My Ascension (Part 4)

Reboots. We all hate 'em, am I right?

Well, if you were to poll the internet about pretty much any relaunch or reboot, you'd see that the shock of the new is enough to drive fanboys of any hobby into a frothing madness. This applies to the World of Darkness games I've been blathering on about for the last few posts.

In August 2004, White Wolf attempted to inject new life into the World of Darkness with some slick new RPG books, using character types that were similar in name and tone to the their previous line. Vampire: The Masquerade became Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Apocalypse became Werewolf: The Forsaken and so on and so forth. They also introduced some new character archetypes in the form of Promethean and Geist, referring to golems and ghosts respectively.

2004 was probably the peak of my personal interest in playing and running games. Back in those heady days, I'd run a D&D game here and there, a Star Wars session every once in a while, and a weekly World of Darkness campaign. Mage had been my favorite of the original line of books, so when the new edition, Mage: The Awakening was announced, I set aside my bias toward the old World of Darkness and decided to give the new stuff a go.

My initial impressions weren't positive. It had nothing to do with the new lore, clans, and powers but rather, the system itself had been modified by those sneaky little devils consumerism and synergy into something designed to sap a bit more money from eager gamers who wanted to dip their toe in d10.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the World of Darkness books could cross over, but were also capable of being played independently. For example, if the only book you had was Changeling, all the rules and systems were explained within and could carry over once you got a new book like Demon or Hunter. The new books that started dropping in 2004 employed a "core rulebook" a la D&D or Star Wars entitled, you guessed it, World of Darkness. Along with rules for normal "mortal" characters, this book had a foundation for the rules that was not replicated in the others. You had to at least buy this core book before you could dive into the others. It rubbed me the wrong way.

Wanting ever so badly to put my new books to use, I decided to let my frustrations go and embrace the New. Part of easing me into the process was the astounding work in the book Promethean: The Created. Promethean characters were tied to things like Frankenstein's Monster and the Jewish Golem; homunculi would wander the world long after their creators had passed, inadvertently harming the world (and other players) around them. These characters were antithetical to teamwork and were almost designed to be played solo. It was a burden to have one in your group. An interesting burden rife with storytelling potential.

The new Changeling lore was fascinating as well. Horrifying incidents like child abduction and substance abuse were reframed as the influence of things "from beyond", yet it was done in an ambiguous way to make players more paranoid. "Is this really my life?" "Is this really my son/daughter?" It was creepy and worked on levels well beyond the usual let's-fling-powers-at-each-other kind of thing that a lot of World of Darkness games could devolve into.

It's my impression that the New World of Darkness (funny I keep calling it new, it's over a decade old at this point) employed a tone within it's rules and explanations that rubbed people the wrong way. There was an emphasis on theater arts and certain terms that had been pen and paper staples up to that point were abandoned. It never really bothered me to be honest. Call 'em a "dungeon master" or a "storyteller" or a "chronicler", it still boils down to rolling dice, taking notes, and doing funny voices at one another. Nonetheless, this new attitude might have acted as another strike against it.

But don't fret, oldies. Even though this abominable reboot continues to thrive to this day, it will never erase your Masquerades or your Ascensions. As a famous author once noted when asked about theatrical versions of his works "ruining" the originals, "My books are fine. They're right there on the shelf."

Thanks for reading! Let me know how wrong I am in the comments section, or on Twitter where I go by the handle @ChrisBComics. And they call me that because occasionally I do a little Back Issue Diving.

Next time on Tabletop Legends - I'll be jumping back into the world of collectible card games and I'll give you a hint as to which one: It rhymes with Fraggin Mall Tee. See ya then!