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 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 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...

 Welcome or welcome back to the blog. It's Sunday, which means we're talking about Werewolf: the Apocalypse. Today we're specifically going to discuss street level horror.  The streets are where many World of Darkness games hold their own and there's a strong attraction to keeping games down on that level, where things feel raw and visceral. For Werewolf, this puts your characters at the metaphorical coal face of horror, with gangs, crime, deprivation, and squalor. It's something the noir atmosphere the game evokes fits really strongly and points to the small things in life being significant. The dirty streets, the corruption and the grind permeate the setting. In the same way that classic noir often focuses on the division between the boardroom and the streets, there's a systemic element to this horror, neglect and callousness that flows from the top of the skyscraper down onto the streets. Corruption, physical and spiritual, follows that, infecting the streets...

 Welcome back to the blog and to the regular discussion of Werewolf: The Apocalypse.  This week, I'll be diving into three more Pentex subsidiaries focused on health and wellness. I explained why I wanted to do this in the last blog, but it more or less boils down to being struck how odd it was to me that there was nothing connecting Pentex to this area. This is an attempt to change that.  The first blog post detailed a health food chain, a luxury mineral salts company, and a New Age and Witchcraft book publisher and how they serve the Wyrm. Today we'll learn about an essential oils 'direct marketing' company, an online yoga business, and a men's health company.  Buckle up, this is a long one.  Eden's Blessing Essential Oils A 'Direct Marketing' Company based out of Cedar City, Utah, Eden's Blessing was founded in the late 19th Century. Initially created by two Mormon families, the Blacklocks and the Ellis', the company began as a producer of ano...