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Since CCP Games is the owner of White Wolf Publishing (makers of RPGs like Vampire), a number of White Wolf's sites have gone down as well.

Main site: http://www.white-wolf.com/
Open development/info site for the 20th anniversary of Vampire: http://www.vampirethemasquerade.com/
Site for the annual World of Darkness fan convention: http://www.thegrandmasquerade.com/

Wrong kind of Larp. I'm in the Camarilla - http://camarilla.white-wolf.com/ and we play in the World of Darkness setting, which includes such games as Vampire: the Requiem, Werewolf: the Forsaken, Mage: the Awakening, Changling: the Lost, and Geist: the Sin-Eaters. In short, if the name of the game is {Monster}: the {adjective} it's likely a LARP somewhere. :-)

Sheer stupidity.

You know TSR's old Planescape books? I bought about a half-dozen of them at $5 a pop. By removing the ability to get legal PDFs, they're pretty much removing any legal way to get access to these books at all. Many of them are so far out of print and in demand that they go for at least $80 on eBay.

Many people agree that this is just a first step before WotC opens up their own PDF store, using "piracy" as a good catchall excuse.

What's the response been with other companies?

Steve Jackson says: "BTW, to prevent people from sharing their books, SJG will no longer print books. All rules will be whispered to authorized customers."

White Wolf says: Get rid of PDFs? "'Quite the opposite,' says Eddy Webb, the Alternative Publishing Developer for White Wolf. 'I believe this is a growing market with potential we haven't yet had a chance to fully explore, both as publishers and as fans of role-playing games.' Eddy remarked that he has dozens of upcoming PDF-exclusive products on his schedule in addition to continuing to provide PDF versions of upcoming products, and that White Wolf is still actively looking into returning to the print-on-demand arena.

"To celebrate White Wolfâ(TM)s continuing devotion to PDF products and reward their growing, loyal fan base, the company is offering a free download of the Exalted Second Edition rulebook as well as a one-time 10% discount on the purchase of any White Wolf PDF titles through DriveThruRPG.com and RPGNow.com from 1 Am Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Simply enter the coupon code 'wwlovesyou' to receive the discount."

See? That's a smart way to do business.

Large Chicago law firm Jones Day are suing internet startup BlockShopper over the issue of whether linking to a business with their trademarked name should be legal.

Yes, it should be.

"RPGs? Try White Wolf or Wizards of the Coast."

Trademarks exist to differentiate businesses. You have an ABSOLUTE RIGHT to use somebody else's trademark to refer to them or describe their product. Any law that says otherwise is fundamentally flawed, and violates the first amendment.

A trademark is a name, and names are fundamental to speech.

White Wolf is also planning on tapping that market.

http://www.white-wolf.com/index.php?line=news&articleid=746

That depends on how geeky you want to be. Though not necessarily tech oriented, you may want to check out the local D&D / LARP crowd. LARP is extremely popular in South Florida, with each major city (except Naples) having a Camarilla presence. Gamer geeks and tech geeks can and do mix, and I've found several tech geeks through gaming. The local gaming shops typically have D&D or miniatures regulars coming in, and if you ask the shop owner of your local store, they might give you a heads up about the local groups.

I find it rather strange that in a community so bent on not being mainstream, only the prime mainstream RPG is discussed.
Having played well over 20 RPG systems myself, I can safely say that D&D (no matter which edition) is one of the worst I've ever played. But that's just my impression. From a passionate RPG player, here are some alternatives to D&D Fantasy Roleplay:

Palladium & Rifts
Exalted
Runequest
Harnmaster
GURPS
Torg

If you haven't played at least one of the above besides D&D, you should do it ASAP.

Have you looked at the Hero System? It is basically what you want. The main rule book contains a list of abilities and their associated costs. From these ingredients you create your own recipes whose costs you can calculate to keep things balanced. The genre books then offer a series of templates.

While there are some things about the system that bother me, and which I prefer in the d20 system, its a really interesting system none-the-less. In fact, it is probably the best system that no one has played a game in, which is a shame

Have you looked at the Hero System? It is basically what you want. The main rule book contains a list of abilities and their associated costs. From these ingredients you create your own recipes whose costs you can calculate to keep things balanced. The genre books then offer a series of templates.

