Spectrum's Dusty Shelf- WoD20, Star Wars, Exalted 2E

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Spectrum
Posts: 3128
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:08 pm

Re: Spectrum's Dusty Shelf- WoD 20 Anniversary builds

Post by Spectrum »

Hoid wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:46 am Does Vasily have a metis kid, or was their Litany-braking not, um, fruitful?
Another item on the 'bouncing it off of the ST/other players' list. I like the thought of the fear of the marriage bed being the event that caused the First Change. Then again, the bride's family and the rest of the sept doesn't have to believe that! Regardless of the situation, the potential shame is enough to get people upset.
We rise from the ashes so that new legends can be born.
Hoid
Posts: 3556
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 7:52 pm
Location: The Forever Tree

Re: Spectrum's Dusty Shelf- WoD 20 Anniversary builds

Post by Hoid »

Spectrum wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:51 am Thanks Hoid, it's been fun going back over the new versions of the old games. oWoD was my major game system for many many years, whether tabletop, online gaming (MUSHs, MUXs, etc), and finally spent many years playing and running LARP (Camarilla).

Any particular favorites among the old games?

One of my biggest challenges is in coming up with backgrounds in isolation. It is soooo much easier working within a game setting and bouncing ideas off of other players.
Favorites? Oh, that’s easy—-Changeling: the Dreaming and Werewolf: the Apocalypse. Mage: the Ascension was awesome, too, but I love Changeling and Werewolf, more.
Spectrum
Posts: 3128
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:08 pm

Re: Spectrum's Dusty Shelf- WoD 20 Anniversary builds

Post by Spectrum »

I do have a Changeling concept that I'm struggling with. Fun concept but would flare out too quickly because of the Banality rules.
We rise from the ashes so that new legends can be born.
Hoid
Posts: 3556
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 7:52 pm
Location: The Forever Tree

Re: Spectrum's Dusty Shelf

Post by Hoid »

Spectrum wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 1:03 am
Hoid wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:44 am ....a big, friendly Bone Gnawer, who, at a moment’s notice, can enter frenzy (Rage 8? Damn.) and turn into a 9-foot-tall Stone Age killing machine so terrifying most peopke’s brains go into overdrive to blot the whole thing out.
Yeah, probably too high. I ran into a problem of depth vs breadth of character concept. I ran into a problem of trying to figure out where to spend freebies without staying within the (too?) limited concept.

Any suggestions?
Well, he’s an Ahroun, yes, meaning his Rage should be high, but Rage of an 8 seems a bit much for a Rank 1 cub. 6 sounds about right, to me. Now, if he’s Rank 3+, then yes, Rage 8 is perfect.

Keep in mind the frenzy rules talk about a nasty thing called “Thrall of the Wyrm”, in which you go into a batshit insane frenzy...and, when you wake back up, you’ve acquired a body count that may include your allies and family. Rolling too well with Rage is, in and of itself, a problem.
Last edited by Hoid on Mon Feb 26, 2018 3:03 am, edited 2 times in total.
Hoid
Posts: 3556
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 7:52 pm
Location: The Forever Tree

Re: Spectrum's Dusty Shelf- WoD 20 Anniversary builds

Post by Hoid »

Spectrum wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 1:08 am I do have a Changeling concept that I'm struggling with. Fun concept but would flare out too quickly because of the Banality rules.
PM it to me. We’ll see what we can do with it.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Spectrum's Dusty Shelf- WoD 20 Anniversary builds

Post by Jabroniville »

Spectrum wrote: Sun Feb 25, 2018 10:35 pm System: Werewolf 20th

Name: Vasily Petrovich Dashkov
Concept: Privilege Becomes Prison

Image
Interesting! I don't know the backstory of Werewolf enough to make sense of the backstory. How did he break a contract?
User avatar
catsi563
Posts: 4126
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 10:29 pm
Location: Dark Side of the Moon
Contact:

Re: Spectrum's Dusty Shelf- WoD 20 Anniversary builds

Post by catsi563 »

The Silver Fangs are basically royalty form ancient times among the Garou they also because of a lot of inbreeding tend to give birth to the highest amount of Metis --ie disfigured children-- these guys are basically as close to white supremacists as they get some even supported the Nazis during WW2.

