INTRODUCTION

The Time: The modern day.

The Place: The United States of America.

Mages have been the world’s top predators for as long as their history records, secretly enslaving humanity to further their own ends. There are other potent creatures on Earth to be sure, but none so organized, so cunning and so ruthless as the mages. Their power has only ever been limited by their ability to cooperate and the little gods have been free to do with this world whatever they desired. And so, throughout history, they have made war on one another. The story of magic is a tale of death, destruction and betrayal, as the schools and cabals slaughtered fellow mages to take ultimate power or just to survive against their neighbors.

In the modern United States, exhaustion has forced a ceasefire that mages call “The Peace”. The last great magewar was in the 1980s and the wounds and vendettas are still fresh, but for now, the Peace holds. The closest thing the mages have to a government is provided by the most powerful faction to emerge from the war, The Council, an alliance of nine Hermetic orders. Insofar as anyone in mage society keeps order within US borders, it is them, though the other factions fiercely guard their own independence. The Circle, a loose alliance of nature-worshipers, came off worse in the wars, suffering heavy losses. Now they grow more militant ever year, calling for peace while preparing to fight. The Cooperative is a new power in the world, a chaotic alliance of technological mages, born from the modern age. Free thinkers, they have a thousand wild agendas and few rules. The "independents" reject all alliance, refusing to answer to anyone outside their own orders. They defend their freedom proudly, with violence if necessary.

“The Gift” is the talent that allows a mage to cast spells. Nobody knows for sure why one human possesses the Gift and another does not, but it is the Gift that divides humanity into “mages” and “mortals”, those who have the power and those who do not. To possess the Gift is to be one of the privileged few, but with power comes danger.

What would you do if you had power?

What would you have to do to keep it?

LINK TO THE SETTING

http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/The_Gift:Main_Page

POWER 19

1.)  What is your game about?

The game is about mages secretly living in the modern USA.  More pretentiously, the game is about freedom and responsibility, the individual and society, requiring the character to decide what they would do for, and with, power.  It also deals with the question of how we can cooperate with those with radically different worldviews.

2.) What do the characters do?

The PCs are free to pursue their own ambitions and causes, but they must navigate the political landscape of mage society to do it and mage society is made up of factions with their own ambitions and causes.  No two factions quite agree on what a mage should be or on what should become of humanity.

3.) What do the players (including the GM if there is one) do?

As in most roleplaying games, the players control one character each while the GM runs the rest of the universe.  Because the players are given so much freedom to set their own goals, they must work together to produce a party with compatible agendas.

4.) How does your setting (or lack thereof) reinforce what your game is about?

The setting reinforces the themes of freedom, responsibility, the individual and society by requiring the PCs to decide what they will do with power as members of a society with very firm (though conflicting) views on what a mage should be and on what a human being should be.

5.) How does the Character Creation of your game reinforce what your game is about?
The training of a mage heavily reinforces the part they are expected to playing in mage society, with that part determined by which faction trained them.  Mage training is arduous and the mage who completes it must have mastered many specific skills and spells, in accordance with the philosophy of their teachers.  While any mage may master any skill or spell, the different groups emphasize very different areas when training their apprentices.

6.) What types of behaviors/styles of play does your game reward (and punish if necessary)?

The game rewards seeing things from other people’s point of view, whether you agree with that point of view or not, since it is the clash of points of view that shape the environment in which the PCs must operate.  The game also rewards thoughtfulness, since the secretive nature of mage society means that unseen danger lurks all around.

7.) How are behaviors and styles of play rewarded or punished in your game?

While the rules of mage society are made to be broken by PCs, thoughtless rebellion and random violence will likely get the PCs into hot water with powerful groups very quickly.  The mage who prospers is the mage who thinks before acting.

8.) How are the responsibilities of narration and credibility divided in your game?

The players decide what their own character does, thinks and feels.  The GM decides everything else.

9.) What does your game do to command the players’ attention, engagement, and participation? (i.e. What does the game do to make them care?)

The game does this in three main ways.  Firstly, characters begin immersed in the disputes of mage society, since it is one of the factions of mage society that has trained them.  Secondly, the game allows the players to pursue their own goals, allowing them to more easily identify with their character’s motivations.  Lastly, mage society is dangerous and immanent danger commands attention.

10.) What are the resolution mechanics of your game like?

The game uses the GURPS 4E system, from Steve Jackson Games.  I find them to be realistic, complete and fast in play.

11.) How do the resolution mechanics reinforce what your game is about?
While I rate GURPS highly as a system in general, it is particularly appropriate for running games in this setting.  The realism of the system provides a nice contrast for the reality-breaking supernatural events.  The completeness of the system makes it ideal for specifying the exact form of an extensive education in mundane and magical studies, such as all mages have in this setting.

12.) Do characters in your game advance? If so, how?
Characters advance both by achieving in-game goals that they have set for themselves (grow rich, extend your territory, rise in status within your faction) and by gaining skills and spells through use and study.  Some mages pursue personal advancement with a passion, while others are more concerned with doing good in the world.

13.) How does the character advancement (or lack thereof) reinforce what your game is about?

Character advancement is a matter of balancing personal ambition against the pressures of society, both that of allies and foes.  Different factions in society will have strong views about what the character should be doing with their life, views that the PC may or may not agree with.

14.) What sort of product or effect do you want your game to produce in or for the players?

I hope to provide the players with an environment in which they can immerse their characters deeply, so as to enhance the roleplaying experience.  I also hope to provide them with a rich sandbox and the power to pursue their own ends.  Lastly, the characters are empowered just because being empowered is fun.

15.) What areas of your game receive extra attention and color? Why?

The most detail has been devoted to the different factions within mage society, how they view the world, what they try to achieve, and how they train their apprentices.  It is the cooperation and conflict between these groups that comprises the environment in which the PC pursue their agendas.

16.) Which part of your game are you most excited about or interested in? Why?

I am most interested in the different takes that the various factions of mage society have on the world and the way that they interact with one another.  It interests me because it seems significantly different from the mage societies I have seen in other games.

17.) Where does your game take the players that other games can’t, don’t, or won’t?

Other “mage” games have had to avoid dealing with real-world politics and religion for fear of offending potential customers, even when it wasn’t realistic to do so.  This setting deals with both topics directly.  Also, other mage games have had to keep the main divisions in mage politics relatively simple, to facilitate the publication of “splatbooks” for the various factions.  Often, this leads to political situations that seem highly unnatural.  In this setting, I have been free to introduce whatever factions I desired.  There are 31 major factions in The Gift, allowing for a complex political landscape.

18.) What are your publishing goals for your game?

I wish to give it away free on the internet for people to plunder as they wish.

19.) Who is your target audience?

The target audience is people who have played other games where the premise is that PCs are mages, such as Ars Magica, GURPS Cabal, GURPS Voodoo, Sorcerer, Mage: The Ascension, Mage: The Awakening, Unknown Armies and Witchcraft.  My intention is to offer these gamers a new and distinct take on the genre.  The game is also targeted at anyone who has enjoyed playing a supernatural creature in a modern setting.