Recap Notes: MAGP 9 “Rolling with It”

Spoiler Warning: this is a purely selfish exercise in remembering what the hell happened last season (from someone caught up thru MAGP32, 3/6/2025 & all of The Magnus Archives). No promises I’ll keep up with it.

Summary: It’s been a year since its release, and I’m still laughing a podcast GM and one half of a games company wrote an episode with a character who doesn’t see the appeal of tabletop RPGs and wrote out the words: “two dee six”.

Casement: CAT3RB3354-14101998-08032024

This is a fun little tale. Has a lot in common with future casement MAGP13, so while I’m not in any way close to being confident what each category or rank is, it’s nice they’re at least both marked 3 and B for consistency.

The peek into Sam’s arbitrary questionnaire from the response team is also a nice treat.

But mostly for this one, I’m interested in trying to figure out what the Magnus team is looking for in the interviews they’re conducting.

Viability as subject – none
Viability as agent – low
Viability as catalyst – medium.

Recommend referral to Catalytics for Enrichment Applicability Assessment.

I’ve seen folks assume the subject, agent, catalyst divide is an assessment of the dice because the casement giver is under the impression they asked him to the Institute as part of a search for “supernaturally active items”. However, I’d be hesitant to take anyone affiliated at their word. Keeping in mind the Institute’s study of children born around 1985 (anybody else side-eyeing this as just a few years before a certain archivist was born in another world?) and their experimentations around human consciousness, they do seem to be focused in on people. I wouldn’t say the dice are irrelevant, but as the narrative keeps reminding us: “the position of ‘player’ and 'instrument’ [are] not so firmly set” in this verse.

Skipping ahead to the next time we see this assessment model in the case of two temper-full Darriens, the interviewers recommended course of action is incarceration. Seeing as there’s no spooky object to be seen in that case, only a self-murderer, signs point to person of interest. Not item.

And not ignoring the obvious, as this assessment is another set of three, the temptation to link each variable to one of the tria prima is there. If there’s any salt to that theory (heh), catalyst is likely sulfur (combustible), agent - mercury (in flux), subject - salt (solid) and the recommended course of action in the casement giver’s circumstance to send him to the Catalytics department for “Enrichment Applicability Assignment” suggests a vested interest in upping his viability as a catalyst from medium to high.

What they want to use him as a catalyst for is the question.

Oh, and for what won’t be the last time, Teddy almost tells us the definitely plot relevant things he’s been up to but gets blown off by Alice [heavy sigh].

I love her, but she’s excellent at evading exposition.

Looking forward to Teddy being more of a player in later seasons.