Needless to say if this guy was expected to give birth to pureblood pups and ended up giving birht to metis children the silver fang elders wouldnt be out of character to characterize it as a betrayal of what ever covenant with the guys clan or family making him persona non grata as impure blood.

the reality is that its the silver Fangs inbreeding that is the problem but theyre entirely too arrgoant to see it.
Dr. Silverback has wryly observed that this is like trying to teach lolcats about Shakespeare

Showdown at the Litterbox

Catsi stories
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Spectrum's Dusty Shelf- WoD 20 Anniversary builds

Post by Jabroniville »

Ah, I remember the "Metis" thing. A funny name, given how it's a common Canadian term for the descendants of the first children between French settlers and Native Canadians, as well as "Half-Breeds" in general... ie. an actual name for a current group of people, which is being used for DEFORMED CHILDREN in this RPG :).
Spectrum
Posts: 3128
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:08 pm

Re: Spectrum's Dusty Shelf- WoD 20 Anniversary builds

Post by Spectrum »

Yeeeeeah, White Wolf represents an awkward sign of the times. On one hand, they represented a departure from the D&D-centric roleplaying world view. On the other, they were a bunch of young men from the suburbs of Atlanta in a pre-Internet age. I'm not normally one to call for cultural appropriation, but there's some really cringe worthy stuff, especially at the beginning. There are tons of 'really cool' references to other cultures without actually having access to any real information on the cultures that they were mugging for concepts.

On the other hand, they have really swung in the far other directions over the last few years.

A lot like comics now that I come to think about it.
We rise from the ashes so that new legends can be born.
Spectrum
Posts: 3128
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:08 pm

Re: Spectrum's Dusty Shelf- WoD 20 Anniversary builds

Post by Spectrum »

catsi563 wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 8:01 am The Silver Fangs are basically royalty form ancient times among the Garou they also because of a lot of inbreeding tend to give birth to the highest amount of Metis --ie disfigured children-- these guys are basically as close to white supremacists as they get some even supported the Nazis during WW2.

Needless to say if this guy was expected to give birth to pureblood pups and ended up giving birht to metis children the silver fang elders wouldnt be out of character to characterize it as a betrayal of what ever covenant with the guys clan or family making him persona non grata as impure blood.

the reality is that its the silver Fangs inbreeding that is the problem but theyre entirely too arrgoant to see it.
So, keeping in mind that there have been three to five major generations of the original oWoD with some major flavor changes between editions and that has a way of making cannon errr.. fluid?

Being a werewolf is inherited rather than a virus. They can come from human or wolf stock, following the mother. If two garou mate, they end up with screwed up kids with the unfavorable term metis and brings shame to both of the parents. If the child doesn't Change, then they are considered kinfolk; carriers but in general always treated like second class citizens.

Pure Breed calls back to the heroes of old. Some tribes hold it more important than others. It's sorta the calling card of the Silver Fangs. In game, Pure Breed gives bonuses on any social rolls with other garou/kinfolk.

Silver Fang have the whole Russian nobility schtick going. Holding Pure Breed as so important has lead them to some of the same problems that run into real world nobility that kept the blood in the family- odd little traits like too many fingers or being haemophiliacs. In at least one version of the game, all Silver Fangs had to take a derangement. All this has lead to trying to balance a tribe with the blood of heroes with the growing infirmity of
inbreeding. There is another tribe (Shadow Lords) that has the schtick of supporting the Fangs as the guys who actually get things done.

Not too sure about the Silver Fangs supporting the Nazis. That is really more of a Get of Fenris thing. Again, lots of different interpretations over the years.