While there are some things about the system that bother me, and which I prefer in the d20 system, its a really interesting system none-the-less. In fact, it is probably the best system that no one has played a game in, which is a shame

I'm well aware of the GoO situation and what is posted on their site, as I used to be an employee [from 2002 to 2004] and worked on several books for them as a freelancer [including BESM Third Edition] in 2005 and 2006. BESM Third Edition will be published by ArtHaus, a division of White Wolf -- http://www.white-wolf.com/arthaus/.

Again, unless it happened very recently and has not been made public yet, GoO has not filed for bankruptcy. They still own intellectual property, physical stock and have some level of cash flow, although they are not planning on publishing anything new.

As a small publisher of RPGs myself, I feel compelled to point out that there's much more out there than WOTC and White Wolf. There are a slew of small publishers putting out great, critically acclaimed material, both in PDF and print format. I draw your attention to the ENnie awards (complete list of 2006 winners can be found right here, which this past year rewarded not only big guys like Paizo Publishing and White Wolf, but smaller pubishers like Green Ronin and Guardians of Order, as well as really little guys like Atomic Sock Monkey Press (for the excellent super-hero game Truth & Justice and Dog Soul Publishing (for their Baba Yaga book, which I penned. Check us out. We may not be as well known as the other guys but we're just as good.

D'Oh! Sorry, that should be http://www.white-wolf.com/ not whitewolf.com. Sorry!

You know what would be crazy! What if they made a pen-and-paper ruleset for WoW. It's almost like Blizzard is milking the Warcraft universe for all its cash. (Now if only the bastards would do this with Starcraft!)

What about White Wolf?

They've got a bit going on as well, especially as they're in the middle of releasing books for their new Mage series.

What about White Wolf?

They've got a bit going on as well, especially as they're in the middle of releasing books for their new Mage series.

Good grief....D&D...D&D...GURPS...D&D.....

You make it sound like the only books coming out for pen-and-paper gaming are D&D and GURPS supplements. There's a lot more than that in the past 6 months.

Here's a few new releases that seem to have flown beneath /.'s radar:

- Exalted 2nd Edition - http://www.white-wolf.com/exalted/index.php

- Weapons of the Gods - http://www.eos-press.com/products-wotg.html

- True20 from Green Ronin - http://true20.com/

- Shadowrun 4th Edition - http://www.shadowrunrpg.com/

- Mutants & Masterminds 2nd Edition - http://www.mutantsandmasterminds.com/

All excellent books. I suggest taking a look.

I think you really hit on another problem that the tabletop RPG industry has, with that statement. People learn a system and they like the system. After playing it for many years, eventually the publisher releases a new edition... and some people love it and update, others hate it for changing their precious ruleset/world and stop buying new content.

Speaking from experience, I played a lot of World of Darkness games when I was younger, back in the glorious days of 2nd Ed. White Wolf released their 3rd edition and we all (my roleplaying group) decided that it was mostly crap. We didn't like how they "advanced" the world or took a lot of the creative freedom that we had grown used to away from us. We didn't like their clunky additional rules, like tacking a *third* damage type onto their system. So, we all kept our 2nd Edition libraries and never bought another new White Wolf book again. I believe that they're on their 4th edition now, and have completely bastardized the WoD that I knew and loved.

Now adays, we've all moved away from the "setting heavy" White Wolf series into a more light-weight system (Guardians of Order's BESM Tri-Stat system), where we just have fun making up the stories that we want to tell. We use a total of 1 book (although, to be fair, there are 3 copies of that 1 book, amongst the 6 players) in our games, and I see no need to get another any time in the near future... despite their immanent 3e release.

• Ars Magica 5th ed. winner of the Best Role-Playing Game for 2004 Origins award.
  
• Vampire, Mage another White Wolf "World of Darkness" games.
  
• GURPS, the generic role playing system, now in its 4th editon.
  
• Hero System, originally designed for superhero-oriented gaming, it is now a generic system with special focus on supers, fantasy, SF and martial arts.
  

• Ars Magica 5th ed. winner of the Best Role-Playing Game for 2004 Origins award.
  
• Vampire, Mage another White Wolf "World of Darkness" games.
  
• GURPS, the generic role playing system, now in its 4th editon.
  
• Hero System, originally designed for superhero-oriented gaming, it is now a generic system with special focus on supers, fantasy, SF and martial arts.
  

