Shores of Night

 Welcome back to the blog, or welcome if you are new. This is Shores of Night, where we talk about Werewolf: The Apocalypse on Sundays. As usual, I'm assuming the reader has some familiarity with the game, if only because otherwise I don't see why you'd be reading about it. (If you are new to the world of Werewolf, let me know and check out my initial pieces which attempt to serve as an introduction to this version of the World of Darkness). I'm referencing the 20th Anniversary Edition of the game, and haven't invested in 5th Edition. I'm still on the fence about buying it, to be honest.  Recently, we've been talking about cities in the game, as the urban often runs contradictory to the ways in which the Garou operate. We've already discussed elements like sensory overload and the hostility of the Urban Umbra to the werewolves. Cities are not the Garou Nation's friends, they're strongholds of the Enemy. A Garou pack here must be canny and self re...

 Welcome back or welcome to the blog if you're new.  Firstly, let me apologise - I'm really not hitting those Wednesday pieces at the moment and I think it's probably fair to say that world building posts are going to drop at the weekend for the foreseeable future. I'll try to get back on track, as soon as I can but life is taking things in a less than brilliant direction of late.  With that in mind, I want to take this week to post a more personal piece reflecting on what's going on in the news. Inevitably, that means talking about the USA, because of course the events there are dominating the headlines and overshadowing things that the UK government is doing.  My Political Beliefs To be upfront about my perspective, I lean left politically and while I've always seen myself as being on the centre left, I oppose the rightwards drift we've seen since the start of the 21st Century. I do believe that the state should provide a safety net for people and that cla...

 Welcome back to the blog, or welcome for the first time if you're new.  This is Shores of Night where I, your humble servant, talk about Werewolf: the Apocalypse on Sundays. At present, we're dipping into the nature of cities and street level threats in the game, and of course the Umbra is an integral part of the game, so we need to discuss it's nature in cities. While we know what the Umbra is like, we also know that cities and other urban areas are often Blights, and that they are dominated by the Weaver. Many Garou view them as enemy territory, not just because they're home to vampires but also because the Wyrm and Weaver have such a strong influence. The werewolves who make their homes in the city live an uncomfortable life, always conscious of walking a thin line between two worlds, and viewed with suspicion by many - or indeed most - of their peers. These Garou, be they Bone Gnawers, Glass Walkers, or just werewolves who find their mission takes them into the urb...

 Welcome back, or welcome to the blog if you're new.  It's a day for the World-Building series of blog posts, where we talk about making settings for writing, roleplaying games and for fun. Apologies for not posting this earlier this week, it's been a bit fraught! Today we'll be talking about the Essence of the Fantastic and how you can use magic, superpowers, science fiction technology and the like to reflect your creation's essence. I want to stress this isn't an easy thing to work out. While it's worthwhile, like all these elements it's entirely optional.  Whether you’re designing a fantasy epic, a sci-fi dystopia, or a superhero setting, these questions will help you align the Fantastic with the heart of your world. 1) What Is Your Creation's Core? Let's start with a difficult one, working out what lies at the heart of your world. Start by defining this and then work out what role the Fantastic plays in the world, how it can be used to illus...

 Welcome back to the blog, or welcome if you're new. It's lovely to have you here.  Sundays here are all about Werewolf: the Apocalypse , the eco-horror roleplaying game created by White Wolf Game Studio, and now published both by them and by Onyx Path Publishing. I focus on the latter's game, 20th Anniversary Edition, which consolidates so much of the original run into a number of excellent books as well as developing it in interesting directions. These blog pieces are partly analysis and commentary, but I'm also trying to make new opponents for the game, particularly where there are gaps that don't seem to make any sense. These may lead to me trying to publish a couple of small supplements on Storyteller's Vault , if enough people are interested (please let me know if you are).   As I've discussed elsewhere, Werewolf is a game that feels like it's only become more relevant as time's gone on. With Climate Change, materialism, and the growth of somet...