Mage - Breaking In

This is the story of our Mage game, told from the perspective of my character Ragna "Reagan" Halvorsen. Index here.

~~~

3rd March 2016

I invited Marcus over for breakfast. Partly to get some advice. Partly cos, better to get him to meet Mormor sooner rather than later, right? They got on well - think she was on her best behaviour. Think she liked him, respected him in a way she doesn't many people. No auditions until 2, and Marcus was also free. He was nice about how hard I was finding it - "Maybe it's a bit early for this sort of investigation, but learn on the job. It's how I did it" - and offered to come with me, help me out. Mormor glared! And he reassured her I wouldn't be out late. I wasn't so worried about that, so he reassured me he'd get me to my audition on time. Suncream on. Parasol up. LA is too sunny.

We talked as we travelled. He told me more about his missing friend. She went by Susie. They'd been at school together in New York, and now she was a stunt double and taught kung fu. Most of her students were kids who were often in trouble and needed help refocussing their energy. One of the kids got into new trouble and came to Susie for help, and now they're both missing. It's a bit mystical, which means he can't be seen to investigate because he's known. But I'm not, yet. I'm low enough level it doesn't mess with any Accord if I go meddling. That's why he asked me to help. Susie's one of us, a Mage.

The guy in the laundry didn't charge me for my uniform. Very grateful - had barely enough money to get the bus back after my audition. Marcus could sense the same disturbance I'd felt before, and got me to feel for it again. With no distractions, I could pinpoint it better: somewhere upstairs. Found a fire escape, but the window of the floor we agreed we wanted was locked. Carried onto the roof, where the access door was also locked but there was a lock on the outside, so Marcus showed me how to pick it. He did it in no time, locked it back up again and it took me more like 15 minutes, but I got it. That final click, so satisfying. His point was that sometimes we should use mundane means rather than always reaching for and relying on magic, on which note he wanted me to learn some fighting, maybe kung fu, if we can find Susie. It's developed from yoga, so I should pick it up well. But that doesn't mean I should slouch on learning magic, either: he stressed the importance of the Prime sphere, which I'd so far neglected. With the door unlocked, he found a brick to prop it open and told me to always make sure I had multiple exits clear.

As we crept down the first stairs, heard a bell sound, like a shop door opening, but no sounds inside so we felt hopeful the apartments were all empty and headed to the 3rd floor. I cast my runes to help pull on Correspondence to find the right flat. There were no sounds from inside and the door was locked.. I asked Marcus for his lockpicks and hummed to myself, calling a little Entropy to help me out - didn't feel we could wait quite so long this time! As I went to kneel by the door, I slipped slightly on the doormat, revealing a key. Much easier!

A 2-bed apartment, looking over the main street. Kitchen, shower room, living space and airing cupboard. That disturbance we'd felt seemed to be from the wardrobe in the second bedroom: it had a strong sense of Correspondence about it. I wanted to know how to find where it was linked without stepping through, and Marcus said I couldn't, yet; he wasn't even sure if he could. I looked around, hoping to find clues, but - faen! - my parasol caught on the shower sceen and shattered it. Which was followed by the sound of the apartment door opening. Marcus took a quick "look" and reported two people, one thin and nerdy in a sweater vest; the other an old man.

"Who wears a sweater vest in this heat?"

"Who wears a coat like that?" I countered, indicating Marcus's long leather trench coat, then realised how he manages the heat. "Oh dritt! They're Mages."

We started to discuss what to do, when I heard the others speak, and recognised Howard's voice, the weirdo from the night before. Stepping into the hall, the old man recognised Marcus. Introduced himself as Archibald. Like Mormor, turns out he's even older than he looks, and there's something unconsciously intimidating about his manner. They're investigating the same as us, though "Council business" rather than personal. 

Showed Archibald the wardrobe. He agreed with my assessment, and could tell more: it linked to a location to the west, not very far, and was keyed to a single person, so no one else could travel through. Howard suggested laying a trap for anyone coming out, which Archibald did with no visible effort. He instructed us on how to narrow our search: powerful magic suggests empty places, so look for large empty buildings: warehouses, homes, etc. They left, then, as Howard had a lecture to teach.

Marcus summoned a cab to take us to my audition, and we talked. He explained Archibald is the strong arm of the law for the Council of Traditions in LA. He's also the de facto leader of the Order of Hermes, which probably explained how come the nerd was his apprentice. He told me a bit more about Susie, too, like how she's very good at her job and very successful, but also a massive philanthropist who gives everything she earns to support her community and especially the kids she teaches. She sounded like one of the good guys, and this made me even more keen to help.

Mage - Introductions

This is the story of our Mage game, told from the perspective of my character Ragna "Reagan" Halvorsen. Index here.

~~~

1st March 2016

I sat among the other hopefuls, waiting for my turn. While they ran lines in their heads and practiced faces and poses, I centred my breathing as I moved between yoga poses and looked over their auras, seeing the nerves, the confidence, the hopes and fears of every other audition room I'd been in. This time, I was going to try something different and needed my mind in the right place.

When they called my name, I walked to the stage and looked out, through their auras, into their minds to see what they thought they were looking for, and deeper, to what they actually wanted. They were mostly bored, but I got their attention anyway. A little life magic can add sparkle like that.

It's not cheating, using the gifts I inherited from my mormor. After all, I could be using her name and her agency to get parts. At least this way I'm doing it myself.

They smiled as they thanked me. I smiled back and hid the relief. A chocolate milk commercial might not be much, but it had lines and that's a start.

Caervus, the man who'd initiated me to the Euthanatoi tradition a few months ago, met me outside. He gave me an address and told me to be there at 9pm, before slipping away in his mysterious manner. I raced to my waitressing shift - long as usual, still lacking any high powered film producer who might cast me as the lead in his movie. Managed to find the right buses to get me across town to what turned out to be an occult store. You know the type, lots of dangling charms and trays of gemstones (many fake), and tarot cards behind glass, and a funny smell from mismatched incense. Confused and shy, I spoke to the guy behind the counter. He led me creaking stairs to a landing so decrepit I felt sure I'd fall through - he went back to his store and left me there, so I went through the only door.

To somewhere bright and sunny, but cool (or at least, cooler than LA). The ground was made of carved stones and a pool glistened. Snowy mountains in the distance. Caervus came over and explained this place is a meeting place for new members, and I won't be back here for a while.

"Your path coincides with another for now. This is Marcus Waite." 

Older than me, maybe mid-20's. Dark hair, styled longer on top and shorter on the sides with a purple tinge, dark eyes. Was wearing ragged jeans and a white shirt under his long coat, the way he was nearly always dressed, I'd come to learn. He removed his headphones as we were introduced. Caervus explained he's further on his path and will be teaching me. Gave him my number and he left, then Caervus wished me luck and gave me a blessing. Felt a bit sad when I realised I wouldn't be seeing him for a while. Initiation isn't gentle and he supported me through it.

When I left, I saw the door stood with in the middle of the balcony. Marcus was waiting, took me for a coffee and we chatted. He was from the East coast, played in bands and came here for a record deal that fell through. Caervus found him in a particularly bad spot - he looked haunted by it and I didn't ask more. The more we talked, the more I thought Mormor would like him.

He took me to meet a mysterious "someone". The house was typical suburban, maintained with pride. Before we went in, Marcus explained I was here to have a reading, which I should only discuss with him, and any questions should be to him not her - she "gets funny".

The lady was African American. I'm no expert on accents, but I think she was from somewhere South. She looked older than Mormor looks, but not as old as Mormor is. She had a nice smile and ushered me into a candlelit room, sat me down in front of a table covered in a deep velvet cloth. Talked me through the cards. She clearly knew what she was doing, but I felt dazzled by it and came away only understanding I had a lot to learn.

Marcus got us a cab home, somehow getting away without paying for it.

2nd March 2016

Marcus was worried about a friend of his who'd gone missing, and wanted me to check out a laundromat in Chinatown where there were rumours of strange goings on. Warned me "be circumspect" so I 'accidentally' spilled somethng down my uniform at the end of my shift and headed over, humming to myself - singing to the building. There was a tingle of ... something. I couldn't place it. Went in and talked to the guy, but I couldn't get a read on him. As I tried, a strange, skinny guy came in so I left. Back out on the street, I tried to pinpoint what I'd sensed before, sketching a circle and trying to focus through that onto the building, but the skinny guy reappeared, and everywhere I went he seemed to follow. Went back in and arranged to collect my uniform the next day - try again then. The strange guy offered me a lift home, which I eventually accepted. Howard. Think he was surprised when I got him to drop me off in Beverly, and Mormor, of course, teased me mercilessly.

#RPGaDay2018: Day 30 - Share something you learnt about playing your character

The character I'm going to talk about is Ragna, from Mage: The Ascension (20th Anniversary Edition). The game started at the end of 2017 or the start of 2018, when we took a break from Exalted, and we came to the end of the first arc a couple of weeks ago (opening up the gaming slot to a different Exalted game, set in the First Age - a sort of alternative history to the game I had been playing in, in that some of the characters are recognisable but the plot doesn't necessarily match the history of Taji and Kito's world).

She's a new character, and those first few months are generally where you learn the most about playing a character, so this question feels well-timed to me. 

So, what have I learnt?

She's a lot more innocent than I originally wrote. I knew I didn't want her to be the cut-throat, achieve-at-all-cost wannabe actress stereotype, which has ended with her being innocent in a sweet and earnest way. She has the 'martyr' demeanour, which combined with her sweetness means she will try to do everything she's asked because she wants to please people, but she never gets upset or passive aggressive about it. If someone points out she doesn't need to take so much on (usually her grandmother) she'll chew her bottom lip and fret because she doesn't want to let anyone down - including the person telling her to take less on.

She's quite quiet, especially around authority - almost mute around authority, in fact. This is in character because she's completely intimidated and often afraid, and out of character because Taji's the dominant, talking one in Exalted, and Chrissie often takes the lead in Aberrant, and I wanted to make sure Bells could take on that role in this game, especially where Howard (his character) has the 'overconfident' flaw. She will talk to authority, or powerful-seeming characters if he's not around, but if he is she'll stand slightly further back, as if hoping they won't notice her.

Despite this, she has a backbone of steel and will stand up for what she believes in. She is often afraid, but will still try to shield her mind from the Warden of Los Angeles to protect a secret she promised she'd keep, for instance. She'll still agree - offer - to do the things she believes are the right things to do, even when they scare her. After the confidence of Taji and the relative indestructableness of Chrissie (mega stamina how much?), I've enjoyed playing someone who is in danger, understands she's in danger, and does her best anyway.

She's not afraid to ask questions, or ask for help when she needs to, especially from her mentor. This is in contrast to Howard, who's almost desperate to prove himself capable and competent so will do everything he can to solve a problem by himself. It makes sense given their family histories: he's estranged from his pushy, overbearing parents who didn't understand him, while she's close with her family (even if they're the other side of the world) and was raised with love and respect and freedom in her decisions about her future (even if her parents weren't enamoured with the idea of her trying to become a film star, they were prepared to support her decision - although they found out about her decision after she was already in LA, which I think shows that determination and backbone that's hidden by her quietness and desire to please).

The biggest surprise was in realising she'd been in LA for 2 year or so without managing to make any friends. She's nice - sweet - but her determination to make it as an actress followed by her awakening as a Mage never gave her the time. She makes friends as the game progresses, but still doesn't have many.

What about you? Let me know below!

#RPGaDay2018: Day 13 - Describe how your play has evolved

When I first saw this question, my firstthought was "my play hasn't changed that much" - the first games I played in were immersive, ongoing campaigns where I was complimented for my commitment to the world and the layers I brought to the character. I love acting and storytelling, but am not very good at taking on a character written by someone else or at editing a story by myself, so roleplay suits me.

There have been changes: uni was the peak of my roleplay experience in terms of number of games: as well as long term campaigns, I played in one-off games and short campaigns, and had the time, energy and opportunity to be playing in multiple sessions a week. It was amazing and I miss it. These days, I play weekly most of the time, alternating between 2 groups each alternating between a range of long term campaigns. It's pretty good, but inevitably sessions are cancelled from time to time as real life gets in the way, and when you're effectively playing that game fortnightly, it can feel a little sad (don't get me wrong: the biggest reason I'm not playing more frequently across a week is that circus is going really well and I love that. I guess I wish I and my gaming buddies had longer weekends).

Other changes have been the amount of notes I take - I used to take very few, able to rely on my memory with pretty good accuracy. As I've got older (and the fibro fog more persistent) this hasn't been possible, and I've needed to take notes. I used to be in awe of the players who could detailed notes while still fully engaged in the game: now I am that player: that's where most of the detail for my game write-ups posted here comes from. Blogging the games is new too, and something I really enjoy (even if it takes me a while to get started).