The most recent sourcebook they have produced for New Orleans was for their 'Vampire: the Requiem' game line.

Not saying that it isn't good about the donations for Katrina victims and all, just that roleplaying sourcebooks for the Big Easy have been around for a while.

Interesting side note though...the sourcebook above, though written several months before Katrina, had an introdutory story, called "The Coming Storm", which ended with a very prophetic line, which went something like this: "Have no doubt, the storm is coming."

this may sound harsh, particularly as i'm a programmer and have been a roleplayer quite extensively myself,

Sounds like you had some really boring roleplaying, though, and possibly a terrible GM.

You should perhaps try playing some modern games where you don't put your intentions on the top of the page in the form of "Lawful Good" or "True Neutral". For example, in White Wolf's World of Darkness game settings, everyone is generally in the same group, but they could be working at cross purposes. Some of the best events in the game are when you pull off the perfect political maneuver to spite a character you don't see eye-to-eye with; or when you have to cajole, threaten, or negotiate to get a bit of vital information. Of course, this is on top of the challenge of considering things from the point of view of a completely separate character with different morals and motivations than you might have personally.

As for the "formalness" of the worlds, that really depends on the players and the GM. What's the modifier for turning over a table during a bar fight and using it as cover? What happens if an opponent in heavy steel armor crashes into the front of table? What if an acrobat leaps over the table and pins you against it? What if a mage sets the table on fire? I don't know what game you were playing, but these situations happened often in our role-playing and there were no hard and fast rules for them. The DM had to come up with rules and we collaborated to make a great session.

Finally, you should consider that not everyone is the same. In particular, there are introverts and extroverts, although these terms are very often misunderstood. I highly recommend the book, The Introvert Advantage which talks about these things in depth. I credit RPGing with allowing me to learn to extrovert as an introvert; this isn't something that comes naturally to introverts, so it's good to have a practice area where you can "just claim you're roleplaying" to ease anxieties. Learning to extrovert well has helped me a tremendous amount as a business owner. Of course, not everyone is as willing to learn and grow; people are often happy to fall back on old, comfortable, familiar patterns.

My thoughts,

I'm pretty involved with a CCG based on "Vampire: the Masquerade". It was Garfield's second attempt at a CCG after magic, with a special eye towards correcting some flaws in Magic (at least as far as multiplayer play was concerned). The dynamics of the game are accurately compared to Diplomacy, FWIW, and it's managed to hold my interest for 10+ years, which is a better track record than most mind-candy has for me. One of the main reasons for this is that White Wolf has been very, very good about not forcing its player-base to "chase the crack". The best stuff is common, and also from the original set, which was vastly overprinted when WotC still had the game.

But as to the playerbase, we're mostly in our 30's, with wives, girlfriends, normal lives and such. Anyone interested in more detail could go here:

http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/index.php

I'm not surprised. There already exist a Warcraft pen and paper RPG based on the d20 system, so a card game is the next logical step. The paper RPG is actually very good though, so I wouldn't shout "sold out" just yet. I don't like the sound of the game affecting your play ingame though...

Hunter isn't directly derived from Vampire, but it is a video game adaptation of a roleplaying game by the same company who puts out V:tM. The company is White Wolf and the game is Hunter: the Reckoning. Basically the games are set in the same world and can be used in crossovers as antagonists for one another, but it's also easy to play either one on its own.

Bloodlines isn't a FPS; it's exactly what I wish they would do for Shadowrun, which is an RPG-style video game based on a pencil-and-paper RPG. The game in question, Vampire: The Masquerade (and now Vampire: The Requiem) is put out by White Wolf, the subject of the recent semi-scandal regarding pay-to-play for their live-action game rules. Basically, if there's going to be an adaptation of a pen-and-paper RPG to the video game medium, I'd much prefer it be something like Bloodlines (which I hear is a good RPG, though I haven't played it personally) as opposed to the FPS style Shadowrun game mentioned above or White Wolf's earlier FPS that was based on another one of their games (Hunter: The Reckoning).

