Tomes of Magick: Void Engineers
Posted on by Joseph

Tomes of Magick: Void Engineers

Mage is often an intimate game revolving around neighborhoods, a small cast, and the hopes and perils of magick. But sometimes, Mage is about making sure space dragons don’t eat your voidship and that may take depleted uranium and some Accelerated Force Cannons. Void Engineers is very much for that second type of game. Adam and Terry dive into the first real look we have of mages in space and far beyond the protections of the Horizon. Where is the COP? Who’s Tychoides? What’s the difference between a LERMU and a GENES? Listen and find out!

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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2 Replies to “Tomes of Magick: Void Engineers”

  1. Hi, Adam and Terry. I too am a fan of the 1996 VE rulebook’s mixed group narrative sitting around an astral campfire. (and how the protagonist was later brought up in the post-Week-of-Nightmares sequel Void Engineers rulebook.) When first published, it was genuinely enjoyable to figure out which sorts of playable World of Darkness creatures were speaking.

    …and I agree that Ionic Cloth is still awesome, both in-game and as a narrative device to help the players stay more creative.

    So, the LERMU for the Technocracy are basically Rasputin for Vampire? 🙂

    “This is space. Teamwork is our real weapon!” From what I’ve read of the U.S./U.S.S.R. space race, that’s factually very true in terms of who gets to be an astronaut and who doesn’t.

    I’m glad you brought up the unexpectedly low 3 Arete of CB, the QeM’s captain. One of the more appealing aspects of the Void Engineers is how Enlightened and unEnlightened personnel work alongside each other regularly and without much friction. i.e. The Void Engineers don’t consider mages as superior to “mere” humans. There’s a likeable, realistically-believable meritocracy going on.

    I liked that you equated the Big Joke with the Void Engineers’ eye-rolling distaste for the deadly-serious smugness of the other Conventions. I agree that a big reason the Void Engineers are different (and fun) from the other four Conventions is that the VEs are always keeping an eye upon threats to us all instead of bickering over politics and appearances. I’m glad you brought this up!

    One of my favorite VE items was a character’s wristwatch-shaped “Paradoxometer”, which I once built a Halloween prop of. 🙂 It looked like a bulky black diving watch with light-up red squares, all arranged in a circular design to look like the quintessence/paradox boxes found on Mage’s character sheets. (In tabletop gaming terms, it’s great to have an in-game item which can ratchet up the suspense for bored players, calm down overly-cautious players, remind reckless players that they can’t just cast vulgar spells willy-nilly, and let all the players (both in and out of character) know how close they really are to a paradox backlash.) So yes, a wristwatch which measures paradox was one of the most useful ideas to come out of this rulebook.

    Thanks for this Podcast on the original Void Engineers rulebook. (I’d love to hear an interview regarding the VE rulebook’s sequel and its introduction of Threat Null.)

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