Destiny's Price is a book for Mage: The Ascension Second Edition with ideas for Gothic-Punk settings, stories, characters, as well gaming rules and new gear. A Black Dog work, it is intended for mature audiences.
Summary[]
From the White Wolf catalog:
- The Test
- The wet street mirrored the neon and the dark equally, impassively. At my feet, another life. I swallowed, knelt, felt her faltering pulse. I caressed her cheek. A caress like the angel of death. My throat tightened: Why do I stay? As if in response, the dying girl whispered, "Hold me."
- "At which price such power?" asked Siehchang. And again: "At what price such knowledge?"
- I was silent. How could I respond?
- "Indeed," he said, "who can answer fully to destiny's price?"
- — Kiki Siehchang, Verbena Master, from The Dialogues of Siehchang and Ortega
- The Price
- The streets offer endless questions. This book, however, holds many answers for the Gothic-Punk troupe. Within its pages, players and Storytellers will find characters, settings, new rules, street gear, and some harsh truths about the urban nightmare, including:
- A guided tour of the streets by one who knows them.
- Dozens of characters, settings and weapons, plus details about organized criminal groups.
- Source material for Mage, Vampire, Werewolf, Wraith and even Changeling.
Contents[]
Prelude: Flashlight[]
By Jaymi Wiley.
Introduction[]
Chapter One: Under the Knife: A Guided Tour[]
Introduces the hows, where and whys of urban street culture, from one who lives there.
Chapter Two: Nowhere to Go but Down (Culture)[]
Provides an extensive introduction to organized crime groups and subcultures.
Chapter Three: Gutter Magick (The Street Mage)[]
Offers tips, motivations and rules for the mystick who visits - or works from - this dangerous world.
- New Merits and Flaws
- Street Ties (2 pt Merit)
- Street Rep (1-2 pt Merit or Flaw)
- Beholden (1-3 pt Flaw)
- Criminal Record (2 pt Flaw)
Chapter Four: Blood and Asphalt (Settings)[]
Includes a handful of ready-made settings, which can be used intact or cannibalized for inspiration.
Chapter Five: Men of Dust (Characters)[]
Contains non-player street folk who might cross your players' paths in any number of ways.
- General Ability Templates
- Beat Cop - Stats
- Detective - Stats
- SWAR Officer/Riot Cop - Stats
- Thug - Stats
- Gangbanger - Stats
- Streetwalker - Stats
- Call Girl/Stripper - Stats
- Vagabond/Street Person - Stats
- Urban Shaman/Cultist - Stats
- Ninja - Stats
- Street Creatures
- Insects
- Vermin
- Vermin (or giant vermin) - Stats
- Feral Cats and Dogs
- Cat (small to large) - Stats
- Wild Dog (small to large) - Stats
- Obscenities from the Sewer
- Wetbrains - Stats
- Sewer Gator - Stats
- Vermin
- Insects
Appendix: Street Gear[]
Offers a helping of less-than-glamorous tools for the street-level Storyteller - weapons, drugs, and other goodies. A selection of suggested films, books, comics and music albums can also be found here.
