Mage: The Podcast

A podcast dedicated to exploring the Mage: The Ascension, a role-playing game (RPG) based in the World of Darkness.

Play

Open in

21 episodes
fortnightly
Avg 51 min
English

Episodes 21

Newest Oldest Longest

All20 Unplayed20 In progress0 Played0

Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

S10 · E366
September 26 · 55 min
Crossover: Werecat in the Ascension Part 1
The cats are out of the bag! Adam is joined by Pooka for a tour through the Bastet, the werecats of the World of Darkness, and the many ways they can complicate a Mage: The Ascension chronicle. Show Notes Bastet biology and shapeshifting The supernatural weaknesses called Yava All nine Bastet tribes Bubasti connections to magic and ancient Egypt The mysterious Celican Qualmi riddles The possible connection between Den-Realms and Mage Shallow Realms Never underestimate what a target word count and a heaping ladle full of passion can get you.
S10 · E365
September 5 · 52 min
Dark Destinies
Pooka and TL Webb discuss the finer points of Dark Destiny and Dark Destiny 2. These short story collections offer World of Darkness stories. The ones that involve mages get special focus. What drink helps a mage warp reality? What sport do mages love to interfere with? All that and more in today’s episode. Mage the Podcast social media links Website http://magethepodcast.com Patreon https://bit.ly/MagePatreon Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/magethepodcast.bsky.social Mastodon https://dice.camp/@magethepodcast Threads https://www.threads.net/@magethepodcast Discord https://discord.gg/V6QNT8b8
S10 · E364
August 22 · 30 min
Reality Deviants Book Club: Algernon Blackwood
Adam and Pooka discuss Algernon Blackwood’s fiction, his occult interests, his fascination with nature, and what his stories can teach Mage: The Ascension Storytellers about the sublime, supernatural uncertainty, spirits, Correspondence, Awakening, and psychological horror. Show Notes Mage 20 SRD Blackwood, the Golden Dawn, and psychical research Why “The Willows” remains influential weird fiction The sublime as a tool for Mage Correspondence and “A Victim of Higher Space” Magical instruments in “A Psychical Invasion” Hermetic magic in “Smith: An Episode in a Lodging House” Reincarnation and “Ancient Sorceries” Psychic vampirism and “The Transfer” Sleepers encountering the supernatural Playing Awakening instead of relegating it to backstory Using wilderness settings in Mage and “The Wendigo” Psychological horror without Nephandi or cosmic monsters Mystical isolation, obsession, and chantries Using Sphere perceptions to generate story hooks Why Blackwood may feel especially appropriate for Mage: The Ascension (Second Edition) A note on the 1910 wilderness novella The episode discusses Blackwood’s use of material drawn from Algonquin-speaking Indigenous cultures while distinguishing his Edwardian weird fiction from the living traditions he transformed.
S10 · E363
August 8 · 18 min
Tomes of Magick: The Other Side of the Coin
Tomes of Magick: The Other Side of the Coin We’re returning to Tomes of Magic in Translation with a Spanish-language introductory adventure for Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition. La Otra Cara de la Monera is an 18-page one-shot for two to five players that introduces the Traditions, Sphere magic, Resonance, Paradox, Avatars, and magical Focus through an investigation into a series of horrific supernatural crimes. The trail leads from an impossible murder scene to corrupted young mages, the Nephandus Mark Frazier, and an expanding metaphysical void that may eventually consume the surrounding neighborhood. We break down all seven scenes, examine the five pregenerated characters, and discuss what happened when the adventure was actually run for a table containing both new and experienced World of Darkness players. Show Notes Introducing new players to Mage Spanish-language M20 material Investigation using Sphere magic Resonance and Paradox Nephandi as introductory antagonists Magical temptation and corruption Focus, paradigm, and Avatars Collaborative Sphere effects Running the adventure as a one-shot What worked—and what could be changed—after actual play Spoiler warning: The adventure is discussed almost completely.