The biggest way my play has evolved is in the type of characters I play. While I've always played occasionally outside it, especially when I was at uni I settled into a comfortable habit of playing kind characters, often healers, who wear their innocence like a kind of mental shield and are generally insatiably curious. Kella of the Final Fantasy-inspired game, Kirri from the uni LARP ('Aberddu Adventures'), Plays from Werewolf, Svetlana from Pathfinder and most recently Ragna from Mage are key examples of this archetype. Compassion over conviction, to look at it from an Exalted point of view (although Kella, at least, had very strong conviction). They're young - generally late-teens, certainly not more than human-equivalent early 20's - they're kind, they often have a little magic and a slight trickster side them (Plays was technically a Theurge, but we decided it must have been a very thin crescent to explain her Ragabash tendencies), but their biggest feature is that child-like nature. They can all, with varying degrees of success, be mature and serious, but they at least come across as very innocent. It's a true part of their nature, but for Kella and Svetlana in particular it is more of a shield than the extent of them, and Ragna's learning to apply the same. For Plays and Kirri, they didn't have as strong a mature side and were dominated by their innocence.

I deliberately moved away from this with Chrissie, as mentioned the other day on "how gaming has changed you", and worked to play someone firmer, someone who doesn't pry (however innocently) into the lives of others; someone who's a clear leader. That flowed into Taji - she regained a lot of the curiosity (what can I say? I enjoy playing curious characters. It's a good way to explore the game world), but lost some of the kindness (I'm hoping to start building it into her; the game's at a point where I think she has enough people around her who matter enough to her who are kind and compassionate to justify it), and is definitely not innocent (well, until it comes to love and sex, at least). I'm enjoying playing these characters, and have found I enjoy playing that maturity more frequently more than I expected. It's given me more confidence to explore different character traits, though I also draw from experience of characters that didn't work so well, or characters that I haven't enjoyed playing alongside: I will always, now, try to play a character who can be a good team player (though not necessarily making that their defining feature, anymore), but I'm also quite happy to take the lead. I enjoy mothering other characters - I can see this being my next progression!

What about you? Don't forget to add a link to your response below.

#RPGaDay2018: Day 6 - How can players make the world seem real?

This is one where I'm especially looking forward to what other people have to say - it's something I want to be good at, as a player, so I'm hoping to pick up tips.

For me, at the moment, I think it probably boils down to the way you interact with the world. You can accept the quest, slaughter your way through the undead-filled dungeon, retrieve the macguffin, and return to receive your reward. So far, so computer game. Or, you can explore how you know the quest-giver, what you know about them. You can befriend them (and not just because a quest-giver is a useful person to have on your list of contacts). Then in the dungeon, as you slaughter you can investigate why it's so filled with undead (which might lead to more adventure hooks). If appropriate, you can make the macguffin more personal to you, too. So, if you're rescuing someone, talk to them, find out about how they ended up kidnapped, find out where they're from. Return to the quest-giver and don't just receive the reward (or argue with the quest-giver in the hopes of receiving a bigger reward just for the sake of it - that's one character interaction I see often and find boring), but recount tales of your heroism, or otherwise continue the interaction you started before you left.

In our Mage game, Howard and Ragna stole an RV and driving from Los Angeles to Chicago (to get holy water to fight vampires). Howard is LA born and bred, while Ragna is from Norway originally and has only seen LA in the US. Ragna's the better driver, but doesn't have a valid US licence. That didn't seem as important in a stolen RV, so they were driving in shifts. It was late evening, early night, and Howard's shift was ending. He pulled over on the side of the road at a safe spot, to stop for the night. It was eerie - tall pines grey in the gloaming, darkening fast as heavy clouds came over. The headlights picked up silver threads of rain.

A sudden thud against the RV woke Ragna with a start - she looked round to see Howard even more startled. Even his cat, Marcel, seemed disconcerted. Another rattling thud shook the truck. The storm didn't bother her, but Howard's fear spread through Ragna: she'd never seen him show any signs of it before. His face was white with it now and she wondered what he'd seen. She peered through the windows, but couldn't make anything out in the blackness beyond the pelting rain.

The next rattling was accompanied by an unearthly howling, which snapped Howard into action: he leapt back into the driver's seat and Ragna buckled in beside him, trying to calm her companion as she brought up a google maps route to the nearest official truck stop. Once there, he stepped outside and smoked an entire packet of cigarettes.

It was just a storm, but Howard had no idea what a storm was like outside a city. Ragna knew very well, but was infected by his fear. Our GM afterwards said he'd half-intended to have us attacked by werewolves, but the way we engaged with and expressed the experience meant he changed his mind.

So that's my advice: get curious about the world. React to it. Use the scenery. Make friends with the NPC's. Believe in it.

If you're taking part this year, I'd love it if you'd include a link to your reponse in the comments below. Look forward to hearing from you! 

Ragna Halvorsen aka Reagan Stone

We genned our Mage characters last night! Took hours....

