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

>Does body horror come up in your games?

The last Mage campaign I ran had a super minor plot point where a member of the Ordo Dracul developed the Vicissitude Discipline after witnessing an Abyssal Manifestation. So yeah, I guess so.

...

Revenge? No. Revenge is silly.

To make sure that this doesn't happen to anyone else's lived ones. It isn't about revenge for one death, it's about protecting the lives of others in South East Wisconsin.

The death of my sister just opened my mind up to the concepts that there are monsters in the dark.

When it comes to his religious studies he sees himself as one who sees the connections others are unwilling to look for. Most people have enough trouble with faith, repentance , cleansing, repeat. It's a damn miracle some people finish step 1.

He joined the arrow because they can teach him how to prevent more deaths like this. How to use his power to strike down those who would bring the conflict to civilians.

How did I screw up? How didn't I? I failed my sister, I failed to protect her. I broke my mother's heart spending so much time "searching for God away from where I should know I could find him." I got a degree in religion from a faith I did not join, meaning I'm not making money as a priest I sell books on comparative religion. You want to know what that pays?

>Does body horror come up in your games?
Kinda. I had a lovely bit in my last game where the players encountered an Acamoth which had taken root in some poor soul's Oneiros.

It had infected and tainted his Daimon, which changed his obsession to "brutal vivisections". They got a lovely view of some of his subjects (a lot of Claimed), and what the Acamoth it had done to the Daimon itself.

It wasn't fucking pretty.

Unless you want to favor one religion, it'll be pretty hard to reference that part of his backstory.

On the assumption of Mormonism, how about Michael Iscariot? The warrior angel, and the great failure himself.

>Does body horror come up in your games?
Frequently.

One of the tricks is not to make it cool/sexy body malformation. And to keep it going/think it through. A monster with a huge mouth in its belly that drools rancid ooze constantly bugging your nose the whole scene and maybe after. It's going to be over the floor in spatters, attracting vermin.

Good think of their flaws. It gives your storyteller something to work with.

Now look for a name that he thinks he deserves.

Find a heretic. Or an insane priest if he is a bit upbeat. preferably a famous one with a gruesome or noble end. Or something to torment himself.

Take the name Nimrod if you want to be a great uniter who brings people together. Just don't build a tower and mind your prophecies(and ignore that bit about your family being enslaved...).

Just look around for famous people who fit the bill and try to make a theme. Look at Dave B's actual play, it has good examples.

reposting from last thread:

Is there a current prince/archbishop and dominant clan in Constantinople/Istanbul as of around the early 1900s?

Can Cold Iron be nanoforged?

This only applies to certain conspiracys and even so I imagine the technology is unstable at best, but can it?

I'd probably go for Esau over Nimrod who paraded around the coats of Adam and Eve disrespecting these scared relics. When he sold the birth right to Jacob it was because he had returned from months of hunting Nimrod and then killing him for the sacrilege.

How did I not see this name....
Nathanael - angel ruling over hidden things, fire and vengeance.
Puriel - angel whose name means "the fire of God;" angel of punishment.
Seriously how did I not see these two when I googled a list of angel names? Dang. Thinking about it I'm less about vengeance than I thought I would be. I'm not looking for revenge I'm looking to prevent sorrow...but Puriel punishes. I'm not really looking to punish. better keep looking.

Though the problem with an angel for a shadow name is no recoded flaws because angels. Isafel is connected to music and I sadly can't carry to tune. Only way I can play music is with a radio.

Actually...CofD is a world full of grey, and being driven my my shadow name to see people in terms of black and white might be a draw back. Guilty or Innocent.

When I adopt my shadow name Perhaps I'll put on a mask of some sort. Something that will help distance myself from my shadow self.

Masks are said to have a sort of supernatural meaning of putting on a new thing, or becoming the thing represented by the mask.

Spirits start out pure - spirit of Joy, Sorrow, Tree, Movement, etc.

Since very few spirits have the luxury of remaining pure past Rank 1 if they intend to survive, they eed on other essences that are similar to those they already know. As they consume essence they are refined and changed by assuming these related themes; spirits of Joy From Sexual Ecstasy (Orgasm Spirit), Sorrow of Parents Outliving Their Child, One Particular Tree, Spirit of Jogging (Smugness Spirit), etc.

