World of Darkness
Encyclopedia
"World of Darkness" is the name given to three related but distinct fictional universe
s created as settings
for supernatural horror
themed role-playing games. It is also the name of roleplaying games in the second and third settings. 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. The first two World of Darkness settings have been used for several horror fiction
-themed role-playing game
s that make use of White Wolf's Storyteller / Storytelling
System
, as well as Mind's Eye Theatre
, a live action roleplaying game based on the core games. The third, Monte Cook's World of Darkness, created by Monte Cook
based on the first two World of Darkness settings, includes only a single product.
" aspects of the world setting.
Many details of the setting, especially in regards to its history, are left vague or otherwise have multiple explanations.
Instead of reprinting a full rule-set 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 old rule 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. The old setting also made humans a minor threat to the supernatural races, but the new rules make it possible for humans to be powerful opponents to the things in the night. The World of Darkness core book was well received, and won the Origins
Gamers' Choice Award for 2004.
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 good 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
(lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride), while the virtues correspond to the four cardinal virtues
(prudence, justice, temperance, courage) and three theological virtues
(faith, hope, charity). Storytellers and Players are encouraged to invent new ones as seen fit.
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 hunter 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 hunters'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 (a trait that affects characters' rolls and 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.
The three core games are as follows:
for the Classic World of Darkness, each of these "fourth games" will have a limited series of approximately six books, including the core rulebook.http://www.shadownessence.com/forum/?showtopic=9252 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. Due to overwhelming positive response to Changeling, White Wolf has continued publishing material for it, although it is not recognized as a Core series. The third game, Hunter: The Vigil, was released in 2008, dealing with humans who decide to confront the supernatural. The fourth game, Geist: The Sin-Eaters, came out in 2009. The game concerns characters known as sin-eaters who, at the point of death, bonded with one of the strange entities known as geists. They returned to life, and are now able to journey into the Underworld. No additional games were released in 2010 or 2011, but at the 2011 Gen Con
, it was announced that a new Mummy game would be released in August 2012.http://www.flamesrising.com/2011-2012-ww-release-schedule/
* Uses the Storytelling Adventure System
; support for it subsequently ended in 2004 with the release of Time of Judgment
. The theme of the Classic World of Darkness is described as "Gothic-Punk
" by the developers.
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 vampire
s, werewolves
and wraiths. 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 human
s as pawns
in power struggles and murderous games often lasting centuries or millennia.
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 worldwide technocratic cabal, which intends to stamp out mysticism - and their supernatural rivals in the same course - by making reason and science paramount. 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 said to exist in our own world, some unique, can be found throughout the setting. Cabals of powerful mage
s, coteries of cunning vampire
s, and other, stranger powers vie within their own cultures and with each other for control of the world. 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. This dark reflection is seen everywhere: gargoyle
s and gothic construction influence architecture, while the leather
look and punk atmosphere crowd the streets. Everything is as gloomy in the WoD as the most pessimistic tabloid headlines present it.
The game uses both historical (Wild West, Dark Ages, and Victorian) as well as a modern setting. Any games played in modern settings use the world we know, but with an underlying supernaturals influencing it. While the game is fictional, players should be aware that the game takes place in the "real world" Real world consequences will follow if you break the human's laws, also humans will respond in the way they would normally. The game does not rewrite human society, rather it uses human society as the backdrop for the secret lives of the supernaturals.
ical published material. This was planned from the beginning, though there was originally little in the way of oversight between settings and the World of Darkness became riddled with discrepancies and contradictions in the cosmologies of each system. This changed with the introduction of the Revised Edition in 1999. 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) or the differing views each group has about the world.
The rules were increasingly streamlined and standardized, and the different systems began to look more similar with each new edition. The downside of this 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. The lack of complete guidelines for integrating the games may have been meant to deter novice storytellers from attempting to do so, as such an undertaking requires a firm knowledge of the rules of all the games being played at the same time.
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. 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. Atlas Games
would later acquire Ars Magica and remove these alterations however, and the connection between Ars Magica and the Classic World of Darkness is no longer considered canonical.
Early advertisement to the Exalted
game established it as the pre-historic age of the World of Darkness. 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'.