They've made a clarification to address some concerns.

http://forums.white-wolf.com/viewtopic.php?t=19702 &highlight=&sid=0a53b7694d3e1fadb446865c5f388f84/

"I understand that Storytellers regularly incur expenses during games (tabletop, LARP or what have you), and I understand the desire to recoup some of these expenses. I also realize that most of the people who have been charging for play in their games are doing so simply for that reason. We also have no intention of stopping a Storyteller from asking his or her players to chip in for pizza at a small game. This license does apply, however, when you are charging them a site fee or other standard fee and recruiting players far and wide"

this, this, this, this, this, this, or many others.

Hmm...

Finding and killing the methuselas would become an obscession for anyone who wanted to change things for the better (or even at all).

Sounds a lot like this game I play: linky.

That's why you should play Exalted instead. There, you get play mythic demi-gods with legendary kung-fu who can topple kingdoms in an afternoon's work. And, you can roll twenty or thirty dice on a single attack if you use the right charms...

Die pools against a difficulty makes for a quick and easy way to make up a roll for any off-the-cuff goofy action like sticking a note to the bottom of a glass without the bartender noticing. Number of sucesses gives a metric for how impressively it was carried off, encouraging more than just "you did it" or "you didn't do it"; you can do things poorly or well, and that's how the story develops.

--
Evan

I think the reason that they're better known for Magic is that they, well, created it (while the success of Magic basically assured their own success), while they bought TSR and, by extension, Dungeons and Dragons. This isn't to say that 3rd Edition isn't a hell of a lot more streamlined than 2nd (I know I enjoy playing it), but given that WotC opted to preserve the TSR brand, their relation to DnD in my mind is more marketshare than mindshare; I know I don't immediately associate them with it.

one last time.

They have a link to their press release href="http://www.white-wolf.com/huntermovie.html"> here.

They just ended their World of Darkness last week.

So why not make a little more money off of their fans before they forget about the WoD.

LK

I could imagine some quite decent movies from, say, the White Wolf line of RPGs, but I do agree that some games might be difficult if not impossible to convert: I for one hope we'll never see a Duke Nukem movie.

White Wolf already uses a much more skill based system than D&D.

You could say there are different 'classes' within the White Wolf games, as they do have different calns/tribes/kiths/traditions/etc. in all their games, but these 'classes' only affect certain aspects of the characters, while (most of) the rest of the skills and such used are not dependednt upon what type of character 'class' is chosen.

Granted, White Wolf is a far cry from the sales of D&D, but they are number two in the pen and paper RPG world, IIRC. Plus, they have their Swords and Sorcery line which is d20 (and sells very well from all accounts), plus they are the publishers of Ravenloft now as well.

Oddly enough, though, White Wolf is publishing the EverQuest pen and paper RPG as well under the OGL (not the d20 license). Or, at least they were as of this past August, I don't know if that has chenged.

Love of Monsters, by Nancy A. Collins, 1994.
NOT mentioned on amazon or in white wolf's own catalog.
it did exist, as you can find it on google.

perhaps the book was completely inaccessible
and the only thing ripped off was World of Darkness?

"White Wolf will release a special addition to its popular Vampire: The Eternal Struggle trading-card game based on the Time of Judgment. 'The Gehenna expansion allows VTES to partake in this exciting storyline,' said Steve Wieck, White Wolf's Director of Card Projects. "We're committed to continued support of VTES, and this set of boosters is only the first part of that."

Even if WW dropped support for V:tES after ToJ it'd still go. We kept the game going when Wizards of the Coast dropped it and we'll keep it going if WW ever drops it.

Erik Carlsson
Prince of Ramstein GE
Vampire the Eternal Struggle

I just want to point out to /.ers that if White Wolf's server's down, I provide all the pertinent info at WolfSpoor, my WW-themed slashdot equivalent.

Anyhoo, yes, the World of Darkness game lines are indeed ending. For sure. Overwith.

But they're bringing in a "new World of Darkness" in August 2004. Maybe it'll be like Marvel's Ulitmates: a reimagining of the same concepts. Maybe there'll be compeltely different critters. Maybe it's something no one else has thought of. Who knows?

White Wolf has more than enough to keep them busy in the guise of Exalted, Dark Ages, and their massive Sword & Sorcery line (incl. Scarred Lands, Necromancer Games, Malhavoc Press, Ravenloft, Gamma World, Everquest RPG, Warcraft RPG, et al). Plus they're going to be doing something with Adventure again, I hear.

But the World of Darkness is indeed their biggest moneymaker overall. It's a ballsy move to actually usher in the End Times, but they're not stupid. It'll be back in some way.