This is normal, Spirits are what they eat and as long as they eat essence that relates to their existing themes then they remain spirits, becoming more narrowly defined and more powerful as they do, their Influences growing and allowing them to therefore create more easily situations that generate their preferred flavors of essence.

Magath are spirits who for whatever reason gorged themselves on essence that in no way related to their existing Influences, and often essence that is totally antithetical to them. This results in contradictory Influences/themes, and as a result the spirit is driven mad and becomes Magath.

These could be nature spirits who fell into a city and survived by consuming pollution essence. A hospital maternity wing becomes the scene of a massacre and the spirit of safeguarding children ends up swallowing too much death and rage essence and now needs to protect life whilst murdering everything in sight.

etc.

So, on the topic of shadow names, what are your mages shadow names? I have an Arrow devoted/obsessed with protecting those who are close to him before he awakened named Aegis, and a Silver Ladder prophet named Delphi.

The famous Prophet at Delphi? Wasn't that originally a woman?

Alkahest. He's a destroyer and saboteur, and interested in the flaws in all things. Plus Moros for alchemy angle.

>Does body horror come up in your games?

Seeing as I run V20, and Tzimisce/Fleshcrafting is a thing...

Yes.

So my players have gotten the idea to hunt down and bind the spirit of christmas as their totem. I should shut them down because it's stupid but I also want to see what would happen because it's stupid,

Haven't played in ages, but I've got a few NPCs good and done. Ones I've most recently worked on are.

>Walker
Mastigos Arrow. Get power from mysteriousness. Self-centered view on Fate and its practice. Upsets Acanthus. Trying to foster an antagonistic relationship with his pupils so he can better understand them through trial and conflict.

>Sympho(manic)
Thyrsus Libertine, obsessed with sensation. Seeks to fuse Forces and Life, and make living Force, or become it. In the meantime, seeks to make Forces-Vector spells. Healing music and so forth.

too high rank for a werewolf pack
it would warp them itno elves

It would tell them:
Ho Ho Hell No! And be so high rank that it and the spirit of Haunaka wouldn't need to give them the time of day. Pretty much any holiday spirit would be way out of their league. Kwanza might not be as a joke (Kwanzabot from futurama summed it up)

The Oracle at Delphi was a two-stage process; a priestess called a Pythia who inhaled fumes until she had a fit and spoke in tongues, and the priests of Apollo who "interpreted" her ranting.

user here, looking for the GM user interested in running the 2e Dreaming one shot.

If you're here are you still interested? Haven't heard from you.

Sounds like a good way to make your Mage schizophrenic

See this just makes me want to let them try. I'm a sucker for shenanigans.

Can someone walk me through 'the adamantine hand' merit? I read through the thread on the OPP forums and it didn't help.

It's an Order yantra and you can use it to get bonus dice on a spell cast on a following turn, up to your gnosis yantra limit.

So If my character was Gnosis 3 Life 2 with adamantine hand (athletics,brawl). And I want to cast a spell shutting off an enemies retina and blinding them. The turn before I punched the dude in the face and on his turn I dodged a couple damage points due to defense. Does this mean my spell now has a +2 order yantra or does it have two +1 +1 order yantras?

Its should be +2.

Mormon here. You might go for Rockwell (Joseph Smith's bodyguard with a chip on his shoulder, sought revenge for his family, killed about a hundred men)

Other good names for a Mormon Mage might include Talmage, Enoch, Raphiel, Abinadi (Your DM might get poetic with that one and have you get burnt to death) or Melchizedek.

You hit the nail on the head with finding bits of truth in religions and traditions worldwide, BYU professors love that stuff.

Was anything at all announced at the Grand Masquerade?

Police inquiries are still ongoing

Vamp 5th will suck. I think that's about it

So no news, then.

The metaplot is going to be based on what happens in their big sanctioned LARPs
I think that's the only thing we didn't know for sure that we do now

Thanks. Other than greater flexibility is there a reason to get both weaponry and brawl variants of adamantine hand? Since you can only attack once you'll only benefit from one variant.

Dracula was there and he, like, fucked everyone.

what happened to that canon index page?

wodcodex.com/wiki/Main_Page

ty

You have two +1 Order tool Yantras

Hey dave, quick question, Adamant Hand's true power lies in the fact that the +1 it gives you is a reflexive yantra, right? I still get another reflexive yantra when casting a spell?

Chargen Mage > Vampie

Why?

What?

Chargen Vampire > Mortal

Why?

Chargen Demon > Mae

Why?

Matt McFarland said he'll try to get a Dark Eras Companion preview out soon!

Exciting! I hope we get it by the end of the year.

Someone sell me on trying to find a game of Demon or Mage. I only have time for one.

Well it doesn't have to be offensive. Lets say for example you can use weaponry for defense. Then you can take the dodge action and gain the benefits of the yantra.

And as a storyteller I would rull that if you buy the merit twice then you can use both skill as different yantras. So thats two yantras you never have to worry about not working.

>We fired the event planner shortly after.

Look, sometimes you just have to hide in plain sight.

>Does body horror come up in your games?
Nope, I try to avoid inserting my magical realm into games.

Deviant the Renegades confirmed for the most magical realm game ever?

Is there a clear winner between oWoD and nWoD as far as Mage goes? If so, what makes it so much better? If not, what are the pros and cons of each?

5e campaign ending in the next couple weeks. DM is thinking of trying Mage next.

oWoD wins

At being shit

oWoD Mage is Solipsism where you fight against a group of individuals who seek to crush Magic and institute technology as the prominent force in the universe. Reality is a consensus of opinion, but it isn't really, as mass delusions don't become reality, and your Magic gets more fucked up the more people realise what you're doing doesn't mesh with what they believe. You fight to ensure that their consensus doesn't overpower your Magic and leave you normal again.

nWoD Mage is Gnosticism where you draw down the power from a higher realm, which used to be connected to reality, but is now separated by a horrific Abyss which seeks the destruction of both. This separation has deeply wounded the world, and shards of the Abyss lie within each mortal's soul, which corrupts your pure Magic when exposed. You fight to preseve your freedom from the horrific tyrannical Exarchs, renegade Mages who toppled the Gods and live within that higher realm, to study and learn more Arcane secrets, and eventually free yourselves from the shackles of this reality and Ascend to the Supernal Realms, fulfil your soul's destiny, and become a part of the Universe itself. Or just relish in the power of your Magic. Or serve the Exarchs.

I much prefer nWoD Mage.

>mfw I find out this is a thing
neat

>really into postmodern magic(k) IRL
>start reading the nWoD Mage 2e book
>mentions The Invisibles and Hellblazer within the first few pages
I think I'll like this game.

Are you an Unknown Armies fan at all?

I haven't played it, but I read the rulebook a while back and it looked cool. At the time I was too busy to GM anything, and neither of the people who were willing to GM wanted to run it.

Can't wait for my players to meet a Tzimice. It's a DA game, they have no idea what the metaplot is like, and one of them is a Tremere

Pretty sure the point of cold iron is that it isn't worked by a forge. Even of the nano variety.

I thought it was no-tools. I guess it depends if the nanites heat the iron or not.

Make sure that Tremere is getting shit on at every turn as a Usurper, since this is not the modern Tremere pyramid! :D

Already got called that by a Nossie. Has no idea what the fuck is going on

Hell yes.

Hello, it's that weird First time Mage Player who's been asking a Shit ton of questions.

Okay, so I've got it narrowed down to two options. A friend of mine after I told them the story says they like the second one. But I just want to know what I'd be in for with these as my shadow name
1, Puriel - Angel of Punishment and Fire. He is largely depicted as a angelic ass kicker and God's bouncer. His name means "God's Fire"

2. Ammon (Long Story here kiddos and I'm going to give you the DBZ Abridged Version). So long, long ago this guy Named Ammon goes to teach his enemies about God. Meanwhile in the lands of a certain king over his people's enemy's robbers would come and scatter his shepards and steal sheep. Why because the shepards weren't getting paid enough to risk their lives for the sheep. That's the problem when you use slave labor.
Now Back to Ammon. Well he enters this country and what happens. He's caught because he doesn't look, talk, or dress like his enemies. So they bring him before the king. King looks at him asks why he's here. Ammon says "I want to teach you about God." King says "I don't care, enjoy being a slave." Well the king figures if he makes this guy a shepard then when sheep get stolen he can dump the blame on him and execute him.

