Customer Reviews

Mage: Ascension (2004)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After reading Time of Judgment and Werewolf: Apocalypse, I was truly looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, this product is a letdown.

The scenario concepts themselves aren't too bad, but the scenario details are where things fall apart. In one, the Nephandi and the Marauders, formerly two of the great "bad guys" of MtA, are shoved to the background in favor of a creature that was mentioned once in one supplement. Another concept--the Psychopomp--wasn't introduced until the Manifesto: Transmissions from the Rouge Council book, and yet plays a huge role in these scenarios. The end result is a bit, as one gamer put it in a forum, like reading a murder mystery and finding that murderer is a character who was introduced in the last three chapters of the book.

The other reviewers have it right: don't buy this book if you're expecting to find out what "ascension" and "the 10th Sphere" are. There's no revelation, or even a lot of guidance to defining them. And make no mistake, these scenarios are Mage: the Apocalypse, not Mage: the Ascension. This is the end of the World in a desperate, painful fashion. If you thought that Ascension was union with the Universe/Nirvana/God/Whatever (and if you've been playing since 2nd ed, you can hardly be blamed for believing this), you'd better start working on your own definition.

My biggest complaint--and I admit that it's a nitpick--is that the book is written as though all the material that came out prior to Mage Revised didn't exist. I knew I couldn't expect my fondly-wished-for final throwdown between the Technocracy and the Traditions for control of Reality (admit it--that would've made a great scenario). But to give such short shrift to those early concepts that made the game great (and, by extension, the players who've supported Mage since it came out eleven years ago) is really sad.

The one saving grace of this book (and the reason it gets two stars instead of one) is Chapter Seven: Designing Ascension. It's a toolbox for for creating custom scenarios for the end of the universe as opposed to using the ones in the book. It includeds optional rules for large-scale combat, crossover ideas for other WoD games (except Changeling! another disappointment!), and storytelling tips on how to run epic, apocalyptic chronicles.

Bottom-line: only buy this if you're a completionist, or manage to find it for dirt-cheap someplace (a used copy in Amazon Marketplace, for instance). Otherwise, borrow it from a friend and read it first before you decide to pay full price for your own copy.

Here's a review that isn't tainted by grudges about the game from internet messageboards or Usenet and isn't inaccurate. In other words, a refreshing change from the other three reviews.

Ascension is pretty uneven, but it is certainly comprehensive. Contrary to what the first review here says, it includes stuff from the very first supplements of the game. I had to look at my old books to understand everything, and this might be a problem. Sometimes the writers just breeze through things that must be 9 or 10 years old.

I didn't get it all the first time I read it. Unlike the other end of the world books it has five scenarios. The first one is excellent and has something to do with nearly *everything* in the game. I liked the Tenth Sphere being a mystery that bound all the Spheres together. It also talks about what Ascension might be, but it's still a big adventure. It looks like it might take a year or more to run on its own and brings back some old characters from the very first Mage books ever published. Every time I've read it it adds some new revelation. I *think* the point that it makes in the end is that everything mages struggle for *is* Ascension, and that the struggle is *supposed* to be there. It's all predestined for humanity to Ascend, so it can divide itself and learn to Ascend again, etc, etc.

I didn't like the other four adventures as much. The "Technocracy wins" scenario is a loose plan of what could happen if the Technocracy reacts to an energency by wiping out magic. Two short scenarios are about an asteroid hitting the earth, which is wierd and cool (you can talk to the spirits of the planets to try and solve it "diplomatically"!?), and one about aliens stealing magic, which is . . . kind of lame.

The last scenario is about the Nephandi taking over the earth. It's well-written, but it introduces an "ultimate bad guy" who nobody can beat and doesn't have any metaphysical elements to it. A big evil guy just beats up the planet. However, it's got a great atmosphere and lots and lots of moments for the characters to shine in a hopeless but heroic struggle against darkness. The only thing really I hated was that they have a bunch of archmages hidden away who have supposedly been sitiing on their asses in Balador for yaers and years. It's sort of stupid.

The book closes with a great chapter on how to run final, epic games and some musings on what Ascension might all be about.

Oh yeah -- the book starts with the continuation of the "Amanda" stories that have been around since the very start of the game. So much for it "ignoring 1st/2nd edition."

