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The World of Darkness (or WoD) is the name given to three related but distinct fictional universes. A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with unique background elements such as an imaginary history or geography and possibly fantasy or science The first was conceived by Mark Rein-Hagen, while the second was designed by several people at White Wolf Gaming Studio, which Rein-Hagen helped to found. Mark Rein·Hagen (often written Rein-Hagen) is a role-playing, card, video and Board game designer best known as the creator The first two World of Darkness settings have been used for several horror fiction-themed role-playing games that make use of the Storytelling System. Horror fiction is broadly Fiction in any medium intended to scare unsettle or horrify the audience A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. Storytelling System, formerly Storyteller System, is a Role-playing game system created by White Wolf Inc The third, Monte Cook's World of Darkness, includes only a single product.

Contents

Old World of Darkness (oWoD)

Background

The first setting was created in 1991 with the release of Vampire: The Masquerade; support for it subsequently ended in 2004 with the release of Time of Judgment. Created by Mark Rein·Hagen, Vampire The Masquerade was the first of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness live-action Time of Judgment is a series of Roleplaying game Scenario Books for the World of Darkness settings of White Wolf Game Studio The theme of the old World of Darkness is described as "gothic-punk" by the developers. Gothic fiction (sometimes referred to as Gothic horror) is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Punk ideologies are a group of varied social and political beliefs associated with the Punk subculture.

The World of Darkness resembles the contemporary world, but darker, more devious, more conspiratorial. Humanity is losing hope as it is secretly preyed upon and controlled by supernatural creatures such as vampires, werewolves and wraiths. Hope is a Belief in a positive outcome related to events and Circumstances in one's life Vampires are mythological or folkloric revenants who subsist by feeding on the blood of the living See also Lycanthropy (disambiguation Werewolves, also known as lycanthropes, are mythological or folkloric humans with the ability to A wraith is an apparition of a person living or dead that may appear shortly before or after death One facet that sets the World of Darkness apart from most other horror fiction is that these creatures are not solitary predators to be hunted down and destroyed, but they are numerous and intelligent; enough so to form secret societies, develop various factions and allegiances, and use humans as pawns in power struggles and murderous games often lasting centuries or millennia. Secret society is a term used to describe a variety of organizations Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus

However, the rising power and strength of human civilization has started to restrict their power, and an atmosphere of gloom resides over many of the games as once-almighty supernatural beings, the dark Princes and Lords of previous eras, in their turn face the bleak and unbearable prospect of a future spent struggling and shrinking under the ever-more powerful gaze and control of a world-wide technocratic cabal, which intends to stamp out mysticism - and their supernatural rivals in the same course - by making reason and science paramount. In Mage The Ascension, the Technocratic Union (or Technocracy) is a world-wide conspiracy that employs a technological paradigm to pursue an agenda In the meantime, normal humanity, tool or prey of all factions, is oppressed and hounded in this hidden, all-encompassing conflict, barely capable of fighting and for the majority not even aware of their enemies.

Interlocking conspiracies, some mirroring those existing in our own world, some unique, can be found throughout the setting. A conspiracy theory attributes the ultimate cause of an event or chain of events (usually Political, Social or Historical events or the concealment Cabals of powerful mages, coteries of cunning vampires, and other, stranger powers vie within their own cultures and with each other for control of the world. The Wizard is a magical Character class in many Role-playing games and Computer role-playing games Wizards wield powerful magic spells but Vampires are mythological or folkloric revenants who subsist by feeding on the blood of the living The dichotomy between rich and poor, influential and weak, powerful and powerless, is much more pronounced than in our world. Decadence is common and corruption is everywhere. Political corruption is the use of governmental powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain This dark reflection is seen everywhere: gargoyles and gothic construction influence architecture, while the leather look and punk atmosphere crowd the streets. In Architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone Grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building Leather is a material created through the Tanning of hides and Skins of Animals primarily Cattlehide The Tanning process Everything is as gloomy in the WoD as the most pessimistic tabloid headlines present it.

