World of darkness

## Summary

**World of Darkness** is a franchise of tabletop roleplaying games, created in 1991 and initially owned by White Wolf Publishing, before being passed on to CCP Games in 2006 and finally to Paradox Interactive in 2016. As the name suggests, its primary focus lies in the dark, gritty interpretation of the real world that serves as the backdrop for all of its installments, framed as an urban-gothic setting where supernatural entities of all kinds roam unseen behind the curtains, usually tied together by some overarching metaplot grounded in extensive amounts of background lore, largely inspired by other horror RPGs of the same ilk, such as *Call of Cthulhu*.

Though critically well-received since its inception, in large parts due to the quality of its writing and artwork, as well the sense of familiarity provided by its modern-day setting, dwindling sales eventually forced White Wolf to bring it to an end in 2004, in the form of the **Time of Judgement** storyline that provided a conclusion to the wider narrative of each of its game lines. Following this, the franchise received a reboot known as **Chronicles of Darkness** (Or, more informally, **New World of Darkness**), which featured a revamped setting and far more emphasis on the player's freedom to create their own stories, discarding the idea of a metaplot altogether and presenting any story-ideas as merely optional set pieces.

Despite having several different game lines focused on various aspects of the setting, the first and most popular, often known as "The Big Three," are:

**Vampire, the Masquerade:** The first installment of the franchise, as well as its most popular, focused primarily on the undead creatures of the night (Descendants of the first murderer, Caine) the interpersonal conflicts brought about by a continued loss of humanity and the heinous acts that they must commit solely to sustain themselves, and their constant efforts to remain hidden within the shadows of society, which forms the basis of the eponymous "Masquerade," a centuries-long campaign established by the upper echelons of vampiric society in an attempt to ensure the continued existence of their Kindred by hiding their existence even from other supernatural beings.

**Werewolf, the Apocalypse:** The first of the installments to build upon the world of magic and spirits underlying the one inhabited by humans, *Werewolf* focuses on the struggles and conflicts of the Garou, a race of people birthed either by wolves or humans, who find themselves locked in an eternal war that extends far beyond their own capacity to comprehend. Gaia, the spirit of the Earth itself and mother of all Garou, lies dying and corrupted, as an hyperdimensional force of decay known as the Wyrm reaches down from the stars and threatens the stability of both the material and spiritual worlds, manifesting both as chaotic spirits that exist as extensions of its will and subtle alterations in the day-to-day dynamics of humanity itself, and it is this war for Gaia's soul, above all, that defines the Garou as a people.

**Mage, the Ascension:** A gnostic setting where the spirit world becomes the primary focus, protagonized mainly by individuals who "awakened" from the physical, concrete reality which the common people often take for granted, and started to experience a much deeper and more complex world, where thought, perception and belief all shape the Tapestry of existence, and the very Consensus of the masses directs the flow of the universe, currently locked into a science-based status quo by the efforts of the Technocracy, the most dominant faction among the Awakened, whose actions have stamped out all belief in magic from the minds of humans, forcing traditional Magicians to seclude themselves and severely limit the extent of their powers.

## Power of the Verse

World of darkness is one of the strongest verses of all time.

Even low tier humans can scale from **Tier 0** to **High 0,** with most god's reaching **ultimate tier**.

## Characters

**Supreme Being:**

Jehovah

**God heads:**

Buddha

Bondye

Weaver

Jade emporer

Gaia

Wyld

Wrym

Lucifer

Brahma

Those who dwell beyond the stars

The Ancient one

Lucifer

The Absolute

Our Lady