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The World of Darkness effectively refers to the ongoing rpgs designed by White Wolf Studios about the creatures of the night. The WoD is divided into the new World of Darkness and the old World of Darkness... or nWoD and oWoD respectively.
Vampire: The Masquerade -
The oWoD table-top rpg that became a PC game (I played). I got into WoD through the PC game developed by White Wolf Studios. Its a very involved game (table top) with very many rules and structures. Its about Vampires that live in a societal hierarchy. The Vampires are privy to generations... Cain (the Biblical murderer of Able) being the first ever vampire and his offspring being the second generation and each vampire turned vampire thereafter is one generation less 'pure'. Therefore a 5th generation vampire will produce childer of the 6th generation. And a 6th generation will have 7th generation childer. The blood gets weaker the further down the generation tree one gets. The weakest of all generations (as far as I can recall) is the 13th generation. These 13th generation vampires are called Thin Bloods and are are hunted down and killed by 'normal' vampires who fear their presence is indicative of the end of time (or Gehenna according to VtM lore).
Aside from the generations there are in effect different types/classes of vampires, each of Cain's offspring having children and each being different.
Giovanni - Necromantic vampires with a terrible lustre for the dead.
Tzimische - Twisted vampires who churn tissue and bone molding it as they see fit. They're feared by most other vampires and are more abominable than any other creatures of the night.
Brujah - A brutish bloodline of Anarchical warriors, they have little time for politics and shun authority unless its strength is proven.
Toreador - Artistes who lurve the human arts and are the most human and humane of all vampires.
Ventru - These consider themselves the noblest of vampires and the leader of the societies. Ventru are very auspicious with the ability to lead and command with great presence.
Malkavian - The Malkavians are the insane vampires, they have a massive network into which every Malkavian mind is connected. They're disliked by most vampires and feared as unpredictable.
Nosferatu - These vampires are hideous to behold and even the Tzimische flesh-crafters ahve no effect on a Nosferatu's looks. The Nosferatu are the information network of the vampire world, if one needs to know - ask the Nosferatu.
Gangrel - Animal-like and the most primative of vampires, Gangrel live on the outskirts of society preferring to stick to themselves and their tribal (primal) bretheren. They are about the only vampires not readily hunted by werewolves.
Tremere - [My favourite] Vampire mages who control an ancient magick known as Blood Magic (thaumaturgy). They trust no one and always seem to merely tolerate the Ventru leadership while plotting their own devices in the shadows.
Assimites - Egyptian-like vampires who actually poison everyone they bite. They're cursed because of crimes commited by one of their progenitors.
Eastern Vampires / Kuei Jin - From Eastern Asia, these vampires are more reincarnated souls than blood suckers. They do not consider themselves vampires at all.
One can play as one of the above or a myriad of other - less known - classes. One can even play a ghost, werewolf, fey or other creature as listed in the extanded books. The skills learned are gained by quests and actions taken by players to perform the quests. So: someone smashing a door down will gain less XP than someone overriding the CCTV and hacking the locking mechanism, for example.
The vampire society is divided into two sects (mainly) the Camarilla and the Sabbat. The more civilized vampires have formed the Camarilla and use its basic tenants of Masquerading their true nature to hide from humans. The Sabbat are ruthless and about just as mindless. They do what they want, when they want.
Human hunters seek out and destroy vampires. Sabbat members, throwing humans about the streets, are sure to bring about a hunting party in no time at all. All these may be played, even a human hunter. Although I played as a Tremere who was part of the Camarilla, I intercated with both humans and the Sabbat. I'll have to look over my notes some time to jog my memory, but there are many, many different rules about playing and just as many classes and sub-classes. For instance a Tremere may create a Gargoyle - this is also a playable clsss. The oppertunities are literally endless.
But this is why Vampire: The Masquerade was brought to an end. It was too big, and GMs just couldn't manage all the options open to players. White Wolf then stopped making games from VtM oWoD.
VtM ended with Gehenna, the end of time. Where it was prophesied that an antediluvian (pre-Noah's flood vampire) woul rise and devour all other vampires after years of sleep and an unquenchable thirst. This did happen, but the end was sweet and not at all what was supposed to take place.
Basically, one plays as a vampire gaining XP and skills and networks. The more of each of these one can get, the more powerful one is. A Police Network at lvl 1, for example, will allow a player to get away with parking and speeding tickets. Lvl 2 would allow a player to access case files. Lvl 3 could get an arrest warrant for another player and so it goes on.
Examples of some networks:
Street/gang.
Police.
Law.
Commerce.
Arts.
Media.
Education.
Lore.
Use if a network increases its lvl slowly until its maxed out.
But all these and the XP allocation, while in the rule books became too much and too big to handle. White Wolf decided it would end and end it did.
