A world of darkness retroclone?

[VelvetViolet]

I've read Opening the Dark (attached below), which is a retroclone of the "classic" World of Darkness, but I haven't found any retroclones of the "new" World of Darkness system. For that matter, Opening the Dark doesn't seem to be as popular as the D&D retroclones are.

I was wondering if there would be any interest in a retroclone of the "new" world of darkness system? Opening the Dark is interesting, but I don't really like the way the attributes and skills are structured, and I wanted to make them more like the new world of darkness, but I'm not experienced in making retroclones and I was wondering if anyone could provide assistance?

 

[Crothian]

I think the thing that makes WoD popular was the setting more so then then the system. I know as a fan of WoD I'm much more interested in their 20th anniversary resurgence and not sure what a retroclone would add to it.

 

[VelvetViolet]

I think the thing that makes WoD popular was the setting more so then then the system. I know as a fan of WoD I'm much more interested in their 20th anniversary resurgence and not sure what a retroclone would add to it.

The setting never really interested me. It was more fun to read than to actually play. The new setting seemed interesting at first, then it too lost my interest as it began to more closely emulate its predecessor.

I tried to find other games like it, but there aren't any (at least none that are still in print), so making my own is the next best thing.

 

[Tharian]

I thought the nWoD book included much of the ruleset without a lot of the fluff so that the setting could be a bit more separated from the rules. Was that not the case?

 

[VelvetViolet]

I thought the nWoD book included much of the ruleset without a lot of the fluff so that the setting could be a bit more separated from the rules. Was that not the case?

The core rulebook yes, but the sourcebooks still reference the other settings at times (and most people played the game for the monster PCs). Recently a new edition was released that changed the genre to cosmic horror and added rules based on FATE aspects, a change I don't agree with.

So I wanted to release a retroclone out of my desire not to play an outdated, unsupported ruleset. However, I am inexperienced in this regard and wish to receive advice and possible assistance from any interested parties.

 

[Umbran]

but I haven't found any retroclones of the "new" World of Darkness system.

Well, I expect most folks interested in WoD games are more interested in the Anniversary Editions coming out than any third-party clones.

For that matter, Opening the Dark doesn't seem to be as popular as the D&D retroclones are.

No, but then, except for maybe a brief period early in its life, I don't expect WoD was really anywhere near as popular as D&D.

And, given that the author of Opening the Dark pulled it himself (way back in 2008, only months after first offering it - he didn't like how some folks were presenting his game), it hardly represents a "supported" version of the game. If you just want to play, rather than publish, why not just use the original?

 

[VelvetViolet]

Well, I expect most folks interested in WoD games are more interested in the Anniversary Editions coming out than any third-party clones.

World of Darkness holds a monopoly on modern horror roleplaying games. There are little to none other professional roleplaying games dealing with modern horror. I simply do not like the campaign setting or its rules, but there are no other options for me to turn to.

And, given that the author of Opening the Dark pulled it himself (way back in 2008, only months after first offering it - he didn't like how some folks were presenting his game), it hardly represents a "supported" version of the game. If you just want to play, rather than publish, why not just use the original?

Opening the Dark is Open Game Content, so I can freely redistribute it and produce original content based on it. It is supported by people who use it.

The original game has a great deal of baggage that I would like to dispose of. Beyond supporting a very specific campaign setting, it's gone through a few different development teams that had dramatically different goals, which leads to a very disjointed experience when reading the books, even before the GMC is taken into account.

I'd be using so many house rules that it would be simpler to just make a new game.

 

[Phototoxin]

It would need to be Called Wod:the Darkening to appear legit.

 

[Morrus]

World of Darkness holds a monopoly on modern horror roleplaying games. There are little to none other professional roleplaying games dealing with modern horror.

There's a whole slew of properties with Cthulhu in the title (including, but not limited to Call of Cthulhu).

Wikipedia has a link of a couple of dozen non-WoD horror RPGs; I've not played most of them though, so can't comment on them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_role-playing_games_by_genre#Horror

 

[VelvetViolet]

There's a whole slew of properties with Cthulhu in the title (including, but not limited to Call of Cthulhu).

Wikipedia has a link of a couple of dozen non-WoD horror RPGs; I've not played most of them though, so can't comment on them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_role-playing_games_by_genre#Horror

Call of Cthulhu has a high mortality rate and isn't designed to portray monsters as characters. When I say "modern horror," I more specifically mean "dark urban fantasy." I'll try to be more precise in the future.

Aside from two or three, all the games on that Wikipedia list have been out print for a decade or more. I'm already familiar with several of them and was actually planning on using them as inspiration for my own meager attempt at the genre. The Everlasting, in particular, has a rather fascinating persona system and uses a unified non-linear magical power system for its monsters: you don't, for example, need to learn psychometry before you can astral project.