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

Running a hunter the vigil game, plan for my party to face off with a gutter mage and need to know what special powers across htv, cofd, and mage the awakening alliw for force shields for bullet deflection

I wonder what Paradigm would constitute bubble gum as a Wonder.

Probably an edgy Orphan.

Can somebody explain me whats so bad about M20's rules for paradigm?

I read people mentioning a virtual adept casting with yoga but wasnt always the case that per raw a mage could have wathever paradigm they want and that the only thing stopping stupid shit like virtual adept with yoga was the setting question of why would such individual accepted in that tradition?

The Ahl-i-Batin believe all things are connected, so as the bubble gum pops, so too does existence.

>Gulmoths
What do you know about your outsider?

Most recent one was possessing kids and dragging them off to its Scelestus Master, who was then sacrificing them for mana, reaping their juicy, juicy high Integrity traits. Who we're fairly sure is crazy fucking powerful, and would likely be able to kill the bullshit powerful Guardian Hierarch of the city.

It was at least Rank 3, and we only barely managed to save one kid and get away, before finding the macabre scene were it had killed two others. The strongest Mages we have in the Cabal are the Acanthus and my Mastigos, who are both second-degree Disciples.

The frustrating thing is that as none of us have Spirit, we can't perceive them in Twilight and we can only track their rough location with sympathy, and their presence with Mind.

Basically the entire town has become polluted once a major cultural element of the city became polluted after a naturally occuring Supernal phenomenon warped it into parodying the breaking of the Celestial Ladder.

Because the Get are a pure meritocracy and that Merit comes from the violent disposal of wyrm-fucks or glorious death in the pursuit of such and that goes for all auspices. If there's some black Navy SEAL with sixty grillion confirmed kills and he treats you like the lady you are, it's probably a good idea to just go ahead and burn that coal so as to produce strong warriors or kinfolk for the next generation.

Seriously, the Get treat their Metis like shit in that they... treat them exactly like their Homid and Lupus cubs. They punish the parents who made the Metis and then punish them again if they mistreat or attempt to hamper that cub, they're punished again. I think this really gets to the heart of their Schtick.

I would not be, the abyss is the best

>parodying the breaking of the Celestial Ladder.
Did any dragons get stabbed yet, thats my favorite part of the story, the ladder stabbing the dragon and making the abyss.

I don't know man, there's all kinds of shit going on.
Like, where are the Seers? Why are all Supernatural creatures in this city tainted? Has reality been retconned into all non-Mages being Abysally Tainted?

And why, Jesus Fuck WHY, is it making Supernal Mysteries stronger?!

I have my theories, half-cooked and with nobody else to talk to...
And my Cabal mates are a creepy Moros who says little and will likely sell me out to the Guardians, and an Acanthus Libertine who cares too much about his fallen job as a Cop.

It sounds to me like you're in the Abyss.

>WHY, is it making Supernal Mysteries stronger
It is technically 'closer' to the supernal than the fallen world.

There are many suggestions that failed timelines and retconed realities end up in the abyss.

>It sounds to me like you're in the Abyss
Oh......
Oh no.

After reading the post you linked I am convinced that magefags are the ultimate munchkins.

I am turned on by that picture.

>WHY ARE YOU LOOKING FOR YOUR SUN IN THE ABYSS!?

Time to splash some points into Spirit. Or try and requisition an Imbued item that lets you cast an unveiling spell.

In theory their are infinite planes of reality sitting in the Abyss. You could have you're own personal impossible universe to rule.

>magefags are the ultimate munchkins
This isn't always the case. An unjustified stereotype.

Is there a decent online dice roller for CofD?

Shark-bone is decent. The only downside is it doesn't have an option for rote actions.

How do Uratha drop mountains on people, again? I'm trying to find this particular Gift or Rite.

These threads are dying

We've been fighting pentex dickheads and monkey wrenching shit. I'd like to fight some actual shit, but there's new players so I guess this is their slow intro.
Although the st was looking into nexus crawlers so I may have that to look forward to.

>t's ended up being neck and neck for Mage and Hunter. Really on opposite ends of the spectrum! Didn't expect Hunter to be so popular, but it would definitely make for a cool living city. Anyway, I can't start divvying up the city til I know the factions, and hunter has more of them.
>Since the sensible preference is for just 1 gameline, hopefully, we can break the tie.
>Mage or Hunter?
>strawpoll.com/w2b82sw

>tfw noone else loves black hats and mirror shades like you do
>tfw you have no friends to help you defend the world against Reality Deviants

Is it truly a bad thing though?

t. An ugly entropy cucker.

