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The following review was originally posted at Roleplayers Chronicle and can be read in its entirety at http://roleplayerschronicle.com/?p=30711.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a role-playing fan that doesn’t at least know about the World of Darkness. Many know it’s modern horror and many understand that it serves as the base for many different gothic horror settings published by White Wolf. However, there are lots of gamers out there that stay clear of horror games as they prefer epic fantasy or space opera and hesitate when they can’t simply kill the main antagonist (a common feature in horror gaming). Even though the World of Darkness, new and old, has been around for quite some time and many reviews have been written, I’m going to focus more on those who don’t really know about The World of Darkness and the Storytelling system and what it has to offer.
The World of Darkness presents a world much like our own, but where nasty creatures of horror and gothic horror fame lurk in the shadows or terrify people at night. It is not an alternate history whereas something in the timeline has changed, it just presents a more horrific version of the world that we know. The core rulebook presents the modern world with various horrors; other settings may add additional elements or place things in a historical era. However, the core rulebook is strictly modern and serves as the base mechanics for World of Darkness settings. Using only the core rulebook, characters are human and have standard human qualities and abilities (albeit maybe better than others). Other settings introduce supernatural concepts and abilities, but for this core rulebook, it’s all standard humans.
With this in mind, the stories to be told are not going to be like epic fantasy or space opera. They are not going to be filled with mind-blowing combat or extraordinary feats of unnatural abilities. They are most likely going to resemble modern horror stories and movies, investigation thrillers, or any number of feasible media that depicts humans in a modern environment, albeit with a horrific flair. The focus here is more on the story including how the characters immerse themselves within that story and how the story resolves. Another thing to keep in mind is the separation of The World of Darkness and the Storytelling system. The World of Darkness is the underlying setting used abroad for the core book and the setting guides. The Storytelling system is the mechanics that power game-play set in The World of Darkness.
The Storytelling system is a roll-over dice pool whereas a pool of d10s is constructed according to the character’s Attribute + Skill + Equipment with any bonuses or penalties applied. This dice pool is rolled to achieve a number of successes (rolling an 8, 9, or 10) against a static target number according to the difficulty. Target numbers are not floating and are determined according to difficulty, which all players would then be able to translate into the number of successes they need (such as a target number of 5). This is the base mechanic that the entire system is built upon; quite simple if you ask me. Attributes and Skills are listed as dots on a character sheet representing the number of dice you add to the pool being constructed. You could use numbers instead of dots; either way will give you the same result, just shown in a different way. Combining Attributes and Skills is quite dynamic as the two are only linked by general category (Mental, Physical, and Social), but not defined as a combination. In other words, you can combine skills with different attributes to create different effects, resulting in a different task being performed. This is a great way of reducing the number of skills required while maximizing their possible usage. Some systems reduce the number of skills available, but you may be left with wondering what skill applies to a specific task because it’s directly linked to a given attribute (which may not apply to that task).
The Storytelling system is simple, yet powerful and the World of Darkness is an excellent setting. This core rulebook definitely presents a story- and character-focused role-playing game with no shortage of possible horror.
OVERALL
The World of Darkness core rulebook serves as the base mechanics for all of the World of Darkness setting books. There’s enough content in here to run a modern horror game without a setting book, but the Storyteller will have to fill-in the gaps concerning antagonists. The good thing is that horror games don’t need a lot of antagonists like fantasy games do and this shouldn’t be too hard of a task. It’s a fantastic presentation of an excellent game system, but more importantly it presents a setting that is a great representation of modern gothic horror. The World of Darkness, and moreover the Storytelling system, definitely focuses on characters and their uniqueness by giving you mechanics that don’t hamper your creativity. Oh yeah, it’s also a great read, even if you don’t like the mechanics or don’t plan on playing the game; there is no shortage of content that can be extracted to create your own world.
RATINGS
Publication Quality: 10 out of 10
The World of Darkness core rulebook looks fantastic. The layout is simple and effective, the formatting looks great, the majority of the artwork has a great blend of horror and modern-feel to it, and the complete package is pleasing in many regards. It’s a very easy read and I truly appreciate the mixture of narrative and game content.
Mechanics: 9 out of 10
The Storytelling system is a solid dice pool system with simple mechanics that can be very flexible. I’m not a huge fan of representing traits using dots, but it definitely drives the point across of how simple using the dice pool can be. As stated before, you can easily convert the dots into a number, but then again dots are easier to fill-in as you go on a character sheet (no need to erase to write a higher number). I’m not particularly impressed with the antagonist list, but then again this book is meant to serve as the base mechanics only, and does that quite well. If you are turned away by the dots, use numbers, and storytellers would do well to look into additional material to flesh out additional antagonists if necessary. Otherwise, I find character creation to be quite flexible allowing you to create virtually any human character imaginable.
Desire to Play: 9 out of 10
If you compare the Storytelling system to other horror games (such as Call of Cthulhu), you get a lot of the same principles regarding how those systems view characters and their inherent flexibility regarding creation (no classes here). It’s another approach using dice pools instead of other means, and the low count of dice may not allow for a lot of granularity, but then you also don’t want to get tied up in too much dice rolling (horror is meant to focus more on the story and the characters than combat encounters). If you compare the World of Darkness to other horror settings (such as the Cthulhu Mythos), again you get a lot of the same principles, just with a different face (gothic horror instead of supernatural horror).
That being said, The World of Darkness and the Storytelling system do both of these things extremely well, presenting an excellent game package to Storytellers and players. Those who like dice pools will find an excellent dice pool system. Those who like horror will find a setting with plenty of twists, turns, creepiness, and horrific possibilities.
Overall: 9 out of 10
The World of Darkness is one of those games that is well-known for a reason. It has solid mechanics and an expansive setting, both of which fully embrace their fundamental goals. It’s not going to replace your epic fantasy, space opera, or even Cthulhu Mythos games, but it definitely gives you a perfect outlet for experiencing gothic horror in the modern world; all done with a focus on story and characters.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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Much of the foundation of this book will feel familiar to any existing fans of D&D's planar adventures (Planescape in particular) but pushed through the particular dark and dynamic lens of the Scarred Lands. The core cosmology is an abbreviated great wheel - Etheral, Astral, Shadow, Dreams, 4 elements and 8 aligned planes (each home to one of the gods of the pantheon). If it had just left off at that, this would have been an excellent resource for someone looking to jazz up Planescape, or to run a Planescape style game with a harsher tone, and it would have been worth 4 stars for that (and the supporting rules material). The extra star is earned by the Zodiac realms, one for each of the 16 constellations of Sharn and accessabel only when their sign is ascendant. Each of these realms is a bounded space, and while some are just extended lairs for Big Extraplanar Thingees, a handful of them are really quite interesting as idea seeds and potential adventure hooks.
I picked this up because I'm a planescape nut who enjoyed the Scarred Land material I'd read previous. I only accidentally discovered that this book existed, but it was definitely a good find.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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Not quite a sharp or specific (lots more seeming main characters) as the first novel. However, still good and does well at describing the aftermath of the fall of Constantinople. Lots of the knight orders are mentioned, some fuller than others. It also covers three types of Assamites with main characters and some non-Alamut....
| Puntuación: | | [4 de 5 estrellas!] |
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The only real bad thing about this book is its poorly scanning. Also, If you want more rituals and paths that's not a book for you.
However, it's great if all you need is to improve your campaign's mood and setting. Also, the history chapter really makes the Cappadocians (as a Clan) make sense.
| Puntuación: | | [4 de 5 estrellas!] |
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The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology is The Onyx Path’s opening salvo of a new series of products for the World of Darkness under the auspice of the God-Machine Chronicle. Since the launch of the new World of Darkness White Wolf/CCP has released a plethora of products as part of their toolbox approach to game design while shying away from developing an overarching “meta-book.” While some books have strayed close to the line between the two for the most part each product was a package of tools each troupe could play around with to build the World of Darkness they want to explore. Now Rich Thomas and the many creative forces behind The Onyx Path are stepping over that line and producing a chronicle book, a setting in which we can explore a particular vision of the World of Darkness (which some tweaks to the core rules to match). This anthology begins the exploration of that vision, wetting our whistle for the upcoming chronicle book which we will not get to see until sometime in 2013.