- Black Market Buying Chart
- Protective Devices Chart
- Biker Jacket
- Reinforced
- Leather Jacket
- Motorcycle Helmet
- Riot Vest
- Trashcan Lid
- Dirty Fighting/Special Combat Maneuvers Chart
- Curbstomp
- Disarm
- Double Strike
- Haymaker
- Lunge
- Pistol Whip
- Sweep
- Firearms Chart
- Mace
- Taser
- Fire Mace
- Zip Gun
- Sawed-off Shotgun
- Concealed Gun
- Concealed SMG
- Street Melee Weapons Chart
- Blunt weapons
- Baton/Tonfa
- Bottle
- Brass Knuckles/Roll of Quarters
- Chain
- Lead Pipe/Crowbar
- Nunchaku
- Plaster Cast
- Pool Cue
- Sap Gloves/Steel-Toed Boots
- 2x4/Baseball Bat
- Trashcan
- Trashcan Lid
- Weighted Bag/Sap
- Wrench
- Sharp Objects
- Broken Bottle
- Car Antenna
- Hatchet
- Nail-studded Glove
- Punch Knife
- Razor
- Sheet of Glass
- Switchblade
- Sword Cane
- Throwing Blades
- Whip
- Power Tools
- Hand Drill
- Large Drill
- Hand Saw
- Chainsaw
- Hand Stunner
- Nail gun
- Blunt weapons
- Drugs and Poisons
- Alcohol
- Amphetamines
- Depressants
- Cocaine & Crack
- Cyanide
- Hallucinogens (LSD, peyote)
- Home-brewed Poisons
- Marijuana & Hashish
- Opiates (Herion, opium, morphine)
- Raw Sewage
- Smart Drugs
- Tear Gas
- Packs and Swarms
- Suggested Source Material
- Books
- Baird, Willhelmina - Crash Course, Clipjoint
- Bing, Léon - Do or Die
- Brite, Poppy Z - Drawing Blood, Swamp Foetus
- Clark, David Aaron - The Wet Forever
- Collins, Nancy - Midnight Blue
- Gibson, William - Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive, Burning Chrome
- Ice T - The Ice Opinion
- James, Del - The Language of Fear
- Janowitz, Tama - Slaves of New York
- Jeter, K. W. - Farewell Horizontal, Dr. Adder
- Kadrey, Richard - Metrophage
- Koja, Kathy - The Cipher
- Lewitt, S. N. - Cybernetic Jungle
- Mailer, Norman - An American Dream
- Petersen, Gail - The Making of a Monster
- Roche, Thomas S. - Noirotica (ed.)
- Rolfe, Peter & Greeson, Zelma - Gangs USA
- Sterling, Bruce - Globalhead, Mirrorshades (ed.)
- Swanwick, Michael - In the Drift
- Vachss, Andrew - Flood, Strega, Blue Belle, Sacrifice, Born Bad, Shella
- Wambaugh, Joseph - (anything)
- Williams, Walter Jon - Hardwired, Angel Station
- Wolfe, Thomas - The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
- Comics - Ronin, SinCity, John Constantine: Hellblazer, The Invisibles, The Crow, Spawn, The Maxx; Amerikan Flagg; The Watchman; The Dark Knight Returns
- Other Game Books - Dark Champions: Heroes of Vengeance, An Eye for an Eye (Hero Games/ICE), Underground (Mayfair Games); SLA Industries (Wizards of the Coast); Kult (Metropolis); Shadowrun (FASA); Voodoo: The Shadow War (Steve Jackson)
- Other White Wolf Books - Chicago, L.A. and D.C. by Night, Succubus Club, Rage Across New York, Anarch's Cookbook, The Book of Chantries; Settite and Nosferatu Clanbooks; Cult of Ecstasy; Technocracy: Progenitors
- Movies
- The Crow
- Jacob's Ladder
- The Warriors
- A Clockwork Orange
- Candyman
- Batman; Batman Returns
- Blade Runner
- Clockers
- Black Rain
- Goodfellas
- Lost Angels
- Do the Right Thing
- Strange Days
- The Basketball Diaries
- Robocop
- Highlander
- Colors
- Predator II
- Assault of Precinct 13
- Judgment Night
- Big Trouble in Little China
- Juice
- Escape From New York
- The Fisher King
- The Butcher's Wife
- Bullet to the Head
- Kids
- Hardboiled
- Carlito's Way
- Dead Presidents
- Desperado
- El Mariachi
- King of New York
- Menace II Society
- Mobsters
- A Bronx Tale
- New Jack City
- Pulp Fiction
- Sid and Nancy
- Something Wild
- The Killer
- Trespass
- True Romance
- Hardcore: The Films of Richard Kern, Vols. I & II
- Music
- Rock: Guns & Roses, Concrete Blonde, Sisters of Mercy, Rollins Band/Black Flag, Body Count, Killing Joke, Danzig, Liers in Wait, The Nails, Fear, Suicidal Tendencies, Bang Tango
- Rap/Hip Hop: Ice-T, N.W.A., Ice Cube, Black Czer, Chalicious, MC Pooh, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Public Enemy
- Techno/Industrial: Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, Ministry, Front 242, Die Warzau, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
- Soundtracks: Colors, The Crow (both versions), Repo Man, Judgment Night, Hardware, Basketball Diaries, Strange Days
- Books
Background Information[]
- This is the first Mage: The Ascension book under the Black Dog imprint.