History and playability

Though each game line is its own self-contained universe, as time passed, more and more obvious connections between the settings were made in the canonical, published material. This article is not about Literary canons of influential works of fiction but about the concept of a canon which defines the world of a particular fictional series This was not planned from the beginning, so the World of Darkness was riddled with discrepancies and sometimes contradictions in the cosmologies of each system. Many of the later game supplements have optional rules suggesting how to handle interactions between different types of supernatural beings, and in some cases, present rules that attempt to allow discrepancies to exist between settings. It is also explained that the discrepancies may represent various factions actually changing reality to their own beliefs (especially within the 'Changeling' and 'Mage' sub-settings - see below).

The rules were increasingly streamlined and standardized, and the templates of all the different system started to look more similar with each edition. The downside of which was that with each step towards a common ground for the systems, the rules, terms, and templates underwent dramatic and backwards-incompatible changes. During all this, Wraith: The Oblivion was discontinued and even at the end of the third edition of Vampire, Werewolf and Mage, the bumps had still not been smoothed out.

In the end it was left up to each individual Storyteller (the term in the World of Darkness games for the gamemaster) to interpret the rules and try to combine the systems that were used. A Gamemaster or Game Master (often abbreviated as GM) is a player in a multiplayer Game who acts as organizer arbitrator and officiant in rules situations

Publication (settings)

White Wolf developed the following game sets in the World of Darkness between 1991 and 2003:

These all represent a Rulebook and a varying number of Sourcebook supplementals on anything from specific clans and tribes to gadgets and entire citybooks describing all the supernatural denizens. Created by Mark Rein·Hagen, Vampire The Masquerade was the first of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness live-action Werewolf The Apocalypse is a Role-playing game and series of novels from the old World of Darkness line by White Wolf. Mage The Ascension is a Role-playing game based in the old World of Darkness, and was published by White Wolf Game Studio. Wraith The Oblivion is a Role-playing game set in the Afterlife of White Wolf Game Studio 's World of Darkness. Changeling The Dreaming was part of White Wolf Game Studio 's original " World of Darkness " Role playing game line The Masquerade is a Fictional term found in White Wolf Game Studio 's Vampire The Masquerade Books and Role-playing games Hunter The Reckoning is a Role-playing game based in White Wolf Game Studio 's World of Darkness. Mummy The Resurrection is a Role-playing game released by White Wolf Game Studios, where the players assume the role of resurrected Mummies Demon The Fallen is a Role-playing game and a fictional setting from the World of Darkness line by White Wolf Game Studio. Orpheus is a Role playing game by White Wolf Game Studio, set in a microcosm of the World of Darkness. In parallel to these settings, White Wolf has developed historical settings for their major product lines. They include:

Additionally, while owning the rights to Ars Magica, White Wolf made additions to that game's setting to bring it into the World of Darkness timeline. Vampire Victorian Age is a Role-playing game originally published by White Wolf Game Studio. Werewolf The Wild West is a Role-playing game from the World of Darkness line by White Wolf Game Studio. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Vampire The Dark Ages is a Role-playing game originally published by White Wolf Game Studio in 1996. Vampire The Dark Ages is a Role-playing game originally published by White Wolf Game Studio in 1996. Dark Ages Werewolf is a Supplementary Role-Playing Book published by White Wolf Inc Dark Ages Mage is a Role-playing game book part of the series of " Dark Ages " supplements published by White Wolf Inc Dark Ages Fae (ISBN 1588462927 is part of a series of Role-playing games re-envisioning the popular White Wolf titles in the medieval past it is the precursor to Dark Ages Inquisitor is an Role-playing game book part of the series of " Dark Ages " supplements published by White Wolf Inc Ars Magica is also the title of a book by Judith Tarr. Ars Magica is a Role-playing game set in Mythic Europe Atlas Games would later acquire Ars Magica and remove these alterations however, and the connection between Ars Magica and the old World of Darkness is no longer considered canonical. Atlas Games is a company which publishes Role-playing games Board games and Card games Its current president is John Nephew. Early advertisement to the Exalted game established it as the pre-historic age of the World of Darkness. Exalted is a Role-playing game published by White Wolf Publishing. Although many elements of Exalted correspond with the WoD to some degree, the two gamelines were not connected in the end.

