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Black Tokyo

2023-05-25T00:28:34Z

2600:4040:7E74:5500:7106:6F3C:CE76:8784: /* See Also */

{{Promotions}}
[[File:BlackTokyo.jpg|thumb]]
'''Black Tokyo''' is a [[D20 Modern]] setting inspired by [[PROMOTIONS|hentai]] [[anime]], particularly the tentacle demon and bondage variety. It is particularly notable for its high concentrations of OH DEAR GOD WHY.

The first rulebook came out in 2008, it was added to DriveThruRPG on February 13th and by [http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/1178163/ February 15th there was a reaction thread].

==Features of note==
* The new feats include the ability to control others by fapping into their panties, shitting your pants to gain an armor bonus, devouring unfortunate men with your gaping vagina and turning your penis into a mighty spear.
* The Flow Witch class is based almost entirely around menstruation, lactation and bodily secretions in general. This includes the ability to cast support spells on your party by masturbating so hard that you drench them all in your magical womanly juices.
* New magical items include magical date rape drugs, machine guns that get attack bonuses against rapists, and a dildo that will reanimate any corpse raped with it as an undead servant bound to your will.
* Despite all of this, the author opted not to include rules for [[loli]] characters... because d20 Modern had that in its core rulebook, albeit unusable till Urban Arcana (All background but one that required high ability scores required a high age).

==Races==
Beyond encouraging a "build your own supernatural sluts" approach with power-granting feats, Black Tokyo has a lot of races that build on Japanese mythology or pop-culture in some way. But Black Tokyo also remembers that Hentai can be really fucked up and so it also branches out into themes worthy of a horror RPG.

'''Akaname''': Pathetic undead perverts with grotesquely long tongues who need to consume bodily filth. Based on an actual Japanese monster and not really changed that much.

'''Bloodstrong Men''': Divine-blooded humanoids who, born from an act of godly incest, need to inbreed in order to preserve their tremendous power. Despite the name, there are Bloodstrong Women, too. Based on the fact that, in Shinto mythology, the literal parents of humanity were a godly brother and sister who fucked each other and produced humans.

'''Daughters of Kirin''': Angelic [[monstergirls]] consisting of beautiful women with the legs of a horse ([[satyr]] style) and a unicorn-like horn, born when Kirin (the Japanese [[unicorn]]) fucks a mortal horse. Also have subraces representing their cousins; the children of human women with the Divine Bull, who are angelic cowgirls.

'''Dodoma''': Attractive, androgynous humanoids covered in eyes who make natural thieves, based on a real yokai called the Todomeki or Dodomeki.

'''Futakuchi''': The Japanese "two-mouth woman" yokai re-envisioned as stern celestial warrior-maidens, complete with prehensile hair, a bite attack, and variants who have a neck-pussy or vagina dentata instead.

'''Ironclub Oni''': Hulking lusty ogres who are sometimes good and sometimes evil.

'''Kami''': Generic angelic and fiendish figures.

'''Kijimuna''': Lusty plant-girls who take their name from an Okinawan goblin.

'''Kitsune''': Your standard cute fox-girl.

'''Koropokkuru''': Grumpy dwarf-like creatures probably best known for their cultural affinity for bestiality.

'''Tanuki''': The famous big-balled drunkard shapeshifting beastie.

'''Ubume''': The ghosts of women who died in childbirth, played horrifically straight. Can be reincarnated if a woman successfully holds onto their ghostly baby and makes three successive Strength checks (DC 12, 1 5, 18); but if the would-be helper fails even one, she dies instantly and the Ubume loses D3 Charisma permanently.

'''Doujinishi''': A hentai manga or anime character accidentally brought to full-fledged life.

'''Goryohime''': A schoolgirl who committed suicide to be eternally cute, only to return as an undead. This is a lot creepier and honestly disturbing then that short blurb makes it sound.

'''Nekomusume''': The obligatory [[catgirl]] race, envisioned here as a race of artificially engineered sex-toys that proved more than their creators intended.

'''Nikusui''': Kid-protecting, wickedly spiteful child-shaped faeries who are out to butcher all pedophiles and other child abusers.

'''POETICA''': Cute, sexy, loyal robot-girls.

'''Yurei''': Murderous ghosts whose sheer hatred at the many crimes done to them over their incarnations has caused them to forsake the wheel to butcher the targets of their rage.

'''Hyakki Yokai''': A bunch of little demons who pilot/crew a skin suit made to look like a human women.

==Series==
:[http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/402/Skortched-Urf-Studios/subcategory/767_9179/Black-Tokyo category here]
Aside from the original game there were also supplements. The series includes:
#Black Tokyo
#Black Tokyo: Tales of the Tatakama - 35 pages
#Black Tokyo: Chastity & Depravity
#Black Tokyo: Electric Town
#Fursona IV - Fur of the Yokai - crossover with [[Fursona]] RPG
#Back to School with Black Tokyo
#The Black Bestiary
#The Black Bestiary 2
#Black Feats
#Black Tokyo Unlimited: The Races of Black Japan

There is also a "Legends" subseries including:
#Black Tokyo Legends - Races of the Tatakama
#Black Tokyo Legends - Sex & Story
#Black Tokyo Legends - Spells and Gods of the Tatakama

In addition, there is Tournament of Rapists, which got removed from DriveThruRPG just a couple of days after publication because of all the complaints about [[rape|its content]].

==Supplement covers==
<gallery>
BlackTokyo.jpg|Black Tokyo added [http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/54698/Black-Tokyo 13 February 2008]
BlackTokyoChastityAndDepravity.jpg|Chastity and Depravity added [http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/85348/Black-Tokyo-Chastity--Depravity 30 October 2010]
BlackTokyoLegendsRacesOfTheTatakama.jpg|Legends (1) Races of the Tatakama added [http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/101381/Black-Tokyo-Legends-Races-of-the-Tatakama 15 April 2012]
Guro-strike!.jpg|Guro-Strike! added [http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/105285/GuroStrike 30 August 2012]
Black Tokyo Legends -Spells and Gods of the Tatakama.jpg|Legends (2) Spells and Gods fo the Tatakama added [http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/105526/Black-Tokyo-Legends-Spells-and-Gods-of-the-Tatakama 4 September 2012]
Black Tokyo Legends -Sex and Story.jpg|Legends (3) Sex and Story added [http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/107383/Black-Tokyo-Legends-Sex-and-Story 26 October 2012]

blacktokyo.jpg|Unlimited added [http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/115952/Black-Tokyo-Unlimited-Edition 23 June 2013]

BackToSchoolInBlackTokyo.jpg|Back to School added [http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/185902/Back-to-School-in-Black-Tokyo 18 June 2016]
</gallery>

==See Also==
*[[Zettai Reido]]
*[[FATAL]]
*[[Tournament of Rapists]]
*[[Fursona]]
*[[Magical Realm]]
*[[FAPP]]

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150322164220/http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/85350/The-Black-Tokyo-Bundle-BUNDLE 22 March 2015 archive of The Black Tokyo Bundle]

[[Category:Roleplaying]]

Kindred of the East

2023-05-24T23:14:52Z

2600:4040:7E74:5500:7106:6F3C:CE76:8784: /* Why no 20th Anniverary Edition or V5, WW/Onyx Path? */

{{Game Infobox
|name = Kindred of the East
|picture = [[File:KindredoftheEastLogo.png|250px]]
|type = [[Role-playing game]]
|system = [[Storyteller System]]
|publisher = [[White Wolf]]
|authors = [[Robert Hatch, et al]]
|year = 1998
|books = Kindred of the East
}}

{{Topquote|While living Be a dead man, Be thoroughly dead-- And behave as you like, And all's well.|Zen Master Bunan}}

'''Kindred of the East''' is a campaign supplement to '''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]''', focusing on the supernatural denizens of the Exotic East, particularly the native blood drinkers of that land, the '''Kuei-Jin'''. Superficially similar to the Get of Caine, the Kuei-jin are a ''very'' different kind of supernatural indeed, and one who is more in tune with the world of the Spirits.

==Not-so [[Exalted]] Anymore==
In ages past, what would become the Kuei-jin started out as the '''Wan Xian''', the Ten Thousand Immortals. Chosen by the '''August Personage in Jade''' (God essentially), these were mortals who passed various tests of worthiness, and were granted the ability to absorb and use ambient ''Chi'' (the energy that infuses all things). They were then tasked with safeguarding the Middle Kingdom (a term used to refer to BOTH the territory of Imperial China at its historical height AND the Mortal Realms in its entirety) against the forces of the '''Yama Kings''' and other supernatural threats. In their service many amassed great power, reached enlightenment, and eventually gained passage into Heaven.

Due to the threats they faced, its inevitable that Wan Xian would fall in the line of duty. As such it was tasked to the '''Ebon Dragon''' and the '''Scarlet Empress''' to seak out worthy replacements.

Some of this, particularly the personalities involved, [[Exalted|sounds suspiciously familiar, doesn't it]]? Don't worry, it's not your imagination.

Eventually all good things come to an end. The Wan Xian eventually became corrupt, partly due to the influence of the Yama Kings (creating the first ''akuma''), partly due usurping the Dragon Nests (nodes where lines of Chi converged) from their '''Xiong Ren''' (Eastern [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse|Shapeshifters]]) owners, and partly due to simple hubris that led to them slaughtering their half-vampire children (the ''Jin Hai'') when the latter politely asked them to ''stop being such assholes''. The August Personage cursed them for their perfidy, and only four Wan Xian were spared.

Left with the inability to breathe, the rest were forced to feed on the Chi of others to survive. With even their rituals of Rebirth corrupted by the tortures of the Hell realm, it more or less ensured that only those with the blackest of hearts would be returned to Unlife.

And so it was that the Ten Thousand Heroes would become the Ten Thousand Demons, and the Wan Xian became the Wan Kuei, the first of the Kuei-Jin.

==Before we begin: About Chi and the Duality of the Soul==
A ''lot'' of the design choices behind Kindred of the East rely on being familiar with the concepts of '''Chi''' and the '''Hun''' and '''P'o''' parts of the soul, which are all grounded in real-world classical Chinese philosphy, so it's better we get that out of the way before discussing the Kuei-Jin proper.

===The Chi Virtues===
''Chi'' is the energy that infuses everything. Being ''un''living beings, Kuei-jin don't have Chi naturally, and have to gain it from the living, initially via feeding on the flesh, then blood. There are a myriad variety of Chi, but Kuei-jin mainly deal with the '''Yin''' and '''Yang''' chi. Yin chi is usually cold and stagnant-seeming, while Yang chi is warm and vibrant. Having too much of the former makes one look like a shambling corpse; too much of the latter and the Kuei-jin will seem a little ''too'' alive, to the point where they can sire (or bear, for the ladies) mortal children.

The Yin Virtue represents attunement to darker, more negative energies. Kuei-jin who willingly take in Yin Chi more aloof, calm, and cynical, and they're generally more creepy to mortals (unless said mortal is into the morbid, which in case, they're attractive instead). Yin-attuned Kuei-jin are more resistant to the Fire soul status (aka Frenzy), plus gain '''Ghostsight''', which allows them to see Spirits from the Ying World, and the structural weakness of ''anything''. Ghostsight can also be used to detect any illness or injury suffered by another person, though the Kuei-jin needs to be medically-trained to recognize and treat such damage.

On the flipside, the Yang Virtue shows attunement to the active spark that makes things ''live'', even mostly unliving beings like the Kuei-jin. Vampires attuned to Yang seem ''more'' human, being vibrant and vivacious, and love walking among the Middle Kingdom's mortals. Yang-attuned vampires can resist Wave soul (Panic) status better, and Heal injuries of others via expending blood and Chi, and gain '''Lifesight''', which lets them detect living things in the area. Lifesight also allows a Kuei-jin to read the feelings of people around him, and home in to those who have strong passions. Finally it allows the Kuei-jin to detect beings that pass or make their home in the Yang World (or Middle Umbra), like the ''Garou''.

Preferring one type of Chi over the other influeces a Kuei-jin's vulnerability, by the way. Yin-leaning Kuei-jin are vulnerable to the traditional wooden staking (as they are more "dead"), while Yan-leaning Kuei-jin are more vulnerable to getting shanked by anything made of Metal (because they are more "alive").

The more enlightened a Kuei-jin becomes, the more proficient they become in drawing chi from other sources, with many eventually able to get chi from breath or ambiently from the environment itself.

===The Soul Virtues===
Kuei-jin are somewhat aware that the soul is made up of two parts: '''Hun''', which is the "higher" soul, and '''P'o''', the "lower" soul. Vampires who have high Hun are honorable and people of temperance; conversely, those with high P'o are wild, unruly, and savage.

Hun measures a Kuei-jin's rational side, her use of abstract thinking and aesthetics, as well as their empathy for mortals and overall resolve. It's like Conscience, but not quite, more related instead to one's honor and devotion to duty. Those who have high Hun are seen more as thoughtful and spiritual, and can better harness the power of their P'o when evoking Demon Arts, keeping control instead of being consumed by their Demon. They have sharp senses, and can even speak to Spirits, if they can detect them to begin with.

P'o on the other hand represents the animalistic side of the Kuei-jin. It is what influences a vampire's hunger, as well as sometimes turns something trivial into causing mindless rage. Many seek to tame their P'o; others, like the Devil Tigers, cultivate their Demons, seeing it as crucial to their kharmic duties as Heaven's Devils. The greatest sages say that enlightment can only be fully reached once the P'o is accepted and assimilated as a part of one's being.

Compared to ''Hun'', there's a '''lot''' to be said about ''P'o''. Most obviously, it's partly the ''cause'' of the Kuei-jin "condition", as during their mortal lives, more often than not, a Kuei-jin had been in thrall of their baser emotions. When they finally died (likely suddenly, violently, or both), the p'o part of the mortal's soul ''dropped straight into Hell''... Then clawed its way back out to its body, usually around two months after death.

Mastering channeling one's P'o obviously has its uses. The Kuei-jin may ''willingly'' unleash a [[Rip and Tear|Berserk rage in themself]], which means they no longer suffer wound penalties, and gain access to potent Demon Chi. Demon Chi is not "true" chi, but nonetheless used to fuel the Demon Shintai techniques, as well as temporarily move faster, increase Strength, or do more damage. And because Kuei-jin have no "natural" fangs, they need to expend Demon chi to grow fangs, and even more to create a fully-fanged maw.

Finally a Kuei-jin may draw from their P'o to break free of magical mind control, but on a success might instead force their '''Shadow Nature''' to the forefront. Unlike the mindless Beast of the Cainites, the Shadow of a Kuei-jin is a distinct personality embodying their repressed weaknesses and self-destructive urges.

==Out of Hell, and the Road Back==
Unlike Cainites, Kuei-jin are "born" when a strong-willed soul manages to fight its way back from what is (in essence) Hell, and crawl back into its body. In this regard, they are similar to the traditional "Revenant" of folklore. Having died denying one facet or another of their lives before falling into despair, depravity, or sudden violence, these damned souls now find themselves in the living world once more. Now they seek to find meaning to their new Unlives, repay their Kharmic debt, and either enter Heaven or exit the Great Cycle.

In the turbulence of the Modern age not many succeed, and as the Sixth Age approaches, there might not even ''be'' time to do so anymore.

===We All Start Somewhere===
All Kuei-jin start out as a ''chih-mei'', a feral thing in thrall of its ''P'o'' and with a bad case of munchies for human flesh (as this is the most readily-available source of Chi). Many Kuei-jin never get past this state, and their eventual fate is to either be used as undead guard dogs by the local Court, or destroyed by [[Hunter: The Reckoning|by Witch Hunters after they've eaten one villager too many]], shapeshifting [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse|Hengeyokai]], or other ''shen''.

In rare instances, a Kuei-jin breaks free of their animalistic state of their own accord, but most of the time a Court will seek out and collect chih-mei, to test and see if any would return to sapience (meaning their rational Hun manages to subdue the bestial P'o). Those that do proceed to the next step in their unlife's journey.

===New Meat for the Courts===
The newly self-aware Kuei-jin are not immediately absorbed into the Court that found them. Instead they are considered as ''hin'', or non-persons, and will remain so for the duration of their initial training (called ''re''). As hin have no rights, they can be arbitrarily cut down if they even annoy more established Kuei-jin, so it's no wonder that many learn to be mindful of social etiquette and be ''very'' civil.

Hin will be trained rigorously, not just by an assigned ''sifu'' (teacher), but most of the Court members that can spare the time. They are instructed on things that will aid them in navigating Kuei-jin society, from calligraphy, to martial arts, to the etiquette of the Unliving and that of the Spirit World. Here they also learn their Disciplines and supernatural arts, as well as the manipulation of Chi. They also learn to come to grips with their vampiric nature: sating their hunger, mastering their wave and fire natures, and avoiding the sun. As their Shadow finally manifests, they are also trained on how to confront their inner Demon, and use its power, lest they be consumed by their P'o.

This is also the time where a Kuei-jin begins their path along a Dharma, the way to enlightment. Representatives of each Dharma study the hin, then consult with each other to see which student fits which Dharma best.

During this time the hin's every word and action is scrutinized by the community as a whole. They may catch the eye of an established member of the Court, who may take them on as a student or petitioner, and in the process gets introduced to the politics of a Kuei-jin Court.

Eventually every hin will experience a final "exam", essentially a big community party where they will have to prove themselves to the Court. As there are ''also'' mortals among the gathered, the hin have to be able to conduct themselves with poise, courtesy, and subtlety. At the same time, hin will also have to show expertise in their selected Disciplines, control over their wave and fire natures (frenzy), or their Chi. One bad screw up, and a sign of displeasure from a Court Ancestor, will see a hin is swiftly escorted out of the proceedings, never to be seen again after.

Those that manage to survive this social gauntlet are formally welcomed by the Ancestor and Mandarins, and join the Court as disciples. They are now considered full members of the community, with all the rights and social expectations that entail. The Kuei-jin at this point will be assigned a "direction" based on the day the vampire arose to Second Breath, and inducted to a '''wu''' -- a group with (usually) four other vampires that will become a Kuei-jin's second family.

In previous ages, the period lasted as long as twenty-four years; in the current age, the equivalent training is squeezed into about five. As a result, masters normally don't have the patience to spare, and students who don't show the emotional and spiritual fortitude to survive the time to come are usually dealt with harshly and lethally.

===Unlife Debut===
Upon joining a ''wu'', the formally-accepted Kuei-jin enter the period normally called '''Koa'''. Usually lasting the period of a human lifetime, this is when a Cathayan begins to explore his new nature as well as find his place in the world. For many, the Koa is a time to indulge in sensual pleasures, and settle old scores among the living. For others, it's simply the first step on the long road to enlightenment.

To the shock of many Ancestors, new Kuei-jin usually spend this time making their marks on the society of unliving, putting their own ambition over the good of Kuei-jin society as a whole.

Naturally, this is the point where many a new campaign for Kuei-jin start.

==Setting Your Direction==
A Kuei-jin is given a Direction once they are formally accepted into a Court as a Disciple. Based on the cardinal directions, and derived from divinations, usually of an astrological nature (often times based on the date a Kuei-jin takes their Second Breath), a Kuei-jin's Direction will serve as a guide to their duties and responsibilities for the rest of their unlife. While not absolute, a Direction will often influence their personalities or roles in society.

The Directions and what they usually represent are as follows:
* '''North''': Usually Yin-attuned, North-facing Kuei-jin are charged with maintaining traditions, and sentencing those who flagrantly disrespect those traditions. They are arbitrators, magistrates and judges of the unliving, and woe betide those who transgress the law.
* '''West''': Considered odd even for Kuei-jin, West-direction Kuei-jin are interpreters of the Spirits, and carry out their will in the Middle Kingdom. That said, they are usually ''also'' the enforcers of the mandarins' will, and serve as their executioners.
* '''South''': Very dynamic, hot-blooded, and passionate, South-direction Kuei-jin are often front-line soldiers, leaders, and destroyers. Others Kuei-jin roll their eyes at their exuberance, but none can fault their enthusiasm.
* '''East''': Often called "harvesters", East-direction Kuei-jin ensure that the mortal populations under their responsibility are harmonious. They are comfortable in guiding or manipulating their charges for their own good (and the Court's, of course).
* '''Center''': Introspective and philosophical, Kuei-jin of the Center assist others in finding their place in the great tapestry of the Universe. Many help in inducting a new Kuei-jin to their community, but others pursue personal and spiritual quests away from their fellows.

It is considered auspicious and ideal if a given ''wu'' contains members representing all Directions and yet are in harmony. Having a ''wu'' made up of Gui Ren of the same Direction can prove very effective at their assigned task, but is considered kharmically unbalanced. Plus variety is the spice of life, after all.

Mechanically a Direction doesn't actually do anything, but it ''does'' help a player narrow down what kind of Nature they could roleplay, which would lead obviously to what Disciplines they would take.

==Dharma, And You==
Each Kuei-jin has a Dharma, a path through the unlife used to determine what their purpose is in the Great Cycle, with the eventual end of reaching Enlightenment. Part philosophy, part code of behavior, part lightning flashes of insight and clarity (called ''dah''), a Kuejin grows in power and understanding the further they journey along the dharmic road.

Incidentally the further along a Kuei-jin is on their Dharmic journey, the more likely it is for a Cathayan to be eligible for a higher position in a given Court's ladder of influence (due to the accumulated wisdom and experience their Dharma implies). Court '''Mandarins''' and '''Ancestors''' are usually the wisest, most cunning, and ''deadliest'' members of their community for good reason.

Futher along the path still are the '''[[Bodhisattva]]s'''. Even the intrigues of Court unlife have lost their colour to these Kuei-jin, who have long discovered that these are distractions to the attainment of Enlightenment. Many of them retreat from the world almost entirely, to meditate on forlorn mountain hideaways about the vagarities of existence. As they stand on the cusp of attaining heaven, the power these enlightened beings radiate can often be overwhelming, even painful, for younger Kuei-jin, yet at the same time they are examples of what the lowest disciple can eventually attain.

The final step of the Dharmic journey is that of the '''[[Arhat]]'''. The Kuei-jin finally becomes Enlightened; the process often takes millennia, but when that moment clarity happens, the cares of the Mortal World falls away, and they enter the Thousand Clouds. Their kharmic debt was paid, and they are finally free from the Great Cycle.

While the base Kindred of the East rulebook claims that there are no Arhats left in the waking world, the individual Dharma books that followed contradict this, and say that yes, there are still a few of these super-enlightened beings hanging around. While they're ''supposed'' to move on to Heaven (and many indeed do), the few mentioned stay in the Middle Kingdom by ''choice''. This is ''especially'' true of the Devil Tigers, whose Arhats are waiting for the Sixth Age to arrive... So that they can gank the Demon King when he even tries to ascend to the vacated throne of the August Personage.

Now, with the fluff out of the way...

''Mechanically'', levels in Dharma are almost the same as Generation is for Cainite vampires, though you deduct your Dharma level from 13 to figure out what your equivalent "Generation" is. Interestingly enough, the main KoTE rulebook ''explicitly'' says Dharma scores should '''not''' be used to figure out Power Levels. While a ''Bodhisattva'' is the rough equivalent of a Kindred ''Methuselah'', it does not mean that a Bodhisattva can take a Methuselah one on one (though if you munchkin it, it's certainly possible). Not helped by how much ''expensive'' everything is points-wise for a Kuei-jin.

Plus unless one was a Devil Tiger, being a [[Rip and Tear|close combat murder machine]] doesn't quite match up with the whole "at the cusp of Enlightenment" thing that Bodhisattvas represent. It's best to think of it as an Apples and Oranges situation.

That said, there are stuff that the more Spiritually-attuned Kuei-jin can do that your run of the mill Methuselah (who are often blind to the Spirit World) ''can't'', like travel thousands of miles in the blink of an eye, step sideways into the Spirit World ala [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse|Garou]], or summon storms to blot out the sun.

(To see a canonical example of this at work, several [[Ravnos]] Methuselah were little more than quick snacks when their [[Antediluvian]] woke up during the [[Week of Nightmares]]. By comparison, a trio of Bodhisattva managed to pin down Zapathasura in Bangladesh for a night and a day, before the [[Mage: The Ascension|Technocracy]] decided to ruin everyone's fun by nuking all of them).

The higher your Dharma, the higher your Attributes, Disciplines, and Chi use limit can get. ''Unlike'' Cainites, where a player will have to eventually do [[Diablerie]] if they want to get anything above five dots, advancement in Dharma is a mostly story-driven affair; you either experience a flash of enlightment over the course of a gaming session (depending on your chosen Dharma), or you don't.

===Choose Your Own Dharma===
There are five "Traditional" Dharma, universally called the "Fivefold Path" (called that way because these were the ones created by the first Arhat, '''Xue''' as he wandered the Middle Kingdom after God cursed the Wan Xian) that a Kuei-jin can follow, each representing one of the Virtues that a Cathayan seeks to embrace, each a different path on the road to Enlightenment. Each Dharma likewise has a number of Sects connected to it, all based on a particular interpretation of its core tenets.

There are also so-called "heretical" Dharmas, which either represent different interpretations of the way to Enlightenment, or spit on the concept on Enlightenment entirely. Because of the fact that few if any of them have yet to ascend even a single Bodhisattva, followers of the Fivefold Path see them painfully deluded fools or, as in the case of the Scorpion Eaters, dangerous traitors that need to be put down for good.

The Dharmas of the Fivefold Path:

* [[Howl of the Devil Tiger]]: Experts in dealing and enduring pain, they're usually evil bastards, but their evil is never petty, as it's ''directed'' evil against the truly depraved and malicious. They seek to replace the Devil servants of the Yama Kings, who've lost sight of their original purpose of destroying evil. Represents P'o.
* [[Way of the Resplendent Crane]]: Those who believe that through virtuous behavior, respect of the rules, and proper action, this rotten World can be saved and renewed. Thinking of them as fussy but well-meaning Chinese [[Paladin]] bureaucrats wouldn't be too off the mark. Represents Hun.
* [[Song of the Shadows]] ('''Bone Flowers'''): Melancholic scholars, who have even closer ties to Ghosts and the Spirit World. Due to their stoicism and detachment, they make excellent diplomats, spies, and assassins. Represents Yin.
* [[Dance of the Thrashing Dragon]]: Thrillseekers and hedonists, they seek to experience all of life's colors, especially since they missed out on it before their Second Breath. Many of them become parents of [[Dhampyr|Shade Walkers]], due to either knocking up their mortal lovers, or ''getting'' knocked up. Represents Yang.
* The [[Path of a Thousand Whispers]] (Hollow Reeds): The rarest Dharma, where one seeks to find their place in the Great Cycle by living through a countless identities. Not generally trusted by other Kuei-jin, as they can be allies in one of their identities, and enemies in another. Represents Balance.

The Heretical Dharmas:

* '''Spirit of the Living Earth''' (Cerulian Veils): Shamans and travelers of the Spirit Realms, they're not picky about ''who'' they traffic with, which includes '''evil''' sprits that typically hunt down Kuei-jin. Represents Yin and Yang.
* '''Face of the Gods''': Believe that they are Gods cast out of Heaven, and that Mortals should make it up to them by worshipping them and let them feed on their prayers, because why not? Represents Hun and P'o.
* '''[[Flames of the Rising Phoenix]]''': See their new Unlives as a simple continuation of their old Mortal lives, and a second chance to set the kharmic scales straight. Represents Hun and Yang.
* '''Tempest of Inward Focus''': Introspective isolationists, who feel that they need to focus on their own internal issues, and the problems of the world can wait. Represents Balance.
* '''Scorpion Eaters''': Fatalists that have given up on fighting the coming Sixth Age, and surrendered to the Yama Kings. Universally-considered traitors and ''akuma''. Represents P'o.

==Let's Talk Politics: The Kuei-jin Courts==
The governing body of Kuei-jin in particular region is called a '''Court''', which oversees all ''wu'' in that area. In China there are five August Courts, descended from the Ancestral Courts of old, though there are other Courts located in different parts of Asia. While they are mostly concerned with the goings-on of the unliving, if they see the need to influence the world of mortals the Courts do so through the so-called '''Scarlet Screens''' -- secret societies, big corporations, even street gangs -- that act as their intermediaries.

Each court is led by an '''[[Ancestor_(KotE)|Ancestor]]''' (Dharma 7-8), whose rule was legitimized by the so-called '''Mandate of Hell''' after a rigorous screening process by senior Kuei-jin. He is in turn advised by the Court '''[[Mandarin]]s''' (Dharma 6), and served by the '''[[Jina]]''' (Dharma 4-5). All wu usually defer to the Court's mandates, though in practice most wu see to their own business, though the elder members of the various wu often confer with each other on larger matters. And while politics is unavoidable in any given Court, most of the time it is often genteel, especially when compared to the literal cut-throat rivalries prevalent in the Domain of a Cainite Prince.

===The Five August Courts===
* '''Blood''': Based in Beijing. Aspected North, the Blood Court has been the seat of authority of the Five August Courts ever since the drafting of the Treaty of the Quincunx. It passes laws and dictates policy for all ''wu'' under the Quincunx's authority, which means all Kuei-jin in the Middle Kingdom. It remains a steadfast bastion of tradition, and puts a premium on correctness and harmony with the Great Cycle.
* '''Bone''': Based in Chongquing. Aspected West, the Bone Court busies itself in trying to find a connection back with the past, primarily through recovering potent artifacts and relics from the time of Mount Meru and the Wan Xian. This is a side-quest though, as most Kuei-jin of the court primarily want to find a way back to Mount Meru itself. The Court itself is very insular as a result.
* '''Flame''': Based in Hong Kong. Aspected South. Defunct for the entirety of British rule in Hong Kong, the forces of the Quincux are fevereshly trying to rebuild its strutures in the wake of the territory's return to Chinese control. Loyal ''wu'' are trying to root out pockets of Cainites still in the city, and it is said when the situation stabilizes in the Court's favor, the region will then be used as the focal point for striking at their enemies' heartland.
* '''Flesh''': Based in Shanghai. Aspected East, the Flesh Court was originally created as a stopgap against the ''akuma''-infested Court of the Azure Dragon, to purge the eastern reaches against divergent thought and rebellion. The going has not been easy, not helped by the Japanese invasion of 1937, which brought a host of ''akuma'' with them. As a result, the "Court" is embroiled in a nightly battle to repel foreign invaders.
* '''Jade''': Based in Changan. Aspected Center, the Jade Court is the spiritual center for the entire Kuei-jin population. Kuei-jin from this Court are considered some of the wisest and intellectual of their kind. Representatives from the Jade court as always welcome in any of the smaller regional Courts as a result.

===Regional Courts===
* '''Golden''': Descendants of the Scarlet Phoenix Court and based in the countries that make up Indochina and a good chunk of Southeast Asia, the Golden Court isn't so much one Court as it is a loose grouping of disparate domains, united under powerful ''penangallan''-queens. The court is [[Black Furies|violently matriarchal]], with the ''penangallan'' and their attendants ruling the roost; while men are allowed in the Court, questioning a female three times will see them exiled (if they're lucky) or very painfully executed (if they're unlucky). Home to shitloads of Devil Tigers, and known to be much more diverse than the others, with influence from Chinese, Indian, Polynesian, and many other cultures. Aspected South.
** ''Very'' unpopular with the Same-bito (Asian [[Werewolf:_The_Apocalypse|Rokea]]) courtesy of the Golden Court's past taste for their kinfolk's flesh and chi. The big five Courts also don't like them very much due to the way they buck tradition, the way they killed Blood Court members sent to reign them in, and the fact they have one of the highest rates of members (key and otherwise) becoming ''akuma'' in the Middle Kingdom - this is mostly their own fault, [[derp|since only the Penangallan-queens are ever tested for taint]]. Unsurprisingly, this leaves them on the knife-edge between being true Devil Tigers and falling to the akuma entirely.
* '''Golden Lions''': Based in Singapore, the Golden Lion Court is made up of expatriate male Kuei-jin from the Golden Court, and other outcasts from the matriarchy. Since most of them were kicked out of the Golden Court after becoming too powerful for the Penangallans' liking, they're [[Ventrue]]-tier paranoid schemers with an obsession about order and control; ''wu'' are taught to obey their leader no matter the circumstances, and there's an abundance of Scarlet Screens in the city. Unsurprisingly, the Way of the Resplendent Crane is the biggest Dharma here.
** Though they really want to secede from their on-again off-again abusive girlfriends in the Golden Courts, they're located bang in the middle of their territory, so any attempt at fleeing [[FATAL|would go badly]]. The Golden Courts themselves generally consider the Golden Lions a bunch of overconfident, but amusing fools, as they know they're more than capable of crushing any uprising that occurs; the Golden Lions themselves are unaware of this, and are consequentially becoming ever-more paranoid as they build toward their intended secession.
* '''Green''': Based in the Korean peninsula, the Kuei-jin of the Green Courts are known mostly for their necromancy and their trade in Jade. Caught between the Quincunx in China and the Uji in Japan, the Green Court has learned to lie low and play both sides against each other, to its own benefit. They run what's basically the Underground Railroad of the East, known as the Parallel Path - a network of safehouses where a Kuei-Jin can be sheltered then sent on somewhere else when they need to disappear from sight (in exchange for Jade and other favours, of course).
** Their big secret is that their Jade reserves are near-depleted, with most of their Dragon Nests running completely dry of the stone. Making matters worse, their only way to get it is finding new Dragon Nests, most of which are in the hands of shapeshifters from [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse]] due to being Caerns; surprisingly enough, they do ''not'' very much like the idea of Kuei-jin raiding their sacred sites for Jade and are more than willing to send intruders back in several pieces.
* '''Uji''': Based in Japan, the ''gaki'' of Japan are currently experiencing a period of turmoil, with two of its most powerful houses pitted against each other as the country itself rushes headlong into modernity and Western influence. Matters are complicated by the deteriorating health of the reservoirs of Chi running through the country, a consequence of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
* '''Infinite Thunders''': Based in Sri Lanka, the ''Bijali'' is only given cursory acceptance by the Quincunx due to the prevalence of the heretical Flames of the Rising Phoenix Dharma in their ranks. Located at the crossroads of trade and culture, the Court makes its own way philosophically, integrating elements of Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic practices into their own. Despite their similar origins and diversity to the Golden Courts, they do ''not'' get along due to the ''akuma'' infesting the latter's ranks; the way that the IT Court heavily prefers stability and debate over intrigue and internal violence probably doesn't help. The court had, for the longest time, had a cold war with the native [[Ravnos]] of India, which exploded into the conflict that led to the [[Week of Nightmares]].
* '''New Promise Mandarinate''': Based in San Francisco in California, this was founded in the wake of the Great Leap Outward, to take the fight to the Cainites on their home turf. Unfortunately for them, things didn't quite go as planned; while the New Promise Mandarinate still has a foothold in the Americas, they've taken a fairly hefty beating and are currently re-considering their strategies against the Cainites. The ''wu'' shown in the comics of the Dharma books have moved here as of 2002.

===Defunct Courts===
* '''Five August Courts''': The predecessors to the Quincunx, founded in the wake of their ousting from Mount Meru by a group of Kuei-Jin known only as the Five Emperors. These groups became the bedrock of Kuei-Jin society during the Fourth Age, but gradually began to drift in purpose after the Five Emperors paid their debts and ascended to the Thousand Clouds. They collapsed some time after the Mongol invasions, which bought Cainites and other Western supernaturals to the Middle Kingdom alongside the mortal invaders; in the aftermath, the Quincunx was founded to pick up the slack.
** '''Scarlet Phoenix Court''': Aspected South. They were like a hybrid of the Flesh and Golden Courts, colonising the jungles of the south and getting into bloody nightly battles with the demons, spirits, and ''shen'' already present there. The rest of the courts didn't much like them either, with the Court of the Yellow Emperor in particular pressuring them to [[meme|RESPECT MAH AUTHORITAH!]] and openly warring with them when they refused. The SPC eventually fell after the twin pressures of the August Courts and the nightly battles drove its Ancestors into becoming ''akuma'', with the corruption spreading until the Quincunx flatly disowned and then wiped them out.
** '''Black Tortoise Court''': Aspected North. These guys were relatively liberal and free-spirited, wandering around the Middle Kingdom and debating the nature of the Kuei-Jin state among themselves in-between hunting down Kuei-Jin heretics. They were one of the first Courts to encounter Cainites, with their reaction being politely describable as "Fuck you all," swiftly followed by getting into a long and bitter war with the Western vampires. Ultimately, they were done in by ''Akuma'' infestation within their ranks; the Court had few ways of detecting demonic corruption, which resulted in many members (knowingly or otherwise) feeding from corrupted Dragon Nests until they went the way of the [[White Howlers]].
** '''White Tiger Court''': Aspected West. Fell apart when their Empress wandered off to Tibet in search of holy sites and artifacts, only to vanish without a trace.
** '''Court of the Azure Dragon''': Aspected East. Formerly based in Korea and Japan, they eventually broke up into small bands under different warlords as the two countries' history progressed, laying the ground for the Green and ''Uji'' Courts. The newborn Quincunx, already pissed at their isolation and increasingly divergent practices, promptly disowned them and deemed all surviving members of the Court to be ''akuma''.
** '''Court of the Yellow Emperor''': Aspected Centre. The precursors to the Jade Court, with much of the same practices, they claimed official dominion over the other members of the Five August Courts. In practice, the other Courts managed to get away with paying lip service to them outside of a few noticeable punch-ups, like that time they went to war with the Scarlet Phoenix Court and inadvertently caused the foundation of the Shih demon-hunters. They collapsed some time in-between the Sui and Song Dynasties, broken by civil war between their ''wu''; a few ran off to become the Jade Court and help found the Quincunx.

==Disciplines==
Much like the Disciplines available to Cainites, Kuei-jin have access to potent powers and abilities. Unlike Western vampires though, these are usually learned the further through a Gui Ren journeys on the Road Back. This doesn't make them less potent, however.

===Chi Arts===

Allows a Kuei-jin to create mystical effects through Chi use, either of their own or the environment. These are the following:
* '''Equilibrium''': Balance or imbalance a target's Chi for various purposes. Usually requires a touch, but does not on its own affect ghosts or spirits.
* '''Tapestry''': Manipulate ambient Chi to produce a variety of helpful effects. A Yin-attuned ''Chi Rift'', one of the 5-dot powers, was used in conjunction with Storm Shintai to [[Week of Nightmares|pin Zapathasura in place for a night and a day]].
* '''Yang Prana''': Frenzied and explosive katas that allow a Kuei-jin to tap into more of their Yang Chi. As these need a fair degree of movement, these cannot be done if a Gui Ren is incapacitated in some way.
* '''Yin Prana''': Graceful and slow motions that allow its user to tap into more of their Yin Chi. Like Yang Prana, the Kuei-jin must be able to move to use this.

===Soul Arts===

Centers on a Kuei-jin mastering their control over the Hun and P'o. Those who master Soul Disciplines are formidable beings, but on the flip side, any mistake in activating these skills give an opening for their Shadows to take over if they're not careful.

* '''Cultivation''': Techniques for communing and influencing a target's P'o, forcing frienzies, separating Hun and P'o from the target's body, and even merging the two soul fragments together temporarily.
* '''Chi'iu Muh/Dragon Tears''': Depending on whether Hun or P'o is in control, can be used to heal body and soul, but if P'o is in control it can be used to steal souls and harm spirits. Advancing through this creates first a gem on the forehead, then a third eye, then a blazing orb.
** Interesting story, '''Saulot''' (the [[Antediluvian]] of the Salubri) was Xue's first disciple (where he was known as Zao-Lat, followed by a number of colorful epithets like "The Thief", and the "The Traitor"), and this was one of those things he "stole" from his master. This eventually turned into the ''Obeah'' and ''Valeren'' Disciplines in the main game.

* '''Internalize''': Centers on inner focus and control, users are capable of channeling their inner strength to do amazing feats.
* '''Obligation''': Channel Hun to inspire or overwhelm the wills of others. Masters of this can create permanent bonds between the souls of the users and their target.
* '''Mibasham''': A rarely-practiced art concerned with a target's Dharma, and existence as Kuei-jin.
* '''Tzu Wei''': Use astrology and the horoscope to create a result favorable to the user.

===Demon Arts===

Techniques that are powered by a Kuei-jin's P'o. No Soul Disciplines barring ''Chi'iu Muh'' may be used while using Demon Arts, and whenever these are invoked, the user must take care that they not be overwhelmed by their Shadow soul.

* '''Black Wind''': Essentially controlled Frenzy, this turns the Kuei-jin into a whirling storm of destruction. The user may gain an extra action, move further, or do more damage.
* '''Demon Shintai''': Assume monstrous form while increasing physical and combat prowess. Demonic features are unique to each user, and normally grow more prominent or ornate as they advance in skill, but still normally reflect their Shadow natures.
* '''Hellweaving''': Channels the powerful energy from Yomi, to harm enemies or aid the user. Usually needs a LOT of human sacrifice in exchange. Using this Discipline is a surefire way to get outed as a true ''akuma'', and thus be placed on all Quincunx Kuei-jin's shitlist.
* '''Iron Mountain''': Channel one's Demon to endure impressive amounts (and different types) of damage.
* '''Kiai''': Use one's voice as a weapon against living and the unliving, and even use it to open pathways through the Spirit Worlds. FUS-RO-DAH!

===Shintai===

The so-called god bodies, which manifest as Chi gets focused into the user's physical form. The more mastery one has of their Chi, the more a Kuei-jin can temporarily raise an attuned attribute as well.
* '''Blood''': Attunes Strength. Utilize one's blood for defensive or offensive purposes.
* '''Bone''': Attunes Stamina. Channel Yin to be even more like an obvious undead horror, to the point that they can vanish from view or poison their enemies.
* '''Jade''': Attunes Strength. Channel ambient Chi to be able to walk on water, flow through objects like earth or concrete, fly, or take on the aspect of a classical element.
* '''Flesh''': Attunes Dexterity. Channel Yang energy to augment or transform their bodies, to the point the user can create homunculus-like spies out of their own flesh.
* '''Ghost-flame''': Attunes Stamina. Manifest cold Yin flames or blazing Yang flames to protect the user or damage their enemies.
* '''Beast''': Attunes Strength. Use one's P'o to control the animals in an area, while higher masteries allow the user to channel a "totem" animal spirit and gain its abilities.
* '''Smoke''': Attunes Dexterity. Use smoke to misdirect or hide from opponents, or control fire to attack at higher mastery levels.
* '''Storm''': Attunes Stamina. Channel storm winds to fly, lightning to attack, and even create a thunderstorm to blot out the sun over a given area. Used to ''terrific'' effect during the [[Week of Nightmares]].

==Rituals==

Similar to Thaumaturgical rituals, Kuei-jin use Rites to tap and manipulate the Chi of their surroundings. Many of these are used to communicate and placate spirits, travel through the land of the Yin or Yang worlds, or to utilize the potent reserves of Dragon Nests to traverse vast distances in a blink of the eye.

All Kuei-jin may learn rites over the course of their unlives, but mostly those of the West and Center directions do so. One just needs to find a willing master, the right materials, and a whole lot of practice.

* '''Chi Rites''': Allow a user to locate places of power, enter the spirit worlds, or make Chi adjustments in their area.
* '''Individual Rites''': Used to commemorate significant changes to their unlives. Normally story-driven, but with mechanical effects.
* '''Social Rites''': Ceremonies used to acknowledge changes that affect the greater community. Another story-driven affair, but also with tangible effects.
* '''Rites of Wind and Water''': Basically Kuei-jin ''feng shui'', where proper Chi line alignments are used to achieve results using power from the spirit world.

==Related ''Shen''==
* '''Akuma''': The most despised opponent a Kuei-jin can face barring members of the Dharmic heresies, akuma are Kuei-jin who have willingly abandoned enlightment for servitude to the Yama Kings. There are some unlucky souls branded by akuma by the Courts for political reasons, but these normally get off lightly (just exile mostly) compared to "true" akuma, who are normally hunted down and killed on sight once revealed.

* '''[[Dhampyr]]''': Also known as Shade Walkers, these people are the half-damned offspring of a Yang-inbalanced Kuei-jin and their mortal lover. Once introduced to the shadow society that their unliving parents move in, they make perfect daytime agents. Many have their own motivations that don't necessarily coincide with their parents though. They are very long-lived, and there are actually ''Jin-hai'' survivors from the original massacre by the Wan Xian still hanging around, pursuing their own mysterious motives.

* '''Yulan-jin''': Yulan-jin are souls that managed to escape Hell, and yet whose P'o was not strong enough to reunite with the Hun of its old body. As a result, they are cursed to jump from one body to another once their vessel dies, to move on to the closest available corpse. In all other respects they're Kuei-jin, but without a stable body (or indeed, a stable memory), most of these doomed individuals have no way to follow the Road Back. A vanishingly few though manage to become true Kuei-jin, but it is a difficult path to say the least.

==Recent Nights==

'''The Great Leap Outward / The Crimson War'''

Kuei-jin versus Cainites in California, essentially. Indirectly brought about when a certain dick of a Giovanni approached some Mandarins of the Blood Court in Beijing about the possibility of weakening the Wall that was preventing Second Breath from happening outside of Asia. One crusading Resplendent Crane with a hard-on for taking the fight to Cainites later (as they blamed them for being the source of the majority of corruption affecting the Middle Kingdom), and the Mandarins had their excuse to test the results of their "arrangement".

About a hundred and fifty Kuei-jin journeyed from Hong Kong to San Francisco in what would be called the "Great Leap Outward", including several Flesh Court veterans from Shanghai. Night battles soon erupted between the expedition's frontline ''wu'' and the forces of both the Camarilla and the Sabbat. The Gui Ren enjoyed initial success due to surprise and the ignorance of the Western vampires to their abilities, but soon resistance stiffened.

The Sabbat turned to their tried and true tactic of Mass Embrace, and sent wave after wave of Thinblood/Shovelhead cannon fodder to wear ''wu'' down in a battle of attrition. The Camarilla, on the other hand, used its Ghoul servants to hunt down the resting places used by the Kuei-jin during the day, and destroy the invaders while they slept.

With their supply lines stretched and no quick way to replace losses, the Kuei-jin leaders in California had to [[Not As Planned|reconsider a much more measured approach]]. At the same time, the Ancients of the Blood Court were gearing up for the long term, and were readying much more subtle and diplomatic ways to deal with the Cainites.

With news of Second Breath now happening in California though, the forces of the Great Leap Outwards are even more convinced of the righteousness of their cause.

As of V5/5th Edition, most of this had been retconned away, with much of the captured territory still in Anarch hands.

==Final Nights==

Naturally, much like the other gamelines of the Old World of Darkness, the Kindred of the East received a few scenarios to coincide with the Time of Judgement.

===The Rising of One Hundred Clouds===

The "Magic Goes Away" scenario. The Sixth Age arrives in a way unexpected to many Wan Kuei. The Demon Emperor has ascended, but the start of His reign brings the closing off of the Mortal realm from the Spiritual, and not the expected time of battle. Many shen decide to withdraw into the Yin and Yang worlds before travel there becomes impossible.

As the divide between the material and spiritual realms becomes stronger, ambient Chi becomes weaker. Elder Wan Kuei who used to passively absorb ambient Chi in the environment are forced on the hunt once more. Whats worse, is with the weakening of Chi lines, travel through the spirit paths become nearly impossible.

Things progress to the point where the Wall is nearly impenetrable. Before this happens elder Kuei-jin go missing, with many experiencing that last burst of insight needed to achieve Enlightenment. For others, a more darker fate awaits, as they walk into Yomi either willingly, or called there by the Yama Kings as their ''akuma'' natures are revealed. With even the walls to Yomi barred tight, no more Wan Kuei take Second Breath.

Bereft of guidance, the younger members of all Dharmas struggle to make their way in a world where resources are much more scarce. And what's worse, the Wan Kuei's traditional enemies circle, sensing weakness... Whatever happens next, it's very likely that the players might become some of the last Kuei-jin left in the world, a sad remnant of an already sorrowful age.

===Serpent Bites the Hand===

An Espionage and Combat scenario. Oliver Thrace, a Tremere from the Hong Kong chantry, had been staying as an "honored guest" of the Blood Court ever since he surrendered himself to them during the turnover of Hong Kong. Unbeknownst to his captors, he had been taking advantage of his stay to observe the Kuei-jin and figure out their weaknesses. And thanks to forbidden knowledge given by the Yama Kings Mikaboshi and Tou Mu, he may finally have the thing needed to tip things in the Cainites' favor.

Through one means or another, Thrace escapes from his hosts, and even when the Characters pursue, they somehow lose trace of him (or deal with him, and think the threat ended). Other issues vie for their attention, but soon enough, the Screaming Plague happens, and Kuei-jin simply drop dead.

Y'see, Thrace (or one of his replacements if the PCs deal with him during the escape) managed to return to the Camarilla, where he then taught the Ritual of Breaking the Demon Bonds to his fellow Tremere. What it does is it severes the bond a Kuei-jin has with their body, and sends their soul screaming back into Yomi.

Eager to eliminate their enemies in California, they start performing the rite in Kuei-jin occupied areas. The effect is immediate and shocking. Kuei-jin minding their own business suddenly rot and turn into dust, starting with the eldest of the city before working its way down to the youngest.

The PCs are now faced with a choice. Either they make a strike against the Tremere before it becomes too late, or make a deal with a Yama King to save themselves. Those who elect to strike at the Tremere Chantries discover the horrific truth: that the ritual sites were converted into broken mirrors, hell gates to Yomi where corrupted Chi well through.

If the characters somehow manage to seal a hellgate or two... The forces of hell still stream through all the other Tremere chantries. However the spots where the gates were sealed remain palces where uncorrupted Chi manages to flow, and these can now be used by the surviving Kuei-jin as bases to now strike against the Yama Kings.

===The Trumpet of Mount Meru===

A Combat-heavy scenario. The Sixth Age is coming, but the August Personage isn't giving up his throne quietly. He empowers the Shih daemon hunters, allowing them to draw upon the Chi of the land to strengthen themselves much like the Ten Thousand Immortals of old. They would become His new chosen warriors, one final bulwark of defiance against the coming darkness of the Yama Kings.

Before that though, there's one more loose thread to deal with: the Wan Kuei, disgraced spiritual descendants of the Wan Xian, must not be allowed to see the dawn of the Sixth Age. As they grow in confidence as well as power, the Shih begin to openly hunt down the forces of the August Courts, soon even the Elders are put to flight.

When the legendary God Slayer takes to the field of battle, it is a sign that the end had finally come for the Wan Kuei. Depending on the Storyteller, the final battle may occur in the material realm, or the spirit world. Setting the battle in the latter makes it so that little, if any, of the Mortal world gets troubled by this little tussle between the supernatural.

In any case, the last of the Wan Kuei make their stand against their pursuers... But in a surprising twist however the Shih ''don't'' annihilate the Kuei-jin; instead they give their defeated foes a chance to join them in the final battle against the Yama Kings. Though many refuse, many also accept, and together with the Shih make a glorious last stand in the Mirror Lands with their backs against the Wall against the endless hordes of the Yama Kings.

===The Wicked City===
An investigation and combat scenario. The Wan Kuei discover that the Yama King Mikaboshi's Wicked City is slowly intruding into the Mortal World. The players discover broken mirrors in cities are leaking corrupted Chi into the Mortal world. The Kuei-jin scramble to try and seal these breaches, but anything tried is a temporary fix at best, as another hellgate soon erupts somewhere else.

One thing is clear: the arrival of the Sixth Age is nigh. The Wan Kuei call war councils, and the PCs get involved trying to create a unified front by acting as go-betweens among rival Courts. In the end, even when they're able to unite the various Kuei-jin factions, they're still beaten to the punch by Mikaboshi.

Y'see, the Yama King had been slowly corrupting [[Mage: The Ascension|Strike Force Zero]] from within, and uses the mages as his cats paws against the Wan Kuei. SF0 agents disrupt Kuei-jin efforts to repair the broken mirrors, and even hunt them down directly.

Through all this, the Broken Mirrors expand, and the Wicked City invades the mortal realm like a cancer, eating away at reality. Urban areas soon become part of Mikaboshi's domain, and his demon servitors stalk the shen, forcing many to flee or into servitude. Even the Cainites are corrupted by the powers of Yomi.

The forces of the August Courts try to hold on to the cities, but they are soon forced from their strongholds by demons and akuma loyal to the Yama King. Even the savage ''penangallan'' of the Golden Courts are forced to flee into the jungles, but such fighting withdrawals become all-too common as the forces of darkness converge.

Cities around the world become extensions of the Wicked City, becoming bad Blade Runner or Akira parodies. Then the vile cityscape spreads, taking over places with low ambient Chi before trying to consume dragon lines and nests. The Kuei-jin congregate to defend the latter, as these remain the only sources of undefiled Yin and Yang Chi.

What follows next depends on the Storyteller. They can move the scene to a desperate last stand at one of the last uncorrupted dragon nests... Or go the other way, with the Kuei-jin going on the attack, with the PCs crashing Mikaboshi's coronation party and trying to assassinate him with an ancient jade dagger. If the Storyteller prefers to end things with a literal bang, the PCs can instead set off a ''relic nuke'' right underneath Mikaboshi's nose as he crowns himself Demon Emperor, taking him and all the other Yama Kings in attendance out. Yeah.

==Why no 20th Anniverary Edition or V5, WW/Onyx Path?==
{{Topquote|Go channel your Yin-Yang energies somewhere else, Grimaline Smith from Norfolk UK.|Markus, [[Hunter: The Parenting]], talking to a Huge Fucking Weeb}}
One of the main stumbling blocks that even the creative team had found about updating or streamlining Kindred of the East is the sheer amount of '''Orientalism''' prevalent in the lore and even the ruleset. While acceptable in the late 90's, the way it dealt with Asian cultures in general -- being terribly essentialist by mashing everything into a mulch, then haphazardly blending in Kung-fu and Wuxia for flavor -- would result in endless amounts of controversy, several internet shitstorms, and at least one firing or forced resignation of everyone involved with it.

And that's assuming White Wolf manages to restrain its tendency to handle touchy socio-political issues with the approximate care of dropping a thermonuclear warhead in a china shop, which [[Vampire:_The_Masquerade#Fifth_Edition:_Vampire_V|their]] [[Mage:_The_Ascension#Dreamspeakers|track]] [http://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/main-forum/the-classic-world-of-darkness/mage-the-ascension/57656-regarding-the-wu-keng record] both recent and otherwise does ''not'' support.

In the end, it's a whole lot of work for little to no guarantee of a pay-off, so the Kindred of the East line had been left untouched, rules-wise. That's not to say that the Kuei-jin aren't still around -- there have been references to them in many V5 books -- it's just that they're not going to be playable barring homebrews anytime soon.

{{OWoD-Dharmas}}
{{WoD-Games}}
[[Category:World of Darkness]]
[[Category:Vampire: The Masquerade]]
[[Category:Kindred of the East]]

Wraith: The Arising

2023-05-24T21:18:04Z

2600:4040:7E74:5500:7106:6F3C:CE76:8784:

{{WoD-stub}}

'''Wraith: The Arising''' is a yet another fanmade game line for the [[New World of Darkness]]. Unlike most of the others we have pages for, it's an adaptation of ''[[Wraith: The Oblivion]]'' from the [[Old World of Darkness]] to the new setting (with some elements of ''[[Orpheus]]'' and ''[[Exalted]]: The Abyssals'') rather than something created from scratch.

You're someone who died, and now you have to figure out what to do now that you're in the underworld. Each Wraith is visually and mentally marked by the form their ''Death'' took, and has a voice in their head called a ''Shadow'' that is a reflection of the darker aspect of their personality. There are also factions called ''Concords'' based around political and philosophical reactions to the underworld.

==Links==
* [http://wraithproject.cattail.nu/archives/wraiththearising.html Website]
* [http://wraithproject.cattail.nu/archives/0410wtasoi.html Statement of Intent]
* [http://faust91xroleplayingpage.weebly.com/wraith-the-arisen.html Compendium]
* Character Sheets: [http://mrgone.rocksolidshells.com/pdf/MiscNWOD/NWoD_WraithTheArising.pdf MrGone], [http://mrgone.rocksolidshells.com/pdf/fansheets/wraith_new_v2.pdf Renfield286]
* [http://faust91xroleplayingpage.weebly.com/wraith-book.html Alternate Compendium], after the project was abandoned and picked up by someone else.
{{WoD-Games}}
[[Category:Homebrew Settings]][[Category:Homebrew Rules]]

Wraith: The Oblivion

2023-05-24T21:16:42Z

2600:4040:7E74:5500:7106:6F3C:CE76:8784: /* See Also */

{{Game Infobox
|name = Wraith: The Oblivion
|picture = [[File:WtO_logo.png|200px]]
|type = [[Role-playing game]]
|system = [[Storyteller System]]
|publisher = [[White Wolf]]
|authors = [[Mark Rein·Hagen]], [[Jennifer Hartshorn]], [[Sam Chupp]], [[Richard E. Dansky]]
|year = 1994
|books = Wraith: The Oblivion
}}
'''Wraith: The Oblivion''' is a [[roleplaying game]] of "Passion and Horror" published by [[White Wolf]] that often provides more [[PC]]s than there are players, thanks to a system allowing for "The Shadow" of a character to act like a separate entity. Progenitor to the [[Promethean: The Created|Promethean]] school of "game that people like to read but no one actually plays." One of the grimmest, most depressing games ever made that wasn't [[FATAL|unintentionally so]]. It also is one of the only WWI role-playing games via the historical setting ''Wraith: The Great War''. And if the trenches of WWI weren't horrifying enough, there's even a splatbook for the dead of WWII, ''including The Holocaust.''

Each player, in addition to their character, plays the "Shadow" of another character, undermining whatever they tried to do and tempting them to give in to their worst impulses and damn themselves. This seemed like such a good idea on paper that everyone somehow missed that it means that the game was actively ''encouraging'' players to screw each other over. To quote our hatefuckbuddies over at TVTropes: "The intent was to create deep, psychological roleplaying where the players got to flex their drama muscles as much as the GM; the effect was that most people saw it as a game that could only end in hurt feelings and recriminations." Which, if you think about it, is exactly what the game wants, friends undermining each other, except that somewhat fatally it doesn't encourage people to actually play the game or at least not more than once.

==The Setting==
W:tO takes place in the planes of existence surrounding and within in the Shadowlands, the place where the deceased go after their earthly demise. Not all humans turn into wraiths; some people simply die violently and horribly enough that they simply cannot get over the fact that they kicked the bucket. Tying the wraith in the space between the skinlands and the ever-increasing and all-consuming Oblivion are the wraith's personal "fetters". Fetters are random objects that meant something emotionally to the restless in question. They may range anywhere from a simple pocket watch to a vampire character. Wraiths may use these items to restore their mental and physical attributes: Pathos and Corpus.

Your main focus as one of the restless should be to pass on into eternity either by achieving Transcendence, now made widely taboo and outright claimed as a fairy tale by wraith society or succumbing to the will of your "shadow" and embracing Oblivion, thus becoming a Spectre: A hellish ghost solely pursuing its own vicious, self-destructive and selfish goals.

Unlike most settings; wraiths cannot really use any sort of items, unless they were of some emotional significance, the only thing that matters in the land of the dead, where all hope is lost and the only thing that keeps you from simply giving up is the memory of when you were alive. And, boy howdy, are those things scarce. One way to get around this is to use soulforgery, which is the only way to create everything on the wrong side of the Shroud. However, Soulforging comes at a price, in order to create anything, someone has to give up their existence to become that item. The process of hammering a wraith into a piece of furniture, for instance, is a horrible and ghoulish endeavour, the process causes extreme agony to the wraith and it is '''irreversible'''. Some say they can hear their soulforged items wail and moan occasionally. Usually victims of soulforging are the types of wraiths known as drones: mindless and simple ghosts doomed to forever play out the last moments of their life.

Sounds bad? Well, Charon put it this way, Soulforgery is the final and worst punishment to a wraith and is only to be mete out in the most extreme conditions, such as leading wraiths to feed oblivion or trying to overthrow Stygian society. A soulforged wraith cannot feed oblivion anymore and serves a better purpose as a sword, for instance, against the denizens of the Labyrinth. There! You can use this cognitive dissonance to muffle those silent moans and sobbing your soulsteel blade is emmitting.

Since most of wraiths are ancient dead from bygone eras, such as classic Rome and the middle ages, most of them prefer swords and traditional weapons. Plus, in order to fire a soulforged or relic firearm, it requires relic or soulforged bullets plus the mental energy of the wraiths, 'pathos', to operate, cause basic physics don't work naturally in the underworld, they have to be fueled; so it is simply more cost effective to use a crossbow, for instance.

==Stygian Guilds==
Stygian guilds formed around the use of one of the "Arcanoi", the psychic powers of wraiths. While most wraiths are well-versed in more than one power, guilds simply focus and draw profit on one of them. Guilds were banned from Stygia by the order of Charon, cause they kept messing around with the Quick (You are either quick or dead) and causing a general ruckus. Now guilds operate in secret and only allow exclusive membership. While guildship is punishable by soulforging, many wraiths still employ their services to advance their machinations and plots as well as providing a service to the high-ranking deathlords and other residents of Stygia (every Wraith will need the services of a pardoner or a monitor at one point). Use of different Arcanoi causes permanent "scarring" on the Wraith Corpus (plasm surrounding the soul).

*'''Alchemists:''' Alchemists use the Arcanoi "Flux" to manipulate objects in the skinlands, such as causing things to break down to creating inanimate golems to wreak havoc. Separate from their parent guild, The Artificers, Alchemists were disbanded by Charon, as a part of his "stop meddling with mortals" -policy. Alchemists don't have any distinguishing marks, but they are obsessive idiots, who never talk about anything else except their power.

*'''Artificers:''' Mockingly known as "Hammerboys" or by modern "Neos", these wraiths use "Inhabit" to manipulate real world machinery or items. Artificers are the richest guild in Stygia, due to practicing the fine art of Soulforgery. Artificers are recognized by red blotches caused by working at the soulforges or by circuitry-shaped burns from inhabiting electrical machinery.

*'''Chanteurs:''' The loudest of the loudest, Chanteurs can use their Arcanos "Keening" to imbue their voice with amazing powers. They function as bards, in the sense that their singing can imbue Pathos to wraiths in need of it and can even cause harm and heart attacks on mortals with a combination of "Embody" and "Keening".

*'''Harbingers:''' The taxi-drivers of the shadowlands. Using the Arcanos "Argos", these wraiths have the ability to jump to and fro in the ever-roiling tempest. Using different abilities to mask themselves and their clientele from the hungry gaze of the denizens of oblivion, Harbingers can carry other wraiths to safety or rescue them from the strong currents. Harbingers can be recognized from their completely black eyes.

*'''Haunters/Spooks:''' These two guilds work closely together to wreak havoc inside haunts to drive out inquisitive mortals. Spooks use "Outrage" to cause material objects to fly around and do spooky stuff; while Haunters use "Pandemonium" to create any kind of substance into the skinlands a'la blood elevator in The Shining, these effects are temporary, however, and at worst will simply cause slight structural damage. Spooks are oddly misshapen with strong muscle groups and Haunters wear fantastic black cloaks for theatrical effect, much like the Phantom of the Opera.

*'''Masquers:''' If you don't like what you look like, you can employ a masquer to use her "Moliate" ability to change your appearance for the better or make you more deadly by crafting your Corpus to have swords for arms, for instance.

*'''Mnemoi:''' The ability of "Mnemosynis" grants the power to read minds, making Mnemoi effective Inquisitors in wraith society. Like Soliciting, Mnemosynis can implant thoughts and objectives into the mind for the poor victim to perform. Like Monitors, Mnemoi never blink except by conscious effort, which makes their affiliation very obvious.

*'''Monitors:''' Considered very useful by wraiths, these users of the Arcanos "Lifeweb" to probe, monitor (hurr) and manipulate the structural strength of Fetters. Monitors never close their eyes, which isn't really amazing, cause dry eyes isn't really a thing when you're a ghost.

*'''Oracles:''' The Oracle's guild uses "Fatalism" to divine the strands of fate and possibly "turn the tide" to their favour. Tempting fate too much, however, can have dire consequences. Oracles have a permanent "eye" tattoo on their forehead, which seems to dance and twirl.

*'''Pardoners:''' With the shadow constantly tormenting you as a wraith, Pardoners come in handy for their Arcanoi called "castigate", which tells the wraith's Shadow to STFU. These wraiths act as the psychiatrists of the underworld, where your crazy self is constantly trying to destroy you and those around you. Pardoners have inky, black fingers.

*'''Proctors:''' Permab& by Charon, Proctors use "Embody" to phase over to the Skinlands to mess around with mortals as they see fit. Everything from materializing in front of poor souls just for cheap thrills to taking a stroll just to relive past days of being made of flesh. You may tell a user of this Arcanoi by blots on their skin, which resemble shadows cast by trees.

*'''Puppeteers:''' Once again, banned by Charon for '''painfully''' obvious reasons, skinriders can "hop a ride" on mortals or even control them on higher levels of this art. Skinriding causes the wraith to adopt certain quirks and habits used by the host. In the 20th Anniversary edition, this got updated to also taking on the physical characteristics found between the hosts a given Puppeteer most frequently possesses (eg, age, gender, ethnicity, weight).

*'''Sandmen:''' These overly dramatic users of "Phantasm" can cause sleep in mortals and affect their dreams in any way they see fit. In addition they can weave illusions around them in the shadowlands, making them wanted performers in Deathlord and other aristocratic courts.

*'''Solicitors:''' Solicitors can probe into your head and fish out your deepest desires or wants with "Intimation". In addition to this, Solicitors can change your wants and needs to the point of even making them into an obsession. They can use this power on any type of creature, barring maybe Fey creatures. If a wraith with a single, glowing green eye says he wants to peer into your very being, just say no.

*'''Usurers:''' Like odd healers of the underworld, the Arcanos Usury allows these merchants of death to transfter Pathos into Corpus and vice versa. They can even imbue either of these attributes into material objects, turning them into freakish mana or health potions. Usury also creates soulfire crystals, which are used to create soulforged objects. Usurers speak in precise, numerical terms.

==Arcanoi==
The supernatural powers of the dead, powered by Pathos (from the Psyche) or Angst (from the Shadow). Comes in the three flavors depending on the group in question, possibly more as they depend on what Dark Kingdom a wraith is from, but ''WtO'' wasn't always fleshed out as much as the main three gamelines.

===Wraith Arcanoi===
The normal Arcanoi for players who play one of the core sixteen Guilds. In the earlier editions of the game they are all on paths of five powers, with [[splatbook]]s providing alternative powers to pick up. In the 20th Anniversary Edition they come in two paths of five powers: the first path has powers that can be learned by anyone, and the second path consists secret powers that are limited to members of the guilds only. Some of these powers are taken from existing Arcanoi, while others are created for the new edition. The two are learned seperately from one another, and the number of dots you know in an Arcanoi are determined by your highest dots in either path.

'''Regular Arts:''' Argos (travel), Castigate (shadow control), Embody (physical manifestation), Fatalism (future sight), Inhabit (control machines), Keening (bardic ability), Lifeweb (fetter control), Moliate (plastic surgery), Outrage (classic poltergeist), Pandemonium (control buildings), Phantasm (control dreams), Puppetry (possession), and Usury (pathos control).

'''Forbidden Arts:''' Flux, Intimation, and Mnemosynis.

<center>
<gallery>
File:Argos.png|Argos
File:Castigate.png|Castigate
File:Embody.png|Embody
File:Fatalism.png|Fatalism
File:Flux.png|Flux
File:Inhabit.png|Inhabit
File:Intimation.png|Intimation
File:Keening.png|Keening
File:Lifeweb.png|Lifeweb
File:Mnemosynis.png|Mnemosynis
File:Moliate.png|Moliate
File:Outrage.png|Outrage
File:Pandemonium.png|Pandemonium
File:Phantasm.png|Phantasm
File:Puppetry.png|Puppetry
File:Usury.png|Usury
</gallery>
</center>

===The Arts of Jade===
The Way of the Scholar (psyche control), The Way of the Artisan (jade crafting), The Way of the Farmer (shadow control), The Way of the Merchant (pathos control), The Way of the Soul (modified version of Castigate), and Chains of the Emperor (for capturing wraiths).

===Dark Arcanoi===
Contaminate (manipulation of the shadows of wraiths), Corruption (manipulating the living), Hive-Mind (a way of staying in contact with other spectres at all times), Larceny (prolongs their existence in the tempest), Maleficence (infusing being with the power of oblivion), Shroud-Rending (lets them see the skinlands and the living), Tempest-Weaving (manipulation of the tempest), and Tempestos (lets them move through the tempest).

==Dark Kingdoms==
The underworld of the old WoD was never fully defined, instead existing as a bunch of island kingdoms surrounded by what used to be the Sea of Shadows, but is now The Tempest after the 3rd Great Maelstrom set in motion a perpetual storm. The North African "Amenti" of the Dark Kingdom of Sand have their own game-line in the form of [[Mummy: The Resurrection]].

===Stygia===
The main setting for ''WtO'', also known as the Dark Kingdom of Iron, it sits on the Isle of Sorrows. It's impossibly big and supposedly a reflection of Western civilization

====Stygian Factions====
* '''The Hierarchy'''
Founded by the legendary Charon himself, The Hierarchy is the largest wraith government form in the Shadowlands. The Hierarchy's role was to keep unruly restless in-check from messing with folks in the skinlands, examples include everything from the occasional jump scare crazy house to blatant possession of mortals. After Charon's disappearance, however, guilds proceeded to practice their typical shenanigans.

The Hierarchy is the main form of government in Stygia, the city made from soulforged wraiths.
* '''Heretics'''
Heretics are wraiths, who practice one or another form of religious worship to a deity known in the mortal world or an idea. During the first days of Christianity, the underworld was beginning to see a sect of Heretics, known as the "Fishermen". Posing a danger to the local pagan wraiths by possibly staging a coup, Charon sought an agreement with the Fishermen, allowing them to continue recruitment of new wraiths but leaving the current residents alone.
* '''Renegades'''
Renegades live outside Stygian society and follow their own path in the afterlife. A certain biker gang rides through deadlands in a neverending journey of violence and lack of liquor.

===Yellow Springs===
East-Asia, AKA the Dark Kingdom of Jade or Jade Kingdom. Has ties to the [[Vampire: The Masquerade|VtM]] spinoff, ''Kindred of the East'' and the Wu T'ian of [[Mummy: The Resurrection|MtR]].
* '''Imperial Army'''
* '''Jade Censors'''
* '''Judges of the Dead'''
* '''Protectors of the Prosperous Realm'''
* '''Rebels'''

===The Bush of Ghosts===
Africa, the Dark Kingdom of Ivory.

===Karta===
Australia, the Dark Kingdom of Clay.

===Port Royal & The Mirrorlands===
The Caribbean, full of pirates of course.

===Swar, the City of Delights===
India, no kingdom title.

===The Dark Kingdom of Obsidian===
The Americas. "The Lands of Gold" in South America were devastated by living & dead conquistadors, while the Mesoamerican "Flayed Lands" and North American "Islands of Flint" are still around. Easily the most criminally underused setting in the World of Darkness, possibly all of fiction.

===The Dark Kingdom of Wire===
[https://writeups.letsyouandhimfight.com/monsieurchoc/charnel-houses-of-europe-the-shoah/ Detailed in ''Charnel Houses of Europe: The Shoah'']. Welcome to where the victims of the Holocaust wind up.

[[Grimdark|Yeah, it's ''that'' kind of place.]] The Dark Kingdom of Wire is comprised of the various ghettoes, extermination camps and other infamous sites related to the Final Solution, all linked by a network of ghostly railways that reflect the real-life ones built to carry out the Final Solution. The name comes from the relic barbed wire that enmeshes practically everything here, carrying with it a charge that will [[grimdark|toss anyone who touches it screaming straight into Oblivion]]. It's about as horrendously grimdark as you might expect, to say the least.

As for how the Kingdom came into existence, well, that's a long story. Basically, WW2 was a complete fuckstorm for mundane and supernatural factions alike; this even extended to the Underworld, where the Dark Kingdom of Jade went to war with Stygia while there was a massive influx of new souls from the battlefields, bombings, and butchery that defined the war. As a result, when the first wraiths of the Holocaust began to appear they were lost in all the confusion for some time. Eventually the Hierarchy noticed weird stuff was going down, put two and two together, and decided to [[Derp|basically shove all the Holocaust-born wraiths into the Underworld's ghettoes until they could adapt to Underworld life]]. [[Fail|Unsurprisingly, this was a complete failure in the long term.]]

As WW2 ground on, more and more wraiths connected to anti-Nazi resistance groups began showing up. Unsurprisingly pissed at the state of the ghettoes and desiring revenge on old enemies, they effectively convinced the wraiths of the ghettoes to secede from the Hierarchy and join them (the Hierarchy's reaction ranged from 'much rejoicing' to 'about time', as they saw the Holocaust wraiths as more of an environmental issue than anything else). This marks the point where the Dark Kingdom of Wire ''de facto'' began, since the Hierarchy didn't officially recognise it for some time afterwards.

Eventually, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuked, kicking off the Fifth Great Maelstrom and causing Charon to vanish. The Deathlords took full control of the Hierarchy and intended to continue ignoring the issues caused by the 'toss them in the ghettoes' approach, only for the Boatmen to not-so-subtly tell them to sort their shit out or be [[Blam|replaced]]. The Holocaust victims and their protectors (the Army of Fire) promptly took the opportunity to demand that their independence be recognised and any Nazi wraiths handed over to them; in exchange, the Dark Kingdom of Wire's wraiths would deal with the Spectres and Nihils caused by the Holocaust.

Uncertain of their new power and recognising the potential damage that could result if they fucked up, the Lords agreed, signing the '''Covenant of the Millions'''. This agreement essentially recognised the semi-autonomy of the Dark Kingdom of Wire and bound the Deathlords to send any Holocaust victims found outside the Kingdom's Necropoli over to them; courtesy of the Boatmen threatening the formation of more sub-regions, it also forced them to accept the millions of souls lost to genocide and purges before WW2 in Europe into the Hierarchy, after the Deathlords previously abandoned them for fear of over-bulking the Grim Legion's ranks.

(The higher-ups of the Hierarchy are still [[Butthurt|salty over this deal going through]], though the lower and middle ranks are generally sympathetic to the DKoW's actions and plights).

The Kingdom itself consists of several Necropoli:

* '''Theresienstadt Ghetto:''' One of the waypoints on the road to Auschwitz, Dachau, and the other extermination camps. It's a copy of what it was in life, though the walls now bleed and the Small Fortress (used as a base by the SS) now has a Nihil (basically a portal to the Tempest from which Spectres can emerge) right in the centre of it. The German doctor '''Richard Holvenbach''' runs this place - having tried (and failed) to help the Jewish inhabitants there during the events of WW2 after seeing just how horrific their conditions were, he's now running a (so far unsuccessful) program that aims to redeem Spectres and help the Wraiths of the ghetto peacefully achieve Transcendence.

Factions here are pretty few in number: The biggest are the ''Patients'', led by Doc Holvenbach, who act as the unofficial administrators and policy-makers to the rest of the camp - due to this, they're fairly well liked and looked up to (even if the good doctor's Redemption Program is causing some fear among the general populace). They comprise the bulk of the '''Ghetto Circle''', the official administration and political party of the Ghetto, who work to try and turn the Ghetto from a place of horror and pain to one of healing where Transcendence can be achieved.

