Let's Go to Magic School vs Mage: The Ascension
Compare Let's Go to Magic School and Mage: The Ascension side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Let's Go to Magic School | Mage: The Ascension | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy, Modern, Horror |
| Tags | Collaborative, Worldbuilding, Playbook-Driven, Fiction-First, Character-Driven, Freeform Magic, Drama, Magic School | Freeform Magic, Character Building, Crunchy, High-Power, Roll to Cast, Skill-Based, Lore-Heavy, Fear & Stress Mechanics |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 2d6 + stat. On a 10+, full hit. On a 7-9, partial hit with complications or limited choices. On a 6-, miss: the GM makes a Reaction. Five stats: Virtue, Ambition, Learning, Heart, and Worldliness. Inspiration is gained on missed rolls; five Inspiration unlocks an advancement from the playbook. | Build a d10 pool from an Attribute plus an Ability and count each die that meets or exceeds the difficulty, usually 6. Each rolled 1 cancels a success, and a roll with no successes and at least one 1 botches. Magick uses Arete instead: the highest Sphere plus coincidence or vulgarity and witnesses establishes the base difficulty, with situational modifiers applied afterward. Successes determine the Effect, and vulgar casting risks Paradox. |
| Dice | 2d6 | d10 dice pool |
| Complexity | Low | Very High |
| Accessibility | Very High | High |
| Runnability | Low | Very High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | Free | $$ |
| Publisher | Holothuroid | Onyx Path Publishing |
| Year | 2025 | 2015 |
| Languages | English | English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish |
| Best For | Groups who want to collaboratively build a magic school setting and play out the social drama of student life (friendships, rivalries, classes, and mastering spells) in a flexible, setting-agnostic fantasy framework. | Groups who want long-form modern occult campaigns about reality-shaping power, ideological conflict, and the consequences of imposing belief on the world. |
| Highlights | Collaborative worldbuilding during setup defines the school, its magic system, principles, limits, and laws. 17 magic subjects organized into five tiers (Basic, Elective, Advanced, Forbidden, Lost) shape the school's curriculum. Spells are defined collaboratively during play rather than from a fixed list. Scrutiny system tracks institutional consequences for rule-breaking students. | Nine Spheres combine to build open-ended Effects, allowing the same capability to emerge through different paradigms, practices, and instruments. Coincidental and vulgar classifications make subtlety a tactical choice because conspicuous magick raises difficulty and accumulates Paradox. Focus ties belief to procedure, so a mage's worldview determines the tools and rituals used to alter reality. |
| Considerations | Requires investment in collaborative worldbuilding during setup; sample settings are provided but no full pre-built setting. | Improvised Effects place frequent adjudication on the Storyteller, who must apply Sphere permissions, focus, required successes, and consequences consistently. Vulgar magick generates Paradox even on success, so overt power can punish a mage through injury or metaphysical breakdown. Faction choices can make a cabal internally hostile, so character concepts need shared motives before play. |