The Inside Scoop on Gaming

The purpose of this book seems to be to further remove hedge magicians from their roots in the Vampire line and integrate them more fully with Mage. This is does very well, offering a treatment of the differences between sorcery and sphere magic (which Hermetics seem to like to call linear and affinitive magic, respectively) and how the practitioners of each interact within the various magical societies of the World of Darkness, from the Traditions and the Technocracy to the assorted 'crafts' and sorcerous groups.

The first two chapters deal with the world of the sorcerer and seek to integrate the material from the previous edition of Sorcerer with the Mage setting and the groups from the Book of Crafts. This it does fairly well, although the Technocratic end of things is neglected, just as it was in the main book, receiving only a cursory treatment which is repeated later on in the 'nuts and bolts' section. Many of the sorcerous societies previously treated are, sadly, only given a short paragraph, often 'writing them out' as was done with several crafts in the Mage Storytellers Companion. This was likely done for space constraints but is still a little disheartening.

The next three chapters get into the mechanics of things, starting with character creation and then moving into the details of the paths themselves. One perk which I didn't expect was the inclusion of psychic abilities (which I will get into more later). Many options are given to tune the power level of sorcerers to fit the campaign you are running, anywhere from the traditional numina-wielding basic mortals to a full replacement (or competition) for mages. The character creation guidelines are very straightforward, but the inclusion of some of the Mage mechanics seems gratuitous. For example, why does a sorcerer need an Essence? They outright state that it won't really have any but the most subtle effect since the Avatar isn't awakened. Similarly, the Resonance rules are tacked on, just as they were in the main book, with only a vague notion of how they effect game play. Many of the merits and flaws, however, are quite impressive and even useable for Mage, with the ones dealing with the use of mana (the sorcerous term for quintessence, basically) being among the more impressive.

The sorcerous paths are, however, something of a disappointment. The removal of Herbalism as a path separate from Alchemy makes sense and I like the 'paradigm specific' die pool for that path (roll Herbalism, Alchemy, or Chemistry, depending on your approach). However, the fusion of Ephemera, Summoning, and Daimonic Summoning is more problematic. Many powers of the first path are simply lost, with no good substitute, and the list of rituals which was included with it (one of the most extensive in the previous edition) isn't only not converted over to the new system, it is dropped entirely. This is inexcusable. I use Sorcerer primarily for Voodoo at this point and Ephemera was the primary path used. I have found conversion to the revised rules difficult in the extreme. In a similar vein, the inclusion of Daimonic Summoning in the basic Summoning path drops the gradiated progression of the former system and requires level 6 to summon, ward, or bind ANY demons or angels. This is just stupid. Many summoners focus exclusively on demons and angels and it makes no sense to have the path be useless to them until legendary levels. The previous edition allowed summoning of weaker beings at lower levels and reserved level 6 for Satan himself and the more powerful archangels. This makes much more sense and, again, screws up my attempts at conversion as my Kabbalistic summoner NPC's ability to deal with angelic beings is suddenly stripped from him by the new rules.

Moving on to the other paths, further problems are encountered. New paths, like Oneiromancy, are given a very brief treatment, almost too vague to really be of use. Many of the retained paths actually lost a lot of the clarifying explanations that previous editions gave. The Shapeshifting path, for example, had almost twice as much explanatory text and many more options and versatility. The handy chart in the previous edition which listed all of the paths, their die pool, and the willpower cost associated wasn't replicated, losing additional points for convenience.

On top of this, many of the game mechanics are woefully underexplained and, in many cases, the few examples given appear to be wrong! Check out the one under Fortune, in particular. A system of Aspects is added, replicating the 'spending' of successes in Mage, which is a fine idea but is very poorly explained, both in the general treatment of the rules and in the specific paths. For example, it is unclear in the Summoning, Warding, and Binding path whether the first aspect applies only to summoning, or to warding and binding as well. Having finally puzzled out what I believe is the correct interpretation (with the help of one of the contributors), I am also annoyed that the system works in a very counter-intuitive way and one unique to this system. I would have much preferred something closer to what Mage has already, just for consistancy.

The chapter on psychic abilities, however, redeems the book. These powers have been scattered throughout numerous supplements and have never been subject to consistant rules. In this chapter, all of this changes. Over a score of psychic paths are provided, covering the full gamut of psychic phenomena from physical mediumship (ectoplasm, ewww) to the wilder side of things with teleportation. My only gripe with this section is that the introduction mentions that these paths use a lot of willpower, but such costs are not well reflected in the path desscriptions themselves (the sorcerous paths are more expensive and they have ritual requirements on top of that). Otherwise, this section is very well done. Even better, the introduction details options on how to integrate these powers into your game, either as alternative sorcerous paths, or as a separate phenomena entirely.

The book closes out with the obligatory storytelling chapter and a notable lack of a character sheet (a trend which is getting really irritating). Throughout, there is further propagandizing about how sorcerers aren't inferior to sphere mages, just different. Of course, this depends on how you choose to run them.

At any rate, this is a good book which could have been much better with a little more care, attention, and (as always) editing. I would personally be willing to shell out an extra five bucks a book if they'd just hire someone who could write with a little clarity about rules and give some examples and charts. I tend to judge revisions on how much I will need to reference the previous work in order to play the game. Unfortunately, I find WoD: Sorcerer necessary given the shortcomings of this one. However, the psychic section stands quite firmly on its own merits and without reference to previous work.

