|
The World of Darkness review...
"... You hear the faint clack of something hard hitting the concrete behind you. The sound is rhythmical, as if something is following you, its claws scraping with every step. You turn, but see nothing. Only the empty street, your own shadow cast by the light of the full moon. You suddenly feel hot breath on your neck, sending a shiver down your spine..." (p. 188, Chapter 8: Storytelling.)
The world you exist in is a lie--or so Morpheus told Mr. Anderson, in hopes of taking the red pill. Instead of cyberrealities, though, the World of Darkness rulebook posits our modern world under a supernatural veil--"shadows within shadows." A world where legends mix with the modern urban myths and blend into a veneer of stylish horror.
In this horror-filled world, mankind struggles to existence work--never knowing fully what lurks inside the shadows, never thinking much beyond the mundane coincidences that link their lives with the supernatural. Until something or someone pushes them outside their circle of comfort and into the realm where shadows hold promise of possibilities within occult reality.
The World of Darkness storytelling rulebook takes the modern era mundanes (everyman figures) and bodily throws them into the slick world of horror--where shadows come equiped with fangs and claws. Used as the core set of rules for Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken and Mage: The Awakening, the World of Darkness book changes the old White Wolf (Storyteller System) standard of repeating rules into a cohesive unit from which gamers can start their chronicles from.
Setting...
"... [The] horrors and nightmares of legend aren't just scary bedtime stories--they're real, even though most people don't realise it. The truth, or at least some of the truth about this world's hidden terrors, is revealed in other books. But you don't need all the answers to begin exploring..." (p. 18, "Midnight Stories".)
Though peppered with vignettes that hint at a broader world, the World of Darkness setting is never defined fully. For a modern horror game, the setting is both vague and familar--those shadowy hints left for other books to flesh out. For a horror game, that feels like the right way to do it...
The World of Darkness uses the modern world as a backdrop for the setting's stories. The book hints at the shadowy fringes that our (real) world has as having real instead of imagined presence. Bigfoot, moth man, werewolves and vampires have standings in this stylish world, where shadows have been wrapped around a mundane core.
While some settings are hampered by the lack of detail, modern settings get away with this based on the comfort level the writers presume their audience has with the world around them. The World of Darkness isn't given fine detailing, but broad strokes appeal to gamers seeking a refuge from the endless fantasy settings that burgeon store shelves.
Readers of older White Wolf storyteller volumes will note the lack of the definition "Gothic-Punk" to describe the world--a growth in the setting's pure character, showing how it has moved beyond needing a hyphenated moniker. By leaving the core book to showcase the large number of legends and hints, other books using the setting can focus their viewpoints to include or preclude types of supernatural entries into ongoing tales. Unfortunately or not, pending on your personal take, the multiple use of the setting rules will allow players the thought of crossover gaming within the bounds of varying game lines (such as the classic vampires vs. werewolves).
Storytelling...
“... Characters go from ordinary, everyday people struggling with hardship and oppression to people who get a glimmer that something more is at work out there. All the turmoil of the world that was taken for granted before now gains some context. Hints and allusions suggest that a previously unknown force may be at the root of it all...” (p. 196, “Preliminary Stories”.)
The World of Darkness is a roleplaying game that takes its cues from an old tradition--storytelling. Where the story takes precedent over the rules. A troupe (group) of players get together to tell horror stories. At times personal, at other times weird tales, these stories make up the enjoyment of the game.
The storytelling here is about how characters develop as their world unravels before them, coming face-to-face with the boogeymen that haunt their nightmares. The action and drama that unfolds from these story ideas allow glimses of a darker world to come--like those presented in the other game lines.
The World of Darkness has several pages dedicated on storytelling hints, methods and meanings. Taking a look into what makes solid tale weaving, the storyteller (the system's gamemaster) can take their stories (games) to new levels of depth and presentation. Using foreshadowing, par exemple, to drop hints that the old man down the street is a vampire by use of imagery (the old rusted gate, bats flying around, never seeing him during the day) or dream sequences and future flashes (where the tale is advanced a week and shows a possible future with the characters beheading one of their own to prevent a vampiric return from death).
