First Favorite Splat?

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I still recall the wonder of opening a friend's copy of Vampire and
Werewolf and going over the different types of monster, which was a
concept new to me at the time. A wonder I'd experience a few more
times in the WoD, and most recently from Exalted.

It wasn't long before I'd mastered the attitudes and personae of all
the splats; or at least thought I did before I found this NG! But that
wonder mostly faded a long time ago. Reading the new Vampire, however,
has given me a taste of that feeling again...

When I first looked through these games, usually a particular splat
would leap out at me as the first I'd be most interested in playing:

Vampire: The Toreador first caught my attention, probably because I
was still in the middle of reading Anne Rice...^^I have since come to
most fully appreciate the Tremere the most, but also think the
Settites and Ravnos are the bee's knees!

Werewolf: The Glasswalkers immediately grabbed me, I guess because
they were so different and seemed to offer the most
possibilities...While they're still my favorites, I also like the
Fianna, Stargazers, and most especially the Silent Striders.

Mage: Tossup between the Cult of Ecstacy and the Sons of Ether. The
later appealed to my inner Doctor Who fanboy, I suppose...Since then
the Euthanatos and the Akashics are also favorites.

Changeling: Sluagh and Eshu. Perhaps because the first is how I often
see myself, while the latter is how I'd like to see myself...Still,
I've also gotten to like the Sidhe, and the Naraku are just cool as
hell!

Demon: The Slayers leapt out at me the most. They didn't really appeal
to me personally, they just seemed the coolest of the Fallen. More
recently, I've found much to like in the Defilers, Malefactors and
Devourers...

Exalted: Originally, the Night Caste were my faves. It just doesn't
get any cooler than super-ninja! Since then, I've come to appreciate
the wider character possibilities for Zenith and Twilight Castes...

Trinity: ISRA rules. And always shall.

What was the splat you first fell in love with? Did you switch to
another later on?

Dex,
also liking the Daeva...^^

 

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Hand-of-Omega wrote:

> What was the splat you first fell in love with? Did you switch to
> another later on?

I got into Vampire by way of Jyhad, before it was Vampire: The Eternal
Struggle. And I didn't play much -- I just collected the cards and
looked at the art and read the backstory in the instruction book.

Toreador first, because they seemed the least stupid vampire clan (oh,
the irony). This was back when there were only the basic seven.

When reading the V2nd corebook, I fell in love with the Tzimisce on the
basis of the name alone -- understandable, since said book didn't have
any other information on them at all. Then I continued reading
sourcebooks and found out how cool they really were. God, I love the
Tzimisce. (Oh, and I liked the Malkavians because they were wacky. I
was like fourteen, fifteen years old -- I was allowed to be stupid.)

Werewolf was, of course, Glass Walkers first.

Mage was Virtual Adepts. (Detecting a pattern here?) Though of all the
Traditions, it took me longest to "get" them.

Changeling was Sidhe. What can I say? I've always liked elves.

With Kindred of the East, I initially liked the Thrashing Dragons. Then
Dharma-Book: Devil-Tiger changed all that. When I grow up and get old
and die and go to hell and claw my way back out, I wanna be a Devil-Tiger!

Hunter... none of the splats leapt out at me.

Nothing with Mummy, really. Richard really likes the Sefekhi, but I'd
rather keep my genitals if I'm going to live forever.

Demon... again. See Hunter.

Exalted was the Eclipse Caste and the Sidereals. Woo!

With Orpheus I like the Phantasms. There's just something about Bedlam,
although Sandman leaves me cold. Of course, I didn't fall in love with
them right away, as they didn't appear at all until Shades of Grey.

With the new WoD, I'm enchanted by the Mekhet. They represent an
archetype previously unrepresented in Vampire -- where the Nosferatu are
monsters, the Mekhet are ghosts. And I like the Ordo Dracul because
hey, Tzimisce!

I'm real curious to see the new Tribes and Traditions.
--
Stephenls
Geek
"I'm as impure as the driven yellow snow." -Spike

 

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Vampire: I really liked the Gangrel. I first got into White Wolf games while I
was also just becoming interested in neopagan religion, and while my affection
for the latter has cooled the whole "wild beast" aspect of the Gangrel
interested me. I also like the Brujah, though exposure to real anarchists and
dissatisfied lefties at university has spoiled their romance for me.

