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Mage: The Ascension Storytellers' Screen and Mage: Storyteller's Companion (for Mage: The Ascension revised edition)

First part: The Storytellers' Companion:

Okay, I'll be the first to admit it. Sometimes my reviews are biased as hell. I go into the book expecting to hate it (or love it), and if I'm dead set on something, anything to the contrary is minimized, and anything complimenting my expectations is magnified.

That being said, I expected to hate the Mage Storytellers' Companion. Only, the thing is, I didn't. I was quite impressed with it.

The structure

The book is organized in the standard white wolf format. And as an introductory book for this line, it's not bad at all.

Timeline
It begins with a time-line of the Ascension war--from prehistorical shamans through the Christian era, the Renaissance, and the current day. It was blissfully brief--only eight pages--but it covered a lot of ground. If you don't have a clue about the mage setting, this bit will help immensely.
Backstory
Talks about the changes in the Mage setting. The new changes. Like, the ones since second edition. The Nukes in India, the Avatar Storms, the masters' exodus/disappearance, and other, more subtle changes are covered. Whether these things work for you or not, it's still a brief overview, and you can throw away some of the setting-stuff, anyway.
The Disparate
This covers the traditions and crafts that are gone, now. Or in hiding. Or never were. Hey, it's Mage. I loved reading of the Bata'a, and felt that the subtleties of the Vodoun were treated fairly well. The Hem-Ka Sobk and the Kopa Loei both got my attention. It's wonderful to see crafts and traditions that are not all western or middle-European in descent. Africa, Egypt and Hawaii are represented well. Of course, you've also got the Ahl-i-Batin are back, and we get more on this intriguing group. There are others--Taftani, Templars and Sisters of Hipployta... good. But I was left wondering why these ones were chosen for inclusion, and not others. I get the feeling it was for regional diversity. Not that there's anything wrong with that...
Spirits and Bygones
Now this is the real reason I expected to hate it. I admit to being a Werewolf fan, and I like how werewolf deals with spirits. I wasn't expecting much here. Though, admittedly, I did like The Spirits Way. This section did more for me than I expected. It brought the Mage Spirit world in line (more so) with the Werewolf spirit world. The information on Bygones is sparse, but I was happy to see it was sort of glossed over. Such things should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. I don't think a hard-and-fast system is appropriate. So, kudos there.
Wonders
Artifacts and Inventions, Charms, Fetishes, and Talismans. It's all here. And a new term to me--Periapts. Periapts are like Tass, only the periapt does not need to be destroyed in order to access the power held therein. This section is worth the purchase price of the book, in my mind. Information on recharging wonders, bloodthirsty wonders (i.e.--Stormbringer) and unmaking talismans... Finally, there's some word on Resonance, and what to do with it, how it might affect a mage, and where to go with it. This section includes some words on Familiars, but, in my mind, it didn't do enough. Familiars are such a close part of the mage's life (if there is one), that real care has to be given to it. "Masters of the Art" has some interesting words on Familiars that give a stronger idea of just how close the relationship is...

Overall, a rather succinct book that, I think, does more to rough out the new line developer's approach, than any other book. I hated "masters of the Art" for various reasons, and had some ambivalent feelings about "The Bitter Road." But this book is worth the purchase, and worth the read. Even if you'll rarely use any of the information within. Me, I'll use some of it a whole lot...

The Storyteller Screen Itself

Four-panel screen with a beautiful piece displaying ten folks from the various traditions, etc. Don't ask me to name which are which. I couldn't do it. I'm sure with time, I could pick them out...

But the meat of it is..

It's got to be tough figuring out which tables to include on a GM screen. The results here are kinda mediocre. They weren't the tables I'd use too often. But hey, your mileage may vary.

Combat Maneuvers--ranged and close combat, experience costs, health levels and penalties are all good. But for the most part, I can do without them. The Magical difficulties chart is invaluable--especially for integrating resonance issues. The rest (magical feats, difficulties & success examples, correspondence ranges, gauntlet levels) didn't do much for me. But the standard "Creating Magical Effects" step-by-step is here, and I can use this often to reign in some of the more... excitable players.

Over all, it's a pretty piece, but I won't end up using it much...

