So, I'm still writing the plot (so that I have an actual plotline to follow), but I wanted to gauge interest and ideas to help guide the plot.

For those familiar with Mage: The Ascension (that's the old WoD), this will basically be a Technocracy campaign. The PCs will be members of the Technocracy trying to defend mankind from the horrors and deviants bent on destroying reality.

For those not familiar with Mage, it will be somewhat similar to estwhile series Black Beasts of the Night we run around here, except with way higher tech tools and sometimes spaceships.

For those not familiar with either, think Torchwood, Fringe, or Men in Black.

For those not familiar with any of those, get out. No uncultured boobs in my game! :D

The PCs will be agents working for a hi-tech firm called Cortex (or sometimes Core Techs.) Cortex pushes the boundaries of technology, driving forward developments in nearly every field imaginable. As they operate mostly through subsidiaries, very few people even realise Cortex exists; for those that do, most know Cortex only as a technology holding company - a good investment, a powerful company, a corporation with a net worth and GDP larger than most countries.

Only a few know about Special Investigations. Special Investigations handle the unexplained, the extraordinary, the horrible and the just plain weird - of which there is a lot in the world. It is the job of Special Investigations to keep people safe, secure, and ignorant of the horrors that truly plague the world.

Werewolves, Vampires, Ghosts, Goblins, Aliens, Eldritch Horrors, Anarchists, Necromancers, Mummies and Ghouls are just a small sample of the things in the world that seek to tumble the world that Cortex protects; as members of Special Investigations, it will be your job to protect them.

So, anyone interested? Any thoughts on where you'd like to see things head?

Can I be a Vampire working with Cortex (willfully or otherwise), or are they restricted to enemy characters?

Also, I'm familiar with Men in Black. Men in Black is one of my favorite movies.

I'm going to have to say no to a Vampire PC. The PCs are Enlightened; vampires cannot be (literally cannot; they are metaphysically incapable of being) Enlightened.

Enlightened Science can replicate a lot of "vampiric powers", though, so don't think you'll be deprived of that. Agents of Special Investigations include cyborgs (both full and partial), genetically modified humans, space marines, men in black, money and power brokers, many of whom are capable of incredible feats. The only real restriction is the tricks using technology that mankind at large is not yet ready to embrace should be used sparingly in their presence.

A person is smart. People are stupid, panicky animals - and you know it.

(Plus, their panic can make your technology break or malfunction in dangerous and erratic ways.)

Fifteen hundred years ago people knew the Earth was the center of the Universe. Five hundred years ago people knew the Earth was flat. Fifteen minutes ago you knew that people were alone on this planet.

I have two different character ideas. One of them is a cyborg with four additional mechanical arms grafted onto his back. Think Otto Octavio from the Spiderman mythos. The other is a genetically modified, vat-grown human with psychic abilities. Essentially a cloning experiment to try and create the perfect human. Are either of those viable?

The latter far more than the former. Agents like the former exist, but they can only truly operate in closed facilities or deep space; on Earth, their extra arms and other cybernetics are highly prone to malfunction. Plus, eight-limbed agents just freak people the hell out.

Vat humans, on the other hand, are more common than you'd think. It's hard to tell them apart from normal people most of the time.

I've always wanted to play a Mage game but never had anyone who was willing to run it. I've read through the book, but it was a couple of years ago. That said, I am unfamiliar with the Technocracy, would it be worthwhile to track down my Mage book and read up on them?

Yes, I'm interested.

Okay, I've been doing some reading up into the background of this. So, people who have become Enlightened are individuals who realize that reality is malleable and can use that fact to reshape things into their own liking. The consequence of this is that if someone uses any overt supernatural abilities around people who aren't awakened, their own perceptions into what is and isn't possible asserts itself and gives them a Cosmic Wedgie. That's why the eight armed cyborg idea doesn't work. Since ordinary people believe it isn't possible, reality asserts itself whenever someone witnesses it. This would cause the character's additional cyborg arms to short out and malfunction.

Am I on track?

Kajin, you've got it exactly. Slightly advanced technology can be believed (a laser rifle/pistol is possibly the fullest extent of that) by the masses and so generally work. More advanced tech - most visible cybernetics, for instance - aren't believable (the parlance is "vulgar") and receive backlash from reality.

Dom: the Technocracy views magic differently from the Traditions that are the focus of vanilla Mage, plus the Traditions consider them the enemy. So you could read your old Mage stuff, but that view will be the propaganda of their enemies.

Also, I'm going to be skewing the magic system somewhat, adopting some aspects of the new WoD Mage system, so things will not look 100% the same.

What if the cyborg arms are collapsible so that they can retract and wrap themselves around the character's body? That way they can be hidden under clothing when not in use. Maybe they could even masquerade as clothing? Some form of shiny body armor, even.

Does that seem plausible?

They could totally be retractable. They're called HIT Marks, and while they are generally vulgar, as long as they don't activate their combat enhancements in public, they usually get a pass.

The only additions I'm really interested in for my character are bone and musculature enhancements to go along with the four extra arms. Everything else is still flesh and blood, for the most part. So a partially cybernetic character. Since I don't think the arms would be retractable in someone fully cybernetic, could the arms be detachable? Like, say, whenever they aren't in use he could fold them up into something that vaguely resembles a large backpack?

The could retract into a back section that looks like a backpack. Undeployed, that wouldn't be vulgar.

Sorry, I worded that wrong. Would the arms be capable of retracting into someone who is only partially cybernetic, or would they have to be fully cybernetic? Because I want a character who is only a partial cyborg, and if he has to be fully cybernetic for them to retract than I'd rather the arms be detachable equipment as opposed to a permanent modification.

What does partially cybernetic mean? Either you have mechanical bits or you don't.

In other news, I'm in, but only if this starts after St. Patrick's Day.

I'd love to play a genetically-enhanced physician with superhuman intellect, a human with a supercomputer for a brain, or a rookie technocrat just being introduced to the world of Enlightenment.

Partial cyborgs are still largely flesh. Full cyborgs are more machine than man, twisted and evil. Well, okay, some aren't so evil.

But I knew what you were asking, Kajin, and my answer stands. A "backpack" retraction would be external and wouldn't require replacing a lot of internal bits. You could get away with a bunch of cybernetic organs if you wanted them to retract internally, though.