Table Of ContentThe Mage Players Guide
The Sourcebook for Players and Storytellers of Mage
Credits Special Thanks to:
Written by: Emrey Barnes, Bill Bridges, Steve Rebecca "Rat Worship" Shaeffer, for know-
Brown, Phil Brucato, Brian Campbell, Sam Chupp, ing how to get Rob and Brian hot.
Beth Fischi, Don Frew, Dan Greenberg, William Louvie "Bungee" Locklear, for the reason she
Hale, Harry Heckel, Sam Inabinet, Darren need not buy beers in Biloxi.
McKeeman, Judith A. McLaughlin, Jim Moore,
Lyndi "Bimbo" Hathaway-McKeeman, for
Kevin Murphy, John R. Robey, Kathleen Ryan,
her fan club's alternative to root canal surgery.
Steve Wicck, Ehrik Winters, Teeuwynn Woo-
Richard "Not the Skinner" Haight, for not
druff
being the guy you love to Haight.
Additional Material: Bob Asselin, James Estes,
Mike "Exorcist" Krause, for battling the Devil
Andrew Greenberg, James Medley, Mark
in GOD.
Rein*Hagen, Ryk Strong
Mark "Spitz" Rein*Hagen, for making a big
Developed by: Phil Brucato
splash at M.O.C.
Edited by: Brian Campbell
Danny "Fabio Fan" Landers, for spilling the
Art Director: Richard Thomas
beans on Ken's secret obsession.
Layout and Typesetting: Aileen E. Miles
Wes "HoJo" Harris, for being the slickest
Art: James Crabtree, Scott Johnson, Matt gaijin at the Mafia party.
Korteling, Robert MacNeill, Dan Smith, Joshua
Jim "Recruiting Sergeant" Townsend, for find-
Gabriel Timbrook, Lawrence Allen Williams, Jeff
ing new ways to pay the rent.
Wright
Oh Soon (Kim) "Welcome to the Jungle"
Front Cover Art: Larry Schnelli
Shropshire, for waltzing in where GOD fears to
Front and Back Cover Design: Larry Schnelli tread.
Sam "Comfy Chair" Chupp, for bringing pa-
gan joy to Mouseville.
4598 STONEGATE IND. BLVD.
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GAME STUDIO
© 1993 by White Wolf. All rights reserved. Reproduc-
tion without written permission of the publisher is expressly
denied, except for the purpose of reviews. Mage The Ascen-
sion, Vampire The Masquerade, Werewolf The Apocalypse
and The Book of Shadows: The Mage Players Guide are
trademarks of the White Wolf Game Studio. All names,
titles, characters and text herein are copyrights of White
Wolf unless otherwise noted.
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Mistridge, Certamen, and Troupe Play are trademarks of
Wizards of the Coast, Inc., are from the Ars Magica™ game.
and are used with permission. Ars Magica is a trademark of
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The mention or reference to any companies or products
in these pages is not a challenge to the trademarks or
copyrights concerned.
Due to mature subject matter, reader discretion is
advised. Printed in Canada
2 The Book of Shadows: The Mage Players Guide
The Mage Players Guide
Contents
Prelude: Behind the Walls 4
Introduction 8
Book One: The Gifts of Awakening - Traits 12
Book Two: Faces of Magick - Portraits 5O
Book Three: The Book of Rules - Systems 98
Book Four: The Magick Toybox - Equipment 136
Book Five: The Fragile Path - Parables 154
Book Six: Guiding Words - Counsel 192
Suggested Reading 2O5
Index 207
3
Contents
By Kathleen Ryan
This is an elegant house. Its patrons random order and reweaves them around the plate before
claim it is the finest in the state, if not the her target. Food poisoning. She holds her control a moment
nation, and solidly, if sordidly, endorse it. longer, recoils from the shock of countermagick, satisfied
They describe the furnishings as perfect, the that her adversary's attention is held there. Only then does
talents of the employees as exquisite and the she flick the wholly mundane poison into the wineglass.
arrangements as painfully discreet. Perhaps The gentleman in her embrace has cold eyes now, and
these things are true. Cettainly the opetation there is steel beneath his pleasant tones. He takes her arm,
is so refined as to make unnecessary any and there is steei in the gun that presses against her ribs.
blackmail. The mayor counts the madam The diners see only the smiles, hear only the airy chatter of
among his closest friends. old lovers; most turn back to their meals before Amanda
The police never raid this house. and her captor disappear through the shadowed doors at the
On the ground floor is a restaurant as famous and as rear of the salon. She must play this scenario out helplessly
respectable as any other. Amanda slinks deliberately across to give the poison time to work.
the main salon, drifting slowly closer to her target's table. They halt by a closed door on a top floor of the old brick
Out of the corner of her eye, she sees him, sees the wineglass hotel. He knocks just once.
in his flaccid hand. Twice the magick has misfired, twice "All's fair. I've got her."
this man has escaped, all unwittingly, A clumsy waiter "What?"
dropped the first tainted glass; a drunken diner stole the
"Wait a minute,"
second. Though new to her powers, already Amanda has
"Kill the lights. What she can't see... damn it, hurry
come to distrust coincidence, and ice settles in her spine.
up."
