New to WoD (need some advice)

Hello, i recently dived headfirst into the world of darkness after playing thorugh the PC game Bloodlines.  Suffice to say i was curious, few hundred dollars later, im hooked and want to play.

First off i need some players or an online group that plays via chatroom ( not play by post) or players in the 46360 area if any are available
second is advice and some help gettin me on the right path for my chronicle ( im an experienced game runner)

any tips or groups would be helpful, i could storytell or play doesnt matter to me

b_lane_26@yahoo.com is the email

blane26:

Hello, i recently dived headfirst into the world of darkness after playing thorugh the PC game Bloodlines.  Suffice to say i was curious, few hundred dollars later, im hooked and want to play.

First off i need some players or an online group that plays via chatroom ( not play by post) or players in the 46360 area if any are available
second is advice and some help gettin me on the right path for my chronicle ( im an experienced game runner)

any tips or groups would be helpful, i could storytell or play doesnt matter to me

b_lane_26@yahoo.com is the email

on the subject of your chronicle; what do you want to play (as in game line), how long, do you want it to be rawr rawr smash smash or more thematic,

well, i have been known to run several month long campaigns in other games, few nights a week, few hours a session, I like to run 1/2 and 1/2 games, plenty of RP  political intrigue, plot twists ect. and is story driven (last game i ran i had 108 pages of plot wrote)

but, sometimes words dont express what a good kick in the teeth can.  So combat isn't exempt in my games, nor is it the main theme, but thats in other games, this game from what ive read seems to have more elements on non combat

but basically, i just wanted to know what the "norm" was for WoD games

I'm not sure there is any norm for NWod chronicles? As for balance of games combat v's politics or whatever I think all the NWod books lend themselves to splitting it up however you would like e.g. Vampire, Werewolf, Mage etc. all come with built in factions and so on that can (and in some respects are designed) to cause physical and social conflict between the varying groups.

So my advice would be to home in the type of game you want to play first - all humans, Vamps, Wewolves, whatever, resting in the knowledge that these ideas are already built in to the separate game lines. I think this is especially true if, as you say, your games fall into the 50/50 action v's interaction category.

There may be some argument that says Werewolf is more combat heavy and Vampire is more political. I'm not especially convinced of that, but I'll let others with more experience chip on in how the systems lend themselves to different story goals.

So pick a game line then research the book for that line to see if it gives something you would like. I know I found the Mage book pretty terrible (I'm prob in a minority on that one, but there you have it) espc. having played another system that I think it was based on. So you need to make sure that the sytem lives up to your expectations before you splash on the book.

Just my oppinions - take them with salt ;-)

Mr Merlot:

I'm not sure there is any norm for NWod chronicles? As for balance of games combat v's politics or whatever I think all the NWod books lend themselves to splitting it up however you would like e.g. Vampire, Werewolf, Mage etc. all come with built in factions and so on that can (and in some respects are designed) to cause physical and social conflict between the varying groups.

This.

I've heard of (but haven't played in) Werewolf games in which they would apparently go several game sessions without a combat, and I've played in Vampire games that had almost no social aspect at all.  Unlike some other systems, the WoD is places just as much focus mechanically on non-combat interactions and encounters as it does combat.  If you want a combat-heavy game or one in which open combat is rare, then the system will easily support it, either way.

I run games that are very very story driven, of course there will be combat, but mainly political intrigue ect (wich are the types ive ran in other games, seems more appropriate in this one)

mb_webguy:

If you want a combat-heavy game or one in which open combat is rare, then the system will easily support it, either way.

Agree, that is roughly what I was trying to say... you just put it more eloquently! ;-)

As I said earlier that just leaves you with the choice of what game line you and your group want to run?

im still looking to find a group , will likely run vampire

Cool, if Vamp is your choice then you defintely don't have anything to worry about in terms of throwing in story, combat, politics whatever - it will happily support the lot and there is a lot of expansion material published by WW for that line.

As for your original request for some advice... we'll obviously get a look at the book for starters. The book provides clans, covenants and bloodlines that should start to get the old grey matter whiring with ideas.

Also have a look at some of the live play threads over on the Requiem forum, some really good stories in there for inspiration. I would also heavily recommend reading the following thread on that forum:
As a "start-up" storyteller how do I make my game political?. There's some really good advice in there for a vampire game.. gives you an idea of how poeple typically approach setting up the various kindred power structures etc. You don't necessarily have to have a political game, this stuff might just help you build your society of the damned.

The Chicago supplement is also a really good source-book if you are looking for some pre-made stuff to get you off the ground. Comes with a ton of npc's pre-made from the Prince down to the lowest kindred and details of their relations as well as kindred inter-relations with the other supernatural types. Note though it is not purely a Vampire book, it covers Mage and Werewolf as well as general Chicago background and setting.

Hope all this helps to get you off the ground! Good luck, M!

 
we do seem to be having a bit of an influx of people looking for groups or for more players.
could i suggest putting a Looking for group marker on this map
and/or starting up a group on meetup.com
the nearest RPer group to you (that i could find) seem to be quite keen on the hero system and very little else