Could a mage keep a changeling happily satisfied as a prisoner pet or attack dog? Do they want to be free all the time?

I've been here pretty since 2005, can't really get used to going back to regular forums, though I still use one or two of them, after spending so much time on Veeky Forums where you can just tell people to suck dick, eat shit and die and then be on your merry way without the fear of getting banhammered. Also, I really can't stand the grandstanding on forums, how your opinions are treated more valuable the bigger your post count is.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't go back. Its hard enough interacting with friends on kikebook without slipping

These threads have been dead ever since those faggot devs came in and brought their cancerous fans with them.

>slipping
If you have to walk on eggshells why bother? I call and get called out for shit all the time but if you take it personally it's retarded

>tfw I used to post but it's gotten so shitty
Too many of the decent posters left and not many of the good ones stayed.

I don't have a Facebook. Don't see the point.

People change, places change. God knows Veeky Forums changed a lot over the years.

>he thinks it's worse than something straight out of a tumblr fanfiction
>this is what homosexuals actually believe
lmao

Well, aren't you a special kind of bitch.

good lord fellas I'm trying to break the tie, not relive it's majesty

Fucking let it die, let it all die.

We really need to give magefags their own thread to shit in.

>mommy and daddy mean man pointed out my extra chromosomes
>my stinky tantrums should be regarded as fact
>I am babyman and I must pretend to be a vampire

ENTROPY SUPREMACY

>proud vampfag

>entropy mage

I thought it was the vampires that pretended to be mages

The Get are really the best tribe

>vampires pretending to be wizards

They have always been jealous.

Just look at the Tremere

Reposting a question in the new thread:

Can Demons Install Gadgets using Embeds only from the list they know, or any Embed?

(Wow, that is a soup of capitalized proper nouns. Fucking WoD.)

If it's only the embeds they know, what is even the point? It costs a dot of permanent Will to make one of these trinkets, they're automatically a weaker version of the Embed or Exploit, and the only way you really benefit from making a lot of them and passing them around to cult members of your Ring is the combat multiplier stuff like Just Bruised, Merciless Gunman, and Knockout Punch

Gee.

I don't think anyone actually gives a fuck about Demon.

I love the Fallen; the setting just clicked with me instantly. I never did a good chronicle on it, but that's because I never found another player who actually cared about it.
The Descent is just meh to me. Don't give a fuck about it.

Fucking good, hope the hole site goes down. Its a shitshow and has always been a shitshow. Might force to actually interact with a person or two.

Ourselves. We've somehow managed to attract every team-killing, pvp loving neckbeard in the whole area. Shits great though.

Maybe if you werent such dicks people wouldnt be trying to murder you.

>werent such dicks

We playin WoD. What supernatural ISNT a colossal asshat?

Mages. Everyone loves Mages. Havent you see the threads?

In the hierarchy of asshats, Mages reign supreme.

Deviants until released

I finished reading the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy some time ago. It's possible to see the entirety of the story as the Awakening of Arthur (he's more like a Sleepwalker with the Deadpan Merit, though). This inspired me to create a Path based on the book.

Here's what I have so far:

Taxiodes, Wanderers And Analysts On The Path of Absurdity, Scions Of The Watchtower Of The Cosmic Map In The Realm Of The Beckoning Roads, Kingdom of Surprises And Abode Of Outsiders.

Ruling Arcana: Space And Fate

Inferior Arcanum: Prime

Tarot Cards: The World And The Fool

Keywords: Humor And Exploration

Sleepers are drawn to this Path when they seek a purpose for their existence so intensely that it weighs heavily on their souls and plagues their every waking moment. This desire for a linchpin, an overarching “why” that explains a chaotic and often terrifying world can lead them toward grand journeys and spiritual quests. In their minds, no struggle is too great on the way toward the Big Answer. But at some point, for some reason, they realized there was no such thing. However, this revelation did not bring tears, but a smile. By signing their name on the Watchtower of the Cosmic Map, they acknowledge that no destination in life is more or less meaningful than the other. All that matters is what you do on the way there.

I chose Space because distances, destinations and connections are a big part of being a Hitchhiker. Where you come from, where you are, where you're going and all that. I chose Fate because it would allow these Mages to replicate the miraculous but not impossible feats that the characters in the book repeatedly pull off in the book. I chose Prime because Absurdism is defined as the conflict between our desire to find inherent meaning in the universe and our inability to find any. Since Prime governs Truth, it makes sense that these Mages would have difficulty using this Arcanum.