The smallest and by far the most hated are the '''Red Cross''', the members of the IRC who failed to see the truth behind the "model ghetto" and its prisoners' treatment despite even Doctor Holvenbach trying to tell them how bad it was; they are now Fettered here by these failures, and their failures have not been forgotten - or forgiven. They're led by '''Jean-Claude Leclerc''', a former Red Cross diplomat who brushed off Doc Holvenbach's claims (thinking such horrors could not be possible) and subsequently drank himself to death when the truth about the Holocaust came out; he now seeks to redeem himself and his colleagues for their horrific failures and find acceptance within the Ghetto.

There are also the remnants of the ''Judenrat'', led by '''Solomon Eisenfeld'''; a Rabbi [[grimdark|put in charge of selecting those to be sent to the gas chambers]] in life, he and his colleagues now seek redemption for what they did, despite the vast majority of the Ghetto's wraiths hating their guts for hopefully obvious reasons.

* '''Babi Yar:''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babi_Yar Site of multiple massacres] of Jews by Nazis from 1941-43. On the Underworld side of things, it's home to a fucking huge Nihil which likes to spit out Spectres; the nearby Kyiv wraiths do ''not'' like the wraiths that live here, since they like throwing Nazi wraiths and their collaborators into this Nihil. While this used to be a total shithole due to the constant Spectre assaults and official stance of ignorance of the massacre in the Skinlands, the creation of the below two factions and the shift toward recognising the massacres in the Skinlands have improved it somewhat.
** '''Menders:''' Wraiths who want to find and help other survivors, while closing the nearby fuckoff-huge Nihil.
** '''Fallen Comrades:''' Red Army ghosts, dedicated to protecting the Menders and fighting the constant hordes of spectres emerging from the Nihil in the Ravine.

* '''Auschwitz-Birkenau:''' Yep. *That* Auschwitz-Birkenau. It's one of the biggest Necropoli in Europe in terms of sheer population density (which scares the pants off the Deathlords due to the damage they could cause if united), and is appropriately [[grimdark]] even by W:TO's standards - the place stinks of rotting corpses, giant clouds of ash and Zyklon-B permanently cover the skies, the air is filled with dissonant sound and agonised screaming, soulforging is common, and there's an utterly massive Nihil smack-bang where the SS Barracks used to be, from which hordes of Spectres often erupt to menace the camp. Oh, and there's basically zero leadership because of the dark memories that censuses and identification bring up, so it's mostly an anarchic nightmare with the outermost camps completely overrun by Spectres.

The infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" gates are still there, though the majority of the camp's officers and guards have been rather agonisingly fused with them, ''I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream''-style. Most of the camp is covered in a perpetually-regenerating mildew-like substance made of rotting flesh; that relic barbed wire from earlier is everywhere, denoting the camp's boundaries. The crematoria have become Soulforges - don't stay in them after dark. There's a bordello by the name of the House of Dolls, though it's creepy as all hell and several corridors lead straight into the Labyrinth. Birkenau itself is completely overrun with Spectres; the rest of the land around is a mix of barely-organized subcamps that are frequently attacked by Spectres.

Faction-wise, the spectres of Auschwitz are mostly divided into groups named "Triangles"/"Kommandos", in a display of bleak humour on their part.

'''''Partja:''''' The closest thing to idealists in this place. They're socialists that want to make the camp better to live in, since they're stuck there.

'''[[Communism|Collective]]:''' Hardcore old-school Communists. They're mostly Artificers and keep to the adjacent work camp of Buna, where they sometimes Soulforge Nazis into various goods (the rest of the time, it's implied they use any poor schmuck that gets sold to them). They've got a monopoly on Darksteel in the Kingdom of Wire, but have been becoming more and more isolated due to fears of corruption by Spectres in the main camp (which may not be entirely baseless - the DKoW's wraiths tend to be pretty fuzzy on the difference at the best of times).

'''Kanada:''' The black marketeers and relic-traders. You name it, they can probably get it for you. And if they can't, well, [[Grimdark|they'll just kidnap some poor fucker and sell them to the soulforges in the camp's crematoria so that they can get it for you]]!

'''''Sonderkommandos:''''' The Jews forced to help the Nazis dispose of bodies from the gas chambers. These poor bastards are *really* hated by most of the camp's inhabitants, who consider them barely a step above the willing collaborators and ''Kapos'', despite the fact that the ''Sonderkommandos'' were coerced to work under threat of death. Those who died rebelling against the guards get much better treatment, but there's still a lot of bad blood between the regular inmates and them.

'''''Die Eingeistein:''''' Ex-''Kapos'', these assholes worked with the SS to help keep the prisoners in line. They function as the camp's conscripted militia, keeping the other wraiths safe from Spectres (albeit grudgingly) in exchange for not having their asses thrown into Oblivion for their willing collaboration with Nazis in life. Probably the single most hated faction in the camp (tying with the non-rebellious Sonderkommandos), except for...

'''Black Triangles:''' In life, these guys were bottom-feeders - lackeys and boot-kissers to the camp's guards, who survived mainly due to their servility. In death, these guys are the lowest of the low in the hell of Auschwitz - about the only reason they haven't been soulforged/moliated into furniture or thrown into Sheol (that fuckoff-huge Nihil where the SS Barracks were) is because they weren't outright Nazis, and because they're useful for picking up nuggets of information. Also, basically everyone gets to treat them as their personal prison bitches.

==Spectres & The Labyrinth==
A spectre is a wraith/ghost who has become an agent of [[Oblivion]]. The transformation into a spectre happens, when a wraith's Shadow gains control and its Psyche becomes secondary, their biggest asset is that they share a hive-mind. Some dead start this way, such as children, because their wants, lack of patience and selfish attitude overrule any self-reflection and are instantly consumed by their shadow. There was even a book under the Black Dog label, ''Dark Reflections'', that provided rules for an inverted experience where someone else plays your character's Psyche instead of their Shadow. Spectres cannot see people or really understand their surroundings in the shadowlands under normal circumstances, because their alignment towards oblivion far removes them from the land of the living.

The Labyrinth is essentially the center of the Underworld, and at its center is the Maw of Oblivion, a big hole of nothing that destroys all that falls into it. Spectres experience the pull of oblivion far worse than wraiths, to the point where it is akin to a ripping agony and the only way to satiate it is to cause untold misery and suffering to wraiths and eventually lead them to be consumed by Oblivion. One way this happens is through "Harrowings".

A harrowing occurs when a wraith becomes weak enough (whether by losing all their corpus, or having a passion/fetter damaged) to be pulled through the tempest via nihil forming under their corpus, and into the Labyrinth; in here, they get thrown into an impromptu nightmare scenario that is orchestrated by the local spectres. The scenario is invariably personalized to the poor bastard who's suffering from it (courtesy of it being dictated to the spectres by the wraith's shadow), with the spectres typically attacking their victim's fetters or passions (for example, a wraith whose passion is to be remembered through work may find a manuscript of theirs is under threat, and need to save or abandon it). Every spectre is consumed by oblivion eventually, increasing its mass and power.

(If you're still having trouble grasping this: watch the original version of ''Jacob's Ladder'', which is a pretty good representation of a wraith undergoing several back-to-back harrowings).

===Spectre Castes===
*Apparitions: middle-caste lackeys, in transition to becoming Nephracks.
*Doppelgangers: low-caste, the usual Wraith whose Shadow took over, can pass for a Wraith
*Haints: non-caste as they hate everyone, became Spectres after a horrific death that defined their unlife.
*Hekatonkhires: varies with the spectre, they're failed Onceborn and like Shades at Malfean power levels.
*Malfeans: leader-caste; two types, Onceborn (former humans) and [[Exalted#Neverborn|Neverborn]] (nonhumans).
*Mortwights: under-caste, became Spectres on death yet are still defined by their life.
*Nephracks: upper-caste (admin, military, priests, etc.), they're former Doppelgangers warped by their contact with Oblivion.
*The Nothings: lowest caste, those stuck in shell-shock or who just give up, some even try "suicide".
*Pasiphae: non-caste ciphers, created when the Ferrymen use a weird ritual to permanently separate their Shadow from their Psyche.
*Shades: middle-caste shock troops, twisted into monsters by Oblivion kept in check by the hive-mind.
*Striplings: non-caste, mobs of feral dead children.

==Charnel Houses of Europe: The Shoah==

If Wraith is known for anything in particular, it's the book they had covering the Holocaust in great detail, "Charnel Houses of Europe: The Shoah". Interestingly, the whole thing is actually regarded as "not a horrible mistake", which is the most probable fate facing such a product (see, for example, White Wolf's infamous [[Gypsy|Gypsies]], which ''was'' regarded as "a horrible mistake" due to WW's usual lack of tact rearing its ugly head), surprisingly well written and respectful with a lot of interesting idea's if you have the balls to run it.

For the poorfags and casual browsers, there's a fairly good rundown of the sourcebook [https://writeups.letsyouandhimfight.com/monsieurchoc/charnel-houses-of-europe-the-shoah/ here].

==Wraith 20th Anniversary==
A Kickstarter for the 20th Anniversary edition of Wraith was put online on December 2nd 2014. As usual with [[White Wolf]] Kickstarters it was funded in [[Rule 34|69]] minutes. A release in the same vein as V20, W20, M20 and C20, Wr20 will be based on a game with a small but dedicated fanbase, that might bring in some new players.

The game was finally released in February 2018, seeing the release of a book of nearly 600 pages long. It turns the clock back to a time before the Sixth Great Maelstrom, which is only referenced to once in passing as something to prevent. So far, it has come out with a Player's Guide, and the Book of Oblivion, a book detailing... Well, Oblivion and its spectres.

==See Also==
*[[Orpheus]] (sequel game-line)
*[[Geist: The Sin-Eaters]] (the New World of Darkness ghost game, though it's quite different from Wraith)
*[[World of Darkness]]
*[[Wraith: The Arising]] (NoWD adaptation of the game)

=Links=
* [http://www.worldofdarkness.com/ World of Darkness website]
* [http://wiki.white-wolf.com/worldofdarkness World of Darkness wiki]
* [http://www.unmodchat.com/ Unmoderated WoD Chat]
* [http://mrgone.rocksolidshells.com/ Mister Gone's Character Sheets]

{{WoD-Games}}

Wraith: The Arising

2023-05-24T21:13:46Z

2600:4040:7E74:5500:7106:6F3C:CE76:8784: Created page with "{{WoD-stub}} '''Wraith: The Arising''' is a yet another fanmade game line for the New World of Darkness. Unlike most of the others we have pages for, it's an adaptation..."

{{WoD-stub}}

'''Wraith: The Arising''' is a yet another fanmade game line for the [[New World of Darkness]]. Unlike most of the others we have pages for, it's an adaptation of ''[[Wraith: The Oblivion]]'' from the [[Old World of Darkness]] to the new setting (with some elements of ''[[Orpheus]]'' and ''[[Exalted]]: The Abyssals'') rather than something created from scratch.

You're someone who died, and now you have to figure out what to do now that you're in the underworld. Each Wraith is visually and mentally marked by the form their ''Death'' took, and has a voice in their head called a ''Shadow'' that is a reflection of the darker aspect of their personality. There are also factions called ''Concords'' based around political and philosophical reactions to the underworld.

==Links==
* [http://wraithproject.cattail.nu/archives/wraiththearising.html Website]
* [http://wraithproject.cattail.nu/archives/0410wtasoi.html Statement of Intent]
* [http://faust91xroleplayingpage.weebly.com/wraith-the-arisen.html Compendium]
* Character Sheets: [http://mrgone.rocksolidshells.com/pdf/MiscNWOD/NWoD_WraithTheArising.pdf MrGone], [http://mrgone.rocksolidshells.com/pdf/fansheets/wraith_new_v2.pdf Renfield286]
* [http://faust91xroleplayingpage.weebly.com/wraith-book.html Alternate Compendium], after the project was abandoned and picke dup by someone else.
{{WoD-Games}}
[[Category:Homebrew Settings]][[Category:Homebrew Rules]]

Mutant: The Aberration

2023-05-24T20:46:57Z

2600:4040:7E74:5500:7106:6F3C:CE76:8784:

{{Abandoned}}

In the [[World of Darkness]], there exist mortals. Amongst them, there exists the few whose genetic codes and form aren't set in stone. They may be the latest descendant of a bloodline who has a history of genetic defects. They may be born in places with high pollution or radiation. Yet some are the products of cutting-edge scientific experiments, while others are the product of strange magick seeping into their bodies. They are Mutants. They could have bug eyes. Extra limbs. Tentacles. Jaws filled to the brim with teeth. Skin like bark.

initial ideas (as far as I can remember):

*Mutations aren't 'permanent' like disciplines. They can be discarded and taken.

*You get mutations, somehow, by eating other mutants, or eating chemicals/stuff which can alter your genes.

*There's supposed to be some kind of 'morality' system that makes them acceptable to society or not.

thus, I propose the mechanics as such:

*Genes: a kind of 'inventory space' for mutations. More Genes = more possible Mutations you can have at one point.

*Mutagens: points spent to acquire a Mutation. You get this by eating other mutants or eating chemicals and stuff what can damage your genes. Examples of possible Mutagen sources include LSD, asbestos, radioactivity, radioactive materials, pollutants.

*Aberration: level of bodily horror you've acquired. Tied with how many Mutations you have. Ab 0 is a normal human being, Ab 10 is something like The Thing (the one that crashed in Antarctic, not the Fantastic 4). Higher Aberration counts makes you more prone to drops in Morality. Also affects Social attributes with non-Mutants.

*Mutations: body modifications that is more like 'equipment' rather than 'skill'.

*Mutation Categories:
**Predatory: teeth, spikes, poison glands, claws, anything that can hurt your enemies.
**Defensive: shells, camouflage, skunk fart, tough skin, bone plates, anything that can defend against your enemies.
**Locomotive: legs, arms, tentacles, tails, pseudopods, anything that can move you in different ways.
**Sensory: eyes, ears, dermal nerves, olfactory bulbs, antennae, anything that lets you feel the world in different ways.
**Miscellaneous: other stuff that can't be classified to any of the above, like gills, auxiliary lungs, pheromone glands, rapid regeneration rate, metabolism, and others.

{{WoD-Games}}

Psychic: The Gifted

2023-05-24T20:40:02Z

2600:4040:7E74:5500:7106:6F3C:CE76:8784:

{{WoD-stub}}

''You had a normal life, once.''

'''Psychic: The Gifted''' is a fanmade gameline for the [[New World of Darkness]] focusing of, you guessed it, psychics. It explores themes of trying to understand the new powers your character has found themselves with and the dangers of an untethered mind.

Currently beyond unplayable and "probably" abandoned, though the creator has expressed a desire to begin working on it again as of 2022.

==Links==
* [http://psychicthegifted.wikidot.com/start Wiki]

{{WoD-Games}}
[[Category:Homebrew Settings]][[Category:Homebrew Rules]]

Template:WoD-Games

2023-05-24T20:33:50Z

2600:4040:7E74:5500:7106:6F3C:CE76:8784:

<center>
{|class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed table" border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 style="margin: 1em; border: 2px solid black;"
|-
!align=center colspan=3 bgcolor="#999999" | [[World of Darkness]] Games 
|-
| ||align=center | '''Old World of Darkness''' || align=center | '''New World of Darkness'''
|-
! '''Offical Games'''
| [[Vampire: The Masquerade]] [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse]] [[Mage: The Ascension]] [[Wraith: The Oblivion]] [[Changeling: The Dreaming]] [[Hunter: The Reckoning]] [[Kindred of the East]] [[Mummy: The Resurrection]] [[Demon: The Fallen]] || [[Vampire: The Requiem]] [[Werewolf: The Forsaken]] [[Mage: The Awakening]] [[Promethean: The Created]] [[Changeling: The Lost]] [[Hunter: The Vigil]] [[Geist: The Sin-Eaters]] [[Mummy: The Curse]] [[Demon: The Descent]] [[Beast: The Primordial]] [[Deviant: The Renegades]]
|-
| colspan=4 | <hr>
|-
! '''Fan-made Games'''
| [[Atlantean: The Longing]] [[Exalted Versus World of Darkness]] [[Gargoyles: The Vigil]] [[Greys: The Abduction]] [[Highlander: The Gathering]] [[Senshi: The Merchandising]] [[Tech Infantry]] [[Zombie: The Coil]] || [[Alien: The Stranded]] [[Dragon: The Embers]] [[Genius: The Transgression]] [[Giant: The Perfidious]] [[Hunchback: The Lurching]] [[Janus: The Persona]] [[Leviathan: The Tempest]] [[Mutant: The Aberration]] [[Outsider: The Calling]] [[Princess: The Hopeful]] [[Psychic: The Gifted]] [[Siren: The Drowning]] [[Sovereign: The Autonomy]] [[Wraith: The Arising]]
|}
</center>[[Category:Roleplaying]][[Category:White Wolf]][[Category:World of Darkness]]

Psychic: The Gifted

2023-05-24T20:33:05Z

2600:4040:7E74:5500:7106:6F3C:CE76:8784:

{{WoD-stub}}

''You had a normal life, once.''

'''Psychic: The Gifted''' is a fanmade gameline for the [[New World of Darkness]] focusing of, you guessed it, psychics. It explores themes of trying to understand the new powers your character has found themselves with and the dangers of an untethered mind.

Currently beyond unplayable and "probably" abandoned, though the creator has expressed a desire to begin working on it again.

==Links==
* [http://psychicthegifted.wikidot.com/start Wiki]

{{WoD-Games}}
[[Category:Homebrew Settings]][[Category:Homebrew Rules]]

Psychic: The Gifted

2023-05-24T20:32:34Z

2600:4040:7E74:5500:7106:6F3C:CE76:8784:

''You had a normal life, once.''

'''Psychic: The Gifted''' is a fanmade gameline for the [[New World of Darkness]] focusing of, you guessed it, psychics. It explores themes of trying to understand the new powers your character has found themselves with and the dangers of an untethered mind.

Currently beyond unplayable and "probably" abandoned, though the creator has expressed a desire to begin working on it again.

==Links==
* [http://psychicthegifted.wikidot.com/start Wiki]

Psychic: The Gifted

2023-05-24T20:32:28Z

2600:4040:7E74:5500:7106:6F3C:CE76:8784: Created page with "''You had a normal life, once.''' '''Psychic: The Gifted''' is a fanmade gameline for the New World of Darkness focusing of, you guessed it, psychics. It explores themes..."

''You had a normal life, once.'''

'''Psychic: The Gifted''' is a fanmade gameline for the [[New World of Darkness]] focusing of, you guessed it, psychics. It explores themes of trying to understand the new powers your character has found themselves with and the dangers of an untethered mind.

Currently beyond unplayable and "probably" abandoned, though the creator has expressed a desire to begin working on it again.

