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View Full Version : [nWoD] Advise and ideas for first game...



Ichneumon
2010-05-20, 01:30 AM
My gaming group and I are constantly looking to do try new systems/new genres and basically, we're now interested in doing a game of nWoD.

However, as chances are we'll only play it for maybe 1 session, (most likely lasting between 3-5 hours), I'm a bit unsure what kind of adventure I should prepare. I'm completely without inspiration and the things I can come up with seem very complicated and it is unlikely the adventure with find "closure" after one session. I also want the story to be "classic" or at least somewhat representative of what nWoD games have to offer.

So, can someone give me advise/tips/ideas on creating a short nWoD "story"?

We'll only have excess to the core nWoD book, so none of the Vampire, Mage or Werewolves books.

Altair_the_Vexed
2010-05-20, 02:28 AM
The core book only gives you normal mortal humans, and ghosts, if I recall rightly.

So - if it were me - I'd look at making a story where the PCs are hassled by a ghost, possibly the ghost of one of their buddies, who you establish right at the beginning of the session, before killing them off.
Maybe the ghost want the PCs to enact revenge, because they were murdered.

Clichéd, sure - but a few twists would be easy to add.
Maybe the ghost's killer only did it by accident, but the ghost manipulates the PCs in to acting - kind of like in Momento, but without the amnesia thing.
Maybe the ghost was mixed up in something bigger, like some drugs ring lead by a vampire (who the PCs don't need to meet just yet...) so you can hook the PCs to a campaign.

Reluctance
2010-05-20, 02:40 AM
If it's just a one-shot with the core book, go for a Scooby Doo. Something wacky and supernatural-seeming is happening, the characters have to get to the bottom of it, and in the end it turns out to be something entirely mundane. Go all investigative and plot-based, if your players are into that sort of thing.

Alternatively, supernatural thingamajobber has a cult, and said cult has stolen valuable item/kidnapped important person for use in its rites. Let the supernatural be either too weak to fully manifest physically, or else aloof and only using the cult for money/blood/worship/whatever. (In other words, the head honcho doesn't show up.) Add weird flavor to the cultists to make them seem just a little unnatural, and you've got a creepy action one-shot right there.

White_North
2010-05-20, 04:00 AM
The core book is really all you need for a one-shot. A mortal core one-shot can make for a fantastic game. Now, as starting advice, I'd advise you to tell you what character concepts they want to play before the actual session. That way, you can tailor the plot-hook to their character's profession or role. It'll get them rolling faster and make them more involved in the game.

Now, hauntings are my favourite way to kick off a WoD game. By nature, they're scary, very plot-oriented and the players really have to understand their villain (the ghost) in order to be able to defeat him. They have to find out why the ghost is here, how it became what it is and what it wants in order to be able to find its anchor and exorcise it. There's an anime series called Mononoke (which I highly recommend for inspiration) in which the main character has to find three things about spirits in order to exorcise them: Form (what kind of creature it is), Reason (what made it into a ghost) and Regret (why it does what it does). That three-part model is a great format to model ghosts on and for players to gradually uncover. So yeah, hauntings are a classic scenario, make for great creepy moments and are deeply involving for players. Can't think of a better thing for the first game.

Also, I'd advise against anything big. As in, I wouldn't recommend the first game be about a demonic cult about to complete a ritual which would destroy the city and the players have to stop it. Keep it small and private. That way, they'll really have the feeling that what they did, though good, was just a small flicker of light in the middle of an ocean of shadows. Classic WoD feel. I know it sounds defeatist, but that's a major theme of the game, and it can be incredibly fun if the players are willing to play into it.

misterk
2010-05-20, 06:06 AM
Horror is always fun to do in WOD, and bear in mind that the threats don't even need to be supernatural- there are scary humans around in this world after all. As with all one shots, your characters need clear motivations and goals (even if those are "survive the monster chasing us!"), as going off the rails doesn't really work in that situation.

Try to not make too much combat- wod is at its best outside of combat, and combat tends to be exceedingly lethal- the majority of humans simply won't be able to last more than a couple of rounds against a fellow with a knife, and if theres no-one around with dots of medicine they'll very quickly bleed to death.

Ichneumon
2010-05-20, 03:17 PM
Thanks for all your replies. They are all very helpful.

I think I'll try a haunting story.

I'll first ask the characters to decide what characters they'd like to play and ask them to make up a reason why they know each other and why they'd be traveling together (holiday, going to a gaming convention or some other reason). I'll begin the story when they're in a storm in the middle of nowhere and can only get to a mansion and then, well, stuff happens, maybe a bit like in The Shining. That's my current idea anyway. Still need to work out the rest. I want to give them a reason to go to the mansion and a goal, maybe make it thus that they have to go, where-ever that is, in time, maybe they have to get a plane or such. They want to use a phone or whatever. So they get to the mansion and 1 want to leave as soon as possible, but obviously they can't easily do that because of the weather. Haven't decided yet if there will be someone living in the mansion.

Semidi
2010-05-20, 03:47 PM
Here's a one shot I've wanted to run for a long time.

