The 'New' World Of Darkness Makes Way For Chronicles Of Darkness And The World Of Darkness

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In case you missed it, White Wolf Publishing has been under new ownership for the last couple of months, since Swedish video game publisher Paradox Interactive announced buying the rights to White Wolf Publishing and the World of Darkness and Exalted properties from CCP Games in October. This announcement left fans, and developers up in the air over what the next step would be. Yesterday, at the Tenebrae Noctis White Wolf fan convention in Cologne, more information was announced. Probably one of the bigger announcements being about what was the status, going forward, of the various Worlds of Darkness currently being published.

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White Wolf Publishing will be doing the, new, fourth editions of the World of Darkness games, starting with

A press release on the Onyx Path Publishing website said this:

Onyx Path Publishing and White Wolf Publishing are proud to announce that Chronicles of Darkness is now the overall brand name for the series of game lines previously called the New World of Darkness. These game lines include Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition, Werewolf: the Forsaken 2nd Edition, Mage: the Awakening 2nd Edition, Promethean: the Created 2nd Edition, Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition, Geist: the Sin-Eaters, Mummy: the Curse, Demon: the Descent, and Beast: the Primordial, as well as any upcoming projects and game lines.

And the press release went into some of the reasoning for the change here:

Because, let’s face it, the cWoD/nWoD thing has always been awkward once you tried to explain why there were two of them but the second WoD wasn’t another edition but a whole ‘nother reimagining. Another WoD that enables equally awesome stories to be told but which has different rules and themes and overall tone. Nothing confusing there!

Onyx Path Publishing will also continue with the 20th Anniversary editions of World of Darkness games and Exalted.

Where the “new” World of Darkness will now be called The Chronicles of Darkness, the lines being developed in-house by White Wolf Publishing will just be, simply, The World of Darkness. No longer will there be a “new,” “classic,” or any other sort of qualifier to the title. Where White Wolf Publishing’s World of Darkness games will line up with the upcoming AAA video game, and other media adaptations, the Chronicles of Darkness will be continue to be “an amazing toolkit to create the WOD that you as the Storyteller want,” according to Martin Elricsson, the Lead Storyteller at White Wolf Publishing.

It looks that the World of Darkness setting material will feature a shift from America to Europe, which makes sense coming from a publisher based in Europe. This might actually make the buy-in to the setting easier for many American gamers, since it will make the setting, for them, into more of a “fantasy world” and less of the “world outside of your windows.”

In addition to developing the World of Darkness game in-house, it also looks that White Wolf Publishing will also be developing new LARP rules in-house as well. From social media talk on Twitter and Facebook, it looks as though the new rules will take a nod from the traditions of Nordic LARPs, which will be interesting to see. I admit that I have never been one for LARPing, so my knowledge of that area is a hole that I will have to fill up in order to talk about it intelligently in the future.

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In the Onyx Path Publishing press release for the Chronicles of Darkness announcement, they also talked about practical, licensing-related reasons for why the name shifts make sense:

And on a licensing level, garnering interest outside our hobby has been a nightmare. One kind of Hollywood type has a 3.5 second attention span, by and large, and you have to hook them right away, while another type Googles everything as you’re talking. The first will be gone before you can explain the N in new WoD, and the second will find page after page of info that sounds similar but is different and is all coming up under World of Darkness.

 

[IanWatson]

White Wolf has said they're planning on doing VTM4 in-house, so no, we won't be doing that particular project (although it remains to be seen if we'll be involved in production at all -- I don't know their plans). We are continuing to do X20 products, and anticipate doing so for years to come. Nothing has yet been said on who will do production of any VTM4 supplements.

 

[Doctor Futurity]

I'd love to read an article or comparison that discusses where a person who is new to WoD/CoD could jump in...which edition/setting is better for a newcomer, and what the differences are and advantages would be of adopting one over the other.

I'm not particularly new myself (I was trying out the first edition of V:TM when it was released, did a bit of live-action when I met my now-wife in 2006 -2007 and not long ago snagged a copy of Strix Chronicles when it was still under that name).....but seriously I'm not that up on my WW history and lore....really the opposite, as most prior efforts were only a couple sessions long and very confusing. I'm intrigued at all the stuff Onyx is doing now, and liked the principle setup in Strix Chronicles, but not really sure what edition I would want to get in to right now, what the advantages of the 20th Anniversary editions are over the CoD versions. There seems to be an appeal to the 20th anniversary books, for example, which I think update the original setting to a contemporary phase....but I also was generally under the impression that that world was destroyed or something before 2nd edition V:TR arrived, right? So how do the new tomes reconcile that? And is the only difference between WoD and CoD that WoD is aimed at old schooler Vampire gamers, and CoD is aimed at newer players who want a do-it-themselves toolkit game? I didn't get the impression from Strix Chronicles it was aimed at do-it-myself, but more like a introductory book with a defined chronicle/premise (the strix).

It's all very intriguing but starting to remind me of what it must be like for a gamer who is lapsed and walks into Barnes & Noble only to face D&D 5E and Pathfinder....and wonder what edition he needs to plunk $100-200 down on to get started. But D&D and Pathfinder both at least have a introductory edition that's relatively cheap and still useful...I'm not even sure if WoD/CoD have such.

Someone talking about D&D 5E, Pathfinder, OSR and prior editions won't be confusing to me (it's my core focus), but I think that WoD/CoD right now are still going to confuse outsiders.

 

[Doctor Futurity]

White Wolf has said they're planning on doing VTM4 in-house, so no, we won't be doing that particular project (although it remains to be seen if we'll be involved in production at all -- I don't know their plans). We are continuing to do X20 products, and anticipate doing so for years to come. Nothing has yet been said on who will do production of any VTM4 supplements.

