Mage: The Ascension vs Tales of Xadia
Compare Mage: The Ascension and Tales of Xadia side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Mage: The Ascension | Tales of Xadia | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy, Modern, Horror | Fantasy |
| Tags | Freeform Magic, Character Building, Crunchy, High-Power, Roll to Cast, Skill-Based, Lore-Heavy, Fear & Stress Mechanics | Narrative, Character-Driven, Character Building, Classless, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Corruption, Roll to Cast, Lore-Heavy, Strong GM Support, 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. | Build and roll a d4–d12 dice pool from an attribute, a value and a distinction, adding one applicable specialty and assets. Results of 1 are hitches and cannot contribute to the total or effect. Add two eligible results to beat the opposition's total. Choose an unused eligible die whose size determines the effect rather than its rolled number. |
| Dice | d10 dice pool | d4–d12 dice pool |
| Complexity | Very High | High |
| Accessibility | High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Onyx Path Publishing | Dire Wolf Digital |
| Year | 2015 | 2022 |
| 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 fantasy campaigns where changing convictions and relationships matter mechanically alongside magical adventures in The Dragon Prince's setting. |
| 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. | Questioning a value statement triples its die for a roll and feeds growth, making changes of conviction mechanically consequential. Contests can change major non-player characters' values, letting persuasion reshape their future behavior. Extended challenges resolve varied approaches against a shrinking dice pool, supporting obstacles beyond physical combat. |
| 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. | Stress strengthens opposing dice pools, making unresolved setbacks harder to overcome. Guided rune-mage creation links ancestry and upbringing to magical vocation, limiting characters' inherent access to different sources of primal magic. Trait advancement uses growth dice in tests that can fail, rather than guaranteeing an upgrade after every story arc. |