{"id":287,"date":"2020-03-20T22:29:58","date_gmt":"2020-03-21T03:29:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gearsonline.net\/fantasy\/?p=287"},"modified":"2020-03-20T22:29:58","modified_gmt":"2020-03-21T03:29:58","slug":"pulp-inspirations-for-mage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gearsonline.net\/fantasy\/2020\/03\/20\/pulp-inspirations-for-mage\/","title":{"rendered":"Pulp Inspirations for Mage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As I continue on my survey of the Pulps – fiction magazines that ruled the news stands from roughly 1900 to 1950 – I continue to see interesting ideas to pull into Mage the Ascension. Mage fans know that Pulp stories from the 1930s were an inspiration for the first Sons of Ether Tradition book<\/a> but I saw Pulp influence while reading the 1st edition core book. The big, imaginative storylines of many Pulp stories seem like a natural place for Mage Storytellers to look for inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Sept. 18th, 1920 issue of The Argosy Allstory Weekly<\/a><\/em> (more info<\/a>) there was an installment of The Metal Monster<\/em> by A. Merritt. I couldn’t help but notice this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fantastic notion came to me – fantasy it was, of course, yet built I know around a nucleus of strange truth.\u00a0 It was that this jeweled world was ridden by some mathematical god, driving it through space, noting occasionally with amused tolerance the very bad arithmetic of another Deity the reverse of mathematical – a more or less haphazard Deity, the god, in fact, of us and the things we call living.<\/p>

It had no mission; it wasn\u2019t at all out to do any reforming; it wasn\u2019t in the least concerned in rectifying any of the inaccuracies of the Other.\u00a0 Only now and then it took note of the deplorable differences between the worlds it saw and its own impeccably ordered and tidy temple with its equally tidy servitors.<\/p>

Just an itinerant demiurge of super geometry riding along through space on its perfectly summed-up world; master of all celestial mechanics; its people independent of all that complex chemistry and labor for equilibrium by which we live; needing neither air nor water, heeding neither heat nor cold.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This was from a scene where one character shares with another the dream he had after a mental attack from the members of a machine society. It made me think of the world of Autocthonia in Mage: the Ascension. In Mage, Autocthonia was discovered orbiting the Sun opposite of Earth by the Technocracy. Iteration X, a Convention of the Technocracy, was fascinated by the machine world and set up shop there. Autocthonia is rumored to be the home of The Machine, a super AI that unofficially controls Iteration X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth behind The Machine has been left up to individual Storytellers. Is it an opportunistic Umbrood? A being sent by the Nephandi to impersonate a machine intelligence? A creation of Iteration X that grew beyond its original design? Or nothing more than an elaborate hoax? And what are its motives? Increase the technology of human society so humanity can reach the next level of its destiny? Corrupt the Technocracy while bending mages to its will? Create a sterile, efficient world where humans have no place?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After reading The Metal Monster<\/em>, a classic piece of Pulp science-fiction, I can see one possibility. The Machine is a hive mind made up of countless machine intelligences of Autocthonia. When the Technocrats arrived years ago it didn’t consider them a threat and studied them while it decided what to do. When the Iterators established communication The Machine gained new data and decided to tolerate the undesirable organic life forms as long as they integrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Iterators remain fascinated by the mechanistic world they consider to be perfection. The Machine’s distaste for organic life of all kinds has slowly infiltrated their thinking. Although The Machine has no plans to colonize Earth, the Iterators work towards their dream of making Earth a second Autocthonia. This means their original vow to help the Technocracy improve society for mankind has been subverted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does this mean for Mage stories? Iterators are pursuing bionics and cybernetics so they can make humans less human and more machine. Their misguided goals make them a problem not only for humanity but also the Technocracy. Even though The Machine isn’t trying to cause trouble, the Iterators’ obsession with it is dangerous anyway. This could make Iteration X an enemy for Tradition mages and Technocrats alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Chronicle dealing with this idea could involve players raiding Iteration X Constructs as they slowly learn who the real leaders are and what they’re up to. When the players take the fight to Autocthonia they get trapped there and, while trying to survive, learn The Machine is not the real problem. Perhaps they can find a way to negotiate with The Machine. Can they offer The Machine something it wants in exchange for expelling the Iterators? Perhaps they can make such a bad impression that The Machine swears off humans forever!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Themes for stories focusing on this conflict could include<\/p>\n\n\n\n