World of Darkness: Innocents

[Christopher Ashe]

It's been a long damn time since I picked up a gaming book in a store and found myself sitting there a half hour or so later, still reading it. White Wolf used to do that to me when I was younger and Vampire: the Masquerade had just hit second edition. It doesn't happen that often these days.

World of Darkness: Innocents changed that.

I scoffed a bit, because I have what is now a rather rare copy of an incredible game called Little Fears and I thought this was a rip off of that: it's basically rules for playing kids/adolescents/teens in the World of Darkness...and surviving. I kept reading and I found a hell of a game. I've been reading it tonight and man it rocks so far.

If you see a copy, I recommend giving it at least the introduction, if not buying it outright. I'm not a huge storyteller system fan from the technical perspective, but those White Wolf boys do know how to spin a creepy yarn here and there or at least provide great potential. Check it out, if you get the chance.

- Ashe

[Elune]

Ahh I though this was one by you :)


Thanks for the heads up -I will keep an eye out for it.
Since we currently have 7 (npc) children in our party and Luunie the ASA :p it might come in handy :)


I do like some of the White Wolf books - Vampire was an excellent game, though I was less keen on some of the other books.

[ThePainter]

I've never heard of it; WoD: Innocents, that is? Although if it's a new product that may simply be because I haven't noticed it as yet; I've rather fallen out of the habit of examining each new WoD product as it appears on the shelves. These days, I tend to only look at new WoD products if something about them catches my eye!

That being said, I'll keep an eye out for Innocents, a creepy tale is always interesting; although there's always the problem of whether that creepiness be translated into the game. Damn those inconvenient players, always asking awkward questions or otherwise interrupting when a poor innocent GM is trying to build suspense and atmosphere! Who needs them anyway.... :p

Children can indeed be very interesting in a game; if for no other reason than getting players into lots and lots of trouble! :)

PS: I assume that Little Fears is no longer available?

PPS: Nice to hear from you again Ashe.

[Christopher Ashe]

Damn those inconvenient players, always asking awkward questions or otherwise interrupting when a poor innocent GM is trying to build suspense and atmosphere!

Actually you can get by all that if you roll into it right - I had a one-night game I ran called "It creeps..." that I had plenty of tangent, but still managed to give the players nightmares and have one of my pros go "That's it man, I've had enough, this is too creepy." - there was no gore in this game btw ;)

The essence of running horror is very similar to telling a good joke - it's all about the setup and the delivery. Oddly enough I've always been good at scaring people out of their wits, but I'm not all that funny. It's the same in the music world: I study music theory, play several instruments and have a great sense of rhythm, but cannot dance to save my life.

Of course, I have an exceptional crew when I can get them together. One key aspect is that I generally play with people who can really step out of reality at a moment's notice: I'd put my gaming crew up against some of the best actors out there for their method and ability - that helps a lot. There's a lot to be said there, however, about the role of the GM in drawing the players into the scene in such away - at being able to hit them individually in that place that brings them deeply into their characters.

I run a different type of game, though. I'm intimately involved in the creation process and I make sure that any character I think is designed with a goofy or comedic intent has an angle that I can inflict serious drama on and bring them into 3D and whatnot.

I can ramble for hours about that stuff, though :) Perhaps soon I'll even have the time to do a feature or something.

[Christopher Ashe]

Oh and Little Fears is in fact out of print. Every now and then you can find a copy on Amazon or Ebay, but they can get pricey. Your exchange rate might help with that though ;)

[ThePainter]

The essence of running horror is very similar to telling a good joke

That's bad news; I've always been rubbish at telling jokes :( On the other hand I can sometimes manage to create a reasonable sense of drama and/or horror in a game. At any rate, I must be doing something right, as the players keep on coming back for more ... at least so far!


There's a lot to be said there, however, about the role of the GM in drawing the players into the scene

Yes indeed, the GM certainly sets the scene that the players react to. That being said, to me it’s all about characterisation, and even if the GM doesn’t present particularly interesting situations you can still have fun with your character.


Oh and Little Fears is in fact out of print ... Your exchange rate might help with that though

I'll keep an eye out for it, although I suspect the exchange rate will work against me at then moment ... no one seems to want the poor old pound sterling any more!

[Elune]

After a little digging around I did find Little Fears in pdf format - I must say it looks quite good from the short look I have had at it - wouldn't mind a real copy.