She longs to search these vacuous faces for the enemy, to
Trapped in this gilded hallway, Amanda simply waits,
fight directly the half-suspected opposition... she curses
wonders if perhaps he will kill her, wonders if she should be
this clumsy approach even as she neutralizes the poison of
afraid... wonders at her own delight. She has done what she
the second glass. A knife, she feels, is so much more final.
came here to do. The kill was right, and it was hers, and it
She reaches the table just as a noisy party of seven
was good. The feeling convinces the young Euthanatos of
crowds past in the other direction. Jostled, Amanda leans
the wotth of her Path in ways the Old Man's teaching never
against the table for support, smiles vaguely as the mur-
has. As the door opens, she fights a smile.
mured apologies begin. One satin-gloved hand moves a
They trip her up, hold her down, take her knives and
fraction of an inch...
trinkets and cuff her. Then someone slams her into an
"Jane, darling! Is it really you?" One of the passing
armchair, and the questions begin again.
diners, a handsome Asian gentleman in a tuxedo, takes her
"Who are you?" It's the "gentleman's" voice, but
firmly by the shoulders. The pressure is light, but her hands
rougher, and all steel now.
are immobilized.
"Who are you?" Amanda answers back, nearly laugh-
"Do I know you?" She searches his face. Never in her
ing.
life has she used "Jane" as an alias, but this gives her time
"Answer me. Who are you?"
for a moment's thought.
"Why do you want to know?" she asks, ready to play the
"I'll be so hurt if you don't remember, you know." No.
game for hours.
It makes no difference whether this man is her enemy or
not. Her adversary doubtless watches, and this is her last "Michael?"
chance. "I'm not touching her," This voice is very low, rum-
"How could I ever forget ?" As she kisses him, she shifts bling across the room like a tiny earthquake. "She reeks of
space behind her, loses herself to the twisting, raw-silk feel it. We should kill her and leave. Now."
of reality in the room, lifts the branching futures out of their
Prelude 5
"Michael, we need to know," says another. The voice "Well, not yet, actually. But—"
is thin and reedy and is soon lost in the pitch-black "But I saw the ambulance people, and they're all from
darkness.
Cerberus, Her people. She's that old guy's new apprentice,
An exasperated sigh fills the room. Amanda feels just with her hair changed and her face made up. She's
movement behind her and a curved blade at her throat. practically an Adept. She got him, David. You missed it."
The ice fear returns, and her muscles tighten against her The girl looks past the man in the tuxedo to Amanda. "It
will. was the wine, wasn't it?"
"Who are you, and who do you work for?" the "gentle- "Yes." Amanda's voice is steady, but her glance darts
man" asks again. around the room looking for exits, for holes in the cage
"Jane Carter. I'm free lance." With a start, she realizes closed round her. There are no windows, and only one door
the name she picks out of thin air is the same name he had that she can see. Her gaze settles on her captor, David,
called her. But even in the wash of memory, she speaks trying to gauge his reaction, but by then, his face shows
carefully, trying to hold her throat as still as possible, nothing. Slowly, she tries to move her neck far enough to
hoping the lies will pass by him. see the man behind her, but the blade presses close, warn-
"That's better. And why are—" He stops as the door ingly.
slams open. "And you missed it, David."
The tiny silhouette in the doorway stands poised for an "I'm sorry." He sits down on the edge of the bed, tries
instant, uncertain, and then fumbles for the light switch. to catch her eyes. "But what —"
"He's dead," says the shadow, and the overhead light "Why did you do it?" The girl advances on Amanda.
reveals her: a small girl with an elfin pointed chin, honey- "Why? What gives you the right to come here and do this?"
dark skin and flinty, flashy eyes. Her movements are sharp Her face is bleached with anger, and tears of fury stream
and light, and her every gesture sends her short brown locks down it like rain.
twitching around her face. Behind her stands a sleekly "His life was already over. I only ended it." But even
muscled man with a gray fedora and a dark blue suit. He eyes relying on the new rock-hard core of certainty in her heart,
the child— if child she is— uncomfortably, and scratches she finds it difficult to face down this accuser.
at his shirt collar as he speaks.
