Role Play Review: World of Darkness

World of Darkness: The World of Darkness games, also known as WoD, are a series of Role Playing games created by White Wolf that can either be done around the table, or by means of LARPing. Unlike traditional Role Playing, the games are set in a modern day era with a Gothic horror feel to it. Also, unlike the traditional Role Playing, you take on the role of being the monster, not the adventuring humans. The games focus on how your character (originally having been human at some point) becomes one of the many supernatural creatures of the world and must now have to deal with your supernatural lifestyle. Will they cling to what little humanity they have left, will they fully embrace their new dark side, or will they seek to find balance in the two in hopes of living what semblance of a normal life they can muster?

The game is primarily focused upon 3 core groups: Vampires, Werewolves, and Mages. However, White Wolf Gaming has also released additional books that detail how to play other characters including Changelings, Ghosts, Prometheans, Demons, Mummies, and Hunters who became aware of the existence of the supernatural and did not enjoy the news.

The books may all be played as part of an individual setting, but they can also be combined together into one massive setting, which is collectively known as the World of Darkness. Each of the books seems to have their own explanation for how the creature they detail came into existence, or at least why their society functions in the way it did.

Vampires once ruled the night unopposed during the time of the dark ages, until the Inquisitors of the Church drove them into near extinction in a fanatical rebellion. This forced them to establish the Masquerade, a series of laws and customs designed to ensure mortals never again discover their existence, while at the same time allowing them to feed upon and influence the world to their whims. The Masquerade is even more important now than ever in the modern nights, because the last time the Inquisitors hunted them down, they had little more than swords and faith at their disposal, but with the technology of modern times, the chances of Vampires making a similar escape from destruction are slim at best.

Werewolves were once the apex race of the world during the ancient time of Pangaea, and were the children of a mighty wolf spirit known as Father Wolf, and the spirit of the moon, who they know as Mother Luna. When Father Wolf's power to ensure stability between the mortal and spiritual beings started to wane, 5 of his first born children decided it was a good idea to slay him and take his power for themselves. The result caused Father Wolf to unleash a death howl which shattered the super continent into the land masses it is today, as well as form a barrier known as the Gauntlet which separated the physical and spiritual worlds from each other. Forsaken by Luna for a time, and transformed into humans as punishment for their crime, their mother eventually chose to forgive them under the condition that they assume Father Wolf's duties of policing the spirit world. Now they must live with being half physical (human) and half spiritual (wolf) beings, and ensuring the peace and stability of not one, but two different realms of existence. Along the way, they suffer threats from unwitting humans that are impacting the spirit world through corrupting the physical, rebellious spirits who despise the laws and regulations imposed by the werewolves, and the descendants of the 3 first born who did not take part in Father Wolf's murder; they blame the Forsaken for the loss of their ancient paradise and will not rest until they have completely eradicate them from the face of the world, taking up the name of Pure Tribes to symbolize their self appointed innocence.

Mages were at their greatest during the time of Atlantis, when the power of magic flourished strongly in the world. However, a division of Atlantis' greatest mages were unsatisfied with the amount of power they wielded, and wished to usurp the gods themselves, becoming the overlords of all of reality. To do this, they forged a ladder that reached into the 5 higher realms and constructed a watchtower within each one. Despite them succeeding in their goal, however, there were many Atlanteans who were appalled by their hubris and attempted to fight these new overlords. The resulting civil war destroyed the ladder to the higher realms, sunk Atlantis beneath the waves, and any humans that were still on earth at the time of the collapse were inflicted with the Sleeping Curse, a mental barrier which cut them off from the power of magic. Over time, however, the Watchtowers began to reach out through the abyss and reawaken certain humans to the power of magic once again, each tower serving as a guiding path to a specific type of magic. Those who have awakened must now seek to understand their new power, as well as increase their knowledge and capabilities, for the Atlanteans who were not stuck on earth continue to remain in the higher realms and have control over the vast magical power they did in ages past. They intend to enslave the mortal world with a number of agents and servants, and they consider these newly awakened mages to be a potential threat to their rule. Wielding the power of magic in an era largely governed by technology and science, the Mages find it to be a wise idea to keep their new powers a secret from normal humans, who they call the Sleepers, for the curse inflicted upon them could have dire consequences if they were to witness their powers in action.

