/cofd/&/wodg/ Chronicles of Darkness and World of Darkness General

Different ways of playing Demon

Why didn't the Nos just say "stop touching my shit or you'll be sucking blood through a straw"?
Also, when he finds stuff on it, point out to him that he just stole shit from an important official, so of course it was important.
Alternately, change your plans and have it be gross porno.

u no it bby

Political games are boring. And people just use it as an excuse to backstab each other. I'm sick of hearing "Vampire is a PvP game because politics" as a justification for why Vampire players think it's okay to murder everyone around them. And he literally said not special snowflakes. Other than "there are queer people", you have no reason to make that assumption.

>I don't think "gay and trans people exist" is all that special snowflake, is it?
I dont have anything against those kinds of people but I am sure we have all met or known of people where they think thats all they are. I played some Veeky Forums games with a trans GM and they did not even mention it once untill the party kept making trap jokes and I kind of pieced it together. Thats how they should act just be people not be such an attention whore.
And people in the rpg community also tend to play their characters very broadly which also doesnt help with gay or trans characters and at times it kind of feels offensive that all they have to a gay character is to constantly remind everyone how much of a huge faggot they are.

Anyway sorry for the quasi political rant

He did and he even tried Dominate but failed the roll. Plus I didn't want the entire game to grind to a halt while this is happening since they had some stuff to discuss. In the end of the argument, Brujah left most of the stuff but did pocket a few city maps and some dvds which the Nos forgot about because he was too irritated

It's a guideline for running certain Demon games. Soft-Loud is how action packed things are with (Soft is low key, Loud is overt), and Smooth-Rough is how dangerous the circumstances are (Smooth sailing, Rough going). Each comes with a few character creation suggestions (ask an additional Compromise question, give out more of a certain merit) and a hack.

Damnit, I'm still taking up too much post. I really wish they'd up the character count.

player against player politics does suck. But triple crossing everyone as if your Ocelot from MGS is super fun.

For STs who want to encourage certain playstyles, they suggest giving Beats whenever you do something that fits the game's axes.

Soft-Smooth is "Smashing", the style of James Bond style over the top antics. Think laser death satellites and quips. You're the Agency's best, and the fate of the world is at stake! The hack is "Resilient Cover", where your Cover is rock solid and you can tell everyone you're a robot demon saving the world from the God-Machine and your Cover won't get blown, but it instead represents your standing with the Agency, and you're encouraged to Go Loud.

Loud-Rough is "Insurgent", where you're la Resistance, fighting the enemy that's all around you. Every bullet means something and collateral damage weighs heavily on your soul, but you still need to cause massive explosions and kill a lot of people. The hack is "Dynamic Legend", where you use Legend to create stronger Covers, so that you can go Undercover and be familiar to the group you're infiltrating, at the risk of Compromise. There's also a merit for jury-rigging things, but it's honestly not that great a merit, and kind of slapped together.

Soft-Rough is "Gritty", where investigation is necessary, because if you don't plan your actions, then everything is going to fail. It suggests The Fugitive, Sarah Connor Chronicles, and the real world parts of The Matrix. The hack is "The Hunt", where every session an Angel gets closer to tracking down the group, and they're encouraged to cut it off by hunting it.

Soft-Smooth is "Silent", your typical tense and thinky talky spy thriller, with double blinds and dead drops and secret meetings through proxies, your typical laCarre thrillers, where you give up your life for the Agency. The hack is "Proxy", which lets you Pact out someone who takes the fall when you get Compromise conditions.

>Demon STG mentions The Sandbaggers as inspiration

I knew I liked this game for a reason. It scratches a very different espionage itch than Night's Black Agents, but it's still so fucking good.

I think Soft-Rough sounds best to me, that's how I always imagined Demon anyway (which is probably why I can't get my players to play it. They like to smash their way into every situation, and then think of a stupid plan while they are in there)

I like the idea of needing to use your tricks to make sure the GM doesn't find you out and crush you, like every other Agency that has come before.

>Trying to Dominate your boss
See, that's where you go "are you sure you want to do that?" and then explain that trying to mind control a very powerful person who is in a position of authority over you is a Very Bad Thing and never turns out well for people who try.

I play in entire groups of queer people and have honestly never seen anyone make it "all they are". I've rarely even seen that in real life. More often than not, people mention it and bring it up because it's important to them because of social factors that make their lives difficult.

The only time I've had a problem with a trans character was when someone wanted to play a "cute crossdressing gay boy" who everyone loved and never experienced trans or homophobia and everyone was okay with it. I don't think that every trans character should have been hate crimed repeatedly throughout their life, but man, that fucking offended me because I'm transgender and know transgender people and their lives are not smooth sailing, even when they have strong support networks.
>it kind of feels offensive that all they have to a gay character is to constantly remind everyone how much of a huge faggot they are.
Unless you meant straight cis people playing gay or trans characters, in which case, yeah, I agree. I don't like someone playing something they aren't as if it was an anime character.

Nah, it was the other way around, the Nos primogen tried to Dominate the Brujah and failed

Eh, while I get what you are saying, I don't think the 'people should just be willing to let us joke at their expense' angle is all that healthy.

RPG communities in particular should be at a point where if you cross the line, a GM like that should be able to say 'okay, that is going too far, because X reason'. A joke among buddies is good, but I'm sure a lot of us have met the friend who is always trying to go too far with their jokes, and they just come across as an insensitive ass.

If you don't let the ass know they are an as, they will take it as an invite to keep going, and everyone else will rise to their level, treating it as a new normal.

>have honestly never seen anyone make it "all they are".
luckier then me apparently

She was laughing with us. The group was all friends with the GM so they werent doing it to offend her.

Are we completely sure AmyV wrote what she says she wrote? I look at the desperate need for approval she shows in these threads, and then the 7-9/10 writing in the books, and I don't get it.

Could she have been fired for lying about what she wrote?

That's fine in that situation. My point is that people need to be aware, and make sure they aren't going too far. It isn't hard to do exactly, and most people do it fine (like the group you mentioned), but the idea that everyone should just let everyone laugh at how different they are, doesn't work.

I fucked up there. Smashing is Loud and Smooth.

To list the Inspirations:
>Smashing
Spy Fiction (the game), James Bond (Basically the Connery/Dalton/Brosnan ones), The Avengers (the spy show),
>Insurgent
Bourne, Metal Gear Solid (but not Twin Snakes, which is more Smashing)
>Gritty
Sarah Connor Chronicles (which is honestly a great Demon inspiration period), Sneakers, Deus Ex
>Silent
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Sandbaggers

>In-betweens and outliers
Get Smart, Hitman, Sapphire & Steel

Gritty is also the kind of playstyle I like. Though I'll admit I'm a bit more forgiving than a lot of STs who like that kind of thing. I like consequences, but I don't like death. I prefer loss.

You shouldn't have bothered rolling it.

No idea what you're talking about bud.

i never said that. All I meant is that a lot of gay or trans people in my experience have all been whiny and uppity about it and felt the need to constently remind everyone who they are. I am not saying dont be who you are but there comes a point where it gets rediculous.
Like I am a straight white male. I dont feel the need to tell everyone I am a straight white male because it does not matter in the slightest. It does not define who I am. Who I am are my actions and interactions with other people. The values and interests that I hold.
The exact same thing applies to those other people. Now the argument is that your a marganlized people and you dont want to back down from people. I get that as well but straight white men are discriminated against as well. Perhaps not as violently or as often but look at that recent video of that crazy chick that harrased and tried to restrain a white guy because she was triggered by his fucking hair style. I am mad at those people who use the fact that they are part of a marginalized people to get away with being violent,cunty and discriminatory people.

I feel like it's worth noting that sometimes a permissive attitude among friends gives people the wrong idea. I've had plenty of people give the "my gay friends don't mind if I call them faggot" excuse. It's also worth noting that sometimes friends do things that bug you, but not enough to call them out. I'm not saying either is the case here, but just pointing out that it's a thing.

I mean, by making those jokes, they did apparently Out her to a new guy.

