Monday morning.

Also on the connections front - is HG actually part of the chantry? Or more like a contractor or hang-around, slowly being pulled into one particular Tradition or to Traditions side in general?

Okay, back from holiday, dog tired, and free of bad sleep, family dramas, and janky hotel Wi-Fi that wouldn’t let me download sourcebooks. Thrashing out freebie points before submission.
Is there a preference for character backstory to go in this thread, or in a PM?

Please post your character backstory in this thread.

I’ve had some personal issues come up that are taking a lot of my time. I’ll do my best to post more of the preludes later today.

Backstory:
Dominic James started out as a Physics student with an interest in electronic music and computers.
He liked electric guitars but found them too musically limiting; liked synthesisers and electronic keyboards, but found them too static. His practical work to draw on and transcend both led him into electronics and acoustics despite his tutors trying to get him to focus on a single area for his qualifying project. Eventually he became fascinated with applications for resonance and harmonics in sonographic imaging and was passed a copy of the Kitab-al-Alcir after a confusing conversation about "etheric resonances".
Meanwhile, on his own time Dominic experimented with getting computers to play different instruments in a ’band’ and started creating his own music videos using computer graphics and sprites to represent the ‘band members’ and protect his identity. Once the videos became successful, he found he had a few wannabes and imitators, mostly appreciative but less talented, and one significant attempt to take over his online identity. Dealing with this (criminals? Technocrats? ST discussion?) drew attention from two of his online followers, who turned out to be an Ecstatic and a Virtual Adept with similar interests, with whose help he refined his output, his control over his online identity, and the commercial success that resulted (Contacts). Their combined efforts did quite well, gaining some supernatural recognition and an invitation to a battle of the bands in the Digital Web, in a sector formatted as a faerie court.
After the musical contest came a chaotic after party during which he was somehow bound to never sing or lose his voice for a day (paranormal prohibition 3). His memory is vague about this episode, but the geas seems to work consistently.
Sensing the likely disapproval of his supervisors (both mundane and Etherite) he kept his online and academic efforts separate, gradually cementing two distinct identities. His share of the online music proceeds were directed into the creation of his own true workshop and laboratory (Hideaway and Property), while his mundane identity remained deliberately unremarkable. Eventually his superiors found out about the music videos after a student stunt, which damaged his reputation among many of them as he struggled to explain the value of what he was achieving in terms they could accept. Worse, the stuffier Etherites thought he was too likely to draw attention from the Technocracy, and his musical activities were surely just a distraction from Science.
With the help of his VA Contact, he has managed to obtain back door access to some online Etherite archives (Library) and working together they managed to protect their mundane identities (Arcane). Collectively, they have developed a network among the online music community, and have begun exploring ways to leverage their online and musical capabilities and the influence that results.
His particular interest currently lies in applying nanotechnology to build experimental structures, and to enhance his equipment and the power and subtlety of the resonance effects he suspects underlie several Spheres of magick, er, Science!

Option to have a Syndicate technocrat who acted/acts as the band’s agent; if so, go with the Sympathiser flaw. Otherwise stick with Technobabbler (not great at explaining his theories); either feeds into Discredited.

Great stuff!

Figured I'd bring this up in case it got overlooked, just so I can work on finalizing the backstory stuff.

We can still link our guys through the Pentex children if you want and if it fits what Joshua is planning.

Dominic's backstory.. That was dense. Felt like i've read a summary of a whole another chronicle. Also, are the Contacts from the Chantry we're at or from somewhere else?

I know, I just wanted to give our ST a chance to weigh in. I usually try to see if there's anything I can do to help the plot any (or make things easier for the ST/DM).

Sorry if the backstory was a bit much; I had a week to think about it all, and having worked out a rationale to suit the merits and flaws I wanted to explain them. The story took on some life of its own, clarifying some choices and driving me to tweak others, which I’ve found is often a good sign.
Since the contacts were originally made online, through a common and undisclosed interest unconnected with the chantry, I’d assumed that they were not members of the starting chantry, as there was little reason they would be.

Well folks, I thought I could pull this off, but real life keeps getting in the way. I’m sorry I didn’t get this off the ground, but I’m going to have to pull the plug. Thank you for your time and interest.

