Homegrown: The Proliferation
Fan-Created Supplements
for The World of Darkness ™
Part 2 Immortals, Superheroes, & Dragons
by Nathan Shumate
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Ever wanted to play a Highlander-style Immortal in your Vampire: The Masquerade campaign? How about having the Technocracy run up against Scanners? Just to balance all the evil, have you ever wished for Angels? You're not alone. For each of these (and other) ideas, there's been a White Wolf devotee who has not only wished for a supplement, but has gone out and designed their own. Some are inspired, some are banal, but they all have one thing in common: They can all be found on the Internet. The best place to find homegrown White Wolf supplements is at "BJ Zanzibar's World of Darkness" at http://php.indiana.edu/~adashiel/wod/wod.html. BJ has gone out of his way to add to his site just about every unofficial supplement ever created, including a plethora of new clans, paths, disciplines, spells, orders, bloodlines, creatures, tribes, etc. (the mind boggles). Along with these, there are scores of more complex supplements written to add new types of PC or major NPC to the game (or to act as stand-alone games in their own right). Think of the official Mummy supplement, and you'll be getting the idea. Not all of these supplements work in every chronicle; some of them wouldn't work in any chronicle. These reviews include a rating system, giving up to two stars for each of the following: Concept: Is it a role-playable idea, sufficiently different from what's already available to justify its existence? World of Darkness: Does it have a mood or atmosphere in keeping with the standard World of Darkness games, or is it just borrowing the Storyteller system? (Nothing wrong with the latter — the Storyteller system is one of the best role-playing systems ever devised — but as it's exclusively used by the World of Darkness games, the two are intertwined.) Background: Is there sufficient detail in the supplement to run a chronicle without extensive outside research on the Storyteller's part? (This might include reference to the standard games, especially of the author of a supplement has combined rules from Wraith: The Oblivion and Werewolf: The Apocalypse and the Hunters Hunted supplement and...) Integration: Would a PC character from this supplement fit well into a standard chronicle (one centering on the standard character types? Would an NPC character work well, as ally or adversary? Stand-alone: Would it work well as a stand-alone game (i.e., in a chronicle that doesn't include vampires, mages, werewolves, etc.)? ImmortalsAll of these supplements have one thing in common: The characters they create don't die. Some are inspired by Highlander, while others are different versions of the Wandering Jew. Now, let me admit that I love the Highlander TV series, so I'm very willing to fall in love with a supplement that does it well -- and very apt to throw the shoe at one that does it poorly. Accursed: The Emptiness There have been foolish and desperate mortals over the ages who have gone so far as to really, really tick off a powerful Mage, with the resulting curse of Immortality. Unlike most Highlander-style Immortals, the Accursed all view their endless existence as a trial of limitless tedium and emptiness, and are all trying to find a way to die, whether by supernatural or scientific means, and all of their endeavors center on the quest for the Cure (death). The idea certainly is bleak enough to mesh with any World of Darkness game, and the age and attributes of Accursed characters would tend to favor associations with any of the other supernatural races. However, the single-minded devotion which these characters are meant to have to their quest for death would make long-term play difficult in a PC group of some other character type, as the Accursed would have little reason to hang around. A stand-alone campaign composed entirely of disinterested, reserved, antisocial Accursed would be almost too painful for words. Concept: 1/2 Andean Mummy The author has done a commendable job in creating a mummy supplement similar to the Mummy gamebook, modified for the mummies found in the Andean mountains of South America. Coming from a far less dualistic society than the Egyptian mummies, these Andean mummies do not fight in the battle against Apophis as such; rather, they have specific goals and responsibilities which they intend to see to every time they awaken. Unfortunately, the most common responsibility is to care for their people, and in most cases their people are scattered; they are left to find a new purpose. There is extensive information on South American magic and society here, but I fear it just isn't sufficient. As the author notes, the Egyptian mummy is a part of our cultural background, and everyone thinks they know about Egypt. The Andean mummies are obscure, and pre-Columbian culture is a little-understood field. Plus, the only way for an Andean mummy PC to interact with the mainly Euro-American milieu of the other World of Darkness games would be to take up residence in North America or Europe, and I can't see a reason for that which wouldn't seem contrived. As for a stand-alone chronicle, I can't imagine there are many World of Darkness players with the command of South American history and culture to make playing this character more than an excuse for tedious research. If you're one of those few, go for it. Concept: 1 Avatars Avatars are those mortals whose mind and soul are not separated at death, and who thus reincarnate with full knowledge of their past lives. According to this supplement, this puts the Avatars in a semi-Awakened state, and gives them moderate powers beyond those of mere mortals, largely psychic in nature. While it is an interesting concept, it doesn't differ drastically