Ratings for - RPGnet RPG Game Index

Statistics: Mage: The Ascension

Core Game Ratings

Rating: 7.11 / Ranking: 122

These ratings are based on 79 ratings with 1.86 average weight and 15 reviews.

This is compared to an index-wide 3.64 average ratings and 1.98 average weight.

This rating earns an average level of trust.

Ratings + Reviews:

13%

20%

31%

12%

Index Ratings Only:

19%

26%

12%

16%

RPGnet Reviews Only:

13%

53%

Content Ratings

This game has contents. The following charts show the composite ratings for these contents which make up some of the overall rating of this product (though they are not depicted in the product composite chart, above).

The Art of Mage: The Ascension Composite:

100%

Core Game Comments

All User Comments

Rating	User	Comments
10 / 10	Matthias Wasser	Still my favorite game of all time. Inspired and inspiring, you'll get more discussion milage out of this - good and bad - than anything else in your collection.
10 / 10	Arvaniz	One of the most incredible and smartest games ever, that can appeal a wide variety of gamers, from philosophers to powergamers. Really open rules for magic. 2nd Edition has better setting and Revised better system. I give the same grade to both...
10 / 10	florin	This game is one of my favorites, ever. Its magic system is great and dynamic. The setting is familiar enough that pretty much anyone can grasp it quickly. It really is a work of genius.
10 / 10	GrimGent	I'll just chime in with my abiding fondness for the second edition. This is the game that triggered any number of late night debates back in the nineties, as well as an inordinate amount of flamewars which apparently may still flare up from time to time.
10 / 10	Sethra007	Be forewarned that the Revised Edition of the game is dramatically different, in both setting and system, than the first two editions.
9 / 10	DrFaust	I find myself echoing the comments of others. While Revised is the mechanically-superior edition, its lack of setting detail and wrenching -- to longtime players, at least -- change of venue and focus proved to be a dealbreaker for many. Second edition, while somewhat sparser on hard rules, is much more "complete" presentation, with an even mix of rules and setting.
9 / 10	JDCorley	One of the strongest games in White Wolf's stable. Interestingly, each edition of the game was very different, although they used similar terminology and similar systems. Fortunately all three editions are highly flexible and intriguing.
9 / 10	Thalaric	I found the antagonists section of this edition a little weak, and required expansion, but overall it was a very good edition of the game, and the power reset was very nice in letting the players feel that they could make a difference.
8 / 10	TrippyHippy	The more fantasy orientated aspects of playing a mage seemed to find a niche amongst gamers interested in White Wolf's games, but put-off by the unnerving aspects of playing 'monsters'. The postmodern and freeform magic system was inspired but took several editions to iron out the issues of practical gameplay it inevitably created. The rest of the game brought such passionate individual interpretation into the True Meaning of it all, that it inevitably led to bitter edition wars amongst fans which would have even put some of the game world protagonists to shame. One cannot deny the game's philosophical brio though, and if played with the right crowd and the right spirit, it's one hell of a rollercoaster ride.
8 / 10	Engelous	This book is great. The only reason it doesn't get a 10 is because it's not so well-organized, and it doesn't explain the essence of the game as much as other books in its line.
8 / 10	JavaApp	As a vehicle for stories about modern magic, I loved it, and used it very successfully in an episodic, rather then linked, campaign. However, there were so many issues with the background changing between editions (often changing things that did NOT need to be fixed) that this became one of the few RPGs that got worse, not better, with new edtions. (Though Phil Brucato's edition was a change for the better, all it really did was expalin how to use magic better.) Revised edition was more like a rating 4.
8 / 10	owe for the flesh	For me, the most amazing thing about Mage was its ability to be all things to all people, to be Stephen King and Grant Morrison, Carlos Casteneda and Jules Verne, H.P. Lovecraft and Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Pirsig, Ars Magica and Star Wars. It was the first truly epic RPG that I had ever been exposed to, and it really did change the way I look at games and gaming. It's easy to forget under the crush of mediocre metaplot and stringy supplements that Mage was a game that forced people to care.
8 / 10	Tomahawk	Sure, it has its flaws, but the setting and the ground-breaking magic rules are what made this game. Also not as angsty as other White Wolf games (e.g. Vampire and Werewolf).
8 / 10	Zounds!	I only ever owned M:tA 2nd, and cannot speak either for other editions or for the line as a whole. However, this one book - this brilliant, crazy, self-contradictory mass of utter nonsense and pure genius - gave me and my group some of the best gaming we've ever had. Not everyone will like it, but everyone should at least read it. It's like a vigorous work-out for the mind.
7 / 10	Aetherdyne	Mage was always my favorite of the classic World of Darkness series, at least until the release of Revised. I like Revised for its rule changes, but the setting changes were the complete opposite of what I wanted from a Mage game.
7 / 10	Gitrog	A clever and unique magic system where the very fabric of reality is at stake. Encourages creative thinking.
7 / 10	Esarel	This game was a lot of fun. The magic mechanics were IMO well handled, but did require a group that was willing to play along. The writing had some flaws. It was not always clear when reading the book what your character actually knew and did not about the setting. Also the book did not truly stand alone as a game IMO. You needed either a previous edition or more books to run this game, and to use a few of the powers available to players (mostly spirit).
7 / 10	Mechante_Anemone	Loved the Paradox mechanics, had great campaigns with this game, but the sourcebooks spoiled the line.
7 / 10	Menchi	Brilliant concept game, let down by odd rules inconsistencies that cause confusion from edition to edition.
6 / 10	Mozart	Mechanically superior to earlier editions but the heavy-handed application of the metaplot, coupled with a significant change in core themes often and understandably turns away fans of earlier editions. Also suffers from the ommission of information on key adversaries and setting information which was included in earlier editions, thereby encouraging players to buy further suppliments.
5 / 10	Thanuir	I hit a nasty brick wall of "what do the characters do?" when trying this out. It was a personal failure, but the book contributed to it.
4 / 10	SJBenoist	Watered down version of Ars Magica. Inferior to Unknown Armies in every way.
3 / 10	Invictor	So overrated.
2 / 10	Simple Man	Bad rules, bad philosophy, bad setting, and no direction. Attached to a good premise. I speak of all editions.

