Power Gamer's heaven (Mage)

Member Name: Bryn Pearson

Product:	Mage
Date:	24/04/01 (110 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great mechanics, huge potential

Disadvantages: may encourage power gaming.

This is the system for players who want to be very powerful. It's ideal for power gaming, (Just playign to develop an impressive set of statistics) but it does also work for those who want to work through a good story. As all White Wolf systems tend to do, mage draws heavily on the mythology of magical practise to form its clans - verbena are clearly Pagan, the Akashik brotherhood follow the eastern traditions, The Celestial chorus represent christian mysticism, and there are modern magics based on technology and drugs to name a few.
Mage interacts well with Vampire, Changleling and Werewolf. i don't know enough about Wraith to say how it would ift with that system. In my opinion, it is too high powered though and the checks aren't enough to keep some players under control.
If you are looking to buy this system, watch out for which edition you are picking up - if you by second hand this can be a real isue. mage has undergone some changes and revisions, and it is well worth getting the most up to date version. Buy the main book. Players handbooks are good, and for this one, I would recomend the individual tradition books as well. The Changeling UK source book contains a surprising amount of Mage material and some great leads for crossovers.
Be aware that the horizon realms of the mages tie in well with the faerie dreaming and the Werewolf dreaming (although I think they call it something else) You can fill out your knowledge a great deal by investing in the other handbooks, however, they do not give a picture that makes total sense as you get a range of perspectives on how the world works.
You can now get Mage in the drak ages - this looks fascinating, but there will be even fewer restrictions on use of power, as people back then really did believe that anything was possible.

Summary: