World Of Darkness

Rating:
Summary: Mature theme, and now also a mature system
Review: Although most of the old players of the World of Darkness settings might argue that the system is overall unimpotant to the game, my group has always been interested in the game system and its relation with the roleplaying. And I must say, unfortunately, although we always loved the Vampire setting and overall mood of the World of Darkness as a whole, we always felt that the system was not very well thought in some aspects, specially combat and characters balance. Also, it was hard to do certain things in the game, as many times there wasn't enough explanation about important actions in most roleplaying games, like the use of vehicles, social interaction and so on. And thus, we migrated to Gurps (I know, not the best for roleplaying, but still more balanced in terms of system). Three editions of Vampire the Masquerade came out, and they all felt the same.

Now, I find that the new World of Darkness brought, in this first book, a deep concern in game mechanics, as well as with mood and organization of the information available. I couldn't be more pleased.

First off, of course, the changes on the system. Relevant and necessary changes were made, making the game more realistic and controlled. It finally makes some sense! You can add situation modifiers without making it impossible or too easy to perform any task. Combat is more realistic too -- now, if you're any good, you get to actually hit your foes, not only suck because they all got Dex 4 + Dodge 4.

Still about the system, now, unlike the old editions, there IS a core rulebook with all basic system mechanics. Because so far, they always had to repeat themselves in all settings, with pages and pages of rules they should have concentrated in a single book to start with. This grants the system mechanics the space it actually demands, making it possible to suggest rules to, for example, chasing someone in a car, or seducing another character.

The atmosphere of the game is still incredibly well shaped and introduced by some of the best horror/grungy/mistery tales ever written. It's not just more of the same fantasy work anyone could write (and don't get me wrong, I love the medieval fantasy setting). The stories told in this book can actually keep you reading and reading.

So, we got here an effort to make a better system, a good one, though without complicating it -- after all, WoD players don't like to have to memorize hundreds of pointless tables -- and without losing the old breath-taking atmosphere. It's all the game needed all these years, in my opinion.

On a side note, the artwork in this book is some of the best you'll ever see in any book. It's beautiful. I feel this kind of book needs decent art to show exactly how the setting feels, and they took the care here.

Finally, I must say, this book is a must-have. You don't see this mix of atmosphere and game mechanics in most games. If you're a roleplaying gamer, and specially if you're an old WoD player, have a look on it, and try not to fall in love with it.

Rating:
Summary: World of Darkness
Review: Firstly, the presentation. This book is absolutely beautiful. The cover's awesome, the design is great, the art is terrific. I especially like the (Crinos?) werewolf on the back cover and page 186. There's a few typos in it, but not many, and nothing major.

Now for the actual content. The book has a wonderfully dark atmosphere of mystery and the unknown. The short stories in the beginning of the book are excellent. And as for the system? I haven't playtested it yet, but it looks pretty good. It's similar to the old World of Darkness system, but a lot of things are simplified and streamlined for the new game. No experience with the old World of Darkness is required, though.

But just in case you were wondering, you won't find much information about Vampire: the Requium, Werewolf: the Forsaken, or Mage: the Awakening in here though, other than a few subtle references (like the four equidistant wounds on a corpse, that seemed to be made from claws...) here and there.

In conclusion, this book is simply a masterpiece. Regardless of whether you played any of the old World of Darkness, I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Reality turned to the left.
Review: Imagine a world wholly like our own with all the politics and emotions, history and natural laws of this world. Now take all the legends, conspiracies, paranoia, and irrational fear and turn those startling nightmares into realities.

The World of Darkness breaks new ground in roleplaying. A simple roleplaying system with room to invent upon puts the Storyteller and her players in the spotlight. Unlike White Wolf's previous products which, while good in their own right, were more geared to the whims of the designers themselves.

Don't think of World of Darkness as a new basis for a new, dumbed-down Vampire of Werewolf game. WoD itself is a complete system. Add whatever vampires or creatures you want. Bring the storyline of Masquerade in if you so desire. It is inconsequential. This book is all you really need. The further books simply add material and stimulate ideas. The rules do not overwhelm as further material is completely optional.

There are of course, negatives, but they are somehwat inconsequential. An RPG, unless totally broken, is what its players make it. The Storyteller system is so basic it's nearly impossible to screw up. The dice are merely an afterthought. But if you like buckets of dice ala Shadowrun, their are options for you too.

The flavor text, short stories that inject the mood of WoD into your thoughts, are well-written, if a bit abrupt. They are not stand-alone pieces, of course, they merely serve as atmosphere, food for your creative beast.

A certain contradiction exists in that some actions are far more complex concerning dice than their real world counterparts. But the complexities can always be thrown out.

Another peeve are the seemingly redundant attributes of Resolve and Composure. These comprise Willpower which, I feel, is a rather underused trait. The Crafts skill is also dramatically broad. This skill, supposedly, serves as a pre-requisite for any creation and repair feats. Computer repair technicians don't necessarily know how to fix a car engine. The solution for this skill and other similarly vague ones is the use of specializations. Only 3 specializations are allowed at character creation, however, and skills like this one seem to require a specialization to be useful.

The open-ended nature of the book is also a problem. While it does not overwhelm with information, some material on supernatural entities would seem almost necessary for most campaigns. The solution to this predicament is a long list of expansions. Antagonists provides information on enemy supernaturals. Other books, such as Ordo Dracul and Ghost stories, are seemingly useless for gameplay. Others, like Coteries (which is actually a Vampire expansion) are flavorful additions that are useful but not necessary.

The merits and flaws available in this edition are anemic. Only two fighting styles are available: boxing and kung fu. Instructions for user-created fighting styles and other merits are absent.

The system as it is, however, is nearly flawless. It achieves this through a dedication to simplicity.

What you can truly do with WoD is only limited by your imagination. Have fun in the shadows.

Rating:
Summary: Pre-Review
Review: Now, I was a little freaked out when the words "New World of Darkness" came out on White Wolf's page(and in many more rpg sites especially). First of all, I thought, "Wait, we just went through TOJ, the Apocalypse, and what's described as the END of the World. What's up?" So, without going into too much more explanation about how I had presumed the new setting was /post/ apocalyptic, let's just say I made a mistake.

The brand new World of Darkness, as described by WW(and co.), is "another version of our universe in which the paranormal exist and where evil things" lurking, vampires, yadda yadda...Anyway, what you get is the basic setting: conspiracy and crime reign lead by the hand of corporate megalomaniacs who upsize the profit and downsize the conditions of countless metropoli so that they have effectively erased the middle class. The sun never shines and gothic people cry every day.

So why the "new" WOD? What was wrong with the original World, and more importantly, what can this new World offer that the other lacks? Well, the answer, in a number of ways, is simple. For one, the new campaign has a streamlined set of rules. For those that played the old WOD, roll Dodge and Soak no more. A new statistic is added called Defense which subtracts from your opponents Attack roll! Another handy fix is the elimination of botches, for when things just BEG to go horribly wrong. These are just a few examples of some of the changes in the whole rolling category.

Aside from the dice-rolling aspect, which White Wolf still detracts as semi-necessary, alot of roleplaying aspects have been changed too. More specifically in Vampire: The Requiem. Now, don't say I'm getting off subject(or off product), because to live in a world of the supernatural, you can't /just/ have mortals and their clingy souls. But then again, humans got a better wrap compared to some of the monsters WW sets up. For instance, the total number of clans has been cut from near 13 to 5. And it seems as thought production was in a hurry, so the designers just smooshed them all together. Maybe that's a bit exaggerated, but looking over the clan descriptions(as part of the VtR preview), alot of the traits seem alike. Ventrue weakness covers gaining mental abnormalities. Gangrel no longer gain animalistic features on frenzy(at least there's a frenzy). And Mekhet(Assamite 2.0) don't get darker as they age. Not to mention, saying goodbye to sect wars...no Sects! So alot of the interesting and distinctive qualities of the game were left out, and it's a little bit depressing. What can you expect from a horror game? Hopefully, the company will be able to produce more media to make the setting more spicy, but as for now, it's like they dropped us back on 2nd Edition.

That's just me though. I miss my Malkies...Oh well, White Wolf has still done their job, and it's still my favorite setting. So to conclude my review I give World of Darkness and the whole line of the new WOD a 4 out of 5, because not only have they delivered their product in a tight, good-looking format as usual, but because they've also remembered the content and their beginnings.

Rating:
Summary: Very strong, especially for the price
Review: This is the restart of the World of Darkness, and it starts with a bang. Wheras previous WoD books drove away anyone who was not intrisically interested in playing a Vampire or Mage or Werewolf, etc., this book is useful for anyone who is sick of the d20 system. This book is designed in order to create human characters, which can later be turned into vampires or werewolves or mages. The Storyteller system works, and now anyone can feel free to use it. Everything is codified so that all the various groups can more easily intermingle, and the combat system is speeded up.

Definitely recommended.