Dude, whether or not Giants in the Earth starts out with some amazing prose or not doesn't mean she's suddenly going to be less insecure. She's clearly got depression and anxiety issues, and the artist who thinks their work is perfect is probably shitty. There are award winning authors who still let Twitter comments about how shitty their book is get to them. Likewise, you've got the dregs of DeviantArt thinking they can charge money for their furry shitscribbles.

>I mean, by making those jokes, they did apparently Out her to a new guy.
She didnt care but when I asked to confirm she basically said yeah I am. No shame or guilt or no fear. She was just a normal person.

You tell people you're a straight white male all the time, you probably just don't realize it. Marginalized groups also tend to have pretty good reasons for getting uppity.

That video was dumb, but you're using it to dismiss people based on assumptions. Shit, that video wasn't even that bad (and I know someone who argues that it looks fake because neither of them can keep a straight face, but I doubt it/don't have strong feelings either way). She wasn't violent or even cunty.

I'm not saying this was OMG so terrible. But I'm saying that's the kind of thing that can happen with those kind of things. We are talking about a group of people who are at higher risk of being victims of violence. It pays to be a little cautious.
Although maybe the whole thing was a ploy to test the waters and see how you'd react and decide whether it was safe to be outed to you.
(I've done the same)

>You tell people you're a straight white male all the time, you probably just don't realize it.
How do you know who I am or how I interact with people?

>That video was dumb, but you're using it to dismiss people based on assumptions.
I was using it as an example there are plenty more but thats not the point of the conversation. I also disagree that the video was not that bad but again I disagree.

And I know what you mean about jokes but at the end of the day its just a joke and if something upsets you just say you dont think its funny and it upsets you. No one is getting hurt and if they are a normal reasonable person they will stop. So many people fly off the handle and cry muh transphobia because a guy wanted to make people laugh. And before you say there are no funny trannie or gay jokes idk what to tell you I have heard a lot of good ones.

>but again I disagree.
thats not the point*

I know how you interact because it's how almost everyone interacts. As someone who's had to carefully watch what they say to avoid implications, I know the kind of "tells" that people don't recognize because they're so common. Also, come on, I'm sure you realize that social pressure is a thing, and everyone isn't a complete ubermensch unecumbered by what other people think of them. Even then, jokes can still be hurtful even if they're funny. It's just that to people who aren't marginalized, the hurt is much less, or even unnoticeable. After all, "can't you take a joke" tends to be "listen to me tell a joke you've heard a hundred times".

But let's get back to Demon.

>But let's get back to Demon.
I'm reading over the Nephilim parts right now.

I got the STG to look at the Cyberpunk Shard for inspiration on doing a Bioshocky thing, but this book is just really good all over, so the different genres of play and this setting really grabbed me.

>But let's get back to Demon.
Fair enough. Whats this Heirs To Hell book? is there a link somewhere for it?

user, I do think you should have read the entire post.
So you think.
That doesn't make what said not true, it more proves the point.

>Political games are boring
Thank you for your opinion, I wager.
>And people just use it as an excuse to backstab each other. I'm sick of hearing "Vampire is a PvP game because politics" as a justification for why Vampire players think it's okay to murder everyone around them
People doing it wrong, at 6 o'clock.

>if they are a normal reasonable person they will stop
Most people aren't, and the usual reaction is to get butthurt because "I just wanted to make people laugh!".

I wasn't allowed opinions were banned.

So much fucking this. Even worse is when they argue that you're being too sensitive or that it's their right to say whatever they want so you shouldn't criticize or chastize them for it.

>What are some themes that you like to use in your games?
I go for a lot of body horror and gore. Lots of combat and risk of losing something either physically or mentally. If you've been a Hunter for more than a year and don't look like Rick Grimes from TWD comic (missing an arm, fingers broken in several places, PTSD out the wazoo, killing anyone who ever might pose a threat to your immediate familial group) then your ST has done you a disservice.

I make my players the promise that the moment the supernatural world becomes aware of their characters is the beginning of the end. Everything they love WILL be taken from then, and often in the most bloody and terrible ways possible. So, make the most of that drama and wring every moment of its pathos. They love it.

I also want to say that the new Delta Green is terrible trash because it tries to do what I'm talking about but in the most stupid, fiddly mechanical way possible. Rather than just offer roleplaying suggestions it has a chart on what parts of a character's social life suffer from their activities and they roll on it. That right there is why I'll never play it. That is rollplaying to the max. You might as well roll for 'how does my character react to being told their father died'. If you're so emotionally disconnected that you can't empathize and roleplay effectively, then you need to find a new hobby.

>Which hacks have you found useful, like the Soft-Loud/Smooth-Rough system from Demon, or the ones from VtR Chronicler's Guide for playing more monstrous vamps?

Running an effective espionage game is difficult bordering on the impossible. Think back to all the examples they give, all of them are either lone wolfs operating in a reactive manner to the things happening to them or ensembles with a lot of quiet moments and then a big reveal that X was doing stuff behind the scenes the whole time. Try and replicate that feel with four or five players around a table and it not be either a.) incredibly boring and railroady or b.) confusing and frustrating.

>What are some themes that you like to use in your games?
In certain games, I like to play up camaraderie and fraternity in the face of a world gone horribly wrong, and ready, willing, more than able to take from you anything you decide to call precious.
Threats are everywhere, unknowable, around every corner, paranoia is king, and the only sane way to conduct yourself until it bites the hand that feeds it.
EVERYONE else has a plan, and you are a pawn in it. Even if you become a queen, you are still a playing piece, and with work, even your own pawns can come to challenge you. 1 queen will not surmount 4 others.
To wit, my games are brutal for my players, and brutal for me to run. Afterwards, I am always exhausted mentally to the point of collapse.

I don't see why you think that. Also, Burn Notice and Sarah Connor Chronicles aren't lone wolfs. Neither is The Matrix. Or Mission Impossible. Or Avengers or even Get Smart.

Almost ALL fiction revolves around one primary character. It's by far the most common type of story.

You definitely have to twist it from how most espionage movies work.

I haven't run a long Demon game yet, so I can't say what works best, but I can say what rolls through my mind.

The players should probably all have their own 'cover' problems. That means sometimes they need to get their mundane life in order to make sure they have time for whatever spy games are happening.

Spy games should mess with mundane cover life whenever they screw up in planning stages. Oh you were seen somewhere suspicious? Someone is going to start asking around about you.

Together, as a ring, the players can get a ton done with just a bit of planning. We don't need Oceans 11, if you want to blow something up, or steal something, it only takes so much coordination. That doesn't get you out for free though.

Any 'mission' should have aftermath, mostly that rocks the group dynamic, but that might easily bleed over into messing with mundane life. You poked the bear, and the bear is also full of angry angels that blow stuff up, like some sort of hellenistic bees.

From here, keep upping the ante, let the players set the GM back in huge ways, throw in side-stuff that may appear GM related but turn out to just be weird. Have fun.

Mission Impossible is an ensemble cast with reveals. Avengers and Get Smart are not at all espionage, they're comedy. Burn Notice started as a lone wolf as did Sarah Conner Chronicles, but added a supporting cast because you can't keep a TV show running on a main character's interactions without someone for them to play off of.

>Almost ALL fiction revolves around one primary character. It's by far the most common type of story.

Right, but we're not talking about fiction here we're talking about roleplaying games. It's the finding the bridge between inspiration and actual games that is difficult, which was my thesis from the beginning.. Try to keep up.

Why am I suddenly playing Shadowrun when I wanted to play a spy game?

theya re kind of the same tbqh

Because Shadowrun is Oceans Eleven + Cyberpunk + Magic.

Because shadowrunners are freelance spies?

Burn Notice and Sarah Connor Chronicles started their first episode by getting the cast together. Avengers isn't particularly comedy, and both it and Get Smart are still listed in that section.

>Right, but we're not talking about fiction here we're talking about roleplaying games. It's the finding the bridge between inspiration and actual games that is difficult, which was my thesis from the beginning.. Try to keep up.
Yes, and by that extension, NO inspiration is fitting, because it's almost all centered around a singular character instead of a group. Your thesis makes no sense. It's not something unique to running a spy game, and it's not particularly relevant or even profound. You're not the first person to notice "that thing you're drawing inspiration from isn't about a group". It's not a particularly meaningful thing to say.

