Granted, Entropy 4 can just give someone a disease, so Jesse is overcomplicating the matter and I really don't think this oculd be anything but Vulgar Magic, but....
The one on the left is Seeker, mascot of book Seeker's Guide to Twisted Taverns, I recall she also has a music video promoting the book
Simple Explanation:
In Old World of Darkness we have variety of supernatural-related beings hiding from humans, often living in secret from each other. Mages are capable of bending reality to their will. Vampires are selx-explanatory. Hunters are those who hunt the supernatural to protect humanity.
Mages have been in a brutal war since XIII Century, between those who use magic and Technocracy, who wants to replace magic with science (which is just magic operating on different rules). Technocracy is winning and has run Pogroms (actual I-kid-you-not in-universe name) of "Reality Deviants" - Mages, Fae, Werewolves, Wraiths etc. Except in London, where both sides are relatively chill and local Technocracy believes polite debate is far more effective than gunning down Mages in the street, like barbarians. Most drastic events of the Mage metaplot had minimal effect on Mage society in London.
In 2012 Coallition of Hunters called Second Inquisitions condone a takeover operation of London, slaughtering most of Vampires in the city. London's Prince, ruler of Vampires in a given city, effectively rules from exile, afraid to show up in London unless absolutely necessary. And for the record, that guy is one of Metuzalahs, vampires so old and powerful they're credited with creation of myths of creatures like Minotaur, Baba Yaga or even gods like Odin and Apollo. Hunters use, ever-present in London, cameras to pick Vampire activities, track them down and kill them like dogs. London is refered to, by Vampire players, as "vampire ground zero" or "final death trap". Playing Vampire in London is described as playing a postapocalyptic game surrounded by mortals unaware the nukes hit.
These two exist in the same city at the same time.
Mage: the Ascension in a nutshell
Glad to see you back, lvoe this comic. Is Feyfire a reference to anything?
I suspect you could do that in Mage: the Ascension (CAN YOU GUESS WHAT CAMPAIGN I AM PREPPING?!) I could see it as Prime 5/Mind 3 for super powerful blessing that makes people lose track of thought whenever they're about to deadname you. A Mind 3/Life 2 would be less pwoerful version, you could probably add Correspondence to increase the radius of this passive effect. I do not think it may even cause too much Paradox either, it's very Cointidental magic.
You may be onto something here.
I don't hate D&D, but I did notice how much harder combat gets from DM's side to prepare, and also how much more bored of it the players are. My players started doing everythign to spend more sessions on their own shenanigans, character moments, roleplay and NPC interactions. The thing is we love our campaign and characters, but are too high level to switch systems. So we're taking break to play short Mage: the Ascension campaign.
I am now learnign two different new systems, Mage and WFRP, pray for me.
The most unlucky option in this case. Sounds like he should become villain of next campaign.
That last bit makes me think he may actually be a Nephandi, they do have their own techbro faction.
Oh boy, this sounds fun, how did that last one happen?
That is reassuring to hear, hope I will keep doing it right in following sessions then.
Technocracy are ones of the main antagonists, but they're not entierly evil, they also forced reality to make vaccines to work, among other things. Nephandi on the other hand are worst of the worst, only Pentex and Black Spiral Dancers even tolerate them.
As for Wyrm, Mages don't beleive in it, for them Wyrm worshippers are jsut a branch of the Nephandi. But Technocracy has ties to Pentex - their own corproate branch, the Syndicate, in particular, had a hand in setting Pentex up, ignored its obvious corruption for nearly a century, had to purge an entire division for beign to chummy with Pentex and still subverted Pentex's toy-making subsidiary to, instead of making toys that encoruage kids to cruelty, make boring toys that kill kids imagination.
I really hate whenever I try to explain how some bad rules can be abused and immediatelly get someone say shit like "If this happens in your group, change it" as if that would solve the problem. And whenever it is not soemthing you witnessed personally, then it means it never happens and could never happen.
Ed Greenwood's YT channel did more for me to appreciate Forgotten Realms as a setting than any book WotC put out, and he constantly revisits areas WotC has no interest in, like Sembia or Cormyr or Daelands.
No I cannot afford it, I had surprise financial emergency this month.
But seriously, either make the whole thing free or paid, don't get my hopes up only to dash them like that.
Explanation: I'm the only person who runs D&D in my friends groups, so I get to play in other games under other Game Masters, but have a LOT of D&D character ideas I will never get to try.
And they didn't even get full 3-actions economy.
Congratulations for the wedding!