Children of the Mind: Campaign Idea

[The Great Nevareh]

I've always wanted to do a campaign using the Mage: The Ascension core rules but I could never figure out how to do it while remaining true to the Mage world setting and canon, since the World of Darkness is so complex and depressing.
Well, I've figured out how to resolve the problem: Scrap the World of Darkness! Feeling sorry for yourself is only fun for so long, and honestly Mage has the potential to be a blast if the entire setting weren't hinged on making it more austere and serious.

Anyway, the setting (which is slightly altered from our own world because I like to fantasize):
The year is 2000, Common Era, (Or Anno Domini if you're anal-retentive), and the month is December- William Clinton is in the last months of his presidency, and President-Elect Gore is set up to take his place after a victory in the supreme court over George W. Bush resulted in a re-count of the votes in Florida, followed by an impeachment of then-Governor Jeb Bush and many members of his administration for improper voting practices. The government works the way the founding fathers intended, with the value of debate overriding the value of party dictate, and the general satisfaction with the enfranchisement of the people of the United States of America is higher than ever after a 97% voter turnout for the election.
(Okay, I'm done preaching- none of the above really has much of anything to do with the campaign setting itself.)
In the Washington Metropolitan Area, as well as around the world, things are... well, normal. People wander around, doing their things, and the world seems about as mundane as it can get.
But, beneath the surface, a battle wages... Between the various supernatural elements of the world. What they're fighting about is rather mundane- Turf wars, protection fees, borrowed lawnmowers that were never returned- but the presence of super-natural crime means that there are super-natural crime fighters.
And that is where Dr. Quacer comes in.
Well, sort of.
Maybe.
Kind of.
And I guess there are plenty of other people aside from Dr. Quacer, but... meh. They're not important. At least, not right now.
Anyway, Dr. Quacer.
Dr. Quacer, a premier Son of Ether and honorary member of the Order of Hermes, is an electronic personality that organizes and dispatches a group of young people with... "talents"... to act as a balancing force in this somewhat secret world or intrigue, mayhem, and people who turn blue because they didn't do something quite right.

This is where you come in.
As local college students who recently awakened to their powers, you are members of this group that is directed by the enigmatic Dr. Quacer. As mages in a non WoD world, secrecy isn't a matter of survival, but a matter of convenience. You'll find yourselves parading all over the Washington Metropolitan Area, as well as to the spirit and cyber worlds, to do battle with... well, the wierdos of the universe. You have to find a balance between your secret life and a somewhat normal life, destroy the forces of the people who do stuff that isn't nice, manage to get a passing grade in Philosophy, keep a stable relationship with your significant other, sleep enough not to get sick, and a million other things that make up your life.

Anyone find this even slightly interesting? <p>[---------------------------]
"There is great disorder under Heaven, and the situation is excellent."
-Mao Tse-Tung

"I eat the talking bees because I am George Washington Christ"
-From "Bob the Ball"</p>

[Spleen]

"Children of the Mind" is a book by Orson Scott Card. It's the last book in the Ender series. It's also considered by many to be worthless crap (I disagree). I'd recommend changing the name of this RP, so people don't think it's about Ender's Game.

...and I don't think I'm doing this, mostly because I don't want to have to learn a new system right now. <p>-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"If a tree falls in the middle of a forest and no one's around to hear it, it was obviously the work of ninja."
-Darkknight

"Two men entered, and...both men left, but not before talking for ninety minutes."
-Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, on the first presidential debate.</p>

[The Great Nevareh]

I picked the title because it's an effective fusion of two ideas, one being the center of Mage- a freed mind is capable of anything, and the other being the "Children of the Atom," which is a nickname for Marvel's Mutants. Though, I guess a different title might be in order- I consider his work to have become significantly less... good... in the Ender series after Speaker for the Dead.

Children of the Mind is the one with the obsessive-compulsive Sinic geniuses, right? <p>[---------------------------]
"There is great disorder under Heaven, and the situation is excellent."
-Mao Tse-Tung

"I eat the talking bees because I am George Washington Christ"
-From "Bob the Ball"</p>

[wkz]

Ender's game --(much future later)> Speaker for the Dead -> Xenocide -> Children of the Mind

v^ (concurrent)

Ender's shadow --(after Ender left)> Shadow of the Hegemon -> Shadow Puppets


Children of the Mind is the conclusion of the "future" part of the Ender's series... and yes, its the one with the obsessive-compulsive geniuses.

I do not like that "arc" as much as Bean's story. Still I think the first book (Ender's Game) wins all the other books in the entire series, hands down...

As for the RP, any link to the system that it uses? <p>

---

Hmmm... A deviantart account, and nothing inside :(
</p>Edited by: wkz at: 12/15/04 4:44

[Molokidan]

I'm definitely interested in this RP, just 2 questions though:

1. Is this limited to those familiar with the set of rules? If so, I guess I can't join, because I have never played the real game before. And I guess if it's not, I'm going to need to read the rules.

2. (This may very well be answered if the results from Question 1 are good) What sort of superpowers are we talking about here? Summoning, mind control, or just your standard "I can shoot fireballs" powers?

