White Wolf Wiki
Don't have an account?
Register
White Wolf Wiki
Advertisement
Register
White Wolf Wiki
White Wolf Wiki
24,698
pages
in: Pages using ISBN magic links, White Wolf Night Edition, 1998 releases

White Wolf Night Edition Number 9

Sign in to edit

White Wolf Night Edition Number 9 is a newsletter printed on newsprint and published sometime in the Spring of 1998.

Contents[]

Cover[]

News, Events and Bilious Spewings from White Wolf. Free! Who's Your Daddy?

Feel-Up The Love[]

Hey, how's it goin'? Anyone good-looking in the store? Didn't think so. You might as well read this rag than, eh?

Welcome to the latest stomach-turning installment of White Wolf: Night Edition. This is WW's news and spews magazine. This is where to be to learn about what's going on at the company, who did what to whom in which office, and what's coming out soon. You also get new toys and rules for your White Wolf games. Pretty good dead, eh?

When you're done reading this, go somewhere with better-looking people.

White Wolf Game Q&A[]

Ask Me, I Know Everything by Fred

Like the all-knowing eye that stares into your wretched soul, so does Fred know everything that needs to be known. Your deepest probing questions shall be answered. I have been challenged time and time again by unbelievers who doubt my omniscience. If you can comprehend only one thing, understand this: I know everything and you don't.

Please give me a complete timeline of all of the important events in the WoD universe (exact date of Saulot's death, demise of the Cappadocians, first Sabbat civil war, time of Tuatha de Danann, first Order of Reason meetings, etc.)[]

Feh! I have neither the time nor the space to honor such a request. I say to thee: Read a book! Haven't you more self-respect than to ask such a question when all of the answers are right in front of your nose? Do not trifle with me.

How exactly can Cainites recognize each other's clans? How do Brujah know when a vampire belongs to their clan? Is there a Thaumaturgy spell for this?[]

Why am I assaulted by questions such as these? Very well, here is your answer:

Members of the various clans cannot recognize each other on sight. The only exception of this are Tremere antitribu, who can be spotted by their Camarilla brethren (the Tremere curse brands Tremere antitribu). All other Cainties must distinguish fellow clan members by attitude, personality and personal knowledge. Stereotypes play an important role in identifying fellow clan members, though they are also useful for infiltrating a clan. Lasombra often employ a Ventrue image to hide within the Camarilla.

A forgiving Storyteller might allow use of the Path of the Blood to help recognize a vampire's clan. However, this Thaumaturgical path may provide clues only about a vampire's heritage.

I have been trying to identify the Trickster or tricksters in the World of Darkness. I learned that you are the official White Wolf game frother and that you know everything, so I'd like to double-check with you.[]

First of all, I never "Froth." My co-workers may disagree, but frothing is something I never do. I may salivate. I might even drool, but I never froth.

Vampire's Malkavians, Werewolf's Nuwisha and ragabash, and Changeling's pooka fill the "trickster" role. I would add Mage's Virtual Adepts for their harrying tactics against the Technocracy. I would also nominate members of Wraith's Spooks and Haunters Guilds. This is all elementary, though; a greater question has been asked, even though the asker does not know it.

Is a Malkavian always a trickster? Can another vampire be a trickster? You cannot label every individual as one thing or another based on a stereotype. Although my reader is correct in pointing out a trend, not every character need conform to it. Keep your Storyteller on her toes by playing a Malkavian who is dangerous, not just a buffoon in bunny slippers. Insanity isn't funny - it's horrific. That's the point of playing a horror roleplaying game.

I have answered all of your queries again. Are you sated? I think not. I dare you to challenge my knowledge! Send more of your trivia and we shall see who wins.

And send beer. I like beer.

The Sorcerers Crusade[]

Or, How I stopped Bitching and Learned to Love the Mage by Phil Brucato, Mage Developer.

I never liked magic-users. In my D&D days (now some 15 years gone), I didn't look twice at the wimpy little dudes with pointed hats and 4-sided hit dice. So they could throw a fireball - once! Big deal. Give me a kick-ass fighter or a dashing thief - those wussy wizards were boring!

Not anymore.

Stewart, Steve and the rest of the Mage first-edition crew redefined the magic-user for me. By the time the original writers and my folks got done with them, sorcerers were cool and their world consisted of more than musty towers and beast-laden dungeons. In the process of creating the wild milieu of the Ascension War, we crafted a complex back-history that kindled in the Middle Ages and exploded full-force in the Renaissance.

Where better to set the Mage historical game?

In a torchlit world of genius and intrigue, magickal societies form on either side of what will someday be known as the Ascension War. Realms rise, plots thicken and firestorms rage in the night. Across the mortal world, ships sail, princes conspire and the fortress of the Church crumbles under ongoing assault. On the fringes of that world, magical beasts make their stands and vampires slip into a Masquerade. In short, the Renaissance provides endless settings for adventure.

Nearly 20 years after my introduction to D&D, Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade is the fantasy game that I always wanted to play (have played, in fact, at several conventions and to rewarding results each time). Almost a year in the making (and several years in the planning), this epic dark fantasy technically pre-dates the creation of Vampire: The Dark Ages. Fans who want to see what we have in store can check out The Book of Shadows (Chapter Five), The Book of Mirrors (likewise), Horizon: Stronghold of Hope, The Fragile Path and many of the Tradition books.

Some Sorcerers Crusade highlights include:

  • A host of new and altered magickal societies, including the original Order of Reason (now in its golden years), the Solificati and the Ahi-i-Batin
  • A variety of new and revised Traits, including Artist, Logic, Metaphysics and Spies
  • An original Prelude by Storm Constantine and the Hidebrandt Brothers
  • Daedalean (Order of Reason) character options
  • Streamlined rules, with more of an emphasis on storytelling than on systems
  • Guns! Cannons, ancient firearms, Daedalean Devices and more

Best of all, the setting is not carved in stone. We've left a lot of room for you to take history by the hand and lead it out of "official" World of Darkness chronology. You want to save the first Cabal? Dick over Columbus? Bring down the White Tower of Languedoc? Go for it! All bets are off in The Sorcerers Crusade. Your troupe can rewrite history if you want t and lay the groundwork for a new Golden Age.

What are you waiting for?

Oh, yeah...the book.

It comes out in May.

Enjoy!

Skyriggers[]

Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade releases in May. We wanted to give you a taste if what's to come, a hint of just how far - literally - SC goes beyond what you might expect from a fantasy game. Hence, the Skyriggers.

When the Celestial Masters plumbed the so-called "firmament" in the early 1400s, they discovered that what everyone believed was a black shell actually extended farther than anyone had imagined. In a quest to reach "the end of the skies," the Masters sent Celestial Craft - soon dubbed "Skyriggers" - into space. The horrors they discovered there s appalled the Masters that many of them went mad or burned their records and devoted themselves to the Church.

Those who refused to give way before the cosmos went on to perfect a small armada of Skyriggers and to train a brave (if somewhat fatalistic) marine corps - also called Skyriggers, as well as Void Masters and other less flattering names.

In an age when explorers are beginning to disprove the "ends of the Earth" theory, the Expeditia Profundum has no lack of volunteers. Ships in service during the early years of the Expeditia are s sturdy vessels crewed by hardy men (and the occasional woman in disguise). The requirements for such service are strict, but Skyriggers don't require large crews. The average craft "sails" with 40 men - far fewer than the number needed for a sea-bound vessel.

A Skyrigger resembles a sea-ship of grand design. Outfitted with balloons, fins and sails jutting out at odd angles, the average 'Rigger's hull is 100 feet long. Balloons carry the ship into the heavens, where the starwinds bear it into deep space. Three luxuriously appointed decks house crew, guns and enough supplies to last a year. The craft sports vanes, windows and armaments instead of the usual waterline and topsails. Since the concept of the airless void has yet to be conceived, Skyiggers need no life-support facilities; many crewmen wear protective gear, though - a cross between armor and the diving suits of later centuries - when they go wandering on strange planets.

Ah, yes..."Strange planets." They are inhabited, you know, and many Void Masters meet the natives - sometimes the hard way. While the civilization on Mars is long dead, a mysterious valley on the Moon continues to give the Skyriggers trouble. Other, more remote places have offered shelter to the intrepid Void Masters, but inhabitants that have been less than accommodating. A mandibled thing that was larger than Paris cathedral demolished two ships on a recent expedition to Venus.

The Masters equip their Skyriggers with huge blades, cannons, spike-throwers and razor-edged spines to ward off such creatures. The few crews that return home tell tales of unimaginable horrors in an endless space - not angels in an ordered Heaven, but demons in an eternal Void.

Skyrigger fleets of two to five ships lift off from shipyards in the dead of night. They rise toward the Moon and keep on going. The ships' lamps, lit by Abundanti's Oil, glow like tiny stars. The brave crewmen, wrapped in thick clothes and blankets, navigate with odd Devices that measure coordinates throughout a journey.

[Like a sailing ship, a Skyrigger is effectively a plot device. A ship's hull has an effective Armor Rating of 8 and can sustain 15 Health Levels before rupturing. Explosive decompression is not a concern in the odd "space" of the Void, but a leak can be fatal if it isn't fixed quickly. Arete 5, Quintessence N/A, Cost 10]

Death to the Dark Ages![]

Well, no, not really. Just a dumb way to attract your attention to the words of the new Vampire: The Dark Ages developer Richard Dansky. We've been playing musical chairs again at White Wolf, and the music just won't stop! Please make it stop.

