Mage: The Ascension vs Numenera

Compare Mage: The Ascension and Numenera side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.

	Mage: The Ascension	Numenera
Genre	Fantasy, Modern, Horror	Scifi, Fantasy
Tags	Freeform Magic, Character Building, Crunchy, High-Power, Roll to Cast, Skill-Based, Lore-Heavy, Fear & Stress Mechanics	Exploration, Weird, Theater of the Mind, Player-Only Rolls, Low-Prep, Lore-Heavy, Cinematic, Atmospheric, Narrative
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.	GM sets task difficulty 1–10; the target number is difficulty × 3 on a d20. Players ease difficulty by being trained (one step) or specialized (two steps) in a skill, having a favorable asset, or applying Effort: spending points from Might, Speed, or Intellect Pools, with Edge in the relevant stat reducing the cost. Players make all rolls; defense rolls against creatures use the same d20 system as attacks. Natural 17–20 add bonus damage or trigger minor and major effects; natural 1 prompts a GM intrusion that awards the player XP.
Dice	d10 dice pool	d20
Complexity	Very High	Medium
Accessibility	High	High
Runnability	Very High	High
License	All Rights Reserved	Proprietary
Third-Party Publishing	Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault	Not yet researched
Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing.
Cost	$$	$$
Publisher	Onyx Path Publishing	Monte Cook Games
Year	2015	2018
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 exploration-driven science-fantasy where uncovering ancient technology and forgotten knowledge is the campaign's core reward. Particularly suited to GMs who prefer minimal preparation and players who enjoy spending stat-pool resources to ease tasks rather than tracking many subsystems.
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.	Cyphers are single-use, randomly determined gadgets that every character carries and that refresh each session, so combat and problem-solving options change constantly without permanent power creep. The GM never rolls: players make all attack and defense rolls against fixed creature target numbers. Three character types (Glaive, Nano, Jack) combine with dozens of descriptors and foci to produce sharply differentiated builds without a class-and-level structure. XP is awarded for discovery and for accepting GM intrusions rather than for combat, and players can spend XP on player intrusions to bend the narrative.
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.	Combat is theater of the mind by default with no grid or detailed positioning rules. GM intrusions are central to play and require player buy-in; players who prefer uninterrupted action control may find them disruptive. Cyphers must be rolled or selected fresh each session, adding GM workload that scales with party size. The Ninth World setting is intentionally vague in many places, leaving GMs to invent specific details.