Ascension Nova Mission Statement

Ascension Nova Mission Statement and Design Goals
I have these suggested project and design goals in mind -

Impact other NWoD lines as little as possible - if Ascension Nova is used other NWoD lines, then said lines should be playable as is.

Baby and the Bathwater - retain as many of the mechanical innovations of Mage: The Awakening while removing the setting elements related to the Atlantis Mythology

Cosmology - Ascension Nova must fit to the pre-existing NWOD cosmology as much as possible, not the other way around. This will enable players to make use of the excellent cosmology supplements for Mage and other game lines, such as Intruders, Astral Realms and the various spirit supplements for Werewolf: The Forsaken.

Integration - Ascension Nova must integrate smoothly into pre-existing generic NWoD supplements, such as the book on Hedge Magic, the generic monster books, and so forth.

Priority - Even though Ascension Nova will retain the Ascension War and Subjective Reality of OWoD Ascension, this must not be allowed to "trump" the functioning of other template based supernaturals. Ascension Nova must take the same co-equal place that standard Awakening does in standard NWoD. In respect to this, as much as the Awakening rules set should be kept as possible.

In terms of design goals for Ascension Nova and how different from OWoD Mage it will end up being, I have these ideas in mind -

Removal of all elements from the Ascension backstory that involve crossovers with OWoD game lines - this includes stripping out all reference to OWerewolf cosmology, replacing this with NWoD structures(The Metaphysic Trinity, Umbra mechanics, etc), and in-setting specific groups (such as Clan Tremere.) Elements can of course be adjusted if they are cool and fun enough.

A thorough examination of how subjective reality can possibly impact the NWOD setting

A strong emphasis on the Ascension War, in regards to a war being fought in the Tenemos of Astral Realms as well as on physical Earth, to determine the shape of the world, including local, regional and global mechanics that adress actual reality change

An emphasis on thematic and mechanical simplicity

So, in regards to the actual project itself, I'd like to see a fan team of between 5 and 10 writers, with a 3 person design junta who act as an executive, be responsible for editorial and keep the project organized and moving. I'd like to see a private Wiki set up, a set of initial sessions over chat that would create an initial outline, assignments writing projects and engage in the vigorous theme and metaphysics debates that always accompany Mage.

The end result would ideally be a free 100-150 page PDF document distributed under a GNU license or similar, with an eye towards making sure that White Wolf's intellectual property is protected, in the manner of derivative fan created works.

As a developing project, these benchmarks are subject to change, based on the consensus of the design team and various contributors.