I collected Mage books since the 1st edition rule book and really enjoyed the game and concepts behind it. I stopped getting WW books a few years before they decided to end the game lines for a reboot so I was a bit out of the loop with the latest supplements and metaplots for my favorite lines but out of a sense of curiostiy I bought some of the end books just to see how they wrapped things up. Gehenna was a fine way to end Vampire. Not awesome or moving but OK. Werewolf Apocaplypse was by far the best of these end time books and you could tell the writers really wanted to give the fans a proper send off.

I was eager to see what they did with Mage and was left unsatisfied. Many of the defining concepts in the end game scenarios involved things called Pschopomps, something not mentioned in any of the Mage books I owned including all the Tradition books and Technocracy guides. So what are they really and why is such an obviously "new" concept doing all over the book that ends a series that has been going on for years?

Another complaint is that they drop character names and ideas without any point of reference. How about a small index at the end of each scenario telling me where I can find stats or background on a character you just name dropped who plays such a significant role in this scenario? Am I expected to dig though ten years of supplements to find it?

I appreciate the sense of completeness given to the scenarios in that character from way back in 1st edition make appearances and the like but it doesn't really help me if I have to spend so much time trying to find all of this info. Both Gehenna and especially Apocalypse actually took the time to list some of the more important characters and backgrounds for things mentioned in the scenarios.

I also found that all of the scenarios relied heavily on 1 or 2 of the latest supplements so it was sort of annoying that yes there were some references to earlier material but the bulk of the major plot points relied so heavily on two supplements I never read or heard of.

The scenarios were also generally weak. A giant asteroid snuffs out life on Earth? a conflict between aliens not seen since 1st edition and greys from X-Files lore decides Ascension? Pschopomps and Anakim mentioned throughout but with no explantion of just what they mean for the plot?

The final scenario based on Descent instead of Ascension was the only scenario that had any real oomph to it and made me think about how I would actually run it but like others mentioned it brings in a nasty uber powerful bad guy with god like powers you can't beat...who was never mentioned before in 10 years of material or supplements. That's lazy.

Also as a side point good luck running any of these scenarios as a technocratic amalgam. This is heavily slanted in favor of the Traditions and (save for one brief scenario) some scenarios go out of their way to annhilate the Technocracy or punish it.

Overall I would avoid this unless you are a completist. Trust me, any storyteller worth their salt can come up with better Ascension storylines.

Okay, I was aware that White Wolf wanted to kill off the World of Darkness with some spectacular and pricey hardcover books, but at least with Mage I expected *Ascension* as a theme as advertised in the title - and not a handful of merely apocalyptic scenarios with practically zero chance of success for any players who might dare to brave them.

The books contains some world-shattering events which - when played out like described - would be more or less railroading the players along very narrow paths. I'm an ST (and player) who believes in giving more choices, but with most of these scenarios one is forced to stay on a path that doesn't really allow for breaking out, so STing any of this would be out of the question for me withough rewriting the stuff completely.

Ascension itself is barely mentioned at all - only two or three pages in the end of the book give some hints, but they are mostly a cop out, too.

I was utterly disappointed by this book (as with most of the Revised setting, I have to admit - I am a 1st and 2nd ed fan ^_^), and if I weren't a Mage completist who owns every single book of that gameline, I would really consider getting rid of "The Ascension"...

So I have to agree with the former reviewer - buy this book only if you are a completist, or if you liked the mood of hopelessness that was already inserted into Mage with the Revised edition.

as·cen·sion n.

1. The act or process of ascending; ascent.

The authors of this book need to review this definition. Without revealing anything, the stories in this are flat-out poorly considered and lack continuity-checking. In one, for example, they take the excellent work previously done changing one 'adversarial' group into a three dimensional, believable group, and in this they revert to a one-dimensional 'We're sooooo evil' group.

Another disappointing thing about this book is that they hyped the so-called '10th Sphere' - going as far as to include mention not only on the cover, but in the introduction - then it turns out that there IS no revelation about it. Rather, the '10th Sphere' is danced around as plot points.

If you're a Mage or World of Darkness completist, get this book. If you aren't, you probably should consider giving this a pass.