==Links==
* [http://psychicthegifted.wikidot.com/start Wiki]

World of Darkness

2023-05-24T20:28:43Z

2600:4040:7E74:5500:7106:6F3C:CE76:8784: /* Fan Games */

{{Grimdark}}
{{Game Infobox
|name = World of Darkness
|type = [[RPG]]
|picture = [[Image:WoD logo.png|200px]]
|publisher = [[White Wolf]] / Onyx Path
|system = [[World of Darkness#The System|Storyteller System / Storytelling System]]
|year = 1991 / 2004
}}
The '''''World of Darkness''''' is two different lines of [[RPG]]s published by [[White Wolf]] and later [[White Wolf|Onyx Path]] (and later still by both of them at once, it's complicated) that focus on deep role-playing and, depending on the specific sub-game, the horror genre. The setting can only be described as the modern world, but [[Grimdark|worse in every aspect]]: every creeping suspicion you have is probably true, and the world is as dirty and corrupt as it often seems to be. In the old ''World of Darkness'', each game was meant to be played separately; as a result the games often had conflicting metaplots, and despite using the same basic "Storyteller System" the games were incompatible when it came to various supernatural powers. The release of a new ''World of Darkness'' (with an updated ruleset, the "Storytelling System") features a core book that contains the basic rules for all the games, and focuses on normal human beings in horrific situations that may or may not be supernatural in nature. The new games interact in a modular fashion and also have little established fluff, making it more malleable for Storytellers (the in-game term for [[GM]]; abbreviated as "ST"). The new line has also been trying to avoid the old Gothic feel for which its predecessor was known (specifically with ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]''), in favor of a slightly more traditional form of horror.

As of December 2015 the new line has been renamed '''''Chronicles of Darkness''''' to allow its setting to exist separately from the now-relaunched original setting (rebranded as '''''Classic World of Darkness''''').

== The System ==
The basic system in both the new and old World of Darkness revolves around a dicepool of '''d10'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s. Your [[dice pool]] consists of a number of dice equal to your relevant ability score plus your skill and other relevant modifiers.

In oWoD/cWoD, the [[GM|Storyteller]] sets the difficulty for each roll depending on the circumstances, with the default being a difficulty of 7. A '''success''' is a roll of that difficulty or higher (7 or above, on most rolls). A roll of 1 is called a '''botch'''. If any number of 1's are rolled, they cancel out a single success. No more than one success can be cancelled out in this way, so critical failures (A botch with zero successes) are relatively rare. The net number of successes determines how well you succeed, with one success meaning that you are barely able and a greater number indicating better achievement. When you get zero net successes (if you get no successes or if your 1s cancel out your successes, or if you get at least one success and more ones than successes), you fail the roll. When you get zero successes and at least one 1, you botch-- a critical and spectacular failure. If you have a '''specialty''' in either your attribute or ability that is relevant on the roll, you may reroll all 10s to gain extra successes, and rolls of 1 on these rerolls do not count.

In nWoD/CoD, a success is an 8, 9, or 10, and 10s [[exploding die|explode]]. A critical success is made when you get five or more successes. Instead of altering the target number of the roll, difficulty and circumstances increase or reduce the number of dice in the pool. When your dice pool is reduced to zero or less, you get a chance die. You roll the die normally, but only succeed on a ten (which still explodes) and if you get a one you get a critical failure. All other rolls are called simple failures, although any simple failure can be turned into a critical failure by the player in return for bonus Beats (basically XP).

==== Short Summary of Old Game Lines ====
* Vampire: You're the bad guy. Your friends are also villains.
* Werewolf: You're fighting a war, and you're losing.
* Mage: You're fighting a war you already lost.
* Wraith: You lost, you died, and now you're trying to avoid a fate worse than death.
* Changeling: You're fighting a war you already lost and nobody is taking you seriously.
* Hunter: You're [[Imperial Guard|fighting a war where everyone's bigger than you and trying to kill you.]]
* Mummy: You're immortal. That's it.
* Demon: You're fighting a cold war with mixed results.
* Orpheus: You're mortal and dying temporarily is part of your job.

==== Short Summary of New Game Lines ====
* Vampire: You're still the bad guy, but there are even worse guys out there.
* Werewolf: You're the bastard kids of the mad goddess of the moon, acting as border patrol on the shores of animistic hell to atone for your ancestors' divine patricide. Your distant cousins skipped out and now try to kill you, and the spirits aren't a big fan of your work either.
* Mage: You lost the first war, but are planning to win the second.
* Promethean: You're Frankenstein's monster on a journey to become Pinocchio. The world itself hates you, so you have to keep moving to avoid the mobs that spring up around you.
* Changeling: You got kidnapped, but escaped, only to find someone stole your life and your god-like kidnapper wants you back.
* Hunter: You try to kill a few monsters, then you die. Your light gets snuffed out, only to light two more.
* Geist: You died and a ghost brought you back, and that ghost now shares your body.
* Mummy: You keep coming back from the dead and are forced by your bosses to find their stuff.
* Demon: You escaped from the Matrix and are now in a cold war with God, who is the Matrix.
* Beast: You're a colossal asshole who feeds the nightmare monster that replaced your soul by scaring people into psychological trauma.
* Deviant: Your soul has been broken and your body is turning into something monstrous. The only way you can be sure to stay sane and human is to get back at the bastards who did this to you.

== Old World of Darkness ==
Shortened as "'''oWoD'''", also known as '''Classic World of Darkness''' (itself shortened to "'''cWoD'''").

=== The Big Three ===
[[Image:WOD_old_1e_cover.jpeg|thumb|oWoD 1st edition cover]]
* '''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]:''' The original World of Darkness game. Covers playing vampire characters in the modern day World of Darkness. It gains its title from "The Masquerade", an in-game set of rules and guidelines dictated by the Camarilla sect in an attempt to keep the mortal populace unaware of vampires and their influence on society. This is also basically the only thing you can get more than one sect of vampires to agree on, and a lot of the game revolves around the resulting political intrigue. It is heavily influenced by gothic imagery and by a variety of different vampire mythos, including the romanticized version of the vampire popularized by Anne Rice.
* '''[[Werewolf: The Apocalypse]]:''' Second game to be released set in the World of Darkness. The game covers playing werewolf characters known as Garou. It gains its title from one of the major antagonistic themes in the game where supernatural forces of corruption are attempting to bring about the Apocalypse. The game tends to degenerate into hack-and-slash, mainly since it was originally written like an author tract whose authors had conflicting messages.
* '''[[Mage: The Ascension]]:''' Player characters in this game come from a variety of backgrounds, both mortal and immortal and are unified by the fact that they all practice magic of one form or another. Magic is defined by the game as a force that can shape reality with the willpower, belief or special magical techniques of the user. Had a pretty sweet metaplot/setting, but was hamstrung by the extreme clumsiness of its mechanical system.

=== The Could Have Beens ===
* '''[[Wraith: The Oblivion]]:''' You died, and now you're a ghost. You can stay around the underworld and make spooky noises for eternity, destroy everything, get turned into someone's sweater while remaining conscious forever, fall into hell and cease to exist, or try and solve the issues keeping you as a ghost so you can move on to the afterlife. Oh - and that last one's illegal. Lots of ideas that sound good on paper but tear apart groups and ruin friendships in execution, like making each player ''also'' roleplay another player's manifested personal demons in one of the most depressive settings imaginable.

* '''[[Changeling: The Dreaming]]:''' The characters are fairy souls 'trapped' in human bodies to survive in the cold banal world. The game's theme centered heavily on the concept of Chimera, where things weren't magical or mundane, but both at once. So the real world would see an old butterknife, and it would be - but in the realm of faerie, it would also be a mystical longsword. The concept of Banality is unfortunately somewhat awkwardly implemented and requires some work by the Storyteller to appropriately function. The series was cut short and a number of expansions that were announced were never released, like the supplement for the Middle-East in the Year of the Scarab. This game was and is massively popular with otherkin since its premise is their delusion, and any people who play it likely believe themselves to be elves.

=== Apocalyptica ===
* '''[[Kindred of the East]]:''' You're essentially an Asian [[Revenant]]; you denied some part of your soul in life, and it found its way back to your body after you died. Now you've got to become Enlightened in order to deal with your shitty karma so you can escape the cycle of reincarnation or get into Heaven. The game was built more as an extension to Vampire: The Masquerade rather than its own game and was meant to be played specifically in the Far East, in the same way that Mummy: The Resurrection was made to specifically be played in the Middle East and Northern Africa.
* '''[[Hunter: The Reckoning]]:''' Mortals are imbued with weird powers by mysterious forces in a last-ditch effort to keep the world from circling the drain. Played according to the writing, it's [[Call of Cthulhu]] in the World of Darkness: a bunch of scared people who are going to die very horribly unless they're very cautious and paranoid. Played according to the art, it's the licensed video games.
* '''[[Mummy: The Resurrection]]:''' You play as a Mummy. Who has been Resurrected. And has access to a third-level power (out of five) that levels the town you're in. Mummies are people with unusual qualities who died too soon but were given a second chance at life. This compelled them to travel to the Middle East where they underwent a ritual that combined their spirit with that of an ancient Egyptian. Now they are the servants of Ma'at, the concept of divine justice and seek to destroy those who challenge Ma'at. Yes, this makes Mummies a lot like the Garou from Werewolf, but they don't walk around with bandages (unless they run out of Sekhem, the fuel for their powers, and want to slow the ensuing degradation of their bodies). Mummies are the closest thing to good guys in the World of Darkness, and have a very strict Morality track called Balance that can see a Mummy destroyed by the Judges of Ma'at if they violate it at a low level. There are only two books in the Mummy line: the core book and the Players Guide which adds new powers, as well as options for Mummies from middle and south America and China. Infamous for its vague goals and antagonists, to the point where even we don't have much on it.
* '''[[Demon: The Fallen]]:''' You're a former angel who sided with Lucifer in a [[Horus Heresy|well-intentioned rebellion against God]], only to lose and get kicked into Hell. Now you've found a way out, and have to deal with a vastly changed world in which God and His angels are AWOL while your old allies (having gone mad and pulled a heel turn over the millennia) try to fuck everything up. Frequently derided for meddling heavily with the metaplots of other game lines like Vampire, Werewolf and Wraith, as well as its prominent Abrahamic trappings in a franchise where most of the gamelines are heavily influenced by non-Abrahamic faiths.
* '''[[Orpheus]]:''' It's like Flatliners meets Ghostbusters; focusing on teams that use cryogenics and astral projection to become semi-ghosts, all funded by a corporation called the Orpheus Group. And if you thought the Underworld from Wraith couldn't get more grimdark... well, think again.

=== Fan Games ===
* '''[http://www.scribd.com/doc/96117271/Gargoyles-the-Vigil Gargoyles: The Vigil]:''' A crossover with the cartoon ''Gargoyles'', there's work underway to convert it to GMC nWoD rules [http://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/main-forum/the-new-world-of-darkness/383957-converting-gargoyles-the-vigil here.]
* '''[[Greys: The Abduction]]:''' A short fan-expansion from 1997, has three different types of aliens.
* '''[[Highlander: The Gathering]] ([http://vampirerpg.free.fr/Rules/Highlander/ Link], [http://www.highlander.org/roleplaying/ alt]):''' Holy shit this is a fan-made supplement where life doesn't suck! You're immortal and extremely powerful, but still human. It's kill or be killed, though. So once The Gathering comes around you have to kill most of the friends you've made through the ages. Also has a neat custom sword fight system. If you've seen Highlander, you'll love it. If not, see Highlander 2 and The Source. There's also a LARP version called [http://www.greyhawkes.com/larp/highlarp.htm Highlander: The Quickening] made by different authors exists.
* '''[[Senshi: The Merchandising]]:''' A fan-game from the 90's that is a parody of ''Sailor Moon'' and the old WoD. Remember how Mages can bend reality to their whim? Well, now imagine a bunch of 90s anime nerds Ascending... ''"The Technocracy is STILL trying to cover up the 'Tokyo-3' disaster."''
* '''[http://techinfantry.stasheff.com/ Tech Infantry]:''' oWoD meets ''Starship Troopers'', has some parallels in the ''Mirrors: Infinite Macabre'' supplement for the nWoD.
* '''[[Zombie: The Coil]] ([http://gamingnerdsrus.co/forum/index.php?topic=91.0 Link]):''' A Fan-made expansion from 2001. Brai-i-ins and grimderp ensue.
* '''[[Atlantean: The Longing]]:''' Long lost descendants from the city of Atlantis try to survive in modern day by fighting ocean pollution. While fighting on the surface, they continuously have to resist the urge to go back into the ocean.
* '''[[Exalted Versus World of Darkness]]:''' ex-[[White Wolf]] writer Gordon Shearer gives a possible answer to what would happen if the World of Darkness was ''actually'' [[Exalted]]'s Creation, and now at the End of Days, the Exalted come back. Will they save the day? Or will just push things over the brink?

== New World of Darkness ==
Shortened as "'''nWoD'''", also known as '''Chronicles of Darkness''' (itself shortened to "'''CoD'''").

=== Core Rulebooks ===
[[Image:WODcover.jpg|thumb|nWoD cover]]
* '''The Storytelling System Rulebook'''
:The core rulebook unifies the rule systems of the other game lines, as well as provides a basic system with which to play as mortal humans, and some barebones ghosts rules that are added onto in nearly every publication where ghosts are relevant. [http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/114078 The second edition update] is available as a free pdf online and it replaces the old "Victorian" morality system with one that's more modern, and also includes most of the improvements from the ''God Machine Chronicle'' (see below).
:* '''God Machine Chronicle:''' Essentially the second edition of the core rulebook. Brings in a new morality system, "Integrity", with breaking points instead of the hierarchy of sins. Along with systems of conditions and "beats". If you don't mind the notion of God being a celestial laptop or the increased micro-management of the system, it's worth looking at as it's a big update over the old version. For better or worse depends on how you look at it.

Expanding on the core rules, White Wolf decided to release a bunch of books expanding on the core rules to make the basic NWoD/CoD system a viable game in its own right. These books are, in order of release:

* '''Antagonists:''' A whole slew of antagonists for the core game, but could also theoretically be used in the main games (especially Hunter). Includes a whole bunch of zombies including the regular kind, the primitive Prometheans called the Imbued (no relation to Hunter: The Reckoning) and those ghosts who have reentered their bodies and became Revenants in order to enact revenge. Others include a basic version of Hunters (best used as antagonists), cults of all kind and a variety of other monsters.
* '''Armory:''' Guns, a whole lot of them. Also armor, vehicles and of course swords and such. A good book to have when playing any NWoD game that relies heavily on equipment. The book takes a very responsible and mature look at weaponry without disrespecting the player's intelligence.
* '''Second Sight:''' Psychic powers, Low Magic and magical monsters for those games where using Mage: The Awakening is too high power.
* '''Skinchangers:''' Yep, skinwalkers. Not all as evil as you'd think, just... don't piss them off.
* '''Book of Spirits:''' Geist of those of you who don't want to use Geist. A good book for those who fall victim to the realm of spirits as well as those who try to conquer it.
* '''Asylum:''' Horror stories set in insane asylums are very common, so it's logical that the World of Darkness jumps that bandwagon. Also includes an in-depth look at an example asylum: Bishopgate.
* '''Reliquary:''' Everybody knows that magical items are the Good Shit, even if they're cursed. There's a ton of premade items here as well as easy rules to make your own.
* '''Changing Breeds:''' You know how Forsaken removed all the bad things from Apocalypse? Now imagine if you take all those bad things, slap them together, double, triple and quadruple down on them and have "Satyros" [[Phil Brucato]] write it. One of the worst core WoD books.
* '''Innocents:''' An add-on for the core book, you're just a kid who has to deal with the realities of the world revealing themselves to you. If you survive you'll most likely either be institutionalized, a Hunter, or a serial killer. Or more than one. Or a monster, that works too. The book you'll want if you want to play a Stranger Things game.
* '''Dogs of War:''' The stories of black ops military units dealing with the supernatural. Perfect for those times you want to go all Delta Green, including how normal soldiers deal with the supernatural, how armies work as well as the more... irregular units.
* '''Inferno:''' Rules for old-fashioned demons (or angels) almost completely different from the fallen angels of both God himself and the God Machine. As it was one of the earlier supplements, it is horribly incompatible with the GMC rules update, being focused on one half of the old morality system. Contains rules for both demons themselves and the Possessed, those unfortunates possessed by a demon and now have to deal with the perverse being living inside their head.
* '''Slasher:''' Despite being a Hunter book in all but name, Slasher can still be used on its own to create a whole bunch of serial killers to use as antagonists in a core WoD game. Also contains rules for their use in Hunter games, including a gentleman's club for serial killers and those who hunt them: the FBI's Vanguard Serial Crimes Unit (VASCU) and its psychic operatives.
* '''Armory Reloaded:''' How do you stop a grisly tentacled horror from tearing you apart? [[Team Fortress 2|Use a gun. And if that don't work? Use more gun.]] Contains rules for fighting styles, high-tech weapons, blessed and cursed weapons and alternate rules for combat. Infamous for allowing the creation of some of the most powerful mortals the World of Darkness has ever seen.
* '''Immortals:''' A supplement that was released for immortal characters that follow different ideas of immortality. Except out of the 3 Immortals in the book, the first jumps off the karma meter so fast its unplayable, primarily because its Immortality is powered by bathing in a '''LOT''' of blood, preferably virgin but any human will do. The second, the Body Thief, is almost playable but again the karma meter gets in the way of anything involving the whole body swapping thing, resulting in the character becoming unplayable again. The third Immortal lives off some sort of mystic Chi/Kai stuff and is basically powered by Feng Shui. It's the only one that could be considered playable, and the authors must have realized this because its much better worked then the others which seem to have been intended as pure NPCs initially and then left as they are now.
* '''Book of the Dead:''' Think the Book of Spirits mixed with Geist and the result is poured into a sourcebook. Good for Geist games (and also its ONLY sourcebook), but if you want to use this for a core WoD game you might as well play Geist instead.
* The '''Mirrors''' supplements and '''Translation Guides:''' Modifications for the Storytelling System itself as well as hints on adapting it for different genres (the former) while the latter guides allowed mix-and-match rules from the three main game-lines of ''oWoD'' and ''nWoD''. It's notable that the Guides not only go through the crunch but also have chapters with suggestions of how you might fluffwise justify having one nWoD Mage order here or an cWoD tribe of Werewolves there for both New and Classic World of Darkness games. So if you for example really miss Clan [[Tzimisce]] in Vampire: The Requiem or think Requiem did the [[Nosferatu]] better but you still wanna run Vampire: The Masquerade, have a look in the Vampire Translation Guide and you'll get separate chapters covering both the fluff and the crunch for porting them over from Masquerade into Requiem or vice versa.
* '''''Dudes of Legend: How To Be Fucking Awesome:''''' A joke supplement released on April 1st 2010, Dudes of Legend relentlessly pokes fun at both itself, White Wolf and the conventions of the RPG genre as a whole. Expect lesbian stripper ninjas, katanas and trenchcoats, magical gays, a more traditional XP system and loot drops from everyone you kill. It's a good laugh and might make for the ideal supplement if you're into that sort of game. Unfortunately White Wolf started to take itself way too seriously since and we'll never see a supplement like this one again.