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.
was released, also called V20, and a series of further books for the cWoD were announced. Those books include conversion rules between some cWoD games and their nWoD counterparts, as well as material that was planed but not published before the End of the cWoD, as well as additional material for V20 and a 20th Anniversary book based on Werewolf: The Apocalypse
.
For V20, as well as the upcoming V20 Companion and the 20th Anniversary werewolf book White Wolf
used an Open Development approach, where reader could give feedback to the author.
(formerly called Jyhad) is also based on the original World of Darkness, staying very true to the setting. 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.
that was produced by Spelling Television
and broadcast by Fox
. The show was based in the Vampire: The Masquerade
universe, but was canceled after only eight episodes.
and White Wolf, Inc.
was announced at the annual Eve Online
fanfest in Reykjavík
, Iceland
, in November 2006. As part of the deal, it was announced that White Wolf would be adapting 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. According to news at the time, work had already begun on the WoD MMORPG and full time production was to commence within the year and launch in 4–5 years.
, full production of the WoD MMORPG was scheduled start March 2009 after the Eve Online expansion was finished according to CCP. Official confirmation that the game is currently in development surfaced in Aug 2009 on the official CCP web site.
In October 2011, CCP announced that they would be significantly reducing the staff for the WoD RPG, choosing instead to focus on the existing EVE Online Universe. There are no details yet about expected or revised launch dates.
The game will be based on Vampire: The Masquerade and "will have a focus on player politics and social interaction." It is scheduled to launch in 2012 at the earliest.
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
s created as settings
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
for supernatural horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
themed role-playing games. It is also the name of roleplaying games in the second and third settings. The first was conceived by Mark Rein-Hagen, while the second was designed by several people at White Wolf Gaming Studio
White Wolf
White Wolf is a publisher of role-playing games, notably the World of Darkness.White Wolf may also refer to:*White Wolf , a location in Yosemite National Park*White Wolf , a Canadian heavy metal band...
, which Rein-Hagen helped to found. The first two World of Darkness settings have been used for several horror fiction
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
-themed role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s that make use of White Wolf's Storyteller / Storytelling
Storytelling System
The Storytelling System, formerly Storyteller System, is a role-playing game system created by White Wolf, Inc. in 1991 that premiered in Vampire: The Masquerade, a part of the World of Darkness series.-Storyteller System:...
System
Role-playing game system
A role-playing game system is a set of game mechanics used in a role-playing game to determine the outcome of a character's in-game actions...
, as well as Mind's Eye Theatre
Mind's Eye Theatre
Mind's Eye Theatre is a live action role-playing game based on the White Wolf World of Darkness universe, sharing a theme and setting originally with the table-top role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade and now with its revision, Vampire: The Requiem...
, a live action roleplaying game based on the core games. The third, Monte Cook's World of Darkness, created by Monte Cook
Monte Cook
Monte Cook is a professional table-top role-playing game designer and writer. He is married to Sue Weinlein Cook.-Roleplaying:Cook has been a professional game designer since 1988, working primarily on role-playing games. Much of his early work was for Iron Crown Enterprises as an editor and writer...
based on the first two World of Darkness settings, includes only a single product.
Background
In order to avoid confusing the two product lines, many players refer to the most recent version of the World of Darkness line, released on August 21, 2004, as "New World of Darkness" or "nWoD", and the previous version as "Classic World of Darkness" or "cWoD". 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. The apocalyptic theme present in cWoD has been removed from nWoD, as have the "Gothic-PunkGothic-Punk
"Gothic-Punk" is a term that may refer to:*The synthesis of Goth subculture and Punk subculture.*The mood and setting of the Old World of Darkness, a fictional universe designed by White Wolf Gaming Studio. The Gothic aspect refers to the ambience of the World of Darkness while the Punk aspect...
" aspects of the world setting.
Many details of the setting, especially in regards to its history, are left vague or otherwise have multiple explanations.
Instead of reprinting a full rule-set 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 old rule 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. The old setting also made humans a minor threat to the supernatural races, but the new rules make it possible for humans to be powerful opponents to the things in the night. The World of Darkness core book was well received, and won the Origins
Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
Gamers' Choice Award for 2004.
