Other Games NPC Mages for Mage20

[Ceramic Badger]

My "Warehouse 13" inspired Mage game seems to be going reasonably well, my players are engaging with the adventures. So far they've tracked down a V1 launch ramp suffused with the Nazi's weird concept of "vengence" against people who refuse to stop thwarting their agression. They've also bagged an Aztec medallion full of the high priests desperate need to repay their blood-debt to their gods.

Now I thought it might be fun to introduce an antagonist Mage. This is when I realised that apparently nowhere in the 680 page vehicle of blunt trauma which is the Mage20 rule book does it give any advice on how to create such a thing.

There are a few pages towards the back which provide some "Supporting Cast" but these are much more hangers-on and HIT-Marks than actual Mages.

This is a single adventure antagonist so I don't want to go through the whole character generation system for them. I just want some attributes, skills and spheres so they cause trouble.

Have I missed something? Does anyone have a quick and dirty technique I could crib from?

 

[Ceramic Badger]

I need this character for Tuesday so this is what I have decided to do:

Assign the values 3, 2 and 1 to the broad attribute categories.

Designate the ability categories as primary, secondary and tertiary. For primary 3 at 3, 2 at 2 and 1 at 1. For secondary 1 at 3, 2 at 2 and 1 at 1. For tertiary 2 at 2 and 1 at 1.

Six points to spheres with at least one in an affinity sphere.

Erete 1, Willpower 5, Quintessence 1.

Tweak to taste and add foci.

This gives me:

Dyal Shevade - Zelous Verbina

A country boy from Sikkim region looking to stick it to the Technocracy. Mistrustful of Technomancers in general not really being able to discern a difference. He wares the traditional strongly patterned silk tunic of his region in green, brown and yellow with white trousers under a heavy travelling cloak. He strides confidently forth with a heavy wooden staff.

Physical 3, Social 1, Metal 2
Talents: Athletics 3, Brawl 3, Intimidation 3, Alertness 2, Art 2, Empathy 1
Skills: Martial Arts 3, Survival 2, Stealth 2, Crafts 1
Knowledges: Esoteric 2, Medicine 2, Enigmas 1
Spheres: Forces 1, Life 2, Mind 2, Prime 1
Erete 2, Willpower 5, Quintessence 3
Foci: Staff, Mantras, Water, Mountains

Obviously this scheme doesn't scale beyond low level GMCs but my PCs are currently low level so that's fine. Plus the purpose of this encounter is not to give them a major challenge but to give them an exciting opportunity to be chewed out by their boss for beating the tar out of a Tradition mage. He himself is formally of the N.W.O. but now all the characters live a slightly precarious life outside the framework of factional conflict.

We will see how well it works out.

 

[Guvnor]

I don't understand the numbers but the backstory sounds good.

Do they have a hobby they can obsess about?

 

[Ceramic Badger]

I don't understand the numbers but the backstory sounds good.

Do they have a hobby they can obsess about?

Mage is very much a game from the 90s and as such is pretty heavy by modern standards. As are all the World of Darkness games. Still, if what you have to compare it against is AD&D and Role Master...

The character is basically an angry druid from the Nepali part of North East India. His purpose is to get in the face of the PCs who he sees as a manifestation of The Man. I suspect he is too driven to have any hobby other than Sticking it to The Man.

 

[Guvnor]

Mage is very much a game from the 90s and as such is pretty heavy by modern standards. As are all the World of Darkness games. Still, if what you have to compare it against is AD&D and Role Master...

The character is basically an angry druid from the Nepali part of North East India. His purpose is to get in the face of the PCs who he sees as a manifestation of The Man. I suspect he is too driven to have any hobby other than Sticking it to The Man.

Chess?

 

[Ceramic Badger]

As an addendum, it looks like I slightly over-cooked it. That GMC was a bit too much for 2 PCs to handle particularly when one of them was not a combatant and the other's implants weren't working due to a magical EMP effect.

If it had been a normal 6 person party, things would have been very different but given our long running problem with getting players...

I suppose it's the classic problem with stating up antagonists. The PCs spread their points across all the things which may be useful and fall within the character concept. The antagonist spreads their points across beating on the PCs.

I still think the general approach is right but would probably reduce the numbers when doing it again.

 

[Guvnor]

It took me a while to realise that NPCs are there to be defeated.