Later in publication history, each new year had a theme at White Wolf Game Studios and the books published in that year were focused on the theme. This brought about the new sets of Hunters, Demons and Mummies, but more importantly it dictated the focus of all the sourcebooks for every system that were published that year. For instance, Vampire and Werewolf were given sourcebooks with an Eastern theme in the Year of the Lotus cycle, and the books concerned the Asian variety of these creatures.

A World of Darkness sourcebook was published in two editions as well and provided general guidelines for story creation on every continent as well as outlining the differences between, for instance African Werecreatures and North American ones. There was also a similar title for Werewolf entitled 'A World of Rage'.

Annual Themes

The old World of Darkness had several years tied to a specific theme. During this year some game supplementals to the various gamelines were published that were tied to this theme. The logo of the theme in question was also printed on the products.

Year Name of the year Theme
1996 Year of the Hunter Groups of Mortals trying to take back the night.
1997 Year of the Ally Mortal allies to the supernatural being.
1998 Year of the Lotus Supernatural beings from eastern Asia.
1999 Year of the Reckoning Start of Hunter: the Reckoning game line. Revised Edition published.
2000 Year of the Revelation Secrets of the ancient period. (Related to Exalted Game line. )
2001 Year of the Scarab Restart of Mummy as Mummy: Resurrection game.
2002 Year of the Damned Start of Demon: The Fallen as game.
2004 Time of Judgment End of the game line.

End of oWoD (Time of Judgment)

In late 2003, White Wolf announced it would stop publishing new books for the line, bringing the published history of the setting to an end with a series called The Time of Judgment. This event is described from different supernatural perspectives in four Sourcebooks: Gehenna (for Vampire: the Masquerade); Apocalypse (for Werewolf: the Apocalypse); Ascension (for Mage: the Ascension); and Time of Judgment (covering of White Wolf's less-established product lines: Demon: The Fallen, Changeling: The Dreaming, Kindred of the East, Mummy: Resurrection and Hunter: The Reckoning ).

The publishers stated that in doing so, they followed up on a promise that has existed in the World of Darkness since the first edition of Vampire, with the concept of Gehenna, and in Werewolf, with the Apocalypse, as well as some elements of some of the published material that pertain to 'end of the world' themes in other games. Fiction novels from each of the three major gaming lines concluded the official storyline.

Vampire: The Eternal Struggle (Card game)

One of the earliest collectible card games (CCG) Vampire: The Eternal Struggle (formerly called Jyhad) is also based on the original World of Darkness, staying very true to the setting. Collectible card games (CCGs also called trading card games (TCGs or customizable card games (CCGs are played using specially designed sets of cards Vampire The Eternal Struggle, published as Jyhad in the first edition and often abbreviated as VTES, VTES or VtES, is As one of the longest-running CCGs in existence, it is the only WoD product that has not been discontinued - the Gehenna-theme (end of the old WoD Vampire setting) was featured in one expansion, but further expansions have been produced, without any reboot of the franchise.

World of Darkness (WoD) or (nWoD)

fanon (non-canon) cosmology of the new World of Darkness.
fanon (non-canon) cosmology of the new World of Darkness.

Background

On August 21, 2004, White Wolf launched a new World of Darkness line, sometimes referred to as nWoD or new World of Darkness. Events 1192 - Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shōgun and the De facto ruler of Japan. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " While the rebooted setting is superficially very similar, the overall theme is one of "dark mystery", with an emphasis on the unknown and the personal. Reboot, in serial Fiction, means a discarding of much or even all previous continuity in the series to start anew

Many details of the setting, especially in regards to its history, are left vague or otherwise have multiple explanations. This may be a response to criticism of the old games: so much material had been published that Storytellers found it difficult to surprise their players, who knew every supposed "mystery" of the setting. Additionally, "end of the world" themes were noticeably absent from the new World of Darkness games, leading many to conclude that White Wolf does not intend to end the new WoD in the same manner as it did the old.

