Changes: World of Darkness

Revision as of 05:37, 5 September 2011

The World of Darkness is a Gothic-Punk setting, using the Storyteller System, published by White Wolf from 1991 to 2004. While not a real game line in its own right, it is the shared setting for a myriad of other games. The setting closed with the long-promised end of the world, and in 2004 White Wolf launched a new World of Darkness.

Beginning in 2011 with the release of VTM: Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition , White Wolf began the "Onyx Path," which started with the release of new Classic World of Darkness products concurrently with the current World of Darkness. Some of these products pick up series where they left off 10 years ago or more.

To differentiate between the two settings, most fans took to dubbing the original the "old World of Darkness" compared to the "new World of Darkness". With the Onyx Path, White Wolf officially branded the original as the Classic World of Darkness, while the current is simply the World of Darkness.

Original Five

Big Three

These were the three heavy-hitters of the WoD.

Vampire: The Masquerade: A game of personal horror, wherein players play vampires. (See also Dark Ages: Vampire and Victorian Age: Vampire.)
Werewolf: The Apocalypse: A game of savage horror, wherein players take on the role of werewolves. (See also Dark Ages: Werewolf and Werewolf: The Wild West.)
Mage: The Ascension: A game of reality on the brink, wherein players take on the role of modern mages. (See also Dark Ages: Mage and Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade.)

Underdogs

Along with the above three games, the following two games were part of the originally-conceived lineup of five games set in the World of Darkness.

Wraith: The Oblivion: A game of passion and horror, wherein players play wraiths, those who have died but remain due to unfinished business. (See also Wraith: The Great War and Orpheus.)
Changeling: The Dreaming: A game of modern fantasy, wherein players play changelings, the last remnants of the legendary fae. (See also Dark Ages: Fae.)

Apocalyptica

These three games heralded the end of things, from three different perspectives: the dead, the fallen, and the humans who fight back against the darkness.

Hunter: The Reckoning: A game of righteous fury, wherein players play hunters who have been imbued with the ability to see and fight the monsters in their midst. (See also Dark Ages: Inquisitor.) Part of the Year of the Reckoning.
Demon: The Fallen: A game of infernal glory, wherein players assume the role of the Fallen, angels who had been consigned to the Abyss for loving humanity too much. Part of the Year of the Damned.
Orpheus: Following in Wraith's footsteps, Orpheus is a game of ghost stories for ghosts.

Additional Games

Games which, while they presented separate fully-playable concepts, often required one of the main games in order to have the complete rules. The first fatsplats.

Kindred of the East: Featuring the Kuei-jin, the vampires of the Middle Kingdom. Part of the Year of the Lotus.
Mummy: The Resurrection: Featuring the Amenti, ancient "mummies" reborn in the modern world. Part of the Year of the Scarab.
World of Darkness: Gypsies: Featuring the Gypsies, a bloodline of mortals with limited supernatural powers.
World of Darkness: Demon Hunter X: Featuring the Shih and Strike Force Zero, two organizations of mortals with some supernatural powers dedicated to defending humanity against supernatural beings.

Historical Settings

Games based off one of the above concepts, but set in a separate historical era.

Dark Ages: Vampire: The Dark Ages (revised as Dark Ages: Vampire), Werewolf: The Dark Ages (revised as Dark Ages: Werewolf), World of Darkness: Blood & Silk, Dark Ages: Mage, Dark Ages: Inquisitor, Dark Ages: Fae, Dark Ages: Devil's Due
Renaissance: Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade
Wild West & Victorian Era: Werewolf: The Wild West, Victorian Age: Vampire, Sunset Empires
World War I & Great Depression: Wraith: The Great War

Theme Years

White Wolf provided a series of themes, one a year, which informed many of the major releases to follow that year.

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 These were the three heavy-hitters of the WoD.
 *'''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]''': A game of [[personal horror]], wherein players play [[Vampire (cWOD)|vampires]]. (See also '''[[Dark Ages: Vampire]]''' and '''[[Victorian Age: Vampire]]'''.)
-*'''[[Werewolf: The Apocalypse]]''': A game of [[savage horror]], wherein players take on the role of [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse|werewolves]]. (See also '''[[Dark Ages: Werewolf]]''' and '''[[Werewolf: The Wild West]]'''.)
+*'''[[Werewolf: The Apocalypse]]''': A game of [[savage horror]], wherein players take on the role of [[Werewolf (cWOD)|werewolves]]. (See also '''[[Dark Ages: Werewolf]]''' and '''[[Werewolf: The Wild West]]'''.)
 *'''[[Mage: The Ascension]]''': A game of [[reality on the brink]], wherein players take on the role of modern [[Mage (cWOD)|mages]]. (See also '''[[Dark Ages: Mage]]''' and '''[[Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade]]'''.)