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

Is it easy for other supernatural beings to see a changeling/geist or is their "magical mind shield" snugger than the others?

A changeling's is very snug, I think it rivals a Demon's cover for "no."

A sin-eater/geist is as obvious as a vampire is; there's nothing physically wrong with them, but anyone who can sense the supernatural/ghosts/dead-magic can sense them uncontested.

Who has the worst magical mind shield then?

Changeling masks can be seen through by ANYONE with magical senses automatically in 2e.

Probably vampires, on account of not having one at all, and having all of their magic be very physical, "real" things.

Even werewolves have Lunacy and can hide in the Shadow.

I'd think Werewolf. Maybe Mummy.
I vaguely remember Vampires being able to smell Werewolves, and a Mage could spot them with Active Life Sight.
Plus, they turn into giant hairy war machines on a semi-regular basis. It doesn't get much less subtle than that.

You'd have to be able to see a Changeling's Soul or have a power that ignores all lies and illusions (like that one Supernatural merit from Vampire) to be able to see a Changeling's mein.

Demons have the best one, if it works right, it shields everything.

Mind Shield? Some groups just plain don't have one.

Protection against detection?
Vampires probably have the worst one, they have to activate it, it takes vitae, only works against powers which detect life signs, and it only works for a short while.

Most other factions are just modified humans, and to be able to see past that to the Supernatural angle, you usually have to see souls, or be on their wavelength.

Does anyone have the Mage Translation Guide? I can't seem to find it in the pastebins or download links.

I'm very curious how Geist works in making their own folklore and roles. Anyone have any online examples or something so I can get a good idea on what to do?

I can't find anyone playing cWoD online!
Where should I go to find a group?
I've tried:
/Reddit
Mythweavers
Onyx Path Forums
And Roll20 Forums
No luck at all.
Anywhere else?

Yeah in the 90's, that's where all the old worlders losers are.

Wait for a VTMB thread on /v/ and ask there, I'm sure one or two would join. I would, but english is not my first language.

thefinalcrossroads.com/

Wrong setting for the the poster wants.

You may want to consider oWoD MUSHes, though they're more free form than regular game. I'm honestly surprised there's slim pickings on Roll20 of all places, though.

Worst comes to worst, you might just have to start your own game.

World of Darkness MUSHes are shit, don't touch them

In oWoD/x20 , do 1s subtract successes on damage rolls?

Yeah. And it's unfortunate, because the theory of "mass games" is actually p fucken awesome. The HBO drama: talk, talk, talk, action.

But in reality it's just a bunch of harpy cunts cybering the ST and then acting as a peanut gallery to anybody who actually wants to play the fucking game.

Yes.

Why the OWoD hate?
Thanks for the Suggestions gents, I love Veeky Forums, Everyone here is always so much more willing to be helpful than anywhere really.

>Vampires probably have the worst one, they have to activate it, it takes vitae, only works against powers which detect life signs, and it only works for a short while.
What? Obfuscation is one of the best powers for avoiding detection in the game. Because of the way it works, you can just go all John Cena on anyone but a Mage with Active Mind Sight up and they'll ignore you.

He was talking Blush of Life, which is the thing ALL vampires have, that lets them seem human, which is what the discussion was about: Seeming human, not necessarily going unnoticed entirely.

unfortunately for you the implementation of that stuff was **FUCKING TERRIBLE.**
That said, check out baroness nerak's "balance of shadows" actual play. It's good.

Isn't it ironic that Veeky Forums is the most helpful place on the Internet and yet it's painted as the epitome of evil?

Oh, my bad.

I absolutely fucking hate the Krewe system. If your Krewe is anything beyond simply a bunch of jackasses who hang out with each other, it gets really fucking stupid.

When you decide to use the Krewe Binding Ceremony, your krewe all undergo a trance and your Geists transsubstantiate into something different, taking on a new Aspect. You thought your geist was one thing? No, the Geist then reveals to you that it was something different the entire time. I often use the example that the Geist reveals that it was Santa Claus the whole time, and that's honestly not too far off. The sample Krewe has their geists become: A future reincarnation of themselves known as Chakravartin who will usher in the ghostpocalypse, a representative of anyone who has ever been martyred for their beliefs known as the Unknown Martyr, and the Marquis de Sade. He claims to have always been the Marquis de Sade, but didn't say anything because it would be boring.
The Krewe Channel also gives them a vision of the SEKRIT TRUTH of the world, something that is never mentioned or cared about elsewhere in the book, much like all of the Krewe features. The sample characters learn that a distant God created the world, and the Underworld is the result of humans using their freedom to sin. Reincarnation exists, but ghosts are trapped and obsessed, and only Geists are enlightened enough. They believe that a generic God wants them to liberate themselves and others from spiritual falsehoods.