I mean, that's all you did. You said "it doesn't work because they're not groups". That's true of any inspirational media, but people still manage to be inspired by them when running group games.

Because WoD is a better system, plus

>That's true of any inspirational media, but people still manage to be inspired by them when running group games.
this

Fuck off. I was talking about how difficult it is to run an espionage game and that their examples were not good ones for how an actual game would run. Those points stand. I never asked for nor wanted your input, Aspel. So go fuck yourself and stop replying.

The Avengers is a comedy, but in the dry British sense. Also, the fact that both it and Get Smart are listed as examples I think proves user's point that their examples are bad. I'd never want to play in any Demon game that was influenced by either of those, especially if they dip into that horrendous abortion that was the 90s Avengers movie.

>Aspel
How did they get this name if they dont tripfag?

Anytime in these threads where you see one poster respond to multiple posts and be generally a cunt it's always Aspel. Without fail.

He used to have a trip but he got annoyed with the fact everyone put him on ignore so he dropped it so we'd all be forced to endure his shitposting.

No one asked for your input either. Turns out that's not how the internet works. I don't see why you feel that it's any different for an espionage game than any other game. If you'd like this to be a discussion, then it would be helpful if you explained your position better.

It actually says "not the 90s movie".

Nephilim are neat. Though I wonder why they can't take Processes or Propulsions. Although a Nephilim manifesting Wound Healing might be pretty broken. At the same time, taking a point of LETHAL damage per Form Power you manifest is pretty damned heavy, as far as costs go.

Also, subnet is on the ball. It used to take them months to update, but they already have stuff from the STG
thesubnet.com/portal/cod/dtd/CreationNephilim.html

I never used the name Aspel on Veeky Forums. People know got that name from the Onyx Path forums. Disagreeing with someone also doesn't make me a cunt.

But, yes, I don't put on a trip specifically because I find posts like this whiny and petulant and I don't want to make your lives easier in the slightest.

>The Avengers (created by Sidney Newman): Not the recent superhero movie franchise (and definitely not the 1998 film), but rather the classic British spy series. The show began as a fairly run-of-the-mill spy drama, but John Steed quickly became almost a caricature of himself, adopting his trademark bowler and gizmo-ridden umbrella along with a catsuit-clad partner — first Honor Blackman (you know her from Goldfinger) as Cathy Gale, then Diana Rigg as Emma Peel. Aliens, mind control, and robots were not far behind, and the series became a classic example of Smashing fiction with a comic twist.

>I don't want to make your lives easier in the slightest.
Thats pretty petty and vindictive

Shitting up threads to hate on another poster isn't?

Atleast if you were a trip they could just ignore and they wouldnt have to see the things they disagree with

If you dont like the environment just leave. Dont gotta be a dick about.

Can people not shit up the threads with their hateboners and instead talk about World of Darkness? That'd be great, thanks.

>Basically: What are your games like (when you actually get to run them, that is)?

I dont run games I dont have the patience,organisation, memory or the imagination to do it. I respect DMs a lot for that reason...well the good ones atleast.

Heya fair folks, got a question about the system.
I'm currently system-shopping for a game idea I had recently, a campaign which is supposed to be a blend of americana, scooby-doo and ghost chasing, where the player characters are supposed to be humans without any special powers.
Call of Chtulu is too focused on the whole insanity and horror aspect of the mundane/supernatural interaction, as I want this to be a more light hearted game focused about the 'hidden wonders' of post-ww2 america. Is there any book in the WoD series which handles humans well? I cruised 1d4chan and got a rough idea of how the system works, but no real answer, and I'd like to know if what I want out of this is even possible before diving right into the books.

>Is there any book in the WoD series which handles humans well?
Literally just the core rules.
Maybe Hunter The Vigil if you want a book specifically about mortals combating the supernatural.

But is that enough to build a campaign upon, or are human characters just meant as fodder or starting points for Hunter?

Core rules are more then enough. The specific books like Hunter or Vampire are kind of like expansions giving more details on how to play that specific kind of character.

Why is this a thing?

It looks like it would make an awesome Hunter game. Or even Werewolf/Geist.
youtu.be/6YXCsXL0o34

a.uguu.se/bvffls_ChronicleofDarknessAndornWoD2e.pdf
As other people said, Hunter (and Mortal Remains) might be useful too, but that's all you need.

Thanks, I will start reading the core book then.

This is like Japans version of Freddy vs Jason

You can do entirely human games without them becoming hunters. They don't have to be fodder either, in fact the best way to do it is the slow burn where rather than being ripped apart by a grue the characters are slowly eaten away at by the things they've seen or done.

In this sense a scooby do ghost story is perfect.

It's a lame cash grab like all of the horror mashups. I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole, desu senpai.

Reposting this from the last thread

>How many Ventrue Bloodlines have access to Protean?

>I'm mainly asking because I had an idea for one where the use of Protean and Resilience has turned their epidermis into a thin layer of iron. The pros of this are that they downgrade Agg to Bashing and are immune to fire, and that they can turn their skin into weapons to improve their damage (they naturally deal more damage to things from Arcadia though because, you know, iron skin). The downsides of this are a combination of needing to keep your joints free so you can actually move (the only places where the iron is thin enough to allow free moment are around the mouth and over the eyelids) and the slight fact that you stick out like a sore thumb.

>The working name I have for the Bloodline is the McCullens and they have Dominate, Protean, Resilience and Animalism.

>Image
Wait...wasn't Sky killed by Father Wolf?

I know. It's hilarious. It's based on a fan trailer and they were like "sure, whatever". I couldn't stop from giggling as I watched it. Still, most horror is schlocky anyway, so it's not like that's a big difference, and at least the J-Horror tends to be more psychological. The Eye and One Missed Call and Resurrection were spooky as fuck.

I've never actually seen Ringu, though I did read the book.

The Twilight Bloodline? I'd actually go with crystal (or at least have it be unworked crystalline iron). But it sounds like you've really thought them out more. They're starting to sound a bit more like Vulshok than Twilight Vamps, not that there's anything wrong with that.
Why Ventrue, though?
Or is this not the Twilight Bloodline?

Adrestoi and Rötgrafen are the only bloodlines that grant access to Protean.

>Or is this not the Twilight Bloodline?
No this Bloodline was inspired by GI. Joe
youtube.com/watch?v=AP0xgCpteS0

Wait, that video was the wrong one, I was trying to find one of James McCullen being turned into Destro (Cobra Commander injects him with Nanomites that turn the skin of his head into metal), but evidently that isn't a thing, shame really.

Speaking of daywalkwers I also wanted to post my take on a Ventrue bloodline who exclusively embraced ghouls from the sire's living family, resulting in pseudo-inbreeding and extremely thin blood.

The Sternberg
Bloodline disciplines: Auspex, Dominate, Resilence (yes, only three)
Boon: Sunlight is but a minor inconvenience for the Sternberg. They take only 2 points of bashing damage from sunlight per hour, and a -1 to all Mental and vision-related rolls caused by their photophobia-induced migraines. They may never use Disciplines when exposed to sunlight.

Weaknesses: In addition to the Aloof Curse, all Daywalkers suffer from two banes, both derived from their weak blood. All have the Open Wounds Bane, which counts toward the three banes a vampire is allowed, and they may never raise their Blood Potency above 2.

I was thinking (a dangerous venture, I know)...

In VtM 20th Anniversary (the core rulebook) it's mentioned that some big animals like cattle can be drained of up to 5 bloodpoints' worth. A regular human has 10 bloodpoints while being much smaller creatures, so it's obvious that human blood is more potent than cow blood (derp).

It also mentions that taking more than 2 bloodpoints from an average human (assuming they started at 10) would result in the human needing medical aid of some sort. 2 of 10 is 20% (WEE, MATH!), so a human can only be "safely" drained of 20% of their blood.

Would it be possible for a "humane" Vampire that lives on/near a farm to survive entirely by feeding on a herd of cattle without actually killing them? Or to be more specific, is a regular cow capable of losing 20% of its blood pool (1 blood point) and remaining relatively healthy?

