Mage: The Ascension vs The Dark Eye
Compare Mage: The Ascension and The Dark Eye side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Mage: The Ascension | The Dark Eye | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy, Modern, Horror | Fantasy |
| Tags | Freeform Magic, Character Building, Crunchy, High-Power, Roll to Cast, Skill-Based, Lore-Heavy, Fear & Stress Mechanics | Crunchy, Skill-Based, Lore-Heavy, Character Building, Simulation, Social Intrigue, High-Fantasy |
| 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. | Skill checks require rolling a d20 three times, each against a different linked attribute (roll under). A pool of Skill Points can be spent to reduce individual rolls that exceed their target attribute. Remaining Skill Points after all three rolls determine the Quality Level of the success. Combat uses d20 roll-under for attacks, with separate Parry and Dodge defense rolls. Spellcasting costs Arcane Energy points and uses the same triple-check system. |
| Dice | d10 dice pool | d20 |
| Complexity | Very High | High |
| Accessibility | High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Medium |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Scriptorium Aventuris (community content program) |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | Free |
| Publisher | Onyx Path Publishing | Ulisses Spiele |
| 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 detailed, skill-rich fantasy RPG with a deeply developed setting and mechanics that model character competence through point-based skill management rather than binary pass/fail. |
| 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. | Triple d20 skill check system rewards investment in both attributes and skills, Aventuria is one of the most extensively detailed published RPG settings, free quickstart rules available |
| 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. | Eight attributes and dozens of skills make character creation lengthy, triple d20 check resolution is slower than single-roll systems, core rulebook is dense and requires significant reading before play |