from Ascension to Awakening

[nerdwerds]

I'm running a Mage: the Ascension game that follows pretty closely to the "Judgment" storyline in the Ascension book. However, at the end of the story, I am planning for the discovery of the tenth sphere* to change reality into the world described in Mage: the Awakening. The PCs will be the only ones who notice anything is different

Comments

[electricpaladin]

Two questions: how and why?

How?

There are a lot of differences between Ascension and Awakening, and not just the system or the arrangement of the splats. There are huge setting differences that have consequences for the game's tone and themes. How is reality going to stop being flexible... but in a way that makes magic more a part of reality (because it goes from a subjective belief to an objective reality, albeit a hunted and oppressed one)? How is it that the Exarchs will appear? Why will the Traditions change? Where will the Paths and Orders come from?

If you're going to do tis, you're going to need to weave in lots, lots, and lots of clues, hints, and justifications or your changes will seem arbitrary and weird. Try to identify every major change (every major alteration in the history, every metaphysical change, every political change) and foreshadow it heavily so it seems natural

[nerdwerds]

How

[the_pangolin]

I think it makes sense and it's a really good idea. It needs to be carefully and properly executed, but it's definitely do-able -- especially with that Twilight Zone element added in. I mean, they will LITERALLY remake the world. How will that affect them emotionally? Psychologically? Spiritually? This could be devastating, especially if they belong to *any* of the religious Traditions! How do you cope with a literal change in the reality paradigm when you KNOW that it wasn't always this way

[nerdwerds]

Exactly! I think you get it.
I have five players so I'm actually toying with the idea of making each of them physical representatives of the five towers. I don't know how I would work that in, but it's very tempting.

[count_nemo]

A few years back I toyed with "Awakening Ascendant," a setting which is sort of a blend of MTAw and MTAs. May be useful to you as sort of a halfway point between the two, a partial transition.