Since the advent of Chronicles of Darkness only a few core books have been released specifically for that ruleset:

* '''Dark Eras:''' A 600 page behemoth of a tome detailing a variety of historical settings in which you can play Chronicles of Darkness. From the advent of the world where you play werewolves babysitting humanity so that it won't get eaten by the monsters of the wild, all the way up to to werewolves in the New York of the 70s. Contains settings for every gameline out there, but they are rather fixed: so if you want to play a Hunter during the Great War or a Mage during the fall of Constantinople you're out of luck. Also infamous for being very expensive: the standard hardcover book is $65 while the deluxe hardcover clocks in at $100, which many people feel is way too fucking expensive for a single book that you won't even use all the content of.
:* '''Dark Eras Companion:''' The same as Dark Eras but more. A Kickstarter goal turned into a 300 page book ($40 regular hardcover $60 premium hardcore) that does the same but more and for a higher price.
:* '''Dark Eras 2''': The same as Dark Eras but EVEN MORE. Just as big and expensive as the first. Has settings ranging from wandering around The Seven Wonders of the Hellenistic era to Arabian Nights-inspired Persia to the French Revolution to The Wild West to WWI trench warfare to 1950's MAD SCIENCE!!! Has more blurbs for splats outside the main ones an Era focuses on.
* '''Hurt Locker:''' A book on pain and violence, as well as a half-dozen templates to make normal mortals a bit more attuned to violence. It takes a rather mature take on violence and injury... until you reach the Plain template; normal people who deal with violence by using radical pacifism. Yes, that's right: you can defuse a violent situation by getting punched in the face and not fighting back.
* '''The Contagion Chronicle:''' Formerly referred to as The Crossover Chronicle, this series will add a new set of chronicle hooks, potential settings, and cross-template factions geared specifically around allowing parties composed of multiple types of supernatural beings to cooperate without killing each other. The metaplot concerns The Contagion, a metaphysical sickness in The God-Machine that causes reality to break down even more than the G-M makes it do already. Supernatural creatures (and Hunters, for some unexplained reason) are the only ones who can tell when The Contagion has struck an area -- normal humans ignore a Contagion outbreak, which means you get things like nobody thinking it's weird people don't die anymore or just accepting people can walk up walls or randomly explode or whatever fucked-up thing is happening now. There are 5 Sworn splats (generally where the PCs will wind up, mostly concerned about watching, containing, or curing a Contagion Outbreak) and 3 False factions (who are either Blow It All Up zealots, using The Contagion to fuel their own schemes, or flatout working to spread it so they can rule over the ashes when everything else collapses). As with most of the CoD, there's no set canon reason of what's causing the Contagion, just a bunch of things it ''could'' be...up to and including The God-Machine being ''dead'' but not realizing it yet.

=== Principal Games ===
* '''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]:''' 13 Clans with fleshed out, restricting histories become 5 clans with vague, open-ended histories and multiple Bloodlines (sub-clans). The Camarilla becomes 5 Covenants with mutually exclusive goals. The Sabbat becomes VII, the Infernalists become the more sporadic, less-organized Belial's Brood. Arguably the biggest difference is that you can't just make someone a Vampire by draining them and feeding them your blood, now you have to permanently spend a dot of Humanity to do it. An alternate setting in ancient Rome also exists, which contains a history of the Carmarilla (and how it collapsed with the rest of the Roman Empire). Additionally, a new set of antagonists in the form of the Strix, which are demonic owl-like creatures bent on purging every last trace of Humanity from vampire society (to the point where even a Humanity 0 vampire is ''too human'' for them) and can possess corpses and vampires to lash out at mortals and undead alike.
* '''[[Werewolf: The Forsaken]]:''' A slightly more "balanced" version of Werewolf. You can't run around in 8-foot tall invincible war-form all the time, and you see humans as a flock of idiotic sheep that you have to protect from malicious spirits due to a vow sworn by your ancient ancestors as punishment for divine patricide. The "adjustments" resulted, possibly intentionally, in the average werewolf no longer being a match for the average vampire, a criticism invariably met with statements regarding the relative level of coordination between werewolf packs and vampire coteries. An example of a well run Werewolf: the Forsaken game is [http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?446663-Werewolf-The-Forsaken-quot-Detroit-Rock-City-quot Detroit Rock City]. It is written in novel format for ease of reading, played over Skype.
* '''[[Mage: The Awakening]]:''' Mechanically simplified and involving more magic usage than [[Mage: The Ascension|M:tAsc]], M:tA's biggest criticism is that it doesn't have as compelling a plot — specifically, the revised political landscape is the most frequent target of attack. Its second edition fixed most of that though, and it bears repeating that its rules for magic allow for a lot more freedom than what Ascension let you do.

=== Limited Release Games ===
* '''[[Promethean: The Created]]:''' Frankenstein: The RPG. You're a scorned mockery of humanity, most likely abandoned by your creator, left to fend for yourself in a world that wants you dead. You're perpetually dazed and confused, always trying to pick up the ways of humans, but you can never make real friends and have to live as a nomad because the very thing that keeps you alive also makes people hate you and poisons the land around you. Only five books, but it pretty much covers all the bases. Surprisingly, it's actually rather optimistic since in theory you can make like Pinocchio and become a true human under the right circumstances.
* '''[[Changeling: The Lost]]:''' No longer are the Changelings faeries, but humans kidnapped by the True Fae and twisted into something not quite mortal. Managed to do the exact opposite of its predecessor and sell enough copies that they extended the series instead of cutting it short. It completed its run with nine books and a long-awaited web enhancement.
* '''[[Hunter: The Vigil]]:''' Hunter, without the ridiculously overpowered gifts. You're just an average Joe with more information than other people, and on occasion ties to people with some special toys that let you use powers that can border on the supernatural themselves. For instance, you might channel the power of your demonic heritage to smite people with hellfire, you might have bullets that are extra-effective against vampires, or you might have access to religious rites that bless your weapons with the power to hurt ghosts. That, and you can break every conceivable human moral code without going insane, provided you can justify it in light of your "Vigil." Though, of course, this slowly makes you inhuman. Well-known for its antagonists - Slashers - who are the World of Darkness take on serial killers. Once again had "lite" versions of all the other supernaturals, which tended to be more singularly powerful than the real thing, but not as versatile (or player-character-friendly). See what happens when Hunter: The Vigil meets Harry Potter [[M-COM|here]].
* '''[[Geist: The Sin-Eaters]]:''' People who die and have ghosts decide to resurrect them, getting stuck with said ghost riding shotgun to said person's body and giving them all manner of powers depending on the way the first party died, all to accomplish the ghost's goals. Instead of humanity, you have "synergy" which is how in sync you are with your spirit. When you die, someone else is forced to die in your place and you lose 1/5 of your maximum possible synergy, stunting your abilities permanently and ultimately making you a slave to your spirit "partner", who often has some rather unusual ideas about what to do with its new body. The Underworld is finally fleshed out, but somehow far more foreboding than expected.
* '''[[Mummy: The Curse]]:''' You're a slave of Irem of the Pillars (Yes, the one in the Rub-Al Khali). But the city is dead and gone, and the Sorcerers who made you into what you are now live in the lands of the dead and tell you what to do. A reversal of normal "You're young and weak, they're old and powerful", Mummies wake up with a power trait of *10*...and lose it quickly, because it drops over time as the magic animating your undying body begins to fade. Most Arisen remain active for about four months, at best. And then they have to come back to life and do it all over again.
* '''[[Demon: The Descent]]:''' Remember the God Machine? From the ''God Machine Chronicle'', and the start of the core book? Yeah, turns out it has robo-angels. Sometimes, one of them decides it doesn't particularly enjoy its function. Or it fails to perform. Or ends up getting saddled with an order it can't actually carry out. Instead of returning they go on the lam, becoming 'demons'. The God Machine sends its angels looking. You don't want to go back, so you become a robot secret agent, pretending as hard as you can to be human while ruining the occult plans of the Divine Calculator; luckily, you retain the ability to hack reality thanks to your former connection to the God Machine. The angels are still Cthulhu-robots in service to the...thing that is in total control of the World of Darkness, and they would really like you to come back so they can strip you for parts. Fortunately Demons are very good at hiding their true identities- so good that even supernatural beings (and other demons, at that matter) can't see through their disguises if they don't want to reveal themselves.
* '''[[Beast: The Primordial]]:''' Another game with absolutely no tie to the Old World of Darkness. You play as a Beast, a living embodiment of primal fear running around in a meat-suit, and driven by the need to feed on fear, either passively by hanging out with your "kinfolk" (most every other monster in the WoD) or actively by going out and terrorizing folks. Pretty strongly panned, many consider it the absolute worst gameline in the New World of Darkness because it combines CtD's otherkin "appeal" with some rather hazy moral trappings that reek of schoolyard revenge fantasies. The discovery that its author was a sex offender did '''not''' help matters, especially due to how this cast a much different light on some of the attempts to justify the Beasts' actions.
* '''[[Deviant: The Renegades]]:''' The next announced gameline, which uses a "body horror" theme. You play as a Deviant, some poor soul caught by a mad scientist, a black ops bio-corp, a fucked up cult or some other kind of conspiracy and twisted into something not entirely human. Your soul is broken and your body will inevitably collapse under the strain of your continued changes, but sheer stubbornness allows you to cling to what's left of your humanity long enough to get revenge on each and every one of the sonsofbitches who did this to you. You can decide how strong you want your starting powers to be but stronger powers come with stronger drawbacks and cause the Conspiracy that made you to become more aggressive in trying to recapture you.

=== Fan Games ===
Due to the lack of a Metaplot in NWOD, and the bigger focus on keeping things vague in-universe, Fan Games are FAR more common for NWOD than for it's older counterpart.

* '''[[Dragon: The Embers]]:''' A long, long time ago, the Dragons ruled. And then humans fought back. Now, you are one of the last of your kind, what do you do?
* '''[[Genius: The Transgression]]:''' A fan-built WoD set, Genius allows players to gorge themselves on Venture Brothers level superscience while drinking deep from the cup of mundane failure. While Inspiration allows a mad scientist to channel Mania into impossible inventions, their Obligation to humanity gradually gives way to that alien brilliance. If a scientist falls too far off the straight and narrow, they become Unmada, unable or unwilling to accept that they are crazy, that their ideas are true regardless of Mania. Without help or restraint, they become Illuminated. Think Hannibal Lecter in a lab coat and a fascination with altering the DNA of pregnant women. (Also don't even think of trying to get rich off your mad science; your inventions basically break the laws of physics through sheer force of will on your part and tend to malfunction explosively if the mundanes get their grubby hands on them.)
* '''[[Giant: The Perfidious]]:''' Another fan-made WoD gameline, in which you are a Giant.
* '''[[Hunchback: The Lurching]]:''' Even Quasimodo gets a game based on his poor ass. You're a Hunchback, and your goal in life is to find a nice master, pick up a hot chick, and die happily(?) from your horrible disfigurement. (So basically a WoD version of [[wikipedia:My_Life_with_Master|My Life with Master]]?)
* '''[[Leviathan: The Tempest]]:''' OOOOOCEAN MAN. In which you play as the WOD version of a Deep One/the Creature from the Black Lagoon. You're a descendent of an unknowable and powerful monster from the beginning of the planet, now you're turning into an undersea monster with your own personal cult. Yay!
* '''[[Mutant: The Aberration]]:''' A [[mutant]] is you.
* '''[[Princess: The Hopeful]]:''' Sailor Moon? ha ha no, try Sailor Nothing, or late-season Madoka Magica. Pretty dresses won't help you fight despair, but sometimes that's all you got. Began as a joke, but turned out to work surprisingly well played straight. Has two versions (Dream and Vocation) thanks to creative differences between the writers about tone and mechanics.
* '''[[Sovereign: The Autonomy]]:''' An AI is you. Do you try to go full [[Reign of Steel]], manipulate humans into making you a physical body, or just fuck with people on the Internet?
* '''[[Wraith: The Arising]]:''' Was the NWOD version of Wraith before Geist happened and filled that spot. You're dead, and unlife is not much better, can you make it in the politics of the afterlife?
* '''[[Alien: The Stranded]]:''' You're marooned on earth with your fellow aliens, with one of two long term goals - getting off this primitive rock full of savages you can barely call sapient, or saying "fuck it" and trying to go native. But right now, your business is simply surviving the various horrors of this world and figuring out just who you can trust.
* '''[[Janus: The Persona]]:''' Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde: WOD Edition. Not only do you have to deal with the usual supernatural shenanigans, but you also have to consider your Id that somehow became sentient and eggs you on to do terrible life choices. But hey, you get a few nifty powers in return, so it can't be *that* bad, right?
* '''[[Siren: The Drowning]]:''' [[Mermaids]]. You're a person who reached a point in your life where it seemed like you were about to give into despair, only to come out the other side and gain a Diluvian form--and knowledge that an apocalyptic disaster known as the Deluge is coming, and that only you can stop it.
* '''[[Psychic: The Gifted]]:''' Psychics, obviously. You're a person who received "the Gift" and now has to figure out whether it's really a gift, or a curse.

== Notable Differences Between the Two Lines ==
Even without getting into the specifics of each game's interpretation of one archetype (say, Masquerade vs. Requiem for vampires), the two games are very different.

World of Darkness takes place in a "Gothic Earth". Which basically amounts to an 80s-style (at least in 1e) [[grimdark]] interpretation of the world; monstrous conspiracies are involved in most major events (except World War 2, for some reason), the "Neo-Gothic" art style is popular so there's lots of [[gargoyle]]s and stuff everywhere, all forms of crimes are up, and the world is just generally a very shitty sort of place to live. Humans are generally unimportant; sheep to be fed on by vampires, slaughtered by werewolves, pushed around by mages... generally, if you don't have powers, you're pretty much everybody's bitch. [[Deadlands|Even Hunters are only viable as a threat because they have some supernatural patron giving them all kinds of nifty powers specifically to fight monsters.]]

Lore is generally very detailed and fleshed out, but not exactly crossover compatible, at least on the meta level; one of the more prominent examples is that, in Masquerade, vampires owe their origins explicitly to a Judaeo-Christian metaphysicality (being spiritual children of [[Caine]], whose biblical curse of immortality was reimagined as him becoming the first vampire), whilst in Apocalypse, the world is controlled by (totally not [[Mythology#Hindu_Mythology|Hindu Trimurti]]) Paganistic/Animistic spirit-gods, with the most powerful being the [[Wyld|Wyld (Creation)]], [[Weaver|Weaver (Order)]] and [[Wyrm|Wyrm (Destruction)]] and werewolves have every reason to believe that the Abrahamic "God" is just some bullshit that humanity came up with and has swallowed. Or probably was a powerful Celestine with influence around Middle-East.

This doesn't mean that this setting, old World of Darkness, shortened as "oWoD", didn't have its merits. The struggle between Technocracy and Traditions had amazing locations, technologies and ways to make a game session fun, vampires themselves had a long and rich history and full scale war between sects, and bloodlines themselves granted an exotic and diverse [[Fluff]].

However, said separate games, like Vampire and Mage, overlap each other's territories so badly it's illogical not to clash with each other. We have Technocracy on one hand, that has a mission to root out "Reality Deviants", and have technologies that border (and cross to) supernatural, yet Technocracy protected the world from the vampires' depredations [[Week of Nightmares|ONCE, yes, just ONCE around the 90's]] (and even then, it was only when a vampire powerful enough to serve as a plot device woke up and went on the rampage). We have wars of Tzimisce and Tremere across the streets of Medieval Europe like its the Lord of the Rings on crack cocaine with a cast of freaks, yet mages and their ilk, plus mortal rulers SOMEHOW ignore the supernatural conflict, which is even funnier in modern era with insane levels of Sabbat atrocities across the world ignored by virtually every non-vampire organization which number in the millions and have missions that concern the welfare of the people.

For example, with the power Technocracy is wielding (and that's not even saying Traditions by themselves are weak), how can Sabbat conduct horrid festivals in EVERY major city named La Palle Grande, kidnapping hundreds of girls and conducting snuff festivals on open techno parties with elaborate torture theatre without alerting the Technocrats, Mages, Werewolves, one of the millions of Hunter organisations, Celestines, some random Spirit, a sympathetic fairy, and just about any other vaguely-supernatural schmuck? How can the Camarilla apply mass blackouts and buyouts of presidents without the NWO coming down on a bunch of bloodsuckers? Every year? Short of the universe running on [[grimderp]] writing principles, it doesn't really make logical sense even with the usual suspension of disbelief.

And that's just about the consistent Fluff, not the conflicting ones. Here is an example concerning Gilgamesh, a Sumerian king:

*In Vampire: The Masquerade, Gilgamesh is a fourth generation Gangrel Vampire, fighting against the Toreador Methuselah, Ishtar. The epic is shaped into supporting this claim.

*However, According to Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Gilgamesh was offered unlife by vampires, but was talked out of it by a Child of Gaia named Siduri Sabitu. It is said that Gilgamesh was the first human to organize resistance against vampiric rule and the Garou tell that the inborn suspicion against the undead stems from his early influence.

*Just in case this wasn't tangled enough, Mage: The Ascension claims that the Celestial Chorus Tradition know Gilgamesh as one of the First Singers, Exarchs (Masters) of great power that existed during the First Age and represent an inspiration for their Tradition. Using the original myth as a basis, it is said that Gilgamesh was a man who performed many wondrous acts and sought out immortality in a quest. He was flawed like any other man, but nevertheless he is considered a hero. It is also said that the First Singers ultimately passed away or were corrupted, so both previous interpretations can be valid too. Other eminent experts in supernatural ancient history, like the Hermetic Winston Brown, believe that Gilgamesh was a mortal man who was later deified by the population of Uruk, who ruled before the Babylonian Infernalists spread.

See it now?

And that's without even mentioning the End Times chronicles, which are impossible to play out without fucking the lore in the ass concerning a neighboring setting. Mage's End Times Scenario Hell on Earth simply ignores every other gadzillions of lore and creatures with one Nephandus (Nephandi are Mages who are edginess incarnate) destroying everything. That's it. No Antediluvian or hordes of vampires and werewolves even have an ounce of effect on the strange, omnipotent monstrosity that shifts in and out of reality and turns the Earth into Mordor. Same goes for Crucible of God, where Antediluvians turn the Earth into a post-apocalyptic fiefdom where humans are their slaves. Technocracy with Aurora bomber aircraft and space stations in other solar systems, Werewolves built to destroy Vampires, GOD-DAMN Kuei-jin (who are massive armies of Asian Chi-vampires) who could wipe out the get of Caine are not even mentioned once, presumably rolling over and dying when Caine rips a fart. Then there are the three stories of Demon, which can be summed up as a world-wide war against the Greater Demons, a world-wide war against the Earthbound and a world-wide war against the Earthbound but Lucifer's there.

(The Technocracy's absence in the CoG scenario makes particularly little sense - the [[Week of Nightmares]], which directly or indirectly caused the apocalyptic events of literally all the oWoD gamelines, finishes with the Technocrats permakilling a fucking Antediluvian Vampire with a barrage of spirit-nukes and a series of solar-ray killsats then easily covering the whole mess up. Despite this, there is absolutely no mention of them doing ''anything'' in the scenario, even as the world they're established as almost entirely controlling is carved up between uber-powerful vampires whose kind they've killed once before.)

