Pretty much the core and sometimes I use one of the Codex books. I use it for the basic system and I only need some of the low level psychic and medium powers for the players. I also allow warding and exorcism spells for the players. I want it to be horror and not urban fantasy so the psychic powers may resemble the kid from the Sixth Sense, but not anything like Charles Xavier. I use the classic version because I want it to be gritty. So I either have to tone down Witchcraft's pc's powers or use Conspiracy X system and completely replace the setting. Delta Green was also an option for using and in that case I had to cram in some rules for psychic powers.

In detail I only allow Mindsight, Mindtime and Mindview for the pc's. Death Speech and Death Vessel till level 3 and I also use it for other spirits than ghosts. The Warding and Spirit Mastery spell and Exorcism miracle for fighting ghosts, spirits, demons etc. Most other magic is for cultists and corrupts the mind. I use the Taint mechanic from the Abomination Codex for it, but you can also use the Seepage/Corruption mechanics from Con X.

I don't play WitchCraft but I do use it as inspiration for developing my own ideas, along with Everlasting, the universes of Darkness, and whatever else attracts my interest.

Right now I'm inspired by Nightlife, Feed, Dresden Files, Warhammer, Lost Girl and American Vampire, to devise an expanded treatment of vampires. I guess you could call it something of a mix of White Wolf's vampires, lost, and beasts. What defines these vampires in that they feed directly on humans in some way, but it could be anything from blood, flesh, sweet breads, breath, youth, memory, emotions, stamina, specific fears, etc. This isn't simply recharging their magic or being jerks about it, they need to do this to stay sane and avoid their hunger taking over. (And before you point it out, yes this is an addiction metaphor. I've already explained at length that using monsters as metaphors makes them more memorable.)

A la Discworld and Captain Kronos, all vampire myths and stories are simultaneously true depending on which vampires you're talking about. These vampires might not fit the stereotypes set by Bram Stoker and Anne Rice, but they're vampires nonetheless. But while thematically this division makes sense, from a backstory perspective it feels like I'm just classifying a bunch of unrelated creatures as vampires based on their predation of humans. And yes, that is exactly what I'm doing. If I wanted to address that, then probably the simplest way I've thought of so far is to burrow a conceit from the fanfiction expanded universe based on the works of Philip Jose Farmer as explained by the MONSTAAH fanfics. All of these traditional and non-traditional vampires can trace their origins back to a parallel vampire-dominated universe based on Starside from Necroscope, the Spiral Yssgaroth from Doctor Who, wherever the vampire intelligences in Rifts came from, etc.

Quote from: Forge;1095970I'm relatively fond of the 1e of the New World of Darkness, to a limited degree. Requiem was pretty interesting (Ventrue and Nosferatu are my jam), and the nWoD version of Werewolf (Forsaken) kicked the old version of Werewolf's (Apocalypse) in the ass; it was much better. Just chiming in to say I'm a fan to a limited degree, provided you're including 1e with the thread's premise/question. Oh, and Changeling: the Lost was cool. I'm ambivalent on the other game lines (except Beast, which was a dumpster fire), though there were some interesting supplements I thought were neat.

Tried to play some stuff after the God Machine update; couldn't quite get into things after those changes (added too many mechanics in places there did not need to be mechanics and modified too much of existing stuff I liked), but I liked the 1e stuff pre-God Machine.

Agreed. Between the God-Machine, the over-emphasis of the Strix in Requiem 2e, and the utter abominations that we call Demon: The Descent and Beast: The Primordial, I am of the firm belief that New World of Darkness 1E is superior to Chronicles of Darkness 2E in every way.

I have only played a little bit of 1ed nWoD. But I do prefer it over the old games. I only actually played adventures centered around mortals and that is the line I like most from nWoD. Except from the main line I like Hunter:tV most, with a nod also to Vampire:R. Not so keen on the others. And I really dislike the Godmachine cosmology in 2ed nWoD/CoD especially (yes it was sketched out in 1ed and I didn't like it at at all then either). Demon:The Fallen was my favorite of oWoD and would not touch the new version with a ten foot pole.

Other than that I think nWoD did improve a lot of thing both int rules and settings. For example it made Vampire less cringy in my eyes and made me even interested in running  a campaign centered on Belials Brood.

If I had the time and player's (and more money) I might be interested for collecting more of the mortals line.

Yeah the mortal 1st edition books are superior.  Just get yourself second sight, skinchangers, both armory reloaded, and mirrors to get yourself all set.  As for hunters?  I love some of the compacts and conspiracies, but I am going to be real.  Just make up a merit, get yourself witchfinders, and then get slashers if your into Friday the 13th.  Witchfinders is excellent because it offers a toolkit system with guidelines into producing your own powers which serves better than the hunter core book.

My setting mostly consists of hunters/investigators, spirits/ghosts/demons, all kinds of cults and witches/sorcerors/necromancers. Think of it as Urban Shadows with the Mortality, Power (cults/mages) and Wild (spirits) faction there and the Night faction pretty much absent. Although there are some anomalies.

1st edition nWoD had better rules or more streamlined, but I thought the settings were pretty bland. And you needed a lot of books to get what I was aiming for. I liked that 2nd edition put a lot of stuff I use for a horror game in one core book like psychic powers, rules for spirits, rules for cursed items etc. But the rules were too heavy for me and too much bookkeeping. It changed the stuff I liked and it didn't change the things that annoyed me. I believe it was made with a lot of input of the community, but I have no clue what went through their heads creating these rules.

Quote from: jan paparazzi;1097204I believe it was made with a lot of input of the community, but I have no clue what went through their heads creating these rules.

You and everyone else.