Hi. I'm the new Dark Ages developer. The dungeon door has clanged shut and been locked behind me, and the footsteps of my jailers have thumped squishily off into the dank corridors of the office, so I suppose now's a good time to tell you where Dark Ages is headed under my (admittedly demented) direction.

The short versions is this: The Dark Ages are going to get a lot more paranoid. I don't intend to put vampires behind every action and reaction, every coup and battle - that's silly. I'm going to apply a very light vampiric gloss to the actually history of the age; after all, the era of the Crusades is already rotten with human conspiracy and counter-plot. Rather, I want to look at what happened and see how - and why - Cainites might have fir into what went on. I want to throw out ideas as to how vampires might have benefited from, say, the kidnaping of Richard the Lionhearted or the fall of Krak des Chevaliers. I also want to keep everyone guessing about how much we poor mortals did on our own.

Here's an example: In the real world, the orders of Teutonic Knights mounted yearly hunting expeditions into Poland and the Baltic States. History tells us it was to root out pagan worshipers in those countries. But how might things be different in a world where vampires are real? Perhaps some vampires still ride with the knightly order, and they have fewer moral qualms about drinking pagan blood than Christian. Perhaps the knights are all mortal, but enough have True Faith to make life difficult for those Cainites hiding in their path. Perhaps there's something old and fierce and very, very hungry waiting for the knights, and they're being led to the slaughter by their unliving masters. Perhaps....

The possibilities are scary, aren't they?

So don't look for vampires loaded up with 50 feet of rope, 10-fot poles and iron spikes. Don't expect lots of "Prithees" and "Thous." You're not going to get them. But if you want to wonder about how much history you can actually trust...if you want to think about what possession of the Holy Land means to immortals of three faiths...if you want to imagine what it might be like to be a peasant suddenly elevated to power beyond the imagination of kings and princes, well you might like the direction the game will take.

Whoops! The jailers are coming back, gotta look busy. Let me know what you think of what I churn out of the scriptorium, and keep the True Faith.

It might be the only thing that keeps you alive.

The New Face of Death[]

Wraith: The Oblivion has a new developer. Ed Hall is now the man in charge of the legions of the dead. We asked him to take a moment to write a bit about himself, to let you know who to expect to meet in the afterlife.

As kids growing up in Mobile, Alabama, my cousins and I played Spy, Superheroes, Pirates - whatever pop-cultural tasties we'd ingested most recently. We had stables of regulars: John Appletree, Laecius, Plant Master, Crusher. Toward the end of those days, we tired of arguing over whether Ultimex was stronger than Crexus (Nope!), so we compiled a list of characters with various rated abilities. Sound familiar? I know, you did it too, and like us you overlooks the dollar value in codifying imagination in this way.

But somebody understood its commercial potential, which brings me to White Wolf. Mercifully, a few years have passed between those childhood games and working in gaming. I graduated from Tulane University with an English degree, worked for Newsweek in Atlanta and co-founded an audiotape literary quarterly. Finally, I became an intern at White Wolf when Rage was hot. I'd played Werewolf for a while, which helped. I wrote up four Garou for the Warriors of the Apocalypse sourcebook, which led to freelance editing and, eventually, to full-time editor's post with the game studio.

The Wraith developer's job became available last October, and I took it. I'd written a substantial chunk of Mediums and never stopped thinking about the characters I'd created for that book. I wanted to discover how they fit into the World of Darkness, where their lives (on unlives) led. Thar "organic" quality is essential to the TV shows I admire most - Wiseguy, Law and Order, Homicide - and I think RPGs generally use it well, White Wolf's games especially so. I aim to bring that organicism to Wraith, so expect to see the Restless Dead interacting more with mortals, including the Benandanti and the Orphic Circle. I also hope to streamline rules even further. This is a storytelling game, after all, and one built around the most durable of tales - the ghost story.

I look forward to being your guide.

Wraith Has a New Mask[]

By Ed Hall

In Summer 1998, White Wolf challenges its smartest, most innovative, most mature Storyteller game, Wraith: The Oblivion, by taking it in a new direction. Details are till coming together, but expect the award-winning visuals that already distinguish our books to reach new heights. Add to that the work of some of the best literary talents in the horror field. Look for authors Lucy Taylor and Matthew Costello to contribute fiction in the coming months - and for more masters of dark fantasy to follow. Why? Because Wraith players are the smartest, most innovative, most mature gamers around, and they deserve the best game that we can produce.

As the new developer of Wraith, I hope to continue the groundbreaking work done by my predecessors, especially Richard Dansky. What he and his collaborators achieved with Charnel Houses of Europe: The Shoah remains an exemplar among roleplaying games and stretches the boundaries of what can be done in this medium. As the Wraith faithful have known for years, the metaplot that Dansky has threaded throughout the game - and the World of Darkness - is an intricate and singular achievement in imaginary world-building. Inheriting responsibility for this unique undertaking is an honor for me, but it's a challenge, too.

