My Ascension (Part 3)

Mage had been my formal introduction to the "World of Darkness" series of games. These were interlocking RPG settings that ranged from Vampire: The Masquerade to Demon: The Fallen and everything in between. The core d10 rules were (mostly) the same, allowing characters of all types in interact with one another.

(Be careful, though. They weren't all balanced to the point of being chummy. For example, you wouldn't want to be a novice Hunter and get on the bad side of your Vampire buddy. There's definitely a food chain.)

Each new book exposed another layer of the "World of Darkness", or oWoD. The books I played most with are collectively referred to as the oWoD since they're the "old" World of Darkness. Just over a decade ago, a new series of books with updated rules and setting started flooding shelves which fans lovingly refer to as the "New World of Darkness".

Anyhoo, Vampires, Werewolves, Changelings . . . they all walk among us, living in their secret societies, enacting their secret rituals, and participating in their own feuds and fiefdoms. The lengths that authors like Mark Rein-Hagen went to present these worlds as parallel to our own has always fascinated me. If you've ever seen Blade or read an Anne Rice novel, it's not hard to imagine how a group of vampires could be posing as club kids, but in books like Changeling, fae lore was applied to some rather common human occurrences. These clandestine societies aren't emerging, they've been here all along, coexisting (or at least, attempting to) with mankind.

Use of the "real" world in oWoD games was encouraged so much that eventually publisher White Wolf would eventually put together city-specific sourcebooks. I never had any of these myself, but I could see a younger me getting absorbed into the Chicago or New Orleans sourcebook, cross referencing the landmarks mentioned in each with their real-life counterparts. It's a neat angle, and a fun way to expand a game.

The interconnected nature of these games led to some hilarious altercations during my time as a oWoD storyteller. One player was a Vampire of the Camarilla sect, adhering to strict traditions and enforcing Kindred law. He clashed quite a bit with the two free-wheeling Mages in our group, who wanted nothing more than to expose shams like "The Masquerade" as if they were The Lone Gunmen or something. Those particular players didn't get on so hot in real life either, resulting in bickering from both sides that would morph in and out of character. Funny how players try to create a character that isn't like them, but most times in the area of role playing, let their own personality traits shine through.

The World of Darkness was always something I wanted to be more involved with, but I drifted away from gaming for a spell and even got rid of my books. (D'oh!) In 2007, I saw some of the New World of Darkness products at a Barnes & Noble and decided to give them a try. Naturally, there was a lot of hate from older fans about them even existing, but I was surprised at what I'd found.

To be continued . . .

Thanks for reading!
Twitter: @ChrisBComics
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