Tomes of Magick: Virtual Adepts

Tomes of Magick: Virtual Adepts

On today’s show Adam Simpson discusses Tradition Book: Virtual Adepts by Darren McKeeman. The youngest magical Tradition is the most vibrant and the most irreverent. Virtual Adepts dont waste time delving into ancient grimoires or contemplating their navels. They’re too busy surfing the razors edge of the next zeitgeist. They dont follow trends, they make them. By the time the mainstream catches up to their latest idea, they’ve moved on to new frontiers of space and mind.

Show Notes

Executive Producers

Alexia • Aleksandra J • Alexander G • Alexander P • Ambiversion • Andrew E • Anders S • Andrew • Andrew E • Andrija J • Anon Ibid • Bdurfy • Benjamin B • Berto • Blaise H • Blake R • Bo • BoogersBoogersBoogersBoogersBoogersBoogers • Brad M • Brandon • Bryce Perry • Bubba, The Pale One • Buck Farmer • Chris B • Chris Z • Christopher P • Cinshadis • Connor G • Cromwell The Archaeologist • Curtis H • Dan Svensson • Daniel C • Daniel S • Darren H • David M • David R • DrawnCap • Dennis O • Derek S • Ean R • Eli l • Entropy_Prime • Eric S • Fragarach • Freddy • FriedrichOwl • Gabriel P • Garga L • George L • Gray -Trilug- H • Guy Conan S • GuyWithPuns • Henry Craft • HugoTheBogPerson • I Jaye S • Ian • Illara S • Ira Grace • Isabel CL • J Gatsby • Jason B • Jason D • Jason K • Jason V • Jason Vines • Jeffois • Jenna F • Jervis Johnson • jj225000 • John • John Hillerup • jj225000 • John Magnuson • John W • Jolyne A • Joshua Hillerup • Justin • Karl H • Kathleen H • Kevin F • Khris K • Larrendias D • Leroy B • Leslie W • Lexiconjurer • Lolzandstuff • Manel C • Maurice H • Matthew P • Melissa K • Michael C • Michael Parker • Mikael S • Morgan A • Nathan W • Nebero • Neil P • Nikita K • Oliver S • Patrick M • Patrick Mc • Paxcow • Pooka G • Rachel G • Ralf S • Regina O • Ren M • Ricardo • Richard “Bat” Brewster • Rob D • Rob H • Ruben J • Ryan H • Ryan K • Ryan S • Samuel T • sbloyd • Schnabeltierkrieger • Sean G • Sev Nessus • Simon S • SorcererSanguine • Sean Ryan K • St U • starfish • Stefan C • Steve Winyard • thatsrealneeto • Tyler • Tyler B • Vince H • Vincent • Walter • Warmstarter • William M • Wolf L • ZakRulz

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LARPing and M5 Metaplot with Matt Webb

LARPing and M5 Metaplot with Matt Webb

In this episode, Terry Robinson interviews Matthew Webb of Jackalope Live Action Studios about Matt’s thoughts on revising Mage LARPing and how to bring the metaplot forward to what an M5 world may look like under the Eclipse LARP system.

Show Notes

Additional mentions: The Night in Question, Beckett’s Jyhad Diary, Karen Armstrong‘s The Battle for God, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn‘s The Gulag Archipelago.

Executive Producers

Alexia • Aleksandra J • Alexander G • Alexander P • Ambiversion • Andrew E • Anders S • Andrew • Andrew E • Andrija J • Anon Ibid • Bdurfy • Benjamin B • Berto • Blaise H • Blake R • Bo • BoogersBoogersBoogersBoogersBoogersBoogers • Brad M • Brandon • Bryce Perry • Bubba, The Pale One • Buck Farmer • Chris B • Chris Z • Christopher P • Cinshadis • Connor G • Cromwell The Archaeologist • Curtis H • Dan Svensson • Daniel C • Daniel S • Darren H • David M • David R • DrawnCap • Dennis O • Derek S • Ean R • Eli l • Entropy_Prime • Eric S • Fragarach • Freddy • FriedrichOwl • Gabriel P • Garga L • George L • Gray -Trilug- H • Guy Conan S • GuyWithPuns • Henry Craft • HugoTheBogPerson • I Jaye S • Ian • Illara S • Ira Grace • Isabel CL • J Gatsby • Jason B • Jason D • Jason K • Jason V • Jason Vines • Jeffois • Jenna F • Jervis Johnson • jj225000 • John • John Hillerup • jj225000 • John Magnuson • John W • Jolyne A • Joshua Hillerup • Justin • Karl H • Kathleen H • Kevin F • Khris K • Larrendias D • Leroy B • Leslie W • Lexiconjurer • Lolzandstuff • Manel C • Maurice H • Matthew P • Melissa K • Michael C • Michael Parker • Mikael S • Morgan A • Nathan W • Nebero • Neil P • Nikita K • Oliver S • Patrick M • Patrick Mc • Paxcow • Pooka G • Rachel G • Ralf S • Regina O • Ren M • Ricardo • Richard “Bat” Brewster • Rob D • Rob H • Ruben J • Ryan H • Ryan K • Ryan S • Samuel T • sbloyd • Schnabeltierkrieger • Sean G • Sev Nessus • Simon S • SorcererSanguine • Sean Ryan K • St U • starfish • Stefan C • Steve Winyard • thatsrealneeto • Tyler • Tyler B • Vince H • Vincent • Walter • Warmstarter • William M • Wolf L • ZakRulz

Become a supporter of Mage: The Podcast.

Contact us at magethepodcast@gmail.com with feedback and comments, and please help extend the reach of the show by sharing it with friends.

