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The first time I sat down with my friends to play Mage: the Ascension, I tried explaining the background to them before character creation. "The Technocracy are the bad guys," I said. "They believe that humanity can only be saved through rigid application of scientific principles and that magick has no place in the modern world." They all looked at each other, and looked at me, and said, "That's what we think, too." The best counterargument I could come up with was that in the game, the Technocracy was wrong, and we knew this because we were playing Mage, not Technocrat.

The Sorcerers Crusade (and I keep wanting to spell it "Sorcerors'", but that's not the way it's spelled in the book) is a different creature than original Mage. The game is set during the Renaissance in Europe, but could go anywhere from there. Want to travel to China? Japan? America? Try to find the fabled southern continent? There's a whole world to explore and define, and it's not quite what even long-time Mage players thought. It's long been my opinion that Mage: the Ascension would best be played low-key, as a game of conspiracy and paranoia. The Sorcerers Crusade, though, is filled with swashbuckling, high adventure, and a sense of wonder and discovery.

For one thing, the Council of Nine exists, but it's a very uneasy alliance between nine traditions with very different religious ideas. Also, the Technocracy as we know it today doesn't exist. Instead, there are the Daedalans. They also have their religious ideas, mostly staunchly Christian, and use magick, but also use science. It'll be centuries before they become the Technocracy.

The beauty of The Sorcerers Crusade is that it lets you play Daedalans or Council magi. It's not clear at this point who's in the right. "Future Fates" are listed for both groups, and handy timelines are given for the century or two in which the game takes place, as well as much of the magickal history of the world up to that point, but the game specifically cautions that what is understood in the 15th and 16th Century is not the same as what's understood in the 20th, and that may be that things were different then, or that they were misunderstood, and that Future Fates are not set in stone if the GM doesn't want them to be.

The rules are pretty much what Mage players are used to, although Paradox (here known as The Scourge) works a bit differently, and may actually *help* you! The Storyteller dice-rolling convention has always been a bit screwy, but long-time players have either figured out a fix on their own or never cared.

There are only two annoyances with the book (aside from the spelling of the title, which still looks wrong to me). The first is that unlike Vampire: the Dark Ages there's not much mention of the other supernatural creatures in the rulebook. This will probably all be covered in the GM screen and supplementary book apparently entitled "Crusade Lore". There's also mention of a "Bygone Bestiary" which will hopefully be out soon. The second irksome bit is that you'd be hard-pressed to find an RPG in this day and age with as many bare breasts as The Sorcerers Crusade. Not that I have a problem with bare breasts--far from it. But not all parents are going to enjoy looking over little Timmy's shoulder and seeing the sky-clad Verbena on page 138. And about that Verbena: I don't think they had silicone implants in the 15th Century....

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade<
Author: Phil Brucato and many, many others Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Cost: $28.00 US Page count: 292 ISBN: 1-5604-489-4 Capsule Review by Kevin Mowery on 05/26/98. Genre tags: none	The first time I sat down with my friends to play Mage: the Ascension, I tried explaining the background to them before character creation. "The Technocracy are the bad guys," I said. "They believe that humanity can only be saved through rigid application of scientific principles and that magick has no place in the modern world." They all looked at each other, and looked at me, and said, "That's what we think, too." The best counterargument I could come up with was that in the game, the Technocracy was wrong, and we knew this because we were playing Mage, not Technocrat. The Sorcerers Crusade (and I keep wanting to spell it "Sorcerors'", but that's not the way it's spelled in the book) is a different creature than original Mage. The game is set during the Renaissance in Europe, but could go anywhere from there. Want to travel to China? Japan? America? Try to find the fabled southern continent? There's a whole world to explore and define, and it's not quite what even long-time Mage players thought. It's long been my opinion that Mage: the Ascension would best be played low-key, as a game of conspiracy and paranoia. The Sorcerers Crusade, though, is filled with swashbuckling, high adventure, and a sense of wonder and discovery. For one thing, the Council of Nine exists, but it's a very uneasy alliance between nine traditions with very different religious ideas. Also, the Technocracy as we know it today doesn't exist. Instead, there are the Daedalans. They also have their religious ideas, mostly staunchly Christian, and use magick, but also use science. It'll be centuries before they become the Technocracy. The beauty of The Sorcerers Crusade is that it lets you play Daedalans or Council magi. It's not clear at this point who's in the right. "Future Fates" are listed for both groups, and handy timelines are given for the century or two in which the game takes place, as well as much of the magickal history of the world up to that point, but the game specifically cautions that what is understood in the 15th and 16th Century is not the same as what's understood in the 20th, and that may be that things were different then, or that they were misunderstood, and that Future Fates are not set in stone if the GM doesn't want them to be. The rules are pretty much what Mage players are used to, although Paradox (here known as The Scourge) works a bit differently, and may actually help you! The Storyteller dice-rolling convention has always been a bit screwy, but long-time players have either figured out a fix on their own or never cared. There are only two annoyances with the book (aside from the spelling of the title, which still looks wrong to me). The first is that unlike Vampire: the Dark Ages there's not much mention of the other supernatural creatures in the rulebook. This will probably all be covered in the GM screen and supplementary book apparently entitled "Crusade Lore". There's also mention of a "Bygone Bestiary" which will hopefully be out soon. The second irksome bit is that you'd be hard-pressed to find an RPG in this day and age with as many bare breasts as The Sorcerers Crusade. Not that I have a problem with bare breasts--far from it. But not all parents are going to enjoy looking over little Timmy's shoulder and seeing the sky-clad Verbena on page 138. And about that Verbena: I don't think they had silicone implants in the 15th Century.... Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade<