WATCH of Darkness

An alternate setting/conversion for use with True20

You see me now a veteran of a thousand
psychic wars
I've been living on the edge so long, where
the winds of limbo roar
And I'm young enough to look at, and far
too old to see
All the scars are on the inside
I'm not sure that there's anything left of me
You see me now a veteran of a thousand
psychic wars
My energy is spent at last, and my armor is
destroyed
I have used up all my weapons, and I'm
helpless and bereaved
Wounds are all I'm made of
Did I hear you say that this is victory?
Don't let these shakes go on, it's time we
had a break from it
Send me to the rear
Where the tides of madness swell
And men sliding into hell
Oh please, don't let these shakes go on
Blue Öyster Cult
“Veteran of the Psychic Wars”

The Light Others created the Night Watch, the Dark

The Point of It All
I had originally started writing this all up as “omniscient-
narrator” fiction, but soon realized that I didn't have the
patience to make it readable and entertaining while at the
same time getting across all the information I wanted to.
The only part that I ended up keeping from that very rough
in-my-head draft was the response of the Day Watch head to
a question about the Intrusion.
In any event, I decided on the (hopefully) more informative
version, with the added bonus that I can throw in more snark
if I feel it needs it. Lucky you.
So we're all on the same page, I will be making quite a few
references to the ideas presented in the “Watch” series by
Sergei Lukyanenko, so a passing familiarity with that is
paramount.
Also, there are more than a few of the setting ideas from
Monte Cook's World of Darkness that I plan on keeping,
so you would be best served by having a clue of what that's
all about (a good review can be found here – I'd just skip
down to “The Ideas” heading for a quick rundown).
Others the Day Watch, to ensure that neither side would
violate the Treaty.
The Inquisition, a group composed of both Dark and
Light Others, was created to ensure that neither side
became too powerful.”1
The Watches exist much the way presented in the novels,
with the exception that vampires are generally agents of the
Dark and werewolves agents of the Light. Mages can be
agents of either, depending on their individual philosophical
leanings.
Setting Change of Note: To add a little bit more
flavor to the various organizations the Others have
developed other than the Watches, the Covenants from
Vampire: the Requiem, Paths/Orders from Mage:
the Awakening and Tribes from Werewolf: the
Forsaken will be used for both players and NPCs.
The Vampire Clans/Covenants, Mage Paths/Orders and
Werewolf Auspices/Tribes have existed since time
immemorial, and often an agent of the Watch can find him
or herself torn between the desires of the leaders of the

Setting
“The division of Light and Dark had always existed
between the Others.
Those of the Light believed it was their duty to help the
weak and the helpless.
Those of the Dark shunned all obligations. They did
what they wanted, regardless of morals and
consequences.
“For many millennia, the two sides fought a vicious
battle. Both were willing to use any means necessary to
achieve victory. Eventually they realized that if they
continued their battle, neither side would survive. The
leaders of both sides forged the Grand Treaty – a set of
laws to govern the way the Others used their powers.
Clan/Path/Auspice/etc., and those of the Watch. The
respective Watch should have the unwavering support of all
that are a part of it, but this is not and has not always been the
case.
Thus, in addition to any friction between the Watches
that may develop from the Others, there is also the very real
possibility that the various non-Watch organizations trying to
influence events by their own methods – which are not
sanctioned by the respective Watch (and, if discovered, often
result in extraordinarily harsh punishments for those caught).
1 Night Watch Wikipedia page
During the latter half of the twentieth century various
governmental organizations began to realize something was
amiss. Reports of strange happenings were investigated, and
often there were no satisfactory scientific conclusions to be
reached. What the Others had not counted on was humanity
developing capabilities that could rival their own, albeit in
more focused ways.
Reports of psychic phenomena were investigated by the
various agencies, in an attempt to make the best use of such
powers against any enemies.
The organization in the US that was formed to investigate
and develop individuals with these capabilities was called the
Bureau for the Analysis and Investigation of the
Unexplained – the BAIU.
During the 1970's the BAIU became more secretive about its
investigations and recruitment, and other agencies began to
refer to it as “The Bayou,” incorrectly attributing the
acronym to be the equivalent of a quagmire – investigations
that fell under BAIU jurisdiction became “stuck” there, never
to be heard from outside that department again.
As they were discovered, exceptional individuals – eventually
designated as “Awakened” – were brought into the BAIU
and trained to best make use of their particular capabilities.
Some of these Awakened could perform great feats by their
minds alone, others could construct equipment that seemed
to bend the laws of reality and then there were individuals
that seemed to simply excel in both physical and combat
training . Virtually all of them seemed to be more capable
than the average human, easily adapting to any training that
might be provided to them.
In a fit of pique to the other US intelligence agencies, the
BAIU Director created the position of Covert Agents, which
was shortened to “CAgens” – pronounced “Cajuns.” These
operatives handled cases that would be commonly referred
to now as “X-files.”
Conversion of Note: Instead of using the Awakened
class from MCWoD, Awakened characters are able to
freely multiclass between Warrior, Expert and Adept
classes from True20, with Adepts filling the role of
psychics.
As Mages are technically human, they can also take
levels in Warrior or Expert; however, their Mage
capabilities are solely based on their levels taken in the
Mage class. Thus, a Mage 2 / Expert 3 would only cast
Spells as a Mage 2.
It was during this period of investigations that the existence
of the Others became known to the BAIU. As the collection
of information began in earnest in cataloging the various
types of “Other” beings that existed among humanity, the
Watches' notice was in turn brought to bear.
The Night Watch felt significantly less threatened than the
Day Watch, and initial communication between the Watch
and the BAIU started.
As it became apparent that neither human nor Other
agencies wanted to alert the rest of their respective societies
as to the knowledge that the other existed, there was a
tentative détente between the Night Watch and BAIU.
Agents from one organization would occasionally be
requested by the other to provide capabilities that would not
otherwise be feasible, and this usually was worked out in
information trade.
Then came the Intrusion and Nightmare Wave.
Something extradimensional intruded into the fabric of
reality – something beyond the comprehension of even the
Watches. Creatures formed from pure chaos began to
appear and destroy seemingly at random, striking at Watch
and BAIU alike.
Large portions of the Midwestern US had suddenly become
“infected” with what the BAIU researchers were calling
Unreality – observances that by no means should be possible
under our known Laws of the universe (Undead,
Aberrations, the like).
In response to this, there was a meeting between the heads
of the US based Watches and the BAIU to exchange what
little they had determined about the cataclysmic events.
When asked bluntly by the head of the BAIU if this was an
intrusion of the Dark, the head of the Day Watch
responded: “Had the Dark won, we wouldn't be having this
fucking conversation.”
As it seemed that the targets of the Unreality were more
often than not either potential Others or Awakened, the
Inquisition came to an unprecedented move in requiring the
Watches to work together in helping to rid the world of the
Unreality's effects.
Thus, with the help of the BAIU, the forces of Awakened
and Other wage a war of attrition on what has intruded onto
their world.
They are the...
WATCH of Darkness