S10 · E362
July 25 · 38 min
Paradigm Shift: Gradient Descent
What happens when a Mothership scenario is brought into Mage: The Ascension? Adam examines Gradient Descent, a science-fiction horror scenario set aboard an abandoned android factory controlled by an AI called Monarch. The station contains valuable technology, discarded androids, copied human minds, unreliable allies, zero-gravity hazards, and an intelligence determined to make visitors question whether they were ever human. The episode considers how to use the Deep as an Iteration X construct, how Monarch might connect to the Matriarch or Threat Null, and how the scenario can work for Technocrats, Tradition mages, Disparates, acolytes, or extraordinary citizens. Show Notes Mothership - A sci-fi horror TTRPG with OSR-style, d100 rules and stress/panic mechanics, inspired by Alien and Event Horizon. Gradient Descent - A 64-page sci-fi horror megadungeon for Mothership, written by Luke Gearing, illustrated by Nick Tofani, published by Tuesday Knight Games (2020) Iteration X and Technocracy campaign hooks Correspondence, Life, Mind, hacking, and scenario balance Why the station works best outside the Umbra
S10 · E361
July 11 · 33 min
World of Darkness: France
The World of Darkness is as global a phenomenon outside the games as it is within. Many of the books have been translated by one licensee or another over the years, and a precious few have been created by and for the fans in other countries. In this installment of Tomes of Magick, Pooka cracks open the Mage chapter from 1997's Le Monde des Ténèbres: France, a French-only general WoD book that explores that country in the setting. What are the Verbena doing around the megaliths of Carnac? Who's pulling the strings of the then-nascent EU? Why is the Digital Web so weird in this part of the world? Listen in for these and other tantalizing questions. “Zoning boards are where the fight against the Technocracy must needs be fiercest and firmest.” Mage the Podcast social media links Website http://magethepodcast.com Patreon https://bit.ly/MagePatreon Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/magethepodcast.bsky.social Discord https://discord.gg/7rsy59Zz Mastodon https://dice.camp/@magethepodcast Pixelfed https://pixelfed.social/i/web/profile/792325079447125841 Threads https://www.threads.net/@magethepodcast
S10 · E360
June 27 · 1 hr 1 min
In Defense of Prime
Adam and Heilong discuss the Sphere of Prime. Is it worth keeping? What can it do for you? How does it affect quintessence and other things? Is Primal Utility a thing? Tune in and hear about new possibilities for bringing the Sphere into your games. Mage the Podcast social media links Website http://magethepodcast.com Patreon https://bit.ly/MagePatreon Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/magethepodcast.bsky.social Mastodon https://dice.camp/@magethepodcast Threads https://www.threads.net/@magethepodcast Discord https://discord.gg/V6QNT8b8
S10 · E359
June 13 · 51 min
Tower of Babel
We climb John H. Steele’s Tower of Babel, a Mage novel full of creators, characters, conspiracies, and reality getting mighty leaky around the edges. It’s metafiction, Technocracy trouble, dream-tower theology, and one poor writer learning that when your fiction talks back, maybe don’t answer after drinking. Show Notes Tower of Babel - Book man invents fascist action guy. Fascist action guy becomes real. Magic happens. Bureaucrats get spooky. Reality files a complaint. John H. Steele - wrote lots of White Wolf fiction, helped shape the Clan Novel Saga, and used the pen name Gherbod Fleming.
S10 · E358
May 23 · 51 min
Crossover: Rokea in Mage
Adam swims with the sharks to bring you information and ideas to help you add the Rokea, the shape shifting sharks of the World of Darkness, to your games. What are the Kahu hiding? What lies at the bottom of ocean trenches? Why don’t sharks floss? Tune in and find out. Show Notes Rokea - Immortal weresharks, ancient sea-born shapeshifters who form Slews, use electric “Sending,” heal in saltwater, and ally with Mokolé.
