Call of Cthulhu vs World of Darkness

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I don't see World of Darkness as a horror game, anymore than Twilight is a horror film. World of Darkness seems to be exploring humanities darker side, (Regardless if you play Vamp, Werewolf, mage, changeling) we are still exploring that side of our psyche since all the players are human if their characters aren't.

The most successful horror fiction, in whatever medium, is all about exploring humanity's darker side. Otherwise, it's just a mismatched action adventure.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

In terms of darkness both CoC and WoD hold candles to Kult. And it depends on how you run. It's easy to forget in WoD that if you are playing a monster you are a monster and the worst part is that you aren't even the biggest baddest monster out there. The vampires have their elders, the Werewolves the spirits they fight (or the Wyrm depending on the edition), the Mages have the Oracles and other creatures, the Changelings the True Fae, and so on. You have to keep them between the rock and hard place between the mortal world and those more powerful than they are and you can't play it fair. If you plot against an elder remember he has seen your tactics done by a group of Ancillae in 1848 before and he has ghouls who can keep up with all that strange technology (not that he doesn't have the intelligence to learn himself).

And you can throw in elements of CoC, Kult, and Unknown Armies to keep your characters on their toes.

And yes, Dread is the only game I've ever played that has made me scream.

 

[DragonLancer]

People in this thread keep using "WoD" wrong. If you are playing just World of Darkness, you're not any sort of monster: You're a human in a world full of terrifying, unknowable crap. In other words, pretty comparable to CoC, minus the plushies.

Yes and no. WoD games is what's being discussed, so that's mortal as well as monstrous.

 

[Mournblade94]

The most successful horror fiction, in whatever medium, is all about exploring humanity's darker side. Otherwise, it's just a mismatched action adventure.

That very well may be why I do nto have a nack for running for Horror games.

The horror movies I have been into are all supernatural or demonic. The psychothrillers I never find that exciting.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That very well may be why I do nto have a nack for running for Horror games.

The horror movies I have been into are all supernatural or demonic. The psychothrillers I never find that exciting.

Even the supernatural and demonic ones are about people's fundamental inhumanity, even if it's only shown in metaphorical form -- the horrible little kid in the Omen may be the Antichrist, but fundementally, he's about showing what happens when you strip away morality and empathy from a person. He could be a serial killer just as easily as the Antichrist.

 

[SSquirrel]

People in this thread keep using "WoD" wrong. If you are playing just World of Darkness, you're not any sort of monster: You're a human in a world full of terrifying, unknowable crap. In other words, pretty comparable to CoC, minus the plushies.

Most of the add-ons to WoD do have you playing monsters, but arguably the best one, Hunter: The Vigil is human beings taking up baseball bats, shotguns and crucifixes to take back the night from the monsters. And given the moral and sanity degeneration built into the game, it's even more comparable to CoC, albeit with the possibility of higher-powered play at Tier 3 (worldwide hunter conspiracies, one of three default levels supported by the game).

In OWoD, it wasn't until much later that there were really rules for playing normal mortals. In NWoD, unless you buy the various other books, designing the core mortal is all that is covered in the main WoD book. Then you pick up Vamp or Werewolf or Changeling or Mage and make them something more if you want.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

In OWoD, it wasn't until much later that there were really rules for playing normal mortals.

The Hunters Hunted came out in the first or second year after Vampire: The Masquerade was released. I don't think they ever had a more normal mortal book than that, although maybe Mafia -- the second of two "hey, play an ethnic group!" books they did back then -- would qualify. So, assuming you were OK with playing some Arcanum guy who would die about two seconds after laying eyes on a vampire, you could play a mortal as of 1992.

I'm not sure how many people actually did, though. Playing mortals seems to be a lot more popular now. It certainly receives a lot more support.

 

[MortonStromgal]

The Hunters Hunted came out in the first or second year after Vampire: The Masquerade was released. I don't think they ever had a more normal mortal book than that, although maybe Mafia -- the second of two "hey, play an ethnic group!" books they did back then -- would qualify. So, assuming you were OK with playing some Arcanum guy who would die about two seconds after laying eyes on a vampire, you could play a mortal as of 1992.

I'm not sure how many people actually did, though. Playing mortals seems to be a lot more popular now. It certainly receives a lot more support.

You could but it was a supplement, like Dark Ages Mage, you needed the Vampire book in order to have the core rules. I can't just pickup up Complete Warrior and have a D&D game, I need the Players Handbook. Thus why WOD represents the whole line not just mortals.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You could but it was a supplement, like Dark Ages Mage, you needed the Vampire book in order to have the core rules. I can't just pickup up Complete Warrior and have a D&D game, I need the Players Handbook. Thus why WOD represents the whole line not just mortals.

The core in-print WoD book -- called "World of Darkness" right on the cover -- is explicitly the mortals book. Has been, for years now. It is, in fact, standalone, and it's Vampire: The Requiem and all the other books (other than Innocents -- which is a mortals game based around kids) that are the supplements, nowadays.

If people want to talk about the whole line, they should be more specific, since there's a fair amount of people who genuinely don't seem to be up on the nWoD posting on this thread and who are getting, presumably accidentally, a pretty skewed version of how things actually are nowadays.

 

[MortonStromgal]

The core in-print WoD book -- called "World of Darkness" right on the cover -- is explicitly the mortals book. Has been, for years now. It is, in fact, standalone, and it's Vampire: The Requiem and all the other books (other than Innocents -- which is a mortals game based around kids) that are the supplements, nowadays.

If people want to talk about the whole line, they should be more specific, since there's a fair amount of people who genuinely don't seem to be up on the nWoD posting on this thread and who are getting, presumably accidentally, a pretty skewed version of how things actually are nowadays.

Pot calling Kettle? You chose Hunter's Hunted as your example! I'm well aware of nWOD but both nWOD and cWOD are World of Darkness.

[edit] and if you want to get into details about it VtM is available POD and the new V20 version (and werewolf soon to follow) so that makes cWOD more nWOD than nWOD I guess... Nothing wrong with nWOD but WW/CCP is going to support both lines from here until the money runs out.