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 good 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
Deadly Sins
Deadly Sins is the seventh album by heavy metal band Seven Witches.-Track listing:All tracks by Jack Frost & Alan Tecchio except were noted# "Deadly Sins" – 3:55# "Science" – 4:16# "Commence" – 4:18# "Worship" – 3:47# "Knowledge" – 3:24...
(lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride), while the virtues correspond to the four cardinal virtues
Cardinal virtues
In Christian traditionthere are 4 cardinal virtues:*Prudence - able to judge between actions with regard to appropriate actions at a given time*Justice - proper moderation between self-interest and the rights and needs of others...
(prudence, justice, temperance, courage) and three theological virtues
Theological virtues
Theological virtues - in theology and Christian philosophy, are the character qualities associated with salvation, resulting from the grace of God, which enlightens human mind.- In the Bible :The three theological virtues are:...
(faith, hope, charity). Storytellers and Players are encouraged to invent new ones as seen fit.
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 hunter 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 hunters'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 (a trait that affects characters' rolls and 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.
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. The playable supernatural types generally follow similar rules in terms of game mechanics, including:- 5-6 inherent "sub-races," to which every character belongs based on the circumstances of his/her transformation into a supernatural being (5 Vampire Clans; 5 Werewolf Tribes; 5 Mage Paths; 5 Promethean Lineages; 6 Changeling Seemings; 5 Sin-Eater Thresholds).
- 4-8 chosen "factions," to which a character may belong based on his/her beliefs; a character does not usually need to belong to any of these groups (5 Vampire Covenants; 5 Werewolf Auspices; 5 Mage Orders; 5 Promethean Refinements; 4 Changeling Courts; 8 Sin-Eater Archetypes).
- Power level trait (often generically referred to as "Supernatural Advantage"), rated 1-10 (Vampires: Blood Potency; Werewolves: Primal Urge; Mages: Gnosis; Prometheans: Azoth; Changelings: Wyrd; Sin-Eaters: Psyche). High levels of this trait often limit the character's ability to interact with the world.
- Energy trait, consisting of temporary "points" used to fuel various powers with capacity and spending ability based on the "power level trait" (Vampire: Vitae; Werewolf: Essence; Mage: Mana; Promethean: Pyros; Changeling: Glamour; Sin-Eaters: Plasm).
- Learned powers arranged in traits rated 1-5, capable of rising higher when "power level trait" exceeds 5 (Vampire: Disciplines; Werewolf: Gifts; Mage: Arcana; Promethean: Transmutations; Changeling: Contracts; Sin-Eaters: Manifestations; Hunters (if part of a conspiracy) have access to similar powers/technologies known as endowments).
The three core games are as follows:
- Vampire: The RequiemVampire: The RequiemVampire: The Requiem is a role-playing game published by White Wolf, set in the World of Darkness, and the successor to the Vampire: The Masquerade line. It was first released in August 2004, together with a new core rule book for the World of Darkness...
(released August 21, 2004 alongside The World of Darkness core book) - Werewolf: The ForsakenWerewolf: The ForsakenWerewolf: The Forsaken is a role-playing game set in the new World of Darkness created by White Wolf Game Studio. It is the successor to Werewolf: The Apocalypse, the "game of savage horror" from the old World of Darkness line of games, but has moved to a more personal sort of horror, reflecting...
(released March 14, 2005) - Mage: The AwakeningMage: The AwakeningMage: The Awakening is a role-playing game developed by White Wolf, Inc. and based in their World of Darkness setting. The characters portrayed in this game are individuals able to bend or break the commonly-accepted rules of reality to perform subtle or outlandish acts of magic. These characters...