Storytelling in the World of Darkness is about having fun being scared or weirded out as new viewpoints and paradigm shifts slide into the world that was once comfortable. Taking away from the point-and-click crowd the ability or goal of just accumulating items to progress, storytelling is about what can be done to develop a character's character rather than a character's abilities.
System...
“... What would a Storytelling game be with conflict? Storytelling is predicated on dramtic and entertaining events. The essence of drama is conflict, whether it's a struggle with one's own flaws or an outward competition between characters...” (p. 150, Chapter 7: Combat.)
The Storytelling System core mechanic is based on the dice pool. A number of ten-sided dice are combined and subtracted then rolled to get a success score. This "pool" of dice is usually based on a character's Attributes and Skills, added dice for bonuses and subtracted dice for penalties. Each die that rolls an eight or higher (8, 9, or 10) is counted as a success, with one success needed to accomplish the task at hand. Characters with more successes have better results with their tasks.
As mentioned, characters in the World of Darkness are made up of Attributes and Skills along with Advantages and Merits. Attributes are broken into three categories (Mental, Physical and Social) which are further detailed by subcategories of Power, Finesse and Resistance, making each character have nine varying descriptors (Intelligence, Wits, Resolve, Strength, Dexterity, Stamina, Presence, Manipulation and Composure). Each dot (the way the system tracks ratings) gives the player one die for the dice pool.
Skills in the Storytelling System fall into three large categories same as Attributes, though they are further broken down into a number of broad-covering abilities representing the character's education and training. A selection of focused skills, called Skill Specialities, grant bonus dice for a specfic area of expertise. Example: Larceny is a broad-based Skill covering the gamut of lockpicking to hiding objects and "everything in between." Having the Lockpicking speciality would grant a character a bonus die to their Dexterity + Larceny roll.
Skills are typically used with Attributes to form a character's dice pool (as in the above example) and range anywhere from the useful (Survival) to the esoteric (Occult). While presumed to be an uncomplete list (other Storytelling System books may offer more Skills and Speciality descriptions) the Skill lists cover examples of use and dice outcomes. Dramatic failures, failures, successes and exceptional successes have relavent entries in the Skill descriptions, along with notes whether the usage has a type of action associated with it (e.g.: extended or contested).
Advantages cover the bulk of a character's interactive information in a game. Covering a character's Defense, Health, Initiative, Morality, Size, Speed, Willpower, and Virtues and Vices. Most Advantages are based on an aspect of a character's Attributes, except Morality and the Virtue/Vice system.
Defense (taken from the lowest of a character's Dexterity or Wits) is subtracted from attacks. Health (Stamina plus Size) ennumerates a character's "hit points." Initiative (Dexterity rating plus Composure) is a number added to the initiative roll starting combat (which is to say, one ten-sided die plus the Initiative value of the character). A character's Speed (Strength added to Dexterity plus the species rating [five for adult humans]) is the number of yards a character may move during a turn. Willpower (Resolve plus Composure) represents focused determination and resilence, which may be "spent" to reroll certain results or grant bonus dice for special effort.
Morality starts at seven, and is gained or lost by following a behavior list or path. Each Morality value has a "sin" associated with it and once a character has commited the listed sin or worse, a Morality roll is required. If the roll succeeds, the Morality rating remains intact. If this roll fails, the character loses a point. Using the new Morality score as a dice pool, the player rolls to see if a derangement is garnered. Successful rolls keep the character from gaining derangements. (Derangements are psychological problems that plague the character recieving them, They can be healed by regaining Morality dots.)
Every character in the World of Darkness has honorable and vicious sides to them, reflected in a character's virtue and vice. Based on the Seven Deadly Sins and Seven Heavenly Virtues, characters select one from each list as their defining traits. A mostly roleplaying tool, virtues and vices have in game uses in regaining spent Willpower. The faster, easier use of Vice grants one spent Willpower point, whereas the more nobler, enduring Virtue replaces all spent Willpower (reflecting notable roleplaying in a scene for Vices and a chapter for Virtues).