So what happens that special time of the day rolls around when the bandits come to steel the sheep. The other slave shepards nope on out of there because these bandits are armed, and know how to use their weapons. They were shepards for crap's sake they had swords more for show.
Out numbered, and out classed they ran because they weren't getting paid enough to fight and die. They weren't getting paid at all. So yeah total lack of motivation to stay and make waves. Except for Ammon. So the rest of the slaves are half way to emasculation when they realize the newbie wasn't with them. So they turn back to go grab him, and when they see that the bandits are having trouble getting near the sheep because every time they try they pull back a bloody stump. This missionary is disarming them in a very literal sense and the bandits finally decide to cut their losses before this crazy shepard decides to cut off other parts of them.

(continued)

So Ammon turns around. Gives them a big old smile and tells them they should all start gathering up the flock, and he helps them gather up the sheep, take them home from grazing. Then he says "Well I'm off to go groom the kings horses you guys have fun. Head shepard he gathered up the severed arms in a sack and presents them to the king. King looks at these and says "Damn you guys grew some spine finally." Head Shepard says, "Hell no we were halfway home when we realized we left the newbie behind went back to get him, and well...his is all his work."
King excretes bricks, then asks "So umm...Where is he now?"
"Oh he's grooming the horses..." King now has enough bricks to make a house.

I'm surprised that the Forces section for Mage doesn't have an optical illusion spell.
It'd be Weaving right?
Seems like a pretty major omission though, given the extreme usefulness of holograms.

For the sake of one of my players, I'm working on a little bit of homebrew for Promethean.

First, here is the Bestowment (Extempore btw)
>Taint of the Bomb
The bomb is the necessary evil, the weapon that both saved and doomed the world. A nuclear extempore has to accept roles no other promethean would want, the role of the antagonist. This promethean can achieve milestones while in the refinement of flux, but can still trigger breaking points.

(Achieving a role milestone for Flux is a breaking point)

>Flux Roles
Villain: Between great tales, and those on the wrong side of history, villains are willing to snatch everything they want without regard for those around them. The villain may have a plan, and the villain may have allies, but in the end they stand in opposition to what the world sees as 'good' and 'moral'. The villain builds up, plans, and eventually acts on schemes that would appall others. But the villain can be redeemed, because there are always other means to achieve goals, and there can always be a threat that cannot be defeated without the aid of others.

Rival: A rival isn't out to beat just anyone, they are out to beat a specific someone. They are the personal monster in someone's way. When their prey goes to bed, they imagine the rival, when their prey acts they worry about the rival. But does the rival act out of hatred? do they notice their prey at all? or is this the only way they know to get their prey's attention?

Beast: The beast is mindless, instinctive. Beyond giving in to being an inhuman freak, the beast gives in to base impulses. Obstacles are destroyed, food is horded, threats are slaughtered. The beast doesn't plan so much as hunt. The beast doesn't socialize, it has a pack. Giving in to the monster inside can be difficult, but what that proves can be more beneficial to The beast when they evolve.

Like I said last time, I think the approach you're taking is kind of stupid. A Zeka shouldn't just be focused on "all Centimani all the time". It misses the point of being a Promethean in the first place, and it turns Centimani into nothing more than another way to get neat toys.

On top of that, it seems to also miss how the game actually works. First, Centimani is not "being the antagonist". The entire purpose of the Refinement is that you are embracing Flux, acknowledging that you're a monster, and refusing to work towards the Pilgrimage. Making it a part of the pilgrimage beyond "I learned why I shouldn't turn away from the Pilgrimage" is failing to understand Centimani.

More to the point, you also don't seem to understand what Milestones or Breaking Points represent. A Milestone is literally moving forward on your Pilgrimage. For Prometheans, their Breaking Points are stepping backwards on the Pilgrimage. You can see how a Breaking Point triggered by a Milestone might be an issue.

Furthermore, being "the villain" is already covered by several other Roles and Refinements. Martyrs, Soldiers, Exemplars, Provacateurs, Vigilantes, Outcasts, Savages, Deviants...