enough from either the official Mummy supplement or the various homegrown Highlander-esque games to be notable. The main failing is in lack of background; Avatar interaction is described very briefly -- basically, you can recognize other Avatars. But there is no definitive goal or purpose, as there is in the official games. While an Avatar could play well alongside the standard races, it really has no reason to be there. Likewise, a stand-alone chronicle would need some unifying struggle to give it unity and purpose. Concept: 1/2 The Cursed Like Peloquin's other offerings, a sketchily-presented but intriguing portrait of a character class. These immortals are true immortals -- they simply don't die. Not by beheading, not by incineration, not (presumably) by H-bomb. They have a few interesting abilities, such as a souped-up version of Domination and a semi-telepathic power, but they have no overarching goal or quest. Someone with those abilities could easily strive for world domination but, presumably, they've all lost interest in such pursuits. (The most interesting idea from this supplement, though completely unexplored, was that such immortals will only have one day on which they can die, and if they miss it they won't get another shot.) As a stand-alone, there are too few cues to the direction the story should take for easy play without a lot of thinking on the Storyteller's part (which is their job, but still...). Concept: 1/2 Highlander: The Gathering (Second Edition) By all accounts, the most popular of the unofficial Storyteller supplements, and with good reason. Highlander-style Immortals fit almost perfectly into the atmosphere and worldview of the World of Darkness, and operate on many of the same principles as several of its denizens, most notably vampires. These rules are extensive, covering the effects of the Quickening, experience, and a detailed combat system for one-on-one duels (adapted from Werewolf: The Apocalypse Glaive combat). As Immortals are notable loners, a stand-alone chronicle would be difficult, but many standard chronicles could only be enriched by the addition of an Immortal. Concept: 2 Immortal: The Gathering A shorter and far inferior version of Highlander-style Immortals, this supplement reduces the Quickening to simple experience points, and cookie-cutters the entire Immortal character. Not recommended. Concept: 1/2 Immortal Rules (Version 3) A quick set of rules for modifying Mummy into Highlander-style Immortals. Probably adequate if you have the Mummy rules memorized anyway, but if not, just get the Highlander: The Gathering supplement instead of this half-breed. Concept: 1 Immortal The Gathering (Version 4) Yet another version of Highlander. While this one contains some interesting variant rules (what an Immortal actually gains through absorbing Quickening), it's two major flaws are 1) not being different enough from the earlier systems where it matters and 2) being too different -- adding a slew of supernatural powers to normal Immortal abilities just to make Immortals more like other denizens of the World of Darkness. I kinda fail to see the point... Concept: 1/2 Eternity's Memory: Immortals in the World of Darkness You know, I understand wishing that you had been the first to adapt Highlander to the World of Darkness. But what glory is there in being the fourth, thirteenth, twenty-seventh to do so? Nothing new here, or at least nothing new enough to justify its existence. Concept: 0 The Quickened Another set of rules for Highlander because none of the previous rules seemed quite right... The only notable addition here is the Memory trait, and its possible loss through Quickening. Other than that, stick with the tried and true. Concept: 1/2 Arthurian Knights A supplement building on a supplement, this one is a variation on Highlander-style Immortals (whichever supplement you prefer). According to this, King Arthur's original knights were Immortals; with the magic conferred upon them by Merlin, they are able to transmit their own Immortality and other magical talents to initiate Knights. The entire organization (all five Societies of them!) fight the good fight while waiting for the return of Arthur. Being quasi-Immortal, they gain Quickenings from beheaded Immortals, and vice versa. Being twice removed from the mainstream of the World of Darkness, Arthurian Knights seem best suited as temporary or NPC characters in a stand-alone Highlander campaign. Their unswerving white-bread virtues make them unlikely companions to most World of Darkness denizens, and little of the background is helpful in determining the content of a stand-alone chronicle. Concept: 1/2 SuperhumansSooner or later, everybody's got to try their hand at putting superheroes in the World of Darkness. Maybe it's the lure of the Storyteller system; maybe it's the urge to have at least one person who understands altruism; maybe it's just a fetish for brightly-colored spandex. In ant case, I'll tell you this for nothing: Nobody bought a White Wolf game because they wanted to play superheroes. Aegis: The Watching The best idea of metahumans/superheroes I've seen yet for integration into the World of Darkness, but sketchily presented. The Aegis is a loose organization of mortals with strange (but limited) gifts and abilities, who use them for good and mysterious purposes. In this supplement, the mood is deliberately set as being dark and melodramatic; the Shadow is implicitly described as an example, and the text is peppered with Batman movie quotes. It's doubtful that a member of the Aegis could have a steady, long-term relationship with any of the standard player characters in a "normal" chronicle, but they wold certainly add color and mood to a nonstandard chronicle, i.e., one not taken up solely with a given race's internal politics (especially drawing on the archetype of the Shadow or other mysterious pulp heroes). There's not a lot of background or detail given for crafting a stand-alone campaign solely from this supplement, but the mood is evocative and could spur a Storyteller into placing such a campaign within the World of Darkness. Concept: 1 Mutant: The Showdown X-Men in the World of Darkness. Even if the mood of your chronicle allowed for Marvel-style mutants (and if so, shame on you!), this supplement is too flimsy to cover the great array of mutant powers. If you must have mutants, go buy a for-real superhero role-playing game for source material and convert it to the Storyteller system. Concept: 1/2 Parahumans Another attempt to make mutant-style superheroes work in the World of Darkness. All the same flaws and complaints as the last attempt. Concept: 1/2 Psychic: The Power Mortals with psychic powers, balancing between Control and Power as the go ahead with the standard inter-group bickering. Given that the Scanners supplement had already been written, and that there are psychic powers available to most of the standard races, why did this supplement have to be written? It's not bad, just completely redundant. Concept: 0 Superhumans: The Horizon More super-heroes. This one has several problems, especially a lack of plausibility (all types of powers are included - mutants to mutagenics to supersuits - but they all resulted from the same event in the 19th century?) and an attempt to create good and evil "houses" not unlike the multitude of Vampire clans. I suspect that this is an attempt to adapt the Marvel Super Heroes game to the Storyteller system (the biggest giveaway being an ability called Fate, which works just like Marvel's "Karma"). Why bother? Concept: 1/2 Windrunners Ready for this? Okay, here it is: Really fast mortals. That's it. All right, it's a little more than that -- specific abilities, and a mythology as to why these few are born that way -- but in essence, it's really fast mortals. And how useful is that? Concept: 0 DragonsNow, don't get me wrong; dragons are cool, in their place. But I don't think that, just because they're mythical beasties, they belong in the World of Darkness. And none of the following supplements, well-written or not, was able to dissuade me from my prejudice. Just so you know. Dragon: The Hunting Well, it's eight kinds of dragons who were created to protect their continents from evil supernaturals and now have kind of spread across the globe, living in human form. Tries to be multi cultural, but not really long enough to get interesting. The nature of a dragon's existence (killing and eating evil supernaturals) necessitates a World of Darkness setting, but doesn't necessarily fit the mood. Concept: 1/2 Dragon: The Rebirth When the elder dragons were severed from the earth by the Age of Reason, they banished themselves to the Deep Dreaming and dreamt of restoring the world to a Mythic Age where they could again exist. To do so, they finally managed to create a new breed of half-human dragons who could exist in the modern world. They sent some to earth to be raised by certain supernaturals (though some accidentally found their ways into mortal families) or raised them themselves in the Deep Dreaming, with the mission to use their elemental powers to help bring about a consciousness of the Mythic in the world. An elegant, open-ended system -- so open-ended that there's really not enough structure for a stand-alone Dragon chronicle. Depending on the Storyteller, a dragon character could fit fairly well into an established chronicle of just about anything except Vampire: The Masquerade and Wraith: The Oblivion. Concept: 1 Dragons: The Redemption Another version of dragons hidden since the Age of Reason began. This one is based specifically on Mage: The Ascension rules, so if you haven't mastered Mage, you'll be lost. A couple of interesting points (young dragons, such as the PC's, can't stand the presence of another dragon except for mating), and maybe dragons would fit better into a Mage: The Ascension chronicle specifically than into the World of Darkness generally. Concept: 1 Dragon! The Scorching A very complete and well thought-out system for dragons, relying heavily on the Mage: The Ascension magic rules. Includes comprehensive combat rules. All well and nice, but it still doesn't convince me that dragons belong in the World of Darkness! Aside from conflicts with Mages, little is defined as far as ongoing chronicle conflict. Concept: 1 Dragon: The Eastern Harmonies More dragons, this time trying to adapt Asian dragons to modern game play. All this tells me is that Asian dragons don't adapt to modern western play very well. Concept: 1 Dragon: The Waking Wrath After the Flood, all the supernatural races came together at a council and covenanted to limit their numbers and influence for the benefit of mortals. Dragons, the personifications of magick itself, were appointed the minders of the Covenant; one dragon was called as Guardian, and the others eventually slept. After the Guardian was killed by a questing knight during the dark ages, it left the Covenant without a protector. Now (within the last few years), the court of the dragons has awakened, and most are intent on restoring the other supernatural races to observing the ancient Covenant -- or destroying them. Even though these dragons are specifically designed to be a part of the World of Darkness, a dragon character would be extremely hard to role-play effectively, given the power of the race. But dragon NPC's could add an extra dimension to a high-level chronicle of any of the standard games. Concept: 1 Back to Masters of Role Playing #6 Table of Contents Back to Masters of Role Playing List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Chalice Publications. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com |