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12:44 AM

Setting

Many of you may or may not be familiar with the general World of Darkness setting, and so I have decided to include a bit of information on such, which will have some of my own general twists on it for use in these forums. Much if it has been taken from the various core Storyteller books from the series, meshed together as best as possible so that it is not specific to any one race.

From the Storyteller System descriptions:

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The world of the White Wolf Storyteller System series is not our own, though it is close enough for fearsome discomfort. Rather, the world is like ours, but through a looking glass darkly. Evil is palpable and ubiquitous in this world; the final days and nights are upon us, and the whole planet teeters on a razor's edge of tension. It is a world of darkness.

Superficially, the World of Darkness is like the “real” world we all inhabit. The same bands are popular, violence still plagues the inner cities, graft and corruption infest the same governments, and society still looks to the same cities for its culture. The World of Darkness has a Statue of Liberty, an Eiffel Tower and a CBGB's. More present than in our world, though, is the undercurrent of horror – our world's ills are all the more pronounced in the World of Darkness. Our fears are more real. Our governments are more degenerate. Our ecosystem dies a bit more each day. And the supernatural exist.

Many of the differences between our world and the World of Darkness stem from these supernaturals. They manipulate our societies for their own enjoyment, or to guard against their rivals, or to fulfill ancient prophecies that have long been forgotten, or because they have nothing better to do.

The greatest difference between our world and that of the Storyteller System is the presence of various kinds of monsters pulling the strings of humanity. Violence and despair are more common here, because they need to be in order for the supernaturals to continue their existences. The world is bleak, but escape is an ever-present commodity – perhaps too present. The setting of the World of Darkness is a composite of its populace and their despair.

“Gothic-Punk” is perhaps the best way to describe the physical nature of the World of Darkness. The environment is a clashing mixture of styles and influences, and the tension caused by the juxtaposition of ethnicities, social classes and subcultures makes the world a vibrant, albeit dangerous, place.

The Gothic aspect describes the ambiance of the World of Darkness. Buttressed buildings loom overhead, bedecked with classical columns and grimacing gargoyles. Residents are dwarfed by the sheer scale of architecture, lost amid the spires that seem to group toward Heaven in an effort to escape the physical world. The ranks of the Church swell, as mortals flock to any banner that offers them a hope of something better in the hereafter. Likewise, cults flourish in the underground, promising power and redemption. The institutions that control society are even more staid and conservative than they are in our world, for many in power prefer the evil of the world they know to the chaos engendered by change. It is a divisive world of have and have-not, rich and poor, excess and squalor.

The Punk aspect is the lifestyle that many denizens of the World of Darkness have adopted. In order to give their lives meaning, they rebel, crashing themselves against the crags of power. Gangs prowl the streets and organized crime breeds in the underworld, reactions to the pointlessness of living “by the book”. Music is louder, faster, more violent or hypnotically monotonous, and supported by masses who find salvation in its escape. Speech is coarser, fashion is bolder, art is more shocking, and technology brings it all to everyone at the click of a button. The world is more corrupt, the people are spiritually bankrupt, and escapism often replaces hope.

Taken from the Wikipedia entry about the old World of Darkness setting:

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The World of Darkness resembles the contemporary world, but darker, more devious, more conspiratorial. Humanity is losing hope as it is secretly preyed upon and controlled by supernatural creatures such as vampires, werewolves and wraiths. One facet that sets the World of Darkness apart from most other horror fiction is that these creatures are not solitary predators to be hunted down and destroyed, but they are numerous and intelligent; enough so to form secret societies, develop various factions and allegiances, and use humans as pawns in power struggles and murderous games often lasting centuries or millennia.

However, the rising power and strength of human civilization has started to restrict their power, and an atmosphere of gloom resides over many of the games as once-almighty supernatural beings, the dark Princes and Lords of previous eras, in their turn face the bleak and unbearable prospect of a future spent struggling and shrinking under the ever-more powerful gaze and control of a worldwide technocratic cabal, which intends to stamp out mysticism - and their supernatural rivals in the same course - by making reason and science paramount. In the meantime, normal humanity, tool or prey of all factions, is oppressed and hounded in this hidden, all-encompassing conflict, barely capable of fighting and for the majority not even aware of their enemies.

Interlocking conspiracies, some mirroring those said to exist in our own world, some unique, can be found throughout the setting. Cabals of powerful mages, coteries of cunning vampires, and other, stranger powers vie within their own cultures and with each other for control of the world. The dichotomy between rich and poor, influential and weak, powerful and powerless, is much more pronounced than in our world. Decadence is common and corruption is everywhere. This dark reflection is seen everywhere: gargoyles and gothic construction influence architecture, while the leather look and punk atmosphere crowd the streets. Everything is as gloomy in the WoD as the most pessimistic tabloid headlines present it.

The game uses both historical (Wild West, Dark Ages, and Victorian) as well as a modern setting. Any games played in modern settings use the world we know, but with an underlying supernaturals influencing it. While the game is fictional, players should be aware that the game takes place in the "real world" Real world consequences will follow if you break the human's laws, also humans will respond in the way they would normally. The game does not rewrite human society, rather it uses human society as the backdrop for the secret lives of the supernaturals.

The time frame for the role plays I will be running on Menewsha is during the lead up to the Final Days/Final Nights/End of the Storyteller System. Anything that happened during events like the Week of Nightmares, etc, has not yet happened and will not be usable in this particular set of campaigns. In other words, disregard anything on any of the linked websites that occurred shortly after the release of Demon: the Fallen.