(Tabletop) World of Darkness?

[SP3CT3R]

So, a few days ago, I saw a Reddit post someone made about a Changeling: the Lost game they were running. The post was technically about an encounter they made that squicked the players out enough to make the group fall apart, but mentions of some of the other parts of the game piqued my interest. One wiki binge later, I became infatuated with the game system and really want to try it out.

Except there's two distinct eras of the game, with the second already having two editions, and ten or so different rulebooks depending on what type of character you want to play. Not to mention, the only TTRPG I have experience with is D&D, and I only have enough time to play that for two hours out of the week because the school I go to is brutal.

So, if there's anyone out there who has experience with any games under this massive umbrella, do you have any tips on how to get started, what books I would need to purchase, etc?

 

[Graystone713]

Firstly, there’s sources for all the books in PDF for free, so buying anything is optional. I just don’t have the place bookmarked anymore, and I’d have to go looking.

Secondly, you probably need WOD: the god machine chronicle as your base if you just want WOD. Despite the name, it’s the second edition of the base rule set, and it’s what my group played with when we wanted WOD.

Third, many of the other sets of books have their own ‘base’ book, so if you want to play a specific portion of WOD like Promethean the created, Vampire the masquerade, or Orpheus, you’d want to download its base book, then anything on specifics your players ask for. (ie a specific vampire coven.) There’s also some good general use books that can help with any WOD game, like Armory Reloaded.

Fourth, if you’re playing in person, you’ll need some thundering handfuls of D10s. Everything revolves around rolling ten-sided dice, and lots of them. A typical roll your character is well equipped for (let’s say Dexterity+firearms) can be anywhere from 7-11 ten-sided rolls, and rolling one die over and over would take a while.

Finally, it’s generally a good idea to lay ground rules about character generation up front. A few merits in the books allow characters to have mystic abilities or NPC companions, and if you don’t want people to have either, you gotta say so. It’s also a good idea to figure out if you’re gonna let people have military grade equipment right off the bat, or make sure they start without it.

 

[Ranibow Sprimkle]

I played Werewolf The Apocalypse but like apparently the 90's LARP version. I feel like that is the lest played version and game under the franchise.

 

[kevintheradioguy]

Hm. I narrated those games (MtA and VtM specifically) for a few years, and the closest I can think of is gothic novels and noir films for reference, and for the beginning - just the core book of the world you want would do. As you go on, you'llunderstand what you want from the game, and which supplements to get. I'd say novels and comics are good, as they show how the world should look and feel like, contrary to rather lighthearted core books.

I also tuink that nWOD if bullshit, cWOD (a.k.a., oWOD)is mich more... organic, I think? cWOD seems to make more sense... at least in VtM department.

 

[obieblu]

Yeah, you kind of stumbled into a mess. I love the 'classic'WoD games, but the company has been horribly managed for a while. They take leaps (like 'new'WoD), then backtrack, and they just got their self-determination taken away. They've recently resurrected the cWoD system. The cWoD and nWoD systems aren't really compatible, both lore and technicals, though similar in tone.

Changeling: The Dreaming is the cWoD corebook for the fae stuff and Changeling: the Lost is the nWoD reboot. There hasn't been a C:tD reboot yet.

I very recently restarted RPing, and I'm so lucky to have found a cWoD player to enjoy C:tD with, again after many years. I love it to death.

 

[SP3CT3R]

Firstly, there’s sources for all the books in PDF for free, so buying anything is optional. I just don’t have the place bookmarked anymore, and I’d have to go looking.

Secondly, you probably need WOD: the god machine chronicle as your base if you just want WOD. Despite the name, it’s the second edition of the base rule set, and it’s what my group played with when we wanted WOD.

Third, many of the other sets of books have their own ‘base’ book, so if you want to play a specific portion of WOD like Promethean the created, Vampire the masquerade, or Orpheus, you’d want to download its base book, then anything on specifics your players ask for. (ie a specific vampire coven.) There’s also some good general use books that can help with any WOD game, like Armory Reloaded.

Fourth, if you’re playing in person, you’ll need some thundering handfuls of D10s. Everything revolves around rolling ten-sided dice, and lots of them. A typical roll your character is well equipped for (let’s say Dexterity+firearms) can be anywhere from 7-11 ten-sided rolls, and rolling one die over and over would take a while.

Finally, it’s generally a good idea to lay ground rules about character generation up front. A few merits in the books allow characters to have mystic abilities or NPC companions, and if you don’t want people to have either, you gotta say so. It’s also a good idea to figure out if you’re gonna let people have military grade equipment right off the bat, or make sure they start without it.

I found a site with some of the chronicles pdfs, but it's got nothing past Prometheans. Which is unfortunate, because Changelings is the one I most want to play. But it's still a thing.

And d10s shouldn't be a problem. Play-by-post is my only option because I have no friends.[/self deprecation]

Hm. I narrated those games (MtA and VtM specifically) for a few years, and the closest I can think of is gothic novels and noir films for reference, and for the beginning - just the core book of the world you want would do. As you go on, you'llunderstand what you want from the game, and which supplements to get. I'd say novels and comics are good, as they show how the world should look and feel like, contrary to rather lighthearted core books.

I also tuink that nWOD if bullshit, cWOD (a.k.a., oWOD)is mich more... organic, I think? cWOD seems to make more sense... at least in VtM department.

I just want to be fucked up. If it's not a setting that would show up in required reading for English class, I'm down for it.

