I love this book. I think it tackles common questions in a detailed and straightforward way, crucially without destroying the mystery or metaphysics of Mage. The World of Darkness (WoD) is a mysterious and contradictory monster (IMHO by design), so I assume most players have been involved in conversations discussing how fitting the WoD together could work. Example queries:

• How many Mages are there and how does this affect the Ascension War?
• How much violent crime does different parts of the WoD have, what does that violence translate social-economically? From when the games were originally created, how do we track the changes in real life to WoD?
• How does money work in a world of seemingly abundant Supernatural power, and in particular mind control?

And so forth, with each answer typically resulting in more fun queries. I love this about RPGs in general, that my groups and I get to decipher and decide; I’d very much have appreciated this sort of book back in the 90s, when we were are all first getting to grips with the WoD. It is not to suggest that the numerous WoD books have never presented questions and provided several answers, they have; nor to imply that this book is an exhaustive list of queries and suggestions. It’s that Terry’s approach of exploring different answers in relation to each over and also in a focused product is great and pithy; I’m a big fan of altering numbers/dials and exploring the results. I think what really takes this book from being classed as a Complete Success, to a Phenomenal Success, is including so many Story/Chronicle Hooks.

I recommend this book to all. Whether you are a new player or a veteran, there are many things contained within for you.