Every character has some access to Merits in the World of Darkness. Merits are "special capabilities or knacks" that a character has. Some are listed as only available during character creation, while others can be developed over time. Example: Danger Sense (••) grants a + 2 modifier on reflexive Wits + Composure rolls to detect an impending ambush.
Combat...
"... Not all fights between combatants involve knives and clubs. In fact, bringing a weapon to a fight implicitly states that the struggle is serious. One or more people will not only be hurt, but possibly killed..." (p. 157, "Unarmed Combat".)
Combat works in the World of Darkness much like any other Attribute plus Skill roll, that is Strength is added to Brawl or Weaponry (for close-quarters conflicts) or Dexterity is added to Athletics or Firearms (for ranged attacks). Except against firearms, a character's Defense acts as penalty dice against their opponent's roll (that is, subtracted from the dice pool).
Each success in the attack roll counts for one point of damage. The Health rating on the character sheet has open boxes beneath them and these boxes are used to track Health's reduction. Bashing damage (tracked as a "/" on the sheet) is not as debilitating as Leathal damage (marked as an "X") which in turn doesn't equal in pain to Aggravated (an "*"). Supernatural attacks appeat to do mostly Aggravated, guns and knives deal Leathal, and simple clubs and fists do Bashing.
Damage can be "upgraded" to a more grevious wound if more points keep getting racked up. Thus it is possible to be beaten to death by clubbing as the wounds go from Bashing to Leathal to Aggravated as the Health boxes get filled up. Notes on Health boxes, the last three boxes of a character's Health give penalties if any damage is tracked to them. These penalties start at minus one and go up to minus three dice on almost evey action the character takes, including a straight Stamina roll to stay up after taking so much damage.
While combat is the World of Darkness is easier in some respects than earlier Storyteller System roll-a-thons, it still can get numbing with various "battlefield" conditions applied by the Storyteller. (Luckily a few "suggestions" are found in the combat section to help the newer Storytellers out.)
Ghosts...
“... Unable to continue on into the spirit realms, they haunt their old homes or workplaces, growing ever more lonely and frustrated with each passing decade. Still others cling to the physical realm through sheer force of will, unable to leave behind unfinished business or an unsolved crime...” (p. 206, "Ghosts".)
Occupying less than ten pages in the antagonist part of the book, the ghost section details the first type of supernatural creature that characters may encounter. The basic rules governing these spirits are based on the core abilities of regular characters (power, finesse and resistance) adding numina (ghostly powers) to their repertoire. Ghosts do not have physical bodies, relying instead on their Corpus rating than a Health trait.
Interacting with ghosts can make for interesting storylines and tales which explore the fringes of acceptable beliefs. Ghosts hint more at what awaits characters should they pass on--a frightening guide of what to avoid.
The ghosts presented here do not get the lavish treatment that those phantoms had in the old Wraith: The Oblivion or Orpheus game lines. Which is fine, letting everyday people encounter a spectral minion is good for an unfolding horror story--playing out a ghost would have to be seriously reworked from the rules to be playable. (Ghosts in the World of Darkness are tied within ten yards of the object, person or place keeping them interacting with the world--not fun to play out a ghostly template that's so limited, n'est pas?)
Concluding thoughts...
"... [A] character should not actually witness the true creatures of the night. He should not get to face the vampire or shapechanger that influences a friend. He should not get to look upon or understand the beings that call him into their fold..." (p.199, "Resolution?".)
"Don't make me think" is the motto that webdesigners have been spouting for years, and with every old Storyteller System release, we thought "Why did White Wolf do that?" Meaning, why did they not make a core rule book earlier? Hard to say, really. But now, we don't have to think about which rule set that we're operating under. The World of Darkness give us a nice tidy package to work from. An excellent improvement from the earlier releases.
Overall, the new ruleset is enjoyable, with minor quibbles for gameplay sake (umm, Autofire of twenty rounds in three seconds, sure okay). Fun nevertheless, the World of Darkness breathes new life into a stale setting, giving energy to where it's deserved: the Storyteller's imagination.
|