(released August 29, 2005)
Limited series setting
In addition to the main three games, there are also additional limited series games. Like OrpheusOrpheus (role-playing game)
Orpheus is a role playing game by White Wolf Game Studio, set in a microcosm of the World of Darkness. Unlike the other World of Darkness game lines, Orpheus has a specifically planned metaplot and a set number of books that were published. Although it uses the same system as White Wolf's other...
for the Classic World of Darkness, each of these "fourth games" will have a limited series of approximately six books, including the core rulebook.http://www.shadownessence.com/forum/?showtopic=9252 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. Due to overwhelming positive response to Changeling, White Wolf has continued publishing material for it, although it is not recognized as a Core series. The third game, Hunter: The Vigil, was released in 2008, dealing with humans who decide to confront the supernatural. The fourth game, Geist: The Sin-Eaters, came out in 2009. The game concerns characters known as sin-eaters who, at the point of death, bonded with one of the strange entities known as geists. They returned to life, and are now able to journey into the Underworld. No additional games were released in 2010 or 2011, but at the 2011 Gen Con
Gen Con
Gen Con is one of the largest and most prominent annual gaming conventions in North America. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card-style games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, board games, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, non-collectible...
, it was announced that a new Mummy game would be released in August 2012.http://www.flamesrising.com/2011-2012-ww-release-schedule/
- Promethean: The CreatedPromethean: The CreatedPromethean: The Created is a role-playing game published by White Wolf, set in the new World of Darkness.The game is inspired by the classic tales of Frankenstein's monster, the Golem and other such simulacra. The characters are individuals created by first dismembering and reassembling human...
(released August 11, 2006) - Changeling: The LostChangeling: The LostChangeling: The Lost is the fifth supplementary role-playing game line published by White Wolf, Inc. It uses the Storytelling System for rules and is set in the new World of Darkness setting...
(released August 16, 2007) - Hunter: The VigilHunter: The VigilHunter: 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. It is the sixth game line to be part of the World of Darkness and the spiritual successor of Hunter: The Reckoning from the...
(released August 15, 2008) - Geist: The Sin-EatersGeist: The Sin-EatersGeist: The Sin-Eaters is a tabletop roleplaying game and setting for White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness line released in August 2009. "Geist", in this context, refers to a spirit to whom a human who has died, binds, resulting in a Sin-Eater....
(released August 19, 2009)
Publication history
- World of Darkness (August 2004)
- Ghost Stories (November 2004)
- Antagonists (December 2004)
- Mysterious Places (June 2005)
- Chicago (December 2005)
- Armory (January 2006)
- Second Sight (April 2006)
- Shadows of the UK (June 2006)
- Skinchangers (July 2006)
- Tales from the 13th Precinct (July 2006)
- Shadows of Mexico (October 2006)
- Urban Legends (April 2007)
- Book of Spirits (May 2007)
- Monte Cook's World of Darkness (August 2007)
- Asylum (August 2007)
- Reliquary (September 2007)
- Changing Breeds (October 2007)
- Chicago Workings* (PDF only) (January, 2008), inspired by Chicago
- Midnight Roads (February 2008)
- The Harvesters* (PDF only) (February 2008) inspired by Midnight Roads
- Innocents (April 2008)
- The New Kid* (PDF only) (May, 2008) inspired by Innocents
- Dogs of War (June 2008)
- Ruins of Ur* (PDF only) (July 2008) inspired by Dogs of War
- Slasher (2008) — initially for Hunter: The Vigil, later made into a general nWoD book.
- Inferno (January 2009)
- Armory Reloaded (April 2009)
- Immortals (May 2009)
- Mirrors (July 2010)
Background
The older World of Darkness line was created in 1991 with the release of Vampire: The MasqueradeVampire: The Masquerade
Vampire: The Masquerade is a role-playing game. Created by Mark Rein·Hagen, it was the first of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness role-playing games, based on the Storyteller System and centered around vampires in a modern gothic-punk world....
; support for it subsequently ended in 2004 with the release of Time of Judgment
Time of Judgment
Time of Judgment is a series of roleplaying game scenario books for the World of Darkness settings of White Wolf Game Studio. These scenarios are presented as the semi-canonical endings of the original World of Darkness, as preparation for the new version of the setting...
. The theme of the Classic World of Darkness is described as "Gothic-Punk
Gothic-Punk
"Gothic-Punk" is a term that may refer to:*The synthesis of Goth subculture and Punk subculture.*The mood and setting of the Old World of Darkness, a fictional universe designed by White Wolf Gaming Studio. The Gothic aspect refers to the ambience of the World of Darkness while the Punk aspect...
" by the developers.
