Announcement - Mark Rein-Hagen Joins Vampire 5e Dev Team

This was announced yesterday on the White Wolf Facebook page.

Vampire 1e (and the GURPS Conversion) are the only editions I own.

Lots of strong personalities on the dev team. Should be interesting times.

DriveThruRPG Launches “Storytellers Vault”, a Creators Content Program for Vampire: The Masquerade

It isn't often that I pass along actual press releases, but I do know a significant number of "old school gamers" that have a special place in their gaming hear for the "Old" World of Darkness.

White Wolf Entertainment and DriveThruRPG Launch “Storytellers Vault”, a Creators Content Program for Vampire: The Masquerade

Stockholm, Sweden – August 11, 2017 White Wolf Entertainment, creator of the World of Darkness and Vampire: The Masquerade are partnering with DriveThruRPG to allow independent content creators to publish material set in the World of Darkness using the Storytellers Vault.

For over a quarter century, fans of the World of Darkness have aspired to bring their own unique World of Darkness creations to the masses, and now they can as part of the Storytellers Vault, White Wolf’s new creator content program.  Beginning with Vampire: The Masquerade, aspiring writers, artists, and game designers can publish their non-canonical table top RPG supplements and fiction stories worldwide in the language of their choosing, and making half of the revenue as their royalty. To assist content creators making the best possible products, Storytellers Vault offers a considerable variety of graphical layout tools including pre-made design templates, and art-packs to choose from.

“World of Darkness fans have always shared their stories with the world, and now is the time we help them to do that in an even greater scale” says CEO Tobias Sjögren.  “The magic of the Storytellers Vault is supporting fans that love and want to create content from all eras of our games, we can’t wait to see what they produce and how everyone enjoys it!”

The Storytellers Vault features:

- Self-publish service for table top RPG material set using any of the four previously published editions of Vampire: The Masquerade
 - Content creators themselves set the price for the material they publish and receive 50% of the revenue
 - Access to over 15 templates and art packs produced helps content creators make their work look as professional as the official products from any set era
 - Publishing in any language supporting the vast global World of Darkness community
 - Additional content supporting other game lines and historical settings in the White Wolf catalogue will be progressively unlocked beginning in October 2017

 The Storytellers Vault is now available at www.storytellersvault.com.


About White Wolf
White Wolf is a licensing company focused on creating the best participatory brands in the world. Since its original entry into the roleplaying game market in 1991, White Wolf’s World of Darkness has grown to be one of the most recognized and successful brands in the hobby game space with collective book sales in excess of 10 million copies during this time. White Wolf's World of Darkness brands, which include Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Wraith: The Oblivion, and Orpheus, has been licensed for television series, console and computer video games, interactive media events, and a myriad of merchandise and other entertainment products.
www.white-wolf.com
Contact: press@white-wolf.com

About DriveThruRPG
DriveThruRPG.com is part of a family of premiere online marketplaces including RPGNow, DriveThruRPG, DriveThruCards, DMsGuild, DriveThruComics, DriveThruFiction, and Wargame Vault. Together, we have been selling digital and print-on-demand comic books, roleplaying games, and fiction since 2001. As of 2016, we have launched multiple community content programs as well as our Community Card Creator for fans to create content for some of their favorite roleplaying and card games.
www.onebookshelf.com
Contact: matt@onebookshelf.com

White Wolf Comments on the V5 Pre-Alpha Playtest Release Reaction

My current thoughts on the matter? (prior post here)

It was all about the publicity. Good, bad, didn't matter. So long as V5 was being talked about. Some have said they'll never come near it now and some have embraced it but many more have talked about it.

And yes, I fed the beast. I may be feeding it again today, but I feel a follow up is needed, at least as far as highlighting some of White Wolf's response. You can read the full White Wolf blog post here.

Last week we released it to the world, and we are grateful for all your survey responses, emails, social media comments, and reviews. Now we are working on the alpha playtest for GenCon 2017, but your feedback on the pre-alpha makes it clear that we need to provide some context for the playtest and for V5.

Context. K.

Our oversight, for which we apologize, was not providing this context so that our players could see why and how we made these decisions. We needed to clearly state again that the material was intended for mature audiences, and to label it that way. We should have stated again that our vision for V5 brings Vampire back to its roots as a morality tale about evil, set in the darkest places of our own world. Contemporary, real-world horrors and atrocities are an important part of the setting and by extension – its characters. 

We’ll communicate this and other design-choices better as we go forward. We can and will make the game’s contents transparent for those who need them to be by giving you fair warning. 

I'm assuming you need to be 18 to download the playtest material. Or am I wrong? In any case, the genie is out of the bottle.

V5 Pre-Alpha QA 

We answer some of the most common questions about the V5 Pre-Alpha. Feel free to send us more questions. 

Q: Why is Amelina a pedophile?
A: She’s not. She has an obsession with young (recently embraced) Kindred and a feeding restriction that forces her to feed from children and young teens. 

Q: Why did you use the term “triggered” to describe someone easily offended on ideological grounds?
A: Because that is the common usage of the term in everyday language, no disrespect intended.  

Q: Why are so many characters children (“Club Kids”)?
A: The term Club Kid (at least in Sweden) means a youngish (roughly 18-25) person who spends all their free time at clubs, often under the influence of drugs.  

The first answer seems forced to me, like one of those answers thought up AFTER the question came up, but whatever.

The use of "triggered" is amusing, as I wasn't the only one to come to the conclusion that Amelina was a pedophile (there were victims of child abuse when they were younger that came to the same conclusion) so there was some "triggering" that was not part of the scenario but because of the scenario.

As for the Club Kids definition - never heard it used prior, not my social circle. Interesting that its being defined from a Swedish perspective. I guess White Wolf really is international now.

Ah well. Hopefully this puts a stake in the drama. Wait! Stakes still kill vampires, right?

The Tavern is Closed Today Out of Respect to Stewart Wieck's Passing

I have no wisdom to share. Nothing to say that will lessen the pain for family and friends.

Yes, I am at a loss for words.

We'll be back to regular postings tomorrow.

Stewart Wieck has Passed (White Wolf)

My sympathies to the family, coworkers and friends of Stewart Wieck.

When I know more I will post an update. For now, please keep Stewart and his family in your prayers.

The following was forwarded to me:

Steve Wieck
59 mins ·  

Yesterday my brother Stewart Wieck died. He had just finished a light fencing workout and then fell over. All attempts to resuscitate him failed. It's still unknown what caused it; we'll know more in a few days. Something catastrophic in his heart perhaps.  

Stewart was 49, ate right, exercised, a specimen of good health... it's all just.. stunning that he could possibly, suddenly be gone. 

He was my brother, my best friend, my business partner since we started White Wolf in high school. He was an incredible human being, full of kindness and empathy, fun and artistic passion.  

I was supposed to grow old drinking and gaming with him. Now that will have to wait for heaven or Valhalla or whatever comes next. 

And of course, leave it to Stewart to die with a sword in his hand. 

No need for flowers, no memorial service has been arranged yet, we're just taking things a step at a time. 

Anyone involved with Stewart's publishing projects feel free to reach out to me in a few weeks.

What the Hell is Going On with the New Vampire Game? Pedophilia this Time?

I'll be blunt - I haven't followed World of Darkness since the various first editions. So when this was brought to my attention by David Knighthawk from the GamersonGamers Youtube Channel I thought "no fucking way!"

Wow. Way.

Whatever drama Zak S. brought to White Wolf pales compared to these throwaway pedophilia pieces. You want bad publicity for RPGs? White Wolf has you covered.

Right. So, vampire kids "could be" 100s of years old. Or 5. Doesn't matter. Amelina is pedophile, pure and simple. You're meant to roleplay this character? In a campaign?

There is a line between edgy and sick. It isn't fine or thin. It isn't indistinct. Its pretty fucking solid.

Yes, its only a game. Maybe it should be marketed to pedophiles. I'm sure they are an ignored market.

But wait! Maybe its taken out of context. Nope. Its actually giving you context.

Zak S Goes Full Story Gamer - Main Author of Vampire the Masquerade: We Eat Blood (and other related drama)

Yep, Zak S has gone full on story gamer. Good for him. Its all about the Benjamins anyway ;)

Now, if you read the linked post, there is some vagueboooking about allegations dealing with Zak's behavior online. That alleged behavior was apparently directed at David Hill. I could guess as to where such postings were made but really, does it matter? White Wolf has conducted a full investigation and found nothing wrong. Because investigating your own is always on the up and up.

No research assistants were harmed in the composing of this post...

Just in Time for Halloween - Paradox Buys White Wolf – Vampire The Masquerade finds a New Haunted Home

What happens when an RPG IP goes from one computer game company to another? In this case, it's World of Darkness / White Wolf, and it's going from CPP (best known for Eve Online) to Paradox (best known for Crusader Kings.)

I'm not sure how much this will effect the RPGs themselves (which are currently being published under license by Onyx Path.) It's more immediate effect will be on the computer gaming side of things, at least that's my guess.

Interesting piece from Rock / Paper / Shotgun:

Wester said that Paradox paid cash for the acquisition, and notes that Vampire is particularly exciting as it is “the world’s second best-selling role-playing and is special because half of all players are women.”

I'll give them "half of all players are women" but "the world's second best-selling" RPG? Someone is caught in the 90s.

Anyhow, interesting times in the RPG hobby.

Mage: The Awakening Demo Part 3

If anyone is willing to give you a 3 part demo of their game - grab it!  Heck, that's 3-6 gaming sessions for free - if it doesn't hook you by then, it ain't for your group!  Alright, maybe you need a rule book to go with it, but I'm sure a good GM will find some steal-able ideas for the system of their choice.

Part 1

Part 2

From the Blurb:


A Nest of Vipers
Welcome to the third installment of Gloria Mundi, the demo chronicle for Mage: The Awakening. The players might well have been wondering about the other mages in
the Boston area and what response they might have to the power that Adam has unleashed. How do mages govern themselves? Do the characters have to fear repercussions for their roles in this drama? The characters are about to find the answers to these questions, and they might well wish they had remained ignorant.

QuickStart - Trinity RPG Quickstart

Two quickstarts released in a week... not bad.  I'm not even sure how many I have tagged at the moment.

The latest one is for White Wolf's Trinity RPG.  Clocking in at 28 pages, its a decent size for a quickstart.

From the blurb:

In the 22nd century, humanity has ventured to the stars. Yet amid the wonders of this new age, makind faces many dangers from without and within. Alien races, fractious colonies, contending governments, ruthless corporations and aberrant mutations all vie for supremacy.

This quickstart provides an introductory look at Trinity. It does not contain every aspect of the game, but it should give you a feel for the Trinity universe.