- Ads at the back of book include: Vampire: The Dark Ages (Mar. 1996), Meet Sam... The Ultimate Bad Ass, Change the World (Mage Tarot Deck and Mage: The Ascension Second Edition: Dec.), The Wyrm CCG Expansion Set and the Immortal Eyes Chronicles (The Toybox and Immortal Eyes: The Toybox).
Memorable Quotes[]
(...)
Characters[]
- Back Cover
- Kiki Siehchang - Verbena Master
- Prelude: Flashlight
- Jason
- Michael
- Katryn - Mage
- Chapter One: Under the Knife: A Guided Tour
- Amit
- Yakov
- Jim
- Chapter Two: Nowhere to Go but Down (Culture)
- Timboots
- Monster Kody
- Johnny Brunetti
- Stefan Marrera
- Paul DeLuca
- Lucky Frankie
- Gino Inserra
- Jade Demon - Mage
- Bobby
- Ned
- Chapter Three: Gutter Magick (The Street Mage)
- Kevin - Mage
- Master Domitius - Mage
- Nino Ortega - Sleeper
- Chao
- Snake
- Jason Fivestones - Order of Hermes Mage
- Guinhaevar - Order of Hermes Mage
- Chapter Four: Blood and Asphalt (Settings)
- Crystal
- Klenton
- Marv
- Patty
- Julie
- Dee
- Jules
- Sister Marua Inez - Nun, The Burning Bush Convent
- Jeremiah Stanton - Unemployed Janitor, The Burning Bush Convent
- Rosalie Hearney - Ex-Cop, The Burning Bush Convent
- Jason the Magnificent - DJ, Club Eat Me
- Ember - Mans the box office for Club Eat Me
- Diana - Bartender, Club Eat Me
- Jon Dough - Enforcer, Club Eat Me
- Captain Jerome "Jerry" Petaluma - Cop, The 57th Precinct
- Sergeant Ralph Schwartz- Cop, The 57th Precinct
- Calvin Meyers - Cop, Officer, The 57th Precinct
- Evenne Backsby - New Horizons Youth Center
- Trubble Meeham - Inmate, New Horizons Youth Center
- Nicosia Smith - Inmate, New Horizons Youth Center
- Chapter Five: Men of Dust (Characters)
- Perkins
- Captain Crucifix - Street Preacher
- Clarice - Crucifix's Wife
- Kathleen Brutelli - Jessica's Mother
- Jessica Brutelli - Kathleen's Daughter
- David Gryce - Student
- Robert O'Sullivan - aka "The Blonde Slasher", Serial Killer
- Jack Dowdy - Vietnam Veteran
- Onassis - Park Chess Player
- Officer Silvia Lopez - Cop
- Sherrie "Acid Queen" Burns - Hacker, The Latchkey Anarchists' Club
- Edward " The Black Prince" O'Conner - Hacker, The Latchkey Anarchists' Club
- Jason "Weasel" White - Hacker, The Latchkey Anarchists' Club
- Franklin "Teddy Bear" Jefferson - Hacker, The Latchkey Anarchists' Club
- Appendix: Street Gear
- Sonya - Gangrel
- Father Shelly
Terminology[]
The 57th Precinct, Acolytes, Black Angels (Gang), Brujah, The Burning Bush Convent (Tent City), Bushi, Clan, Club Eat Me (Trash Bar), Delirium, Demon, The Dialogues of Siehchang and Ortega by Kiki Siehchang, Domination, Fae, The Freddies (Gang), Gaki, Garou, Ghost, Giovanni, Glass-Walkers, Hedge Sorcerers, Household of the Jade Demon, Information Networks, Kindred, Kinfolk, The Latchkey Anarchists' Club (LAC), Lexicon of the Street: There's a long list of street slang in the book that isn't that important, but the only WOD term on there is: Blood Doll; Napier Court (Weird Basketball Court), New Horizons Youth Center, Order of the Rose, PIG1et (LAC Program), Setites, Seventh Generation, Shadow Lord, Spirit, SPIT (Dance club), Squatter cabals, Squatter Chantries, Street Chantries, Street Mage, Streetwise, Tremere, Umbrood, Unseelie, Vampire, Werewolf,
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