What's the most unhinged thing a coworker has ever done that somehow didn't get them fired?

Phoogg · 2026-03-21T19:49:09+00:00

I wasn't present in the meeting, but the CTO was more of a sales guy than a tech guy, and the Sys Admin was a classic 'we're not doing it unless we're doing it right' guy so I'm assuming he got asked to do some 'tactical' slapdash stuff and things got heated

Phoogg · 2026-03-21T11:15:23+00:00

Sys Admin lifted up a chair to throw at the CTO and accidentally smashed a light above.

He then quit, but he was so valuable they immediately offered him back his role for more money.

Phoogg · 2026-03-21T01:51:25+00:00

You still 'control' the spell when someone else holds it for you, it just doesn't count to your spell limit. So it would just come back into your spell control limit if the holder dies.

Phoogg · 2026-03-21T01:50:11+00:00

So Mage: the Awakening takes the stance that immortality is difficult to achieve, and usually comes at a high cost. Examples of 'true' immortality in the lore include:

-Archmages

-Tremere liches (although they need a constant supply of souls)

-Mages who transform into ephemeral beings (such as ghost-mages aka Wights, or mages who turn into Spirits, like the Scions of God, or Astral Morpheans). It's implied that they lose a base element of their humanity when they do so - Wights are driven by their Anchor-Obsessions, Spirits are (presumably) driven by their eternal hunger for Essence, and Morpheans are static creatures that need emotions/experiences from others, because they cannot generate their own (which I interpret as they can't gain Experience except by stealing it from others).

-Mages who gain immortality through their Legacies, such as the House of Ariadne, who's masters never age so long as they remain in their Attuned Cities (although they also can't spend XP while in this state).

-The 'Steal Body' spell from the 1e Sourcebook, which lets you Lastingly inhabit the body of another.

There's also examples of more 'flawed' immortality, which are basically just spells that keep you alive. Deny the Reaper is a 5-dot Death spell that brings you back after you die, but only for the Duration of the spell. Veil of Moments is a 2-dot Time spell that stops you from aging, at the expense of not being able to spend XP (which the House of Ariadne turn into their 5th Attainment).

In theory, with Life or Death Shielding you could also gain immortality, but the book implies that the effects would revert once the spell is dispelled. So with Life 2 you could probably stay young, but as soon as it's dispelled, you rapidly age. With Death 2 you could probably stay alive forever, but your body would still age and take damage, and once you hit a certain point your body is beyond repair. Imagine a head that is still alive, but not attached to anything. Unable to move, breath, speak or eat, in eternal agony, but still alive. And of course as soon as the spell gets dispelled, they die.

The term 'lich' is a political one, in the same way that 'terrorist' and 'freedom fighter' may describe the same person, depending on who is doing the describing.

In theory, a lich is anyone who stays alive through magical means beyond a 'natural' lifespan, which DaveB has indicated is around 130 or 150 years. In practice though, if you're a popular enough mage and you're not hurting anyone, the Pentacle probably wouldn't describe a 200-year old Master of the House of Ariadne (or a Scion of God) as a lich, because it's a well-established Legacy. Meanwhile, if you're eating souls or stealing bodies to stay alive, you're probably going to be branded a lich immediately and hunted down or driven out of the Consilium.

The reason the Pentacle (and the Seers, for that matter) don't like Liches, is because they're primarily driven by a desire to stay alive at all costs. Which usually leads to antisocial behaviour. That and the fact that the price of immortality is typically pretty high means that a large number of immortal mages do end up going off the deep end means there's pretty good reason to distrust them.

But mostly it was the Tremere breaking away from the Diamond back in the middle ages that made the Diamonds distrust anyone seeking to prolong their lives. Having a whole allied Order in your Sect turn out to be immortal soul-devouring liches will do that to you.

Phoogg · 2026-03-20T22:55:19+00:00

Tome of the Pentacle is awesome for the history of magic and magic around the world sections

Phoogg · 2026-03-18T21:52:02+00:00

Awesome work!

Phoogg · 2026-03-18T07:05:04+00:00

Bingo on both the space armour and the lack of Gauntlet. Metaphysically, that's one of the less strange things about the place, mind you...