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Mage: Storytellers Companion & Screen
Author: Jackie Cassada,Nicky Rea, Kevin Andrew Murphy Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Line: Mage: The Ascension Cost: $14.95 Page count: 69 ISBN: 1-56504-406-1 SKU: WW4601 Playtest Review by Jason W. Tice on 08/29/00. Genre tags: Fantasy Science fiction Modern day Historical Horror Conspiracy Gothic	Mage: The Ascension Storytellers' Screen and Mage: Storyteller's Companion (for Mage: The Ascension revised edition) First part: The Storytellers' Companion: Okay, I'll be the first to admit it. Sometimes my reviews are biased as hell. I go into the book expecting to hate it (or love it), and if I'm dead set on something, anything to the contrary is minimized, and anything complimenting my expectations is magnified. That being said, I expected to hate the Mage Storytellers' Companion. Only, the thing is, I didn't. I was quite impressed with it. The structure The book is organized in the standard white wolf format. And as an introductory book for this line, it's not bad at all. Timeline It begins with a time-line of the Ascension war--from prehistorical shamans through the Christian era, the Renaissance, and the current day. It was blissfully brief--only eight pages--but it covered a lot of ground. If you don't have a clue about the mage setting, this bit will help immensely. Backstory Talks about the changes in the Mage setting. The new changes. Like, the ones since second edition. The Nukes in India, the Avatar Storms, the masters' exodus/disappearance, and other, more subtle changes are covered. Whether these things work for you or not, it's still a brief overview, and you can throw away some of the setting-stuff, anyway. The Disparate This covers the traditions and crafts that are gone, now. Or in hiding. Or never were. Hey, it's Mage. I loved reading of the Bata'a, and felt that the subtleties of the Vodoun were treated fairly well. The Hem-Ka Sobk and the Kopa Loei both got my attention. It's wonderful to see crafts and traditions that are not all western or middle-European in descent. Africa, Egypt and Hawaii are represented well. Of course, you've also got the Ahl-i-Batin are back, and we get more on this intriguing group. There are others--Taftani, Templars and Sisters of Hipployta... good. But I was left wondering why these ones were chosen for inclusion, and not others. I get the feeling it was for regional diversity. Not that there's anything wrong with that... Spirits and Bygones Now this is the real reason I expected to hate it. I admit to being a Werewolf fan, and I like how werewolf deals with spirits. I wasn't expecting much here. Though, admittedly, I did like The Spirits Way. This section did more for me than I expected. It brought the Mage Spirit world in line (more so) with the Werewolf spirit world. The information on Bygones is sparse, but I was happy to see it was sort of glossed over. Such things should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. I don't think a hard-and-fast system is appropriate. So, kudos there. Wonders Artifacts and Inventions, Charms, Fetishes, and Talismans. It's all here. And a new term to me--Periapts. Periapts are like Tass, only the periapt does not need to be destroyed in order to access the power held therein. This section is worth the purchase price of the book, in my mind. Information on recharging wonders, bloodthirsty wonders (i.e.--Stormbringer) and unmaking talismans... Finally, there's some word on Resonance, and what to do with it, how it might affect a mage, and where to go with it. This section includes some words on Familiars, but, in my mind, it didn't do enough. Familiars are such a close part of the mage's life (if there is one), that real care has to be given to it. "Masters of the Art" has some interesting words on Familiars that give a stronger idea of just how close the relationship is... Overall, a rather succinct book that, I think, does more to rough out the new line developer's approach, than any other book. I hated "masters of the Art" for various reasons, and had some ambivalent feelings about "The Bitter Road." But this book is worth the purchase, and worth the read. Even if you'll rarely use any of the information within. Me, I'll use some of it a whole lot... The Storyteller Screen Itself Four-panel screen with a beautiful piece displaying ten folks from the various traditions, etc. Don't ask me to name which are which. I couldn't do it. I'm sure with time, I could pick them out... But the meat of it is.. It's got to be tough figuring out which tables to include on a GM screen. The results here are kinda mediocre. They weren't the tables I'd use too often. But hey, your mileage may vary. Combat Maneuvers--ranged and close combat, experience costs, health levels and penalties are all good. But for the most part, I can do without them. The Magical difficulties chart is invaluable--especially for integrating resonance issues. The rest (magical feats, difficulties & success examples, correspondence ranges, gauntlet levels) didn't do much for me. But the standard "Creating Magical Effects" step-by-step is here, and I can use this often to reign in some of the more... excitable players. Over all, it's a pretty piece, but I won't end up using it much... Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Mage: Storytellers Companion & Screen

First part: The Storytellers' Companion:

The structure

The Storyteller Screen Itself