[WoD] Puma Initiation

[ImpInTraining]

Game Name Puma Initiation

Game System World of Darkness - Mage: The Ascension v20

Theme Current day / remote desert town.

Flavour Sandbox - Teen angst, dark humor, and moderate horror. A lot of role-play and exploring - some combat - may throw in a puzzle or two if the opportunity presents itself.

Teaser The night was cool and moonless, two days prior to the start of the new school year. Stars littered through the sky of the darkened football stadium benches. A group of teens were sitting at the otherwise empty football field, passing a bottle of MD 20/20 and a joint as they were talking about last year highlights: who was on the A list; who were losers; the practical jokes - that's when the urge hits Sandy. Excusing herself, she went around the fieldhouse to find a dimly-lit area with bushes that she could find some privacy. As she squatted and felt the uphoria flow as she released her bladder, she was startled when she heard someone whispering. She wasn't alone it would seem. "Becky? Is that you?" No answer. She waited a few more seconds, then went back to business assuming it was just her imagination. The flow of urine sounded in the darkness off the tiny rocks and dirt around the building, but quickly cut to a stop when chants sounded out from the darkness, just on the other side of the bush. Sandy quickly finished her business and came out from behind the bush saying "Ok... who's messing with me?" She came to a sudden stop when she saw the boarded up mine entrance. "That's not supposed to be here," she stated and looked around to find herself nowhere near the school anymore. "Where the hell..." A sudden rush of wind blew past her toward the mine entrance; the old boards creaked. She turned back around to see the boards over the entrance snap in half and get sucked within the mine - and felt herself being pulled forth. Sandy dropped to the ground and raked her fingers across the ground as the mine's suction pulled her into the darkness. Her scream echos and fades as she disappears from sight.

Plot Summary Setting: Bisbee, Arizona - located in the south-east corner of the state, 11 miles north of Mexico, 23 miles to the closest town (Tombstone), nestled within the Mule Mountains at an elevation of 5400 feet. It is a relatively small (population 5200) touristy area, with a past in mining precious metals. The game will be heavily reliant upon Google Maps for the town layout. Background: Late in the 1990's, warring factions within the Horizon Realms and the underworld caused massive losses amongst the mages of the Technocracy, Traditions, and other factions. A resulting Avatar Storm essentially cut off travel to the Umbra for years, changing remaining Horizon realms into Ghost Realms, and any mages that remained became disembodied spirits. As the years passed on, the Avatar Storm began to settle down and now can be somewhat predicted by the relative thickness of the Gauntlet. Technocracy saw the results of the Horizon Wars as a win. However, Tradition Mages that survived the Horizon Wars became easy targets for Nephandic influence. Chantries fell apart with differences of opinions. The darker mages and indeed those in control of the Council had concluded that the only way to turn things around was to be more proactive about changing the view on Reality. This meant risking more vulgar magick, breathing life into age-old superstitions, and use the Sleepers as cannon fodder as necessary. Fear would be the motivating factor to change the overall view of reality. A small percentage of Tradition Mages risked the wrath of their chantries, mentors, allies, etc. as they split off to remain true to the old ways. These mages became cursed or hunted by those they used to rely upon. Plot: The story opens up in current day Bisbee High School, home of the Bisbee Pumas, where the graduating class is 20-25 students large. Newly awakened mages try to balance the struggles of high school drama with the newly revealed world of the Awakened.

Posting Rate 1-2 times per week. Players who fail to post within a week will have their character become a temporary passive NPC. Players who disappear over a few weeks with no notice will likely be written out of the game.

Number of Players Shooting for 6

Character Creation I am accepting applications for Craft mages, and will consider Tradition mages who take on a 3 to 5 point flaw in either Cursed or Enemy representing the fallout from splitting off from their original Chantry. I would like Junior or Senior students to give this kind of a Buffy feel, but will consider some faculty apps if I come up short handed in players or if the app really seems to work well with the theme. The quickstart reference book available free online https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product...ion-Quickstart can assist with the details.