6 The Book of Shadows: The Mage Players Guide
"How do you know? You're just a student like the rest "That's no good." He frowns, closes his eyes for a
of us. How do you know?" moment. "They'll be slowest around the back, I think we
"He withered everything he touched... his corruption can use the laundry exit... I'll need the keys to the needle
was—" gate, Anne,"
"Do you know that? Or did they tell you that? Your "Forget it. I need you here if I'm going to have the cops
people only destroy things, and they never give any real in this place."
reasons. They never give anything back or ask anybody else "Anne. Please. You know it won't just be the cops,"
if what they destroy is important. Now he's dead." Amanda And, as Amanda watches, the woman's face darkens,
stares, unsure and shaken, and finds nothing to say. new lines revealing themselves in the shadows around her
The blade leaves her throat, and she sees its owner for eyes. One side of her mouth grimaces, as if she were lost in
the first time as he crosses to the girl's side. In silence, the some painful memory. When she speaks, she seems older...
swarthy, disheveled teenager puts one hand very gently on but the young assassin finds it to be a strange improvement.
her shoulder and speaks to her quietly. The man with the "All right. Take them. But this is for the kid. Not you."
gray fedora stands near them like an old friend at a funeral,
He nods, "But I'll recruit you yet, Anne darling. Choir-
guarding the mourners from further grief, David, watching
boy, get the cuffs off of Lucretia Borgia here." A calm-eyed,
all three, clears his throat.
grayish man appears in the far corner and walks toward her.
"Well." He turns to Amanda. "Look... I also think that "And you, Amanda, behave yourself, or we may forget how
motherfu..." He hesitates, looking at his youngest col- principled we are,"
league— "...that man you've just... recycled... was a waste
The gray man bends over her with the key and holds
of... spit. But we needed that bastard downstairs alive and
her wrists gently to unlock her bonds,
where he was, so that his wife's lover would stop the
"Hold still," he whispers, "if you please. And may I
Wellesley Parks development bill from reaching the State
suggest that you do nothing whatsoever to provoke my
Senate. But no one ever consults us in these matters.
friend Michael, there."
Obviously." He rises quickly to his feet. "Shit."
"Why do you care?" she says, as Anne harangues David
"Xia?" The little girl turns to him. "You said the
and David addresses the others.
ambulance was already here? We need to move. That
"I, in the singular sense, of course, feel that in time we
bastard will be D.O.A. or worse. The police will be slow to
shall all be both less and more than we now permit and that
show up at Anne's place, and Big Brother is probably
these disparate portions of ourselves shall no longer oppose
already on the way. Thank God Anne hates computers...
each other." He helps her to her feet,
oh, hello, Anne."
"What?"
A statuesque blonde in evening dress and elaborate,
"We of the Traditions are allies, are we not? Even on
sophisticated makeup comes striding through the door,
the edge of ruin, we acknowledge the darkness that is our
clutching a sheaf of papers in one hand and a fountain pen
common foe," He reaches into his charcoal-colored coat
in the other. David flushes, but turns and addresses her
and brings forth her foci and a further brace of knives,
brightly. "Thank God you hate computers."
which he hands to her. "You can use these, can you not?"
"That's not the only thing I hate." She speaks quickly
"Yes."
and quietly, but her clipped, near-monotone only lends the
words greater bite, "What kind of shit are you trying to pull "Then follow close behind us, and may We who are the
here, Cho? They're carting one of my customers, one of my One bless our common venture."
upstairs customers, away, and all Marilyn can say is that you And from each in the room there came the same
and this bitch practically fell on him ten minutes before the mumbled response.
convulsions started." "Amen."
"I'm sorry, Anne. We tried to stop it, I swear, but I'll
explain later."
"I don't want later, I want now. Before the Black Hats
and Mirrorshades show up."
David Cho turns to his prisoner, "Jane —"
"Amanda." She doesn't know why she says it.
"Amanda. What was your exit route?"
"Cho! Have you heard a single damn thing I've said to
you?" Still ignored, the blonde throws her papers at him.
"I..." Amanda hesitates in the wash of fury radiating
from the older woman. "I was just going to walk out before
he collapsed. It's a relatively slow poison."
Prelude 7
Tell me a tale, a parable, an illumination. Speak to me of
truths hidden in metaphor and secrets glimpsed behind a fleeting
image. Give me a hard crust of fantasy to nibble on. It's so much
more palatable than the dry waybread of conventional wisdom.
Astonish me.
— Hapsburg, Orphan Seer
A Book of Shadows is a road map to There are few easy answers within these pages, but
enlightenment, a journal of progress upon many possibilities. Much of the information contained
the Path of magick. In it, the practitioner herein takes the form of stories, parables imparting truth as
charts her journey from initiation to under- seen from many different points of view. Some of these tales
standing by using anecdotes, tales, lessons, may raise more questions than they answer, but for Mage,
rites and reflections. The Book of Shadows: this is only appropriate. If reality is malleable, then there
The Mage Players Guide is no Book of are many truths from which to choose. Solid answers limit
Shadows in the truest sense, but it will hope- possibility.
fully provide some guidance and inspiration
to Mage players and Storytellers alike.
Introduction 9