Instead of reprinting a full ruleset with each major title, tweaked and modified for each game, the new setting uses one core system for all games, a streamlined and redesigned version of the Storyteller System renamed the "Storytelling System". A core rule book, simply titled The World of Darkness, has full rules for human characters and ghosts; though it has no specific setting material, it establishes a tone and mood for games featuring human protagonists. This is another contrast to the old games, where so many different types of supernatural creature had been defined that normal humans often seemed unimportant. (Players often joked that "mortals" were a minority in the setting, far rarer than vampires or werewolves; in actuality Vampire had initially stated that the vampires numbered roughly 1 to every 100,000 humans and it was implied elsewhere that other supernatural races were of similar rarity. ) The World of Darkness core book was well received, and won the Origins Gamers' Choice Award for 2004. The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry

New rule system

The new WoD rules are much more streamlined than the previous system. The Failure rules have changed and the "10-again" rule has been added, in that a "10" indicates a re-roll and the "10" still counts as a success (this rule was present in the original WoD only for Traits ranked at least 4 out of the usual maximum of 5, and then only for a "specialty" or particular sub-field of the trait's application). If another "10" is rolled, this step is repeated until anything but a "10" is rolled. Exceptional Successes are indicated by having five or more successes on the action, and can be regulated by the Storyteller. Dramatic Failures are now only possible on "chance" die rolls; when a dice pool is reduced by penalties to zero or less, a single chance die is rolled. If a 10 is rolled, it is a success (and as before, rerolled), if the result is less than 10 but not 1, then it is a simple failure. On a chance die, if the roll is a 1, then it is a Dramatic Failure, which is usually worse than a normal failure of the action, and is regulated by the Storyteller (although examples of Dramatic Failures in certain situations are occasionally given).

The game also features a much simplified combat system. In the old system each attack made during a combat scene could easily involve 4 separate rolls and in many cases required more due to supernatural abilities possessed by the characters. Combat scenes involving large numbers of combatants could take a very long time to resolve. The new system requires only one roll which is adjusted by the defensive abilities of the person being attacked and represents both the success and failure of the attack and the damage inflicted because of it, (indicated by number of successes).

The nature and demeanor rules which represented the personality of the characters and were common in the old games have also been removed. In the new system characters have a virtue and a vice trait which not only represents the personality of the characters, depending on how well a role player the person playing that trait is, but also represents actions that the character can take in order to regain willpower points that have been spent during the course of play. The vices are the same as the deadly sins, while the virtues resemble the heavenly virtues. The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, are a classification of Vices that were originally used in early Christian The seven virtues are a set of seven cardinal virtues recognized in Christian Philosophy, especially Virtue ethics, and Theology. (Charity, Faith, Justice, etc, for Virtues, and Envy, Wrath, Lust, etc, for Vices). Storytellers and Players are encouraged to invent new ones as seen fit.

In this new rule system you can have more merits than there are lines . In this case you would write them on the back of your character sheet and write how many dots you have.

The morality stat represents the moral outlook of the character and the notion that as a character takes more and more morally questionable actions she or he will eventually stop feeling bad about it. A character with a high morality would be more moral and saintly while a person with a low morality would be able to take more questionable actions. As a person’s morality falls they run the increasing risk of becoming mentally unstable.

For example, a vampire kills a mortal cultist who has been trying to kill him. Since she attacked him, it's not murder, it's manslaughter, which is represented as "4" on morality. The vampire's current morality stat is "6". He fails his roll and thus drops to morality "5". In addition, he must now make a second roll to resist gaining a derangement. (Trait that affects characters' rolls & actions).

There is some version of morality in each of the game lines which represent internal struggles of the characters.

There are also specific action bonuses which can be attached to the Skills. These give modifiers to whatever the person is doing. There is also a "no dice chance" rule, where the person attempts to do something he wouldn't normally be able to do, they have to roll a "10" to succeed.

