Mage: The Ascension vs Mischief
Compare Mage: The Ascension and Mischief side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Mage: The Ascension | Mischief | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy, Modern, Horror | Fantasy |
| Tags | Freeform Magic, Character Building, Crunchy, High-Power, Roll to Cast, Skill-Based, Lore-Heavy, Fear & Stress Mechanics | Rules-Light, Classless, Gonzo, Comedy, Fast-Paced, Fiction-First, Low-Prep, Improvisation, Character-Driven, Hackable |
| Core Mechanic | 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. | Roll a d12 and add BODY, MIND, or WILL, then read the total on a five-tier scale: 12+ is a Critical Success, 9–11 a Success, 5–8 a Mixed Success, 2–4 a Failure, and 1 or less a Critical Failure. Natural 12s and 1s are always critical. Each instance of Good or Bad Luck adds a d12 and keeps the highest or lowest result. |
| Dice | d10 dice pool | d12 |
| Complexity | Very High | Low |
| Accessibility | High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Low |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Made for Mischief Third-Party License |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault | Commercial publishing allowed — Made for Mischief Third-Party License |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | Free |
| Publisher | Onyx Path Publishing | Drimbus |
| Year | 2015 | 2026 |
| Languages | English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish | English |
| Best For | Groups who want long-form modern occult campaigns about reality-shaping power, ideological conflict, and the consequences of imposing belief on the world. | Groups who want quick, swingy fantasy sessions with comedic magic, freeform character concepts, and advancement tied to each character's personal goals. |
| Highlights | 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. | Opponents use a single Power score as roll modifier, damage track, and persuasion threshold, so one number runs a creature in both combat and conversation. Characters level up by checking off items on a player-written Bucket List, tying advancement to personal goals rather than experience points. Abilities and spells share one list and are normally Exhausted by a failed roll, so magic needs no spell slots or mana. |
| Considerations | 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. | A failed roll exhausts the Ability used until a Rest or Healing restores it, so a character starting with three Abilities can lose most of their tricks within one Conflict. Base attack damage is usually 1, or 2 on a critical, so weapons mostly differ in accuracy, critical range, and Luck conditions. Wounds add a -1 penalty and then Bad Luck on every roll, so injured characters get steadily worse at escaping danger. |