Remove ads

White Wolf's World of Darkness

Reader mode
Broken25 said:
For a changeling, changing house can cause major troubles.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I'm gonna pop in and say that depending on their previous experiences or existing trauma, the exact same is true of regular humans.

Like, that's what Changelings are. People with trauma and magical powers. They behave in ways consistent with disturbed individuals, either because they are themselves disturbed or because they're fulfilling a Catch (like seriously. 'I refuse to wear shoes so that I can run faster' or whatever that precise Contract was).
 
By the way, how good is the Guardians of the Veil book? I really don't quite understand the Hieromagus, so it seems as if the book itself would be a good place to look. :p
 
Broken25 said:
Honestly the hieromagus is a pretty standard messiah myth.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I'm just not sure how it ties into being the Guardians of the Veil.

Also, let's see. Other things I'm thinking about: race, gender, nationalism, etc and etc and Mages. I had a lot of thoughts about this. Obviously Mage society itself is probably historically lighter on this stuff, if only because they share so much from Awakening, but it was admitted in the books that AA's were swept up in nationalism, and more than that, there'd be an interesting/difficult dichotomy.

A powerful female Mage in 1300 might wield immense power among the magical set, yet among the Sleepers she would be burdened and judged as if she wasn't someone who knew the literal Truths of the goddamn universe.

And people think *she's* the bad guy when she gets fed up and shoots lightning bolts at sexist Sleepers. :V

There'd be an interesting sort of restraint and a difficulty/complexity to advancing in the Sleeper world, especially when combined with a lot less restraint in the Mage world. It could certainly drive minority Mages (in the olden days or even now to a lesser extent) towards focusing on the magical world and magical attainment in disregard to Sleeper-style-ambitions that are placed out of their reach[1].

After all, plenty of Mages want Sleeper-style comforts or Sleeper-style success. They want to love and live and settle down and buy a new house or see the latest movie or play or cave painting (depending on when you're talking).

It's something to think about, at least.

[1] At least without a lot of hubristic effort that might draw attention.

*****

On a rather more practical note, is there any guidelines to how many Mages are in a Consilium? Other than 'As many as makes sense/as you need?'
 
Last edited:
Remove ads
Mage Demographic Info
  • Threadmarks
    • The Laurent said:
    I'm just not sure how it ties into being the Guardians of the Veil.

    Also, let's see. Other things I'm thinking about: race, gender, nationalism, etc and etc and Mages. I had a lot of thoughts about this. Obviously Mage society itself is probably historically lighter on this stuff, if only because they share so much from Awakening, but it was admitted in the books that AA's were swept up in nationalism, and more than that, there'd be an interesting/difficult dichotomy.

    A powerful female Mage in 1300 might wield immense power among the magical set, yet among the Sleepers she would be burdened and judged as if she wasn't someone who knew the literal Truths of the goddamn universe.

    And people think *she's* the bad guy when she gets fed up and shoots lightning bolts at sexist Sleepers. :V

    There'd be an interesting sort of restraint and a difficulty/complexity to advancing in the Sleeper world, especially when combined with a lot less restraint in the Mage world. It could certainly drive minority Mages (in the olden days or even now to a lesser extent) towards focusing on the magical world and magical attainment in disregard to Sleeper-style-ambitions that are placed out of their reach[1].

    After all, plenty of Mages want Sleeper-style comforts or Sleeper-style success. They want to love and live and settle down and buy a new house or see the latest movie or play or cave painting (depending on when you're talking).

    It's something to think about, at least.

    [1] At least without a lot of hubristic effort that might draw attention.

    *****

    On a rather more practical note, is there any guidelines to how many Mages are in a Consilium? Other than 'As many as makes sense/as you need?'
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Dave Brookshaw posted this on 4chan a while back.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • The Legacies part definitely will take some thinking/doing, because I'm not used to handing out that sort of thing willy-nilly. I mean, maybe the assumption is that most Vampires will eventually get a Bloodline, but I never got that impression. Legacies, on the other hand, seem more universal. But that does add another element I have to work with.

    I'm currently considering Chicago, among other possible cities.
     
    So. Im thinking of running a WW2 Werewolf game. Allies have a secret unit of Werewolves that are tasked with fighting Hitler's Occult Research Force.