Changelings were once humans that were kidnapped by Faeries and dragged off into the world of Arcadia to be used as slaves, being stripped of their memories in the process. Arcadia is a realm of beautiful madness, and does not obey the same laws as the mortal world. Dreams and imagination holds more sway over reality than science and logic. After spending an extended period of time within Arcadia, these human slaves began to merge with the essence of the realm itself, becoming halfbreed creatures known as the Changelings. Many of them begin to have flash backs to fragmented bits and pieces of their lost memories, and eventually managed to escape back into the mortal world, only to discover that time passes much differently between the two realms, and some have only been gone for a few minutes while it seemed like years in Arcadia, while others were gone for probably an hour or two, and return to find many decades have gone by. To add insult to injury, the Fae replaced them with a duplicate imposter so nobody on earth was even aware they had gone missing! Now being Half Fae, the Changelings attempt to regain some resemblance of a normal life back, while at the same time trying to avoid being captured by the True Fae who are displeased with their runaway slaves, as well as those Changelings still loyal to their masters and wish to earn favor by capturing the escapees. Thankfully, the Changelings have the ability to disguise their true forms, because they often tend to look so alien, wondrous, and even terrifying that it would be impossible to blend into human society otherwise. These are not the same Faeries as a Disney fairy tale, they are creatures from ancient folk lore, Brother's Grim, and some even resemble the works of Lovecraft, all mashing together to create a world of beings that are mythologically beautiful, and mind shatteringly terrifying at the same time.

The games primarily focus on the same method of set up, which makes them easy to settle into once you recognize the patterns between them. Each of the games has roughly 5 different types of character archetypes (classes), 5 different types of factions to join, their own way of feeding their supernatural powers, and some reason for why it is generally a bad idea for mortals to learn about the existence of the supernatural.

The original set of games was rebooted, given new titles, completely new back stories, and and new set ups. The old games were focused upon some manner of encroaching apocalypse, which due to their conflicting details between each other, it was up to each player individually to choose which became the true ending to the Old World of Darkness. However, the new version of the game focuses more along the lines of personal horror, involving how your character is able to deal with their new lifestyle, as well as how they managed to keep their true nature a secret from mortals. The revised version is commonly referred to as the new World of Darkness, or nWoD for short.

The new versions of the game that I am aware of include the following.

Vampire: The Requiem - In which you play as vampires. Waging their own ceaseless power struggles of ruthless politics and struggling against their own inner beast, the walking dead are solitary creatures by nature, but forced to band together out of necessity for survival. This causes players to always be wary, for they never known when a supposed ally will plant a stake in their back. They feed upon the blood of others to fuel their supernatural powers, but they must be wary of keeping in touch with the little remains of humanity they have left. If they grow too careless, their inner Beast can take over, driving them into hommicidal displays either temporarily or permanently, depending upon how far they have indulged their monstrous nature.

Werewolf: The Forsaken - In which you play as Werewolves. Able to draw upon gifts from totem spirits who agree to serve them either through intimidation or signing pacts of allegiance, they are immensely powerful creatures, with likewise immensely powerful enemies. They feed upon spiritual essence to fuel their supernatural powers, as well as having immensely powerful bodies when they transform. They must struggled to maintain a harmony between their physical and spiritual aspects of their existence, or the risk falling into a maddened state and becoming just as mindless and feral as a rabid wolf.

Mage: The Awakening - In which you play as humans that have awakened the power to use magic. The descendants of the fallen city of Atlantis, their ancestors wanted to usurp the gods by building a ladder to the higher realms and harnessing the power of magic that dwelt there. They succeeded, but a civil war with their own kind destroyed the ladder and severing the connection to magic for those humans that were still on Earth at the time of the collapse, as well as sinking Atlantis beneath the waves. In each of the higher realms there exists a watch tower which eventually awakened certain humans to the power of magic once again, and guide them on the path towards harnessing and understanding their power.