It's worth noting that the *characters* have no real say in this, so no matter what the fluff is that your character believes this bullshit. There's not even any sort of explanation of why anyone believes this when it can contradict actual observations, and relies on "well, MY religion is the right one" style bullshit that Geist actively goes against elsewhere. The inability to realize that your Geist isn't a God is literally the mark of one of the antagonists.

On top of this, you can actually run away and rebind with another Krewe, or even just join up with a krewe that already had their revelation--based on the founder's own personal beliefs--and then you get the same revelation and change, only this time the Channel doesn't actually consider your character's thoughts and feelings, so you literally have to be indoctrinated into it like a cult.

Don't even get me started on how the only benefit of this is the Merits, and even then most of them are for Tier 2 or 3 Krewes that I honestly don't think anyone in the history of Geist has ever used, because they're stupid and this book was edited by fucking Scribendi.com.

A man raped and murdered a woman and posted her corpse on /b/, people have repeatedly created hoaxes to trick people into breaking their electronics or inhaling toxic chemicals, and it's the source of one of the most whiny petulant manbaby social movements in recent years. And that's just off the top of my head.

I see. I bring this up because my players are getting very frustrated about rolling well on to-hit, and then having 1s eating their damage. Has anyone ever tried to houserule this? Any good fixes?

>it's the source of one of the most whiny petulant manbaby social movements in recent years

Which movement is that?

The one that must not be named for fear of starting an argument.

You know, you could have just answered the user's question or ignored it instead of going on the same rant you always do about it. answered it pretty well and actually gave a recommendation for something for the user to read.

Anyways, I second Balance of Shadows, it's a very good example of how to work with Geist's material in an effective way.

He said it was fucking terrible. I explained why. Not everyone has seen all my posts about Geist's problems before, especially since I haven't mentioned that one in like a year.

GamerGate?

Pretty sure that one was /v/'s doing, though the instigating factor was posted on nearly every nerd-related website in existence so a number of sites could take a share in the responsibility.

So, another Mage/Changeling question: Could a Mage use Exceptional Luck to grant a Boon that boosts Wits+Composure rolls? The book says that it "usually" applies to rolls of a Skill, but there's no Awareness Skill in CoD - that's why formal training in observation is modeled by a Merit instead.

This can be quite important, not just because spotting an enemy ambush can make a difference between life and death, but also because in 2e, Changelings roll Wits+Composure whenever they encounter a Breaking Point, and if they succeed, then they get the Acuity condition (that grants an additional point of Clarity when it Resolves), which means that a Changeling with a friendly Fate Mage will promptly rocket up to Clarity 10 and then stay there more-or-less indefinitely, and that in turn means that they'll be more-or-less immune to hostile Supernal magic as long as they've got Willpower to spend and they know a spell's incoming (which isn't difficult when they can reflexively roll 10 dice to detect magic). "Sure, I've only got Composure 1. What's that, you want to mind control me? Have fun trying to beat a Withstand of 11."

You went into a two post rant because you couldn't just say "it's inconsistent with the themes of Geist and the social structures of Krewes." It's hardly an explanation.

Let's not forget the reality that it would've been a weekend affair if that if the entire Internet hadn't of made a concerted effort to suppress discussion of it entirely, Veeky Forums included.

Setting aside that this kind of behavior makes the ideas correct by default (since there's no dispute of their validity, just their suppression), Veeky Forums was actively part of the campaign to suppress it. Blaming this on Veeky Forums is historically inaccurate.

Veeky Forums can be helpful at times. Doesn't change that fact that the majority of threads are just small flamewars.

No touhou pics with your annoying power gaming this time?

Oh, "it" meant Veeky Forums, not necessarily /b/. I mean, /pol/ and /r9k/ are also on this site. And yeah, it's definitely a sentiment that's been brewing for a while, bu-- and this is why I dared not speak it's name!

I went into detail about how specifically it is inconsistent. How is that hardly an explanation?

Imageboards are really just a distillation of the internet as a whole, for the most part. They're like forums but faster.

I'm not Touhoufag, just another random poster. That's why I posed it as a question. ;)

I do remember when Touhoufag was posting DnD 4e builds, though, way back when.

You don't add your power/morality stat to Withstand. It's just your attribute.

In 2e, Changelings can add their Clarity to their Resistance Attribute instead of the usual +3 dice to Contest/-2 dice to Resist bonus from spending Willpower, when they're affected by non-Wyrd-based magic (e.g Werewolf Gifts, Mage Spells, Vampire Disciplines, etc.) It's one of the special abilities they get.

>Clarity can also help a changeling resist magic. Any time she could spend Willpower to add to a Contested roll, or subtract from a Resisted roll, her Clarity can replace the normal +3 or -2 it’d confer.
Mage spells are neither Contested or Resisted. They are Withstood.
This does absolutely nothing for a Changeling dealing with a Mage.

Spending Willpower increases the Resistance Attribute (which is the only function by which WP helps resisted rolls), which explicitly helps against Withstanding, so logically their Clarity helps too.

That's up to you and your ST to decide. RAW, there's nothing saying it would, though, and Resisting a roll and Withstanding a spell are entirely different--one subtracts one die per point, the other straight up prevents the spell from happening unless they've got a high enough Potency, which effectively doubles the penalties they'd have to take for it.

Paying 1 WP to make an enemy take an extra -10 on a roll is strong, and harsh, but it doesn't entirely protect you in a lot of cases.
Paying 1 WP to make an enemy have to take a minimum of -12 on their roll, if they're a Master, or a maximum of -22, if they're an Initiate, in order to have ANY chance of affecting you at all, is straight up OP.

TL;DR it doesn't work that way, because adding to your Withstand basically doubles the effect you get out of adding to your Resistance.

Wrong again, Aspel.

drive.google.com/file/d/0B2K8R3qXyDyoUTRSemVyb3k1QTA/view

>Fae beings, ensorcelled mortals, and other supernaturals with mystical senses can see through the Mask.

>Paying 1 WP to make an enemy take an extra -10 on a roll is strong, and harsh, but it doesn't entirely protect you in a lot of cases.
>Paying 1 WP to make an enemy have to take a minimum of -12 on their roll, if they're a Master, or a maximum of -22, if they're an Initiate, in order to have ANY chance of affecting you at all, is straight up OP.

What the fuck are you on about? Potency costs -2 to increase. Willpower only costs you -4 by default, and that's assuming you weren't already sitting at more Potency than you needed.

The quibbling RAW rules lawyer argument will be that it increases Withstand, not Resistance, so it's not the same thing. I would say that's dumb.

Although it IS massively protective. Honestly, +Clarity to the roll will probably be downgraded, because that's already pretty fucking strong and nullifies most Contested rolls, and definitely most Resisted rolls.

Uh, a) that wasn't me, b) "mystical senses" are needed, c) I hope that's changed, because honestly one of the things I liked about the Mask is that it prevented anyone from seeing through it besides your splat. Even if mechanically it was only -3. It's not like being a Sleepwalker or avoiding Lunacy.

They're talking about if Changelings add Clarity to Withstand.

>They're talking about if Changelings add Clarity to Withstand.

Yes, in the latter (-12 to -22) case, but that doesn't work out either. Changlings higher than Wyrd 5 will be vanishingly rare, like every other splat elder, so realistically the changeling is only lobbing another -6 on for a total of -10--again, assuming you were already neck and neck with them for Potency, which you probably won't be since you can just target their worst Resistance attribute with the right spell.

>Changlings higher than Wyrd 5 will be vanishingly rare
I don't think I've ever dropped in Morality, and Changelings can regain Clarity for free.

Clarity, m8, not Wyrd.
Changelings can add their Clarity, their Integrity-replacement, to their Resisted and Contested stuff.
You're looking at, on average, probably a +5 to your relevant trait, but he was arguing that a Changeling should be able to add to their Withstand which adds, on average(at Clarity 5), -12 necessary for a 1-dot spell to affect them if they've got 1 dot in their Withstand attribute for the spell. -10 to equal them, an extra -2 to actually have any effect with the spell because of the way Withstand works.