The World of Darkness is copyright 2004. It was written by Bill Bridges, Rick Chillot, Ken Cliffe and Mike Lee. Bill Bridges is a Role-playing game developer and Author. He was one of the primary White Wolf original developer (along with many others who contributed Mike Lee (racing (Born in 1963 competed in the American Indycar Series from 1998-2000 Concept and Design by Justin Achilli, Andrew Bates, Philippe Boulle, Carl Bowen, Bill Bridges, Conrad Hubbard, Mike Lee, Chris McDonough, Matthew McFarland, Ethan Skemp, Richard Thomas, Mike Tinney, Stephan Wieck, Stewart Wieck and Fred Yelk. Conrad Hubbard is best known as a web designer and author for White Wolf Inc

Publication

The Core setting

Each new game setting now consists of a rule book which includes only those rules specific to the type of protagonist portrayed, leaving more room for specifics of that aspect of the World of Darkness. This has also vastly improved compatibility between games, particularly as all characters are created as normal humans and thus have the same basic traits. Supernatural traits still vary for each character type, but their interactions with each other are governed largely by a single, simple mechanic. In addition, all supernatural types (including the ones in the Limited Series books) follow similar rules in terms of game mechanics, including:

The three core games are as follows:

Limited Series setting

In addition to the main three games, there will be an additional game each year. Vampire The Requiem is a Role-playing game published by White Wolf, set in the World of Darkness, and the successor to the Vampire Events 1192 - Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shōgun and the De facto ruler of Japan. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Werewolf The Forsaken is a Role-playing game set in the new World of Darkness created by White Wolf Game Studio. Events 1489 - The Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sells her kingdom to Venice. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Mage The Awakening is a Role-playing game developed by White Wolf Inc Events 708 - Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 708) Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Like Orpheus for the old World of Darkness, each of these "fourth games" will have a limited series of approximately six books, including the core rulebook. Orpheus is a Role playing game by White Wolf Game Studio, set in a microcosm of the World of Darkness. [1] The first such game is Promethean: The Created for August, 2006, based largely on Frankenstein and similar stories of giving the unliving life through alchemy. The second game is Changeling: The Lost, and was released in August, 2007. It is a game based around characters that were taken and enslaved by Fairies similar to those of European folk tales, who managed to escape to find they were no longer human themselves, and must find a new place in life. A puzzle was found in the back of the Changeling core rule book, hinting that the limited game for 2008 may be related to Hunter: The Reckoning. Hunter The Reckoning is a Role-playing game based in White Wolf Game Studio 's World of Darkness. This new game has been officially titled "Hunter: the Vigil".

Publication history

WoD MMORPG

A merger between Crowd Control Productions and White Wolf, Inc. was announced at the annual EVE Online fanfest in Reykjavík, Iceland, in November 2006. Promethean The Created is a Role-playing game published by White Wolf, set in the new World of Darkness. Events 2492 BC - Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Changeling The Lost is the fifth supplementary Role-playing game line published by White Wolf Inc. Events 1384 - The Hongwu Emperor of Ming China, Emperor Dong hears a case of a couple who tore paper money bills while fighting Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Hunter The Vigil is a game line from White Wolf, announced on January 2 2008 and released on August 14 2008 when the sponsors for the second Free RPG Day were announced CCP hf (or C rowd C ontrol P roductions is a Video game developer. For the Greater Reykjavík Area see the Greater Reykjavík Area. As part of the deal, it was announced that White Wolf would be adopting the EVE Online intellectual property into a RPG, and CCP explicitly stated "There will be a World of Darkness Online", referring to a MMORPG version of the game. A massively multiplayer online role-playing game ( MMORPG) is a genre of Computer role-playing games (CRPGs in which a large number of players interact with However, the manner in which it was conveyed suggests that the game is not yet under development, and therefore a product release might be years in the future. [1] According to the latest news, work has already begun on the WoD MMORPG and full time production is to commence within the year. [2]

References

  1. ^ Forum Thread (from the Eve Online website)
  2. ^ Razorwire : news (10 February 2007)

External links

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