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00:37, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

New World of Darkness.

Posted by hobgob
hobgob
member, 393 posts
Mon 30 Aug 2021
at 20:09
  • msg #1

New World of Darkness

Before I go through the work of setting up a game, I am wondering if there are folks out there who still use New World of Darkness, or if everyone has switched over to Chronicles of Darkness. I am very familiar with NWOD, but I do have the PDFs for COD (and the main splats), though I've only skimmed through them. So if I were to run an NWOD game, would anyone be interested?
deadtotheworld22
member, 144 posts
Mon 30 Aug 2021
at 20:47
  • msg #2

New World of Darkness

If the definition is 1st Edition vs. later editions, I certainly still use 1st Edition as it's all I've got access to, and with the addition of some house rules to amend the most problematic of 1st Edition's weaknesses (which IMHO is mainly around applying a selection of combat hacks and expanding some of the fighting styles), I certainly find it's very playable.

In terms of an actual game, I'd be interested in theory but I'd want your thoughts on the scale, mood and amount of GM involvement in the game before I commit; I've been in WoD sandboxes in the past with a dozen players and an expectation that you'll make your own fun, and it's never been particularly enjoyable.

I've had best experiences as a player/GM in small groups with a strong GM presence and a willingness to focus on character and drama rather than just finding/executing the best builds. If that sounds up your street, then I'd be happy to give it a deeper look with a view to a long term commitment.
dparasol
member, 38 posts
looking to uh have fun
and destroy civilization
Sat 4 Sep 2021
at 07:24
  • msg #3

New World of Darkness

I'd certainly be interested, along the same lines as deadtotheworld22 there.
hobgob
member, 395 posts
Sun 5 Sep 2021
at 19:29
  • msg #4

New World of Darkness

Thanks for your input.

I also prefer a focus on "character and drama" over "finding/executing the best builds," as you put it. And I was thinking something more along the lines of small, story-driven groups than a big sandbox. Having said that, depending on interest, I was thinking of running multiple groups of different character types, with the stories influencing each other, even if there are never any direct crossovers.

I am most comfortable running the "core" character types: mortals, vampires, werewolves, and mages, but if there was a lot of interest in another type, I would consider it.
ylvathrall
member, 35 posts
Sun 5 Sep 2021
at 19:53
  • msg #5

New World of Darkness

I always love changelings, myself.
evileeyore
member, 527 posts
GURPS GM and Player
Joined 20150819
Sun 5 Sep 2021
at 19:59
  • msg #6

New World of Darkness

I'm mostly familiar with oWoD and nWoD having run games in them (for my money those two editions are mostly identical on the backend, it's the settings that have radical adjustments) and I'm just starting to get familiar with CoD, where it appears there are minor and major adjustments all over damn the place...

So for my money I'm game for oWoD or nWoD, but I'm happier the most with the nWoD settings... except Werewolf, they did my boy Apocalypse dirty there... though I'm really enamored with the spiritual setting in Forsaken.  It's kinda "I appreciate them both for different reasons".

For scale and scope, I'm down with what you're offering.  Indirect crossovers can be hard, but if you're going to try to pull it off, I have to say pbp is the medium for it.
This message was last edited by the user at 20:00, Sun 05 Sept 2021.
deadtotheworld22
member, 145 posts
Sun 5 Sep 2021
at 23:19
  • msg #7

Re: New World of Darkness

hobgob:
Thanks for your input.

I also prefer a focus on "character and drama" over "finding/executing the best builds," as you put it. And I was thinking something more along the lines of small, story-driven groups than a big sandbox. Having said that, depending on interest, I was thinking of running multiple groups of different character types, with the stories influencing each other, even if there are never any direct crossovers.

I am most comfortable running the "core" character types: mortals, vampires, werewolves, and mages, but if there was a lot of interest in another type, I would consider it.


The one thing I will say on this (as someone who tried to do this about five years ago on Rpol) is that IMO the benefits are not worth the amount of work that you have to do - I tried to do exactly this with parallel Mage, Vampire and Werewolf groups in the same area with individual players and I almost went spare, and this was when I had about six hours a day of free time to GM.

If you want to go down this road, I'd recommend starting with a single type and then offering players the chance to make a second character if the original is going well.

In terms of specifics, I'd perhaps recommend either Hunter or Vampire, but I'm happy to give Werewolf or Mage a try. Changeling tends to be a very different game from the others and it's a lot harder to crossover (at least in tone, as well as some mechanics).