Yes.
There even was a Animalism Discipline that let you get more feed from animals.

You could Ghoulify the manager of an abattoir or pretend to own a lab or something and buy it for legitimate purposes if you live in more urban areas.

or hell go on legitimate hunting trips and bring a long a lot of empty jugs. Though you might not get the amount of blood you need legally that way considering how hunting seasons work and a tag limit.

>There even was a Animalism Discipline that let you get more feed from animals.

The 6 point discipline, yeah. S'called "Animal Succulence".

But that power also mentions that it doesn't allow an Elder to ignore the craving of human blood, and that by taking this power, for every three times they feed on an animal they'll get a cumulative +1 Difficulty in Self-Control/Instinct rolls when presented with the opportunity to feed on humans or other Kindred.

I was talking more about "regular" vampires (8th-15th generation) and whether they'd be capable of surviving on animal blood alone without potentially having to kill, deliberately or not, any animal they feed from.

My games are low horror because I find WoD awful for horror. They're mostly about life and conflict as a super.

Personal horror is overrated and boring.

Bring on the political intrigue!

My games eschew personal horror completely, as I am not an emotional masochist unlike other people in the WoD fandom.

Nah, my Vampire games are a mix of dark action-horror with a heavy dose of politics and criminal intrigue. Think "The Sopranos meets Black Lagoon with fangs" and you would not be far off. No Strix, no God-Machine, just vampire covenants duking it out for control of the city and its various influences and rackets.

As for Hunter, well my Hunter games are balls to the wall action-horror (if Tier 3) or gritty survival horror (if Tier 1 and 2).

Changeling is straight-up survival horror mixed with urban fantasy. Think "Resident Evil meets Shoujo anime".

I don't play Mage or Werewolf (though I would like to) and I outright despise Demon and Beast. Especially Beast.

Pic related, my biggest influence on my 1e Requiem games.

I find the political intrigue dull too. But that's because most players are bad at it.

True. If my players suck at politics, I'll just go "fuck it" and bring on full "Superheroes with fangs" mode. It may not be the "One True Way" to play Requiem (or Masquerade for that matter) but it's a hell of a lot more fun to me and my players than personal horror.

I never understood the appeal of personal horror. I play RPG's to have fun, not so I have to take an anti-depressant afterwards. Now, survival horror and action-horror, those are the types of horror I can get into.

If the session doesn't leave you emotionally drained afterwards, what's the point? Might as well play D&D or Munchkin.

I'm just gonna say it. Martin Ericsson is a braying jackass, V4 is going to suck donkey balls, and he is wrong, Requiem is awesome and should not be axed. Well, 1e Requiem was. 2e Requiem is mediocre at best. But still better than Revised Masquerade or the upcoming V4.

My experience is that all players, with few exceptions, suck at politics, especially on the time scales most games go through. They're too quick to launch into violence, they lack the appreciation for social capital, their primary concern is getting theirs, and their alliance with the other PCs provides sufficient muscle that they rarely feel the need to court outside the perfectly-loyal group.

It makes politics dick-swinging contests that usually end in open murder, rather than long-term social contests where popularity and influence matter.

I'm OK with personal horror in limited extents, but as noted, I think the World of Darkness is awful at it. Being a supernatural isn't horror, personal or otherwise; being *human* is horrible. All supernaturals are upgrades.

Requiem's pretty great. Way better than Masquerade.

>I never understood the appeal of personal horror. I play RPG's to have fun, not so I have to take an anti-depressant afterwards. Now, survival horror and action-horror, those are the types of horror I can get into.

why do people watch sad movies?

though i have to emphasis that "personal horror" doesn't have to mean a non-stop rollercoaster of depression.

>2e Requiem is mediocre at best.
Wow, what does it feel like being so wrong?

I never understood that sentiment. RPG's are supposed to be fun.

As for why I'm not playing D&D or Munchkin, maybe it's because I like the modern setting, even though the default themes don't appeal to me.

Why do you want to be emotionally drained from something that is supposed to be a fun pastime? Are you some kind of emotional masochist?