Vampires and werewolves fighting a secret war against a modern backdrop? Zeitgeist and angst? If I were the produces of the World of Darkness pen&paper roleplaying games series, I think I'd be rather annoyed. This film seems to have stolen most of its premise lock, stock and barrel.

In other news, it appears even /. itself is now slashdotted. Marvellous.

I always loved D&D, and when Third Edition came out I was overjoyed. I preordered all three core rulebooks and introduced my closest friends to one of my favourite childhood hobbies.

That was about four years ago - now, thanks to version "3.5" I have to repurchase those core rulebooks, along with my DM's screen so I can keep current.

I was more than happy to buy supplements (Monster Manual 2, Epic Level Handbook, Tome and Blood) to support Wizards, but having to throw away my old books and adventures in order to enjoy new material is not something that I look forward to.

3.5E is an insult. From now on, Wizards is dead to me!

DEAD!

I'm going to stick with White Wolf - sure, they update more often than Wizards, but at least you only have to buy one book (not three) to play a given game.

Imagine a vampire grabbing someone from behind and sucking them till they pass out.

That's how they did it in Vampire:The Masquerade from White Wolf, furthermore, in that game, if a avampire licks the bite wound it closes quickly, hiding the evidence...clever...

Of course one may wonder how many Sunnydale vamps get a chance to feed before being staked...

• peltier coolers to achieve low CPU temp.
• watercooling to cool the hot side of the peltier, watercooling blocks are generally in copper, or in silver (beware werewolves), the lot is affixed to the CPU with dielectric grease. The cooling liquid is distilled water, which does not conduct electricity, not alcohol, nor liquid sodium.
• neopren pockets to protect the mobo from condensation

"It's open season on all suck-heads."
"Some mutha-fucka's always gotta ice skate uphill."

Crappy, ultra-campy action-movie lines from the original - lines that *made* the movie.

I went to Blade II to watch a bad ass kick ass and say corny lines. To have a plot-line would be superfluous. The dialogue was just space between fight scenes, as far as I'm concerned - and they interspersed it with humour!

I got what I came for, plus. Honestly - the "BloodPack" just *screamed* Vampire the Masquerade campaign! complete with faux-political intrigue! honestly - we aren't *supposed* to take it seriously!

If you want a lot of *wonderful* action, complete with bad-ass dialogue/one-liners, Blade II is the movie. It has raised my standards for that "genre". It's just fun, fun, fun.

They even manage to throw Blade his shades just before the real action begins! rock!!!

der_m

I wouldn't have described purchasing TSR as "cherry picking." TSR was clearly on its way out and without Wizards of the Coast (WotC) would have gone under. WotC had previously failed to turn a profit on role-playing games, and TSR's sad state was more evidence that role-playing games were a bad idea. It took alot of faith to buy TSR.

I was working for Evermore Entertainment in 1997. Evermore was developing for TSR the concisely named Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Core Rules CD-ROM 2.0. I met a number of TSR and WotC employees over the course of my employment. I got to hear, first and second hand, about the problems inside the company. I visited TSR's headquarters in Lake Geneva during the WotC purchase. I even met, as part of a larger group, with Peter Adkison.

I can vouch that Peter was still a huge gaming geek in 1997. It was clear that he wanted TSR because he loved it too much to let it die. Whenever Evermore met with him, he reinforced that he wanted our software to support as many quirk home-brew rules as possible, after all, it needed to work with his game. I got to hear about his plans for the Game Centers, a gamer's home away from home. It would have computers built into the tables to store and refernce notes; projector screens to show maps and monster pictures. While he hoped to make a profit, it was clear that he just wanted to share great things with all of the gamers of the world. (I also discovered that he is the most aggressive driver I have ever riden with, and that he likes lots of ketchup on his burgers.) He would be completely welcome at my gaming table, and I suspect most gamers would be happy to game with him.

Just before the purchase, TSR looked doomed. The previous owners had run the company into the ground. I later learned that the previous owners had detested gamers and the entire hobby. They had simply bought in for the money. They viewed gamers as cattle to be milked and treated as poorly as possible. Garbage like Spellfire (A tarted up version of the card game War with badly recycled art) was released with the belief if you make it, gamers will buy it. Games were kept bland and safe. Older gamers felt abandoned by the company and stopped purchasing products. No real effort to draw new blood was made, so new gamers ended up playing hipper, newer, edgier games like Vampire: the Masquerade. There was no new blood. Sales were dropping every quarter. Debts were piling up, thier printer refused further work until existing debt was paid. After the buyout, employees openly cursed the previous owners.