Group stays in an out of the way house (think slightly classier than Evil Dead). But then the roads go out due to a wind storm. Weird crap starts happening. Implicate that it might be a ghost doing it all or some kind of monster. But no, it's a psychokiller who's moving around using secret passages through the walls of house and attempting to kill the players one by one. After a player is dead, they get to come in as another character after a few minutes (like an investigating cop, a nearby neighbor, and so on). Some of these people have motives of their own and might even be in with the killer.

Insert horror. Mix. Serve over a period of three to four hours.

Lost Wanderer
2010-05-20, 08:45 PM
Here's a one shot I've wanted to run for a long time.

Group stays in an out of the way house (think slightly classier than Evil Dead). But then the roads go out due to a wind storm. Weird crap starts happening. Implicate that it might be a ghost doing it all or some kind of monster. But no, it's a psychokiller who's moving around using secret passages through the walls of house and attempting to kill the players one by one. After a player is dead, they get to come in as another character after a few minutes (like an investigating cop, a nearby neighbor, and so on). Some of these people have motives of their own and might even be in with the killer.

Insert horror. Mix. Serve over a period of three to four hours.

This sounds like a really cool idea... for an experienced group playing pregenerated characters.

Anyway, a couple of things. First off, pregenerated characters are great for WoD one-shots; you don't have to much spend time establishing your character to yourself, because your character has the basics mapped out in advance, right in front of you. This also has the advantages of giving the ST control over the likely amount of inter-group conflict, and preventing someone from trying to play a concept vastly at odds with the other characters/story.

If your players are strongly of the D&D-style character building and optimization school and chafe at the idea of not being able to make exactly the character they want exactly how they want it.... well, the WoD probably isn't for them. Even so, explain that pre-gens aren't there to tell them how to play there character, just what their character is. They can spin given background and personality traits any way they like, and of course add some of their own. Also, the WoD is more about exploration and character dynamics than killing people and taking their stuff (though that does happen). Do make that clear; having a group that is full of people with Firearms/Brawl/Melee 4 and no one with any noteworthy Mental or Social skills is a recipe for disaster.

As for the "Classic WoD feel", well, no small part of that feel is playing a supernatural creature in the modern world, as is fighting supernatural threats. While a "completely mundane people battle completely mundane psycho killer" is doable and could easily be interesting, its not really a showcase of the WoD's focus or most interesting aspects.

If you decide to go the route of writing your own story for a bunch of mundanes, both the Haunted House and Mysterious Cult plots are classic. I recommend combining them, though: Cult has set up in an old mansion while trying to recover a lost book of Dark Magic while the Ghost, who was killed by the book of Dark Magic, is trying to kill the cultists to sate the evil of the book and be spiritually free of its influence.

That said, I do recommend playing as some kind of supernatural, probably vampires, as they're easiest to understand, and the most "classic", being the very game the old WoD was built on. It seems you didn't know that WW has freely available quickstart rules, along with pregenerated characters and a short Chronicle for each type of supernatural. You can find them here (http://www.white-wolf.com/downloads.php?category_id=6). They take take 5 or 6 sessions to do in their entirety, but the opening parts are written to try to grab player interest.

Ichneumon
2010-05-21, 12:04 AM
Well, I am kind-a torn about the option of playing a supernatural. It has a certain appeal: it has pregenerated characters, it has an example adventure (which is good, so I can get used to the style of nWod, as a DM/ST) and it is more fun for the players, likely! The disadvantage is that I'll have to buy an extra book, if we want to go this route and stay with vampires/werewolves or whatever things they want to play. I also doubt that if they play vampires or werewolves now, they'll ever want to "regular" mortal again.:smalltongue:

White_North
2010-05-21, 01:13 AM
Well, I am kind-a torn about the option of playing a supernatural. It has a certain appeal: it has pregenerated characters, it has an example adventure (which is good, so I can get used to the style of nWod, as a DM/ST) and it is more fun for the players, likely! The disadvantage is that I'll have to buy an extra book, if we want to go this route and stay with vampires/werewolves or whatever things they want to play. I also doubt that if they play vampires or werewolves now, they'll ever want to "regular" mortal again.:smalltongue:

Quite honestly, I'd advise against supernaturals for a first game. They undeniably are fun and are part of the ''essential'' WoD experience, but running WoD with mortals only has an undeniable advantage: you get to give your players a real impression of what the game world is like, from the bottom of the food chain. When you're a mortal, you don't have fancy abilities, you don,t last long in a fight and, more importantly, you get to see what it's like to be in a world where every shadow wants to devour you. That is, after all, the essential premise of the world of darkness. Mortals provide a great introduction, as the players are gradually awakened to the supernatural elements of the world. If you want to run supernaturals, I'd advise starting with a game of mortals, then introducing them to the WoD before making them part of it. That's even recommended by the core book, I believe.

If you want pregenerated adventures, I heartily recommend a book called ''Ghost Stories''. It's essentially a collection of hauntings to run your players through as mortals. All of them are original, creepy and involving, as they range from the ''haunted house'' scenario to a sort of Wild West Silent-Hill-like ghost town. All in all, a great book and worth every penny.