Aww, shucks. That's unfortunate, but understandable. Hope all is good irl. Thanks for giving it a go and hopefully we'll get to play together some other time. Cheers!

Would you be willing to hand the GM role off to someone?

I've never STed for Mage, but this is the second time I've gotten through character creation for the system but not gotten to play.

And so if me STing it is what it takes?

I guess I will?

Though may take things in a different direction than what has generally been discussed (as I don't think I'm capable of bringing all of these disparate characters together with my limited experience with the setting).

@emsquared Id be happy to hand the game off. I’ll make that change right now. I hope you all are able to take this and enjoy.

I feel responsible here. ;_;
I'd be totally down! Can make another char to fit with the rest of the folk if that is what it take, no problem there! Or we can start from scratch, do something different.

Nah. It was apparently just a hard sell to get ppl interested in a Vampire/Mage mixed chronicle.

No fault. Sometimes some games can just be hard to get off the ground. It happens.

Also, I really like character creation - in just about any game - so I'm happy to have just done that.
Thanks! I hope things callingcalm down for you irl

@JoshuaMabry Sorry to hear that; hope things work out for you.

@emsquared Thanks for being willing to step up. When you’re ready, if you’d rather I tweaked my character, or built something different, I can have a think.

Full disclosure I haven't read anything about anyone else's character. So I really don't know what's gonna be best.

My impression was just that it sounded like we have a couple Technocrats and couple Traditions?

And I really struggle with the "war for reality" metaplot anyway, and so combining those two groups that I understand to be complete antithetical enemies into a cabal that needs to work together? Just seems beyond my ken to do well as a new ST.

But I'll do some reading, do some research, and see what I can come up with for a path forward?

I think the composition (excluding you) was: 3 Tradition Mages: 2 Mystics - my Hermetic John and Skairkro's tai-chi master/Ecstatic Ezekial; and 1 technomancer - Theta's Etheretrite Dominic + 1 Technocrat - Ma's Syndicate economist James.

So 2/2 ratio of techno vs mystics and 3/1 Traditions vs Technocracy.

I'd probably advocate for same group and similar paradigms (all technomages or mystics) to simplify the beginning, but i'm honestly open to almost anything. Creating a new character of any persuasion is no problem.

Here's my guy backstory quoted, just in case.

Yep, I went and browsed your character sheets and I see that now, thanks.

Must have confused the references to the Technocracy in Theta's follow up posts for meaning they WERE Technocracy.

Anyway, just want to give you guys some information about me to maybe temper expectations... :P

My limited experience with Mage is mostly through the Sorcerer's Crusade setting and games (my buddy that always ran WoD preferred it for Mages), and playing a Mage in a mixed-splat game one time.

And that most recent experience was... maybe 9 or 10 years ago?

None of it with M20 rules (tho I have played V20).

So point is, please be patient with me :)

As mentioned my brain has a really hard time with the battle for reality stuff - I just can't easily "see" how to create interesting situations and gameplay for it.

So the way I would like to take this chronicle would be, and we did talk about these elements being in Joshua's campaign I think early on, more about personal discovery of your characters, and exploration of the core concepts of Mages and their "world" (I'm hoping to grow my understanding of the reality war with the telling of these stories).

Your Awakenings. Your Backgrounds (like, if you have a Mentor, maybe we can do some roleplay with your Mentor). Maybe some "day in the life" type stuff at the Chantry? I really not sure yet. I probably don't want to be running 4 different story threads simultaneously for long, so... I'll have to figure out some way to get you all in the same room/doing the same things But so also maybe working toward some low level reality war stuff?

Also, I don't know Jack about San Antonio...

So do any of you have anything about your characters that makes it so this HAS to take place in San Antonio?

If not, I'll probably move us to somewhere more universal... like what would you guys think about, like, New Orleans. Except New Orleans if it wasnt completely controlled by Kindred? Maybe reimagined in a world of darkness where it's, like, double the size too (to give us a bit of breathing room)?

