Games - Gauntlet

Home > Listing Index > Games > Gauntlet (World of Darkness)

	Games - Gauntlet

The Gauntlet is a fictional location in the Roleplaying games Mage: The Ascension and Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and other games set in the World of Darkness universe. It is the boundary between the Umbra and physical reality. This boundary or barrier prevents regular interaction the spiritual Umbra and corporeal reality. Players may occasionally need to pass through this barrier to enter the Umbra.

__TOC__

Strength

Far from being a homogeneous barrier, the Gauntlet varies in its strength from place to place, typically based on the population density and 'spiritual richness' of an area. For example, deep wilderness typically has a much weaker Gauntlet than urban areas. At the same time, a back-alley voodoo parlor might have an unusually weak Gauntlet, despite being in a large city. Places where the Gauntlet is especially weak are known as the Periphery, and are marked by an unusually high occurrence of supernatural activity (miracles, poltergeists, etc).

This strength is represented as a change in the difficulty of the check to pass through. Naturally, a higher difficulty corresponds with a stronger gauntlet. As the Periphey Phenomenion cause an area to have great magical and spiritual significance, often different groups will claim these areas for their own.

Passing through

The way in which characters in the World of Darkness interact with the Gauntlet varies considerably. Werewolf characters do so the most naturally, and call the act "stepping sideways". Werewolf characters need only look into a reflective surface and make a check to "step sideways". Other characters, such as mages and Kuei-jin, must spend experience points to develop specific arcane abilities to be able to enter the Umbra. In virtually all cases, a stronger Gauntlet is harder to cross, though Technocrats (a form of mages), prove an interesting exception - for them, a stronger Gauntlet is easier to cross than a weaker one. It is also the case that beings native to the Umbra usually have a considerably harder time crossing the Gauntlet into reality than beings native to reality have doing the opposite. Someone playing a Wraith, for example, must undergo extended training (represented by gaining and spending experience points) and considerable exertion to have even trivial effects on reality. Naturally, there exist back doors, hidden paths, and other means of travelling into the Umbra without directly crossing the Gauntlet.

Theory

According to older books in the World of Darkness, the gauntlet was nothing more than a barrier. However, some books published by White Wolf (some under the "Black Dog Gaming" label) have suggested that the gauntlet is a plane of existence of its own. These hints include certain items that, when carried across the gauntlet, are damaged in the process by what seems to be claws.

Recent editions of the World of Darkness have more or less confirmed this theory. According to the newer books, a "Maelstrom in the Tempest" has led to a phenomenon called the "Avatar Storm" which now rages across the Gauntlet. This storm poses no threat to most beings, but is very dangerous for mages, who suffer aggravated damage from its winds when crossing the Gauntlet directly.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Gauntlet (World of Darkness) ]

Games - Gauntlet

Strength

Passing through

Theory

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay