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Mage: Relics of the Past | West Marches Pulp Action
Scour the world to recover magical artifacts stolen by the Nazis in this episodical post-WW2 pulp action adventure of Mage: The Awakening.
$20.00
/ Session
Details
Once / Friday - 11:00 PM UTC
Oct 16
Session Duration / 4 hours
2 / 6 Seats Filled
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Schedule
Meet your party members
2/6
About the adventure
Do you seek the thrill of adventure? Do the mysteries of this world (and beyond) entice you? Do you wish to hunt for stolen magical curios? Then welcome to Mage: Relics of the Past! Come with us for this West Marches game set in the early 1950s as a Mage. One who has Awakened to the truth of the world and can wield that truth as Magic. Join at any time! Players can come and go as their schedule allows without missing out on the action and story. Game sessions have a max of 6 players, however, I do not have an upper limit on how many players can join the campaign. I will be starting with one biweekly session. But I will run sessions more frequently based on player volume and interest. If at least 3 players are interested in an extra one-off session to explore further, then we can schedule that based on availability. ------------------------------------------------- "I know that you are all weary after the war. But I am afraid the work has only just begun. I am reaching out to all Awakened across the globe to assist in a potentially catastrophic development that we have just recently uncovered." "The Monuments Men, men and women dedicated to recovering lost artwork and cultural items stolen by the Naizs, have recovered more than 5 million pieces. It has been discovered that some of those pieces were grimoires, imbued items, Artifacts, and even soul stones. The Mysterium, thankfully, has been able thus far to secure these items from the Sleepers." "However, the truly terrifying part is that the Tremere, immortal soul-devouring Awakened litches, had infiltrated the Nazi party in order to secure these magical items for themselves. If our estimates are accurate, they now have enough magical items and knowledge to potentially rival any of one of our own Orders." "I call upon the Pentacle to heed this call, regardless of your Order, to help us reclaim what the Tremere have stolen. If left unchecked, I fear their corruption could never be undone." Dr. Ireneo Adler Director of Antiquities The Mysterium
Game style
West Marches
Theater of the Mind
Roleplay Heavy
Puzzle / Mystery Focused
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(8)
Less than a year on StartPlaying
31 games hosted
Highly rated for: Knows the Rules, Beginner Friendly, Storytelling
About me
I've been playing and GMing TTRPGs since 2001. The majority of my experience as both player and GM is with the World of Darkness and Dungeons & Dragons. But I have dabbled in a variety of other systems. In addition to TTRPGs I have been a Ren Faire actor from 2011 until 2021. I also participate in a monthly World of Darkness LARP since 2016 to this day. These experiences have helped me to develop more advanced improvisational skills and story pacing. I can quickly read my audience as they react to my performance and make adjustments to further enhance the story. I have a Bachelors in English Literature and am an avid consumer of books as well as media. I've spent the past two years looking for content creators online that speak about the mechanics of storytelling to further educate myself. As part of my IRL job experience, I have developed strong organizational skills as well. I work for a nonprofit mental health company. I focused on providing therapeutic support to youths until 2021 when I switched to a project management position. Tracking schedules, data, and deadlines while maintaining strong communication is what I do for a living and I bring that to the game table. As part of my LARP club I have been responsible for maintaining and enforcing out-of-character safety mechanics. Combined with the therapeutic training I've received I am highly proficient in maintaining a safe and open space for storytelling to flourish while respecting boundaries.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Please review the character creation and custom rules google document before making your character: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ujaS0EGt9rh1DWzr7LM3CyuImdHU_nLNnibms0yjbIw/edit?usp=sharing Character Backstory Outline: You will find this in the custom rules google doc. It is a set of questions to give me the basic idea of who your character is. MECHANICS - Mage: The Awakening (2nd Ed) (M:tA) and the core Chronicles of Darkness (CoD-X) are the only sanctioned books. - Use the standard rules for character creation found on pages 79-83 of M:tA. - Players may not take Supernatural Merits from the CoD-X book. - New characters gain 2 Experience (XP) for each month of the chronicle. 20% (rounded down) of these experience points are Arcane Experience (AXP) instead. (see chart in google doc for details) PATH/ORDER AND ORIGINS - All player characters must have Awakened along one of the Watchtower Paths (Acanthus, Mastigos, Moros, Obrimos, or Thyrsus). -All player characters must belong to one of the Orders of the Pentacle (Adamantine Arrow, Guardians of the Veil, Mysterium, Silver Ladder, or Free Council). - Player characters cannot have been a partial or full supernatural creature before the Awakening. The one exception is a player character may have been a Sleepwalker prior to Awakening. - All player characters must be at least 18 years old.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
- Discord account to access my server, which is where we will be roleplaying via voice/video chat. Discord Server: https://discord.gg/MjnkSZbmnd - Roll20 account, which is used for character sheets and dice rolling. Roll20 Campaign: https://app.roll20.net/join/21813272/c8Sx7A - Google account, to access custom setting & rules documents. Setting/Rules Docs: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ye7vKWx54ZBEGH8Ab9jDD0Vc78-A_IGY?usp=share_link References: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JRb3hu8DCW_EsvtRslt-SnDA8ldGGTPp?dmr=1&ec=wgc-drive-%5Bmodule%5D-goto
What Geo Giannetti brings to the table
THEME & STYLE Mage: Relics of the Past will focus on the themes of loss, rebuilding, and both the joys and horrors of Magic. You will explore ancient ruins, caches of stolen artworks and cultural items, lost temples, and even the other worlds that exist in parallel to our own. Each session will be either self-contained or part of an incremental story that anyone can pick up on. This is to allow flexibility with variable party members. My primary goals during sessions is to maintain focus on the current adventure while giving players room to role play and make choices. Choices which will have an effect on the larger world. The quest goals will be clearly stated to assist with this, while solutions will be open ended for players to accomplish however they see fit. I will maintain a balance between fun action/adventure with the gritty reality of the World of Darkness. Mage is an excellent vehicle for this as discovering the wonders of magic itself is a core aspect of the setting. While simultaneously still existing in grim setting of the World of Darkness. This is not a combat-focused game. However, combat can and will break out. Whenever possible I will offer mediation, but we can always fall back on the dice. AVAIABLE MATERIALS - Access to pdfs of the Chronicles of Darkness (CoD-X) and Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition (M:tA) books. - Several system quick reference guides. - Custom setting/world building documents. - All resources will be made available via google folders and a dedicated resource channel in the Discord server.
Homebrew rules
Rules changes and clarifications can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ujaS0EGt9rh1DWzr7LM3CyuImdHU_nLNnibms0yjbIw/edit?usp=sharing Due to the nature of this game being a globe-hopping 1950s historical story, most of the changes are related to accommodating the system to the setting.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Webcam
Platforms used
Safety
How Geo Giannetti creates a safe table
Players must fill out the Lines & Veils form before being allowed to enter play. In addition I ask that they review the responses that will be posted in the Discord server. X, N, and O's will be digital in the Discord chat or in DM's during the game session. Open Door will also be used as needed. We will have at least one 5 minute break around the halfway point of the game. We will end each game session with Aftercare as well as Stars and Wishes to help bring us back into the real world and to address any issues that arose during play. And to highlight favorite moments as well!!
Content warnings
Safety tools used