Vasily has the proper breeding but the family hasn't had any garou Change into it for the last few generations. So a good investment, trading an arranged marriage, the Dashkovs get wealth or power, the other family gets legitimacy. Very Downton Abbey. Vasily Changing really screwed up, turning a sure thing into something very shameful for both family. Ooops.
We rise from the ashes so that new legends can be born.
Hoid
Posts: 3556
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 7:52 pm
Location: The Forever Tree

Re: Spectrum's Dusty Shelf- WoD 20 Anniversary builds

Post by Hoid »

“Garou Shall Not Mate With Garou.” This law of the Litany ranks higher than “Go Kick the Wyrm’s Ass.” Metis are never wanted. Silver Fang ‘inbreeding’ refers to their human and wolf Kinfolk, who carry the werewolf blood without actually being able to shapechange.
Last edited by Hoid on Tue Feb 27, 2018 2:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
Hoid
Posts: 3556
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 7:52 pm
Location: The Forever Tree

Re: Spectrum's Dusty Shelf- WoD 20 Anniversary builds

Post by Hoid »

As for Garou supporting Hitler, that was actually the Get of Fenris, and it nearly literally damned the entire tribe. Calling a Get a Nazi is basically a form of ‘suicide by werewolf’ in the 21st Century.
User avatar
Bladewind
Posts: 3234
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 9:26 pm

Re: Spectrum's Dusty Shelf- WoD 20 Anniversary builds

Post by Bladewind »

I have a good chunk of the WoD stuff, and you really summarize it well:
On the other, they were a bunch of young men from the suburbs of Atlanta in a pre-Internet age. I'm not normally one to call for cultural appropriation, but there's some really cringe worthy stuff, especially at the beginning.
I remember thinking "how cool it all was" until I got a copy of Montreal by Night and I started wondering what these guys were smoking.

Mind you, there is still a lot of really neat ideas in there, references to other cultures and whatnot. I still prefer the Bastet to the Garou. The Gurahl had potential but it was hard to get passed the whole Grizzly Adams thing. Nagah and Mokole had potential too.

Among my favourite characters that I played as or alongside in that system were:

- Harriet Sanders - a renamed Herta Schneider. She was a Tremere that ran afoul of Archons in New Orleans.
- Stalks from Shadows - about the only Garou I liked in that system, and was actually written up for M&M
- Sheldon Carlysle - a club owner who I patterned way too much off of Tony Todd's character in the Crow. He was Ventrue.
- Tanya MacLaren - A Troll with a destiny - and a T-Shirt that said "Trol" on one side and "Huked on fonics wurkt for me" on the other.
- Lohann Silverback - my favourite Troll character, played by a friend of mine. Sheer awesomeness. I had him on his way to becoming an Ogre and he had no freaking clue.

Wraith was too out there for me.
Thorpocalypse wrote: Sun Oct 07, 2018 6:01 pm Building to be comics "accurate" is different than building to run a PC or building something to challenge a group.
Bladewind's 3ed M&M Builds
The Merge Setting document
Hoid
Posts: 3556
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 7:52 pm
Location: The Forever Tree

Re: Spectrum's Dusty Shelf- WoD 20 Anniversary builds

Post by Hoid »

For Changeling, I once played a solimond inanimae changeling, a knight of House Eiluned in service to another PC (a sidhe duke). He was a weaponsmith with chimerical fullplate and a pretty bad ass Treasure sword
User avatar
Woodclaw
Posts: 1462
Joined: Fri Sep 08, 2017 8:05 pm
Location: Como, Italy

Re: Spectrum's Dusty Shelf- WoD 20 Anniversary builds

Post by Woodclaw »

I'm not going down the whole cultural appropriation route, but I think that some of the best White Wolf work was done slightly before the time of Justin Achilli, when the company booked some actual professors of history and ethnology as consultants (Constantinople by Night and Jerusalem by Night for Dark Ages were written by one of them). It was around the time of Vampire and Werewolf 2nd edition, I think.

As far as I'm concerned the highest point and biggest flaw of the system all-together was that the meta-plot had a habit of crumbling upon itself more often than not every time you tried to cross the games over.
"You're right. Sorry. Holy shit," I breathed, "heckhounds.”

WareHouse W (main build thread for M&M)
Post Reply