Pyramid Review
Mage: the Awakening (for the World of Darkness)
Published by White Wolf Game Studio
Written by Kraig Blackwelder, Bill Bridges, Brian Campbell, Stephen Michael DiPesa, Samuel Inabinet, Steve Kenson, & Malcolm Sheppard
Front & Back Cover by Richard Thomas & Katie McCaskill
Illustrated by Michael William Kaluta
400-page three-clor hardcover; $34.99
With Mage: the Awakening, White Wolf Game Studio completes the re-launch and the re-imagining of the original trilogy of the World of Darkness RPGs. Technically, as with Vampire: the Requiem and Werewolf: the Forsaken, it is supplementary setting to the World of Darkness Roleplaying Game, replacing Mage: the Ascension and designed to add a particular supernatural element to a Storyteller's campaign. Unlike the first two, which involve the undead and the theriomorph, this third game has the mortal at its heart . . . but not the mere mortal, because each Mage has Awoken to the truth of the Universe, and as a Willworker, can quite literally impose his Will upon reality.
Whether through exposure to the supernatural or via a dream, his consciousness has been drawn to an isolated Watchtower. If he can mark his name on the walls inside, he has imposed his Will for the first time, and returns a changed person. With an Awoken soul, he is set apart from the sleeping world of mere mortals, knowing its truth and its structure. The world of the mortals, our world, is known as the "Fallen World," and is denied both magic and access to the "Supernal . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: October 5, 2007
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