References I only have the Mage: The Ascension v20 book on hand. Any additional sourcebooks you tap into for your character app will have to be approved on a case-by-case basis.

Application Name: Mage Flavor: Concept: Nature: Demeanor: Focii: Appearance: Background:

Cut-Off Date Looking to start up Feb 27... fingers crossed.

Applicants Player Character Craft Completion Stormhammer - - WIP Preacherwolf Aaydan Templar Knights In Review Sic Transit Dana Rostami Taftâni WIP Ursinorum Jon Ortiz Orphan In Review mpowell60 Hiro Jackson Akashic Brotherhood exile WIP morgantha - - WIP DIoscuri - Virtual Adept exile WIP

[Stormhammer]

App placeholder

[Preacherwolf]

Follower Of The Lord Oh My Heck! Name: Aaydan Abbott Mage Flavor: A cocktail of The Pollyanna, Good Is Not Soft and The Fettered. So broad strokes think what would happen if Ned Flanders was raised by Bobby Singer Concept: Caretaker Nature: Crusader Demeanor: Benefactor Craft: Knights Templar Spheres: Life, Mind, with probably a dip into Forces Focus Practice: Faith Paradigm: It’s All Good - Have Faith! Instruments: Prayers And Invocations, Scared Iconography, Food and Drink, offerings and sacrifice, Blessings and curses, Voice and vocalisations, Cups and vessels Appearance: Clean, tidy and impeccable are the cornerstones of Aaydan's style. Slothfulness is a sin after all and sloth starts from laziness. Pressed white shirt, properly ironed pants with perfectly combed hair and a sparkling smile are what normally greet someone seeing Aaydan for the first time. He appears very youthful, even for a high schooler, he's looks absurdly young with a constant gaze of wonder and a permanent smile plastered on his face. Background: Aaydan Abbott is a miracle, at least that's what his mum always said. Born to loving parents from Utah, Aaydan's early days were joyous. From a young age his parents doted on the child, ensuring that he wanted for nothing while at the same time making sure that he knew God's word and knew his love. His parents taught him to love everything in God's creation and that through faith in the lord all was possible. For Aaydan, he took to these teachings like a duck to water. Reciting his psalms, learning his scriptures and living as close as he could to how the Lord wanted him to (or at least as close to one could get when you are an inquisitive small child in Utah). But his faith was tested when his parents died in a car accident. It was just after Aaydan's seventh birthday when he and his parents got into a car accident on the highway. A drunk driver swerved at the wrong time and pushed the family's car off the road. They spun and crashed into a tree at sixty miles an hour. Amazingly, Aaydan came out of it without a scratch. His parent died on impact. At the funeral, everyone comforted him and apologised for his loss. Aaydan didn't care, he prayed every night for an answer from God as to why this happened. He received no answer. After the funeral, the question came to what to do with Aaydan. Too young to be left alone, there was only one remaining family member he could be left to and that was his Uncle. Or as Aaydan would come to see him, God's answer to his questions. His uncle took him from Utah and moved them down to a tiny border town in Arizona called Bisbee. "Better for folk not to notice them and a good place for a new start" was his Uncle's reasoning when Aaydan asked, but he didn't really care. He looked around and despite the cloud of depression over him couldn't help but wonder at the place. It was beautiful to him. His Uncle quickly got a place for them and then put Aaydan to work. His Uncle was a God fearing man as well but had a different interpretation of the Bible to his parents. He seemed convince that the Adversary was very real and that he will need to be fought when the time comes. His Uncle's plan was simple, we train until the day comes to fight, then we fight. He started teaching Aaydan self-defence and how to fight properly. Not martial arts or proper sports fighting, this was down low, "kick 'em in the bollocks" kind of brawling. It gave Aaydan purpose in body and eventually mind. He started to rediscover and rekindle his faith. Thanks to his Uncle's guidance, Aaydan slowly grew back into the boy that saw all things in God's creation as beautiful but now with the added knowledge that when evil came to threaten that creation, he could fight it. By the time high school rolled around Aaydan's Uncle had decided the boy need an actual education and that he was also tired of dealing with the Government telling him that Aaydan needed to be enrolled in school. The local high school wasn't big but it'll do. He tried to prime the boy as best he could, let him know the best way to deal with a bully was a quick one-two punch to the kidneys and that he should try and spread the word of God as best he could. The night before his first day, Aaydan was working out his stress on the obstacle course his Uncle set up. But a distracted solider is a dead solider and Aaydan nerves got the best of him. He missed a jump and broke his leg. He was dismayed, the didn't want to disappoint his Uncle nor miss his first day at school. He prayed to the Lord to help him and heal his leg, and the Lord responded. It was a miracle. A full blown, proper miracle. Aaydan's faith was strong before, but now it was unshakeable. If he could preform true miracles in the fight against the Adversary, then he could be the solider his uncle always wanted him to be. He began to practice and preform his miracles as much as he dared, he didn't quite understand them just yet but he definitely and didn't want such power to be known publicly. For now, he'd keep it small and quiet. He went to school each day, confident that all was well as the Lord was with him and through him all things were possible.

