Mage: The Awakening, Second Edition - Introduction

From the Back

THE WORLD IS A LIE
Humanity is cursed to a prison of sleep, ignorant of the wonder and danger all around them. Ground down into slavery, by masters they will 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 leas 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 he hidden corners of reality. Armed with your spells, driven by an addiction to the Mysteries, you delve into the secrets of the world. Knowledge has a price, and the dangers are many.

Expectations

This is actually the first of the Onyx Path second edition corebooks I've come to own. I ordered it about six months ago and I haven't read it yet. So I feel like I'm in uncharted territory here. What is the design philosophy that animates the second edition? How is it different than the first? Why was it necessary? I know none of these things.

That's basically why I decided to read these books out of order. So I could come into Mage: The Awakening with my mind as empty as it's going to get. I want to understand the game on its own terms, without constantly comparing it to its predecessors.

And yet . . .

Mage: The Ascension was my favorite of the old World of Darkness games. Mage: the Awakening . . . I also enjoyed (though my favorite nwod game was Changeling). I do have some prior knowledge here, and I will be bringing some prejudices to this reading.

However, I am optimistic. Awakening 1e was like this Gnostic thriller, a game of suspense and uncertainty set in a world ruled by evil, where your highest aspirations are the very crimes the powers that be will use to condemn you. It was probably the most different from its owod counterpart, but nonetheless very satisfying in its own right.

If we're talking about my wishlist for 2e, the only things I really want are a bigger scale and more magic. I like it when wizards get to wiz, and the White Wolf mage games were always a little diffident about their own premise for me to be 100% on board.

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