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Chronicles of Darkness
Mage: The Awakening Second Edition
The world is a Lie.
Humanity is cursed into a prison of Sleep, ignorant of the wonder and danger all around them. Ground down into slavery to masters they’ll never see, beset by a plague of cares to distract them from the Truth.
Magic.
You were like them, once, but now you are Awakened. You see the world beneath the Lie’s skin, and the Mysteries beckoning you into the shadows. Every day of your life, you hear the call of the supernatural, from the least ghost to the deepest cosmic enigmas.
You are a mage, one of the Wise. You see, know, and explore what others can’t imagine, from the depths of the human soul to the hidden corners of reality. Armed with your spells, driven by an addiction to Mysteries, you delve into the secrets of the world. Knowledge has a price, and the dangers are many.
This book contains:
The complete guide to playing a mage in the Chronicles of Darkness.
Reimagined Paths, Orders, and powers to create your Awakened characters and their allies, including an updated version of the most comprehensive free-form magic system in gaming.
Five example settings across the world, from Los Angeles to Salamanca, each with a central Mystery.
A brand-new look at all the strange places of the Fallen World, from the Lower Depths to the Emanation Realms, and what mages might find within.
Humanity is cursed into a prison of Sleep, ignorant of the wonder and danger all around them. Ground down into slavery to masters they’ll never see, beset by a plague of cares to distract them from the Truth.
Magic.
You were like them, once, but now you are Awakened. You see the world beneath the Lie’s skin, and the Mysteries beckoning you into the shadows. Every day of your life, you hear the call of the supernatural, from the least ghost to the deepest cosmic enigmas.
You are a mage, one of the Wise. You see, know, and explore what others can’t imagine, from the depths of the human soul to the hidden corners of reality. Armed with your spells, driven by an addiction to Mysteries, you delve into the secrets of the world. Knowledge has a price, and the dangers are many.
This book contains:
The complete guide to playing a mage in the Chronicles of Darkness.
Reimagined Paths, Orders, and powers to create your Awakened characters and their allies, including an updated version of the most comprehensive free-form magic system in gaming.
Five example settings across the world, from Los Angeles to Salamanca, each with a central Mystery.
A brand-new look at all the strange places of the Fallen World, from the Lower Depths to the Emanation Realms, and what mages might find within.
355 pages, Hardcover
First published May 4, 2016
3 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 7, 2020
Much more comprehensive than 1st Edition, but also much more to digest.
August 3, 2016
Fantastic revamp of a game with infinite potential. 10 years of play testing and player feedback culminate in this triumphant 2nd edition. worth the wait!
May 29, 2021
Not a real big fan of just being human with magic powers as compared to the other Chronicles of Darkness lines it just seemed to be the most generic of them but still I do like the ideas and the idea that you play essentially people from the Matrix is kind of a new spin on the idea of magic humans.
December 9, 2022
Magic system is somewhat burdensome, but the 2nd edition of Mage: the Awakening really teases out what's best about the game - and how its underlying themes are much more timeless and successful than the 1990s-tastic, narrow perspective of Mage: the Ascension. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
October 7, 2021
I really like this game in the reading of it. I haven’t yet played it, but it hits a lot of what I am looking for in a modern fantasy game.
May 17, 2016
The second edition does a good job of presenting the core game, with a lot of extra stuff from the first edition line making it into the core. The terrible font and text color is gone too, bonus.
The spellcasting system has been updated. I wish I could say improved, but what its gained in extra utility and clarity, its lost in terms of fiddliness. The system is pretty complex now, with the added complexities of the second edition of the WoD (CoD now) system thrown in on top. The end result is that you can do a great many things with more system support, the downside is that there is a lot of extra system to get your head around. I wouldn't recommend playing this with anyone who wasn't prepared to devote some time to understanding the spellcasting system in its entirety.
A good revision, but it feels like the Storyteller system is really showing its age and groaning under the weight.
The spellcasting system has been updated. I wish I could say improved, but what its gained in extra utility and clarity, its lost in terms of fiddliness. The system is pretty complex now, with the added complexities of the second edition of the WoD (CoD now) system thrown in on top. The end result is that you can do a great many things with more system support, the downside is that there is a lot of extra system to get your head around. I wouldn't recommend playing this with anyone who wasn't prepared to devote some time to understanding the spellcasting system in its entirety.
A good revision, but it feels like the Storyteller system is really showing its age and groaning under the weight.
December 23, 2023
An extraordinary game - no question. The magic system is probably the best I’ve seen in an RPG. More importantly, it has important things to say about obsession, the pursuit of mysteries, and avoiding hubris. Many of us can learn lesson from these tales of modern sorcery.
The only things that prevent the 2nd Edition from receiving 5 stars is the infrequent art (and the art that’s there is kind of poor) and bizarre organization. The first read through will be really challenging as they use terms that aren’t explained until later chapters. Nonetheless, Mage the Awakening, 2nd Edition is an accomplishment in gaming.
The only things that prevent the 2nd Edition from receiving 5 stars is the infrequent art (and the art that’s there is kind of poor) and bizarre organization. The first read through will be really challenging as they use terms that aren’t explained until later chapters. Nonetheless, Mage the Awakening, 2nd Edition is an accomplishment in gaming.
May 2, 2017
Takes me back to the kinds of games I played in high school (unsurprisingly). There's a bit of a kitchen sink approach to magic here, but I look forward to playing it.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews