Getting started with Chronicles of Darkness

Today, I go over all the New World of Darkness 2e/Chronicles of Darkness gamelines.

Sponsor of today's episode is Warlock Sanctum's Games:

TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00:00 Introduction
0:00:34 New World of Darkness 2e is Chronicles of Darkness
0:01:24 Chronicles of Darkness/Mortals
0:03:14 Vampire the Requiem
0:04:44 Werewolf the Forsaken
0:07:03 Mage the Awakening
0:08:56 Promethean the Created
0:10:37 Changeling the Lost
0:11:57 Hunter the Vigil
0:13:37 Geist: The Sin-eater
0:15:29 Mummy the Curse
0:17:19 Demon the Descent
0:19:19 Beast the Primordial
0:21:19 Deviant the Renegade
0:22:42 The Contagion Chronicle
0:23:07 Outro
0:23:36 2nd Outro

Note: These are affiliate links, at no extra cost to you I will get compensated from DriveThruRPG if you make a purchase on their site. This is completely free to you and helps the channel.

Chronicles of Darkness book/pdf through DriveThruRPG:

Vampire the Requiem book/pdf through DriveThruRPG:

VtR: Reaper the Whirlwind 2e:

Werewolf the Forsaken book/pdf through DriveThruRPG:

Mage the Awakening book/pdf through DriveThruRPG:

Promethean the Created book/pdf through DriveThruRPG:

Changeling the Lost book/pdf through DriveThruRPG:

CtL: Hearts on Trial 2e:

Hunter the Vigil 2e Store Page:

Geist the Sin-Eater book/pdf through DriveThruRPG:

GtS: One Foot in the Grace 2e:

Mummy the Curse book/pdf through DriveThruRPG:

Demon the Descent book/pdf through DriveThruRPG:

DtD: Quickstart 2e:

Beast the Primordial book/pdf through DriveThruRPG:

BtP: Player's Guide:

#CofD #VtR #WtF #MtAw #PtC #CtL #HtV #GtSe #MtC #DtD #BtP #DtR

[KieranOklahoma]

I really like Demon: The Descent because it's one of the few games where the players are both very powerful *and* they are in constant fear of being killed (or worse) all in the very relatable setting of the present day. I like that tension.

[Earthpeak]

Promethean is legit one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever encountered

[Parker]

So, mechanically I much prefer Chronicles of Darkness, but setting-wise, which I prefer kind of depends. There's a lot to love about Requiem with its five different covenants instead of Masquerade's camarilla/sabbat/anarch trio, but I much prefer the setting of Apocalypse over Forsaken because the former feels far more proactive than the latter. Forsaken feels like it's primarily about defending one's territory from either rogue spirits or other werewolf packs, while Apocalypse is about actively going out to try and prevent the end of the world through a mix of politics and horrific violence.

Edit: What I would love to see would be a conversion guide between the two settings, similar to the old one White Wolf made for the two Vampire settings.

[patrickburns]

This video was well done. And help full. Thank you

[lincr.]

Something interesting (at least for me) is that I played the old World of Darkness for years but it only took me a few months to completely fall in love with the New World of Darkness (at the time it was VtR, in 2007 I think) and after that I basically dropped the World of Darkness because it wasn't interesting to me anymore honestly for many factors: clunky system, way too many supernatural creatures in the world (plus too many bizarre superpowers), it was too connected to a huge metaplot, etc. The New World of Darkness was such a relief to me as a player, it made much more sense - and still does so I just love it!

I can't see myself playing the OWoD anymore tbh, except for 2 games: Wraith the Oblivion and Changeling the Dreaming, both of them having very unique atmosphere that doesn't exist in the CofD unfortunately. I'm very much aware of Changeling the Lost and Geist the Sin-Eaters, they're both amazing games, but they're so different from their old counterparts that like all of them the same way haha

[BryonAutry]

I just wanted to say THANK YOU for creating this video! This is the kind of video that I was hoping someone would make at some point (a single video giving an overview of all lines within the Chronicles Of Darkness so that I can show them to potential new players to get them excited to play in this world and find out what line resonates with them most). I really like all of your older, more detailed looks at each line, but this all-in-one rundown is definitely alot easier to get someone to watch then a whole playlist. I am looking forward to future content!

[sciencey]

Love the video, you did really great on it! Tho I love Beast, I understand why many people might not like it. Other then that, I can't wait for the full 2e Hunter release!

[simmonslucas]

I would say that Hellboy II: The Golden Army is a good entry for changeling type media. It is really Pan's labyrinth 2, IMO. :)

[Magus_on_Main]

I'll also suggest that Beast shouldn't be a game where you "teach a lesson". I think the Beast should be a story of compulsion, and the player's attempts to control this, for good and ill

[kaiserhundkek]

I would like more stuff involving the chronicles of darkness, sounds fun.

[zanchito]

Such a nice roundup! Thank you from modern day Spain (not a mummy, I swear...). I'm currently running a MtAw chronicle, but I'd like to introduce my players (most of them don't have a huge background on WoD / CroD) to all the splats with short one shots. The quick start rules and modules section you added is very helpful, it's a pity there's not one for every line.

