Ideas: The Roleplaying

OmegaPaladin's Game Ideas

In all cases of mixed Mage / other supernatural games, Mages start with Arete 3, other supernaturals get 15 extra bonus points

Mage: The Mobius Project

"When we began the Mobius Project, we had the greatest of intentions. With the combination of the most potent magics and the finest electrodyne science, we would break the technocracy's stranglehold on the the consensus. The working required more Quintessence than any of us could imagine, and was an astonishing success. Paradox lessened its bite, and the technocrats lost their edge. There was only one problem, one variable we did not consider: The Nephandi. The Fallen Ones took advantage, and laid siege to the world. Much as in the Second, the Third World War saw the Technocracy and Tradition fight side by side out of necessity. The Nephandi were driven into the shadows, and the world was left in ruin. Was it worth it? That's a question for the philosophers. What matters is survival and rebuilding. Perhaps our fate now lies in the Arcana Squads."

Heavily inspired by Silent Mobius, this is a multi-tradition Mage game where the Ascension war is over, where mages and scientists work to stop Descension. The Arcana Squads are mostly traditions mages, with a handful of rogue technocrats, while the actual technocrats tend to work on a larger scale. Paradox is much weaker here, and most devices and artifacts can be made almost coincidental.

Werewolf: Wise Guys in the Fallen City

"Glad you all showed up. It took a lot of trust and desperation, and probably more the latter. So yeah, let's get to the point. I was the Don of the local werewolf mafia. The reason you didn't hear about us before is because we don't shit where we live, and we actually fight something worse than gangsters - Pentex. Basically, think Captain Planet villains with a side of Cthulhu and Hell, and you know what we deal with. We were holding our own, until suddenly a bunch of cyborg commandos straight out of fucking Terminator showed up alongside the horrible gribbly monsters. Also, all of our electronic assets ceased to exist. Now, my nephew, he is what some old folks call a Namer, and what a lot of you call a Dreamspeaker. And he told that both our family and his wizard hat and ninja friends all got hit by the same team - the cyborgs work for the Syndicate, which is part of the global no-fun police they call the Technocracy. Even the suckheads got their shit wrecked by a bunch of psychos suckheads who look like they are huffing Pentex exhaust. I think some of you are starting understand why I called you here."

"We all thought our enemies were the big threat. Well, all of enemies seem to be working together, despite supposedly hating each other. I plan to take this damned city back, and I'm taking anyone who is on board. Our family has lots of room for all kinds, as the bastards created plenty of vacancies. Are you in?"

Mafia story featuring mages, werewolves, and other shifters as the primary focus point. Think of a more realistic GTA type of game, but the villains are a mix of HitMarks, cyborgs, and formori.

Small Town Wizards

Away from the crush of the big city, a small group of mages just moved in, about to open a new front in the Ascension War. Here, you fight consensus itself, as you work to move the community out of sync with the technocratic paradigm. But there are foes waiting, monsters lurking in the dark, and the ever present threat of attracting the ire of the Technocracy. Any tradition would work, but should be able to fit in with a rural community. If you want, you could play another supernatural - this is prime Changeling territory, for one.

Changelings to the Horizon

You just found out about a realm of wonders, where inspiration is everywhere, and hope remains alive. However, it is off limits to you, and some band of punks wants to blow it up! It's a battle between Changelings and Hollow Ones, trying to save the Horizon from the people wanting to destroy it. How do you let mages know when they generally don't know about your existence?

Mage: The Last Refuge of Scoundrels

Some of the Awakened work for the traditions of Magic or crafts. Some are enlightened scientists of the Technocracy or follow darker paths. But you are different. You work for a branch of the US Government, helping the government deal with the supernatural. Unlike normal magi, you are backed by the government, with the ability to requisition serious hardware. Occult knowledge is a lot harder to come by, however. All non-magical backgrounds are at half cost, and can be shared freely. For example, you might have access to secret NSA databases or have a Green Beret mentor, but learning magic is on you.

Aeon Trinity

Post-apoc sci-fi game with cool tech. I'd like to combine it with a larger, less grimdark universe

OmegaPaladin's oWoD Rule Suggestions

Firearms

Aiming with a scope adds 2 dice per turn spent aiming, and doubles the cap on extra dice.

Laser Sights reduce difficulty for aiming at close range, and reduce difficulty for dodges if they are visible

Some firearms are extremely simple to operate, such as revolvers, pistol / light caliber carbines, etc. and inherently are lower difficulty (5 or 6)

A character can spend time becoming familiar with a firearm. This involves some time on the range, ammo, and preferably an instructor. This results in a single level of difficulty reduction with that specific firearm and those of the same model. This costs 1 xp, but depending on GM decision, it can be included in the XP spent to raise firearms skill.

Burst fire adds 2 dice to a firearms roll, without raising the difficulty. However, any botch will result in a jammed gun, which requires a full action and roll to clear

Suppression is triggered whenever a weapon is used on full auto, even if no successes are scored. It may also be triggered if a large volume of fire is delivered to a single area. Every character in the zone of fire must succeed on a willpower or courage roll or abort to a dodge.

Merits / Flaws

Plucky

The bleakness of the world will not break you, for you are confident in your beliefs. You know there is still something pure worth fighting and living for, an ideal under the grit and grime. You gain one automatic success on all Willpower rolls, which can only be negated by a botch. On the other hand, you are expected to try to live up to your ideals.

Plucky and its counterpart True Love can be used against humanity loss for Kindred, and Banality checks from Changelings.

Edge of Awakening

You have been familiar with unknown occult phenomena or advances in science (this should be reflected in your stats) and have probably come into contact with mages or enlightened scientists. In another universe, you might have been recruited to the Ascension War. However, fate had other plans for you. Now, you have become an immortal predator or enforcer of Gaia, no longer truly human, but your knowledge still remains. This lets you purchase certain Mage-only skills, such as Do or Hypertech, and you can roll your skills to attempt to understand an artifact or vulgar effect that you witness. This can lead to interesting situations when the Virtual Adepts find out their new prospect is a Tremere cybermancer, a Glass Walker inventor who manages to reverse-engineer a Technocrat weapon, or a Kuei-Jin seeking enlightenment through Do.

Resources Background

Resources background is a recurring, reliable source of money. They are generally secure, reliable sources of income, such as a job that largely does not interfere with the character's adventures. I recommend using the Exalted style resources - you can buy reasonable quantities of anything under your resources rating, then 1 item at your resource rating for per month. Anything above the rating is a problem.

Mages and Enlightened Scientists generally are not lacking for funding. A young mage could easily turn lead into gold, or obtain a winning lottery ticket, while an enlightened scientist has numerous hidden accounts available. What, then, does resources buy you? Resources background purchases are generally secure from outside interference, either from the Syndicate or your boss. They are clearly yours, and purchases made with them are part of consensus - paradox does not effect them any more than the rest of the world. They are also can used to make purchases from shop that only sell to mages or other supernaturals.