Again, a Role is all about moving forward on the Pilgrimage. The entire point of Centimani is turning away from it entirely. You're essentially just trying to get cool "transhuman" powers without actually suffering for it. Except you're a Promethean, so you're still suffering.
Nevermind that all of those Roles ignore the purpose of Centimani: Becoming a better MONSTER.

>tfw DavidH responds to your idea and takes it seriously

:D

Link?

Quick question
Is Archery under Firearms or Athletics?
Does Life Arcanum cover control of Animals or do you need Mind for that?

forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/main-forum/the-new-world-of-darkness/changeling-the-lost/964083-changeling-2e-japan-kinda-like-tokyo-only-bigger?p=965481#post965481

I've been sitting on the idea of Meiji Werewolf for a while and figured I'd ask the CofD Japan guy directly.

I would say archery is Athletics unless you're in a pre-gunpowder setting, in which case Archery replaces Firearms as a skill.

I remember your comments from the first time, and thanks for commenting again. Trust me, I've kept that all in mind. I'm mindfully ignoring your greater advice to just not do it, and instead tempering the greater effort with that in mind.

But that is because I disagree with you on a few points.

Centimani is indeed not 'being the antagonist'. They are stepping away from the effort to become human. For most prometheans that means they turn away from the pilgrimage entirely, the idea here is that for this extempore accepting being part of the problem is as much a step toward being human as any other.

Also, I don't fail to understand milestones or breaking points. While it is unorthodox to have a milestone trigger a breaking point, it isn't completely impossible considering the greater theme. Yes, they learned something that pushed them forward, but they do so by taking a treacherous path. Because not every breaking point trigger actually causes a fall backwards... actually it is unlikely until you at least get pilgrimage 5.

And yes, being 'bad' is covered under those roles. Which is exactly why it isn't all that problematic to have more roles covering the same.

So, I respect that you don't like the idea. Thanks for your comment.

can you take area of expertise merit multiple times for multiple specialties?

>using MTG art in the OP of /CofD/ & /wodg/
LOL

I've been pretending Mr Lich is a mummy.

>Missing the point
You know, the Shadowrun thread never has to deal with people going >using Cyberpunk 2077 art

Honestly, shadowrun has bigger problems to deal with.

Yeah, like being Shadowrun.

Someone on the forums asked for help doing the math for casting a spell in Mage and I gave myself a headache.

It's not a bad system, but my god am I too stupid to wrestle with it on the fly.

What was the spell? Or just gimme a link

Bob wants to cast Honing the Form on himself, have it last one day, and raise all three of his physical attributes from 2 to 5. His Gnosis is 2 and his Life is 3.

forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/main-forum/the-new-world-of-darkness/mage-the-awakening/965513-bob-the-mage

I think I did everything right? I'm pretty sure Bob isn't casting that spell.

The Night Watch from the 70s? I can dig it

Damnit, I went back a page trying to use the alt code for ● instead of just copypasting it.

>Step One: Declare Intent
"I want to Hone my Form!"
>Step Two: Determine Arcanum and Practice
Life, Patterning
>Step Three: Determine Effect and Cost
Raising Attributes, which requires no Mana
>Step Four: Determine Withstand Trait
None, though if someone really didn't like the idea of being stronger, probably Stamina.
>Step Five: Determine Primary Spell Factor
Potency, which at 1+[Life-1] is 3.
>Step Six: Cast the Spell
Though first we'll need to math.

The spell as it stands is as follows:
Potency: 3
Duration: 1 turn
Scale: 1 subject
Range: Self/Bob
Casting Time: 3 Hours

So, let's start with Reach.
1 reach for Advanced Duration
2 Reach for effecting all two additional Physical Attributes
Unless the spell is a Rote, Bob will have to use a Ritual casting or provoke Paradox.

Now for Spell Factors.
-2 to increase Duration from One Scene to One Day.
A whopping -12 to raise Potency from 3 to the 9 necessary to bring three Attributes from ●● to ●●●●●.
This takes us to a total of -14.

Bob is now at -9 to cast this spell.

I had actually originally been thinking of Cabals, which get benefits from having dumb themes like being Amerindian or baseball weirdos or lesbians.

Primary Spell Factor on honing the Form is Duration, not Potency.