Werewolf: Fianna. See above, substituting "Celtic" where appropriate. With a
more mature eye I find the Silent Striders fascinating.

Mage: I never really had anything to do with Mage, but the Verbena fit the above
stereotype and I like the Cult of Ecstasy and Sons of Ether, too.

Changeling, Wraith, Trinity: Never read them.

Hunter: I don't have a big thing for any of the splats, but I do like Waywards.

Adventure!: To the extent that there are splats, Daredevils are my favourites.

Aberrant: Again, no real splats, but I find the darker side of Project Utopia
interesting, and the various religious cults are cool (unsurprisingly, since I'm
interested in real-world new religious movements).

--
Christopher Adams - Sydney, Australia
What part of "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" don't you
understand?
http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/mhacdebhandia/prestigeclasslist.html

 

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Changeling was the first WW game I got into. Of the corebook kiths, the
pooka leaped out at me. Part of it was down to that 1st ed drawing of
the signature pooka, Rasputin. I love that picture, as well as the
Diterlizzi pooka piece.

What can I say? I like the tricksters. I never played one, though,
partially because I knew I couldn't keep up quality roleplay with good
pranks, rather than, say, kender-style silliness.

--
Tyler

u d e t o d r y s t a n o i d f t

Bac>|wards

 

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> Vampire: The Toreador first caught my attention, probably because I
> was still in the middle of reading Anne Rice...^^I have since come to
> most fully appreciate the Tremere the most, but also think the
> Settites and Ravnos are the bee's knees!


Nosferatu. I just loved the imagery of a sewer dwelling spies.



> Werewolf: The Glasswalkers immediately grabbed me, I guess because
> they were so different and seemed to offer the most
> possibilities...While they're still my favorites, I also like the
> Fianna, Stargazers, and most especially the Silent Striders.

Not a single one. Well, of the Garou. I rather liked the Bastet, but that's
cause I like cats in general.



> Mage: Tossup between the Cult of Ecstasy and the Sons of Ether. The
> later appealed to my inner Doctor Who fanboy, I suppose...Since then
> the Euthanatos and the Akashics are also favorites.

Virtual adepts. I just liked the idea of a break away faction from the
Technos.





> Changeling: Sluagh and Eshu. Perhaps because the first is how I often
> see myself, while the latter is how I'd like to see myself...Still,
> I've also gotten to like the Sidhe, and the Naraku are just cool as
> hell!

Sidhe. They really seem to embody what I think of as Fae.


> Demon: The Slayers leapt out at me the most. They didn't really appeal
> to me personally, they just seemed the coolest of the Fallen. More
> recently, I've found much to like in the Defilers, Malefactors and
> Devourers...

Never played it.


> Exalted: Originally, the Night Caste were my faves. It just doesn't
> get any cooler than super-ninja! Since then, I've come to appreciate
> the wider character possibilities for Zenith and Twilight Castes...

Love the Earth Caste myself.


> Trinity: ISRA rules. And always shall.

Upeo Wa Macho, with a built in mystery!

As For Requiem, I'm really digging the Gangrel.

 

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Stephenls <stephenls@shaw.ca> wrote in message news:<2pfsf7Fjpk9bU1@uni-berlin.de>...
> With Kindred of the East, I initially liked the Thrashing Dragons. Then
> Dharma-Book: Devil-Tiger changed all that. When I grow up and get old
> and die and go to hell and claw my way back out, I wanna be a Devil-Tiger!
>
Damn, I knew I forgot somegame! I don't recall any of the Dharmas
leaping out at me, except maybe the Boneflowers or Devil-Tigers. Then,
as now, I don't find the Resplendent Cranes interesting at all...
>
> With the new WoD, I'm enchanted by the Mekhet. They represent an
> archetype previously unrepresented in Vampire -- where the Nosferatu are
> monsters, the Mekhet are ghosts. And I like the Ordo Dracul because
> hey, Tzimisce!

And with the new setup, you can play both at once!

As for the Mekhet, am I right in seeing them as Tremere with a dash of
Settite?
>
> I'm real curious to see the new Tribes and Traditions.

Wonder if they'll cut their numbers down too? Or if MtA will have a
similar structure, where you can have *any* Tradition/Convention on
the side of any Faction (Verbena Technocrats, NWO Nephandi, etc)?

Dex

 

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Hand-of-Omega wrote:

> As for the Mekhet, am I right in seeing them as Tremere with a dash of
> Settite?

The Mekhet are the vampires who know your secrets. They can be standing
behind you and you won't even know it. They can know your emotions.
They can read your mind.

They can even walk through walls. (Well, turn invisible and follow you
through the door, but it amounts to the same thing.)

The most powerful Mekhet can quietly implant thoughts into your head, or
even follow and observe you as a disembodied spirit.

As I said, while the Nosferatu are monsters, the Mekhet are ghosts.
Phantoms. Shadows.

You could call them Tremere + Setite (it'd be more precise to think of
them as the forbidden-knowledge-seeking Tremere or Abyss Mystic Lasombra
coupled with the secret-knowing Nosferatu and the eerie and prophetic
Malkavians), but I find that it's helpful to think of them as their own
thing. They represent an archetype that didn't quite exist in the old
Vampire.

I think the Mekhet are easily the biggest change to the setting. The
old vampire social structures weren't really built with the Mekhet in
mind (the Daeva are easy -- Brujah, Toreador, dash of seductive
Setite...), and it's going to take a while to figure out how they fit
into the whole thing.

> Wonder if they'll cut their numbers down too? Or if MtA will have a
> similar structure, where you can have *any* Tradition/Convention on
> the side of any Faction (Verbena Technocrats, NWO Nephandi, etc)?

Things we know about the new Mage, although they're subject to change:

1) It'll be out next GenCon, probably.

2) Still a Sphere system, only this time there's ten spheres. The ten
symbols surrounding the oroboros on the playing card described in the
opening fiction of the WoD rulebook might be the sphere symbols, and
they might not.

3) Still Traditions, but this time they're much more magician archetypes
than regional groups. (I'm guessing the cool regional groups will be
mini-traditions, possibly not unlike V:tR's bloodlines. I'm also
guessing there'll be ten Traditions, but honestly don't know.)

4) Still a Technocracy, but it's much smaller and more subtle -- think
"National Security Agency," rather than "Hypertechnicians with orbital
constructs and a Dyson sphere around Alpha Centauri."

These are all things that some guy at GenCon apparently learned from
some other guy at the WW booth. Also, it's still on its first or second
draft, while Vampire had something like 14 full production drafts before
the final version, so everything is subject to change. Apparently of
all the WoD games, Mage is getting the most revision, tweaking
playtesting, and general TLC.
--
Stephenls
Geek
"I'm as impure as the driven yellow snow." -Spike

 

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Stephenls <stephenls@shaw.ca> wrote in message news:<2pnn8tFnf9onU1@uni-berlin.de>...
>
> Things we know about the new Mage, although they're subject to change:
>
> 1) It'll be out next GenCon, probably.
>
> 2) Still a Sphere system, only this time there's ten spheres. The ten
> symbols surrounding the oroboros on the playing card described in the
> opening fiction of the WoD rulebook might be the sphere symbols, and
> they might not.

Hm...What's the deal with all the playing cards? And "dream
equations/time equations"?
>
> 3) Still Traditions, but this time they're much more magician archetypes
> than regional groups. (I'm guessing the cool regional groups will be
> mini-traditions, possibly not unlike V:tR's bloodlines. I'm also
> guessing there'll be ten Traditions, but honestly don't know.)
>
Archetypes like "Necromancer", "Summoner", "Conjuror"?

> 4) Still a Technocracy, but it's much smaller and more subtle -- think
> "National Security Agency," rather than "Hypertechnicians with orbital
> constructs and a Dyson sphere around Alpha Centauri."

Hurm...For a game whose ethos was "Think BIG", it sometimes feels like
each incarnation of Mage has consistently backpedalled into thinking
smaller...
So I'm guessing much less emphasis on the spirit world and its myriad
possibilities as well...

>
> These are all things that some guy at GenCon apparently learned from
> some other guy at the WW booth. Also, it's still on its first or second
> draft, while Vampire had something like 14 full production drafts before
> the final version, so everything is subject to change. Apparently of
> all the WoD games, Mage is getting the most revision, tweaking
> playtesting, and general TLC.