S10 · E357
May 9 · 34 min
Reality Deviants Book Club: Dark City
Adam and Pooka discuss Dark City (1998). Another movie that paints the World of Darkness on the screen for you to see. This one aligns so closely with Mage: The Ascension (First Edition) ; watch out for Paradox. Can this inspire you to portray Sphere effects in your game? Is it a good example of a mage’s Awakening? Can bald, creepy kids boost your game to the next level? Tune in and find out! Show Notes Dark City (1998) - An amnesiac fugitive hunts his identity while evading police and reality-warping “Strangers.” The Paradox Wheel - An online resource for Mage fans by DrunkDez.
S10 · E356
April 25 · 51 min
Paradigm Shift: Stygian Library
Adam talks about Emmy Allen’s Stygian Library, the library that doesn’t end. Will your players find the knowledge they’re looking for? Can they evade the mysterious librarians and their super computer? The sister volume to Gardens of Ynn is full of ideas that may find a place in your Mage games. Just watch out for the ink blots. They stain. Show Notes Stygian Library overview (DriveThruRPG) - A strange old place, part haunted mansion, part endless library tucked outside the world. Coins and Scrolls - OSR procedural dungeon design basics Mage: The Ascension (White Wolf overview) - At its heart, Mage is all about the long road to Ascension. Nt just for one soul, but for all of humanity. Trouble is, nobody’s pinned down exactly what that means or how you get there. Umbral Realms & High Umbra concepts - Folks also call it the Spirit World, the Shadow, or the Velvet Shadow, one of those places that’s right there beside our world, even if you can’t quite touch it. It runs alongside the everyday, separate but close, like a reflection in a dark window just waiting to be noticed. Procedural generation in RPGs (design concepts)- “Xandering” a dungeon means designing it like the old-school masters did (full of branching paths, secret routes, and meaningful choices) so players truly explore and shape their own adventure instead of being led down a straight, railroaded path. Ternary computing background (for Virtual Adept ideas) - A ternary (sometimes folks say trinary) computer is just a machine that counts a little different than most. Instead of using the usual on-or-off binary way of thinking, it works in threes. So where regular computers use bits, these use “trits,” giving them an extra option to work with each step of the way.
S10 · E355
April 11 · 44 min
Mage Fiction: Such Pain
Pooka and Lee discuss Such Pain, the first Mage novel published in 1995. Can novel-length stories help you envision the world of Mage? Did the author hit it out of the park with this one? Hear Pooka and Lee’s review of the book. Their commentary highlights how the World of Darkness was a little different during Mage’s first edition. Mage the Podcast social media links Website http://magethepodcast.com Patreon https://bit.ly/MagePatreon Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/magethepodcast.bsky.social Mastodon https://dice.camp/@magethepodcast Threads https://www.threads.net/@magethepodcast Discord https://discord.gg/7rsy59Zz
S10 · E354
March 21 · 33 min
Reality Deviants Book Club: Arthur Machen
Adam and Pooka discuss the weird fiction of Arthur Machen, Welshman extraordinaire. Do turn of the century horror stories offer anything to modern Mage games? Is this a boon to Victorian Mage Storytellers? Do the powers of darkness really want to redecorate your office? Tune in & hear story ideas, horror commentary and hermetic code names. Show Notes The Great God Pan and ”The White People”, both tied to Machen’s reputation in weird fiction. Machen’s ties to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a hush-hush British magic club from back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, where folks mixed Rosicrucian ideas, Masonic style, and occult study in hopes of climbing a little closer to the spiritual stars. Reality Deviant Book Club: King in Yellow - Adam and Pooka discuss Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow mythos and other