The Eromancer said:
Inaba said:
Burning the Mage's Association to the ground seems like one of those 'hurts more than it helps' things - reforming it from the inside is probably a better idea.
While a great idea on paper this hardly ever works out, Like true communism. Going about the method of change changes the individual before individual changes it.
Reform is possible so long as the reformer has the personal determination to do so, the position to do so, and the popular support amongst the relevant populace to do so. For example, Cardinal Richelieu, Cardinal Mazarin, and the Sun King were able to turn the French aristocrats into clear subordinates of an absolute monarch through reform. Granted, in their case, their reforms were sometimes carried out with steel and flame, but remains reformation rather than revolution because there is a clear line of descent from the prior regime to that of their creation.
I haven't the slightest clue whether the Association can be reformed, though I lean to interpretations that they are not completely stagnant and hidebound to the degree that reformation is impossible. And even if they were that ridiculously static, I'm still inclined to think that their destruction would result in worse outcomes than keeping them around.