Behind the Lines: Night Horrors (#7)
Let's step away from the procedural side of things for a bit. This time, I'd like to plug give you an inside look at some upcoming content. Remember when Rich talked about something obliquely referred to as Night Horrors a little bit ago here? Curious to find out what he meant by that? I can hook you up.
Night Horrors is essentially a sub-brand for a particular type of book. Long-term fans will probably remember the various "Year of" books that hit the previous World of Darkness. In those projects, we would have a brand that reached across the lines with a specific form of content, customized to reflect each line. So in the Year of the Hunter, you had things ranging from The Inquisition for Vampire and Project: Twilight for Werewolf to Autumn People for Changeling. Each one detailed a hunter organization that was particularly tied to the line in question, but you could also use them in a more general sense. The Inquisition wasn't just a bunch of vampire hunters, it presented an order of hunters with religious ties, while Project: Twilight was about a particular covert federal agency of hunters. In that sense, the Year of the Hunter stuff wound up being useful across the various lines, with a common interest in the theme of hunters.
The Night Horrors books are meant to follow loosely in that vein. Not in the "they're about hunters" sense, mind; we have this different set of books coming out to look more at that aspect of the WoD. You might've heard about them. Rather, the Night Horrors books are an interesting shot at providing more setting depth to the WoD (while avoiding the dangers of an advancing metaplot, mind), in such a way that each book can be of general use and interest even beyond the line that gives it its inspiration.
Right, right, Ethan, but what's in the books? What are they about? Well, I could be coy here, but... how helpful would that be? Let's drag these horrors out into the light, shall we?
Night Horrors are, if you will, a collection of the World of Darkness' most notorious figures, some potential allies, all potential threats. Some of them are characters from the appropriate game line; you'll see some vampires and werewolves and the like. However, we're not talking a Big Book of Storyteller Characters here; this isn't about our favorite would-be signature characters. Each creature of the night you see here goes a step further. They aren't just there for you to read about — though you'll find that they make interesting reading, I'll wager. They're potential catalysts for your games. Consider the ramifications of a Changeling game if the most notorious privateer in the hemisphere has been sighted in the city. Or think about a Vampire chronicle where one of the nation's most dreaded serial killers is not only at large, but he's also a vampire — and he's moved into town. You'll also find some new twists and wrinkles to the characters found here, as well; I wouldn't be surprised if the authors want to sneak in new toys and mechanics and twists here and there just to prove that these characters have legacies, ways to influence a chronicle beyond just showing up in it.
But they aren't just about characters. Remember how I said that we wanted them to be useful beyond the principal game line to which they're attached? Not all Night Horrors are going to be player character types. Expect to see monsters, spirits, wretched mutants, bogeymen, all the wonderful nastiness that you've come to expect from the WoD. And when we're dealing with creatures that aren't what you'd expect as a character, we're going to present their statistics (yes, there will be statistics) in a way that doesn't require you to have the main rulebook. If there's a brutish thing out there that can pull apart werewolves, and makes a wonderfully bestial antagonist no matter what you're playing, we'll provide statistics for it that don't rely in Werewolf: The Forsaken. And each character or thing will offer another look at the overall lore of the World of Darkness proper, its urban legends and keepers of strange secrets.
Think of them as sampler platters for the various lines. If you're already into Mage, then the related Night Horrors book will have more examples of the kind of antagonists that get your pulse racing in your shadowy wars for the Supernal. If you haven't given it a try, then the Night Horrors here will show you a facet of their struggle, as well as being a source of antagonists with a particularly occult theme binding them together.
As you may have guessed, one of the first two Night Horrors books to hit is Changeling-related; hence why I'm talking about it here. The other is Vampire-related. Night Horrors: Grim Fears is a big slice of dark fairy-tale goodness, rich like Black Forest cake. You'll find a number of infamous changelings here, proud nobles and wicked storybook archetypes given the cutting-edge World of Darkness twist. But you'll also find a lot of fae bogeys here to show you this aspect of the WoD. If you're curious as to what the WoD spin on the troll under the Bridge or the wish-twisting genie is, take a look. You may find just the right antagonist for your game no matter what you play. Conversely, Night Horrors: Immortal Sinners knows that when it comes to vampire fiction, few things are as gripping as the vampires themselves. I don't feel quite as comfortable talking about this one, as it's not really my baby. But I've seen the outline, and Joe knows what makes vampires so frightening and engaging at the same time. I don't know if he'd appreciate the comparison or not, but if you were to ask me what my first impression of this book would be, I'd say he was aiming to fill a book with Mata Haris and Sweeney Todds. Only much more diverse than you'd expect from only two examples; one of the things about the Night Horrors books is that we want to show off a wide range of archetypes, not just harp on one particular one. So don't expect a book full of serial killers; that's just one archetype to play with. Expect a book full of things just as interesting, though. Who knows? Some of them might even wind up being more friend than foe, depending.
There will be more, too. Expect something twisted and freaky for Mage, and you know I wouldn't let Werewolf lose out on some Night Horrors action (and no, I'm not counting that as one of the next couple of actual Werewolf books upcoming). It's a neat idea, and we're looking to support it with a decent amount of effort, though not to detract from the lines themselves. There are going to be a ton more story hooks and morsels of rich setting information when these books hit.
Are you excited? I'm excited.
Man muss ziemlich viele Bücher durchschmöckeren um Beispiele zu finden.