Thanks Ian.....so 20th Anniversary editions will remain with Onyx, it sounds like? And VTM 4....will it be an actual 4th edition for WoD, or a 4th edition for CoD?

 

[Grimstaff]

"Martin Elricsson" - why isn't this guy working on Stormbringer???

 

[IanWatson]

Thanks Ian.....so 20th Anniversary editions will remain with Onyx, it sounds like? And VTM 4....will it be an actual 4th edition for WoD, or a 4th edition for CoD?

We're still doing 20th Anniversary Editions. VTM4 is exactly what it sounds like: VTM is not a CofD game, it's a WoD game.

 

[Doctor Futurity]

We're still doing 20th Anniversary Editions. VTM4 is exactly what it sounds like: VTM is not a CofD game, it's a WoD game.

So...this means that there will be three editions of support? 20th Anniversary line supported by Onyx, Chronicles of Darkness line supported by (WW?), and VTM 4th edition supported by WW and aimed at uniting the other media under one principle setting?

I ask because if that's the case, it sounds like VTM 4th may be the best jumping in point for someone newish to the game with no real investment in either WoD or CoD previously.

 

[IanWatson]

So...this means that there will be three editions of support? 20th Anniversary line supported by Onyx, Chronicles of Darkness line supported by (WW?), and VTM 4th edition supported by WW and aimed at uniting the other media under one principle setting?

Onyx Path is publishing both the WoD 20th Anniversary material and the Chronicles of Darkness. The only tabletop thing we are explicitly not doing right now is VTM4.

When we started working on our own version of VTM4, we intended to release it following the rest of our planned V20 material, so there would only ever be one version of Vampire: The Masquerade in active publication. With White Wolf taking the reins, it pushes our schedule out a year or two; enough that V20 is in the cards for about as long as we have a schedule to worry about.

I don't know if the plan (to stop V20 once VTM4 is out) is the same, or if we'll continue running V20 independently. But at this point it's far enough in the future that we're mostly concerned with what we're doing now and making it as good as we can.

 

[TreChriron]

So...this means that there will be three editions of support? 20th Anniversary line supported by Onyx, Chronicles of Darkness line supported by (WW?), and VTM 4th edition supported by WW and aimed at uniting the other media under one principle setting?

I ask because if that's the case, it sounds like VTM 4th may be the best jumping in point for someone newish to the game with no real investment in either WoD or CoD previously.

On the lines, here's what I see from the clearly explained situation thus far;

1. The newly formed White Wolf, subsidiary to Paradox, will maintain the BRAND World of Darkness. The first RPG produced by them will be VtM4e. This was done so Paradox can explore licensing the IP with little confusion as to what they are licensing.
2. Onyx Path is now licensed to maintain the BRAND Chronicles of Darkness. This was the "new" World of Darkness 2nd Edition that started with The God Machine Chronicle derived from the "new" World of Darkness developed after the "old" World of Darkness was retired.
3. Onyx Path will continue to produce 20th Anniversary editions of classic games under license from Paradox (White Wolf) until all the 20A games are complete. Think of these as "special projects".

As a customer, and having started reading through the CofD book, I believe it would be a great starting point to introducing people to CofD settings and the game in general.

The CofD book starts out as mortals who investigate the Things That Go Bump In The Night, or get wrapped up in plots involving Dark Things. It would be the perfect jumping off point, a great entry into the genre. Then you take the game in a "deeper" direction with Vampires, Werewolves, Mages, Demons, Beasts, etc.

You don't need to wait for VtM4e, unless you want to.

I feel like all the "I don't get it" nonsense is disingenuous. Both companies simply want to be able to produce these games, in tandem, without confusing each other's work. Is it really that hard to accommodate them?

It's really simple. White Wolf (Paradox) controls the World of Darkness brand (WoD). Onyx Path is licensed to control the Chronicles of Darkness brand (CofD). Think of the 20a Kickstarters as a special project producing the first iteration of the games in collector's editions for the fans.

20th Anniversary editions, "classic" editions, OWOD = WoD
nWOD, nWOD2e, God Machine Chronicle = CofD

Easy. Breezy. Darkness Girl.

 

[Desh-Rae-Halra]

I think the main point of "confusion", particularly for new folks, is do I buy the 20th Anniversary products or just wait for 4th Edition?
Do the 20th Anniversary products have any lasting value as a new edition is on the horizon?
Also, it seems that although quite a few of the 20th Anniversary projects are on DTRPG, there have been multiple reports of binding problems with such big volumes. I know it has kept me from picking up at least one of them, because if I am dropping $120 on a book, it better be spectacular.

OWoD and CWoD are different enough that you can pick between them.

 

[TreChriron]

Personally I view the 20A products like the 1e, 2e, and 3e D&D reprints. It seems more polish/clean-up went into it, more stretch goals creating extra books/supplements, but a similar idea.

I think if you like the meta-plot, or the way the system worked before the new WOD took over, then 20A will be a good choice for you. If you like the more "open" style of the new setting or the different system approach, then CofD is probably for you. If you feel CofD went too far with changes, but wanted to see where else the WoD system might go, then waiting for VtM4e may be the way to go.

If you don't own any WoD products, and want to try out the "game of yore", I can't imagine the need to wait for VtM4e. You can pick up a 20A book and play right away. The same goes if you like the idea of how CofD works, no need to wait. Since we don't know much about VtM4e, I can't see waiting for it in lieu of grabbing one of the currently published versions and just playing. Also, I'm sure that any of these books would be useful in other similar games. The mechanics may not be spot on, but all the ideas, people, adventures, locations, etc. will be just as useful regardless of what version you're playing.