I don’t know a thing about any city across the pond, and my concept was quietly assumed to be based near a university, but nothing hard wired into the build.
He was deliberately built without much in the way of fixed ties, so could shift pretty easily.

Ha fair enough, I guess I was thinking, "Everybody understands New Orleans from Vampire."

But I suppose that's not as big of a stereotype for Europeans who have much older vampire history and lore much closer.

Perhaps to elaborate, I think the city has interesting things for Mages:

1. The Bayou/native American/creole history has a lot of connections to Traditions (Dream speakers). As well as the Bon temps/hedonistic and artsy elements (Ecstatics), and the Church (Choristers).

2. There's an extreme clash between nature and technology/progress there. It's a city built in a place where a city should no be - reliance on levees. Lots of industrialization out in the bayou for shipping and energy development etc. These themes could be amped and emphasized for Technocracy elements.

3. The city has a generally... special ... and unique connection and culture with death and the dead, and mysticism and magic. This could tie into Nephandi but also makes a rife playground for Spirits and also just kind of a generally different Consensus possibly even, that is a bit more magical. Including folklore that basically has built in Nodes/Tass and things.

Thoughts?

Sounds like a playground for certain types of Verbena and Euthanatos!
I believe there’s also some significant musical culture there too, but if my existing Etherite would’ve hard to integrate (and you don’t want me to try and build a different Etherite who wants to do weather control, I can try for something different.

No not at all!

I wasnt saying this to try to get ppl to change or create new characters.

Just trying to "sell" it as a viable Mage setting.

It could be that it's just in my brain/my circles that New Orleans is a good, common frame of reference for a WoD setting, and that New Orleans doesn't make any more sense for the other players here than San Antonio either?

In which case maybe we'll just do NYC/a generic metropolis?

Ultimately the setting may not matter much, because I would also view this as a kind of limited run campaign.

More than a one shot, but short of a full on Chronicle.

So maybe we just do with "Generic City"?

I'd be more comfortable with a metropolis or generic city. New Orleans is such a unique place that it'd be a character all on its own. Not that NYC, Chicagos and San Antonios don't have their own "spirit", but looking from outside in, they do feel more like an empty canvas that you can fill in with whatever needed.

If everyone's down for NO, i'd be too, but would need to read up on it, maybe redo the character to fit it better.

Alright let's just do Generic City. And heck might as well just stick with San Antonio then I guess? Makes it easy - no changes.

@Skairkro looks like you've been inactive for 10 days. Are you still with us and wanting to participate in this game?

@MaJunior are you still wanting to play with the exodus of JM?

@ThetaSigma I'll work on getting an intro Awakening post up for you.

And then reversia after that I'll keep your Awakening scene going.

Cheers friends, see you in game !

Yep, I'm down to give it a go!

Okeydoke

I think Ma you were waiting on some input from JM RE: Techno companies?

There's no Mage canon in San Antonio, so we can do whatever.

That said, you mentioned Sunburst subsidiary or something right? I know nothing about Technos other than "they're (one of) the bad guys" to the Traditions. And so, know nothing about them in particular. But so long as their business isn't too focused on any one thing(?), I think we can just roll with that?

Feel free to put post what you have for a background if you want to roleplay your Awakening like the others, and I'll kick it off with ... something? (I have no idea of how Technos experience Awakening is somehow any different from normal Mages?)

Starburst and Credicorps (for which John worked) are both subsidiaries of Pentex, of WtA infamy. I initially picked it to throw a potential Wyrmish Nephandi hook in, plus there are in-canon threads between Pentex and Syndicate (i think, might've been NWO or both).

As for ideas on Technocratic Awakening, i most vividly remember the story from Progenitors 1e book, where the characters were recruited into a special program at Progenitors university (or regular uni where Progenitors also reside) and experienced gradual Awakening throughout taking courses and doing homework. I believe other techomages, both Tradition and Technocracy are doing the same - recruiting promising individuals and training them from the ground up. Come to think of it, that's the MO of a bunch of other enlightened groups as well.

I was referencing this discussion chain:But good to know your character is in the Techno circles too

Hm, I’ve been poking an AI tool for a character picture, but I can’t get the result to upload as an avatar - is there a file size or type restriction I need to be aware of?

