O Brucato colocou um FAQ no
site da Onyx Path. Os trechos que mais me interessaram:
How are you handling things that have changed since 1993?With what I call “Future Fates” sidebars. In Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade, those sidebars helped to show major events in that setting’s historical timeline. Storytellers had three options they could use when dealing with a “future fate”:
A: The event happened (or happens) according to the “official” history.
B: The event MIGHT happen, or have happened, but with major changes from the “official” version.
C: The event never happens (or happened), and the history stays under the Storyteller’s control.
Do we have to deal with the Avatar Storm?No. Many of the Future Fates address the Storm and its effects. You can use them, alter them, or ignore them as you choose.
But is the Avatar Storm “canon?”Sort of. In my personal “official” Mage chronology, the Storm happened as a result of many other catastrophes in the Awakened world at the time (the Ascension Warrior’s rampage, the Horizon War, the Great Whiteout in the Digital Web, and so forth). It happened, but it passed, and the world has been recovering ever since. Some things changed, others didn’t, and many things shifted but have since returned to more or less “normal.” Change is a fact of life, and this seems like a natural choice for my approach to the game. Thanks to the Future Fates, however, it does not have to be YOUR choice. You can totally ignore the Storm and its effects if you want. It’s your game.
How does Mage 20 handle the Technocracy?As an entirely playable option, equal to the Traditions in terms of game-utility. Although the Union is a flawed, dangerous, and potentially corrupt organization – just like the Council of Nine Mystic Traditions – you can use that Technocracy as the center of your chronicle. Mage 20 doesn’t default to “good Traditions/ bad Technocracy.” Both groups are valid, damaged, powerful, and really screwed up behind their lofty ideals.
What are you doing with my favorite Tradition/Convention?You’ll have to wait and see. (Heh heh heh…) Let’s just say that they’re still the groups you remember, in most regards, but we’ve updated them to reflect a more mature, modern, and culturally inclusive tone.
Do you detail the many different groups within the Traditions and Technocracy?All nine Traditions and five Conventions have two-page spreads for each group. Given that there are over 100 sub-groups, however, we did not have enough space to explore them all in detail. Those details will appear in future sourcebooks.
What about the Umbra and Digital Web? Are they in Mage 20?Did you revise Mage’s magick system?We fixed a number of flaws, clarified a lot of muddy subjects, and added plenty of optional rules, but did not change the essential system. My brain-trust and I worked hard to bring out the best elements of Mage’s freeform magick rules without making changes that would mess up over 20 years of source material.
Does Mage 20 include Path-based sorcery, the Pillars from Dark Ages Mage, the Technocratic Spheres, or the magic system from Mage: The Awakening?Yes, Mage 20 does include the Technocratic Spheres, in an optional section of the magick-rules chapter. But no, we did not include the other stuff, because this book is already H-U-G-E and that material would not have fit into its already titanic word-count.
How are you dealing with paradigms and foci?A mage changes reality through the force of belief. And so, Mage 20 combines a character’s belief (or paradigm), practice (originally known as “magick style”) and instruments (originally called “foci”) into a single category: focus.
Focus reflects what your mage does in order to make things happen. That character’s beliefs guide his practice; the practice directs his actions; and the instruments turn those actions into results. A computer-based technomystic, for example, believes that she can “change the Reality Code”; she uses the practice of reality-hacking, which employs instruments like information technology and computer codes (in game terms, a language). Mage 20 features an array of paradigms, practices and instruments, all of which can be combined in nearly infinite ways to suit the character you choose. This way, you build the mage and her abilities outward from her beliefs, using an integrated approach to magick that suits the character you create.
Will I be able to understand the damn magick rules this time? (
)
I hope so. Unlike previous editions, Mage 20 addresses rules in straightforward language. The florid metaphysical tangents get confined to the first five chapters, where the setting concepts are explored. Every system has examples of those rules in action, and I’ve kept the explanations as simple as possible.
Please tell me that this book will be written in plain English. (
)
Can I turn a vampire into a lawn chair? (
)
Only if you’re willing to deal with the consequences.