stories. Video on ternary computers - Ternary computing is a 3-state system (−1, 0, + 1 or "trits") offering higher information density, faster processing, and greater energy efficiency than binary. Oldstyle Tales Press - Publisher of classic horror, ghost stories, and weird fiction from Mary Shelley to M. R. James. Annotated and illustrated. The Great God Pan, The White People, and Other Horrors: The Best Weird Fiction and Ghost Stories of Arthur Machen (Oldstyle Tales of Murder, Mystery, Horror, and Hauntings) - This illustrated collection gathers Arthur Machen’s finest eerie tales, where hinted-at horrors and hidden sins creep beneath everyday life, revealing a world of dark magic, ancient evil, and the uneasy split between humanity’s light and shadow.
S10 · E353
March 7 · 46 min
Media Club: Buckaroo Banzai
Adam, Jenna, and Pooka take a gleeful ride through The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, celebrating its pulpy charm, wild 80s style, oddball science, and Mage-ready Etherite energy. They cover what works, what wobbles, how to “Mage-ify” it, and why this messy cult classic still sparks game ideas, big laughs, and deep affection. Show Notes The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) — brain surgeon, rock star, test pilot, alien-fighting chaos agent. The Hong Kong Cavaliers — Buckaroo Banzai’s loose but capable inner circle: a half rock band, half super-science/adventure team built around gifted oddballs, runaways, scholars, hackers, and fighters. They include veterans like Rawhide, Reno Nevada, Perfect Tommy, Pecos, New Jersey, Billy Travers, Big Norse, plus close Institute allies like Professor Hikita, Mrs. Johnson, and Pinky Carruthers. Dr. Emilio Lizardo — Brilliant but doomed physicist who, in 1938 at Princeton, tested an early Oscillation Overthruster and briefly entered the 8th dimension, where he was possessed by the alien tyrant John Whorfin of Planet 10; returning to Earth apparently insane, Lizardo became the vessel through which Whorfin plots to escape Earth and conquer again. Watch it: stream on Tubi.
S10 · E352
February 21 · 50 min
Truth Until Paradox
Truth Until Paradox Pooka and T.L. Webb crack open Truth Until Paradox, Mage’s first fiction anthology. They chat why tie-in stories matter, then speed-tour 17 wildly uneven, very ’90s tales—Technocracy vs Traditions, Nephandi schemes, HIT-Marks, odd Wonders, and fan-fic energy. Show Notes Truth Until Paradox (Mage anthology, Feb 1994) - Tucked inside are seven tales from the World of Darkness, a place that looks a lot like our own, except the supernatural is real, and shadowy forces are always moving just out of sight. They’ve been chosen and edited by Stewart Wieck, the creator of Mage: The Ascension and co-creator of the World of Darkness. Key faves: “Silver Nutmeg, Golden Pair” + “Grim Reminders” (Penny Dreadful) Concepts: Ascension War vibe, coincidental magic, backstabbing, Wonders, Paradox oddities T.L. Webb on Bluesky and Tumblr
S9 · E352
February 7 · 52 min
Stone Lore
The most powerful skill in Mage is uncovered at last. Join Adam and Pooka as they lay bare the stone cold facts about Stone Lore. The mystic qualities of malachite, how to use Stone Lore in your games and the merits of marrying Spanish dancers are all discussed as your hosts try to penetrate the deepest secrets of Ascension. Show Notes Geologist’s Primer⁠ - A friendly, picture-packed guide that mixes myth, folklore, old-school magic, crystal lore, and real science, giving writers and game masters everything they need to make rocks, metals, and gems feel alive in fantasy worlds or modern tales alike. ⁠Lapidarium: The Secret Lives of Stones⁠ - Told through art, myth, power, and a bit of hard science, this wide-ranging tale follows sixty unforgettable stones to show how rocks shaped human history, and how our hopes, work, and wants shaped those stones right back. ⁠Amulets and Superstitions⁠ - This old-school, picture-filled classic by Egyptologist E. A. Wallis Budge shows how folks across the ancient world leaned on stones, symbols, numbers, and amulets to heal the sick, keep bad luck at bay, fend off evil, and make sense of fate and the unseen. ⁠ Gemlore: Ancient Secrets and Modern Myths from the Stone Age to the Rock Age - This down-to-earth guide rambles across cultures and centuries, mixing the hard facts of geology with myth, symbols, and old stories to show how gemstones have both shaped our beliefs and mirrored the way people make sense of the world.
S9 · E351
January 24 · 1 hr 4 min
PAX Unplugged Conversations, Part 2
Once again, we’re going back in time to PAX Unplugged 2024 and a series of interviews conducted by Terry Robinson. This installment features five conversations with various folks in the gaming space. We hope you get some joy and wisdom out of these chats. Perhaps they’ll inspire you to jump into writing and creating as well, and we’ll see you behind a table at PAX this coming December… The interviewees, in order: Eloy Lasanta (Third Eye Games): https://www.thirdeyegames.net/ Chris Pramas (Green Ronin): https://greenronin.com/ Eric Portney (Alexandria RPG Library): https://alexandriarpg.org/ Jason Cordova (Gauntlet RPG, Brindlewood Bay): https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/brindlewood-bay.html Spencer Campbell (Gila RPGs): https://gilarpgs.com/ Mage the Podcast social media links Website http://magethepodcast.com Patreon https://bit.ly/MagePatreon Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/magethepodcast.bsky.social Mastodon https://dice.camp/@magethepodcast Threads https://www.threads.net/@magethepodcast Discord https://discord.gg/7rsy59Zz
S9 · E350
January 10 · 38 min
Crossover: Ananasi in Mage
Adam talks about bringing the Ananasi into games of Mage the Ascension. Ananasi are the were-spiders of Werewolf the Apocalypse. Where do they come from? How do they operate? What can they bring to your Mage games? Whether enemies or allies, the spider folk have much to offer. This is the first in a series of crossover episodes. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/12/ananasi Mage the Podcast social media links Website http://magethepodcast.com Patreon https://bit.ly/MagePatreon Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/magethepodcast.bsky.social Mastodon https://dice.camp/@magethepodcast Threads https://www.threads.net/@magethepodcast Discord https://discord.gg/7rsy59Zz
S8 · E349
Dec 27, 2025 · 1 hr 10 min
PAX Unplugged Conversations, Part 1
This episode travels back in time to PAX Unplugged 2024, where Terry Robinson captured interviews and loose, late-night conversations with creators and friends. This first installment (of two, or possibly three) features interviews with folks from AED Publishing, The Bodhana Group, and a rambling roundtable with Pooka and Mike from Darker Days Radio. We hope these final recordings from Terry are a fitting addition to his memorial and a little gift for the end of your year. Go forth, Mage strong! Show Notes PAX Unplugged – A tabletop gaming-focused convention specifically tailored to lovers of board games, RPGs, miniatures, cards, and more. AED Publishing – An independent and privately owned publishing company focusing on the creation and distribution of character and story driven games founded by Stephen Koontz. 5th Conspiracy (RPG) – Urban fantasy where belief shapes reality published by AED Publishing. The Bodhana Group – Therapeutic tabletop gaming nonprofit. Darker Days Radio – Premier horror rpg podcast
S8 · E348
Dec 13, 2025 · 1 hr 46 min
Making Sense of the Digital Web
Adam and James walk you through the Digital Web books. Then James discusses topics to consider when taking your players to the digital realm. Where is it in the Mage cosmos? How do you get there? How do you move around and work magick? What might you meet there? How does Augmented Reality really work? These topics and more are laid out to help you make the Digital Web a part of your Mage games. Mage the Podcast social media links Website http://magethepodcast.com Patreon https://bit.ly/MagePatreon Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/magethepodcast.bsky.social Mastodon https://dice.camp/@magethepodcast Threads https://www.threads.net/@magethepodcast Discord https://discord.gg/7rsy59Zz

Showing 1–20 of 21 episodes