[estebanrodriguez]

It's worth to say that Vampire, Werewolf and Mage also allow a more "simple" version that is more human, the ghoul, the wolf-blooded and the proximi (you could say that a sleepwalker is just your regular mortal from Chronicles with an extra merit).
So you can play Chronicles and slowly introduce one of the big splats, without things likes Clans/Covenants or Paths/Orders, just the general idea of what the base supernatural entity is.

[tylerh]

An episode of "Love, Death & Robots" (I think called Dog Soldiers) is a great look at what happens when two werewolves from opposing sides of a conflict encounter each other. Some of the most brutal combat ever.

[paulchaisson]

Adjustment Bureau is also a good example of Demon: the Decent. Kinda.

[lkriticos]

I tend to find the stuff around 'is this for new players' a little weird. Because it really really depends on the player and what they find easy vs what they struggle with. It also depends on how much time you as the GM have to help them pre-game and what interests the player.

As a player I've generally gravitated towards options that most online stuff would say you shouldn't start as because it's too complicated. And often I've either found it much simpler than advertised or that my own interest/excitement for the character concept has easily overcome any additional complexity.

As a players are super varied and there are no hard rules for what they'll struggle with. One of my players struggles with character creation no matter the game. We've had to talk him through it every single time and spend a lot of pre-game time helping him. But once he starts playing it's all fine. I've got another player who loves the crunchy stuff and given the option will always go for the more complicated stuff. It's a core part of what he likes in games. So I think where I tend to land is: are the players excited about the game and are you? Because if the answer is yes then it's usually worth giving it a go no matter what anyone says about first games or complexity.

[johncmousley]

hunter/changeling/deviant are my top three, love hunter to an unhealthy degree

As far as good media goes for Hunter I'd also recommend:
-True Detective season 1
-Early seasons of the X-files
-Grimm (also good for Changeling)
-the games Hunt: Showdown, Control, and Alan Wake

[OldManGamgee]

Hi! Thanks so much for the excellent overview.
Question: To be clear then, in terms of gameplay mecanics, ¿is there any diference between New World of Darkness (White Wolf 2004) and Chronicles of Darkness (Onyx Path 2018)?
I already have the 2004 (new) World of Darkness core rulebook and new Mage the Awakening 2nd Edition.

[simmonslucas]

I swear the publishers of WOD could put on a master class in how to confuse and alienate a fan base. I was trying to get my D&D group into WOD/CrOD but I couldn't unravel what is the newest complete ruleset. We never tried.

I personally started TTRPG with Mage the Ascension. Which might not have been the best, because all other RPGs, dnd included, felt constrictive :)

[MonkeyManJams]

I wasn't expecting Hololive's holomyth hunter the vigil game being mentioned, but I suppose with how popular they've been, it would make sense it'd be known by some people who spend time on the internet and care at all about chronicles of darkness. Very informative video overall though, but regardless I still want mage to be my first game to play.

[Caitlin_TheGreat]

I've been a long time fan of the 1E run. So much so, that I've tried to track down copies of the 1E books I didn't get back when they had come out or were still easy to find in game stores -- some can be got on DTRPG, but certainly not all. And it was when searching for a good copy of Promethean that I accidentally bought the 2E version. I had already had a not-so-great PDF of the 1E version, but I really do prefer physical copies for game books, I just find that it works way better for me to run a game if I have something tangible.

Anyway, rather than be excited for a 2nd edition (as I was, at first, when initially hearing about God Machine and Demon the Descent), after looking at the changes to the mechanics and other elements, I simply have no interest in it. The one thing I like in 2E, aside from the books being easily available, is that for Vice and Virtue you can just make up your own. I still like to nudge new players toward the established ones since it's all too easy to make up a bad one and never engage with it because of that, but I still like to encourage long-time players to be more creative since they'll usually have a good idea of what works. Maybe 2E could have also just expanded the selection to some non-biblical examples. But for just two examples, I really dislike how 2E handles XP (why break it down like that?), as well as the concept of conditions which I find bloated and unwieldy.

Another problem I have with the 2E run is that the additional books/creature-lines seem to really miss the mark in terms of theming. Beast and Deviant are rather boring as they don't do the _neat_ thing the original line does of basing things off of established lore and exploring it with more narrative complexity. A "beast" is a little too undefined, as is a "deviant". But Demon also has problems with theming, because as neat as the concept of Demon is... it's also a little too _specific_ for my interest: as fallen programs of a machine god, that seems like it would have been more fitting as one specific type of demon and that demon type's view of reality. Instead of the bases for the whole thing. Maybe that's just me, though. Mummy is sort of it's own thing over there, so I have no qualms with it.


However, the whole concept of a cross-over kind of sucks. I had a dedicated group more than a handful of years ago and we made a solid effort at doing our own crossover -- ours was based in WWII where it made sense to us that in Europe as everything is going on, many supernatural creatures would either find it near impossible to stay hidden or even use the chaos to their benefit for "cutting loose". As a premise goes, it was pretty solid for giving certain kinds of characters a reason to overlook their differences in species and work together. But ultimately it just felt off. Mixing the different creature types like that feels way too "D&D" which isn't a good comparison when you're trying to play a WoD/CofD game. In my opinion, I just think it's a bad idea to do it, with the one potential exception of if you have only 2 players and can focus entirely on the narrative aspects and secrets that slowly break down, focus on themes of trust and betrayal, that sort of thing.