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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + A World of Darkness FAQ + + by Paul Strack (pfstrack@math.unc.edu) + + May 9, 1997 + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Disclaimer: Storyteller, World of Darkness, Vampire: the Masquerade, Werewolf: the Apocalypse, Mage: the Ascension, Wraith: the Oblivion, Changeling: the Dreaming and a multitude of other terms herein are all trademarks and copyrights of White Wolf. Their inclusion in this FAQ is not a challenge to the trademarks or copyrights concerned.

Table of contents Entries that have been added or changed since the last version are marked with a *. The order and number of some questions may have changed since the last version as well. 1 General Questions 1.0) How do you use this FAQ? 1.1) What are these newsgroup about, anyway? 1.2) What is a roleplaying game? 1.3) What are the Storyteller games? 1.4) What should I get if I want to play these games? 1.5) What if I can't find the games in stores? 1.6) Where can I find "official" whitewolf FAQs? *1.7) How do I get Writers Guidelines from White Wolf? 1.8) What is this about the Golden Rule? 2 Internet Resources Questions 2.0) What are the World of Darkness newsgroups? 2.1) Are copies of the games available on the internet somewhere? 2.2) Is there anything at all about the games on the net? 2.3) Where can I find Highlander the Gathering, Angel/Demon the Rapture and other World of Darkness style games published on the net? 2.4) Who is the official White Wolf netrep? 2.5) Are there any mailing lists for the World of Darkness? 2.6) Are there any World of Darkness MUSHes? 2.7) Is there information on the net about upcoming White Wolf releases? In Character (IC) Posting Questions 3.0) What is this IC and OOC stuff? 3.1) How do I join in on the IC posting? 3.2) What are the rules for IC? 3.3) I hate IC posts! Why don't we get rid of them? 3.4) Where can I find information about the IC games on the web?

4 Vampire Questions 4.0) What is Vampire: the Masquerade about? 4.1) What are the names of the Antediluvians for each clan? 4.2) How do Caitiff, the clanless vampires, come to be? 4.3) How high can a vampire pump up his Attributes by burning blood? 5 Werewolf Questions 5.0) What is Werewolf: the Apocalypse about? 5.1) What happens to werewolves that are born under an eclipse? 5.2) If a werewolf gets pregnant, how do you determine the breed and tribe of the child? 5.3) Where can I find information about the White Howler's, Croatan and Bunyip?

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6 Mage Questions 6.0) What is Mage: the Ascension about? 6.1) What exactly is Paradox? 6.2) If Paradox is supposed to punish obvious magick, why are Paradox flaws so flagrantly abnormal? 6.3) How do coincidences work? 6.4) Why don't (fill in the blank) get Paradox? 6.5) What are the Mage backgrounds of Chantry, Resources and Sanctum? 7 Wraith Questions 7.0) What is Wraith: the Oblivion about? 7.1) How do wraiths become insubstantial? 8 Changeling Questions 8.0) What is Changeling: the Dreaming about? 8.1) What do a changeling's fae and mortal seemings mean? 8.2) How do changelings age? 8.3) What do the Levels on Bunk cards mean? 8.4) How do I use cantrips without the cantrip cards? 9 Crossover Questions 9.0) How can I use the games together? 9.1) Can I have a vampire/mage, wraith/changeling, etc? 9.2) What sort of crossover creatures can I have? 9.3) Where else can I find information about crossovers? 10 Rules Questions 10.0) What is the Storyteller rules system? 10.1) I have heard that GURPS rules exist for the World of Darkness. Is this true? 10.2) How does splitting dice pools work? 10.3) Can mortals soak damage? 11 Live Action Role Playing (LARPs) 11.0) What is Live Action Role Playing? 11.1) Do LARP versions of the Storyteller games exist? 11.2) Where else can I find discussion of LARPs? 12 Miscellaneous Questions 12.0) What is this section for? 12.1) What are Mummy, Hunters Hunted, the Year of the Hunter and Gypsy About? 12.2) What is Streetfighter? 12.3) What is White Wolf going to be doing next? 12.4) Where can I get this FAQ?

Section 1: General Questions ---------------------------1.0) How do you use this FAQ? and give to be more

If you are completely new to the Storyteller games, read Section 1 2, and the first question from each of Sections 4 to 8. This will you a good overview of what is going on. The other questions tend of a technical nature, and difficult to understand without knowing about the games.

1.1)

What are these newsgroup about, anyway?

Well, alt.games.whitewolf and rec.games.frp.storyteller are newsgroups for discussing various aspects of the World of Darkness roleplaying games, put out by White Wolf Game Studios. All these games use the Storyteller

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rules system and are put out by White Wolf publishing company, and thus the names of the groups.

1.2)

What is a roleplaying game?

A roleplaying game is make-believe for older people. You create an imaginary character, and together with your friends and their characters, you describe your characters' adventures in some imaginary world. Usually one person is designated a referee of sorts, called the "Storyteller", who makes rules judgements, and controls the rest of the imaginary world outside of the main characters. There are a multitude of different roleplaying games, going back all the way to Dungeons and Dragons. Discussion of other role-playing games can be found elsewhere in the rec.games.frp hierarchy. The best place to start is probably rec.games.frp.misc, which is sort of a catch-all group for discussing roleplaying games in general.

1.3)

What are the Storyteller games?

There are five: Vampire: the Masquerade Werewolf: the Apocalypse Mage: the Ascension Wraith: the Oblivion Changeling: the Dreaming Each game stands alone, but all are set in the same world, a twisted version of our own called the World of Darkness. As for what each game is about, see the first question of Sections 4 through 8.

1.4)

What should I get if I want to play these games?

The Storyteller games are available at hobby and book stores around the world. Each game has a basic rulebook, costing roughly $25 to $28, which is almost all you need to play. You will also need some ten-sided dice, which should be available at the same store. Though the main rule book is all you need, the Players Guide for each game is also pretty useful, and probably should be the second book you get. After that, there are various supplements available for each game, depending on your interest. In addition, each game expands on the others, since they are all set in the same world.

1.5) What if I can't find the games in stores? You can order directly from White Wolf by calling 1-800-454-WOLF, that is, 1-800-454-9653.

1.6)

Where can I find "official" whitewolf FAQs?

Whitewolf has recently added several official FAQs for their role-playing games to their web pages. They answer many game specific questions not included in this FAQ. The address for these FAQs are:

http://www.white-wolf.com/Games/Pages/FAQlist.html

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*1.7) How do I get Writers Guidelines from White Wolf? Send a SASE to: Writers Guidelines White Wolf 735 Park North Blvd. Suite 128 Clarkston, GA 30021 This has to be done over snail-mail, since you need a disclosure form for each submission. Rather than write up a full supplement, it is better to write up a proposal and send that first. If White Wolf is interested, you can get down to writing the whole thing later. An online version of the writer's guidelines can be found at:

http://www.white-wolf.com/Games/Games.html

IMPORTANT NOTE: White Wolf (and most companies for that matter) will not accept material that has been published on the net. The net is sort of a legal morass when it comes to copyright laws, and companies don't want to have to deal with it. If you want to submit something to White Wolf, do not put it on the net first.

1.8)

What is this about the Golden Rule?

The Golden Rule of all Storyteller games is that you can make them your own. Anything you do or do not like about them you are free to change. That applies to everything in this FAQ as well. A lot of the answers in the FAQ are just my opinion, and if you disagree then do things differently in your games. Better yet, write me, and I'll try to include your opinions in the next edition of the FAQ.

Section 2: Internet Resource Questions ------------------------------------2.0) What are the World of Darkness newsgroups? The two primary World of Darkness newsgroups are alt.games.whitewolf and rec.games.frp.storyteller. Because of the nature of newsgroup subscription, not all servers carry both groups. Many servers carry one or the other, though. Both groups have more or less the same sort of content: discussions on World of Darkness games. Many people (including myself) read both groups. Another smaller group is alt.games.vampire.the.masquerade. This newsgroup focuses solely on Vampire the Masquerade (see section 4). It has somewhat less traffic than the two main groups because of its narrower focus. There are also several very narrow groups, including alt.vampire.tremere and alt.virtual-adept, and maybe others that I don't know about. As far as I can tell, these newsgroup have very little traffic.

2.1) Are copies of the games available on the internet somewhere? No. Putting a copy of one of the games on the net without permission

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would be a copyright violation, and I don't know of anyone who has done it.

2.2) Is there anything at all about the games on the net? Plenty. White Wolf has a pretty enlightened policy about people putting amateur supplements on the internet. The storyteller games have some of the best support there is on the net. To begin with, you can check out White Wolf's own web page at

http://www.white-wolf.com

There are hundreds of other storyteller web pages and ftp sites out there, and I couldn't even begin to list them all. A good starting point for any White Wolf web search would be Ben Buckner's Web of Darkness, at

http://enuxsa.eas.asu.edu/~buckner/wod.html

He has links to over a hundred other world of darkness web pages, and if you can't find it through him, than I couldn't tell you where it is, either. Another good site to look for links is B. J. Zanzibar's World of Darkness pages at:

http://ezinfo.ucs.indiana.edu/~adashiel/wod/wod.html

The site is maintained by Abe Dashiel. Abe's site is pretty big as well and has plenty of good stuff, so you might want to take a minute look around before you go elsewhere.

2.3) Where can I find Highlander the Gathering, Angel/Demon the Rapture and other World of Darkness style games published on the net? There have been several amateur World of Darkness games published on the net of the Monster: the Adjective type. Two of the most popular are Highlander the Gathering and Angel/Demon: the Rapture, and there are many more. The games are not official additions to the World of Darkness, and White Wolf publishing claims no responsibility for them. However, based on the Golden Rule of "Do what you want, it's your game", you can use or ignore these net-supplements as you see fit. Many of the net-supplements (including Highlander and Angel/Demon) can be found on B. J. Zanzibar's World of Darkness page at:

http://ezinfo.ucs.indiana.edu/~adashiel/wod/other/potpourri.html

2.4)

Who is the official White Wolf netrep?

At the moment, there is no official netrep for White Wolf. Still, many White Wolf employees read these newsgroup, and will post occasionally. If you post a question, you will sometimes get an "official" answer. These people are doing this in their spare time, so be kind. Of course, even if

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you don't get an official answer, you will likely get half a dozen responses from opinionated gamers such as myself.

2.5)

Are there any mailing lists for the World of Darkness?

There were several World of Darkness mailing lists at oracle.wizards.com. The lists included: vampire-l werewolf-l mage-l wraith-l changeling-l To subscribe to any of these mailing lists, send a message to: listserv@oracle.wizards.com The body of the message should be: subscribe [name of list] [your name] In the above, replace [name of list] with vampire-l, werewolf-l, etc, depending on which list you want to subscribe to. Do not include the brackets: []. Replace [your name] with your name. For example, if I wanted to subscribe to the vampire mailing list, I'd send: subscribe vampire-l Paul Strack If you get tired of the list, you can unsubscribe by mailing unsubscribe [name of list] As I said above, at the moment, these lists seem to be defunct. There is another list, wod-l, located at elisium.com. a message to majordomo@elisium.com with subscribe wod-l in the body of the message. be subscribed to this list, so be patient. It may take a while to To subscribe, send

2.6)

Are there any World of Darkness MUSHes?

There are a good number out there. Many of them advertise periodically on the newsgroups. There is a list of World of Darkness MUSHes at:

http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~hyacinth/MUSH

Another place to find out more about MUDs and MUSHes of all types is the newsgroup rec.games.mud.announce

2.7) Is there information on the net about upcoming White Wolf releases? Periodically someone from White Wolf will post something on these

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newsgroups about the books and supplements they are planning on releasing in the near future. This same information is available on their web page as well. Most of this information is recorded in the Coming Attractions FAQ maintained by Rick Jones. He keeps much better track of these things than I ever could. His FAQ can be found at:

http://www-ece.rice.edu/~rickj/FAQ/CAF-FAQ.html

The information in the Coming Attractions FAQ falls under the category of rumor. While a fair amount of it is accurate, don't blame either Rick or White Wolf if things don't pan out the way the Coming Attractions FAQ says it would.

Section 3: In Character (IC) Posts Questions -------------------------------------------3.0) What is this IC and OOC stuff?

Many people like to post to this newsgroup speaking as if they were a character from one of the Storyteller games. This is referred to as posting "in character" (IC). Other people responded to such posts in character as well, and over time a shared, imaginary universe has developed. To distinguish the "in character" posts from general rules and setting discussions, people put an "IC:" at the beginning of their subject line. Some IC posters preface the subject lines of their non-IC post with "OOC:" for "Out of Character". This helps other IC posters realize that what is being said doesn't directly apply to the shared IC universe.

3.1)

How do I join in on the IC posting?

If you want to post on this group in character, feel free to do so, but try to remember to put the "IC:" at the beginning of your subject line. If you don't, the other IC posters will very likely just ignore you. There aren't many rules for what you can and cannot do while posting in character, but if you claim to be an ancient Methuselah with god-like powers, don't be surprised if other people fail to take you very seriously. In addition, remember that the other characters belong to other people, and you can't just walk up and say "I kill you." Conversation is fine, but things that directly effect another person's IC character should be done cautiously. When in doubt, you can discuss the issue "out of game" over email before you actually post the events to the newsgroup.

3.2)

What are the rules for IC?

Here are a decent set of guidelines, written by Geoffrey Brent: 1) (The Golden Rule) Keep it enjoyable for the other people playing. Not necessarily for their _characters_, but the ultimate goal is for people to have fun. 2) Don't take liberties with other people's characters. If you're going to take any sort of "aggressive" action, email them to discuss it first. ("Aggressive" action can range from physical violence, to turning their legs to wood, to mind-controlling them, to making a pass at the wrong time...) It has its place in the storylines, but it can be an incredible

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headache. Sometimes it may be best not to do it at all. Even if it's fine with the other character, working out what happens should be done off the newsgroup; don't discuss the rules at length in an in-character thread. (As a note, physical violence isn't encouraged in Rick's Cafe at all, even as a plot device between consenting characters.) 3) Be very careful when using powerful characters. They have their place in IC threads too, but be warned: If you play a powerful character badly, or break the other rules with such a character, people will be a lot less forgiving. Never make the mistake of thinking a character's better just because it's more powerful, and _never_ use a high-powered character to make things annoying for someone else's low-powered character. Misuse of powerful characters is the best way to invite... 4) The Magic Tremere Ignore Spell. Invented (I think) on alt.games.vampire.the.masquerade, this is the one supernatural ability common to all characters on IC threads. If you really don't want to interact with another character, don't. There are a whole host of reasons why you might not want to, and not necessarily because the other person's playing badly. 5) Be nice to the Samedi, if you know what's good for you ;-)

3.3)

Where can I find information about the IC games on the web?

There are two IC related web-sites giving more detailed background information on the shared world. One site describes the Wolves Glen Pub setting, and can be found at

http://www.pepin.demon.co.uk/wolves.html

The other describes the Rick's Cafe Americain setting, and can be found at

http://cam031205.student.utwente.nl/~brouw/rick's/rframes.htm

3.4)

I hate IC posts!

Why don't we get rid of them?

Believe it or not, IC posting was specifically included in the original charter of rec.games.frp.storyteller. A lot of people really enjoy posting in character, and eliminating it from the group would upset more people than it would please. One of the major reasons why IC posts are so widely accepted is that every single IC post has the "IC:" tag at the beginning of its header. This makes it very easy to configure a killfile to automatically delete all IC posts if you don't want to read them. Almost every newsreader has some sort of killfile function. If you don't know how to use yours, check your software documentation, or talk to your local network administrator.

Section 4: Vampire Questions ---------------------------4.0) What is Vampire: the Masquerade about?

The game is set in a world like our own, in which immortal undead creatures live in secret societies, maintaining a "Masquerade" to hide

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themselves from mankind. There are several vampiric clans, which are sort of extended families, or vampiric "races". The Kindred (as vampires call themselves) live in a rigidly hierarchical society, with elder vampires of more powerful blood ruling over younger and weaker vampires. Players take on the role of a vampire, seeking to survive and advance themselves within their secret world.

4.1)

What are the names of the Antediluvians for each clan?

This seems to be the most common question about the vampire game. The information given in the various supplements about Antediluvians is scanty and speculative, so all of the following might be incorrect. References are given in brackets []. The notation (m) is added for suspected males, (f) for females. 1st Generation Caine (m) [Vampire: the Masquerade, 2nd Ed, p. 13] 2nd Generation [Book of Nod, p. 49] Enosh/Enoch (m) Zillah (f) Irad (m) 3rd Generation, the Antediluvians, by clan Brujah: Troile (m?) [Clanbook: Brujah] Gangrel: Ennoia (f) [Clanbook: Gangrel, p. 11] Malkavian: Malkav (m?) [Clanbook: Malkavian] Nosferatu: Absimiliard (m) [A World of Darkness 1st Ed, p. 57] Toreador: Arikel (f) [Clanbook: Toreador, p. 12] Tremere: Tremere (m) [Clanbook: Tremere, p. 15] Ventrue: Veddartha (m?) [A World of Darkness 1st Ed, p. 32] Assamites: Haqim (m) [Clanbook: Assamites, p. 13] Giovanni: Augustus Giovanni (m) [Vampire Players Guide p. 124] Ravnos: Ravnos (m) [World of Darkness: Gypsies] Setites: Set/Sutekh (m) [Vampire Players Guide, p.122] Lasombra: Lasombra (m) [Children of the Inquisition, p. 39] Tzimisce: Tzimisce (m) [Children of the Inquisition, p. 44] Diabolized Antediluvians Salubri: Saulot (m), diab. by Tremere [Vampire Players Guide, p. 128] Cappadocians: Cappadocius, diab. by Giovanni [The Last Supper, p. 7] True Brujah: Brujah, diab. by Troile [Clanbook: Brujah] It generally believed that Lasombra has been diabolized by an unknown Anarch, and it is possible Veddartha has been diabolized as well. It is generally believed that Tzimisce was also diabolized, but according to The Children of the Inquisition (p. 44), he secretly escaped. Other Names given for Antediluvians Lucian and Mekhet [Vampire the Masquerade, p. 52] Loz (m), Ninmug, Nergal (f), and Aralu [Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand, p. 95] Osiris [Mummy]

4.2)

How do Caitiff, the clanless vampires, come to be?

There are two primary opinions on how Caitiff come to be. The first is that Caitiff have thin blood, not strong enough to carry the powers or weakness of a vampire's clan. This means that all Caitiff should be of a high generation. The second assumes that most clan weaknesses and powers are learned traits. Caitiff are created when a vampire is not properly initiated into a clan, and never learns the clan's ways. Under this interpretation, Caitiff can be of any generation. This works fine

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for clans with more "social" weaknesses (Brujah, Toreador, Tremere) but doesn't make as much sense for clans with more "physical" weaknesses (Malkavian, Gangrel and especially Nosferatu). Very likely, both methods work. Another method for deliberately creating Caitiff is to have multiple sires for the new vampire. That is, when a the new vampire is embraced, rather than feeding her the blood of a single vampire one feeds her the blood of several vampires of different clans, mixed together. This happened a great deal in the early days of Sabbat, until their laws changed to compensate for it.

4.3)

How high can a vampire pump up his Attributes by burning blood?

There are several different answers to the question (including more than one "official" answer). Pick the one you like the most: a) Vampires are limited to their generational maximum, that is 5 for vampires down to the 8th generation, 6 for the 7th generation, 7 for the 6th generation, etc. This seems to be the most popular "unofficial" answer. b) The oldest official answer is the vampires are limited to their generational maximum, + Potence for Strength, + Fortitude for Stamina and + Celerity for Dexterity. Thus, a 6th generational vampire with a Fortitude of 3 could pump up their Stamina to 7 + 3 = 10. c) A more recent official answer is given in the vampire FAQ on the whitewolf web page. According to that FAQ, vampires are limited to double their original attribute when pumping up their Attributes. A vampire with a Strength of 3 could increase it to a maximum of 6, regardless of their generation.

Section 5: Werewolf Questions ----------------------------5.0) What is Werewolf: the Apocalypse about?

Werewolves are a dying race, locked in an eternal battle against a powerful, malevolent being known as the Wyrm. Werewolves are creatures of a dual nature, half-man, half-wolf. Unlike werewolf legends, the Garou (as they call themselves) are born rather than made, into one of various werewolf Tribes. These Tribes have ancient disputes with each other, and often fight among themselves as well as against the Wyrm. The players take on the roles of werewolves, struggling against both the Wyrm and others of their kind.

5.1)

What happens to werewolves that are born under an eclipse?

There is no general consensus on this. Some answers include: they will have an ordinary auspice, they will have no auspice, they will switch between various auspices with the changing moon, they will be mentally unstable, or they will be a new beacon of hope for the Garou race. Two things to consider, though: a Solar Eclipse is brief (a few minutes), and will only occur when the moon is new. A Lunar Eclipse is longer (a couple of hours or so), and will only occur when the moon is full. All in all, this will be a rare event. There is one character for the Rage card game who was born during a lunar eclipse: John Hidden Moon. He is an Ahroun, and his "special power" is that he is able to use his Ahroun gifts during a lunar eclipse (and time when Auspice gifts are not normally available in the Rage card game).

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5.2) If a werewolf gets pregnant, how you do you determine the breed and tribe of the child? The official White Wolf answer to the breed question is that the breed of the child is determined by the breed of the mother. Other possible answers are that the breed is determined by the non-Garou parent, or the form the mother is in when she either conceives or gives birth. As for determining tribe, this is only really a question when the child has two werewolf parents, that is, the child is a metis. In that case, the child will take on the tribe of whatever parent chooses to adopt and raise it. Given how metis are scorned and despised, this can be a sticky question.

5.3) Where can I find information about the White Howlers, Croatan and Bunyip? The first thing to bear in mind about officially extinct. None of them are though, it's perfectly OK to put them applicable if your game is set in the disappeared. these three tribes is that they around anymore. By the Golden Rule, in your games. This is especially past, before these tribes

Not much information is available on them, however. A little bit is said about the White Howlers in the Book of the Wyrm (mostly to explain how they became the Black Spiral Dancers). A fair amount of information on the Bunyip is given in Rage Across Australia. Finally, some information on the Croatan was given in an article in issue #56 of the Inphobia magazine. Given how little information on these three tribes there is, you are probably best off just making it up yourself.

Section 6: Mage Questions ------------------------6.0) What is Mage: the Ascension about?

Mages are powerful humans that see a deeper truth underlying reality. They are "awake", aware of how to alter reality at will through Magick. Mages have a long history of meddling in the affairs of mankind, trying to shape reality to their liking. The modern world is under the control of the Technocracy, a group of mages that strengthens the power of science and attacks other forms of magick. The players take on the role of mages from the Traditions, who practice older styles of magick. The Tradition mages fight to weaken the grip of the Technocracy, and against other powerful and mysterious beings that threaten the world.

6.1)

What exactly is Paradox?

This is probably the most common topic of debate about mages. In fact, even within the setting of the game, mages argue about the nature of paradox. There are several common theories, any or all of which could be correct. a) Paradox is the manifest will of the human collective unconscious, trying to return reality to its normal state.

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b) Paradox is a creation of the Technocracy, to protect their dominant paradigm from the manipulation of magick. c) Paradox is a sort of magickal backlash, that happens when reality is pushed too hard, and thereby snaps. d) Paradox is the manifestation of a mage's own self-doubt, his lack of faith in his own power. In any case, Paradox is the force that punishes mages for using magick that is too obvious and vulgar. That is just about the only thing that can be said for certain about Paradox.

6.2) If Paradox is supposed to punish obvious magick, why are Paradox flaws so flagrantly abnormal? It depends on which theory of Paradox you subscribe to. The most basic explanation is that Paradox flaws are some sort of magickal hiccup in reality, and tend to make things even more strange. As to why Paradox doesn't make more Paradox, that's a more difficult question. It just doesn't, that's all.

6.3)

How do coincidences work?

There are two schools of thought on coincidental magick: a) The Soft School: The mage only needs magick to create the effect itself. Reality itself takes care of the coincidence. For example, suppose a mage used Entropy to force a bullet to miss him, and defined the coincidence to be a whiskey flask in his pocket that deflected the bullet. Reality bends under his magick, and a flask "coincidentally" will be in his pocket, whether or not he put one there earlier. b) The Hard School: In order to manifest a coincidence, all the necessary components for the coincidence must already exist, or be created by magick. That is, if a mage has a whiskey flask in his pocket that deflects a bullet, then he had better (1) actually have a flask or (2) use Matter and Prime to create it. Something between the two schools is probably best for a game, letting mages fudge things a bit that might not really be there, but preventing them from going to extremes. Killing your target by "coincidentally" having a plane crash on them may be going a little too far.

6.4)

Why don't (fill in the blank) get Paradox?

Another common subject for debate: why don't Vampires, Werewolves, Wraiths, Changelings, etc, get Paradox for using their special powers. There are again several different schools of thought: a) Mankind subconsciously believes in all these different supernatural races, so that their magic-seeming powers are thereby "allowed". b) These races are allied with powerful spiritual beings, that protect them from Paradox. c) These races hide themselves from mankind, making their powers more "coincidental". The above are the sort of answers that mages come up with themselves. My favorite answer comes from rephrasing the question: Why is it that

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mages get Paradox, and nobody else does? answer presents itself:

Put this way, one simple

d) True Magick is so powerful that it (and it alone) invokes the extreme backlash of Paradox. To use an analogy, most supernatural powers are very specific and controled like opening a bottle with a cork screw. True magick is like opening it with a sledge hammer. Paradox happens when your hammer slips.

6.5) What are the Mage backgrounds of Chantry, Familiar, Resources and Sanctum? When Second Edition Mage was published, these four backgrounds were accidentally included in the background chart on p. 139 in the character creation chapter. The rules for these backgrounds are actually given in the Book of Shadows, the players guide for mage. Briefly, they are: Chantry: How powerful a chantry the mage is a part of.

Familiar: A special kind of ally spirit that gives information, "eats" Paradox and needs Quintessence. Resources: The amount of money the mage has (this background is just like the resources background in the other WoD games). Sanctum: A magickal "workshop" customized to the mage. in a mage's sanctum is coincidental. All magick cast

Section 7: Wraith Questions --------------------------7.0) What is Wraith: the Oblivion about?

Wraith are ghosts, the spirits of humans that linger on after death. They exist in a spirit world called the Shadowlands, near but not quite touching the living world. Wraiths can see and hear everything that happens in the living world, but are insubstantial, and can touch nothing. Wraiths live in terror of the power of Oblivion, which seeks to suck their souls away to destruction. Wraiths in the Western world exist under the iron fist of the Hierarchy, an ancient and tyrannical government built on soul-slavery and devoted to staving off Oblivion. Players take on the roles of recently dead wraiths, struggling to survive and find meaning in their bleak afterlife.

7.1)

How do wraiths become insubstantial?

According to the rules, wraiths become noncorporeal whenever they are hit with something that could damage a normal human. The wraith merely loses a point of Corpus, and object passes through them. Objects that are too light to hurt a normal person (like rain or paper airplanes) simply pass through the wraith. However, wraiths are always solid with respect to other ghostly objects. The only way to escape the swipe of a spectres claws is to run away. Another possible interpretation is that wraiths are in fact insubstantial all of the time (at least with respect to the living world). They take a slight amount of damage when large physical objects pass through them, however. The end result of this interpretation is the same as the original rules, and avoids the question entirely.

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Section 8: Changeling Questions ------------------------------8.0) What is Changeling: the Dreaming about?

In the late middle ages, the world became increasing hostile to magical creatures, including the various Faerie races. Most Faerie chose to leave this world but a few stayed, or were left behind. To survive in a world that no longer wanted them, they took on human form and mingled with mankind. They became partly human, calling themselves changelings. They lived a hand-to-mouth existence for centuries. Then, in 1969, the Sidhe, rulers of Faerie, came back. Since then, things have gotten more active and a lot stranger. The players take on the roles of changelings, either a Commoner descended from those who stayed behind, or one of the Sidhe lords. The changelings explore and play in a world of secret wonder that only they can see.

8.1)

What do a changeling's fae and mortal seemings mean?

All changelings are dual natured. They have two sides: a fae seeming and a mortal seeming. Both sides coexist at the same place and time. Most people can only see the changeling's mortal seeming, which looks like an ordinary human. Changelings and other enchanted beings see the fae seeming instead, which looks like changeling's faerie race. Enchanted creatures can also see the mortal seeming, if they concentrate on it for a moment. All of changeling's special abilities apply only to her fae seeming, and can only be used when there are no mundanes around to see her. For example, a Sidhe's increased appearance is only visible to those with faerie sight. A changeling can attempt to use her special powers around ordinary humans, but they are subject to failure due to the force of Banality. Use the same rules as for cantrips to determine when this happens (a Glamour vs Banality roll works well in a pinch).

8.2)

How do Changelings age?

Changelings consist of two joined parts, their human seeming and their Faerie Kith. Their human seeming ages like any ordinary person, while their Faerie Kith is immortal. Eventually, their human body dies, but many Changelings believe their Kith reincarnates, coming back to a new human body and a new life.

8.3)

What do the Levels on Bunk cards mean?

There are two sets of dots on Bunk cards: one set before the description and another set after. The first set of dots is the Level of the Bunk, and the second set of dots is the number of successes you get if the Bunk is completed properly. The Level of the Bunk determines which bunks you can have in your Bunk deck. You are allowed to take one Bunk of each level for each dot in the Arts you have. That is, if you have Chicanery 3, you can take three Chicanery Bunks, one of Level 1, one of Level 2 and one of Level 3. After Bunks are chosen, the Level no longer has any effect. Some people use looser rules for choosing Bunks. For example, you might allow someone with Chicanery 3 to have 3 Bunks, each of any level up to, but not exceeding 3. Whatever works for you.

