By The Mirrorball Man (j_hirt@yahoo.com)
This is not a complete game. You need the main Mage: The Ascension rulebook to play Mage: The Void.
No, it is not official material, so I'm not bound to follow the gospel according to White Wolf. If some details are inaccurate, it is either because I don't care or because my knowledge is limited. Since it is a variation of Mage set in the future, writing it has involved choices. Of course you are not compelled to agree with these choices, but please don't send me e-mails telling me how wrong I am. I am not a very dogmatic person.
However, feel free to write stuff based on this material if you want. You may also publish it on the web. Everything will be considered "official."
No, Mage: The Void hasn't been tested. Yes, it shows.
I use masculine generic pronouns in this text. It is not a challenge to anybody.
I also use the metric system. I'm sure you've grown accustomed to it by now.
It was destroyed during the last quarter of the 21st century. Why? Well, theories abound, but nobody knows for sure. Maybe the excesses of mankind were finally been too much for the planet to bear. Maybe somebody pressed the wrong button. Maybe it was Ragnarok, the Apocalypse or Gehenna. It is not very important anymore. Earth is gone. This is the end of the 22nd century, and mankind has finally reached the final frontier. Human beings have set foot on many planets, and erected many cities under alien suns.
It would not have been possible, however, if Mages hadn't been there. Mages no longer act in shadows. They are now the true, unquestioned masters of humanity, and their struggles are the wars of mankind. Their secret factions have evolved to become political systems, and at least four of them are willing to conquer the whole galaxy. Life is hard for Sleepers in this day and age: they have to obey the will of their Enlightened masters, in the distant hope that one day, they too might Awaken.
Man, who used to be isolated on Earth, has now the possibility of reaching distant worlds. This miracle has been made possible with the discovery of Soulgates. Mages realized that the Afterworlds, where the souls of the Dead departed after their last breath, were passages through space, shortcuts that made space travel possible. Many claim to have been the first to find a Soulgate. But one thing is sure: now that mankind is no longer imprisoned on a lonely planet, there is no further limit to what it can accomplish.
The year is 2190. Welcome to the Void Age.