Page 23 - World of Darkness

“We have a little chat, you and I, and depending happen in the shadows. It’s my burden to keep
on how that goes, we’ll see.” them from burdening anyone else. Like the church
council that night. They were dimly aware of
“Should I ask who you are?”
what was happening and struggled to keep a
There was no answer. Instead, I felt the pressure newcomer in the dark, all the while straining
of a hand on my shoulder. Moving my eyes to the not to learn more than they already knew.
right brought slender fingers just into view.
Now that you’re here, I urge you to take on the
Pale fingernails with fine white hair on the
same mission.
knuckles. The sleeve of a white suit-jacket.
“Why do you do it?” So far my voice was fairly
steady. The Elements of Stylish
“Why does anyone do anything? We each have our
place in Creation. We all follow the roles we’re Horror
meant to play.” The hand left my shoulder. Its
This book presents rules for playing a type of
touch had been very light. “Something connects me
to this community. Something more precious than roleplaying game called Storytelling. In this type of game,
you can know.” the traditional elements of a story — theme, mood, plot
and character — are more important than the rules them-
“Are you going to kill me now? Now that I know
selves. The rules serve to help you tell stories about your
about you?”
characters in an interactive experience. They help pre-
“You don’t know what you know,” he answered. “And vent arguments and provide a solid basis for handling ele-
I won’t kill you if I don’t need to. There’s a ments of chance, but they don’t overshadow the story it-
better role for you.”
self. The triumphs and tragedies of your characters as they
I was trying frantically to lift my right arm try to survive and even thrive in the World of Darkness
from the chair, but the most I could muster was are the main focus, not dice rolls or lists of traits.
to raise my index finger a half-inch. “What are Storytelling games involve at least two, although pref-
you talking about?” erably four or more players. Everybody involved in the
game participates in telling a group story — the players
“Sheep need a shepherd,” he replied.
create and act out the roles of their characters, and the
A connection was tripped in my brain. “You came Storyteller creates and reveals the plot, introducing allies
over with them, didn’t you?” I asked. “You’ve been
and antagonists with which the players’ characters inter-
killing them since—”
act. The players’ choices throughout the course of the
Like a rubber band pulled to extreme tension and Storytelling experience alter the plot. The Storyteller’s
suddenly released, my body flew out of the chair job isn’t to defend his story from any attempt to change it,
as the force holding me in place vanished. I but to help create the story as events unfold, reacting to
staggered across the room and grabbed a bookcase the players’ choices and weaving them into a greater whole,
for balance. There was no one else there with me,
introducing secondary characters and exotic settings.
no one I could perceive.
Here are some of the key elements that both players
I’ve seen many, many things since then. Some and Storytellers should keep in mind when telling stories
seemingly related to the man in white, others, I in the World of Darkness.
don’t know. But everything reinforces the real-
ization I came to that night. The people here Theme — Dark Mystery
and, I think, everywhere, have no idea what’s
really going on around them. Not because they’re Every story has its own theme, a summation of what
ignorant, but because they don’t want to know. it’s about. Sometimes called the “moral” or “lesson” of the
We’re all stalked by death. It waits in the story, a theme doesn’t have to involve a definitive answer
shadows, hovering over our heads, crouched behind to the questions raised. Merely asking overarching ques-
the bushes. But we don’t want to know it’s there. tions is enough to capture a theme.
Like the colonists on that boat, we want to live The overall theme of the World of Darkness is “dark
our lives as if death doesn’t exist. And we’ll do mystery.” The world is one of shadows within shadows.
anything to keep things that way. We won’t make
Those who participate in these conspiracies should un-
too much fuss as those around us fall, because cover as much of them as they can, lest investigators be-
that would be admitting that we could be next.
come unwitting pawns in the games of greater forces. But
Worse, it might draw the attention of the thing
we want to ignore. drawing back the curtain on one mystery reveals even more
curtains, each hiding new secrets. It’s not possible to un-
I used to think my job was to open people’s eyes. cover them all. Yet, characters can certainly work to re-
Now I realize my duty is to keep them closed. To
veal more than would otherwise be known, and so free
keep from them the awful truths that would strip themselves from these dark influences.
away their ability to function. For whatever
reason, I’ve stumbled into these things that

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Chapter 1- THE SECRET HISTORY