I feel like there is, but I couldn't tell you details. When I have a picture I want to use that won't upload, I screenshot it, edit it to just the image (remove the toolbar at the top of my phone, etc.), and upload that. Consistantly works for me.

Sorry it's not a more precise answer, but it's what I've got. Lol

Thanks! Cropping the picture eventually worked for me.

So as we're posting frequently in character now, I've cursed a few times and we've talked about narrative content in the context of "Should this game be public?" , but nothing really definite as far as what you guys (or I) want and don't want to see as players.

So, as a final element of this thread, and as a kind of part of the Session Zero purpose of it, let's have a chat about Safety Tools and themes and content.

As a WoD game I tend to assume there will be a certain level of "adult content". Which I would generally characterize as "rated-R" type of content, to reference the American movie standards.

Cursing, non-pornographic sexual content/nudity, graphic depictions of violence, etc.

Just because that's my assumption though doesn't ofc mean that you guys have to be ok with that. If you would like to see some lesser degree of that kind content? I am 100% on board with lesser degrees of those various types of depictions.

I usually tend more toward PG-13. But WoD is... well, dark and horrific by intent.

Anyway, just because I'm at "R" though, doesn't mean that I would go anywhere near SA or other general taboo topics. I will not. That's a X card for me. Not interested in having sexual assault as a story element. So I ask that you please take it off the table as well.

Similarly, but not identically, I personally don't care for role-playing in detail romantic relationships in ttrpgs. This is a Veil for me.

So you can have romantic relationships if you want, we can talk about them, use them as a plot device etc, but any actual romance we'll "fade to black" on and keep it behind the cinematic curtain. Veiled.

So with that, I open it up to you guys.

What are your Lines Veils and Xcards?

Swearing and violence is fine. I'd steer clear of politics and, to a lesser degree, religious conflict. Enough of this crap irl. Same with real world armed conflicts/wars.

We were originally planning on making Nephandi the antagonists and these guys can be an unsavory bunch, though i always scoffed at how the book portrayed them. Might need to adjust the "mustache twirling" factor depending on everyone's tastes.

As a player i'd say my general preference is for exploration>social>>>combat. John was originally made as a darker character - a tortured, traumatized soul and all that, but if we pivot to a more PG-13 game, we can always tweak it. The other members of his little cult are trapped in some evil ether and he has to save them - that sort of thing.

Not interested in sex, fairly indifferent to romance. Can't really think of anything else at the moment, but if i will, i'll bring it up. Might just be the darn migraine.

I don't have any.

I mean, of course I'll respect any that the other players and our ST have but personally I just don't have any.

Thanks for the input both of you.

@ThetaSigma ? Any Lines Veils Xcards?

@MaJunior , I still don't think I've seen a background for you. Which it sounds like Techno Awakenings aren't particularly interesting to play out anyway. So if you're ok with that, I am too.

But is there any other sort of prelude you'd like to explore for James?

I have to admit I've never really cared or thought about and don't really know what to do with a Technocrat PC.

The group has a lot of technology influence and ties, so when it comes time to "adventure", I think it will be easy enough to just say "The Traditions and Technos have a tense but working relationship here in San Anton.", but for "day to day"/getting-to-know-you stuff, like we're doing right now?

I'll look to you to give me some ideas for things you'd like to see.

Yeah, I had it generally plotted out but had been waiting to determine some of the details, then it went quiet for a minute before you took over. I just have to type it out.

Honestly I had been approaching it as fairly recently awakened (instead of undergoing the awakening), so that's more than fine with me.

I can get it typed up this weekend.

Sorry, busy couple of days.
Thanks for asking; truthfully, I’m not sure. I’m tempted to call a veil on prolonged torture (of animals or people) after an experience in a game some years ago, but otherwise nothing that hasn’t already been raised.

Good input, everyone, thanks.

@TechnocratSloth15 you can use this link to create a character using an M20 format:

https://gamersplane.com/forums/thread/37959/?p=1911598#p1911598

Open the link

Open the spoiler

Click the "Create Character" button

Thanks a lot

My pleasure, should have thought of that sooner