What do you think?

Going to be storytelling a werewolf apocalypse game soon with a few friends. A few of them are familiar but most aren't (including me). Are there any good examples of good starting adventures (podcasts, pre-writtens, etc.)? Also, is there anything mechanically that I should avoid with W20?

>What do you think?

I'm too depressed to think.

Wasn't Marvin depressed precisely because he thought too much?

Yes.

His brain is the size of a planet.

Meh, not a fan of custom paths.
You read the rest of them though? Or just the first one?
I made a Moros Time Legacy based on the Campaign for Real Time.

You should now also read/watch Dirk Gently, perfect inspiration for a ludicrously unskilled investigator who gets by on buckets of Fate.

I read the whole series. I should have clarified that, sorry.

Even if you are not a fan of custom Paths, could you please give me any tips for replicating the feel and themes of the books? I would especially like suggestions for how to describe the Path's Realm and its Supernal Entities.

Could you tell me more about your Legacy based on the Campaign For Real Time?

Looks fine, basically Acanthus but instead of losing all ties, you instead merely lose control, still knowing your desired location.
Sadly though, I don't think Arthur would ever have Awakened.
Every single book is him searching for home, and getting dragged into stuff he frequently doesn't understand, want to understand, and would be much happier getting away from.

In terms of relevance to the main book though? It really lacks any primary coherence in sympathic ties. Everything it would normally want mostly fits more with Acanthus. Ultimately it's embracing complete absurdity and chaos while still knowing where you want to go by your connection to it. But Arthur HAS no real connections until he finally arrives, which is kinda counter to Space.

My Legacy was basically about enforcing stability. Locking down time and matter into stable states, allowing their natural progression.

>stereotypical mage spremacist bait comment

What bait? Mages *are* superior.

CofD newfag here, how does determining your damage work? Is it (dice pool) + (weapon) - defense + armor, and anything after is damage?

Say Uratha Dave hit Riot Cop John and got 5 successes + 2 from claws vs John's defense 3 + armor 2, does that mean Dave influcts 2 lethal damage to John?

Defense should be subtracting from the core pool, not the final damage. Armor does subtract directly from the damage. So 5 success + 2 claws - 2 armor = 5 damage.

Depends on the armor, some armor reduces dice other armor reduces damage. defense last time I checked haven't played cofd in a while removes dice. body armor would reduce damage and possibly dice as well depending on the armor. some of it is 2/2 meaning both dice and damage get removed.

If I'm completely new and ignorant of Requiem, what would you recommend I read first?

I'd like to try and find a group online to play with, but I have the terrible tendency of reading through everything and spoiling myself, so I figured I should ask here first what to read.

I know they're not present in Requiem, but I enjoyed playing Tzmisce and Lasombra best in Masquerade.

As a mage with 3 merit dots to spend at creation, what should I make sure I have?

Blood and smoke. which is the 2e core. Personally I would keep the masquerade setting and replace it with blood and smoke mechanics though keep generation the same. Though you have to come up with elder powers if those ever come to play, obtenebration and vissistude assasmite powers and set powers. Or just say fuck it and leave it to devotions.

Does defense subtract from your damage? The wtf 2e book doesn't seem clear on this.

The core book is best. If you like playing the Tzimisce for the 'freaky transcendence' angle you'll want to look heavily at the Ordo Dracul. There won't be any equivalent powers, so you'd have to convert them if you REALLY want it, though Protean is more general shapeshifting in 2e now and there's a lot of body-mod stuff in the new Ordo powers.

I'd have to look at the WtF book (which I don't have) but the core 2e CofD book states that Defense subtracts from the attack pool, not the damage rating. CofD core pg. 91 gives a combat summary chart.

Armor is explained on pg. 94. Basically armor is rated Normal/Ballistic. The ballistic rating reduces that amount of lethal from firearms to bashing; the normal rating is the reduction.
* You have armor that's rated 2/2. This means it reduces the first 2 points of a gunshot to bashing, and removes 2 damage overall. So a knife attack that does 4 damage, is reduced by 2 to 2. A gunshot that does 5 damage does, at the end, 2 lethal and 1 bashing (5 lethal reduced to 4 lethal 1 bashing, then 4 lethal reduced by 2).

I would assume, unless WtF2e explicitly changes something (if you want, gimme a page reference and I'll poke about), that it doesn't change the 'core' functions from GMC. It might be badly copy/pasted or reworded though in the WtF2e.

Damage rating being the weapon or dicepool + weapon?