    Should i go for Forsaken 1e or 2e and what does the werewolf translation guide say about tribes?
     
    Brother Mouse said:
    So. Im thinking of running a WW2 Werewolf game. Allies have a secret unit of Werewolves that are tasked with fighting Hitler's Occult Research Force.

    Should i go for Forsaken 1e or 2e and what does the werewolf translation guide say about tribes?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    On the other hand while it is better about beats etc then vampire it still has the usual GMC problems so I would argue for a hybrid of the two of them as you cut out some first edition stuff and fill in from the second there.
     
    We're on Page 400 now - goodness that's a lot of ground.

    The Laurent said:
    Charles Casey, Shadow Name: Duster
    Bootlegger and Artifact Peddler

    "If you want it, I can tell you it's from an Atlantean ruin. And you won't get a better price. I promise you that. Have a drink while you're at it, there's plenty to go around, and you're my customer, if you agree. That makes you a friend, doesn't it?"

    Background: Born in a middle-class Canadian family, Charles Casey has recreated himself as a proud and even flamboyant bootlegger captain of Rum Row. Together with his cabal-mates, he has done incredibly well for himself in a very short time, despite being essentially an amatuer at the entire business, and a man who in fact doesn't particularly like alcohol, let alone the rum that makes up most of his cargo. He's polite, urbane if he needs to be, surprisingly salty and down to earth if that's what sets people at ease.

    He's also an Awakened, a man who knows how other people's minds work, and understands just what people want. His awakening drove him from his family in some ways, but he still has access to their wealth, and early on in prohibition, it is a very, very promising venture. The money he makes helps finance his more profitable and important business.

    He trades in secrets, rumors, grimoires, artifacts and other tools with Mages who are willing to journey by boat three miles beyond the shore, in international water (which is where he does his bootlegging business). He has very specific rules. He'll sell to anyone, as long as he can assuage his rather bruised conscious that it will not cause immediate harm. He's unlikely to hand a grimoire listing a rote that allows a Moros to devour souls to extend their lifespan, and if he suspects that the person involved plans something immediately 'bad' and not merely a little underhanded, he might refuse the trade.

    But at the same time, the pretense matters as much as the reality, and some of the tools he has given away have wound up in the hands of Left-Handed Mages or even Seers, a fact that the unaligned Mercier doesn't seem to care that much about. It doesn't effect him, and it doesn't effect his Cabal, with whom he is quite close.

    And for the moment, as of 1921, he's quite satisfied with his life.

    Description: Mercier is a short, thin man with dark hair and darker eyes, his features a little rough. He is only saved from looking like a certain image of a jowly businessman by just how gaunt his face is. He seems to eat and drink very little. He's usually dressed in a manner that always perfectly fits the situation. With guests he dresses in a rather smart suit, but when working on one of the several crafts he owns, he dresses to work.

    His manners are rather effortless, and as with his clothing, he is skilled at switching his tone and misdirecting people as to his motives. His nimbus is a distortion of space itself, in which small things seem larger and big things smaller, everything distorted and out of order.

    Description:
    Storytelling Hints: He doesn't take money, at least not usually, for the secrets and grimoires. Instead he prefers trades, things he can use as a Mage. Thus he's a repository of secrets and artifacts that might prove tempting to any number of people, meaning both good and ill. If approached by someone looking for information, he can be quite willing to deal, but he always drives a fair bargain, by his definition of the word.

    He believes he exists outside of both the rules and the conflicts that engulf Mages, and his cabal-mates and the bribes he pays to port authorities and everyone else mean he has a lot of friends in places both low and high, but he might not be as immune from consequences as he would like to be, and if stolen from or otherwise crossed, he might turn out to be less harmless--he makes a point of not harming people, even if it requires rationalization and ignoring the results of his actions--then he first seems.

    He is in his early twenties.

    Scenarios:

    --There is a distress message across several spectrums, both magical and otherwise, and when your Cabal reaches the boat, they find death. His four cabalmates, and the sleeper and sleepwalker crew, all horribly killed, burned by acid, violated. But he is nowhere to be seen and neither are the potent artifacts that he was about to sell. Could an enemy of the Consilium have them? Is he still alive? Tracking him down might yet yield results.
    --Recently certain disreputable individuals have found themselves in possession of artifacts and tools that they should not have. Is Casey behind it? A visit to him might prove fruitful in furthering the search for and attempts to rein in these figures.
    --Casey has been robbed, and he's on the war path. He's declared that he'll pay a mystic bounty to anyone who can help track down or capture those who stole from him, and the hunt is on. If you find them first, what will you do? Take the artifacts for yourself and face his wrath, or turn them in for a potentially less impressive reward.