At least till Wraith comes along! Hm, wonder if Orpheus can be
"retconned" into WoD 2.0...

Dex

 

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Stephenls <stephenls@shaw.ca> wrote in message news:<2q8nirFs2cqvU1@uni-berlin.de>...
> Hand-of-Omega wrote:
>
> > Hm...What's the deal with all the playing cards? And "dream
> > equations/time equations"?
>
> We don't know. It looks like the default mental state for mages in the
> new WoD will be "insane."
>
Based on the comments in that article? I'm not sure how seriously to
take that...He might just have been talking about Marauders...

> > Archetypes like "Necromancer", "Summoner", "Conjuror"?
>
> Almost certainly not, thank God.
>
> Archetypes like "shaman," "holy man," "ascetic," and "wizard," but not
> "martial artist" because that's regional, but perhaps "physical dude."
>
Well, what do the Nine already represent? "Martial Artist/Physical
Guy," "Holy Man," "Ecstastic/Artist," "Shaman," "Necromancer,"
"Wizard," "Scientist," "Witch/Druid," and, er "Hacker". Hmm, not sure
what archtype the Hollow Ones embody...
Actually, given their emphasis on Mind, maybe the AB represents "The
Philosopher"...

> So not too far off from the current set of Traditions, but with less
> baggage.

I'm not sure it's easy to avoid "baggage", tho, since it's a big part
of Tradition history. Besides, one man's baggage is anothers'
flavor--I think the Himalayan Wars make both the Akashics and the
Euthanatos more interesting, for ex...

> There are very specifically no plans for a new game involving playable
> ghosts. This is different from the more general "we haven't made plans
> for any games beyond the big three yet" stuff they occasionally mention
> -- it looks like Wraith had its chance and they're not doing that one again.

Hm. Hope they haven't said any similar thing about Changeling...

I'll have to sit down and look into adapting DA: Fae into WoD2 terms,
as soon as my WoD rulebook arrives...

Dex

 

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Hand-of-Omega wrote:

> Based on the comments in that article? I'm not sure how seriously to
> take that...He might just have been talking about Marauders...

Based on the portrayal of every possible mage in the the WoD corebook,
and the comments about vampires who drink mage blood suffering
hallucinations and derangements. Perhaps not actually insane in the
"mentally debilitated and less functional than normal people" sense, but
possibly indistinguishable from insane if you're not one of them.

> Well, what do the Nine already represent? "Martial Artist/Physical
> Guy," "Holy Man," "Ecstastic/Artist," "Shaman," "Necromancer,"
> "Wizard," "Scientist," "Witch/Druid," and, er "Hacker". Hmm, not sure
> what archtype the Hollow Ones embody...
> Actually, given their emphasis on Mind, maybe the AB represents "The
> Philosopher"...

The Nine represent mystic archetypes and also cultures -- the Akashic
Brotherhood are a sort of general "Eastern mage" faction, while the
Euthanatos are sort of Indian.

Underneath that, they represent more general mystic archetypes, like the
list of cultures in the Euthanatos revised tradbook that join the
Euthanatos but aren't Indian, but that's because they've gotten a bunch
of great development over the years. On the surface, they still
/appear/, to newbies at least, to be cultural.

The Traditions in Mage: The Awakening will apparently not appear to be
cultural when looked at by newbies. It's a subtle but meaningful change.

Or so I've heard from a guy online who heard it from a friend who heard
it from a dude at the WW GenCon booth.

> I'm not sure it's easy to avoid "baggage", tho, since it's a big part
> of Tradition history. Besides, one man's baggage is anothers'
> flavor--I think the Himalayan Wars make both the Akashics and the
> Euthanatos more interesting, for ex...

Without the surface baggage, then. No tradition that you look at and
immediately think "So they're all Shaolin monks?"

> Hm. Hope they haven't said any similar thing about Changeling...

They haven't. I'm still hoping Upper Management takes Justin Achilli up
on his New Changeling proposal.

> I'll have to sit down and look into adapting DA: Fae into WoD2 terms,
> as soon as my WoD rulebook arrives...

There's some people working on precisely that at RPG.net, and some more
people working on it on the WW forums. You should take a look at their
work. Sorry; no direct links from me.
--
Stephenls
Geek
"I'm as impure as the driven yellow snow." -Spike