[NWoD] [CWoD] Antagonists and Enemies

[Elricaltovilla]

I was flipping through the New World of Darkness book "Antagonists" and was kind of a little disappointed. While the unique enemies they showed off in the book were cool, they didn't go into more depth about the antagonist groups/monsters in the rest of the game line at all.

Anyway, I'm curious what antagonist groups and characters you guys really like. NWoD or CWoD, doesn't matter. Made up or found in books, all are welcome. I just want to hear about great villains you guys find/use in your games. :smallsmile:

[Leliel]

Strix!

There's few better counterpoints to vampires than the demonic owls of Mars (the god, not the planet named after him).

[Elricaltovilla]

Strix!

There's few better counterpoints to vampires than the demonic owls of Mars (the god, not the planet named after him).

I have literally zero interest in vampire, but the Strix do sound intriguing. Which book are they in?

[Mr.Bookworm]

I have literally zero interest in vampire, but the Strix do sound intriguing. Which book are they in?

They first popped up Requiem for Rome. They were the ancient enemies of the Julii clan (Who? Exactly.).

They're basically owl spirits that may have had something to do with the creation of vampires and/or the Beast (and definitely had something to do with the Julii). They're capable of hijacking corpses (including vampires in torpor) and have some other vampirey powers. They're also basically sense junkies; in their spirit form, they obviously can't feel anything, so they do their mojo to experience "life", of sorts.

They also have a write-up in one of the antagonist books that introduced them to the modern day, I believe, but I remember it being pretty disappointing; it was all "Who are they? Nobody knows! What do they want? Nobody knows!" and so on and so forth. You're also completely incapable of fighting them, because they're spirits, and they seem to exist solely to screw with vampires for no particular.

[Leliel]

They first popped up Requiem for Rome. They were the ancient enemies of the Julii clan (Who? Exactly.).

They're basically owl spirits that may have had something to do with the creation of vampires and/or the Beast (and definitely had something to do with the Julii). They're capable of hijacking corpses (including vampires in torpor) and have some other vampirey powers. They're also basically sense junkies; in their spirit form, they obviously can't feel anything, so they do their mojo to experience "life", of sorts.

They also have a write-up in one of the antagonist books that introduced them to the modern day, I believe, but I remember it being pretty disappointing; it was all "Who are they? Nobody knows! What do they want? Mu!" and so on and so forth. You're also mostly incapable of fighting them, because they're spirits, and they seem to exist solely to screw with vampires for no particular reason other than they think it's fun.

Fixed it. The Strix have no greater purpose, so trying to assign a race motivation is an exercise in futility. What a Strix wants is a different story, but the Owls are masterminds and bogeymen, and should be treated on an individual basis. Nor are they invincible-they're very, very hard to kill, but they're even more vulnerable to sunlight and fire since it paralyzes them as well as melts them, and contrary to what every single person in the world seems to think, they're not spirits. They're spirit-like, and they're made of smoke and ash which can't be normally touched, but otherwise they're physical beings.

Also, there's a reason the Strix Chronicles, the God-Machine Chronicle rules update for Vampire, is called that. They get a whole chapter (out of ten plus an appendix, don't fret) to themselves, wherein their psyche and modern agenda is examined, as well as making them less overpowered (dev spoilers say they have a power stat, and at lower levels they simply cannot do the possession gig at all, let alone of vampires).

[Aron Times]

Well, the reason why nWoD books don't go into too much detail is so that it doesn't step on individual STs toes. Each of the various splats have contradictory elements within the various splatbooks.

For example, in Vampire: the Requiem, the Malkovians are a Ventrue bloodline descended from a mysterious, insane, Patient Zero type of Kindred named Malkov. However, in Ventrue: Lord's Over the Damned, Malkavians are a Ventrue bloodline descended from Malkav, or they're vampires infected with Malkavia, a contagious vampiric disease which results in insanity and extra-sensory perception, mostly the former.

Another example is the mysterious covenant known only as VII (Seven), so called because attempting to read their minds shows a mental image of the number 7 and nothing else. Their splatbook outright states that it is up to individual STs what the real story of VII is. The book presents three mutually exclusive origins: 1. They're demon worshippers, 2. They're otherwise normal vampires who bear a centuries old grudge against mainstream Kindred, or 3. They're victims of a mind control experiment that got out of control, and they assimilate new Kindred into their ranks, all unaware that they're doing so.

So yeah, that was longer an explanation than I thought. I hope this clarifies some stuff for you. :smallsmile:

[Elricaltovilla]

Well it's one thing to offer multiple explanations for a group's origin/motivations, but a lot of them sound more like they're offering no explanation at all.

I think my favorite antagonists are the True Fae from Changeling: The Lost and the Lemurians from the fanmade Genius: The Transgression.

The True Fae are cool because they're so overwhelmingly strong, they make awesome storyline villains, especially if your ST can do Blue and Orange morality well.

I like the Lemurians because I love mad scientists, snakes and crazy conspiracy theories. So these guys are just right up my alley.

[Aron Times]

My favorite part about the True Fae is that:

They're actually the "mature form" of changelings. Basically, when a changeling hits Wyrd 10, they quickly lose Clarity until they reach 0, at which point they make a beeline for Arcadia and become True Fae.

Also, kidnapping and abusing changelings is the True Fae reproductive cycle.