[Sic Transit]

Very much still a work in progress.

Application Name: Dana (or Zana) is a unisex Persian name meaning Wisdom. Entirely coincidentally, it's also a fairly common unisex name in the United States, via entirely different origins.Dana Rostami [they/them] Mage Flavor: Taftâni Concept: Essence: Dynamic Nature: Activist Demeanor: Innovator Focus Paradigm: Divine Order and Earthy Chaos Practice: Hybrid (Craftwork / Faith / High Ritual Magick) -- "The Act of Creation Reflects Truth" Instruments: < to be determined > Appearance Dana is not an Arab, but an ethnic Persian, with blue eyes and a light olive skin tone. None of which, of course, stops the uneducated or willfully ignorant from conflating the two. To be fair, there aren't very many Iranic people in southern Arizona... And while their ethnicity alone would distinguish them apart from their fellow students, Dana presents the world with the bright vibrancy of a young artist. Long hair, carefully curated jewelry, and loose clothing in an array of colors combine to cultivate a largely androgyne appearance. Many of those stylistic choices have some roots in ancient Persian traditions, and that's often a convenient way to dismiss questions offhand. But to those who have seen beyond the veil of druj, Dana's appearance also reflects their understanding of Asha. Their flamboyance, their defiance of expectations, all serve as reflections of the Truth of the world as it ought to be. Background ...

[ImpInTraining]

To answer some questions...

No, you do not need to have experience playing Mage, if you have played any World if Darkness game (Vampire, Wraith, Werewolf, etc), you have the basics already. I will be happy to explain the rest as we go.

Tradition Mage apps do not get an extra 3 - 5 point Flaw, you just have to declare 3 - 5 points of either Cursed or Enemy in your buildup, you can still use those points you gain elsewhere.

The term "Craft Mages" refers to the styles of mages that are not Tradition, Technocracy, Nephandi, nor Marauder. These include the Disperate Alliance as well as the other individual groups.

[Ursinorum]

Okidokes.

As a concept I'm thinking either a class-clown or a misfit.

I played a lot of Vampires (oWoD) but have zero experience with mage, and only have access to the quickstart material (thanks for the link)

I liked the idea of an "expert" countermage, but I read around that you need at least a dot in that sphere to counter it. I think it would be cool to have a pc with a dot in every sphere not covered by others so he could "sense" all magic and counter it, but not really use it in any way (or would it be a complete waste because in a party usually all bases are covered?)

Either that or a Craft that focuses only on one-two between Correspondence, Entropy, Time.