This brought about Vampire: The Requime
[I need to contact a buddy of mine to tell me about VtR... I only sat in on one playing session, having played VtM. I will edit this once I've looked over my notes as well.
]
Vampire: The Masquerade -
The oWoD table-top rpg that became a PC game (I played). I got into WoD through the PC game developed by White Wolf Studios. Its a very involved game (table top) with very many rules and structures. Its about Vampires that live in a societal hierarchy. The Vampires are privy to generations... Cain (the Biblical murderer of Able) being the first ever vampire and his offspring being the second generation and each vampire turned vampire thereafter is one generation less 'pure'. Therefore a 5th generation vampire will produce childer of the 6th generation. And a 6th generation will have 7th generation childer. The blood gets weaker the further down the generation tree one gets. The weakest of all generations (as far as I can recall) is the 13th generation. These 13th generation vampires are called Thin Bloods and are are hunted down and killed by 'normal' vampires who fear their presence is indicative of the end of time (or Gehenna according to VtM lore).
Aside from the generations there are in effect different types/classes of vampires, each of Cain's offspring having children and each being different.
Giovanni - Necromantic vampires with a terrible lustre for the dead.
Tzimische - Twisted vampires who churn tissue and bone molding it as they see fit. They're feared by most other vampires and are more abominable than any other creatures of the night.
Brujah - A brutish bloodline of Anarchical warriors, they have little time for politics and shun authority unless its strength is proven.
Toreador - Artistes who lurve the human arts and are the most human and humane of all vampires.
Ventru - These consider themselves the noblest of vampires and the leader of the societies. Ventru are very auspicious with the ability to lead and command with great presence.
Malkavian - The Malkavians are the insane vampires, they have a massive network into which every Malkavian mind is connected. They're disliked by most vampires and feared as unpredictable.
Nosferatu - These vampires are hideous to behold and even the Tzimische flesh-crafters ahve no effect on a Nosferatu's looks. The Nosferatu are the information network of the vampire world, if one needs to know - ask the Nosferatu.
Gangrel - Animal-like and the most primative of vampires, Gangrel live on the outskirts of society preferring to stick to themselves and their tribal (primal) bretheren. They are about the only vampires not readily hunted by werewolves.
Tremere - [My favourite] Vampire mages who control an ancient magick known as Blood Magic (thaumaturgy). They trust no one and always seem to merely tolerate the Ventru leadership while plotting their own devices in the shadows.
Assimites - Egyptian-like vampires who actually poison everyone they bite. They're cursed because of crimes commited by one of their progenitors.
Eastern Vampires / Kuei Jin - From Eastern Asia, these vampires are more reincarnated souls than blood suckers. They do not consider themselves vampires at all.
One can play as one of the above or a myriad of other - less known - classes. One can even play a ghost, werewolf, fey or other creature as listed in the extanded books. The skills learned are gained by quests and actions taken by players to perform the quests. So: someone smashing a door down will gain less XP than someone overriding the CCTV and hacking the locking mechanism, for example.
The vampire society is divided into two sects (mainly) the Camarilla and the Sabbat. The more civilized vampires have formed the Camarilla and use its basic tenants of Masquerading their true nature to hide from humans. The Sabbat are ruthless and about just as mindless. They do what they want, when they want.
Human hunters seek out and destroy vampires. Sabbat members, throwing humans about the streets, are sure to bring about a hunting party in no time at all. All these may be played, even a human hunter. Although I played as a Tremere who was part of the Camarilla, I intercated with both humans and the Sabbat. I'll have to look over my notes some time to jog my memory, but there are many, many different rules about playing and just as many classes and sub-classes. For instance a Tremere may create a Gargoyle - this is also a playable clsss. The oppertunities are literally endless.
But this is why Vampire: The Masquerade was brought to an end. It was too big, and GMs just couldn't manage all the options open to players. White Wolf then stopped making games from VtM oWoD.
VtM ended with Gehenna, the end of time. Where it was prophesied that an antediluvian (pre-Noah's flood vampire) woul rise and devour all other vampires after years of sleep and an unquenchable thirst. This did happen, but the end was sweet and not at all what was supposed to take place.
Basically, one plays as a vampire gaining XP and skills and networks. The more of each of these one can get, the more powerful one is. A Police Network at lvl 1, for example, will allow a player to get away with parking and speeding tickets. Lvl 2 would allow a player to access case files. Lvl 3 could get an arrest warrant for another player and so it goes on.
Examples of some networks:
Street/gang.
Police.
Law.
Commerce.
Arts.
Media.
Education.
Lore.
Use if a network increases its lvl slowly until its maxed out.
But all these and the XP allocation, while in the rule books became too much and too big to handle. White Wolf decided it would end and end it did.
This brought about Vampire: The Requime
[I need to contact a buddy of mine to tell me about VtR... I only sat in on one playing session, having played VtM. I will edit this once I've looked over my notes as well.
]