Whenever Onyx Path has a good idea, it is marred by poor execution.

Long time bit posting.... I quite like the nWoD (1st edition?). I have a few of the books and I am just getting into changeling the lost. Think I'm sticking with 1e rather than get bogged down with extra crunch.

One thing I noticed is navigating the line of WoD material. It went oWod to nWod, then God machine dropped, everything went bleugh and Anniversary editions came out and 5th editions and and and.... Marketing snafu from someone coming to this from the outside.

Works out I have nWoD 1e and I can play with that quite happily without some meta-narrative. I'm happy.

I've just discovered nWoD 1e Changeling the Lost. Cor!! Like that one, though the flowery language and switching between he/she every other paragraph is tiring.

Really want to play this one. Any advice running it?

Quote from: BarefootGaijin;1098506I've just discovered nWoD 1e Changeling the Lost. Cor!! Like that one, though the flowery language and switching between he/she every other paragraph is tiring.

Really want to play this one. Any advice running it?

While there should be drama in the freehold you got to remember this isn't fucking Vampire: The Constantly Backstabbing Each Other.  To join a freehold and get involved in the courts you gotta make a pledge.  This pledge is supernaturally enforced by the wyrd to prevent betrayals to the freehold and it is a sign that the freehold can be trusted if you are a member.  Do not use that pledge to as a bad deal to beat your players upside the head by rulers of the courts/freehold.  In general if it looks like a bad deal changelings avoid that freehold because they don't want another slave master.  Most STs forget this and make bad pledges designed to fuck over the PCs.  Which they then make shitty npc rulers that abuse the PCs.  In chats that do this the ST is always scratching his/her head when I choose to play a changeling that isn't part of any freehold.

Second advice is to realize there are things beyond the freehold.  Independent changelings who trust no freeholds, a group trying to form their own freehold, and some psychos.  Point is you don't know what to expect, but not every thing is out to get you either.  In all honest with such low wyrd ratings the fair folk would have a hard time finding you which is the biggest advantage of independent changelings.  They can hide better than a freehold filled with changelings with a few high wyrd changelings.  Not to mention they have better mobility than a freehold.  The downside is they have no defense against a true fae if they are spotted, but that is the risk of being independent.  Interesting npcs if you ask me, or a interesting game as well.

Third is take notice of your city population.  If your doing a small city it would most likely only have one freehold.  If it is a large city with millions of people, then you can have dozens of freeholds.  Your freehold might have alliances with other freeholds and at war with others for various reasons.  Most likely resources for goblin fruit with positive effects.  Point is this could create interesting npcs and adventure hooks for you to use.

Finally ignore the theme of the game.  This is what really been holding back any White Wolf and Onyx Path games.  Not to mention produce many shitty STs who think they are doing a world a favor by forcing everyone to be a slave to some game dev who has no idea what is going on at your table.  Fucking ignore the theme and run your game naturally.  You would be surprised how much fun the World of Darkness can be without the shackles holding you down.

Quote from: Snowman0147;1098546Finally ignore the theme of the game.  This is what really been holding back any White Wolf and Onyx Path games.  Not to mention produce many shitty STs who think they are doing a world a favor by forcing everyone to be a slave to some game dev who has no idea what is going on at your table.  Fucking ignore the theme and run your game naturally.  You would be surprised how much fun the World of Darkness can be without the shackles holding you down.

Can you expand on this a bit? I quite like the idea of things like nWod, VtR and CtL because they are not bogged down with metaplot. But how do you see each game's theme as potentially limiting it in play? (my WoD exposure is virtually nil)

Quote from: Snowman0147;1098546Finally ignore the theme of the game.  This is what really been holding back any White Wolf and Onyx Path games.  Not to mention produce many shitty STs who think they are doing a world a favor by forcing everyone to be a slave to some game dev who has no idea what is going on at your table.  Fucking ignore the theme and run your game naturally.  You would be surprised how much fun the World of Darkness can be without the shackles holding you down.

YES! FUCK YES!

This guy gets it better than any other World of Darkness fan I have ever known.

Quote THEMES
Themes are the human dramas that make your chronicle compelling. The overarching themes of Changeling: The Lost are beauty/agony, clarity/madness, and lost/found. In the tension between the opposites, one finds the game. Naturally, these aren't going to be the only things you'll explore -- the Lost have to deal with very mundane issues in addition to being in the liminal space between humanity and Fae. Themes like "lost love," "poverty," and "hunger" could all work in a Changeling chronicle. Each might mean a very different thing to each character. "Loyalty," for example, could mean protecting one's freehold, sheltering one's family even when they no longer claim them as kin, or hiding one's undying fealty to one's undying master in Arcadia.

I seem to have answered my own question.
Link

I haven't played anything like that since the original editions of Vampire and Mage. Of those two, I found Mage to be more interesting and engaging. I had quite of few of the 1st edition Mage splat-books, but I sold them off years ago. I think I probably spent more time reading them than actually playing the game. I thought the Mage "fluff" was better than the game system.

Quote from: BarefootGaijin;1098570Can you expand on this a bit? I quite like the idea of things like nWod, VtR and CtL because they are not bogged down with metaplot. But how do you see each game's theme as potentially limiting it in play? (my WoD exposure is virtually nil)

Oh I had plenty of personal experiences in which people got hostile with me because I didn't want to fit in the themes of the game.  Which if you look at most of the themes in White Wolf books it is usual intended to be a misery tour to make your character's feel like worthless shits.  This is why they have the toxic die hard fan base, the shitty STs that want to see people suffer, and game devs who think they are truly brilliant artist who are far removed from the unwashed masses that play D&D.  When a game express themes all too much it is a red flag of bad things to come.