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8.4)

How do I use cantrips without the cantrip cards?

The one thing people seem to like the least about Changeling is the cantrip cards. An alternate system for cantrips without cards is given on pp. 193-4 of the Changeling rules. In brief, it works as follows: a) Spend a point of Glamour whenever you work a cantrip.

b) Make an Attribute + Ability roll (the Attribute determined by the Art, the Ability determined by the Realm) with a difficulty of 6 to determine the number of successes you get. c) Get one extra success if your target is a changeling, chimera or enchanted creature. d) If the cantrip has a mortal witness, make another Attribute + Ability roll to overcome their Banality, as usual. These rules are expanded further to include bunks in the Changelings Player Guide on pp. 155-6. According to White Wolf, the 2nd edition Changeling rules will not use cards at all.

Section 9: Crossover Questions ------------------------------9.0) How can I use the games together?

Despite the fact that the various games are nominally in the same world, they contain many small contradictions between them. Each game has an elaborate cosmology which is not completely compatible with the other games. Many people feel that by combining the games, you lose a lot of the coherence and power of the individual settings. Others feel that crossover games add variety and excitement. Going by the Golden Rule, do what you like. If you combine the different games, be prepared to make numerous small rulings to handle the problems that arise.

9.1)

Can I have a vampire/mage, wraith/changeling, etc?

In general, the various supernatural races are not compatible. A mage must be human, and cannot be a vampire, werewolf, wraith or changeling. A supernatural creature that dies might become a wraith, but even if they do, they would lose all their special powers. Changelings are a special race, completely separate from (for example) the race of werewolves. The one exception is that vampire-werewolves are possible. Such creatures are called Abominations, and are detailed in Under a Blood Red Moon. They are very rare, as most werewolves that are embraced simply die. The werewolf must botch a gnosis roll to suffer the ignominious fate of becoming a vampire. They are definitely not recommended as player characters.

9.2)

What sort of crossover creatures can I have?

Most of the various supernatural races have lesser "companion" groups: ghouls, kinfolk, acolytes and kinain. These secondary supernaturals can crossover, for the most part. Thus, you can have a ghouled mage, or a werewolf with some faerie blood. Such combinations are rare, but possible, and certainly viable as player characters. Most of the various

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Players Guides have Merits and Flaws to cover these sorts of situations.

9.3)

Where else can I find information about crossovers?

You can check out the World of Darkness Crossover FAQ at

http://machno.hbi-stuttgart.de/Arcanum/xovrfaq.htm

written by Torsten Beck. That FAQ is much more detailed than the anything I could hope to write here.

Section 10: Rules Questions --------------------------10.0) What is the Storyteller rule system?

The Storyteller rules are a general system for resolving actions that is used by all the different games in the World of Darkness. Most of these rules, including the rules for combat, are the same for each game. It is possible to ask questions about just the basic Storyteller rules apart from the individual games.

10.1) I have heard that GURPS rules exist for the World of Darkness. Is this true? Steve Jackson Games put out supplements for Vampire, Werewolf and Mage using the GURPS rules. Many people are fans of those rules instead of the Storyteller system. As both sets of rules use the same World of Darkness setting, it is possible to have discussions on non-rules related questions that apply equally to the White Wolf and Steve Jackson Games versions. If you have a more rules specific question about the GURPS versions, you might try asking over in rec.games.frp.gurps.

10.2)

How does splitting dice pools work?

Splitting your dice pool allows you to do two (or more) things using only a single action. For example, suppose you wanted to shoot somebody and then dodge out of the way when they return fire. To do both of these things in the same turn, you would need to split your dice pool. Your dice pool is the smallest amount of dice you would have from each of your individual actions. If you got 7 dice to shoot and 6 dice for dodging, your dice pool before splitting is only 6 dice. Split your dice however you want between the different things you want to do. You could devote 2 dice to shooting and 4 to dodging, or split it 3 and 3 or whatever. You could even shoot once with 2 dice and dodge twice with 2 dice for each dodge, acting a total of three times. Many supernatural creatures have powers that allow them to take more than one action per turn: Rage, Celerity, Time magick, etc. Each of these extra actions can be taken using a full dice pool; splitting the pool is not required. In fact, I personally recommend that you forbid creatures with multiple actions from splitting their dice pools to get still more actions. It isn't really against the rules, but otherwise you get a lot of silly, degenerate situations like werewolves attacking 30 times in a single turn of combat.

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10.3)

Can mortals soak damage?

In the original Vampire rules (first edition), only vampires were allowed to soak damage. In all the latter edition rules (2nd ed. Vampire, Mage, Werewolf, etc.), it says that any target may use Stamina to soak damage. Thus it is safe to assume that mortals are allowed to soak damage with Stamina. One sticky issue is whether or not humans can soak Aggravated Wounds. According to the vampire rules, Aggravated Wounds can only be soaked with Fortitude, and mortals never have Fortitude. However, in all the other sets of rules (from Werewolf on), targets may soak Aggravated damage with Stamina, so the safest bet is to say that mortals can soak Aggravated damage with Stamina as well.

