2020-10-07: A World of Shadow

A World of Shadow
Katie's DnD group engages in another groupchat that quickly changes into a discussion of Black Dog Gaming Factory's World of Shadow.
IC Date	October 7th, 2020
Players	Adeline, Dalvin, Katie, Rufus, Vivian Starr
Location	The Internet
Spheres	Mortal

(Groupchat Message from Adeline) GUYS AAAAH WTF FML the lab needs me in because we've got new data, I mean to be fair it is amazing, there are some squid that don't appear on /any/ existing taxonomic charts and I am craving getting their inky perfect coils on canvas, but it means they've called me in again and I am gonna miss the next game.

(Groupchat Message from Adeline) Can we assume that Caerwyn gets incredibly lucky and, on the grounds of """"getting information""""" to """"help their quest"""" has to temporarily retire to shag a range of waitstaff in the local hostelries. I look forward to rolling a range of persuasion dice to see if he finds out anything in his sustained, nay, /athletic/, investigations.

(Groupchat Message from Vivian) Heh. It's up to the GM, but I've no problem with it. Just make sure Caerwyn goes really deep to get that info. ;) Leave no hole unplumbed! Search every crevice! Other things worded to make looking for info sound as dirty as possible!

(Groupchat Message from Adeline) A selfie of Adeline giving a mock-solemn, clearly giggling salute Vivian, I salute you. Solid stratagem there. Rest assured Caerwyn's commitment to the cause is steadfast, long, and hard.

(Groupchat Message from Katie) ADELINE! This is D&D, not World of Darkness, we can't have him disappearing for sex all the time! Not all the time, maybe sometimes. Dalvin said you should RP it when you come back, he doesn't mind playing the NPC's. :D

(Groupchat Message from Adeline) laughing emoji

(Groupchat Message from Vivian) Poorly photoshopped picture of American flag with a eagle in front of it crying a tear A true hero, that Caerwyn. Ready to get down and dirty for the sake of feeling out info. No matter how much sweat he needs to shed or how many curves he needs to follow, he'll remain stiff and strong. What a guy.

(Groupchat Message from Adeline)IKR Vivian? Stalwart, that's what I'm thinking. Commitment.

(Groupchat Message from Adeline)But more seriously, yeah, it's not World of Darkness. Damn, that stuff is /dark/ isnt it.

(Groupchat Message from Adeline)I think World of Darkness would need specially dark dice. Like, a range of midnight hues. Specially. For how Dark it is. As a World.

(Groupchat Message from Vivian) I only really play DnD. What's this World of Darkness?

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) Silly. That's what it is.

(Groupchat Message from Adeline)I am equally bemused Vivian. I wonder what kind of players play that. What stories they weave, what adventures they have. We will never know, maybe!

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) Mostly moping.

(Groupchat Message from Vivian) Wait, is it this Black Dog Games thing? I just did a search on it.

(Grouptext from Rufus) Yeah. Vampire: The Thirsting, Werewolf: The Beating and Mage: The Slinging are the big ones.

(Grouptext from Rufus) Played a LARP of Vampire....kind of a snooze.

(Groupchat Message from Adeline)wildly giggling emoji Vampire the THIRSTING? Well. I spose it does what it says on the tin.

(Groupchat Message from Vivian) LOL. 'Geist: the Haunting'. Really creative there, chumpos. Found a fan forum, I think. Christ, Warlock: the Pretension is right. There's gobs and gobs of text from these nerds talking about all the minutae from the game. And it looks like /none/ of the games are compatible with each other! But they take place in a shared universe! WTF is up with that?'

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) Yeah. you play a vampire obsessed with feeding but try really hard not to let it show.

(Groupchat Message from Adeline) Wow, Vivian, they haven't like -- calibrated and meshed the different book themes? How the hell is anybody supposed to play in that shared universe then? Sounds impossible! A recipe for madness!

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) In Warlock you play a quasi-Mage who is a boss, but you always get relegated to janitor duty in your fancy basement lair. The theme of the game, I guess, is to mope how weak you are compared to mages. They have conversion rules to Mage? But they make no sense. And half the sorcerer types aren't represented.

(Groupchat Message from Vivian) Oh, wow. It looks like there used to be other versions of the game lines. Vampire used to be called Revenant. Geist was Spectre. Warlock is the old version of Mage. Looks like they made a New World of Shadow? But it wasn't nearly as popular as the Old World of Shadow, so they're going to put out a 20th Anniversary Edition of the older books.

(Groupchat Message from Adeline)Gosh it sounds like it should be called World of Cunning Capitalist Re-marketing

(Groupchat Message from Vivian) World of Buy Our Shit, We Made It Better We Promise!

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) Look at it this way, Viv. In Heist? Angst? is a stat. Just let that sink in.

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) Geist*

(Groupchat Message from Adeline)it's a STAT? OMG. is it a stat you want? And if you dont want it, what is the antidote to it? And is listening to MCR on repeat mandatory throughout all games? Cos it definitely sounds like Feeling Emo Might Delete

(Groupchat Message from Vivian) Christ. What kind of people would even want to play games like these? Pixie: the Delusion has everyone playing drug-addled lunatics who see fairies. Though people on the forum are mostly complaining the whole gameline is an excuse to have kinky sex.

