Mage: The Ascension vs Red Markets
Compare Mage: The Ascension and Red Markets side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Mage: The Ascension | Red Markets | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy, Modern, Horror | Horror, Post-Apocalyptic |
| Tags | Freeform Magic, Character Building, Crunchy, High-Power, Roll to Cast, Skill-Based, Lore-Heavy, Fear & Stress Mechanics | Fear & Stress Mechanics, Gritty, Resource Management, Roleplay-Heavy, Character-Driven |
| 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 2d10: one black (skill), one red (threat). Black higher than red means success; doubles are critical results. Characters track economic resources via Bounty (currency), gear with limited charges and upkeep costs, and a negotiation system using a Sway Tracker. Humanity erodes through Trauma, Stress, and Detachment tracks. |
| Dice | d10 dice pool | 2d10 |
| Complexity | Very High | Medium |
| Accessibility | High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Low |
| 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 | Hebanon Games |
| Year | 2015 | 2017 |
| 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 a zombie RPG that's really about economic survival: negotiating contracts, managing resources, and deciding what you're willing to sacrifice to keep your dependents alive. |
| 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. | Economic focus makes every job feel high-stakes, negotiation mechanics add tension before combat even starts, humanity/trauma system creates character arcs, zombie threat serves a story about capitalism and survival |
| 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. | Heavy bookkeeping with multiple resource tracks, relentlessly bleak tone, steep learning curve for the Profit system, limited availability of the full rulebook |