 

[SP3CT3R]

Yeah, you kind of stumbled into a mess. I love the 'classic'WoD games, but the company has been horribly managed for a while. They take leaps (like 'new'WoD), then backtrack, and they just got their self-determination taken away. They've recently resurrected the cWoD system. The cWoD and nWoD systems aren't really compatible, both lore and technicals, though similar in tone.

Changeling: The Dreaming is the cWoD corebook for the fae stuff and Changeling: the Lost is the nWoD reboot. There hasn't been a C:tD reboot yet.

I didn't see your post until after I made the one above, but from what I hear, the classic version is more punk-themed and plot-oriented, while the new one is more sandboxy.

I very recently restarted RPing, and I'm so lucky to have found a cWoD player to enjoy C:tD with, again after many years. I love it to death.

God, I wish that were me. I've been interested in D&D for years and only got an opportunity to play a few months ago. I don't know how I'll get into a more obscure TTRPG like this.

 

[obieblu]

God, I wish that were me. I've been interested in D&D for years and only got an opportunity to play a few months ago. I don't know how I'll get into a more obscure TTRPG like this.

That's also part of the confusion. Classic World of Darkness was huge, and I think there's still a large audience that still remembers it fondly, and there are still online RP chats and forums for it as well as LARP communities that are still active. C:tD was the least popular of the core games because it was misunderstood as frolicky fairies. So, it was like the unpopular kid in the family full of star athletes. Which I think is sad. It's the most tragic setting of the franchise.

 

[SP3CT3R]

That's also part of the confusion. Classic World of Darkness was huge, and I think there's still a large audience that still remembers it fondly, and there are still online RP chats and forums for it as well as LARP communities that are still active. C:tD was the least popular of the core games because it was misunderstood as frolicky fairies. So, it was like the unpopular kid in the family full of star athletes. Which I think is sad. It's the most tragic setting of the franchise.

Really? I might be biased towards it because it's the one that initially caught my interest, but compared to the others, it sounds like it has a lot more creative potential than the others. I've come up with like five different character concepts in the three days since I discovered it.

 

[obieblu]

Really? I might be biased towards it because it's the one that initially caught my interest, but compared to the others, it sounds like it has a lot more creative potential than the others. I've come up with like five different character concepts in the three days since I discovered it.

Right? I love the adaptation of real folklore. They created a really rich world, even without all the other games involved (which are as rich with different tones). There's still a lot of love for the WoD games. I still make fanart of my characters and they get recognition drifting out among the interwebs. I hope you get a chance to play. If not here, there are still online chats that are Googlable.

 

[kevintheradioguy]

I just want to be fucked up. If it's not a setting that would show up in required reading for English class, I'm down for it.

Well, in that case it really depends on the quality of RP you want to go into. WoD looked down upon all too often, but it's very good if the feeling of this hostile, dark, gothic is transferred well. For that, some extra research should be made via books one should've read in school, and films. Otherwise, it turns into another DnD-like funny fantasy.

 

[SP3CT3R]

Well, in that case it really depends on the quality of RP you want to go into. WoD looked down upon all too often, but it's very good if the feeling of this hostile, dark, gothic is transferred well. For that, some extra research should be made via books one should've read in school, and films. Otherwise, it turns into another DnD-like funny fantasy.

I can do gothic. What I meant was that I'm willing to do anything as long as it's not "early 20th century slice of life with a tragic death at the end" which is 90% of the books I'm referring to.

 

[kevintheradioguy]

I can do gothic. What I meant was that I'm willing to do anything as long as it's not "early 20th century slice of life with a tragic death at the end" which is 90% of the books I'm referring to.

Oh no. The novels and films I mentioned is about the mood one should express. Not the historical accuracy.
As the matter of fact, core books have a list of films, music, and books to get acquainted with before you start narrating. And it helps a lot. Before I did that and after provided for two very different games, and needless to say, post-acquaintance was much better.

 

[obieblu]

It's pretty funny, but it's real how WoD players tend to look down on everyone else, especially DnDers. MY TT group definitely did, even though all but me had played DnD in the past. In the online WoD chats where I started, there was constant mocking of how geeky DnDers were, as if we weren't just because we were pretending to suck blood. lol

My TT group took a break after a few years and did one DnD story. It was fine for a social event, but dungeon-crawling really was repetitions for me after real plotlines in WoD. Our WoD ST eventually took over the DnD game and got out out of the dungeon and into a town with tons of racism and a secret conspiracy brewing. So, y'know. He WoDized the DnD campaign. I liked that better. By that point, I was a were-tiger, anyways... Much more WoDish.

 

[SP3CT3R]

It's pretty funny, but it's real how WoD players tend to look down on everyone else, especially DnDers. MY TT group definitely did, even though all but me had played DnD in the past. In the online WoD chats where I started, there was constant mocking of how geeky DnDers were, as if we weren't just because we were pretending to suck blood. lol

My TT group took a break after a few years and did one DnD story. It was fine for a social event, but dungeon-crawling really was repetitions for me after real plotlines in WoD. Our WoD ST eventually took over the DnD game and got out out of the dungeon and into a town with tons of racism and a secret conspiracy brewing. So, y'know. He WoDized the DnD campaign. I liked that better. By that point, I was a were-tiger, anyways... Much more WoDish.

I actually have played DnD unlike the game I made this thread about, and I can tell you that there's little to no in-game motivation to not be a dumbass.

Anyways, I've realized that I have no actual issue with buying game pdfs at a moment's notice, (but don't plan to do so until I get an actual game invite so that I don't waste money on books I don't use) but now I have to deal with finding a game.