History TabletopGame / MageTheAscension

* ForScience: From the Sons of Ether, who are ''really'' enthusiastic about what they do. (Which is ''[[TheSpoonyExperiment SCIENCE!!!]]'' for you.) More restrained versions are present in the Iterators, and the Virtual Adepts have a similar view re: code, hacking reality, ect. Void Engineers have a version that goes "For DISCOVERY!" and several mystic Traditions have the same approach to magic.

A few things stand between mages and the magical playground of reality, of course. First, there are the competing paradigms: Every mage understands magic in different terms (be it "hyper-advanced science," "the divine emanations of the Almighty," or "the Old Ways"), so trying to get any two mages to agree on anything is tricky. But they kind of have to, because of the second reason: The Technocracy. Long ago, when the mages actually ''did'' have their magical playground, there were a few too many getting their SorcerousOverlord on and making life even harder for the hapless majority of {{Muggles}}. In response, a group of scholars/knights/builders/etc decided to team up as the Order of Reason and fight the sorcerers (and [[VampireTheMasquerade vampires]], and [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse were-things]] and [[ChangelingTheDreaming evil spirits]], and so on) with Science/Art/Religion/''Not Magic'' to make the world better for the average Joe and Jane. Well, they won-- And in the process they went [[WellIntentionedExtremist a tad too far]], until they had largely succeeded in stamping out any other reality save the non-magical worldview they endorsed.

** ''Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade'' has a strong steampunk theme and focuses equally on the young Traditions and the proto-Technocracy ''Order of Reason''. But the "Daedaleans" (awakened inventors, explorers and swashbucklers) of the Order of Reason, who [[{{MIB}} fight mythical monsters to protect humanity]] and advance progress and enlightenment for the betterment of all, not only get cooler gadgets but are more likable than the magical supremacists of the Traditions.

* New World Order: The {{MIB}} who act as frontline investigators/enforcers and their more cerebral superiors in White.

* DesignerBabies: The Progenitors grow [[{{MIB}} Men in Black]] for the New World Order, the biological halves of {{Cyborg}}s for Iteration X, [[TheGreys LERMU]]s for the Void Engineers, and a variety of other people/animals/whatever for themselves. Occasionally a Son of Ether will do the same thing.

* MeasuringTheMarigolds: Much like ''TabletopGame/ChanglingTheDreaming''. The ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'' really liked this theme.

* MeasuringTheMarigolds: The second-worst offender in the ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness''.

A few things stand between mages and the magical playground of reality, of course. First, there are the competing paradigms: Every mage understands magic in different terms (be it "hyper-advanced science," "the divine emanations of the Almighty," or "the Old Ways"), so trying to get any two mages to agree on anything is tricky. But they kind of have to, because of the second reason: The Technocracy. Long ago, when the mages actually ''did'' have their magical playground, there were a few too many getting their SorcerousOverlord on and making life even harder for the hapless majority of {{Muggles}}. In response, a group of scholars/knights/builders/etc decided to team up as the Order of Reason and fight the sorcerers (and [[VampireTheMasquerade vampires]], and [[WerewolfTheApocalypse were-things]] and [[ChangelingTheDreaming evil spirits]], and so on) with Science/Art/Religion/''Not Magic'' to make the world better for the average Joe and Jane. Well, they won-- And in the process they went [[WellIntentionedExtremist a tad too far]], until they had largely succeeded in stamping out any other reality save the non-magical worldview they endorsed.

''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'' is most fondly remembered as a game of [[BeyondTheImpossible mad, beautiful ideas]]. This is a game where you could have an enlightened martial artist dispatching hungry ghosts from the Chinese Hells, a Hermetic magician preventing demon-worshippers from spreading corruption throughout San Francisco, and a mad scientist dispatching evil gibbering things in the void of space, then have them all get together to strike a blow against the New World Order. It was followed by ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'', and you could [[InternetBackdraft keep your house warm from all the flame wars that erupt over that choice]].

* ScienceFictionVersusFantasy: The [[DoingInTheWizard Technocratic Union]], including the [[DefectorFromDecadence now-Traditions]] [[MadScientist Sons of Ether]] and [[MagicalComputer Virtual Adepts]], are Science Fiction, while the other Traditions are Fantasy.

* BadassArmy: Where to start? The Progenitors have [[BadassBookworm Damage Control]], who are heavily enhanced commandos who primarily keep their own Convention in check. The Euthanatoi's Golden Chalice, to a man, has to qualify as [[BadassNormal elite special forces]] ''without'' any use of magic. Then you have the Celestial Chorus and the Russian Order of the Firebird, who are ex-Russian special forces who have become the successors to a knightly order.

** ''Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade'' has a strong steampunk theme and focuses equally on the young Traditions and the proto-Technocracy ''Order of Reason'' equally. But the "Daedaleans" (awakened inventors, explorers and swashbucklers) of the Order of Reason, who [[{{MIB}} fight mythical monsters to protect humanity]] and advance progress and enlightenment for the betterment of all, not only get cooler gadgets but are more likable than the magical supremacists of the Traditions.

A few things stand between mages and the magical playground of reality, of course. First, there are the competing paradigms: Every mage understands magic in different terms (be it "hyper-advanced science," "the divine emanations of the Almighty," or "the Old Ways"), so trying to get any two mages to agree on anything is tricky. But they kind of have to, because of the second reason: The Technocracy. Long ago, when the mages actually ''did'' have their magical playground, a group of scholars/knights/builders/etc decided to team up and fight the sorcerers with Science/Art/Religion/''Not Magic'' and make the world a bit safer for the average Joe. Of course, they're using magic too; they just don't realize it. However, they went to far with their 'magic' winding up as the only reasonable truth and technology. In the modern day the Technocracy has turned into a semi-fascist and nigh-unstoppable conglomerate set on squashing any "Reality Deviants" who threaten the status of the world... and the free-will/wonderment of magic and human potential with it. Worst of all, it's working, because if enough humans agree with the world you're giving them, Reality Itself changes to match that view. Finally, there's Paradox: Do anything that's too explicitly magic and Reality will give you a wedgie.

** ''[[MageTheSorcerersCrusade Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade]]'' has a strong steampunk theme and focuses on the young ''Traditions'' and the ''Order of Reason'' (the proto-Technocracy) equally. But the "Daedaleans" (awakened inventors, explorers and swashbucklers) of the Order of Reason, who [[{{MIB}} fight against mythical monsters to protect humanity]] and to advance progress and enlightenment, not only get cooler gadgets but are more likable than the magic suprematists of the Traditions.

* EnlightenmentSuperpowers

(Not to be confused with the other [[{{Tsukihime}}Storytelling Game of Philosophical Knife-Fights.]])

A tabletop game in the Old WorldOfDarkness, which might as well have been subtitled "A Storytelling Game of Philosophical Knife-Fights."

* MeasuringTheMarigolds: The second-worst offender in the ''OldWorldOfDarkness''.

* GattacaBabies: The Progenitors grow [[{{MIB}} Men in Black]] for the New World Order, the biological halves of {{Cyborg}}s for Iteration X, [[TheGreys LERMU]]s for the Void Engineers, and a variety of other people/animals/whatever for themselves. Occasionally a Son of Ether will do the same thing.

* Sons of Ether: MadScientist mages who embrace the weirder and more fantastic theories of Science. Also known as the gender-neutral Etherites, particularly the female members. Masters of the Sphere of Matter.

* New World Order: The MenInBlack who act as frontline investigators/enforcers and their more cerebral superiors in White.

** ''[[MageTheSorcerersCrusade Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade]]'' has a strong steampunk theme and focuses on the young ''Traditions'' and the ''Order of Reason'' (the proto-Technocracy) equally. But the "Daedaleans" (awakened inventors, explorers and swashbucklers) of the Order of Reason, who [[MenInBlack fight against mythical monsters to protect humanity]] and to advance progress and enlightenment, not only get cooler gadgets but are more likable than the magic suprematists of the Traditions.

''MageTheAscension'' is most fondly remembered as a game of [[BeyondTheImpossible mad, beautiful ideas]]. This is a game where you could have an enlightened martial artist dispatching hungry ghosts from the Chinese Hells, a Hermetic magician preventing demon-worshippers from spreading corruption throughout San Francisco, and a mad scientist dispatching evil gibbering things in the void of space, then have them all get together to strike a blow against the New World Order. It was followed by ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'', and you could [[InternetBackdraft keep your house warm from all the flame wars that erupt over that choice]].

* SpiritualSuccesor: Surprisingly, not Mage: The Awakening, which renders ascended magic much closer to MagicAIsMagicA. The fan-made Genius: The Transgression, essentially World of Darkness: Mad Scientists, shares the individualistic nature of Ascension, where different Geniuses build their inventions on their own unique interpretations of 'science'. Slightly different in that the protagonist faction almost all know that they are just cheating reality, and that their understandings of 'science' is just a personal method for the creation of their wonders, with absolutely no basis in objective reality.

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Lots. Plenty of big-name scientists were actually Technocrats: Alan Turing got "killed" by the Technocracy because he asked too many uncomfortable questions, spurring the Virtual Adepts to break away and defect to the Traditions. Johannes Kepler is a Technocrat, is still alive and is running a deep space observatory on the Moon. Other examples include Aleister Crowley, a Hermetic gone rogue, and H.R. Geiger, who got caught in a Nephandus's lair and spent the rest of his time trying to describe it in his paintings. Not to mention Jim Morrison, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome who actually ascended.]] And for all the major historical names, the sourcebooks are full of minor ones reupped into the game's world.

* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: At character creation, Mages are not the most impressive creatures in the World of Darkness--they generally do best not to take on other supernatural beings head-on. Late-game they can turn elder vampires into lawn chairs.

* GravityIsOnlyATheory: Until the Technocracy decided to get rid of the luminiferous ether, special relativity was false, so presumably [[UsefulNotes/Relativity general relativity]] was too. "Things fall down" is not up for debate, but more subtle effects like "time runs slower in intense gravitational fields" is.

* InsistentTerminology: The Technocracy does ''not'' have mages; it has Enlightened personnel. They do ''not'' do magic; they use hypertechnology built by Inspired Science. [[RunningGag According to the Technocracy the Traditions do]] ''[[RunningGag not]]'' [[RunningGag do magic, either; they use wildly applied para-science they don't really understand]].

* InsistentTerminology: The Technocracy does ''not'' have mages; it has Enlightened personnel. They do ''not'' do magic; they use hypertechnology built by Inspired Science. [[RunningGag The Traditions do]] ''[[RunningGag not]]'' [[RunningGag do magic, either; they use wildly applied para-science they don't really understand]].

* GravityIsOnlyATheory: Gravity is only one of the many [[SarcasmMode oppressive]] and [[IRejectYourReality arbitrary rules]] that [[AncientConspiracy The Technocracy]] forces on us and enforces by a campaign of terror known as the Pogrom.