About the Mage M20 GM resources
Modern occult fantasy RPG
Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary is modern occult conspiracy fantasy. All nine Spheres, Arete rolls, a Paradox tracker and vulgar-vs-coincidental magick.
Mage (M20) is a dice pool game where your magical capability is expressed through Arete and Spheres. Coincidental vs Vulgar magic changes risk (Paradox). The roll flow has 3 steps: Decide the effect and which Spheres apply. Roll your pool (often Arete with modifiers) and interpret successes as effect/scale. Track risk: Vulgar effects can generate Paradox and consequences.
This page collects resources for running Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary. It links to 6 GM topics written for this game, starting with the session zero guide.
How to use this page
- Start with session zero, then pick the topic that matches your next session. Each topic is short enough to read while prepping a Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary scene.
- Open the Mage M20 dice roller when a rule asks for a roll, so the result follows the same mechanic described above.
- Track what changes on your Mage M20 character sheet, which supports 3 creation modes, so the next session starts from the current state.
- Move to a sibling page when the question changes: quickstart, rules reference, glossary, or advancement guide. Each one is built from the same Mage M20 data, so terms and numbers match across pages.
- Return to the Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary guide for the full overview, including character creation and every tool for this game.
Nothing on this page replaces the published Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary rulebook. It is a working reference for the table: short summaries of the 6 GM topics listed here, plus links to the tools that act on them.