Mage M20 GM checklist cheat sheet
Before-session and during-session reminders. At-the-table reference for Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary.
Mage M20 GM checklist: reality is subjective, Paradox is the pressure valve, and every Tradition sees the world differently.
Before the session
- Know each PC's paradigm: what magic looks like to them.
- Decide what counts as coincidental in this scene (context-dependent).
- Prep 1-2 Paradox consequences if players go vulgar.
- Plan a mix of magical and mundane challenges.
During play
- Ask players to describe their magic: paradigm is not optional flavor.
- Track Paradox pools: backlash should feel inevitable, not arbitrary.
- Sleeper witnesses make vulgar magic worse: use crowds as a tactical element.
- Technocracy and Nephandi are threats that can't be punched away.
Common mistakes
- If Paradox never matters, players will always go vulgar.
- Coincidental vs vulgar should be a genuine choice, not a tax.
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