The World of Darkness resembles the contemporary world, but darker, more devious, more conspiratorial. Humanity is losing hope
Hope
Hope is the emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. It is the "feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best" or the act of "look[ing] forward to with desire and reasonable confidence" or...
as it is secretly preyed upon and controlled by supernatural creatures such as vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s, werewolves
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
and wraiths. 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
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
, develop various factions and allegiances, and use human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
s as pawns
Pawn (chess)
The pawn is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess, historically representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins the game with eight pawns, one on each square of the rank immediately in front of the other pieces...
in power struggles and murderous games often lasting centuries or millennia.
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 worldwide technocratic cabal, which intends to stamp out mysticism - and their supernatural rivals in the same course - by making reason and science paramount. 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
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
, some mirroring those said to exist in our own world, some unique, can be found throughout the setting. Cabals of powerful mage
Wizard (character class)
The Wizard is a type of magical character class in certain role-playing games and computer role-playing games. Wizards are considered to be spellcasters who wield powerful spells, but are often physically weak as a trade-off. Wizards are commonly confused with similar offensive spellcasting...
s, coteries of cunning vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s, and other, stranger powers vie within their own cultures and with each other for control of the world. 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
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
is everywhere. This dark reflection is seen everywhere: gargoyle
Gargoyle
In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite, with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between...
s and gothic construction influence architecture, while the leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
look and punk atmosphere crowd the streets. Everything is as gloomy in the WoD as the most pessimistic tabloid headlines present it.
The game uses both historical (Wild West, Dark Ages, and Victorian) as well as a modern setting. Any games played in modern settings use the world we know, but with an underlying supernaturals influencing it. While the game is fictional, players should be aware that the game takes place in the "real world" Real world consequences will follow if you break the human's laws, also humans will respond in the way they would normally. The game does not rewrite human society, rather it uses human society as the backdrop for the secret lives of the supernaturals.
History and playability
At first there was little connection between the different settings, and as time passed, more and more obvious connections were made in the canonCanon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
ical published material. This was planned from the beginning, though there was originally little in the way of oversight between settings and the World of Darkness became riddled with discrepancies and contradictions in the cosmologies of each system. This changed with the introduction of the Revised Edition in 1999. 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) or the differing views each group has about the world.
The rules were increasingly streamlined and standardized, and the different systems began to look more similar with each new edition. The downside of this 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
Wraith: The Oblivion
Wraith: The Oblivion is a role-playing game set in the afterlife of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness. In the game, players take on characters who are recently dead and are now ghosts...
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
Gamemaster
A gamemaster is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for questions regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer game...
) to interpret the rules and try to combine the systems that were used. The lack of complete guidelines for integrating the games may have been meant to deter novice storytellers from attempting to do so, as such an undertaking requires a firm knowledge of the rules of all the games being played at the same time.
Publication (settings)
White Wolf developed the following game sets in the Classic World of Darkness between 1991 and 2003:- Vampire: The MasqueradeVampire: The MasqueradeVampire: The Masquerade is a role-playing game. Created by Mark Rein·Hagen, it was the first of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness role-playing games, based on the Storyteller System and centered around vampires in a modern gothic-punk world....
- Werewolf: The ApocalypseWerewolf: The ApocalypseWerewolf: The Apocalypse is a role-playing game and series of novels from the now defunct World of Darkness line by White Wolf. In the game, players take the role of werewolves known as Garou , as well as other lycanthropes: warriors who are locked in a two-front war against both the spiritual...
- Mage: The AscensionMage: The AscensionMage: The Ascension is a role-playing game based in the World of Darkness, and was published by White Wolf Game Studio. The characters portrayed in the game are referred to as mages, and are capable of feats of magic...
- Wraith: The OblivionWraith: The OblivionWraith: The Oblivion is a role-playing game set in the afterlife of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness. In the game, players take on characters who are recently dead and are now ghosts...
- Changeling: The DreamingChangeling: The DreamingChangeling: The Dreaming was part of White Wolf Game Studio's original "World of Darkness" role playing game line. Player characters are changelings, fae souls reborn into human bodies, a practice begun by the fae to protect themselves as magic vanished from the world...