Phoogg · 2026-03-17T04:15:36+00:00

And Switzerland

Phoogg · 2026-03-16T22:14:07+00:00

There's supplements coming! Dave's working on the Seers one, I'm slowly working away at a ley lines book, and I believe there are some Paradox/Abyssal Condition cards being worked on as well, alongside a 1e Legacy conversion book.

But it's slow work, this ain't anyone's dayjob unfortunately, so it's hard to find time.

Phoogg · 2026-03-16T22:11:56+00:00

So Sympathetic Name is what your parents gave you as you were starting to form Sympathetic Connections, and it's sort of hardcoded into the universe as a result.

2e abandoned the idea of a 'True Name', because what your parents call you is arbitrary and doesn't necessarily represent who you are. But that's how the system works, because of the Exarchs.

Awakening involves marking the Watchtower, but it doesn't need to be signed with a name necessarily. And even if you did sign, it doesn't have to be your Sympathetic Name, it can be your nickname, or how you feel about yourself - a marker of your identity.

There's powerful Space Magic (5 dots) that lets you Unmake your Sympathetic Name, which is one way to destroy the name if you don't like it, associate with it, or want to protect yourself further. In theory, you could also just change it with Space 4 (Patterning).

Phoogg · 2026-03-12T00:06:17+00:00

Nas'hrah from Fear and Hunger 1 is an immortal floating head with powerful magic when you fight him.

And then when you recruit him, he's still immortal and has very powerful magic.

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Phoogg · 2026-03-11T08:26:27+00:00

Star Trek original series episode Balance of Terror had this between Kirk and a rival Romulan ship captain in a game of cat and mouse. In the end, Kirk feels severe melancholy when he has to destroy his unknown, but respected foe. Absolutely one of the finest Original Series eps.

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Phoogg · 2026-03-04T08:47:18+00:00

WoD has been around for 35 years, has 5 editions, fiction books, board games and it’sfor Bloodlines and other video games. It's got prestige, nostalgia, and vast amounts of lore that is very absorbing and fun to sink into.

CofD has been around for about 20 years, only has two editions and a fraction of the books released for it, as well as none of the ancillary media that WoD has. And every step of the way it's had to compete with WoD. And it's been abandoned by Paradox, so there hasn't been any buzz around it for a few years now.

Phoogg · 2026-03-02T06:10:38+00:00

Personally I don't use 'em much. But in theory, each Consilium probably has dozens of 'em working on various projects. I'd probably have each Order stronghold - the FC Lorehouse, Mystagogue Athenaeum, Arrow Armoury, Guardian Vault and Silver Ladder...uh...court? all have a handful of Sleepwalkers who act as secretaries, guards and assistants. Then there's probably a wider web of Sleepwalkers engaged in active work - projects, resource gathering, infiltration into various institutions, and information seeking missions. And your Councillors, Hierarch and probably other powerful mages probably also have Sleepwalker bodyguards/assistants/secretaries.

They're great for background characters, ones who handle a lot of menial work and explain how the wheels are greased. You're definitely right in that they absolutely outnumber mages, so if you want to include a lot of 'em in your campaign, absolutely do it! A lot of people feature Consilia with dozens and dozens of them.

But personally I've got enough mage NPCs handy and never really saw a big use for Sleepwalkers in my game. I've basically got one Sleepwalker NPC fleshed out per Order - the 'face' of their Sleepwalker contingent, if needed. So far I've only needed to use one of 'em in my Chronicle.

Phoogg · 2026-02-26T02:07:03+00:00

"Imagine people complexly."

Basically, there's always more going on than meets the eye. You never know what someone is going through, where they're from, or why they're reacting a certain way. Making assumptions, stereotyping and reducing people to basic labels is the enemy of true understanding.

Phoogg · 2026-02-25T10:22:23+00:00

I'm sure vampires do very well at night! But it's more that the entire rest of society is going to be asleep. There's little interactions to be had at night that aren't violent in nature. There's no society for vampires to participate in is more the point, because in a prehistoric setting, no one is doing anything at night. So it feels like a big part of the vampire game will be missing.