    Sheet--

    Gnosis: 3
    Wisdom: 6, he's done plenty of questionable things, but few of them quite push the right buttons for a Wisdom drop.
    Virtue: Affable
    Vice: Greedy
    Dedicated Magical Tool: A delicately wrought brass goblet.
    Path: Mastigos
    Order: N/A
    Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2
    Presence 3, Manipulation 4, Composure 4
    Intelligence 3, Wits 3, Resolve 2
    Skills: Occult 2 (Artifact Lore, Atlantean Lore/Speculation), Weaponry 1, Seamanship 3 (Smuggling)*, Academics 1 (Law, Art), Crafts 1, Investigation 3 (Artifacts), Politics 2 (Bribery), Science 1, Athletics 2, Stealth 2, Larceny 2 (Concealing Stolen Goods), Empathy 2 (Motives), Persuasion 3 (Sales Pitches), Socialize 3, Streetwise 3 (Bootlegging 2), Subterfuge 3 (Misdirection)
    Willpower: 6
    Defense: 3
    Speed: 10
    Health: 7
    Arcana: Space 3, Mind 3, Prime 3, Forces 1, Life 1, Matter 1
    Rotes: He's a tricky one, because the secrets he's gotten include information that means that he has rotes comparable to an order mage. So, that said…
    Forces--*Fording the River
    Life--*Purge the Unbidden
    Matter--*Mapping the Tomb, *Glimmer in the Shaodws
    Mind--** Don the Inner Mask, ** A Face You Can Trust, ** Steel Trap,
    Prime--** Claiming the Ancient Heritage, *** Forge of Power
    Space--** Nothing Up My Sleeve, ** Twisting Threads, *** Escape Hatch
    Merits: Here's where I get a bit reluctant to go searching for everything, so this will be an advice section. He has contacts with the local authorities, the wholesalers who sell his stuff to thirsty buyers on the East Coast, the distillers in Canada, and his fellow smugglers, and he'd close to his cabal mates, and he's rather rich, Resources 4 and even that obscures just how much he spends and uses on his other business, which has made him plenty of friends and enemies. Magically, this is where if you were using him as an ST you'd have the right to go hog-wild. He's a hoarder of bits and pieces of secrets. Does he have blackmail on a powerful local Mage that makes them look the other way? If you wish. Might he have a few somewhat potent Artifacts stashed here and there? Quite possibly. Useful grimoire? Certainly. Both as tools and as 'loot drops' he's one of the few people who can actually be justified to have such a thing. It all depends on what is needed for that particular game.

    *It's basically Boat Drive+Other minor stuff

    Afterlife: He is based loosely on a real person, who indeed was a Teetotaler himself, and Rum Row was a real place. In real life, the early days of easy commerce gave way to the threat of pirates hijacking the ship and stealing the money that the rum runners gained. In one notorious case, an entire boat of people were murdered, exactly as horribly as I hinted, and their money stolen. This, combined with the rise of cartels and professional operations, eventually shut out amateurs from Rum Row, and eventually the government actually managed to crack down on that particular form of smuggling, and focus was shifted to Detroit.

    Charles Casey sticks in longer than most, but he's eventually forced off the water by the rise of professionals and the increased risks. If he gives up and returns home to Canada, he settles in and eventually joins the Mysterium, becoming a somewhat respectable member of his consilium, growing jowly and aged, and yet still with the well-bred manners.

    Potential scenarios for Mage Noir or even somewhat later settings could include some of his information or some of the secrets he learned in the twenties becoming relevant. The return of an old enemy or information on an artifact thought loss might drive a cabal to his doorstep to pick his brain for old stories...at a price.

    If he stays in the business, he manages to keep up, though the rise of the Great Depression and the fact that he's forced to go it overland creates difficulties, and getting a good supply of secrets to trade gets increasingly hard...and then the Seers of the Throne rip him off, murder three of his cabalmates, some of his best friends, and make the mistake of not killing him in the process.