Only two End Times stories have a passable niche in other settings, the first being "Fair is Foul" where Lilith tries to kill Caine without even breaking the Masquerade or influencing other mortals, with one city of Storyteller's choosing has Kaballah runes etched under it to shift some alleys, but that's it. Second is Wormwood where the Red Star is actually the Harbinger of a second, harmless-to-nonvampires Flood to wipe out vampires only, because humanity showed resolve and used its divine spirit to stop Ravnos, impressing God to get off his ass and do something. 40 days later, the world is clear of all vampires, with the other settings untouched.

To put it short, crossovers were all but impossible unless you utterly butchered the fluff of one line or another.

Chronicles of Darkness, meanwhile take place in "Earth, but with deeper shadows". So the world is basically like it is when you look out your window or look at the news, just a little creepier and more mysterious. Humanity is special, both on a crunch level (mortals are a lot beefier than in WoD) and on a metaphysical level; [[Hunter: The Vigil]] is often held up as literally [[Humanity Fuck Yeah]] the RPG, where you can face down and, if you're doing it right, curbstomp any and every monster out there. Alright, except maybe mages if you don't one-shot them, but that's just because it's a little hard to take on some asshole who can dick around with the laws of reality. Lore is more vague and nebulous, but also drastically more crossover friendly and provides more wiggle room for Storytellers to get creative without having to worry about canon. There is no immediate end of the world around the corner so much as a vague sense of dread, the supernaturals of different game lines typically have at least a uncertain idea of the existence of other supernatural beings and ''usually'' don't meddle too much in each other's affairs unless it furthers their own ends since no player side is a monstrous killer, the Paths of Edgelightenment were consigned to dustbins, and so on.

Really the biggest issue with the setting is essentially watering down the vampires and losing that sense of conflicting ideas, that for example Gilgamesh COULD have been either one of those three individuals because each race interprets the world different. Odds are he was just some regular guy, but since vampires, mages and werewolves are the centre of attention in each respected circle they believe themselves connected to iconic figures and legends. Just because you're a horrible monster doesn't mean you can't believe the world is flat or aliens built the pyramids, and in doing so it ironically give the setting a lot more humanity then you normally see. Take this and the old vampire lore and you get the best of both worlds.

== The Appeal of World of Darkness ==

== Video Games ==
There were a number of [[video games]] made (and cancelled) for the oWoD:
*Hunter: The Reckoning series
:A linear series on ''three different consoles''. If you were interested in the plot, you had to own a GameCube, PS2, and Xbox in that order. But they were also all multiplayer hack-&-slash beat-em-ups so the plot probably wasn't what their target audience was looking for.
*Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption
:Third-person RPG from Nihilistic Software with a action-focused single-player campaign that has nothing to do with conventional tabletop (vampiric discipline scroll anyone?) and oddly customizable multiplayer.
*Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
:First-person RPG from Troika Games that used an early version of Valve's Source engine, it requires the fan-patches; but is otherwise an entertaining single-player game.
*World of Darkness: Preludes
:Two "interactive experience" non-games released by Paradox Interactive in February of 2017. Let's just let the press release speak for itself.
:*Vampire The Masquerade: We Eat Blood
::''In'' Vampire: The Masquerade - We Eat Blood ''you’re a young artist who wakes up at night to find you’re no longer human…but exactly what are you and why are you so ravenously hungry for blood?!? Told entirely through an innovate mobile messaging perspective,'' We Eat Blood ''is a sharp, mature, and terrifying story about your first nights as unwilling predator and prey. Will you join ancient vampire conspiracies, or will you turn the tables on oppressive authority and seek your own future? The temptation is real. The game is written and illustrated by Zak Sabbath and Sarah Horrocks.''
:*Mage The Ascension: Refuge
::''In'' Mage: The Ascension - Refuge ''you play a volunteer at a European camp for Syrian refugees, and suddenly you discover that magic is real, you can use it, and you’re in the middle of a secret magical war for the fate of the world. The game lets you experience today’s social and political upheavals while learning that you can shape reality itself through sheer force of belief. Your actions and choices will have profound consequences on the world and people around you. Safety or sacrifice? Let them in or build the wall? The choice is yours. The game is written by noted Swedish author Karin Tidbeck.''
*Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York
:A visual novel about a conflict between the Camarilla and the Anarchs. Also based on 5th Edition. General consensus (based on what's written in the Vampire: The Masquerade page) seems to be that its shortcomings (short length, abrupt ending, lack of meaningful choices) keep it from being great.
*Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood
:A stealth/action RPG made by Cyanide Studio. You play as a Fianna fighting against Pentex, either sneaking around as a human, then when the stealth inevitably fucks up you become a werewolf and kill all the guards. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7MRD5nTTbk Here's the most recent trailer.]

====Cancelled====
*Vampire the Masquerade [[MMORPG]]
:Used to be in the works of CCP, the studio that made [[EVE Online]], but it was canceled in 2014. This is probably for the best as it was going to be based on CCP's engine for EVE's "walking in stations" feature which had a habit of melting GPUs.
*Werewolf: The Apocalypse
:A brawler for the Sega Saturn made by Capcom. Got canceled around the same time White Wolf stopped printing their [[Street Fighter]] RPG books. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogyeHh0htKM All that remains is this prototype.]
*Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart of Gaia
:Another canceled oWoD game, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYmiwbO5icc 27 minutes of it have been salvaged.]

====Upcoming====
*Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2
:Fifteen years after the last game, the cult classic is getting a sequel. Mostly based on VtM 5th Edition, little is known about the gameplay and story at this point. What ''is'' known is that the game will take place in Seattle, where a bunch of vampires descend on Pioneer Square and Embrace a whole bunch of people, turning them into Thin-Bloods (one of whom being the player-character). This means you won't have any disciplines at first and be restricted to the handful of powers Thin-Bloods got in V5 (as opposed to prior editions where they got crap-all), though the devs have said that you will eventually pick your Clan and gain the relevant disciplines and whatnot. Exactly ''how'' you gain a clan within the narrative has been the source of much speculation, but the current favorite theory is some form of diablerie. As of early 2021, Paradox Interactive canned the dev, canceled future preorders, and put the game on indefinite hold. Don't hold your breath on a release anytime soon.
*Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt
:Standard third person multiplayer last man standing battle royale game set in Prague. Has an excuse plot involving a war between anarchs + Camarilla with a human vampire hunter organization shrinking the playable area with some kind of anti-vampire gas. In early access as of Sep 2021.
*Vampire: The Masquerade — Night Road
:A text adventure of all things. You're a courier delivering messages and supplies between other vampires in the American Southwest.
*Vampire: The Masquerade - Out For Blood
:Another text adventure, though rather than playing as a vampire, this time you're a vampire hunter.
*Vampire: The Masquerade — Parliament of Knives
:One more text adventure. The Prince of Ottawa is missing and your sire sends you to find him.
*Vampire: The Masquerade - Shadows of New York
:An upcoming stand-alone expansion to Coteries of New York. You play as a Lasombra investigating the death of the Anarch leader.
*Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong
:Yet another newly announced Vampire game. It's going to be a 'social' RPG where you control three different vampires working for the Camarilla investigating a massacre at a Kindred gathering in Boston. From the devs of 'The Council '.
*Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart of the Forest
:A, you guessed it, text adventure centering on a girl trekking through the forests of Poland to research her ancestry. Spoilers: they're Werewolves. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOVT5romi-I Here's the announcement trailer.]
*Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife
:A VR game where you get to play as a new wraith, a photographer killed during a seance in a VERY haunted Hollywood mansion. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjzK8WZRzYI Here's the announcement trailer.]

== See Also ==
* [http://www.worldofdarkness.com/ World of Darkness website]
* [https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page World of Darkness wiki]
* [http://www.unmodchat.com/ Unmoderated WoD Chat]
* [https://darkcitygame.com/ Dark City World of Darkness game]
* [http://mrgone.rocksolidshells.com/ Mister Gone's Character Sheets]
* [[NWoD/Character Sheet | Template for a nWoD Character Sheet on 1d4chan]]
* [https://youtu.be/0h1U-_JFAS8 An intro from Ogre Poppenang's SpeakerD, Writer of] ''[[Hunter: The Parenting]]''

{{WoD-Games}}
{{WW-Games}}

Template:WoD-Games

2023-05-24T20:12:21Z

2600:4040:7E74:5500:7106:6F3C:CE76:8784:

<center>
{|class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed table" border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 style="margin: 1em; border: 2px solid black;"
|-
!align=center colspan=3 bgcolor="#999999" | [[World of Darkness]] Games 
|-
| ||align=center | '''Old World of Darkness''' || align=center | '''New World of Darkness'''
|-
! '''Offical Games'''
| [[Vampire: The Masquerade]] [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse]] [[Mage: The Ascension]] [[Wraith: The Oblivion]] [[Changeling: The Dreaming]] [[Hunter: The Reckoning]] [[Kindred of the East]] [[Mummy: The Resurrection]] [[Demon: The Fallen]] || [[Vampire: The Requiem]] [[Werewolf: The Forsaken]] [[Mage: The Awakening]] [[Promethean: The Created]] [[Changeling: The Lost]] [[Hunter: The Vigil]] [[Geist: The Sin-Eaters]] [[Mummy: The Curse]] [[Demon: The Descent]] [[Beast: The Primordial]] [[Deviant: The Renegades]]
|-
| colspan=4 | <hr>
|-
! '''Fan-made Games'''
| [[Atlantean: The Longing]] [[Exalted Versus World of Darkness]] [[Gargoyles: The Vigil]] [[Greys: The Abduction]] [[Highlander: The Gathering]] [[Senshi: The Merchandising]] [[Tech Infantry]] [[Zombie: The Coil]] || [[Alien: The Stranded]] [[Dragon: The Embers]] [[Genius: The Transgression]] [[Giant: The Perfidious]] [[Hunchback: The Lurching]] [[Janus: The Persona]] [[Leviathan: The Tempest]] [[Mutant: The Aberration]] [[Outsider: The Calling]] [[Princess: The Hopeful]] [[Siren: The Drowning]] [[Sovereign: The Autonomy]] [[Wraith: The Arising]]
|}
</center>[[Category:Roleplaying]][[Category:White Wolf]][[Category:World of Darkness]]

Template:WoD-Games

2023-05-24T20:11:29Z

2600:4040:7E74:5500:7106:6F3C:CE76:8784:

<center>
{|class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed table" border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 style="margin: 1em; border: 2px solid black;"
|-
!align=center colspan=3 bgcolor="#999999" | [[World of Darkness]] Games 
|-
| ||align=center | '''Old World of Darkness''' || align=center | '''New World of Darkness'''
|-
! '''Offical Games'''
| [[Vampire: The Masquerade]] [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse]] [[Mage: The Ascension]] [[Wraith: The Oblivion]] [[Changeling: The Dreaming]] [[Hunter: The Reckoning]] [[Kindred of the East]] [[Mummy: The Resurrection]] [[Demon: The Fallen]] || [[Vampire: The Requiem]] [[Werewolf: The Forsaken]] [[Mage: The Awakening]] [[Promethean: The Created]] [[Changeling: The Lost]] [[Hunter: The Vigil]] [[Geist: The Sin-Eaters]] [[Mummy: The Curse]] [[Demon: The Descent]] [[Beast: The Primordial]] [[Deviant: The Renegades]]
|-
| colspan=4 | <hr>
|-
! '''Fan-made Games'''
| [[Atlantean: The Longing]] [[Exalted Versus World of Darkness]] [[Gargoyles: The Vigil]] [[Greys: The Abduction]] [[Highlander: The Gathering]] [[Senshi: The Merchandising]] [[Tech Infantry]] [[Zombie: The Coil]] || [[Alien: The Stranded]] [[Dragon: The Embers]] [[Genius: The Transgression]] [[Giant: The Perfidious]] [[Hunchback: The Lurching]] [[Janus: The Persona]] [[Leviathan: The Tempest]] [[Mutant: The Aberration]] [[Outsider: The Calling]] [[Pathogen: The Infected]] [[Princess: The Hopeful]] [[Siren: The Drowning]] [[Sovereign: The Autonomy]] [[Wraith: The Arising]]
|}
</center>[[Category:Roleplaying]][[Category:White Wolf]][[Category:World of Darkness]]

Pathogen: the infected

2023-05-24T20:10:47Z

2600:4040:7E74:5500:7106:6F3C:CE76:8784:

{{WoD-stub}}
'''Pathogen: The Infected''' is a fanmade game set within the [[New World of Darkness]]. It centers on "the Infected," people who have gained strange new powers thanks to the [[Nurgle|supernatural diseases]] they've contracted. Expect copious amounts of Body Horror.

Created by Adam Thaxton, who has since abandoned it.

==Vectors==

Vectors represent the modes by which you were infected.

===Airborne===

A disease spread by sneezing.

===Bitten===

Infected by the bite of a bug or wild animal.

===Endoparasite===

A disease caused by a worm or other parasite.

===Infused===

Infection by organ transplant or blood tranfusion.

===Unborn===

Infected in the womb.

==Symptoms==

How the infection manifests in the Infected's body.

===Dermis===

The Infected's skin develops a rash and an affinity for water.

===Fever===

The Infected's body temperature rises, and they begin to hate the cold.

===Insomnia===

The Infected has trouble sleeping or suffers by nightmares if they do fall asleep.

===Paedomorphosis===

The Infected begins to regress in age and develops child-like behaviors.

==Wings==

The factions the Infected join, based off of how they react to their infection.

===Annunaki===

Infected who believe they are descended from ancient gods and now form cults.

===Cambions===

Infected who embrace their new state.

===Jagda===

Infected who believe they are the next stage of human evolution.

===Neonates===

[[Transhumanist]] infected.

===Protectors===

Infected who fight against other Infected to protect normal people.

===Stemmers===

Everybody else who isn't in one of the above groups.

==Links==
* [https://sites.google.com/site/pathogendump/ Official Website]
* Alternate Drafts: [http://www.scribd.com/doc/30259994/Pathogen Scribd], [https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B4E22DL0XscIOGMwMmM3NDgtMDFlNy00NmQ1LWE4N2ItNDkzMTFjMTNmMmQ5&hl=en Google Docs]
* [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=r87xez4op0o7yo2e98djtopn&page=1 Attempt to polish off the existing material at] [[TVTropes]]
* [http://pathogen-the-infected.wikidot.com/ Wiki]
{{WoD-Games}}
[[Category:Homebrew Settings]][[Category:Homebrew Rules]]

Pathogen: the infected

2023-05-24T20:10:01Z

2600:4040:7E74:5500:7106:6F3C:CE76:8784:

{{WoD-stub}}
'''Pathogen: The Infected''' is a fanmade game set within the [[New World of Darkness]]. It centers on "the Infected," people who have gained strange new powers thanks to the [[Nurgle|supernatural diseases]] they've contracted. Expect copious amounts of Body Horror.

Created by Adam Thaxton, who has since abandoned it.

==Vectors==

Vectors represent the modes by which you were infected.

===Airborne===

A disease spread by sneezing.

===Bitten===

Infected by the bite of a bug or wild animal.

===Endoparasite===

A disease caused by a worm or other parasite.

===Infused===

Infection by organ transplant or blood tranfusion.

===Unborn===

Infected in the womb.

==Symptoms==

How the infection manifests in the Infected's body.

===Dermis===

The Infected's skin develops a rash and an affinity for water.

====Fever===

The Infected's body temperature rises, and they begin to hate the cold.

===Insomnia===

The Infected has trouble sleeping or suffers by nightmares if they do fall asleep.

===Paedomorphosis===

The Infected begins to regress in age and develops child-like behaviors.

==Wings==

The factions the Infected join, based off of how they react to their infection.

===Annunaki===

Infected who believe they are descended from ancient gods and now form cults.

===Cambions===

Infected who embrace their new state.

===Jagda===

Infected who believe they are the next stage of human evolution.

===Neonates===

[[Transhumanist]] infected.

===Protectors===

Infected who fight against other Infected to protect normal people.

===Stemmers===

Everybody else who isn't in one of the above groups.

==Links==
* [https://sites.google.com/site/pathogendump/ Official Website]
* Alternate Drafts: [http://www.scribd.com/doc/30259994/Pathogen Scribd], [https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B4E22DL0XscIOGMwMmM3NDgtMDFlNy00NmQ1LWE4N2ItNDkzMTFjMTNmMmQ5&hl=en Google Docs]
* [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=r87xez4op0o7yo2e98djtopn&page=1 Attempt to polish off the existing material at] [[TVTropes]]
* [http://pathogen-the-infected.wikidot.com/ Wiki]
{{WoD-Games}}
[[Category:Homebrew Settings]][[Category:Homebrew Rules]]

Pathogen: the infected

2023-05-24T20:09:39Z

2600:4040:7E74:5500:7106:6F3C:CE76:8784: Created page with "{{WoD-stub}} '''Pathogen: The Infected''' is a fanmade game set within the New World of Darkness. It centers on "the Infected," people who have gained strange new powers..."

{{WoD-stub}}
'''Pathogen: The Infected''' is a fanmade game set within the [[New World of Darkness]]. It centers on "the Infected," people who have gained strange new powers thanks to the [[Nurgle|supernatural diseases]] they've contracted. Expect copious amounts of Body Horror.

Created by Adam Thaxton, who has since abandoned it.

==Vectors==

Vectors represent the modes by which you were infected.

===Airborne===

A disease spread by sneezing.

===Bitten===

Infected by the bite of a bug or wild animal.

===Endoparasite===

A disease caused by a worm or other parasite.

===Infused===

Infection by organ transplant or blood tranfusion.

===Unborn===

Infected in the womb.

==Symptoms==

How the infection manifests in the Infected's body.

===Dermis===

The Infected's skin develops a rash and an affinity for water.

====Fever===

The Infected's body temperature rises, and they begin to hate the cold.

===Insomnia===

The Infected has trouble sleeping or suffers by nightmares if they do fall asleep.

===Paedomorphosis===

The Infected begins to regress in age and develops child-like behaviors.

==Wings==

The factions the Infected join, based off of how they react to their infection.

===Annunaki===

Infected who believe they are descended from ancient gods and now form cults.

===Cambions===

Infected who embrace their new state.

===Jagda===

Infected who believe they are the next stage of human evolution.

===Neonates===

[[Transhumanist]] infected.

===Protectors===

Infected who fight against other Infected to protect normal people.

===Stemmers===

Everybody else who isn't in one of the above groups.

==Links==
* [https://sites.google.com/site/pathogendump/ Official Website]
* Alternate Drafts: [[http://www.scribd.com/doc/30259994/Pathogen Scribd], [https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B4E22DL0XscIOGMwMmM3NDgtMDFlNy00NmQ1LWE4N2ItNDkzMTFjMTNmMmQ5&hl=en Google Docs]
* [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=r87xez4op0o7yo2e98djtopn&page=1 Attempt to polish off the existing material at] [[TVTropes]]
* [http://pathogen-the-infected.wikidot.com/ Wiki]
{{WoD-Games}}
[[Category:Homebrew Settings]][[Category:Homebrew Rules]]