Page 201 - World of Darkness

This first story merely plants a seed for future discov- In the end, Dan has no idea what’s going on, but he
ery and terror; the character is gradually indoctrinated into knows that something inexplicable has happened to his
the true realm of the supernatural. He may eventually girlfriend and now to him. The question is, what? And
prove to be one of the monsters himself, when he’s ready what can he do about it? And most importantly, what was
to “evolve” into one of them or by being turned forcibly. that thing?
Or he may see just enough to make him obsess over the Dan has glimpsed through the veil that conceals the
truth and finally immerse himself into a reality that he World of Darkness, and he can never be the same again.
was not meant to know. Whether he welcomes the other Terrified, yet unable to fully deny what he has discovered,
side or declares war on it is his decision. What is certain is he investigates further, being drawn in deeper. That, or
that his former, unenlightened, uninformed existence is he flees and tries to block out what he knows, subjecting
gone forever. himself to nightmares for the rest of his life.
Regardless of Dan’s response, there is another, larger
Sample Story question: Has he piqued the interest of the thing, and will
it let him escape what he knows?
Having shown you the possibilities of a first story, it’s
time to give an example of how such a story might work. Story Ideas
This sample takes the ideas previously discussed and opens
the door to the World of Darkness. Once you’ve run your preliminary story, you can move
Bill is running a game in which a character named on to new stories and even begin a chronicle of intercon-
Dan is the focus. Dan is a completely ordinary guy — a nected tales. Here are some ideas you can use to get started,
college student with a girlfriend — who is exposed to the but feel free to create your own. All these stories involve
hidden truth. Bill decides that Dan’s girlfriend is a source mortals who just begin to realize that their world is more
of blood for a vampire. The creature returns to her over sinister and ominous than previously imagined. If they
and over and ensnares her in a perverse pseudo-sexual re- become fully inducted into the supernatural world, use
lationship of which she is only barely aware. That’s the the story ideas provided in Vampire, Werewolf or Mage.
premise for Dan’s first story of discovery. • The Mysterious Benefactor: The characters come
In the initial encounter phase of the story, Bill re- to realize that someone is looking out for them, someone
lates various instances in which Dan notices strange be- they don’t know. Their debts are paid off by this unknown
havior in his girlfriend. She sleeps with the window open agent. Job offers appear from nowhere. Invitations to im-
in the middle of winter. She misses dates and grows dis- portant social events show up in the mail. They might
tant. Her grades decline and she loses interest in study- even find that this person has warded them from danger
ing. She slows and then stops attending parties and stu- of one sort or another, such as by having a rival arrested
dent functions. Essentially, she half-knowingly pines for before he can take vengeance on them. Who is this per-
the invasive predator that feeds upon and satisfies her. son and why does he help them? Does he want something
Taken individually, none of the girlfriend’s behavior from them, or is he an immortal who swore to their an-
would be terribly alarming, but taken as a whole it points cestors centuries ago that he would protect their descen-
to something wrong. From his limited perspective, Dan dants? Even if the characters never uncover their
suspects that his girlfriend is cheating on him. In the ex- benefactor’s identity, investigating him is enough to draw
ploration phase of the story, he inquires after his girlfriend’s them into many mysteries.
behavior with her friends. They agree that she’s been act- • The Strange Happenings in the Abandoned
ing odd and some say they’ve found her wandering the House: The characters hear many urban legends about
dorm or campus late at night. In truth, her tormentor’s an old house near their neighborhood (or perhaps it’s an
visits have declined and she has taken to looking for him, abandoned warehouse or penthouse apartment). These
although she can’t precisely identify what she seeks. stories involve disappearing children and strange, animal-
After a confrontation and argument with his girl- like howls from the basement. If they investigate, no sign
friend, Dan decides to observe her. He follows her as she of any missing children can be found; it’s a hoax. Or is it?
leaves her building late that night and he seeks to catch Closer inspection might reveal a few parents, bereaved
her in the act. Before he can, however, she disappears down but unwilling to talk about the loss of their children. What
a walkway and is gone, as if vanished. Dan searches in are they so afraid of that they would remain silent about
vain and returns to her dorm. He finds her half-conscious their kids’ disappearance?
in bed, naked, the window open and blood on her sheets. • The Recurring Nightmare: The characters suffer
Enraged, he moves to vent his jealousy when he is thrown a series of nightmares, all around the same theme — some-
across the room by an unseen hand. Before Dan knows thing horrible glimpsed at night, a flash of teeth or claws,
what’s happening, he’s forced out of the room and across blood and screams, but nothing else. Why do these im-
the hall, his mind reeling. And that is the last thing he ages recur? And why do they all share the same dream?
remembers. He comes back to his senses in his own dorm Investigation reveals that none of them can account for
room, curled in the fetal position, with no idea how or their activities on a certain night last week, as if their
when he returned. memories have been erased. Further investigation reveals

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Chapter 8- STORYTELLING