It might also be worth taking this into a single game to discuss for ease and retention of conversation.
evileeyore
member, 528 posts
GURPS GM and Player
Joined 20150819
Mon 6 Sep 2021
at 01:04
  • msg #8

New World of Darkness

deadtotheworld22:
In terms of specifics, I'd perhaps recommend either Hunter or Vampire, but I'm happy to give Werewolf or Mage a try. Changeling tends to be a very different game from the others and it's a lot harder to crossover (at least in tone, as well as some mechanics).

Having run massive, sprawling crossover LARPS, I've found that Changeling, Werewolf, Mage, and Hunter tend to crossover well, with Hunter and Werewolf occasionally having problems, and Mage crossing over the easiest for the Mages (it's hard for the non-Mages to keep up though).  Vampire fits the least with all of them (Vampires are simply monsters, there is no easy way to reconcile that for most non-Vamp groups).

But as deadtotheworld22 I think is getting at, the genres, the themes, and scope of those different "lines" are vastly different.  It's easiest to run them separately with the occasional "crossover event", or crossed-over character, who understands to temper themselves to the setting they are crossing into.

The hardest part of running multiple threads, that is multiple ongoing separate "campaign lines", is keeping them temporally lined up.  Vamps can easily skip days and weeks, where Changelings and Werewolves are slogging through it day by day trying to deal with small individual problems (frex).  And that's the hardest part, it's also a bit of a job to keep it all juggling together, though some GMs can handle that with ease and others find it hard to make sure everyone is updated on concurrent events (just something to think about).

My advice?  Pick a game you want to run, and if you want to allow in 'non-standard' characters, then do so, but make their themes, scope, and conventions fit the Primary Campaign type.


My preference is Changeling the Lost, but dark fairy tales are my jam.  But I'm equally happy playing Vampire, Werewolf, or Mage.  I've had lesser experiences with Hunter, but that was down to the ST and us Players ahve radically ideas of the genre, the ST thought we be playing Big Damn Heroes facing down the vastly superior monsters, where we Players thought we were mere mortals fighting the last good fight to make the world slightly better, to whit we schemed, planned, and engaged with an over-abundance of caution, and in the end the expectation clashes caused the games to fold.
hobgob
member, 396 posts
Mon 6 Sep 2021
at 20:16
  • msg #9

New World of Darkness

I wasn't intending any direct crossovers, just stories that might influence each other. However, I'm thinking now that I'll start with one type and consider adding others later if/when things are going well, as deadtotheworld22 suggested.

evileeyore, I like Hunter games along the lines of what you mentioned you and the other players expected in the game that folded.

Would others be interested in giving a Hunter: The Vigil game a shot? If so, I'll work on the details.

If not, if there is an overwhelming desire for a Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, or Mage: The Awakening game, I can work on one of those.
dparasol
member, 40 posts
looking to uh have fun
and destroy civilization
Wed 8 Sep 2021
at 08:58
  • msg #10

New World of Darkness

I could do any of the above, really.
evileeyore
member, 531 posts
GURPS GM and Player
Joined 20150819
Wed 8 Sep 2021
at 15:09
  • msg #11

New World of Darkness

hobgob:
evileeyore, I like Hunter games along the lines of what you mentioned you and the other players expected in the game that folded.

I'm cool with a Hunters game.
hobgob
member, 397 posts
Fri 24 Sep 2021
at 20:57
  • msg #12

New World of Darkness

Sorry for the delayed response here. Things got hectic for a while, and then I saw that someone else started a H:TV game, so I kind of forgot about this. My schedule should be opening up some now, though, so if anyone is still interested, let me know and I'll get a game started this weekend.
deadtotheworld22
member, 148 posts
Fri 24 Sep 2021
at 21:08
  • msg #13

New World of Darkness

I remain tentatively interested, certainly!
dparasol
member, 44 posts
looking to uh have fun
and destroy civilization
Sat 25 Sep 2021
at 02:30
  • msg #14

New World of Darkness

In reply to deadtotheworld22 (msg # 13):

Same deal here.
hobgob
member, 399 posts
Sat 25 Sep 2021
at 22:08
  • msg #15

New World of Darkness

The game has been created: link to another game. Hopefully, I'll see some of you over there!
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