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

[Salad Shooter]

Heh...it might sound blasphemous and horribly tarnish my reputation on these boards forever, but I actually prefer WoD games over D&D. Vampire: the Masquerade is a beautiful game, and, for someone just starting into playing WoD games, is probably the best, since it is by far the simplest (of the games I've played). It does have layers and layers that more experienced groups can get into It's Dark Ages cousin is just as great, but, alas, it generally requires more experienced players and storytellers to get the mood right. Werewolf is fun as well, I would have to say it is the best of the WoD games I've played. I've attempted to play Mage, but it is really complicated, and the less-dedicated players usually bail out, causing a hurt to your party. Also, an un-wary storyteller could generate cadres of invincible min-maxer PCs, as Mages can do nearly anything they want, unchecked. If you want a game for very a experienced, well knit, dedicated group, a game of Wraith: the Oblivion would be good. I've never actually played a game, but I own the rule book, and it just seems sweet. The fact that you get to play someone elses dark side...::grins maliciously:: Changeling, while at first seems fairly simple, has some underlying eddies that make it fun and challenging (I haven't played this, either, but I have the rulebook....my RPG group runs in WAY to many systems). Exalted seems to be a great game, I haven't read much about it. I've only once seemed the fabled Hunter: the Reckoning core book, but I was short on cash and could not buy it. Why, oh why, must it sell quickly? I've glanced through the Demon book, and it looks beautiful, but you'd have to remember, you're a DEMON, you're EVIL. Not nice. EVIL. Yeah...well, thats my WW rant, so nya

 

[Voneth]

I asked it on rpg.net, and I'll ask it here, too.

If I buy one White Wolf (Storyteller, not S&SS) book, what should it be? I'm thinking either Mage, Adventure!, or Exalted.

In my opinion with no info to go on, if you like DnD a lot, then Werewolf is the easisest to get into since you can start it as a twisted modern/shaministic version of DnD and go beyond that if you like.

Mage magic, role-playing wise blows DnD magic out of the water. In DnD magic, the role-play elements are just game mechanics, in Mage they are metaphisical and much more engaging for a mondern mind.

Exalted is very cool, but very referential intensive. Having only one book for reference when trying to make up more than 3 player characters is a nightmare. As far as the "needing the core rule book" argument goes, I felt Exalted was the weakest of your three choices. You CAN do it, but you need to be confident or a little more blasie about it compared to other WW books.

I haven't played Adventure, but I have read it and I spents months on mailing lists with those who playtested it and designed it. Its biggest weakness is that a lot of players don't want to invest their time in a game that is unsupported beyond a core role book. Beyond that, the game engine may be more robust than one thinks at first glance and it should be a game of action and fun.

 

[tetsujin28]

Personally, I'm not too crazy 'bout any of them. I would say Adventure and Exhalted are the most fun, though.

 

[haiiro]

With nothing to go on, I'll recommend the Wraith core book for sheer reading pleasure or the Aberrant core book for an excellent dark supers RPG.

 

[Desdichado]

I usually sum up Werewolf as "Greenpeace with teeth and claws." The entire game is based on the idea the forces of creation and destruction are completely insane; the scourge of humanity has overstepped its bounds and needs to be culled; cities are scabs that blaspheme Gaia; and the end is coming and the best you can do is delay it a few decades. If you like mindless killing, though, this game isn't bad -- you can be like the Punisher with a Detect Evil spell.

C'mon! That's the worst description of Werewolf I've read in a while: if that's how you play it, you barely scratched the surface of the game. This has always been my favorite WoD game, in part because it does the best job of, as someone said here earlier, bridging concept to action, but it's hardly mindless killing. There's all kinds of stuff in there that leads to great roleplaying if the GM would just trot it out once in a while.

 

[Tsyr]

C'mon! That's the worst description of Werewolf I've read in a while: if that's how you play it, you barely scratched the surface of the game. This has always been my favorite WoD game, in part because it does the best job of, as someone said here earlier, bridging concept to action, but it's hardly mindless killing. There's all kinds of stuff in there that leads to great roleplaying if the GM would just trot it out once in a while.

Agreed. Horrid description of the game. Doesn't even come close to doing it justice. That would be like me saying DnD was all about killing dragons inside of dungeons.

 

[haiiro]

C'mon! That's the worst description of Werewolf I've read in a while: if that's how you play it, you barely scratched the surface of the game. This has always been my favorite WoD game, in part because it does the best job of, as someone said here earlier, bridging concept to action, but it's hardly mindless killing. There's all kinds of stuff in there that leads to great roleplaying if the GM would just trot it out once in a while.

Amen to that.

There is a lot more to Werewolf than mindless killing and Greenpeace - or at least there can be. Savage horror, tragic heroes, pyrrhic victories and a well-developed mythology combine to make Werewolf my favorite WoD game overall.

 

[Enforcer]

Agreed. Horrid description of the game. Doesn't even come close to doing it justice. That would be like me saying DnD was all about killing dragons inside of dungeons.

It's not?

 

[Orias]

Like most people I suggest Hunter, as it will probably be the easiest to jump into. But I will always recommend Mage to heavy role players. Mage is awesome for the metaphysical/philisophical aspects to it, & the amazingly open-ended magic system, along with the fact that both the "good" guys & the "bad" guys can all be looked at as either good or bad, depending on the perspective that you look at it (except the Nephandi). Those, although huge plusses, are also the games downside. Unless you have read the entire book or had a very advanced Mage player explain the game to you, everyone is going to have different concepts & a slightly hard time picking up all of the metaphysical concepts behind the game, & if you run it with the Traditions & their sub-cabals, you are going to have to have a somewhat good understanding of real-life world philosophies. The magic system, although amazing, is rather confusing, & sometimes you will get players sitting around a table scratching their heads saying "Can you do this? How many rolls are you supposed to make?" and similar things. Fortunately if you get other books (particually Guide to the Traditions & The Storyteller's Handbook (or if atleast one player in your group has these)) those issues are cleared up quite a bit. Third, the game is somewhat difficult to DM unless you have a great idea because the bad guys aren't really the bad guys, & the good guys aren't really the good guys. Everyone is just trying to do what they believe in, with no side being more right or wrong than the other, so in that manner it's sometimes hard to actually run a game because you don't neccessarily have orcs who pillage cities, but you have a group of scientists whos "ultimate" goal is the same as yours - protect non-magic-users (Sleepers) in any manner possible, the Mages & the "bad" guys just have different definitions of what is right for the Sleepers.

 

[Voadam]

I would say the best for application in other systems is Path of Screams from the Mage the Sorcerer's Crusade line.

It is a great horror villains book and I've used a bunch of it in my Ravenloft campaign.