Section 11: Live Action Role Playing (LARPs) -------------------------------------------11.0) What is Live Action Role Playing?

Live Action Role Playing (LARP) is a cross between regular roleplaying games and improvisational theater. Rather than sitting around a table and talking about what your characters does, you walk around and act it out. You take on the role of your character the same way an actor does. LARPs can be rather large affairs, involving hundred of people.

11.1)

Do LARP versions of the Storyteller games exist?

White Wolf has published Live Action versions of both Vampire, Werewolf, and Wraith using the Minds Eye Theater rules system, and a version for Changeling is in the works. The Live Action games are called Masquerade, Apocalypse and Oblivion, respectively. Live Action Vampire is very popular, and many people run games in different place across the world. Due to the difficult of handling dynamic magick in a Live Action setting, there is no official Live Action version for Mage (and may never be). There are several different home-brewed versions, though, and if you ask around maybe somebody can help you find one.

11.2)

Where else can I find discussion of LARPs?

The newsgroup rec.games.frp.live-action has discussions on LARPs in general.

Section 12: Miscellaneous Questions ----------------------------------12.0) What is this section for?

This is a catch all section I've included to cover questions that don't fall into the above categories.

12.1) What are Mummy, Hunters Hunted, the Year of the Hunter and Gypsy about? Each of these supplements are secondary "games" set within the World of

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Darkness. Each supplement focuses on a small group within the larger World of Darkness, generally less powerful than the creatures in the main games (with the exception of Mummy). Unlike the main games, the supplements do not have all the rules needed for play, so you need at least one of the main rule books to use these supplements. a) Hunter's Hunted: The original game for playing a Vampire Hunter. It is now out of print, but see Year of the Hunter below. b) Mummy: Play one of the very Mummies left in the world. Mummies are immortal, locked into a cycle of life, death and rebirth. They have power equal to (or greater than!) Vampires. Many wage an ancient war against Set and the evil Bane Mummies. c) Gypsy: A supplement for playing one of the Rom, or Gypsies. Rom have many unusual talents and abilities. The

d) Year of the Hunter: In 1995, White Wolf republished the material in the Hunter's Hunted by creating a series of "Hunter" supplements for all five of the main games. They are: The Inquisition - Religious hunters of Kindred. Project Twilight - Government organizations studying Garou, Vampires and other supernatural creatures. Halls of the Arcanum - A scholarly occult society that knows many secrets. The Arcanum seeks to learn all they can about supernatural creatures. The Quick and the Dead - Religious and Occult groups that interact with Wraiths. The Autumn People - Hunters of Changelings. It includes human servants of Banality, as well as the Dauntains: Changelings that have turned and serve Banality rather than Glamour.

12.2)

What is Streetfighter?

Streetfighter is a roleplaying game published by White Wolf based on the popular video game. Although Streetfighter uses the Storyteller rules system, it is not a part of the World of Darkness. Since this newsgroup focuses on discussions of the World of Darkness games, Streetfighter doesn't come up all that much. The game is out of print in any case.

12.3)

What is White Wolf going to be doing next?

White Wolf is in the process of writing a new series of science fiction games. The first of these games is titled "Aeon", and should be out sometime later this year. White Wolf also intends to continue publishing supplements for the existing World of Darkness games. In fact, they plan on publishing "historical" versions of the games, with the same subject but set in the past. The first of the historical games, Vampire: The Dark Ages, is already out. The next one, Werewolf: Wild West should be out in 1997.

12.4)

Where can I get this FAQ?

I will post this FAQ at the beginning of each month to alt.games.whitewolf and rec.games.frp.storyteller. I'll also have a copy on my web page at:

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http://www.math.unc.edu/Grads/pfstrack/wwfaq.html

Special Thanks: Stacey Lawless for editing the early drafts and being all around wonderful Abe Dashiel and Ben Buckner for letting me reference their web sites Dierd're for writing the original FAQ's, and then sending them to me Rick Jones for the Coming Attractions FAQ Erik Robbins for given me a reference for Augustus Giovanni Geoffrey Brent for telling me how long lunar eclipses are Eddie Maise for giving me pointers to rec.games.frp.live-action John Thompson for suggesting I mention the "minor" races Torsten Beck for giving me some www links and general commentary Erik for giving me MUSH references Chris Davies for giving a write-up of the secondary WoD games Allan T. Grohe, Jr for giving me a reference to the old FAQ Justine Rogers for pointing me to the IC related web pages Frank Torkel for giving references to the non-official WoD games Jim Burdo for giving me up to date information about the mailing lists Ben Buckner and Rory McLean for telling me what year it is Geoffrey Brent for his IC posting rules Juliann for his MUSH www page Rick Jones and Sven Skoog for pointing out that Oblivion has been published Sven Skoog for telling me about John Hidden-Moon and Aeon Torsten Beck for the crossover FAQ and random corrections Rick Jones for helping me track down a tiny spelling error in the mailing list address White Wolf and all the people who have worked there for writing the games in the first place all other people who have given me helpful input on this FAQ, but have otherwise escaped my feeble memory

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