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Tradition Book: Virtual Adepts

Tradition Book: Virtual Adepts

On today’s show Bill Maxwell joins us to talk about “Tradition Book: Virtual Adepts,”; his grandparents screenwriter Ernest Pagano and actress Norma Drew and their influence on him; how he got involved with Dungeons and Dragons and Vampire: The Masquerade and LARPs and writing for video games; why he was such a terrible player; adapting Star Trek: Starfleet Academy video game to a role playing game using Savage Worlds to play with his kids; why he chose Savage Worlds over Fate; Ten Candles RPG; his work on Fading Suns; how he came to work on revising the Tradition Book: Virtual Adepts; the Ascension War; working with co-writer Gary Glass; the influence of cyberpunk on Virtual Adepts; Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles and Alan Moore’s Promethea; Pythagoras in Bill’s book, Shadowpath (The Lost Gods Cycle Book 1); Alan Turing, Tesla, Jack Parsons, Aleister Crowley and L. Ron Hubbard; how the tools of the Virtual Adepts were adapted by the Alt Right; how he would update the Virtual Adepts to the 21st century; the Syndicate; being visited by the F.B.I.; the T Virus; spheres, trinary computers and tarot decks.

Join us next week! Adam Simpson and Terry Robinson review “Technocracy: Progenitors.”

Executive Producers

Alexia • Aleksandra J • Alexander G • Alexander P • Ambiversion • Andrew E • Anders S • Andrew • Andrew E • Andrija J • Anon Ibid • Bdurfy • Benjamin B • Berto • Blaise H • Blake R • Bo • BoogersBoogersBoogersBoogersBoogersBoogers • Brad M • Brandon • Bryce Perry • Bubba, The Pale One • Buck Farmer • Chris B • Chris Z • Christopher P • Cinshadis • Connor G • Cromwell The Archaeologist • Curtis H • Dan Svensson • Daniel C • Daniel S • Darren H • David M • David R • DrawnCap • Dennis O • Derek S • Ean R • Eli l • Entropy_Prime • Eric S • Fragarach • Freddy • FriedrichOwl • Gabriel P • Garga L • George L • Gray -Trilug- H • Guy Conan S • GuyWithPuns • Henry Craft • HugoTheBogPerson • I Jaye S • Ian • Illara S • Ira Grace • Isabel CL • J Gatsby • Jason B • Jason D • Jason K • Jason V • Jason Vines • Jeffois • Jenna F • Jervis Johnson • jj225000 • John • John Hillerup • jj225000 • John Magnuson • John W • Jolyne A • Joshua Hillerup • Justin • Karl H • Kathleen H • Kevin F • Khris K • Larrendias D • Leroy B • Leslie W • Lexiconjurer • Lolzandstuff • Manel C • Maurice H • Matthew P • Melissa K • Michael C • Michael Parker • Mikael S • Morgan A • Nathan W • Nebero • Neil P • Nikita K • Oliver S • Patrick M • Patrick Mc • Paxcow • Pooka G • Rachel G • Ralf S • Regina O • Ren M • Ricardo • Richard “Bat” Brewster • Rob D • Rob H • Ruben J • Ryan H • Ryan K • Ryan S • Samuel T • sbloyd • Schnabeltierkrieger • Sean G • Sev Nessus • Simon S • SorcererSanguine • Sean Ryan K • St U • starfish • Stefan C • Steve Winyard • thatsrealneeto • Tyler • Tyler B • Vince H • Vincent • Walter • Warmstarter • William M • Wolf L • ZakRulz

Become a supporter of Mage: The Podcast.

Contact us at magethepodcast@gmail.com with feedback and comments, and please help extend the reach of the show by sharing it with friends.

Listen

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What do Zen masters and Virtual Adepts have in common?

What do Zen masters and Virtual Adepts have in common? Why, the koans, of course.

by Anders Sandberg

Once a student asked Moore: “If all objects we see are parts of the user interface, then why not regard their graphic representations as part of the model?”. Moore answered: “are their coordinates arbitrary?”. “Yes, of course”. “Then the model is arbitrary”. The student was enlightened.

A master once asked Moore: “What is between the one and the zero”. “Line noise”.

When a thunderstorm hit the system, several terminals broke down and had to be repaired. “This wouldn’t have happened if we had had a voltage surge protector”, one electrician pointed out. “Does the voltage surges need to be protected?” asked Moore. “No, the terminals”. “Well, protect the lightening instead, it is much more general”.

A student had created a clever pattern in Game of Life, and proudly showed it to Moore: “I can prove that it’s behaviour is undecidable, since it is equivalent to the Halting Problem”. Moore ripped out the power cord from the computer, and the pattern vanished. “It has halted” he said. The student was enlightened, but the pattern was lost.

“Why do we have to learn about electronics when we seek to become software engineers?” an impatient person complained. Moore overheard it and plunged a soldering iron into the complainer’s workstation: “So that the software has somewhere to live”.

One day a student asked Moore: “Does Marvin Minsky know what he is talking about? Is the mind really a society of independent agents?”. “Why did you ask?”. “Because if that is true, then there is no me”. “Is there a Minsky?”. The student was confused, and told Minsky about it; Minsky smiled and said: “No”.

When a virus attacked the system, Moore was unperturbed and didn’t try to remove it: “It is not proper to do it before observing the correct signs”. “What are they?” asked a fellow master. “To watch the network load grow, to sacrifice the root partition to nothingness and to see the users learn fear.”

“Is there anything other than information in your world?” an ironic philosophy graduate once asked Moore. “No. That question was never asked”.

A student was struggling with his project, but with no success. Finally Moore asked him what the problem was. He answered: “I try to make this distributed database automatically migrate to unused nodes, but my processes deadlock since they cannot synchronise over the net?”. “Are they all running in the same direction?”. “Yes, of course”. “Well, backtrack randomly in time then”. The student was enlightened, and the program ran.