Damage rating being the Success + Weapon; do not worry about the raw dice pool, just successes after rolling (pool - defense) when calculating

Combat flow:
IMMA STAB YOU
I have Strength 3 + Weaponry 4 = 7 pool.
You have a 2 Defense and 1/0 reinforced clothing (a leather jacket).
I roll 5 dice.
I get 3 successes.
My knife is +2L. I have 5 damage.
I subtract 1 from damage due your armor.
My final damage is 4.

Or example 2.
IMMA SHOOT YOU.
I have Dexterity 5 and Firearms 5.
I am out of melee range so your Defense does not apply.
I roll 10 dice.
I get 7 successes.
I am using a +4 gun.
Raw damage is 11 lethal.
You are wearing 3/3 armor.
Ballistic reduces that to 8 lethal 3 bashing.
I remove 3 damage due to your armor.
Final damage is 5 lethal 3 bashing.

I'll look into Blood and Smoke, thanks!

And I don't know anyone at all, locally at least, who would do what you suggested, so I just assume I'll be playing around in the Requiem setting. Which is going to be very strange for me, what with the whole metaplot and all the background fluff of Dark Ages/Masquerade gone.

>If you like playing the Tzimisce for the 'freaky transcendence' angle

Nah, I just picked them when I played first because they're from the Balkans. It just spiraled out of there to learning more about them. I never played an edgy Tzimisce, but rather - uhh, how to put this - one who was contemplating what he was becoming and exploring vampirism as another kind of existence, rather than just human turned undead. While Vicissitude was fun, I'm not going to miss it too terribly.

And thanks, I'll look into the Ordo Dracul stuff.

That's still the ordo dracul, so you'll be in good shape. They are literally founded by Dracula, who believes he was cursed into vamprism by God.

The thing is, Requiem has background. It doesn't have a genealogy or 'this book advances into that book...' type setup, but there are events, history, etc. Not on the scale of Masquerade, but it's there, primarily told in the Clan and Covenant books, as well as prop books like Rites of the Dragon (an Ordo Dracul bible, like the Book of Nod from Masquerade) or the Testament of Longinus (similarly for the Lancea et Sanctum). Requiem for Rome might also scratch your 'dark ages' itch as it talks about the formation of modernized vampiric society.

Hang on, the impression I got was that the clanbooks for Requiem were now outdated, and that I should just look at the 2e stuff.

There is no 'grand unified canon' in CofD/NWoD. It's 'integrate what you want, it's a toolkit system'. Even if that weren't the case, there is next to nothing as far as expanded 'setting' released for 2e Requiem (unless you count the horribad Secrets of the Covenants, which is not what most of us were expecting).

Admittedly, a few things in 2e invalidate/change some core assumptions from 1e, but not enough that using 1e history/setting in a 2e game is out of the question.

If you're interested in getting into story/setting/lore, the only place you're going to get scads of that is in 1e. There is nothing on that scale that's released yet for 2e, and Secrets of the Covenants will give you some info, but it's done from an in-world setup (like a Carthian 'zine or an interview with a signature character who was also a signature character in 1e).

Wait I thought ballistic armor still soaked the bashing damage but you'd still take 1 even if it could fully absorb it.

So if you suffered 5L against 3/3 mundane armor you would take 2L and 1B.

Unless it specifies that somewhere else, it doesn't specify that in the armor section. I've screencapped it and attached.

It says against firearms, you apply ballistic aror first. Ballistic is stated to reduce lethal firearms attacks to bashing.
Then you apply the 'regular' armor rating, which removes from the worst damage type of a 1 for 1.

It further notes that if you would reduce a gunshot to no damage, you'd still take 1 bashing regardless due to impact/shock.

Cool. So if a gunshot did 6L against 3/3 armor.

3L gets turned to 3B by the ballistic armor. The remaining 3L would get reduced to 0 by the general armor but you'd still suffer 1B from the shock of the blow.

So final total would be 4B.

That's how it seems to process the order of operations. So unless there's an example elsewhere that contradicts it, that's how I'd run it.

I think the difference between bashing/lethal reduction is from 1e, where the ratings reduced the pool based on whether it was firearms or otherwise (one rating was your penalty against firearms attack pools, one was your penalty against other attack pools).

>vampires are jealous of mages.
>tremere turned himself into a vampire because the consensus was at its least merciful to mages at rhe time.

Motherfuckers jealous of vampires bro.

Tremere wanted easy immortality. He was trying to get the immortality part without the rest of the curse. God said 'haha fuck you mage dude'.

Of course he also ate Saulot. Which fucked him up even worse.

Mages, they never learn