Something that could affect Apparently there's rumors flying around that Tencent, a major Chinese Web and video game company, is looking to purchase Paradox Interactive. While I doubt it might actually happen, I do wonder what'll happen to White Wolf AB in the event that such a buyout occurs. I suppose it'd come down to whether or not Tencent would see it as a useful endeavor.

>Characters may only spend Willpower to increase a Resistance Attribute used for Withstanding if they are aware of a spell being cast upon them.
When Changelings spend Willpower to increase their Resistance Attribute, they add Clarity instead. It's pretty tanky (and I'm not sure it fits with Changelings), but it's kosher.

They're not looking to purchase Paradox, they took out a 5% share in the company's stock. They want to help Paradox break into the Chinese market, same as they do with other companies.

>A long-time fan of Paradox games, Tencent will work to explore opportunities with Paradox to build up the emerging grand strategy, simulation, and story-driven RPG fan bases in China. Tencent has a history of supporting new game genres in China, where it operates globally renowned titles such as League of Legends, Cross-Fire, Dungeon & Fighter, Call of Duty Online, FIFA Online and Need for Speed, as well as many popular locally-developed games. Tencent also has a track record of building strong partnership with game industry leaders, such as Activision Blizzard, Riot Games, CJ Netmarble and Miniclip, via equity investment and support in distribution and operations.

paradoxinteractive.com/en/paradox-interactive-listing-attracts-tencent-as-fan-and-long-term-investor/

>Resistance Attribute, they add Clarity instead
Sounds pretty bullshit, given how infuriating Withstand is if you're not fishing for Exceptional Successes.

Don't worry, just have the mage go for an exceptional success and they can blow past Withstand.

Which requires a ludicrous dice pool without a Praxis.
Or well, just use spells that don't modify their Pattern, and all their Withstand don't mean dick.

Like Temporal Summons (only has to beat Temporal Sympathy), or Present as Past/Prophecy, or just shit all over their contracts with Fate.

Fate/Time solves everything!

Do you think a Seer and a Diamond Order member could maintain an amicable friendship?

In other words, how tightly is a Seer's collar? I get that many lower ranked members frequently join with the aim of protecting the Unawakened from the various monsters that plague the night. Of course they rarely progress higher or live long, lacking the cuthroat ambition necessary or being pre-emptively culled as a threat to their Superiors.

I'm legitimately surprised Temporal Summoning isn't Withstood or something. I would expect that to be errata'd, since it's a spell that effects another person.

A friend has a game where they went to a Seer's barbecue. He's phenomenally powerful, but afraid of becoming an Archmaster because then the leash really will be too tight. Something like that.

>Temporal Summoning isn't Withstood or something
Unless you only want to manifest Unchanged changes, which are minor to put it lightly, then you need Temporal Sympathy, which incurs Withstand.

Temporal sympathy Withstand isn't bad at all.

You'll need some premade stick figures for the yantra though.

SCION SPOILERS WHEN

Yeah, but I mean the core default effect. It's changing someone. Sure, it's minor, but think about it this way: Someone gets healed. You reverse time so that their wounds are open, then shoot the healer in the face. That's essentially free, as far as Withstand goes.

I really hope that's errata'd to say there's a minimum standard for quality just so that you people quit with that bullshit. At least when Dresden used voodoo on the werewolf he was using a Snoopy as representational Sympathy.

>Neall said the blog post for Callings was supposed to up this weekend
>a decent way int Sunday and still nothing

reeeeee

>sympathy air, the same air they're breathing
>picture of planet earth, where they were born
>blank birth certificate, representing their certificate before it was filled out

Why are all the premade Acanthus spells so fucking cheeky and overly broad?

messing with time and fate isn't an exact science

Because Mages are the best, and Arcadians are the best Mages.

I know it sucks you Awoke as an Obrimos, but someone has to fill the the special needs quota

To be fair, Obrimos are a LOT better if your game is Mage-only (as opposed to herpa derpa crossover everything goes), because then you can dick around with Prime and shit all over other mages.

Then again, isn't dispelling magic a lot worse now?