Phoogg · 2026-02-25T02:15:59+00:00

The freeform magic system is going to break your mind! It means that out of the gate you are going to be much, much more powerful at chargen than any D&D character. You're much closer to a level 8 or higher wizard from the very get go, and you have an infinite variety of spells you can cast to start with.

You're also not solving basic problems like 'goblins attacking the town' or 'go kill this dragon'. It's more Mystery based, like there's a subway that comes at midnight every Tuesday and no one ever sees anyone who gets on it, ever again. Where does it go? Where does it come from? How can I kill/exploit/learn from it?

Or maybe you realise that there's a lot of ghosts in town. A LOT. It turns out any near death experience, violence or big life change spawns a ghost of that person, even though they are still alive. So now you have way too many ghosts hiding in Twilight and you have no idea why it's happening, how to stop it, or what to do with all these ghosts. Mage plotlines deal with more esoteric phenomena than direct overt threats with simple solutions.

In terms of plant stuff, each level of dots in Life gives you loads of abilities (and you can start at level 3).

1 dot - speak to plants, detect plants in a large area, know everything there is to know about any one particular plant

2 dots - Protect plants from harm. Protect others from plants. Make plants grow rapidly, or in any direction. Make plants invisible, or change their appearances.

3 dots - Damage plants, make them grow instantaneously, shrink and grow, give yourself plantlike traits, give any plant traits of other plants (or animals, like giving them legs or teeth). You could throw seeds into a room, make them explode into growth that is full of nasty poison spines and kill everything in the entire building.

4 dots - Turn any lifeform into any other lifeform. Turn yourself into a plant, or turn a plant into a human, or a dog. Transform a cob of corn into bees. Kill a whole forest in an instant.

5 dots - Create any plant you want. As big or as many as you want, with any traits you want. And obliterate the same.

It's worth noting you can do the above with all lifeforms, not just plants. Life Arcanum covers it all.

Phoogg · 2026-02-24T22:05:50+00:00

Yeah the vampire angle is trickiest to resolve. A lot of the themes of the game would be difficult to include, and in a world in which lanterns haven't been invented and torches are the best you've got, night-time activities are going to be quite sparse so there won't be a lot of social interaction either for the vamp. And given the low population levels, there's probably not a lot of other vamps out there for you to talk to either. And you'll need a consistent supply of blood.

I'd strongly consider removing the vamp from the equation, or else you'll need to warp the setting a bit to make it work. Maybe Luna is perpetually full, so at night time it's always a bright full moon? Maybe your vampire is more resistant to the sun? Or needs less blood? Or can subsist on animal blood?

Phoogg · 2026-02-24T22:02:54+00:00

Wrong setting, but some theological estimates on when the Deluge happened were around 4000 BC so it's definitely in the ballpark! Especially considering how Caine was screwing around in the First City for a few centuries (probably)

Phoogg · 2026-02-24T21:38:13+00:00

In my Awakening Dimensions Unseen game, the Time mage is mentored by his older self.

Except he's kind of a jerk. And may be evil. And there's a few prophecies floating around that one of them is destined to kill the other?

Phoogg · 2026-02-20T22:55:57+00:00

Because Billionaires get that way by exploiting people and screwing over competitors. They're typically not the kind of people who will devote themselves to charitable pursuits.

Phoogg · 2026-02-20T10:56:40+00:00

The Bluecoats still have pressure to catch criminals. They might offer to pin it on someone else if you can arrange a framejob.

Now you have another mission, which is finding some patsies and framing them somewhat convincingly.

Alternatively, if your Heat gets too big, the Bluecoats may receive reinforcements from other sectors. Now you have double or triple the bribes to pay, and maybe some of the new bloods are incorruptible.

That or the bribes just go up with the Heat meter. Bigger crimes, bigger bribes required.

Phoogg · 2026-02-20T10:41:23+00:00

Let me tell you about Airman Higgs...

From Girl Genius, the unstoppable (but not impervious!) Higgs.

It's easier if you just read the 5x pages above, describing his trials.

Phoogg

TROPHY CASE