Such creativity challenged me to surpass what has gone before, to make Wraith even more powerful and emotionally immersing than it already is. I want Wraith players to enjoy "mind movies" that transcend the ones they experience in other games. I hope that techniques presented in upcoming books will accomplish this goal. The great thing about having such a goal is Wraith players themselves: Intelligent and imaginative gamers inspire (and demand) the same kinds of games.

Happily, those are exactly the kind of games that I want to create.

Shameless Marketing[]

Or, How to Sell Out When You Have Nothing to Sell by Greg Fountain, Marketing Whore

When no one else will write a Night Edition "rant column," they dig down to the bottom of the barrel and ask for a contribution from the Marketing Department. This is our story.

"This latest product from White Wolf is clearly driven by the Marketing Department's desire for quick cash."

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard a critic of White Wolf say this, I'd have a couple of dollars, which would double my bi-weekly paycheck. Let me clarify something; White Wolf's Marketing Department doesn't drive anything. White Wolf's marketing group consists of me and a couple of other guys who are drunk, bleeding, asleep or al three at any given moment.

Think of White Wolf as a car careening down a hazardous mountain road. Not only is the Marketing Department not driving the car, it's forced to ride in the trunk. Occasionally, they open the trunk and say, "Dateline is on line three - something about a vampire kid who killed some nuns. You handle it." Then they throw us out of the speeding car onto the highway. We stand up, dust ourselves off and the Dateline bus runs over us. The White Wolf car drives back eventually and - without slowing down - throws a grappling hook out, snags the twitching Marketing Department and puts it back in the trunk to write some more ads.

I feel better for having said that. Remember, product decisions at White Wolf are made through an ensemble process. Marketing is not likely to push an idea through that the developers don't want to do.

Now I have to push my idea for collectible Clanbooks. If we polybag them and put the high-level Disciplines in only the "rare" copies, customers will have to buy at least four copies of each book to get all of the necessary information. We'd make a fortune!

Pity Greg. His sad days are brightened only by the opportunity to spit chaw out the window of a beat-up, brown Camaro and to make lewd gestures at cattle grazing in the Georgia countryside. Then he goes to work.

White Wolf's Spring '98 Releases[]

April[]

Werewolf Players Guide Second Edition[]

It's back! The pleas of Werewolf players everywhere have finally been answered - the Werewolf Players Guide Second Edition is here! The classic supplement that provides everything a player needs to take his character in new directions has been rewritten, revised and revitalized. No more questions about converting First Edition Renown, or why the Rokea are so sparsely detailed. This book not only smooths out the rough spots of its predecessor, it also introduces tons of new information suitable for Werewolf games everywhere.

Stock #WW3108, ISBN 1-56504-352-9, $25.00 U.S.

May[]

Trinity: Luna Rising[]

Luna Rising for Trinity examines the galaxy's hotspot of human activity: the Moon. Although Luna is ISRA's adopted home, everyone with clout in the tumultuous 22nd century brings influence to bear here. Learn the secrets of the clairsentient order ISRA, from the mysterious Mashriqi to the headstrong Ductrans. Gain insight into the strange dynamics of 22nd-century politics, into illegal activities in the Underworld, and into how important the Moon truly is to humanity's expansion to the stars.

Stock #9002, ISBN 1-56504-760-5, $17.95 U.S.

June[]

World of Darkness: Demon Hunter X[]

Demon Hunter X describes the "demon hunters" of the Middle Kingdom - a brand-new character type for the World of Darkness. There are the mendicant and grim Shih, loners following an ancient tradition of vengeance against the supernatural. This book also describes their high-tech counterparts, the cutting-edge teams of the Strike Force Zero agency. The next in the Year of the Lotus series.

Stock #2227, ISBN 1-56504-202-6, $15.00 U.S.

NightEdition9ArtistSLBrosHidebrandt

Artists Spotlight on the Brothers Hildebrandt[]

Throughout their careers, Greg and Tim Hildebrandt have worked together and separately, winning awards and fame, and facing illustration challenges. They have created everything from the world-famous poster for Star Wars, to the best-selling calendars illustrating J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, to their own fantasy novel Urshurak.

Now these amazing talents are brought to bear on Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade, in collaboration with the famous fantasy author Storm Constantine.

Go on-line with White Wolf. Check us out at:

http://www.white-wolf.com; alt.games.whitewolf and rec.games.frp.storyteller

If you have to use this : ) you're a shitty writer.

Previous book:
WW: White Wolf Night Edition Number 8 		White Wolf
White Wolf Night Edition 		Next book:
WW: White Wolf Night Edition Number 10
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
More Fandoms
Advertisement