- Kindred of the EastKindred of the EastKindred of the East is a role-playing supplement by White Wolf Game Studio to their Vampire: The Masquerade line. The vanguard of White Wolf's "Year of the Lotus" theme , this rich sourcebook is a stand-alone setting, requiring only secondary rules to be fully playable...
- Hunter: The ReckoningHunter: The ReckoningHunter: The Reckoning is a role-playing game based in White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness. Compared to the other game in the franchise, Hunter does not explore the secret society of supernatural creatures founded over centuries, preferring to throw the player in a world of danger and mysteries...
- Mummy: The ResurrectionMummy: The ResurrectionMummy: The Resurrection is a role-playing game released by White Wolf Game Studios, where the players assume the role of resurrected mummies living in the modern world.-Setting:...
- Demon: The FallenDemon: The FallenDemon: The Fallen is a role-playing game and a fictional setting from the World of Darkness line by White Wolf Game Studio. The player characters in the game are fallen angels, who were cast out of paradise after a thousand year war with God.- History :...
- OrpheusOrpheus (role-playing game)Orpheus is a role playing game by White Wolf Game Studio, set in a microcosm of the World of Darkness. Unlike the other World of Darkness game lines, Orpheus has a specifically planned metaplot and a set number of books that were published. Although it uses the same system as White Wolf's other...
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. In parallel to these settings, White Wolf has developed historical settings for their major product lines. They include:
- Vampire: The Victorian Age (set in the late 19th century)
- Werewolf: The Wild WestWerewolf: The Wild WestWerewolf: The Wild West is a role-playing game from the World of Darkness line by White Wolf Game Studio. The setting is similar to Werewolf: The Apocalypse but is taking place in the Wild West in the 19th century...
(set in the 19th century) - Mage: The Sorcerer's CrusadeMage: The Sorcerer's CrusadeMage: The Sorcerers Crusade is a role playing game that takes place in the World of Darkness during the Renaissance. It is a prequel of Mage: The Ascension and depicts the beginning of the struggle between "traditionalists" and "technocrats"....
(set in the late 15th century) - Wraith: The Great War (set during and immediately after World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
) - Vampire: The Dark AgesVampire: The Dark AgesVampire: The Dark Ages is a role-playing game originally published by White Wolf Game Studio in 1996. Later, in 2002, the gameline was replaced by Dark Ages: Vampire...
(12th century version that was later reworked into the Dark Ages product line) - Dark Ages (13th century Middle Ages) versions of the settings:
- Dark Ages: Vampire
- Dark Ages: Werewolf
- Dark Ages: Mage
- Dark Ages: FaeDark Ages: FaeDark Ages: Fae 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 Changeling: The Dreaming...
(Changeling) - Dark Ages: Inquisitor (roughly equivalent to Hunter)
Additionally, while owning the rights to Ars Magica
Ars Magica
Ars Magica is a role-playing game set in Mythic Europe, a quasi-historical version of Europe around AD 1200 with added fantastical elements. The game revolves around wizards and their allies...
, White Wolf made additions to that game's setting to bring it into the World of Darkness timeline. Atlas Games
Atlas Games
Atlas Games is a company which publishes role-playing games, board games and card games. Its current president is John Nephew.Games published include:...
would later acquire Ars Magica and remove these alterations however, and the connection between Ars Magica and the Classic World of Darkness is no longer considered canonical.
Early advertisement to the Exalted
Exalted
Exalted is a role-playing game published by White Wolf Publishing. The game is classified as high fantasy, but may be more accurately described as "mythic fantasy", as the developer specifically avoided drawing on J. R. R. Tolkien, but rather turned to a mixture of world mythologies for inspiration...
game established it as the pre-historic age of the World of Darkness. 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 Classic 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 cWoD (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 Judgement (covering of White Wolf's less-established product lines: Demon: The Fallen, Changeling: The Dreaming, Kindred of the East, Mummy: the 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.
Onyx Path
In 2011 a 20th Anniversary Edition of Vampire: The MasqueradeVampire: The Masquerade
Vampire: The Masquerade is a role-playing game. Created by Mark Rein·Hagen, it was the first of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness role-playing games, based on the Storyteller System and centered around vampires in a modern gothic-punk world....
was released, also called V20, and a series of further books for the cWoD were announced. Those books include conversion rules between some cWoD games and their nWoD counterparts, as well as material that was planed but not published before the End of the cWoD, as well as additional material for V20 and a 20th Anniversary book based on Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Werewolf: The Apocalypse is a role-playing game and series of novels from the now defunct World of Darkness line by White Wolf. In the game, players take the role of werewolves known as Garou , as well as other lycanthropes: warriors who are locked in a two-front war against both the spiritual...
.
For V20, as well as the upcoming V20 Companion and the 20th Anniversary werewolf book White Wolf
White Wolf
White Wolf is a publisher of role-playing games, notably the World of Darkness.White Wolf may also refer to:*White Wolf , a location in Yosemite National Park*White Wolf , a Canadian heavy metal band...
used an Open Development approach, where reader could give feedback to the author.
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle (card game)
One of the earliest collectible card games (CCG) Vampire: The Eternal StruggleVampire: The Eternal Struggle
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, published as Jyhad in the first or "Limited" edition and often abbreviated as VTES, V:TES or V:tES, is a multiplayer collectible card game set in the World of Darkness. It is published by White Wolf, Inc....
(formerly called Jyhad) is also based on the original World of Darkness, staying very true to the setting. 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.
TV Series
In 1996 there was also a short lived TV series set in the WoD called Kindred: The EmbracedKindred: The Embraced
Kindred: The Embraced is an American television series produced by John Leekley Productions and Spelling Television. Loosely based on the role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, the series premiered on Fox on April 2, 1996, and ran for eight episodes before it was canceled on May 9, 1996. The...
that was produced by Spelling Television
Spelling Television
Spelling Television Inc. was a television production company that produced popular shows such as Charmed, Beverly Hills, 90210, 7th Heaven, Dynasty and Melrose Place. The company was founded by television producer Aaron Spelling in 1969...
and broadcast by Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
. The show was based in the Vampire: The Masquerade
Vampire: The Masquerade
Vampire: The Masquerade is a role-playing game. Created by Mark Rein·Hagen, it was the first of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness role-playing games, based on the Storyteller System and centered around vampires in a modern gothic-punk world....
universe, but was canceled after only eight episodes.
WoD MMORPG
A merger between Crowd Control ProductionsCCP hf
CCP hf or CCP Games is an Icelandic video game developer and publisher, majority owned by the company's staff and founders, Novator Partners and the American investment fund General Catalyst Partners...
and White Wolf, Inc.
White Wolf, Inc.
White Wolf Publishing is an American gaming and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant and White Wolf Magazine, and was initially led by Mark Rein·Hagen of the former and Steve and Stewart Wieck of the latter. Since White Wolf Publishing, Inc. merged with...
was announced at the annual Eve Online
EVE Online
Eve Online is a video game by CCP Games. It is a player-driven, persistent-world MMORPG set in a science fiction space setting. Characters pilot customizable ships through a galaxy of over 7,500 star systems. Most star systems are connected to one or more other star systems by means of stargates...
fanfest in Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, in November 2006. As part of the deal, it was announced that White Wolf would be adapting the Eve Online intellectual property into a RPG, and CCP
CCP hf
CCP hf or CCP Games is an Icelandic video game developer and publisher, majority owned by the company's staff and founders, Novator Partners and the American investment fund General Catalyst Partners...
explicitly stated "There will be a World of Darkness Online", referring to a MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
version of the game. According to news at the time, work had already begun on the WoD MMORPG and full time production was to commence within the year and launch in 4–5 years.
, full production of the WoD MMORPG was scheduled start March 2009 after the Eve Online expansion was finished according to CCP. Official confirmation that the game is currently in development surfaced in Aug 2009 on the official CCP web site.
In October 2011, CCP announced that they would be significantly reducing the staff for the WoD RPG, choosing instead to focus on the existing EVE Online Universe. There are no details yet about expected or revised launch dates.
The game will be based on Vampire: The Masquerade and "will have a focus on player politics and social interaction." It is scheduled to launch in 2012 at the earliest.