@Misadventure said:
I could lay out a lot of whining, but the core is that the system fiction isn't designed around that arrangement at all, and so the Arcana don't feel linked to such things.
@Sammi said:
I can get behind that just looking at the Arcana, but it makes things awkward for Obrimos.
I did not make this clear, but I'll go ahead and do it now.
I only wanted to take some of Mage's mechanic systems. I do not intend to adopt its fiction, its orders, or any of that shit. I like how Mage describes magic as a system of "spheres" or "arcana," from which "spells" or "rotes" are derived. I like how you can cast impromptu magic at less potency, but rote magic at higher potency. I like how you give the players that tools to create their own magic, rather than limiting them to published spells like "Magic Missile" or "Ganymede's Unceasing Pedantry."
But, no. No Obrimos, no Mastigos, no Pillars. Just fucking magic, with a new mythos to follow, maybe some new names for the arcana (although the divisions would be familiar), and a new fantasy world to play in. That's why I originally said that I'd use Chronicles of Darkness for a political fantasy game, but use a torn-apart version of Mage for the magic part.
Social creatures get Status, Social Merits, Social Styles, and all of that to play with. You can get land to develop over time that provide bonuses. You can gather resources, govern. Make fancy deals and shit. All of that.
Fighters get the Fighting Styles, including the experimental ones from the Hurt Locker.
Magic users get the Magicky Merits. You could dump all your XP in there, and that's fine, but you won't have VAST TRACTS OF LAND and you may get the shit beaten out of you in fisticuffs. Without Gnosis, impromptu magic gets gimped, which means you have to rely on Rotes, which are a limited-but-awesome bag of tricks.
That's kind of what I'm envisioning. Theno's CGen can handle the stat additions. Just have to make sure the rules of play are clear when it comes to social stuff and magic.