The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology collects nineteen works of short fiction which continue to “intrigue, tantalize and inspire readers” from start to finish. Seven of these tales originally appeared in other works produced by White Wolf/CCP and twelve of them are all new creations. Fans of the company and their game lines will recognize many of the writers and game designers who have lent their talents to the creation of this tome. Each piece ranges in quality from good to great but I cannot express how impressed I am with the anthology as a whole. Each story really is a piece of a much larger puzzle. This is a puzzle which we are only now starting to see its outline and there is still so much more to reveal.
Does the anthology answer questions about the God-Machine? Yes and no. If anything I have a thousand more questions than before I started reading. That is probably a good thing because I am even more excited for future releases now
Upon completion of the anthology I poured myself a glass of wine and decided to lounge on my futon with the television buzzing in the background. I realized a feeling of melancholy had crept over me with a touch of hopelessness. Not too much but just enough that I wanted to relax and let the cogs keep turning on their own without interruption. Obviously the anthology had the intended effect and I was very much in the right mindset to begin exploring this new setting.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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My only complaint is that Giovanni Chronicles I: the Last Supper could have been better scanned. It would be great to have it as Original Electronic File, but if that's not possible it at least desert a better scanning.
The Giovanni Chronicles series of adventures comprise (with Transylvania Chronicles) the best examples of what you can do with Vampire the Masquerade, specially if you're new to the game.
Those who only discovered Masquerade after the 20th Anniversary Edition could benefit from the Giovanni Chronicles, since it shows what is Vampire's mature setting and how its plots (and even metaplot) work. So, its a go for both old and new fans.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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This has to be the biggest rip off in WW history. What Onyx Publishing did is a travesty to all fans by shortchanging us like this.
It has only 80 pages, with about 20% of t being rehashed and useless, the backer names are in one garbled mess and there are typos everywhere.
The product looks rush and these guys to include asshole Achilli get a big thumbs down.
I wont be supporting these schmucks any more!
| Puntuación: | | [1 de 5 estrellas!] |
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Not as essential as other DA tittles, but if you can, buy it. It was poorly scanned, but we can always hope DrivethruRPG staff will update it's file, right?
Three Pillars not only summarizes what you need to know about the Dark Medieval's society, it shows how it relates to Cainites. It covers the nobles, the clergy and the 99%.
TP It's useful enough, specially because it explores the inner workings of each group of people. It make you (player of storyteller) improve the story's verisimilitude. Even better, it shows how Cainites embraced from different ranks of society differ from each other, and how they interact with each rank.
Even if you know enough about medieval society, you can always enjoy the last chapter. It details Italy and its Cainites. It would be great to have Italy by Night, but this chapter is the next better thing. Why Italy? Italy is a "anomaly of the feudal system", with rich commoners entering the ranks of the urban upper classes and nobles engaging in the mercantile business. The conflicting groups within each of the Italian cities make the political arena unpredictable.
| Puntuación: | | [4 de 5 estrellas!] |
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It would be nice to have more Vampire: the Dark Ages books with IbN's scanning. Is it really scanned? It looks like the original electronic file.
DrivethruRPG staff, if you're reading this review, make Iberia by Night the quality standard for you all Vampire: the Dark Ages products.
Now, Iberia by Night makes me think about all other great tittles that need better scanning. I'm talking about Dark Ages Europe, Transylvania by Night, House of Tremere, the Ashen books, the whole Libellus Sanguinis series, both the Capaddocian and Salubri clanbooks and others.
Why I'm talking about other titles? Well, because its hard to own only a single Dark Ages setting/story book. IbN details the Shadow Reconquista, something that affects Clan Lasombra as a whole, from Iberia to Outremer. Also, it affects most Christian and Muslim Cainites, even those cynical enough to use the wars of Reconquista for political gain. The Iberian cities (both Christian and Muslim) presented in IbN were, during the 12th and 13th centuries, the centers of dynamic societies that attracted people from both sides of the Mediterranean. I can say the same about local Cainites. The place has Cainite Knightly order, its own branch of the Cainite Heresy and many other examples of Iberia's local character. It brings something different from the archetypal middle ages. It's almost exotic, from the Anglo-Saxon/Northwestern European point of view. If you want to run a different thing, give it a try.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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Its not fair to release Cainite Heresy in such a poor scanned file. The text looks faded and blurred. It's just sad.