Bells (aka Kito/Adam in Exalted/Aberrant) is playing a member of the Order of Hermes, while I'm one of the Euthanatoi, both recently completing their initiations. One thing that amused us at the end of character gen was when we realised he's playing a scientist, estranged from his family (like my Chrissie in Aberrant), while I'm playing an actor who's moved to LA from Europe (like his Adam in Aberrant...). Our Aberrant characters are rich and well-respected, while our baby mages are unknowns, struggling to make ends meet.

Here's my concept:

Ragna Halvorsen

Born and raised in northern Norway, Ragna discovered a passion for acting when away at school and knew she had to make it her career. In this, she was following in her grandmother's footsteps, who left her young children (including Ragna's mother) in her sister's care and moved to LA, where she found success as a film actress. Finishing compulsory education at the age of 16, Ragna went to stay with her to give her company and hopes to follow in her footsteps.

Her hometown is quiet, the kind of place where everyone knows everyone else and will help when needed, but respects privacy. Family is important - her grandmother's action was particularly scandalous! Her mother is a website developer and her father a photographer; she has siblings, but I've not figured them out yet. She misses her family and friends a little, staying touch mostly using the internet, but is too busy to spend much time on homesickness. The town is vaguely Christian, but with a deep, almost pagan superstitious side brought on by the climate.  She's well-versed in Nordic mythology. 

That climate! The summer's midnight sun rarely breaches the clouds, and in the winter its light tinges the horizon but otherwise there's darkness. The sounds of the wilderness make it easy to believe in spooks and fairies, so seeing such things growing up surprised no one. Her secondary schooling involved moving to a more southern town, but she still isn't used to the heat and brightness that met her when she reached LA (she has a minor phobia of sunburn, having been warned repeatedly before leaving that it causes cancer, and constantly applies suncream to protect against it). The crowds and nosie of LA have also overwhelmed her, triggering her awakening (the actual awakening and various aspects of initiation are things we'll learn more about in flashbacks as we play, once we know the characters a bit better).

She's an eternal optimist - her paradigm is "It's all good - have faith". I've made her affiliation sphere Life, but I'm torn between that and Entropy and keep changing my mind. I think Entropy works slightly better with the belief that positive thinking will bring positive results, so I might switch... I put some other spheres in too, but forget which (time, correspondence and mind, I think; we were given an extra freebie sphere because our GM is nice like that).

For practice, she combines Yoga with Crazy Wisdom. I can't remember all the instruments I picked, but voice is important and I added runes even though they aren't listed under either practice to reflect the way she interprets Euthanatoi principles through her understanding of Norse mythology: part of Euthanatoi intiation includes undergoing physical death, which was an ordeal Odin undertook to learn the knowledge of runes.

She's alert and quick-minded (mental stats primary: perception 4 (uncanny insight), int 3, wits 3), and charming and beautiful (social stats secondary: charisma 3, manipulation 1, appearance 4 (pallid beauty)), but fairly average physically (physical stats tertiary: strength, dex & stamina all at 2). Under abilities, I made talents primary, knowledges secondary and skills tertiary, with a focus on the things that will help her develop as an actress and a mage.

As she's first language Norwegian, I had to take a languages merit for her to speak English. To an American ear, she probably sounds British. A Brit will hear a slight accent they may struggle to place (we don't hear Scandinavian English that often), as well as the inflection she's picked up from living in LA for 2 and a half years.

As well as the sunburn issue, we reskinned 'confused' to be 'naive' to reflect her fish out of water status in LA. She's also got a minor enemy, a flaw I've never taken before so was easily talked into (I've come to really enjoy giving GM's something like that to play with). I think there was something else, but I forget what.

Her mentor (someone we'll meet in our first session) is invested in her (3 point background), and her avatar is powerful (I think I put 5 in it) - I've suggested a Questing avatar with a raven form. I've also put a couple of points into Past Lives. She has no resources: the roles she's managed to get so far have all been as an extra, so she makes ends meet as a waitress. She lives with her grandmother (whom she calls Mormor); we said this should be a background or merit, but I forgot to buy it so need to switch out sanctuary.

I'm looking forward to building a relationship with Bells's character. He's a European American native of LA, so probably won't realise she's not British until he hears her speaking with her grandmother - that's also likely how he'll learn her name is 'Ragna', as she's anglicised it to 'Reagan' in the hopes of getting more work. It'll be fun, too, because he's well-educated and scientifically-minded, which means he's going to use words that just aren't in her vocabulary.