Core Game Reviews

All RPGnet Reviews

[ Link Reviews ]

Rating	User	Summary
5 + 4	Alex deMorris	Mage: The Ascension. Mage: The Ascension opened several new doors for the Original World of Darkness as the first human 'monster' of that series. It was a free-wheeling, conceptual high that followed on the heels of the other World of Darkness monster venues (those being Vampire: the Masquerade and Werewolf: the Apocalypse). Of the original five core settings, this game line was the most positive in the World of Darkness. That doesn't mean Mage: The Ascension was without flaws... [ Read Review ]
4 + 5	Shannon W. Hennessy	Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition (Ultra Deluxe). Mage is about EMPOWERMENT of the Human Spirit into something above and beyond the normal. Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition captures this ideology with stunning perfection. [ Read Review ]
2 + 1	Chris Noland	Mage: The Ascension Revised Edition. [ Read Review ]
4 + 5	Nightchilde	Mage: The Ascension Revised Edition. [ Read Review ]
5 + 4	Rory Hughes	Mage: The Ascension Revised Edition. [ Read Review ]
4 + 4	Colin Fredericks	Mage: The Ascension Revised Edition. [ Read Review ]
2 + 2	Wayne Peacock	Mage: The Ascension Revised Edition. [ Read Review ]
3 + 2	Ricardo J. Méndez	Mage: The Ascension Revised Edition. [ Read Review ]
4 + 5	Manuel Pagan	Mage: The Ascension Revised Edition. Mage does an an excellent job of updating and bringing the game down to Earth and making it more understanble, while still preserving the game's themes of humanity, idealism, and fantasy. [ Read Review ]
5 + 4	pointyman2000	Mage: The Ascension Revised Edition. Mages go back to their roots, and shake off defeat to rally to their last hurrah in the last edition of Mage: the Ascension for the old World of Darkness. [ Read Review ]
4 + 5	Andres F. Pabon	Mage: The Ascension Second Edition. [ Read Review ]
4 + 5	Darren MacLennan	Mage: The Ascension Second Edition. [ Read Review ]
5 + 3	Sam Lindsay-Levine	Mage: The Ascension Second Edition. [ Read Review ]
5 + 5	Bradford C. Walker	Mage: The Ascension Second Edition. [ Read Review ]
4 + 4	Legolas	Mage: The Ascension Second Edition. [ Read Review ]

All Magazine Reviews

Year	Magazine	Synopsis
1996	Arcane #5	Score 8/10. "If you like involving and challenging games you'll enjoy this."
1996	Shadis #27	Review of the 2nd edition of White Wolf's Mage RPG.
1993	White Wolf #38	Rating: 4/5.
1994	Dragon #202	4/5 stars. "The most innovative fantasy game since Ars Magica and White Wolf's strongest product to date..."