Looking for advice for running WoD as a medieval fantasy

[Typewriter]

So, my DM has chosen to use the WoD roleplaying system for our next campaign even though it's a fairly standard fantasy setting.

Does anyone have any thoughts, or know of any conversions for running such a thing? A few random thoughts:

Firearms becomes archery
Computers becomes ????
Driving becomes Ride???
A good axe in a modern setting costs 3 resources, and other 'old' melee weapons are also expensive - should these prices change since they'd be more common in a medieval fantasy setting?
If magic is common place, then are there downsides to things like Mage? The paradox system is based entirely around castin magic around people who don't know it exists isn't it?
What about other systems? Does the Masquerade still have a mechanical affect on the game? If so, what if it's not in effect?

I'm rambling a bit, some of these probably sound inane, but I'm just curious as to what hiccups or problems people have run into with such a thing. For now we're starting as just plain humans, but we may get 'stuff' added to us later. I figure someone may have written a conversion or something at some point, and I know of no better group to ask that GiantITP :)

Thanks for any inputs.

[TheCountAlucard]

Long story short? Check the Mirrors supplement. It's got a lot of helpful stuff.

A little more drawn-out answer follows...


So, my DM has chosen to use the WoD roleplaying system for our next campaign even though it's a fairly standard fantasy setting.Define "standard fantasy setting." There's several different things that could go under - sword & sorcery, "high" fantasy, et cetera.


Firearms becomes archery
Computers becomes ????
Driving becomes Ride???It's been suggested that four skills would thus be changed, replaced as follows:


Remove the Computer, Science, Drive, and Firearms Skills from your character sheet. Replace them with the following Skills:
Religion (Mental): This Skill acquaints a character with religious symbols, doctrines, customs, and hierarchies. Use it to impersonate clergy or perform proper rites.
Warfare (Mental): This is the Skill of leading ancient troops into battle, planning their movements and reacting to enemy ploys. Resolve unimportant battles with opposed Intelligence + Warfare rolls, with significant modifiers for troop strength, experience, and equipment.
Archery (Physical): Athletics no longer covers bows and crossbows. This skill does. Roll Dexterity + Archery to attack.
Ride (Physical): Use this Skill to ride a horse at anything faster than a slow trot. Roll Dexterity + Ride to stay in the saddle during dangerous situations, or Composure + Mount to urge a mount in the right direction. Use Animal Ken for a horse and cart.


A good axe in a modern setting costs 3 resources, and other 'old' melee weapons are also expensive - should these prices change since they'd be more common in a medieval fantasy setting?Probably, but not by much - means of mass-production generally aren't a thing in fantasy settings, after all.


If magic is common place, then are there downsides to things like Mage? The paradox system is based entirely around castin magic around people who don't know it exists isn't it?Not quite - there's a little more to it than that, really, but I'll defer to someone more versed in Mage for a proper explanation.


What about other systems? Does the Masquerade still have a mechanical affect on the game?I don't see why it wouldn't - photographs generally don't exist in fantasy settings, and it's part of the staple trope to have vampires have odd results when it comes to reflections...


If so, what if it's not in effect?Well, for vampires, the impact would be minimal. "I have a reflection as normal" doesn't mean a hell of a lot.

On the other hand, that'd make massive changes for werewolves and Lunacy... :smalleek:

[Kenneth]

not that I am an expert, havign just glaced over teh New World of darkness rules set, but it seems to be the same thing as the Old Wolrd of Darkness rules with a completely different fluff, but again just want to point out. I just glanced over them.


if the overal rules are not so different i know of at least 1 book White Wolf came out with that dealt with midieval setting vampire: the dark ages.

also isn't exalted kinda what you are looking for? or is it Scion that I am thinking of?

[Sanguine]

also isn't exalted kinda what you are looking for? or is it Scion that I am thinking of?

Exalted is not standard medieval fantasy. Standard medieval fantasy isn't based on a fusion of Greeko-Roman Mythology, Wuxia, and Eastern Mythology. Also playing mortals in an Exalted game is usually not recommended. Unless you like bleeding to death after you win the fight. As for Scion, it defaults to a modern setting.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

not that I am an expert, havign just glaced over teh New World of darkness rules set, but it seems to be the same thing as the Old Wolrd of Darkness rules with a completely different fluff, but again just want to point out. I just glanced over them.


if the overal rules are not so different i know of at least 1 book White Wolf came out with that dealt with midieval setting vampire: the dark ages.
The overall rules are quite different. They streamlined a lot of the oWoD rules, and also distilled out the core rules into a book of its own, called "World of Darkness". The core WoD book plus Armory pretty much has enough material to run a medieval game. WoD (with a little skill-tweaking) provides the base framework, and Armory gives a few fighting styles that are apropos to medieval times. (Or is it Armory Reloaded I'm thinking of?) Then just slot in whatever supernatural splats and fluff you want.

The great thing about nWoD is that it's very modular. Pick your splats, and run with it.

[comicshorse]

As mentioned White Wolf did several lines of books for alternate time periods for their games. For Vampire it was Dark Ages which would probably be the most useful ones. Although the Mage setting was set in the Renaissance (Mage: Sorcerer's Crusade).
This was OWoD so the rules will be different but lots of the ideas and backgrounds would be usable

[Typewriter]

Aight, I'll take a look at a few of those books when I get the chance. I think the skill replacements are good as well.

Thanks.