Changeling: The Lost - In which you play as Half Fae beings that were once humans. They wield the power of Fae Magic, which relies upon the use of contracts, bargains, and deals made with reality itself, both its sentient life forms, and its less sentient components such as elemental forces and metaphorical concepts. Like a form of psychic vampire, they feed upon the emotions and dreams of humans to fuel their capabilities. They must struggle to retain their sense of clarity, lest they lose the ability to tell the difference between what is real and what is a dream. Some say those who become become too powerful while losing all sense of clarity are sucked back into Arcadia, becoming one of the True Fae and losing all shreds of their former human identities.

Hunter: The Vigil - In which you play a mortal who seeks to hunt and destroy the supernatural. Their reasons for doing so tend to vary between the archetypes. Some do so because they belong to a top secret branch of the government, others do so because they were wronged in some way by a supernatural encounter and seek to fulfill a personal vendetta. Others do so because of a religious doctrine ordering them to, and so on. The methods of the Hunters also tend to vary. Some of them rely upon the use of technology and science, others through intense physical training as well as government funded resources, and some have even been granted supernatural power from a higher being (possibly god himself) and proclaim they are the agents of divine punishment.

The games themselves take bits and pieces of lore from many cultures scattered throughout the world and combine them together to put a brand new spin on things. Some of the legends are actually true (Vampires die in sunlight, Faeries are native to another dimension, silver is dangerous to Werewolves), but there are also legends which remain as simply myths (Vampires are not repelled by objects of faith unless they are imbued with magical power, the bite of a Werewolf does not turn you into one, and Faeries are not the friendly, spritely creatures they may have been portrayed as in the modern years.)

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In Vampire the Requiem, you have 5 different Clans of Vampires, each one of which embody a different aspect of the Vampire myth.

The Gangrel are savage and beast-like, embodying the legend of vampires being nearly barbaric creatures who descend upon their prey in violent displays. More than any other clan, they are the most in touch with their inner Beast, and unleash it like a weapon upon their foes!

The Nosferatu are monstrous and terrifying, embodying the legend of vampires being the stuff of nightmarish horror, many (but not all) of them are deformed by their transformation, much like the iconic Count Orlok. Unable to ever blend in with humans again, they make their lairs in the most disgusting and lonely places of the city, where humans rarely travel to willingly.

The Daeva are seductive and beautiful, representing the modern day tales of vampires who use their charms to entrance mortals. However, they are more akin to the deadly Succubus, than the romanticized Twilight series, and often use emotions as weapon, more than actually feeling anything.

The Mekhet are shadowy and mysterious, embodying the legend of Vampires being creatures of darkness, hiding out of sight and striking down their foes both silently and swiftly. They have supernatural levels of grace and expertise.

Ventrue are proud tyrants who flaunt their wealth, power, and heritage, embodying such iconic Vampires as Count Dracula who rule both mortal and supernatural alike with their iron fisted lust for power. Extremely selective about who they choose to embrace, the Ventrue is comprised from the ranks of society's elite upper class.

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In Mage the Awakening, you have 5 different paths to magic, each one of which draws their power from a higher realm.

The Mastigos are Warlocks who draw their power from the hellish realm of Pandemonium, they consort with demons and their powers focus on the manipulation of the mind and include such abilities as projecting illusions, mind control, and telekinetics.

The Acanthus are Enchanters who draw their power from Arcadia, the realm of the Faeries, and who's magic grants them the power to manipulate destiny and time, granting them unrivaled luck in all that they do.

The Obrimos are Theurgists who draw their power from the realm of Ether, their magic is divine in nature and grants them the ability to commune with (and even command) the ranks of Angels in battle.

The Thyrsus are Shamans who draw their power from the realm of the Primal Wild, granting them control over the forces of nature, as well as command over the spirits of the natural world.