Sorcery: Style: 2, Substance: 3

Psychic: Style: 4, Substance: 5

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

Sorcerer Revised Edition
Author: Conrad Hubbard, Rick Jones, Heather Grove, and Scott Taylor Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Game Studio Line: Mage: The Ascension Cost: $17.95 Page count: 144 ISBN: 1-56504-439-8 SKU: WW4254 Capsule Review by Eric Christian Berg on 11/28/00. Genre tags: Fantasy Modern day	The purpose of this book seems to be to further remove hedge magicians from their roots in the Vampire line and integrate them more fully with Mage. This is does very well, offering a treatment of the differences between sorcery and sphere magic (which Hermetics seem to like to call linear and affinitive magic, respectively) and how the practitioners of each interact within the various magical societies of the World of Darkness, from the Traditions and the Technocracy to the assorted 'crafts' and sorcerous groups. The first two chapters deal with the world of the sorcerer and seek to integrate the material from the previous edition of Sorcerer with the Mage setting and the groups from the Book of Crafts. This it does fairly well, although the Technocratic end of things is neglected, just as it was in the main book, receiving only a cursory treatment which is repeated later on in the 'nuts and bolts' section. Many of the sorcerous societies previously treated are, sadly, only given a short paragraph, often 'writing them out' as was done with several crafts in the Mage Storytellers Companion. This was likely done for space constraints but is still a little disheartening. The next three chapters get into the mechanics of things, starting with character creation and then moving into the details of the paths themselves. One perk which I didn't expect was the inclusion of psychic abilities (which I will get into more later). Many options are given to tune the power level of sorcerers to fit the campaign you are running, anywhere from the traditional numina-wielding basic mortals to a full replacement (or competition) for mages. The character creation guidelines are very straightforward, but the inclusion of some of the Mage mechanics seems gratuitous. For example, why does a sorcerer need an Essence? They outright state that it won't really have any but the most subtle effect since the Avatar isn't awakened. Similarly, the Resonance rules are tacked on, just as they were in the main book, with only a vague notion of how they effect game play. Many of the merits and flaws, however, are quite impressive and even useable for Mage, with the ones dealing with the use of mana (the sorcerous term for quintessence, basically) being among the more impressive. The sorcerous paths are, however, something of a disappointment. The removal of Herbalism as a path separate from Alchemy makes sense and I like the 'paradigm specific' die pool for that path (roll Herbalism, Alchemy, or Chemistry, depending on your approach). However, the fusion of Ephemera, Summoning, and Daimonic Summoning is more problematic. Many powers of the first path are simply lost, with no good substitute, and the list of rituals which was included with it (one of the most extensive in the previous edition) isn't only not converted over to the new system, it is dropped entirely. This is inexcusable. I use Sorcerer primarily for Voodoo at this point and Ephemera was the primary path used. I have found conversion to the revised rules difficult in the extreme. In a similar vein, the inclusion of Daimonic Summoning in the basic Summoning path drops the gradiated progression of the former system and requires level 6 to summon, ward, or bind ANY demons or angels. This is just stupid. Many summoners focus exclusively on demons and angels and it makes no sense to have the path be useless to them until legendary levels. The previous edition allowed summoning of weaker beings at lower levels and reserved level 6 for Satan himself and the more powerful archangels. This makes much more sense and, again, screws up my attempts at conversion as my Kabbalistic summoner NPC's ability to deal with angelic beings is suddenly stripped from him by the new rules. Moving on to the other paths, further problems are encountered. New paths, like Oneiromancy, are given a very brief treatment, almost too vague to really be of use. Many of the retained paths actually lost a lot of the clarifying explanations that previous editions gave. The Shapeshifting path, for example, had almost twice as much explanatory text and many more options and versatility. The handy chart in the previous edition which listed all of the paths, their die pool, and the willpower cost associated wasn't replicated, losing additional points for convenience. On top of this, many of the game mechanics are woefully underexplained and, in many cases, the few examples given appear to be wrong! Check out the one under Fortune, in particular. A system of Aspects is added, replicating the 'spending' of successes in Mage, which is a fine idea but is very poorly explained, both in the general treatment of the rules and in the specific paths. For example, it is unclear in the Summoning, Warding, and Binding path whether the first aspect applies only to summoning, or to warding and binding as well. Having finally puzzled out what I believe is the correct interpretation (with the help of one of the contributors), I am also annoyed that the system works in a very counter-intuitive way and one unique to this system. I would have much preferred something closer to what Mage has already, just for consistancy. The chapter on psychic abilities, however, redeems the book. These powers have been scattered throughout numerous supplements and have never been subject to consistant rules. In this chapter, all of this changes. Over a score of psychic paths are provided, covering the full gamut of psychic phenomena from physical mediumship (ectoplasm, ewww) to the wilder side of things with teleportation. My only gripe with this section is that the introduction mentions that these paths use a lot of willpower, but such costs are not well reflected in the path desscriptions themselves (the sorcerous paths are more expensive and they have ritual requirements on top of that). Otherwise, this section is very well done. Even better, the introduction details options on how to integrate these powers into your game, either as alternative sorcerous paths, or as a separate phenomena entirely. The book closes out with the obligatory storytelling chapter and a notable lack of a character sheet (a trend which is getting really irritating). Throughout, there is further propagandizing about how sorcerers aren't inferior to sphere mages, just different. Of course, this depends on how you choose to run them. At any rate, this is a good book which could have been much better with a little more care, attention, and (as always) editing. I would personally be willing to shell out an extra five bucks a book if they'd just hire someone who could write with a little clarity about rules and give some examples and charts. I tend to judge revisions on how much I will need to reference the previous work in order to play the game. Unfortunately, I find WoD: Sorcerer necessary given the shortcomings of this one. However, the psychic section stands quite firmly on its own merits and without reference to previous work. Sorcery: Style: 2, Substance: 3 Psychic: Style: 4, Substance: 5 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Sorcerer Revised Edition