Otherwise, this sounds very interesting and open-ended. <p>---------------

"Well slap a dead fish on me and call me Molokidan!"</p>

[The Great Nevareh]

Mage: The Ascention uses a system that's almost entirely about creative use of your known powers. You have a set of basic powers that you can combine in any series of ways to get any series of effects, be they summoning, time compression, transubstantiation to the cyberworld, telepathy, flight, or untrained ventriloquism.

The rulebook is daunting, but for this campaign you only need to know about one tenth of what they have written down since I'm throwing out the universe it's in. I'd have to make a few nips and tucks to the rules so the game still flows, but those I've already conceptually made to the system.

The various outings as a group would be primarily chat-based, since Mage's potential for action is rather high. Thinking of new ways to combine your Time powers with your Force powers on-the-fly is really quite fun, since the system is meant to be open-ended to stimulate creativity. Rather than one way or approach to doing things, the system fosters the idea that at any time you can try something completely different, such as in the middle of a heated session of combat you can suddenly change your tactics to magically-assisted seduction or mentally trapping word-games.

You also don't have to follow the traditional template for "Mage"- you can be stupid with bulging muscles and still be a rather talented magician who uses their powers to supplement their own physical prowess.

I absolutely love this system. It's like a mind game where you actually get something if you win!

It's a White Wolf game, and no I don't have any links to system reference documents because I'm worthless, and knowing the system is not a prerequisite for joining this campaign, though a tiny bit of familiarity is a prerequisite for playing. Anyway, I'm testing the waters. <p>[---------------------------]
"There is great disorder under Heaven, and the situation is excellent."
-Mao Tse-Tung

"I eat the talking bees because I am George Washington Christ"
-From "Bob the Ball"</p>

[Molokidan]

Alright, so this'll be chat-based? If it starts after Dec. 8 or so, I can definitely do it. I'll be busy during christmas vacation, though.

As for powers, this does sound pretty interesting. So, if my character was a materialization user, how would that fly? <p>---------------

"Well slap a dead fish on me and call me Molokidan!"</p>

[Mechanisto]

Ahh, mage...

Different powers are called "Spheres," and are measured in seven levels (If memory serves me). Each level in a sphere gives you a new sort of control over a particular domain; early levels allow you to detect and measure. Moderate levels allow you to change properties on progressively larger scales. Later levels allow you to create and destroy elements completely. There are only a dozen or so spheres (also if memory serves me).

Here's an example. One of the "Magical Spheres" is called Matter. It allows you to measure and alter the properties of physical matter, or even create and destroy it at higher levels. How you use it is completely up to you, and how creatively you can explain your actions.

Out of my limitied experience, my favorite sphere is correspondence, which allows you to affect space and the transmission of information and materials.

With enough points in Correspondence and Matter, you can make a container thats larger on the inside than it is on the outside, bend a gun barrel backwards to point at the wielder without any visual evidence, or teleport inorganic materials.

With enough points in Corespondence and Life, you can teleport living things. With even MORE points in Correpsondence and life, you can teleport parts of living things.

The best trick uses Correspondence, Mind, and Life... you can create multiple duplicates of yourself that all share a similar conciousness, but act independantly. Life allows you to make the clones, and Correspondence and Mind allows you to share mental capacities over a distance. <p>---
My head moves around inside the bag, it's not like I'm drinking through my actual eye socket.</p>

[Mechanisto]

I just remembered I have a character for this system that I only used once. If I can find the sheet, would that be acceptable? Making a new character wouldn't be hard, but I would need some assistance from you.

Great scott. It sounds like I'm interested in this RP. So it goes, I guess. <p>---
My head moves around inside the bag, it's not like I'm drinking through my actual eye socket.</p>

[The Great Nevareh]

It probably wouldn't since I need to plop a bunch of restrictions on the characters in order for anything to make sense in a non-WoD setting. The concept you can keep, as well as most of the numerical data, but the character will probably need to go through hefty changes before they fit into my universe. I'll post character criteria if I get three or four people. <p>[---------------------------]
"There is great disorder under Heaven, and the situation is excellent."
-Mao Tse-Tung

"I eat the talking bees because I am George Washington Christ"
-From "Bob the Ball"</p>

[FlamingDeth]

I find a tenuous interest in this, unsure how long it'll last though. <p>
<hr width="70%"><center>This month's "Transformer of the Month" is Grimlock in a Santa hat! He's quite jolly.</center></p>

[The Great Nevareh]

Contact me via AIM. <p>[---------------------------]
"There is great disorder under Heaven, and the situation is excellent."
-Mao Tse-Tung

"I eat the talking bees because I am George Washington Christ"
-From "Bob the Ball"</p>

[FlamingDeth]

That would be a lot easier if I ever saw you on AIM. <p>
<hr width="70%"><center>This month's "Transformer of the Month" is Grimlock in a Santa hat! He's quite jolly.</center></p>

[The Great Nevareh]

And that is the secret to enlightenment. <p>[---------------------------]
"There is great disorder under Heaven, and the situation is excellent."
-Mao Tse-Tung

"I eat the talking bees because I am George Washington Christ"
-From "Bob the Ball"</p>