If I were to buy 1 White Wolf book . . .

[bondetamp]

Only one?
I wouldn't get any.

While I haven't seen all the WW stuff, the ones I have seen all leave important stuff out of the main book; instead requiring additional purchases for what most people would consider basic information.

Unlike the D&D PHB, you mean?

I guess, of the three games mentioned, Adventure! is the most complete, if only for the fact that it is all there is of the line. Still, I've played both Exalted and Mage without anything but the corebook to go by, and I've had a (very!) good time doing so.

All the three games are very, very good, but in different ways. Mage is heavy on the philosophy and can be daunting to get around, but is no harder to run than D&D once you "get it".

Adventure! models cinematic reality very well, with its handling of the meta concepts. The heroes of the story can do all kinds of things simply because they are the heroes of the story, and it works great. It is probably the most "license friendly" game out there, or at least it is the first game that comes to mind when I think about running a game based on action or adventure movies. It has a game mechanic to deal with all those odd coincidences facing adventure movies' protagonists, just to mention one thing.

Exalted is very good for a different look at fantasy, one that isn't so closely bound to medieval Europe and Tolkien-style fantasy litterature. The characters will be vastly more powerful than the common man, but so will the opposition. The game puts a lot of weight on tone and description, and you get "stunt dice" to help your actions based on how cool and creative your description of said action is.

All three games are very different from D&D in their own ways, and even if you don't get to play them, you'll still walk away with something, simply from seeing how differently things can be done.

I can't really recomend one book without knowing your tastes, but I'd say get all three. They are all very good, and they'll all fill you with new ideas.

(It should perhaps be said tat I'm somewhat of a fan of the White Wolf games, but you might have guessed that allready. )

 

[Dave Blewer]

If you are only going to buy one book then it has to be Adventure as that is the only game that they have produced that can be played with only the main rulebook.

Let me qaulify that. They are all playable with just the main rulebook but not all the information needed to play the full game is included in the MRB, and as such you probably need to purchase at least a couple of supplements. Adventure is designed as a stand alone game, there are no supplements planned or (arguably) needed.

 

[CCamfield]

My money's on Adventure, because it is so damned good, and because it's a pulp game (a personal favourite of mine).

 

[Tsyr]

Only one?
I wouldn't get any.

While I haven't seen all the WW stuff, the ones I have seen all leave important stuff out of the main book; instead requiring additional purchases for what most people would consider basic information.

Why WW anyway?

Geoff.

Actualy, the only WW game I would say you would have a hard time playing with just the core book is Werewolf... And even that's possible, it's just that the more books you get, the more you see that a lot of what you thought was "the right way" from the core book... well... isn't, exactly. The mechanics are all there, but some of the "attitude" and "motivation" behind Werewolves just doesn't come across in the main book. Sure, you can get Axis Mundi for more spirits you can spit at... but you can make those up too, if you have a good grasp of the basic system and a fair knowledge of mythology. And you can get all the Changing Breed books for Bastet and Mekole and Corax and that wierd bear-one I can't spell, and Rokea, and so forth... but those are decidedly "optional" and actualy somewhat discouraged, at least for basic play.

Most of the rules information that comes in later supplements is optional... Granted, some of it is really nice to have, but it's not really needed per say.

To put it another way, and I don't mean this as a slam on DnD, but I think there are oodles of what I would consider "basic fantasy concepts", at least anymore, that aren't really dealt with in the core rules (which is three books, not one), either at all (Ley-lines, mana, etc) or the treatment they get is really really minimal (Summoning, vampires, etc). It's the same way with the WW games... It's not all there, maybe, but there is enough to play with.

As for "Why White Wolf?"... Uh... just because? There has to be reasons now?

Anyhow, of the three being talked about the most, I would suggest Exalted... very, very different look at Fantasy... or Mage, for a nice modern fantasy-type game. Adventure! is a good product, yes. Great, in fact... But for myself, I'm not a major fan of the pulp style, so I personaly can't say it's one of my favorites. But I will say, it is very self-contained. As in, one book, period.