>Then again, isn't dispelling magic a lot worse now?

Yes.They took everything that made Prime good (counterseplling, dispelling, Mana vacuuming, Phantasms) and stamped on them over and over and over. Then they took the remains, mixed them with shit, threw a terrible Mage Armor ontop and told us to just deal with it.

>Supernal Dispellation, 1e
>no mana
>sensory range
>just have to beat the spell's Potency

>Supernal Dispellation, 2e
>have to spend 2 Reach and 1 Mana to make it a Lasting dispel
>touch range by default
>have to beat Withstand of caster's arcanum dots, or arcanum dots +2 if they used Advanced Potency

Doesn't it feel GREAT to be an Obrimos now?

Fuck this shit, I'm making an Acanthus instead.

You need a dot in all Arcanum the target spell's using, and unless you reach, it merely suppresses the spell.

On the upside, you only need to beat Withstand equal to the Arcanum rating, not the Potency. So if they're using hyper-potency bullshit, you can still break it in half with but a spell.

Consider a Master of Prime who has a Rote in Dispel Magic.
He can quite easily spend 2 of his 5 Reach (and one Mana) to make his Dispel lasting, and tear to shreds every spell he likes, with at most a -2 modifier to beat a Master's own spells.

Though you do still need all those Arcanum...

But, but, but..., Prime is now "truthy!"

Let's not forget that Fate and Time are now the best at recharging Mana/WP at 2/3/4 dots, or Death/Mind/Spirit for Mana at 5 dots.

>touch range by default
Or just cast it as an Aimed spell.
Rolling Gnosis + Athletics/Firearms - Defense.

It sure is helpful that Fate and Time have the best damn Mage Armors around, eh?

Mother of fuck, you know Time mages can be literally ageless with Time 2, right? What the fucking Christ.

I'm reading Dave's Washington DC actual-play right now.

In it the Acanthus characters (both PC and NPC) are invariably the best and most powerful characters. Likewise he has only one major Obrimos NPC and they're a Priest who hates using Prime to create Mana because he sees it as magical vampiism. And when two characters are talking about other Paths they might have liked to have been, a PC says he would like to try being an Obrimos and the NPC responds flatly that he despises them.

Mage 2e is basically Dave re-interpreting Mage to suit his own viewpoint, and unfortunately Dave hates Obrimos and their arcana.

Shut up touhoufag.
Also space give a bonus to defense and with a mana and successfully dodging an attack can redirect it. That to me is the best one.

That's not a sympathetic connection. It has no ties to the target.

Motherfucker if that was Adslahnit you'd know. He is physically incapable of posting without his numerous idiosyncrasies.
Also, Mind can make you flat out give up.

I don't think Dave even wrote the individual Arcana.

You know, the fact that 2hufag is so autistic really works against you here.

If he's posting, he WILL POST a picture. It's a compulsion. So your autistic cries of anyone who is posting something I don't like is him just flat out doesn't work.

Acanthus are good only if you believe 2hu shilling them so hard.

>I don't think Dave even wrote the individual Arcana.

But as the dev he instructed the writers on what he wanted and approved their results.

Space doesn't work on surprise attacks, though I guess that doesn't matter so much for Space.

Fate/Time > Mind/Space > everything else.

Honestly I don't care about Acanthus, I'm an Obrimos lover who is butthurt as fuck about them shitting all over my pet Path. Temporal sympathy is just another avenue of complaint.

Mind is a good one, but its doesn't give defend against guns.
Im not arguing against Mind it's fantastic like most of the Mage Armors.

>Also, Mind can make you flat out give up.
Still have to punch through Withstand for that.

Present as Past/Prophecy though? No Withstand for those. Go up to someone and convince them to do what you want. Works 100% of the time if there's ANY chance they can be convinced.

With a lot of spells you can get around that by casting it as an area of effect thing. So many spells are save or lose anyway that I'm perfectly fine with Changelings being a bit hardier.

Chaos Mastery is going to escape errata/FAQ, isn't it, lads?

No you don't Supernatural can oppose it with a Clash of Wills.
Did you even read any of the armors?

We're not talking about Mage Armors.

We're talking about Time 4 letting you insta-win any Social Maneuvering with no resistance. Dave says that's working as intended.