Review: World of Darkness

Firstly, I hated reading this book. I hated it because this is a new edition of the Storyteller rules, which I know quite well, and therefore knew most of this book already. However, as with different versions of d20 (and, indeed, Storyteller in the past), there are enough small differences to make reading the whole again necessary. There are also a significant number of fairly large differences as well.

Putting that aside, let's look at the book itself - my enjoyment in reading it has no bearing whatsoever on the actual content or utility of the book, and those are the important qualities. World of Darkness is a 222-page black and white hardback book. It cost £12 (I think - I bought a lot of game books that day).

The first thing to note is that this book is almost entirely given over to rules. There is very little setting information here. This is both good and bad. It's good because I don't need to read three slightly different interpretations of the rules in Vampire, Werewolf and Mage, and because this book now acts in essentially the same manner as d20 Modern - it's a foundation on which you can play basically any type of modern-era game you want. It's bad because it's quite dull, and there's not much indication of how to use it (in specific terms).

What mood there is in the game indicates a kind of X-Files meets Cthulhu style, which is nice. Certainly, this is a better foundation for that type of game than d20, which suffers inevitably from D&D-ism.

The game calls itself a Storytelling game, rather than a Storyteller game, to distinguish itself from previous editions. But, really, what's in a name? If you know Vampire, Exalted or Trinity, you know this system.

The basics of rolling dice are the same. Success is granted on an 8 or above, 10's are rerolled, and 1's do not subtract successes. In effect, then, each die in your pool counts for 0.33333333. Effectively, you should roll one success for every 3 dice (averaged across an infinite number of rolls). The maths here are very neat, and although it's not mentioned, a Storyteller could speed the game considerably by just assuming automatic successes on that ratio.

Modifiers apply to dice pools, and when modifiers reduce a dice pool to 0 or fewer dice, the character can still attempt a chance roll, which is the roll of a single die, succeeding only on a 10 (which can then be rerolled). If a 1 is rolled (on this roll only), the character botches.

Finally, a character who scores 5 or more successes scores a dramatic success.

Character traits work in a manner familiar to those who've used old games, except that characters have a variable number of Health levels, based on Stamina (mostly). Wound penalties apply only when the character is almost out of Health, which is good.

In addition to the usual Attributes and Abilities, characters may take Merits, which are the equivalent of the old Backgrounds, with the addition of Mental and Physical merits, such as Two-Weapon Fighting. These are all handled very nicely.

But, perhaps the place where the changes to the system are most notable is in combat. Previously, Storyteller combat could really drag, with each attack requiring four dice rolls to handle (attack, dodge, damage and soak). This has been much reduced, to a single roll.

An attack uses the appropriate attack skill (Dex + Firearms or Str + Brawl or Weaponry). Bonus dice are added based on weapons used (a Glock is +2, a shotgun +4). Dice are then subtracted for Armour, cover, Defense, and any other means of resisting or avoiding damage. Each success on the attack roll is then a single Health level of damage done.

This is an excellent system, much faster than the old, and generally to the good. It will take a while to get used to, but will be worth the effort (sucks for Exalted, though, since that's now gone from using the best version of the Storyteller rules to using a set that's notably worse than the best).

The sense I get from the combat rules is that they're very deadly, which is distinctly appropriate for a horror game. For a more cinematic game, you'd probably need to boost Defense values or Health levels somehow.

Three other things leapt out at me:

Spending a point of Willpower adds 3 dice to your pool, rather than adding an automatic success. This is a good thing, I think, although it's mathematically equivalent in most cases.

Dice pools can't be split. You get one action in a turn of combat (presumably, Celerity will grant more - I'll know once I've read Vampire). This is also a huge benefit, as it speeds combat a lot more. As noted above, Two-weapon fighting is a merit, and is handled without splitting pools.

There are several elements that are taken from, or reminiscent of, d20. Initiative is rolled once per combat. The combat system is similar to attack roll vs. AC, with Health instead of HP, although uses even fewer rolls (more dice, though). There's a Fighting Finesse merit, which applies a character's Dex instead of Str to attack rolls with a specific melee weapon. Not that any of these are bad things, they just amused me.

Overall, although I hated reading this book, it does provide the best version of the Storyteller rules. It's also a book I can see myself using heavily, in much the same manner as d20 Modern (perhaps more for one-offs than campaigns, unless Vampire blows me away). It's a good set of rules, a good book, and recommended.