 

[arwink]

I've only ever played the various World of Darkness games, and off these the only one I've ever felt the desire to replay is Vampire or Vampire: the Dark Ages.

Mage is good, but was largely burned for me when every game I played in got mired in philosophical arguement about various people's sources.

Realy though, all of these games require players who are eager to embrace the mindset and style more than a comprehensive collection of rulebooks. YMMV, of course.

 

[Cedric]

Mage is probably my favorite game. But yes, it has a few issues....

1. Complicated...if you are not willing to really read the book and put some thought into this ... buy something else.

2. Miscommunication...get together with your players if you are running the game. Do some 1-on-1s and get a feel for what people want from their character conceptually. At the same time, dsicuss people's ideas and limitations as far as their magic use is concerned.

3. Limit cross-overs. While the world of darkness games "can" be run together...it's best if you don't. Their philosophies don't quite mix.

So why bother playing Mage? Outstanding concept, fantastic world and play environment, exciting "bad" guys and the best magic system in the world...except for possibly Ars Magica.

If you have any questions about mage...feel free to post here or lemme know I'll pass you my email address.

Mages are NOT all powerful...they limited by the experiences of their education and their concept of magic.

Cedric

 

[Tsyr]

Agree w/ all of cedric's points on Mage, esp. 2... Though 3 I would be hestitant about. Crossovers can work great, actualy, but if - and only if forsight and group effort is put into the game, starting at character conception. It's very easy to get a group that just can't work together... A Red Talon werewolf and a Son of Ether mage and a Malkavian Vampire, for example. But it's also possible to get groups that mesh just fine.

General rule of thumb in a crossover is to stay away from wraiths, and hunters though. Almost no way to make them work well with a mixed, non-wraith or non-hunter bunch, though for different reasons. Vampires can also be tricky, but still doable, if the group was built from the ground up to work with it. Mummy I'm not sure about... I don't own the book, never played it.

The biggest thing to keep in mind with a crossover game is that, while Mage, Changeling, Werewolf, Vampire, Hunter, Mummy, and Wraith are all technicly set in the same World of Darkness... Things aren't allways perfectly canon between them. Things don't mesh. Generaly, when there is a dispute, I refer to the Mage version of canon, but that would be a personal view.

If your group isn't willing to work at it, though, don't bother with a crossover. It will be very, very bad. And don't do it until your group has got the "feel" for how things are supposed to work in the world of darkness.

 

[Sammael99]

I don't know Exalted (yet), and I really do love Mage, but the other WW game I really do wanna play in would be Werewolf. There's a hidden depth in Werewolf that's very fulfilling... Plus it manages to bridge the gap between concept and action...

 

[Cedric]

Tsyr is right. I consider cross-over's in WoD to be great...but definitely for an advanced game.

Experienced players, experienced gm...all knowledgeable of the games and work well with one another as a gaming group.

At that point...the intended game and people's intended characters should be thoroughly discussed before hand among the gm and all players to make sure your game isn't just going to explode when they meet one another.

On a side note...Mummy is one of the game systems that works best with Mage. In fact, it works great with any of the WoD games.

Cedric

 

[Enforcer]

EXALTED! YAY!!!

I just recently bought this game myself, and the fantasy world within is amazing. As for buying extra supplements...meh. You can play the game with just the core rulebook. The whole rules system is in the main book (the white one with the archer woman on the cover, the other hardcovers are supplements), and the setting chapter gives you enough to go on. As was mentioned before, you'll get more setting info out of supplements, but if you're not the type to blindly follow a published setting's doctrine, you'll be fine.

Though, if you come to really like it, I recommend the Book of 3 Circles which expands sorcery exponentially. The Dragon-Blooded hardcover is also very cool, and useful if you want to learn a lot about the Realm (as opposed to the dozens of threshold cities, which are described in Scavenger Sons). But the core book does have a 60+ page setting chapter, so you don't actually need any of the supplements, it's just that the ones I've mentioned are particularly well done.