[The Glyphstone]

Yeah, we'll be giving you entirely different answers depending on if you're doing New World or Old World of Darkness.

[Yuki Akuma]

No, Paradox is not just a result of people seeing magic being performed. Not by a long shot.

Basically, in the mythic past, the world was broken. It separated the Supernal Realm - the source of magic - from the material world, and the Abyss rushed in to fill the gap.

The Abyss is basically anti-reality - whereas the Supernal is True Reality. When you call down the laws of the True Reality to the Fallen World (which is what Awakened magic is), it has to pass through the Abyss. The Abyss does not like this, so if you're not careful, it can lash out at you.

Sleepers - mortals, that is - can make it worse, because each of them has a shard of the Abyss in their souls. They can turn Covert spells (which don't usually cause Paradox) into Vulgar spells (which always do) if the spell is obviously magical. They can also cause spells to end by looking at them - such as turning an imp back into a rat.

This last effect is called Disbelief, and relies on the mortal not believing it can really be happening. So you can get away with a lot more in a medieval fantasy setting, assuming laypeople believe in magic and miracles and such.

[Typewriter]

It's NWoD, just to clarify.

I really love the system, but have only ran it once, and the guy who is running this campaign I don't think has ever played it.

Another quick question, this one isn't setting/medieval based - it's about defense/dodge.

So your defense is the lower of wits or dex, and your dodge is double your defense - I get that. What confuses me is that there are several things that add to defense, but don't seem to double when you dodge? Shields only add +1 when you dodge, willpower adds 2 to the doubled number, not the starting number.

My interpretation of this is this:
Your character a defense rating. This is the lower of his wits or dex.
A shield has a defense rating. This is usually two.

When you dodge you double the characters defense rating. If he has a shield you then add it's defense on at the end, but it doesn't double because it is not part of the characters defense, it is just something he is using.

???

[battleburn]

I also haven't had time to read those rules yet, but I would say that dodging is jumping/rolling out of the way, or hiding behind natural cover. A shield would make you less flexible, giving you a -1 penalty on your dex, not on your wits. So if the penalty makes your dex the lowest score, it would make dodging even more difficult. But in the end. Holding a shield helps to cover part of your body, thus giving you a final bonus.

If you really want to fully use the shield, don't dodge, but block. You can use your sword/axe/melee weapon and shield to block attacks. If a shield would give you a normal plus one bonus. Double that bonus for blocking.

Again, this is without having seen the rules on nWoD battles.

-Battleburn

[Yuki Akuma]

In nWoD, "Dodge" means "focus on defense". It can be flavoured in any way you like.

[pasko77]

No, Paradox is not just a result of people seeing magic being performed. Not by a long shot.

Basically, in the mythic past, the world was broken. It separated the Supernal Realm - the source of magic - from the material world, and the Abyss rushed in to fill the gap.

The Abyss is basically anti-reality - whereas the Supernal is True Reality. When you call down the laws of the True Reality to the Fallen World (which is what Awakened magic is), it has to pass through the Abyss. The Abyss does not like this, so if you're not careful, it can lash out at you.

Sleepers - mortals, that is - can make it worse, because each of them has a shard of the Abyss in their souls. They can turn Covert spells (which don't usually cause Paradox) into Vulgar spells (which always do) if the spell is obviously magical. They can also cause spells to end by looking at them - such as turning an imp back into a rat.

This last effect is called Disbelief, and relies on the mortal not believing it can really be happening. So you can get away with a lot more in a medieval fantasy setting, assuming laypeople believe in magic and miracles and such.

OMG. How I hate the new fluff.

[Kiero]

Firearms becomes archery

I'd also move throwing weapons out of Athletics, or Archery is a pretty anaemic skill covering very few weapons. Would crossbows and slings be covered under Archery?


Computers becomes ????

I'd just ditch it, there is no analogy and unless you're really wedded to the notion of having an equal number under each you don't need it.

If you must, you could always put literacy in its place.


Driving becomes Ride???

Yep, simple change. It's already part of Driving anyway.


A good axe in a modern setting costs 3 resources, and other 'old' melee weapons are also expensive - should these prices change since they'd be more common in a medieval fantasy setting?


Worth distinguishing between "war" weapons and tools repurposed as weapons. A woodsman's axe doesn't cost as much as a warrior's saddle axe, for example. Nor for that matter is it as well designed for the purpose of penetrating armour.


also isn't exalted kinda what you are looking for? or is it Scion that I am thinking of?

If you want an awful, kludgy and horribly broken system, sure. No matter what else you might think of nWoD, the system at least fixes most of the problems inherent in the various spins of Storyteller (including Exalted and Scion, which don't change it much and magnify the problems).

[Yuki Akuma]

OMG. How I hate the new fluff.

You can hate it all you like, but did you really need to quote my entire post to say so?

[pasko77]

You can hate it all you like, but did you really need to quote my entire post to say so?

U mad?
I didn't think it was a problem. I apologize if I broke some rule i'm not aware of.

[Story Time]

Would crossbows and slings be covered under Archery?

Archery is the method of using a tool. The tool provides the aiming mechanism and the propelling power. Therefore bows, rifles, blow-guns, pistols, and sling-shots are the fire-arms skill...archery in this case. Slings, atl-atls, lacrosse sticks, pole-slings, nets, and lariats would then all fall under throwing as the human body provides the aim and the propelling power. Weaponry, of course, would be for melee tools which are not ranged.