TSR's continued existance was an embarrassment. I would never had guessed that it could be saved, that its bad name could be salvaged. It was brave of WotC to purchase it under these conditions. Beyond the initial buyout of the company, WotC had to pay off TSR's creditors. Significant time, effort, and money were spent revitalizing the TSR product lines. The rescue of Dungeons & Dragons was amazing. D&D went from a has been contender that gamers looked down their noses at to relatively new and hip. Suddenly friends who haven't played D&D in years were back and enjoying the heck out of it. It was alot of effort to recover the D&D name, and I believe Peter Adkison's love of the game was responsible.

My personal favourite is Mage: The Ascension at white-wolf.com, but all a system is is a framework within which to build the group's creativity.

While it looks like this will eventually be a good place to look for stuff, it's failed several tests so far, and jumbled all but one.

A search for "sancho games" failed to bring up Sancho Games
A search for "White Wolf" (... productions, ... games, white wolf by its self) failed to bring up White Wolf
A search for "Disney" brought up Disney-MGM (not quite their home page, but close) as the 677th result, but never actually turned up www.disney.com
Searching for "Slashdot" failed to turn up Slashdot, though it nabbed a bunch of knockoffs and generic linux info.

I could understand a search for microsoft not turning up anything, on the basis that Microsoft isn't family-friendly, but of 3096 hits, doesn't Microsoft (for any reason, good, bad, *or* ugly) deserve at very least to be in the top 25%?

Success!: A search for "In Nomine" brought up Steve Jackson Games, as did a search for "Steve Jackson" but "sjgames" got me bupkis.

A search for "Milton Bradley" came up with AXIS & ALLIES - Games from Hasbro Interactive and Hasbro as the first hit. To be fair, the second search result that comes in when I search for "Hasbro" is a game by Milton Bradley. While equitable, I'm not sure this is what people are looking for...


While I commend you guys on the effort, and several years of dedicated work, it's got at least a few more years' worth of work to go before it starts getting usable for everyday searching.

ok, how the paralells between FASA's Shadowrun and White-Wolf's Mage began are unbeknownst to me, Mage has been a favorite of mine since White Wolf first released it, and still is a favorite of mine. Cyberwear is not common, you don't have "Spells" either. You control "Spheres" like say I wanted to turn you into a chair, I would need a good concept of Life, Matter, and I'd need some Quintisential energy (Prime) to do such a thing, and then I would suffer a HECK of a backlash, as reality told me "Stupid shit, you can't do that!" .. (Paradox) Alot of the facts in this "Review" (if you can call it that, it's about 5 years+ too late) are mixed up. If you want more information on Mage: The Ascention visit White Wolf's Website or e-mail me, I'll be more than happy to explain the real truth about this wonderful pen and paper game.

You know, I'm not usually a Katz-basher myself, but, please!

Methinks somebody's been paying attention to White Wolf's own hype. After all, everybody knows Vampire is about the struggle with darkness within (which is naturally why so many people play it as superheroes with fangs). And Changeling is about the sorrow of our lost childhood. And Werewolf is about the sad demise of our environment. Just because they take themselves that seriously doesn't make them deep.

It's a game. It's a game that's been out for years! This sort of article reminds me of the magazines in the early nineties touting their "new" discovery - the internet, as if it had only just begun to exist because they noticed it.

I actually played that game a lot. Even for the non-rpers, the main book is a really interesting read. White Wolf has created a really rich and interesting setting around that game, bringing interesting ideas and views of magic making the main book of that roleplaying game as interesting to read as many novels I have read.

At the forefront of that game is the conflict between technology and freedom, imagination and 9 to 5 boring lives, between fantasy and modern life.

I would definitly recommend that book to everyone, roleplayer of not. And to roleplayer I really recommend that game as it is IMHO one of the best RPG even...

You could also check out Ars Magicka which was the first game of white wolf (now published by another company I can't remember which one) which is kind of the basics for mage : the ascension bringing you among the middle ages magi.