    This rather pushed him towards the side of 'The Seers must pay' and in a Mage Noir game he's a respected member of the Mysterium, but one who is startlingly close to the Arrows and other more aggressive factions, and who is devoted to destroying and rooting out Seers and their patsies. Whereas the first fate has him mature slowly like a fine wine, this one has him as a Triple Master of Mind, Space, and Prime, and skilled in other things besides. He's running hot even after all of these years, his amiable nature only occasionally peeking through his intensity, and where he runs hot, people are liable to get burned.

    *****

    A/N: So, some lessons. I really have trouble with rotes, the mechanics are still unfamiliar, and I'm not 100% sure about this. That said, I liked making the character and he does fit into a specific historical niche. Not sure about the politics and all, but his resistance to joining one of the Diamond Orders was pretty brief, relatively speaking.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    The Laurent did another great write up back on page 398 that was mostly ignored.
    Pay more attention to such important things!
     
    Last edited:
    What are some alternate takes if you want to modify/ditch/etc the Free Council, or at least do something with them without just saying 'get rid of them without changing anything else' or whatever. I'm still in the pre-pre-idea stage of thinking about 1920s Chicago (if it even becomes important.)

    Themes: Chicago is a dynamic, rich, powerful city on the verge of the (rather short-lived, honestly)[1] rise of Al Capone, and the booze flows, but so do the ideas. Writers, thinkers, dynamism both in the Sleeper world and among Mages that rival the infamous Harlem breakways. This creates a lot of tension between those who are bold and daring innovators, those who in fact have stepped over the damned line and are now monsters, those who are conservative in the steady sense, those who are oppressive tyrants who use tradition as a weapon...and those who just want to make a quick buck or are on the hunt for a little power.

    [1] Al Capone was 25 when he rose to the top of Chicago crime. He was thirty when he fell and wound up in prison. His infamous reign that journalists and writers have spilled so much ink on was just five years, but because he was a master of publicity, he managed to grab an outsized chunk of the cultural landscape. I mean, who still remembers the Purple Gang, for instance?

    Al Capone's focus on image (and his startling willingness to talk to the press) honestly makes me wonder if something hinky might not have been going on, World of Darkness wise. Of course, he could also be an attention hog of an entirely mundane variety too.
     
    The Laurent said:
    What are some alternate takes if you want to modify/ditch/etc the Free Council, or at least do something with them without just saying 'get rid of them without changing anything else' or whatever. I'm still in the pre-pre-idea stage of thinking about 1920s Chicago (if it even becomes important.)

    Themes: Chicago is a dynamic, rich, powerful city on the verge of the (rather short-lived, honestly)[1] rise of Al Capone, and the booze flows, but so do the ideas. Writers, thinkers, dynamism both in the Sleeper world and among Mages that rival the infamous Harlem breakways. This creates a lot of tension between those who are bold and daring innovators, those who in fact have stepped over the damned line and are now monsters, those who are conservative in the steady sense, those who are oppressive tyrants who use tradition as a weapon...and those who just want to make a quick buck or are on the hunt for a little power.

    [1] Al Capone was 25 when he rose to the top of Chicago crime. He was thirty when he fell and wound up in prison. His infamous reign that journalists and writers have spilled so much ink on was just five years, but because he was a master of publicity, he managed to grab an outsized chunk of the cultural landscape. I mean, who still remembers the Purple Gang, for instance?

    Al Capone's focus on image (and his startling willingness to talk to the press) honestly makes me wonder if something hinky might not have been going on, World of Darkness wise. Of course, he could also be an attention hog of an entirely mundane variety too.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    You could play it as the FC being still in process being formed.

    I mean, from the Grand Refusal in 1899 to the 1920-33 of the prohibition there are only 30 something years. The Council should still be recruiting Nameless Orders by trying to convince them to submit to the cabal of anachronistic hipsters they call "mainstream" Free Council.

    (Sorry, it's just that the premise of the FC as a coalition of what HAVE to be mystery cults to be anything like sleeper mysticism resulting in something remotely resembling democracy has always been rather unbelievable to me )

    So, they should be busy sorting that out and trying to sieve all the Left-Handed Legacies out of that hodge-podge of highly secretive mystery cults.
     
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top