Customer Reviews

Mage Astral Realms

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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First, the book was written primarily for Mage: the Awakening, and that's its primary target. However, any World of Darkness game can use part of it. It fits especially well with Second Sight and Changeling. The crossover information is far better written than in Tome of Mysteries. (Where a rather knee-jerk "they don't interact" sort of feel was prevalent.) The common planes of creatures other than human and the ways each interacts with these levels of being are described more fully.

The description of each area describes its function and how interaction with it affects the world. The dangers of each area are described in broad terms, and the point is made of how broad each area is. While this often is done in so vague a manner as to be useless, here it was written rather well. Multiple examples the various things described help give a good feel for the sorts of things encountered.

The book gives ideas and methods for interaction. The worst part was when describing the interaction in one plane to affect others, they failed to describe any examples of the connections between realms. They thoroughly describe the importance of such connections, but fail to describe how the manifest or are made/destroyed.

The new spells make the astral realms far more accessible than the base Mage did. I agree with the move, but some of the base book rote effects should be reviewed in light of the new spells. (The shift was intentional, and briefly discussed. To paraphrase: There is little reason to preclude mages from something that can lead to a good story when the point of the game is to create a story.)

I suggest that this is one of the most useful of the supplements that has been released. It describes an area worth encountering and learning from, and has many new dangers and snares to avoid. I found the book rich with ideas for stories.

If I were to recommend books for an aspiring Mage storyteller, the order would be: World of Darkness, Mage the Awakening, Astral Realms, Tome of Mysteries, Intruders: Encounters From the Abyss

Other books of value include: Book of Spirits, Legacies: The Ancient, Legacies: The Sublime, and the order books.

This book is one of the more popular supplements to expand the mage rpg line. It presents rules for allowing mage characters to enter the astral worlds of mage. It also helps storytellers to run stories based on the fantastical realms of the universal subconscious.

In sum, this supplement offers up an excellent treatment of the Astral Realms for Mages, with new spells, new magic items for dealing with the Astral Planes and guidelines for what can be encoutered and expected there.