Lastly, the Moros are Necromancers who draw their power from the realm of Stygia, and who's powers allow them to control the forces of death, mortality, and material things.

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In Changeling the Lost, you have not 5, but 6 different archetypes known as Seemings, which reflect the nature of your character's Fae persona, as well as what purpose they served while they were enslaved.

The Beasts were used like animals for a variety of purposes such as manual labor (i.e horses), hunting (i.e blood hounds), food (i.e pigs), and even simple companionship (i.e house cats); unfortunately, however, their time spent as beasts has greatly damaged their human sense of civility, causing them to be much more in tuned with their feral instincts. Their appearance is not merely restricted to mundane animals, for they have also been known to take after mythical creatures like the Dragons, the Manticore, Gryphons, and so on.

The Elementals were used as forces of nature, being turned into such things like fire, lightning, water, earth, wind, mountains, lakes, crystals, metal, glass, and so on. Because they were actually fused with nature itself, they are the most alien of the Seemings, and find the mannerisms of humanity much more difficult to understand than they used to. Their return to the mortal world has given them a more humanoid shape to them, but they still retain their power to control the element for which they embody.

The Ogres were subjected to horrendous brutality, and were likewise forced to become brutal in order to survive. Immensely strong and resilient, they are unfortunately dull witted by the trauma they had to endure, being prone to gullibility and impulsive reactions. They tend to resemble mythical creatures such as Trolls, the Japanese Oni, the Greek Cyclops, Giants, Orcs, Baba Yaga, Black Anis, and the like. While Ogres are usually considered to be enormous and packed with muscle, there are cases of them who are short and skinny.

The Fairest were enslaved primarily for their beauty and exceptional talent with performing various forms of entertainment, often being used as pleasure slaves for their masters. Able to easily sway the hearts and minds of others, as well as outclass some of the greatest human performers in history, they are unfortunately prone to being callous and arrogant, much like the Fae who enslaved them. They tend to embody such beautiful creatures of legend like the Nymphs, Muses, Succubus / Incubus, High Elves, or Dryads

Last are the Wizened, also known as the Little Folk. Forced into manual labor, they were often ridiculed for their scrawny bodies and short stature, causing them to become spiteful and bitter towards the rest of the world. However, their new Fae capabilities grants them a seemingly mythical level of skill and precision when it comes to working, including such activities as engineering, architecture, smithing, house keeping, cooking, and so on. They tend to embody such creatures like the Dwarves, Goblins, House Elves, Gremlins, and others who are renowned for their talents with crafting and serving.

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While most Role Playing Games have a tendency to pigeon hole you into only wielding a specific range of skills after picking your class, the World of Darkness allows players to learn cross-class skills, and potentially learn every skill their race has to offer. However, learning the abilities of a different class tends to be somewhat more difficult than learning those within their own class, and thus their progress goes by slower.

For example, a Vampire Gangrel's specialties involve the power of shape shifting, controlling animals, and supernatural resistance to damage. However, they can still learn a Nosferatu's ability to manipulate fear, manipulation, a Daeva's ability of supernatural charisma and charm, or a Ventrue's ability to hypnotize and compel the minds of others. They simply need to begin practicing, either through trial and error, or with the aid of a mentor.

Likewise, a Beast Changeling may have the power of a specific type of animal, but they can also learn the supernatural levels of strength and resilience of an Ogre, or the power to control an elemental substance. They simply have to form the same contracts with reality as an Ogre, or an Elemental to be able to wield their abilities.

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Character sheets are incredibly large and diverse. Each of the attributes, skills, and talents are all ranked from 1 to 5. Unlike traditional RPG's, there is no level up system, you buy a rank in a particular set with the use of experience points, which are granted at the end of each sessions. Level 1 tends to represent a beginning novice in a particular skill, where as level 5 represents a grand master of the art. Although level 5 is usually the max for normal people to achieve, there are many supernatural powers which can push their abilities even higher for as long as they remain in effect.