Anyway, you can buy it and wait for the updated file (I hope they update it).
5 stars book, but in terms of content only. It needs a better scanning.
Now to contents.
It not only covers the Heresy proper, but the heretic mindset and the phenomenon of heresy in the middle ages. It makes for a nice combo with Ashen Cults and Ashen Knight.
About the Cainite Heresy... if you want them as antagonists or characters (for mature roleplaying, of course), buy this book. What makes the Heresy such a adversary? It is insidious and omnipresent, and it's a enemy much more interesting than mere devil worshipers. How can you say the Heretics are wrong? It's a matter of faith. That's their greatest strength, since they lack nothing in faith.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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My advice is to buy it now and wait for the updated file. Yes, it is poorly scanned, with blurred text (like its gray, not black), but the contents are great.
Act I is called the "Trouble with Tremere", what else can I say (if you own House of Tremere you know I'm talking about)? It also involves one of the Clan Founders (yeah, shut up and take my money kind of stuff).
It's a standalone story, but it brings numerous hooks and plot devices, elements you can use for years of storytelling. If you also own Jerusalem by Night and Veil of Night (and maybe Dark Ages Europe) you can also run any kind of Middle-Eastern story from 1197 to 1230.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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Poorly scanned, a pitty. The text is blurred and faded. Some pages are not straight.
My advice? Buy it now and wait for the updated file.
When we talk about Masquerade (Revised) setting books, like Mexico City by Night or New York by Night, we know we're dealing with material that can always be transplanted, adapted and used according the the storyteller's need. I can say the same about Jerusalem by Night. Any Dark Ages chronicle can benefit from Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is Dark Age's spiritual core, and as a spiritual center, its seen as the world's geographical center. Any Christian or Muslim Cainite should think about Jerusalem from time to time, or even attempt peregrination once. The conflicts between crusaders and the local powers also make for great social and political chronicles (and martial chronicles, obviously
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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Great book, but poorly scanned (the text acquired a grayish quality).
Give it a try anyway, specially because Drivethru folks will (eventually) update the file.
There some books I consider essential to understand the Dark Ages line, and Bitter Crusade is one of the (the others being Constantinople by Night, Transylvania by Night and Under the Black Cross).
Bitter Crusade update the setting, explaining why (and how) everything changed after 1204, and why the War of Princes gained so much momentum. It covers three years of plotting and treachery, scenarios that can be used as a trilogy or as standalone stories. Also, it brings a healthy amount of information on Italy and Italian Cainites (if you want more, buy Three Pillars).
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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5 stars book, but in terms of content only. It needs a better scanning. There are good scanned files and bad scanned files, and Transylvania fits in the later.
The text looks faded and blurred. It's just sad. Anyway, you can buy it and wait for the updated file (I hope they update it).
Now to contents.
What can I say? Great book! It not only covers Transylvania, but also Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria and Kievan Rus.
The events in Transylvania dictate the pace of most of Dark Ages' metaplot, and even if you do not use the official storyline, its filled with great storyteller characters and plot seeds.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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5 stars book, but only in terms of content. I needs a better file, scanned or otherwise. There are good scanned files and bad scanned files, and unhappily House of Tremere could have been done better. Now that I have it, I'll have wait for the upgraded file.
The text looks faded and blurred, that's the worst about it.
Now to its contents.
Like most of Dark Ages line, House of Tremere is a great addition to any collection. Some can even argue a book on Ceoris it's not really useful, but think about it, HoT covers the internal dog eat dog politics of the Tremere, the movers and shakers that will affect the Clan as a whole. Also, Tremere are a new clan, with only a few members, and the events happening in Ceoris can (and will) affect any characters, wherever she is.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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