(Groupchat Message from Adeline)I suddenly feel more warmly to these proceedings

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) Rufus can neither confirm nor deny the claims about Pixie.

(Groupchat Message from Adeline)to Rufus: o_O

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) So I played a Boatman whose special power is to make people start Fuuuuuuck-ing. Not my fault! It just got released!

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) Goatman*

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) Oh. Don't forget Mummy the Unwrapping Viv. They are supposed to be the good guys in WoD? But the line got quashed due to lack of interest.

(Groupchat Message from Adeline) My . . . god. I am speechless. Tho I mean Caerwyn would fit right in. hahaha. Mummy the UNWRAPPING oh gosh they would get all tangled up in the graveclothes, poor chaps, they'd keep tripping over

(Groupchat Message from Vivian) LOL. The NWoS version of Pixie is Changeling: the Nightmare. The NWoS Changeling players seem to absolutely -hate- the OWoS players, saying their game systems are superior to Pixie. Pixie players just think the new line is dull and 'missing color'. I think they mean that literally? Internet slap fight!

(Groupchat Message from Vivian) HAHAHAHA, Rufus! MUMMIES?! What is a 'good guy' in the World of Shadow supposed to do, anyway?

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) Dunno! No one played it. So no one knows :D

(Groupchat Message from Vivian) LOL.

(Groupchat Message from Rufus pages: I heard about Changeling. Didn't they build all the fairy courts based on the stages of stockholm syndrome or some shit cuz you get kidnapped or something?

(Groupchat Message from Vivian) Yeah, something like that it looks like. I'm just skimming a bit, but I see folk on the forum having Deep Discussions about how much their characters were abused. And by Deep Discussions, I mean a complete 'woe-is-me' pity party. 'You were forced to work in a forge getting crystal splinters up your ass until you turned half-crystaline? Well -I- was raped repeatedly by a skyscraper dick! And I grew to love it!'

(Groupchat Message from Adeline)eating popcorn gif I find myself helplessly compelled and wanting a liveblog of World of Shadow, in sheer disbelief

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) Doesn't trump Werewolf: The Beating though. "HUMP FOR GAIA." and if you don't you lose stats so you never level up.

(Groupchat Message from Adeline)WHATT

(Groupchat Message from Vivian) Looks like that is similar to the OWoS gameline Lyanthrope: the Rapture. You get stats and 'Social Standing' (which is apparently a stat) based on how many folk you impregnate/birth. And 'Anger' is a stat. LOL.

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) Yup...and don't you dare wear a condom.

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) Rank 10 Celestine's come down and nuke you if you practice safe sex, or some tribal leader or whatever.

(Groupchat Message from Vivian) Nice to see Black Dog was consistent in something between the old and new. Christ.

(Groupchat Message from Adeline)But this sounds like some kind of deranged mashup of hammer horror werewolves plus eugenics discourse

(Groupchat Message from Rufus pages) It's world of shadow? So of course it's nothing but angst, anger and sex. duh.

(Groupchat Message from Adeline)anger, sex, angst . . . and eugenics

(Groupchat Message from Adeline)sounds problematic to meeeee. I wonder if they have like, Vampire: The Thirsting Clan Lines that entrench racist stereotypes !

(Groupchat Message from Vivian) LOL, Adeline! You might not be wrong about that! There's apparently a Bonus called 'Pure Breeding' which means you're even more werewolfy than usual. So you get additional Social Standing when you screw multiple partners.

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) Vampire would never do that. Looking at you Romani Gypsy Thief Clan and Arab assassin clan.

(Groupchat Message from Vivian) LOL, seriously, Rufus? They got Thieving Gypsy Vampires and Arab Assassin Vampires? Do they have Italian Mobster Vampires, too?

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) Oh! Don't forget the bonus you get for incest Viv in that Pure Breed rating.

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) Yeah. They hump their family's corpses too. You know. Like italian mobsters do.

(Groupchat Message from Adeline) OMG I am already frothing at ROmani thieving Gypsy Clan in Vampire the Thirsting. What the fuck. I have to go and punch a wall. I can't explain why I am taking this so personally, I just feel very strongly that this is a terrible idea

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) If it makes you feel better Ada no one plays them because STs say they are too broken, so they are usually antagonists.

(Groupchat Message from Vivian) Oh, shit, you're right, Rufus! You -do- get an additional bonus for incest! WTF, Black Dog? LOL! So, Incestual Necrophiliac Italian Mobster Vampires. 'Cause - those- are all attributes that go together. Did Black Dog just pull vampire traits out of a hat or something? 'We need something new to sell, to the Hat of Clans!'

(Groupchat Message from Adeline) incestual necrophiliac Italian mobster vampires! Who PLAYS these games, this Wodl of Shadow sounds so crazy

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) Don't forget the Tremere. The Clan whose only in it because the developers had a hard on for a different mage game? and ripped them and put The Tremere and put them in vampire. Then they made Mage they took the entire Society, made the game based on them, and built other mystic orders as wannabe reflections of them.

(Groupchat Message from Rufus) Cuz when I think of Gothic horror...I think of merlin vampires.

(Groupchat Message from Adeline)I also think of that. Wait what