Mage: The Ascension vs Tales from the Loop
Compare Mage: The Ascension and Tales from the Loop side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Mage: The Ascension | Tales from the Loop | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy, Modern, Horror | Scifi, Modern |
| Tags | Freeform Magic, Character Building, Crunchy, High-Power, Roll to Cast, Skill-Based, Lore-Heavy, Fear & Stress Mechanics | Narrative, Beginner-Friendly, Character-Driven, Mystery, Rules-Light, Licensed IP |
| 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 d6 dice pool (attribute + skill). Each 6 is a success. Push to reroll failures but take a Condition. Kids cannot die: instead they accumulate Conditions (Upset, Scared, Exhausted, Injured, Broken) and must roleplay recovery with anchors. |
| Dice | d10 dice pool | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Very High | Low |
| Accessibility | High | Medium |
| Runnability | Very High | High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Year Zero Engine OGL |
| 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 | Free League Publishing |
| Year | 2015 | 2017 |
| Languages | English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish | English, Swedish, French, German, Italian, Spanish |
| 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 wanting a rules-light, nostalgia-driven RPG about kids solving sci-fi mysteries in an alternate 1980s: Stranger Things meets E.T. |
| 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. | Very simple rules, distinctive 1980s setting, Conditions system encourages roleplay over combat, accessible for new players and younger teens |
| 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. | Trouble mechanic resolution can feel arbitrary, limited mechanical differentiation between kid characters, investigation pacing relies heavily on GM skill, sessions can stall without clear mystery structure |