The character sheets also have a Merits and Flaws system, which can add or subtract experience points from your starting character, allowing them to buy more (or less) talents, attributes, and skills to begin with. Merits can include such things like being trained in a particular fighting style (boxing, kung fu, dual weaponry), being able to perform complicated stunts while driving, or having an eidetic memory. Flaws on the other hand, include weaknesses that put your character at a disadvantage, such as being crippled, mentally challenged, or stunted growth.

With all of this together, character sheets are incredibly diverse and ensure that (unless the players are specifically trying to do so) there is little chance of any two players having the same build, offering a large degree of customization to make your character play and feel the way you invision them.

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Personally, I think the idea of Changeling the Lost is one of the more appealing games in the series to me. Werewolf, Vampire, and Mage are enjoyable, but ultimately they tend to be focused on a more specific route of mythology. Changeling, however, deals with the concept of fairy tales, dreams, and human imagination. As a result, it offers a seemingly infinite degree of potential, both in the game's setting, as well as player generated content. It includes such figures as Trolls, Nymphs, Dragons, the Coyote Tricksters of Indian mythology, Dwarves, Goblins, Sprites, Dryads, Orcs, Minotaur, Ogres, and the like. To better sum it up, try to imagine if all of the fantasy races in Dungeons and Dragons existed in the modern age, but were using magical powers to disguise themselves as ordinary people.

Regardless of what game you play, however, they all focus on the same thing, a personal horror driven story. You do not simply become a monster and then go about your busy day, you have to learn to deal with the changes that have occurred in your life. None of these playable races are able to completely blend in with human society again. Even the human Mages and Hunters are never again capable of going back to their old lives, they already know too much, and even if they try to forget what they have learned, the creatures they have encountered are not going to allow a loose end to go unchecked, especially not if they have a personal grudge with the individual.

While players are certainly allowed to build a normal life for themselves if they so choose, it is ultimately nothing more than a cover story, used to convince humans that they are not supernatural beings, while they spend their free time going about their routines in the World of Darkness.

Vampires can not survive in the daylight, and so their absolute refusal to make public appearances during the daytime hours can grow more complicated to explain, they also can not feed upon anything other than blood, which can become difficult to acquire depending upon their living conditions. Not only this, but upon becoming a vampire, their personality splits into two halves. One is their Humanity, the other is their darker nature called the Beast. Each time they give into their selfish or monstrous impulses, the Beast grows stronger, and sometimes it can take full control over their bodies, making it excessively dangerous to keep innocent lives around them for long periods.

Werewolves invoke a unique form of insanity into the minds of any mundane human that sees them in their transformed states, and only 1 in every 4 offspring will inherit the Werewolf gene, making it very difficult (if not impossible) to explain to their family what they truly are. Even if they did manage to accomplish this, they are being mercilessly hunted down by the Pure Tribes, as well as angry spirits of nature, effectively placing a bullseye on their family members in the process.

Most Changelings are sterile with only a very rare number of them (about 1 in 10, possibly less than that) are capable of reproducing, and even then, the child is born as something... else... The Changelings also find that they must struggle with their own clarity, or else risk losing the ability to tell what is real and what is a dream as they are assaulted with flashbacks of their time spent in Arcadia. To top it off, they also must avoid drawing the attention of the True Fae and their servants who seek to enslave them once again, and possibly even choose to kidnap and torture the rest of their family as further punishment for their escape.

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If the World of Darkness appeals to you, you will only need 2 books to really play: The Core Rule Book (which details all of the basic rules for the WoD game) and then one of the racial books you wish to play as (Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, Mage: The Awakening, Changeling: The Lost, and so on). Each of the books also has additional branching books, but these only offer further details into the game's set up and are not actually required to play.

I personally bought the core book, Vampire and Werewolf as Barns and Noble at the Mall of Georgia, but when I did so, they only had about 1 copy of each book in stock, and I have not been able to track them down anywhere else. However, I have heard that you can buy them online if you wish, which should make it much easier to locate a particular book if you're having difficulty tracking it down.