Mage: The Ascension is actually fairly shallow. It places extreme importance on “paradigm” (cultural beliefs in magic) in spite of the fact that as a mage becomes more “enlightened” he gradually realizes that paradigm is window dressing. It buys into postmodern criticisms of science without understanding either science or postmodernism and buys into every conspiracy theory ever invented regardless of how much sense it makes. The heroes and villains are so single-minded, morally grey, and self-centered that it becomes impossible to care about anyone but the ordinary people caught in the crossfire. The apocalypse continually looms in the background like a noxious fume. Two of the major factions consist, respectively, of Goths and Wiccans.
I’d love to see someone who could treat the setting the way it appears in the books and not some idealized image.
Mage: The Ascension is actually fairly shallow. It places extreme importance on “paradigm” (cultural beliefs in magic) in spite of the fact that as a mage becomes more “enlightened” he gradually realizes that paradigm is window dressing. It buys into postmodern criticisms of science without understanding either science or postmodernism and buys into every conspiracy theory ever invented regardless of how much sense it makes. The heroes and villains are so single-minded, morally grey, and self-centered that it becomes impossible to care about anyone but the ordinary people caught in the crossfire. The apocalypse continually looms in the background like a noxious fume. Two of the major factions consist, respectively, of Goths and Wiccans.
I’d love to see someone who could treat the setting the way it appears in the books and not some idealized image.