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The Good: The conceptual and mechanical implementations of the other ways to view magic are fantastic. The genre and game advice are both very good.
The Physical Thing
This 224 page black and white hardcover showcases the same quality production values found in most World of Darkness products. The editing is acceptable, though Scribendi certainly doesn't catch everything. The artwork is of quality, and fits the text nicely, but is sparse and fails to live up to the beauty of many other RPGs. Nevertheless, this is a product that does such a good job of turning on the reader's imagination that sparse art can certainly be forgiven. The text, the most important part, is very readable thanks to good formatting.Under the Cover
The big idea behind the Chronicler's Guide is that it enables a much broader variety of options than core Mage presents. At first glance I was skeptical, the attitude I have for most things, especially since various online forums are already such wonderful resources for doing the very thing this book attempts. My skepticism melted away, however, as I began reading and it was replaced with a sense of imaginative wonder as my brain kicked into high gear and started working through game possibilities as I read.Each of the book's four chapters brilliantly presents a way to expand on the game. Chapter One offers a variety of different genre in which to play the game. Each entry discusses the genre, how the mage rules fit into that genre, what changes need to be made, character archetypes, and how to make the game really shine in that genre. The genre include Action Horror, Pulp, Epic Fantasy, Faustian Sorcery, Pulling Back the Curtain (Sleepers become aware of magic), Punk, and Noir. I'm exceptionally happy with this mix because it covers the genre I'm most likely to bend Mage towards already. Each entry is well considered and demonstrates good genre awareness on the part of the author.
In Chapter Two we get a variety of different variations on the magic system. Gifted Science offers a variant where magic is considered enlightened science. Characters share theories and look to brilliant new discoveries. Rotes are proven theories, improvised spells are radical experiments, and the whole game has more of a methodical approach. Tips are included for super science, mad science, and science fiction variations on this concept. This could be a particularly wonderful combination with certain of the genre alterations above, such as pulp.
Magic as psychic powers receives a good amount of attention, as well it should considering how easy it is to move the robust system of Mage to become powers of the mind. The suggestions are good, such as keeping but tweaking the Paradox mechanic to represent more of a “psychic backlash” for reaching too far. While these two options are very robust, several shorter entries detail even more variants. Drug-based magic, magic held in objects, group magic, and ritual magic round out the chapter.
The third chapter really jumps into making the setting all your own, with extra attention spent on characters and altering other basic assumptions of the game. I am enormously pleased with the discussion on how to make sure a player is having a great time in a game by watching for flags. Flags are indicators on a character sheet or background as to what the player wants to do. A character with Academics 4, for example, needs an opportunity to shine in a library or as a researcher where the information was desperately needed yesterday. Back in the early days of White Wolf games I considered them a pioneer in GM advice, with suggestions such as relationship trees to use to run games, and I'm pleased to see a continuation of that tradition with the writers here.
The character suggestions are strong across the board. Take, for example, the brief discussion of rotes. The authors are correct that not all spells make good rotes, and they do a great job of clearly explaining what spells do and why. Rote suggestions are just the tip of the iceberg, though, as the chapter focuses on walking the reader through character creation and character evolution while paying attention to having fun and creating a very organic story along the way.
Alternative watchtowers, orders, and magical styles can be found here and they each offer the Storyteller with an opportunity to change the basic assumptions or just add in additional options to the game to expand on the existing choices. I am particularly pleased with the attention to running thematic characters based on using chance, music, physical combat, or similar things as part of their magic. I'm currently running a Mage game with characters doing this very thing, and to see active support for it is impressive.
The final chapter is all about running a campaign. The authors do a great job of demonstrating how to go about different power levels of games, what to focus on to challenge the players, and how to grow the game. Much of the advice is focused on novice to intermediate Storytellers, with attention paid to how to finesse situations without using the heavy-handed tools available to the Storyteller. It's great advice, though, and it is exactly what I will direct new Storytellers to when they're learning how to go about it.
The chapter wraps up with thirteen different campaign seeds. Each of these offers a good deal of support, from altered character creation to a point by point guide to how to run the campaign. The variety included is very welcome, and on a personal level I'm happy to see seeds such as Bones of the World (uncovering the buried secrets of the World of Darkness) mixed in with more novel ideas such as the Epistolary Chronicle wherein the players resolve conflicts through letter writing to create a very neat campaign that challenges every participant on multiple levels.
My Take
Whether you are in the middle of an existing Mage campaign like me, you're starting a new game soon, or you just want a resource to idea mine then I highly recommend this supplement. Chronicler's Guide has something for everyone, providing not only great ideas but great advice and play support along the way.Help support RPGnet by purchasing this item through DriveThruRPG.
