#World of darkness caine full

Its denizens practice Byzantine customs and traditions mostly alien to you, but much of their behavior resembles what most people would call vampirism. Imagine you take a wrong turn down a dark alley one night and stumble upon an entire parallel society. All of the shared settingвЂ™s games boast deep and extensive world building, but in the deep lore department, Vampire takes the crown. Unlike D&D, which traded on its classic rules set and largely left the official back story to licensed tie-in books, the World of DarknessвЂ™ main selling point is its rich, layered, and intentionally paradoxical lore. His upbringing as the son of a Lutheran pastor shows in the surprising competence of the final product. VampireвЂ™s lead designer Mark Rein-Hagen has publicly stated that he wanted to make a game about religion. What sets Vampire worlds apart from every other major game I can think of is that it doesnвЂ™t shy away from religionвЂ“and more amazingly in this age of apostasy, that religion is unambiguously biblical and Abrahamic. LetвЂ™s focus on WoDвЂ™s flagship game, Vampire: The Masquerade. And in the right StorytellerвЂ™s hands, that feature works to the gamesвЂ™ credit. WoD brings unapologetic storygaming to the table. ItвЂ™s difficult to think of a major competing game thatвЂ™s as diametrically opposite D&DвЂ™s numbers-crunching, combat-focused experience. In fact, storytelling is the centerpiece of the World of DarknessвЂ™ rules system. While BloodlinesвЂ™ plot had serious structural flaws, the game writersвЂ™ failings donвЂ™t reflect on the TTRPG subject matter. ItвЂ™s relevant today because in it I mentioned Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, probably White WolfвЂ™s most successful foray into video gaming.

Long-time readers will recall a post from a few years back that started a running theme on this blog.

#World of darkness caine full

One infamous system I was introduced to early but didnвЂ™t gain a full appreciation of till now is the World of Darkness shared universe of games from White Wolf publishing. TSR remained on top, but they faced a wave of competition from a variety of idiosyncratic games. In those days, everybody with an idea, a graphing calculator, and cash to pay the printer could publish his own role-playing game. My induction into the hobby came in high school, which coincided with the 90s pen-and-paper gaming boom. Unlike many in the #PulpRev and adjacent literary movements, I didnвЂ™t cut my teeth on old-school D&D. I even made my own role-playing system for Combat Frame XSeed. Those whoвЂ™ve followed my writings for a while know IвЂ™m an avid tabletop gamer.