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

>tfw people always talk about MKULTRA but never dig deeper into fun stuff like GRILL FLAME or even SIGN/GRUDGE/Blue Book

Blue Book used to be pretty big fiction fodder in the 80s and 90s, but UFOs are kind of old hat these days. Same for Stargate Project, but I think that one's due for a comeback.

I think Delta Green pretty soundly proved UFOs and greys can still be scary; the old corebook scenario Convergence us the scariest I've ever read.

What we really need is a CofD book that delves into the conspiracy theory that the Iraq War was a smokescreen for the US government's attempt to steal the Babylonian stargates left behond by the Annunaki that Saddam had control over.

Okay, that's some good shit right there.
Also
>Reincarnation Police
Holy fuck I wish to know more, or make up more

>Those are okay. Not a fan of dark magical girls, but their endowment is neat.
Oh? You might be the first person who said anything about the endowments. I was going for a sort of Geasa thing, where you essentially could fuck yourself over by having so many bans. I actually made a sample character who's been unable to keep up one of her Bans.
tmblr.co/ZIFdmw1pEEBQt

As for the MK Ultra thing, I hadn't actually thought about introducing "successful" test subjects. That might be something for down the line. I've got the other player as a Galateid who was made as a candy striper nurse for her demiurge's horrid kidnapping experiements; she'd manipulate other women into coming home with her and they'd get experimented on. I'm probably going to have her "Big Brother" show up; another Promethean with the same Demiurge (Probably a Frank).

>I've always wanted to make a compact of Jungian psychologists trying to summon and control goetic beings à la Persona.
Neat idea. I might steal that and work on something. Not sure how to handle the summoning aspect while not just having it be a Pokemon thing with a separate sheet. Have you seen the Knights of Saint George, though? They do their Endowment by summoning Goetia that basically only last for a turn.

Don't tell anyone, but the Egohackers I came up with literally have the same MO as the Persona 5 cast.

I know the Knights and I like some of their fluff, but the conspiracy (and their endowment) is too focused Mages for my taste. The rough idea I had for the endowment (if they have one, they're still a compact) was making the "shadows" a bit similar to geists: it gives you a couple of small powers related to your ego, but you have to indulge it.
Is it out yet?

Persona 5? No, it hits Japan next month and here in February. The general idea behind it is you're a crew of thieves who perform heists on people's hearts and steal the wickedness out.

Neato. I know nothing about Persona 5 other than Boku no Eruption saying how Persona is the best ever and Naota is his waifu.

Do the Egohackers actually go into the Temenos?

Yeah. I like the Knights, but much like other groups from the spin off books, they're *way* too focused to dealing with a single type of threat, and I'm not fond of that sort of thing. They are thankfully a bit better than the Cainite Heresy about it, though, and can use their abilities on more than just the Mage Template.

If I had to give them rules, they would probably just use the Dream Body merit from the Merrick Institute.

And I actually prefer the more focused supplemental Hunter groups over the core ones, as they make for great antagonists. You can always do a game as them where you just throw things at them that they aren't prepared for, though I think Vampire and Mage are ruch enough to supply a full Cainite/St. George chronicle.

I think first and foremost Hunter groups should be good to play as. That's why a lot of the ones you like (Barrett Commission), I don't.

And from a Hunter standpoint, I feel a lot of the focused groups miss out on some of the stuff I love about Hunter, which is random weirdness. I don't want a game about Mages or Vampires. I want a game about dealing with the Raw Head in the sewers, or the Barghest haunting the alleyway where a murder took place.

I think a good mix of groups designed for play and groups for antagonist use is fine, but I also see most groups you're dismissing as being plenty playable. Just because a Division Six game is likely to focus more heavily on mages doesn't make it bad, much in the same way that me not liking the spirit focusnof Werewolf doesn't make it a bad game.

Division Six is fine, I just think they're dumb; I mean groups like Barrett Commission that focus on things like accounting and corporate espionage. They're great worldbuilding, but bad for actual play. I wasn't really saying that Knights of Saints George and Adrian are bad because they're focused, I was just countering
>I actually prefer the more focused supplemental Hunter groups over the core ones, as they make for great antagonists.
Pointing out stuff like the Barrett Commission was just an aside. Basically, I judge an Org based primarily on how well it works for playing a character in it. Focused Orgs aren't something I'd want to get rid of or anything, but "they're great because you can use them as antagonists" isn't really what I'm looking for in an Org.

Has anyone tried to run a more X-Files style Hunter game? I'd imagine you'd have to have a group that's happier to avoid combat for the most part and stick with the investigation. While also put up with being blue-balled constantly.

Ran my first solo Promethean session.

Maybe I should have nerfed down the pandoran they ran into, because that fight did not go well. Even burning pyros and willpower, they did nothing to it.

But as a solo game, I'm going to give them a chance to build up a sort of entourage so they have some way to deal with physical encounters besides running (unless running is the mood I want. Like when the pandoran first started coming out of dormancy and the azothic memory was like 'gtfo!')

Overall it was a fun session. Seems like disquiet triggering is near impossible while you are azoth 1 unless I'm missing some modifiers from the book.

I tried. They were pretty much the xfiles, every member had some specialty that would help them. They got to choose their case files in character.

Then it died before they even faced the first mystery.

>everything happens off screen
>players only get to ask follow up interviews and find a piece of weird evidence
>everything gets away at the end

Last X-Files game I ran was in Conspiracy X. Ought to give it a whirl with Hunter.

Wodg is the only place, across Veeky Forums, reddit, and tumblr, where I see rational level headed feminist discourse (mixed in with shitposting of course).

Probably the reason why I typically limit my Veeky Forums visits to this thread and the general of any show I just watched.

I don't see where that's relevant, but even then that's possibly the stupidest thing I've ever read, considering all the (moderated) subreddits that are dedicated to exactly that kind of thing, and the fact that I've been watching relatively level headed (if sarcastic) take downs of alt-right Rationalists™ on Youtube all day. You'd honestly have to intentionally insulate yourself from that kind of discourse, especially since most of what you get in this thread is pretty asinine...

Still, I have been wanting to use this new reaction webm. None of the rational, level headed feminist ideology (really in this case it does tend to be more intersectionalist and egalitarian, or ~SJW~ since most of what turns up here is about queer issues and gender politics, but really I'm just digressing) that gets brought up here is anything new, and you can find similar stuff on TheMarySue or r/TwoXChromosomes or r/ainbow, or even Youtubers like hbomberguy, Thom Avella, The Skeptic Feminist (who I know nothing about other than that she trounced Sargon in a debate), and even The Young Turks and Kyle Kalin...Skeptical Talk. Most of whom are willing to cite sources, argue rationally, and bring up counterpoints to people who generally tend to just spew buzzwords like "cuck".

Generally if you go to any of those places with an open mind instead of the belief that they're ruining Western Values with their Cultural Marxist white genocide SJW communazi rhetoric, you'll find that they're generally saying reasonable things. Olly of Philosophy Tube sums up that theory of rational accomidation pretty well: youtu.be/QtZegs3VfHY

I hope we get a new Hunter Open Dev blog soon. I thirst for more Open Dev, and yes I know the Perfected Metals blog was only a week or so ago.

I meant without going to some place dedicated to that topic. Because what is there to talk about on a sub dedicated to gayness? It is probably about as interesting as /lgbt/, aka not at all.

But if you were on any other subreddit, watch what happens when a feminist issue comes up. Yeah, no thanks.

>fag goes to reddit and tumblr

See, this is why this is the worst general ever

Sickest of burns user.
I tip my fedora to you.

How often can prometheans change their Refinements?

As often as they like, really.

Indeed, which is pretty cool and unique without being overpowered. They found a cool gimmick for them.

What does the Platonic Form of a person look like?

Immobile, glowing, obviously magical.

If you want something mobile, you need an Eidolon.
If you mean "what is the actual platonic appearance of a person", the answer is "average as fuck"

>If you want something mobile, you need an Eidolon.

But still glowing and "average as fuck"?

Damn, missed a bit

Would the Forces 3 effect to conceal the magic allow it to look how you want? Or look like a specific person? I assume that'd be a disguise roll?

Forces 3 would let you make it look like a normal person, yes. I'd probably ask for a Reach to make it look like a specific person, copying identifiable features n shit.

Speaking of gimmicks, what would the power gimmicks be summarized as for each creep?

Promtheans can
Easily switch between schools of powers.
Charge up to more powerful abilities over successive posts.

Mages can
Heavily modify the scope and strength of their powers using reaches.

But even though I've looked at Woof, I can't think of any gimmick for their 2e, and I don't know if Vampires had anything interesting.

Though the Demon gimmick seems to be 'powers are OP against anyone not important to the plot'.

The problem with this is that this is a thread about World of Darkness, that feminism keeps showing up like it does everywhere else is pretty annoying to those of us that like to talk about the games instead.

I've thrown together a few home-brewed organizations in the past, mostly for hunter organizations. But generally, I just run with the legit stuff.

OP does a good job of filling in all the cracks you would think of sliding an organization into, at least for a Western-centric America game. Most home-brewed orgs I can see filling similar roles for some splats across the ocean.

The Platonic Form (or Eidelon) of a person would be the ultimate expression of humanity, which would also be glowing and magical and probably androgynous and featureless. Think the Truth in Fullmetal Alchemist.

I believe it at least takes a bit of meditation and introspection to change Refinements, save for Tin.

Well, there's actually a lot to talk about on a subreddit dedicated to gayness, which is unfortunate, since it should be rather mundane instead of a support group.
̶A̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶w̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶w̶e̶ ̶t̶a̶l̶k̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶m̶i̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶h̶e̶t̶e̶r̶o̶n̶o̶r̶m̶a̶t̶i̶v̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶d̶e̶s̶t̶r̶o̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶r̶a̶d̶i̶t̶i̶o̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶w̶e̶s̶t̶e̶r̶n̶ ̶v̶a̶l̶u̶e̶s̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶M̶a̶r̶x̶i̶s̶t̶ ̶z̶i̶o̶n̶i̶s̶t̶ ̶i̶d̶e̶a̶l̶s̶.̶

I wouldn't say most have a "gimmick". That said, Werewolves essentially have their powers given to them whole cloth; hence the term "gift".

While in many cases that's true, in others it is very relevant to the topic at hand (well; gender issues or ethnic diversity are more common, but that seems to all get labeled as "Feminism" or less neutrally "SJWs bullshit".)

>I believe it at least takes a bit of meditation and introspection to change Refinements, save for Tin.

Yeah, dramatic action to move into one of the new Refinement's roles

>Think the Truth in Fullmetal Alchemist.

Oh snap, that's a pretty great example. Thanks.

I'm sure there are better ones, but it's the first good one I could think of. It's a bit stocky and short for a true idealized form, but that general "a shape encompassing humanity distilled" concept.

There's something I can't remember where the bad guys were basically human shaped things that looked like galaxies and starfields.

Anti-Spirals from Gurren Lagann?

Does that take dramatic action?

I remember there being a problem if you stay in a role after being finished with it, but I can't remember if giving up a role causes a real problem... Wait I think it has a header... But now I can't remember what I read.

Nah, this was an actual space scene as their body. I thought it was the Drej from Titan AE, but they're just blue and glowy and CG and not actually human shaped.
Anti-spirals are another good example of the idea, though. Make it a shifting, electric, luminescent flame of purple and orange and blue instead of black and white.

You have to motivate yourself and choose to examine a new aspect of humanity to change refinements. Essentially that's a scene getting into character in one of it's roles

Ah, well yeah. But for the same reason you don't let characters use xp mid-scene.

>you don't let characters use xp mid-scene

I do sometimes

Yeah, but you're generally a weirdo.

> (well; gender issues or ethnic diversity are more common, but that seems to all get labeled as "Feminism" or less neutrally "SJWs bullshit".)

Well Feminism made it theirs with intersectional Feminism so that would be correct.

youtube.com/watch?v=mvEF2rp70us
>This is how I Ascending Ones

That's not actually how that works, but I guess it's technically correct if you squint.

I'm barely a minute in and already chuckling. That fucker delivering those lines so perfectly.

All his stuff is great. I just noticed this and thought it would be funny to play a snobby drug dealer or something.

>That's not actually how that works, but I guess it's technically correct if you squint.

So you're sying what? that intersectionality has nothing to do with race, gender or nothing to do with feminism?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersectionality
Sexuality and class, in addition to race and gender

Though intersectionality began with the exploration of the interplay between gender and race, over time other identities and oppressions were added to the theory. For example, in 1981 Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa published the first edition of This Bridge Called My Back. This anthology explored how classifications of sexual orientation and class also mix with those of race and gender to create even more distinct political categories. Many black, Latina, and Asian writers featured in the collection stress how their sexuality interacts with their race and gender to inform their perspectives. Similarly, poor women of color detail how their socio-economic status adds a layer of nuance to their identities, unknown to or misunderstood by middle-class white feminists.

Says right there, intersectionality, began with the exploration of the interplay between gender and race

and it's a feminist philosphy.

>So you're sying what? that intersectionality has nothing to do with race, gender or nothing to do with feminism?
No, I'm saying that Intersectionality is not Feminists co-opting ethnic, sexuality or gender minority issues into the auspices of feminism; it's addressing how those issues intersect (as in, the term intersectionality) with one another and can compound one another.

Queer and PoC issues aren't inherently feminist issues, but they are issues that intersect with feminism, and it's hard to address the feminist relevant problems that those groups face without also acknowledging the ways that their specific demographic issues intersect. i.e. a gay man or transwoman doesn't have to deal with abortion rights, but does have to deal with the derogation of things that are socially coded as feminine (like a sexual enjoyment of fat delicious cock).

Essentially, to say that they're feminist issues isn't *wrong*, but it's somewhat inaccurate because it implies they directly relate to feminism; Second Wave Feminism wouldn't have really cared about such things, and neither do TERFs, who, horrible people though they are, are still Feminists.

Yeah but that's not what I said, what I said was that Feminism included these things into its standard dialogue and while they are not considered feminism per se, due to intersectional feminism you try and hold a discussion on feminism without gender, race and sexuality popping up.

Besides a lot of femism had a sexuality component, remember Lesbian Feminism? The one that encouraged women to become lesbians to spite the patriarchy/illuminati?

Feminism wouldn't be feminism without a gender component. The only one dragged in is the race part but even then it's not that far-fetched.

Feminism tries to encompass so many different things its overstretched has become nearly useless as a denominator or descriptor. So again, the people that call most of those issues feminist are right, Feminism is just incredibly bloated.

The film's terrible, but it has some good imagery: Youtube the Genesis sequence from "Noah:" The filmmakers solved the question of what ethnicity to make Adam and Eve with "tall, bright yellow, and glowing."

>The film's terrible
It wasn't that bad. I mean, it wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible.
This is the best scene in the film, though. Also possibly the only thing I remember other than the rock monster angels.
youtu.be/FFCXHr8aKDk

How much control over mundane reality can I give True Fea?
I have an idea about "the Producer" title/actor for the Merchant that would involve it high jacking surveilence footage and broadcasting its own tv channel to locals. Would this kind of mendling with normal technology be too much?

From what I remember of 1e, pretty much.

Also it's take on the Nephilim/Watchers/glowey stone things made me think of Quashmal.
youtube.com/watch?v=M59hlry5kOU
youtube.com/watch?v=3IMBJyztU2Q

So, we now have a precedent for supers ignoring the spending/turn limit.

Could this somehow be re-made into a 5-dot hidden Attainment for Prime?

No. That'd take... Like.. Prime Excision, I think.

So if I wanted to make an antagonist in Mage like FMAs Father? Where would be the best place to start.

What precedent?

A Promethean power.
Maxed out Blaze of Glory on Luciferus.

There isn't one. He is talking out of his ass.

Mage. That is literally an Ascension ritual.

That is Promethean only, so no. It's not a precedent.

Don't forget that spending Pyros is a negative thing for Prometheans. Reveals disfigurements, causes disquiet, potential for a Firestorm... Being able to spend a lot is not always a good thing for them, unlike, say, for mages

It has drawbacks. That's different from being "a negative thing."

But yeah. That's why I though that if anything it'd be a really esoteric 5 dot hidden attainment

Anywhere I can finf Mage or WoD games online?

Ever ran a WoD Innocents game?

...

Seems to me like begging for magical realm

Innocents: The Narnia Chronicle

I assume they mean "precident" in terms of "this is the first time this has happened in this ruleset". That said, I'm not a fan of it being a being a thing in other games.

No, that didn't get voted in.

I wouldn't be surprised if it and the other losing Dark Eras make up the majority of Dark Eras 2: Era Harder.

Yeah. I suspect the "better" of the missed ones will be the core, and other stuff will be voted in.

Just bring in Meiji Werewolf. It's all I can ask for.

But wouldn't that mean everyone has to play Ainu?

That, btw, is the most stupid declarative statement made by CofD authors: (practically) No ethnic Japanese werewolves.

You say that like it's a problem. Besides, Golden Kamui's getting popular now, so I'm sure folks'll wanna play an Ainu character.

So what Pantheons do you most want added to Scion?

>Mesopotamian pantheon not in the 2e corebook and never made it into 1e

reeeeee

I've got Aztecs, I'm happy man.
My second choice would be Algonquian so I could be a Scion of Winiko but they've already got Native American in there.

Wish granted, user. I think they've said they want to do other Native pantheons as well.

youtu.be/tF119J3qriI?t=15s

We know the dead Gaulish gods are a possible stretch goal alongside the Voodoo loa, that the Polynesian gods are in Demigod, and we'll almost certainly see a Mesopotamian pantheon at some point.

>Gaulish gods are a possible stretch goal
If Scion has a Stereotypes system, theirs would most likely ALL be "These [Insert culture the Scions are connected to here] Gods are crazy."

Now I want to be a Scion of Asterix and/or Obelix, by Toutatis!

A Mage in a game I ran recently over-reached like a motherfucker to create a diversion and break limited mental control on himself. He cast Words of Truth over an area of about a parking lot (which was nearby a lively street and was centered inside a major library during opening hours) and got 5 paradox.

Seeing that the Errata for Mage changed "the caster gains a paradox condition" to "Impose a Condition on the subject of the spell", I ruled the people around him have their minds and senses torn by the fury of the Aether and imposed a mix of Blind, Deaf, Mute and Insane.

What I'm somewhat stumped with is what would the mortal response be to such an event? From the perspective of Quiescence-addled Sleepers someone just blew up a neurotoxin bomb in the middle of a major US city (Chicago, if relevant), and GotV have lost the window to cover it up completely and don't locally have access to good enough time travel to excise it from the timeline.

Would it be a 9/11 type deal? Would the FBI get involved? What's a lifelike procedure for this which doesn't break verisimilitude? The casualties currently stand at 201 struck deaf/mute/blind/mentally damaged and 17 dead (from the car crashes on the street).

You're looking at a situation which will send out the Department of Homeland Security out and investigating. It's not quite a full 9/11, but it's a major news worthy event. In the event that Task Force: Valkyrie exists in your setting, this is exactly the sort of thing that they would be deployed to take care of if someone even gets a wind of there being a supernatural origin. Otherwise, you're looking at a mix of FBI and NSA trying to hunt down the culprits.

The PC in question might also get a visit from the GotV, or the Interfector, depending on how they operate in your game and if anybody can figure out it was him(protip: if he didn't use a spell to keep his Nimbus hidden, they'll probably figure out it was him)