[ImpInTraining]

Interesting concept. I might suggest an Orphan if you want to spread out the sphere dots. There are 9 spheres, (10 if you count 'Data'). You start with at least 6 dots in spheres. Using freebies and flaws, you might be able to squeeze two more in, covering up to 8 of 9 major spheres with 1 dot. An Orphan would not have had the benefit of someone teaching him or her the ins-and-outs of Magick. Going through youth being able to see all these bizarre things with no explanations could easily explain why you are a misfit, trouble child, class clown.

I will look into the other option later.

[Ursinorum]

Mmh, I like that.. but I don't care much for Spirits, and I'm afraid I might have to let go of Life and Forces too (but I'll see when I'll actually do the sheet)

I definitely want to up the Arete, as I understood it's also important for countering, and I want some good backgrounds (as they're a major pain to upgrade later, usually)

Jon WIP Name: Jon Ortiz Mage Flavor: Jack of all Spheres, master of None / countermagik Concept: class-clown/misfit Nature: Caregiver Demeanor: Jester Focii: Runes, engraved on inconspicuous items, one per each Sphere, scattered in the many pockets of his raincoat. Appearance: Almost always dressed in black wearing a heavy jacket with many pockets, which now host his makeshift focii among other clutter. Jon could look like a goth, but he really doesn't care about all that at all, he just appreciates how black is acceptable in every situation. He has very dark and curly hair that he keeps long, often messy, which he hopes that will give him a rebellious look in the eyes of the ladies. Background: After his mother lost his life in her second pregnancy, Jon father, Javier, completely checked out. He has some vague memories of having a normal life long time ago, but that was lost when he was ten. Now Jon lives with his grandma, with sporadic appearances from his father, who looks decided to bury himself in the job and burning out from exhaustion from driving around. As medical expanses for his abuelita are steep, money has been tight in the last few years, and Jon started dealing weed at school. He has a trucker driver hookup that sets him up at a highway gas station close to their house (as a highway gas stop is possibly the only place his father can't catch him). In his first attempt at experimenting with the drugs he was dealing, Jon experienced his awakening in a horrific eight hours paralysis while tripping. Aside from swearing off drugs, he started to have more and more the same dream, where a deer-horned creature would explain things to him through visions. As he would re-think on his dreams, he started to notice that he would perceive the world differently, and when he started to lean in into these weird powers, the entirety on how he perceived reality changed completely. As Jon started to use more frequently his powers in school, he started to notice the he wasn't the only 'gifted' person at Bisbee High..

[ImpInTraining]

Well,you're not wrong. Arete helps the Magick work easier. Raising it is a pain also. The first dot in any sphere, I thought, was also very costly in advancement. But yeah, backgrounds are tricky to get later on.

[Preacherwolf]

Originally Posted by ImpInTraining

Well,you're not wrong. Arete helps the Magick work easier. Raising it is a pain also. The first dot in any sphere, I thought, was also very costly in advancement. But yeah, backgrounds are tricky to get later on.

If I'm reading right, Arete also caps your sphere level as no sphere can be higher than your Arete. On that, would you allow us to raise our Arete to three?

[ImpInTraining]

Absolutely. But no higher than that for starting characters. That used to be a character creation limitation in previous versions. I can't say for sure it is a limitation in this version, but I don't think an arete any higher than that is justifiable for initiates.

[ImpInTraining]

4 is a comfortable group... but there is still room for more. *bump*

[morgantha]

I'm interested! I have played other WoD games (aberrant and exalted I think?) so I'm sort of familiar. Never mages though. I haven't had a chance to look at the book yet so I don't have a character concept in mind.

[Sic Transit]

Have a potentially important question. Did the Avatar Storm occur in your chronicle (and if so, is it ongoing)?

[DIoscuri]

I am interested if there are still openings. I was thinking possibly new kid in town who would be a Virtual Adept who Awakened via competing in a hacker challenge