Games - World of Darkness

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	Games - World of Darkness

The World of Darkness is the name given to two distinct fictional universes developed by White Wolf Game Studio. Both World of Darkness settings have been used for several horror fiction-themed role-playing games that make use of the Storyteller System.

The old World of Darkness (oWoD)

The first setting was created in 1991 with the release of Vampire: The Masquerade
; support for it subsequently ended in 2004 with the release of Time of Judgment
. The theme of the old World of Darkness is described as "gothic-punk" by the developers.

The World of Darkness resembles the contemporary world, but darker, more devious, more conspiratorial. Humanity is losing hope as it is preyed upon by supernatural creatures such as vampires, werewolves and wraiths. One facet that sets the World of Darkness apart from most other horror fiction is that these creatures are not solitary predators to be hunted down and destroyed, but they are numerous and intelligent; enough so to form societies, develop various factions and allegiances, and use humans as pawns in their power struggles and murderous games. However, the rising tide of human civilization is too much for many of them to bear, and an atmosphere of hopelessness presides over many of the games as once-mighty supernatural beings, the dark Princes and Lords of a previous era, now face the bleak and unbearable prospect of a future spent straining and shrinking under the ever-and-ever more meticulous systematization and control of a power-obsessed mankind.

Interlocking conspiracies, some mirroring those said to exist in our own world, some unique, can be found throughout the setting. Cabals of powerful mages, coteries of cunning vampires, and other, stranger powers vie within their own cultures and with each other for control of the world. The dichotomy between rich and poor, influential and weak, powerful and powerless, is larger than in our world. Decadence is common and corruption is everywhere. This dark reflection is seen everywhere: gargoyles and gothic construction influence architecture, while the leather look and punk atmosphere crowd the streets. A thread of anti-intellectualism runs through the World of Darkness: science especially is portrayed as a spirit-deadening activity with the goal of reinforcing "consensus reality" into an absolute: a rigid, calcified system where everything happens according to unalterable laws of cause and effect. Technology is portrayed as a dangerous tool at best and a stagnating influence most of the time. In addition, it is often used as an intermediary by powerful malefic forces such as the Wyrm to facilitate access to and extinguish the human spirit.

The Game Systems (Settings)

White Wolf developed the following game sets in the World of Darkness between 1991 and 2003:

These all represent a Rulebook and a varying number of Sourcebook supplementals on anything from specific clans and tribes to gadgets and entire citybooks describing all the supernatural denizens. In parallel to these settings, White Wolf has developed historical settings for their major product lines. They include:

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for World of Darkness ]

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Games - World of Darkness

The old World of Darkness (oWoD)

The Game Systems (Settings)

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