When you’re playing Mage: The Awakening, time in the story can speed past or slow to a crawl compared to time in the real world. Weeks or months might pass in the space of few words, while a tense negotiation plays out in real-time — or takes even longer.
In addition to years, days, and hours, Mage also uses six units of dramatic time. These build upon one another, from shortest to longest.
Turn
The smallest increment of time, a turn lasts for about three seconds. A character can perform a single Instant Action in a turn. Turns normally only matter in combat or other dramatic and stressful situations.
Scene
Much like a scene in a play, a scene in a roleplaying game is the time spent dealing with a single, specific event. The Storyteller frames the scene, describing what’s going on, and it’s up to the players to resolve the event or conflict. A scene might be played out in turns, progress in real-time, or skip forward depending on dramatic necessity.
Chapter
A chapter is the collection of scenes that happen during one game session. From the moment you sit down and start playing to the point where you pack up your dice, you’re playing out a chapter of your story.
Story
A story tells an entire tale, following the dramatic arc of a related series of events. It might comprise several chapters or be completed in just one. It has an introduction, rising tension, a number of twists, and a climax that brings things to a conclusion.
Chronicle
The big picture, a chronicle is the collection of interlinked stories that involve your characters. They might be linked by a common theme or overarching plotline, or they may only share characters and locations. As your story progresses, the players and Storyteller work together to create an ongoing chronicle. Particularly long chronicles may be broken up into Acts, which work like seasons on a television show.