Rumours abound about a gay-men-only exclusive private Turkish bath somewhere in Quality Town (formerly known as Terézváros [ˈtɛreːzˈvaːroʃ]), which may or may not move around within the district, and (this should go without saying, really) may or may not exist.
What all accounts agree on is that it is run by and for homosexual males who must have a well-developed moustache to gain entry.
Romani willworkers are the setting's answer to the Dreamspeakers (Kha'vadi), and the Roma community as a whole is a significant part of the agglomeration, so it's high time Mage: The Budapest Urbancrawl GMs and players are given some details.
This post is NOT intended as an accurate representation of real-world Romani, their beliefs, or customs. It is part of a satirical dystopian conceit of mapping selected aspects of contemporary Hungary onto a distorting cyberpunk/urban fantasy lens.
I've always found it constricting that every Mage tradition and even convention is using the same OoH-derived magickal system to define its mystic/enlightened.
I'm trying to give a unique twist to each magical faction - I hope this isn't heresy; I'll start with one that isn't covered in Mage: the Ascension.
This post is dedicated to Daoist elemental magic. (The post about the large ethnic Chinese minority in the citystate, whose mystics all happen to be Daoist sorcerers is in the pipeline.)
Disclaimer #1: I have no real knowledge of Daoist cosmology, but find it fascinating and many-faceted. I hope readers who actually know about Chinese elemental mysticism will forgive me.
Disclaimer #2: This is the first back-of-the-envelope iteration of something that may turn out not to be feasible.
As mentioned before, Paradox is supposed to be a metaphor for social exclusion and discrimination in the Mage: The Budapest Urbancrawl setting.
Here's a listicle of some sample Paradox flaws for enterprising GMs and players to mix and match and get inspired.
Notable locations, encounter table, couleur locale, and plot hooks for one of the most magickal neighbourhoods of the Mage: The Budapest Urbancrawl setting.
