RolePlay onLine RPoL Logo

, welcome to World of Darkness Forum

17:31, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Dark Ages v20 Advice?

Posted by Hexariah
Hexariah
member, 45 posts
Tue 26 Jan 2016
at 18:43
  • msg #1

Dark Ages v20 Advice?

Hey there, everyone!

I've recently been toying with the new Dark Ages book, and it's really rather pretty! However, I've got next to no experience with character optimization in OWOD and I'm curious what the general perspective is on the system.

I only have minute experience with OWOD, stretching back to a game I played in 2013 and... that's about it. So any sort of tips or tricks you've got, I would certainly appreciate!

I'm thinking Ventrue or Lasombra. Dominate is really good, I'm not sure about presence, and Obtenebration seems like it pairs nicely with Dominate. Fortitude I think I prefer over Potence. I believe I'm going Manipulation 4, appearance 3, charisma 3 -- if memory serves, in non-GMC WOD it's strictly better to start with a 5 in something than try to build up the experience, since XP doesn't have the flat cost anymore? But going full on Manip 5 seems a little cheesy. I dunno. I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have, and look forward to all the advice you're willing to give me!

Thanks!
WarynJasra
member, 60 posts
Thu 19 May 2016
at 18:23
  • msg #2

Dark Ages v20 Advice?

In owod you have to optimize a little bit. A good rule of thumb is to pick your disciplines and then see what abilities they use. But being well rounded is also good because of the way the success system works you typically have a 50% chance to succeed if your only rolling one die but my play style typically features going heavily into backgrounds because those are typically harder to raise then abilities due to the fact that you can't spend exp on them.

Will power is also a very nice thing to raise with freebies because of how cheap it is in creation. Always remember that your clan picked you for a reason. Why is it, what do you bring to the table. Is it your political connections your ability to do war, or it may just be the purity of your blood. Think deeply about who your character is as a person and they will tend to build themselves
Nerwen
forum moderator, 1847 posts
seek to understand before
you seek to be understood
Fri 20 May 2016
at 15:40
  • msg #3

Dark Ages v20 Advice?

Under social attributes, appearance always seems to be the dump stat in every game I've been in. I usually leave it at 2.
RuneKnight3
member, 41 posts
Gothic Imagination Expert
The Mad Storyteller
Sat 21 May 2016
at 11:36
  • msg #4

Dark Ages v20 Advice?

In reply to Nerwen (msg # 3):

I find that's because it's hard to actually roleplay being a 'hot' character without actually being attractive. In nWoD there's inducements to pick up things like Striking Looks, but in oWoD unless you're cheesing something there's almost no reason to have an appearance above 2 because roleplay trumps stats in the social arena.

Unless you're Nos, then it's not even a thing.
Nerwen
forum moderator, 1848 posts
seek to understand before
you seek to be understood
Sun 22 May 2016
at 21:10
  • msg #5

Dark Ages v20 Advice?

That Nos ugliness factor is easily countered with Obfuscate 3, so it isn't really all that important even there.
WarynJasra
member, 61 posts
Thu 2 Jun 2016
at 19:26
  • msg #6

Dark Ages v20 Advice?

In reply to RuneKnight3 (msg # 4):

There are presence powers that run off of appearance
Sign In