History Tabletopgame / NewWorldOfDarkness

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[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/WW55000-300px_1738.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Our world when the Sun goes down... and stays down...]]

A TabletopRPG set in a world much like our own, albeit darker. Shadows run deeper, mysteries exist in every corner, and [[PunyEarthlings humanity is not quite the master of the world]] ''or'' its fate.

Humans share the Earth with various supernatural creepy crawlies that [[WarmBloodbagsAreEverywhere prey on them like cattle]], [[TheChessmaster use them]] [[AncientConspiracy as pawns]], and kill them when convenient (or at whim). In an interesting tightrope walk, individual humans have little power; but a tenet of most of the supernatural groups is that ''humanity'' as a force is dangerous and must remain ignorant. There is a reason that whenever a [[HunterOfMonsters Hunter]] dies, [[TakeUpMySword another rises elsewhere]].

The '''New''' ''World of Darkness'' was created in the wake of [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Time of Judgment,]] the [[MassivelyMultiplayerCrossover gameline-spanning event]] which served as the promised cataclysmic close to ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness''. However, while it shares many tropes with the [=oWoD=] it is also quite different, since it was rebuilt taking into account many criticisms of its predecessor.

As a revamping of the ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'', some of the themes it keeps (albeit twists a bit) are the following. The ''World of Darkness'', both old and new, are settings where several Supernatural Creatures exist. Each has a unique niche, theme, and BackStory. There are three core supernatural races (TabletopGame/{{Vampire|TheRequiem}}s, TabletopGame/{{Werewol|fTheForsaken}}ves and TabletopGame/{{Mage|TheAwakening}}s) and many supplemental ones (TabletopGame/{{Changeling|TheLost}}s, TabletopGame/{{Promethean|TheCreated}}s, [[TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters Sin-Eaters]], TabletopGame/{{Mumm|yTheCurse}}ies, TabletopGame/{{Demon|TheDescent}}s, TabletopGame/{{Beast|ThePrimordial}}s) and [[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil humans who hunt them.]] The setting is a CrapsackWorld, albeit rather than overwhelming oppressive cataclysmic impotence, it focuses on hidden horrors, kitchen sink despair and moral degradation.

Among the biggest differences between the two is that the New ''[=WoD=]'' is highly modular. The ''very first'' "gameline" that came out was about ordinary vanilla mortals. This book also served as the core rulebook, creating a unifying (though not always balanced) set of rules for all the following supplements to build on and adhere to. In contrast to the Old ''[=WoD=]'', it lacks a unifying CrossoverCosmology and {{Metaplot}}, so the existence of the supernatural creatures from any other gameline is optional in your game - in fact, if you're playing a "Mortals" game, you could decide that none of the classics exist. The [[GameMaster Story Teller]] can craft his or her own cosmology wholesale from the various toolkits given. Because of this, some see the new setting as a {{Retcon}} of the old, to fix mistakes and imbalances; while no wholesale plot is lifted several themes, clans, institutions and other things are ported over. Many key themes and features of the old games were lost. In the case of ''Changeling'', the [[TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost new game]] is entirely different from [[TabletopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming the old]]. The new games are also much more mutually compatible rules-wise, which is important for those who want balanced and easily manageable crossovers.

It also leaves more room for homebrew expansions and games, [[SturgeonsLaw though most of them aren't really worth the trouble]]. The ones listed here are decent, detailed and balanced enough [[SoOkayItsAverage to be worth consideration]]. Although [[SoBadItsGood particularly featherbrained homebrew]] may be worth noting.

In 2007, a spin-off, ''TabletopGame/MonteCooksWorldOfDarkness'', was published using the TabletopGame/D20Modern rules.

In 2010, White Wolf announed that it would be moving away from traditional print in favor of focusing on print-on-demand services and publishing to [=PDFs=]. While the outcry was expected, the New ''[=WoD=]'' has continued on with new game-lines released afterwards.

In 2012, White Wolf celebrated the [[LongRunner 20th anniversary]] of the Old ''World of Darkness'' and the 8th anniversary of the New ''World of Darkness''.

In 2013, April, CCP Games (the folks behind VideoGame/EveOnline and owners of White Wolf since 2006) announced that a ''World of Darkness'' MMORPG, tentatively called ''World of Darkness Online'', which would be based on the ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness''.

In 2013, August, White Wolf released ''The God-Machine Chronicle'', expanding and formalizing on hints and references to the entity made throughout the line. In addition, it overhauled some key systems of the line. Morality became Integrity, Social Maneuvering was introduced, experience is gained through "beats", etc. All pre-GMC lines are in the process of being summarily updated to bring them in line with the new systems, starting with Vampire in "Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle", and all post-GMC lines, starting with ''TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent'', will be compatible with the new systems out of the gate. In 2014, it was announced that the updates would officially be renamed as second editions of their respective games, with "Blood and Smoke" becoming ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' second edition, and the core "World of Darkness" mortals rulebook would receive a second edition as well.

In 2014, ''World of Darkness Online'' was [[http://www.ccpgames.com/en/public-relations/press-releases/article/77171/ccp-games-halts-development-of-world-of-darkness-mmo/ cancelled in April]], with the company license eventually being sold to Creator/ParadoxInteractive in October 2015, with White Wolf being renamed to White Wolf Publishing-and Creator/ObsidianEntertainment expressing their interest in making their own game.

In 2015, the New ''World of Darkness'' [[http://theonyxpath.com/announcing-chronicles-of-darkness/ was officially renamed]] '''''Chronicles of Darkness''''' to further distinguish between it and the Old World of Darkness, making clear that they were two separate settings. The individual gamelines kept their original names.


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!! This role-playing game provides examples of:
[[index]]
[floatboxright:Official Gamelines:
* TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem
* TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken
* TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening
* TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated
* TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost
* TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil
* TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters
* TabletopGame/MummyTheCurse
* TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent
* TabletopGame/BeastThePrimordial
* TabletopGame/DeviantTheRenegades
]
[floatboxright: Fan Made Gamelines:
* TabletopGame/DemonTheRedemption
* TabletopGame/DragonTheEmbers
* TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression
* Fanfic/GoddessRebornChronicle
* TabletopGame/HunchbackTheLurching
* TabletopGame/HunterTheVigilDreamCatchers
* TabletopGame/JanusThePersona
* TabletopGame/LeviathanTheTempest
* TabletopGame/OutsiderTheCalling
* TabletopGame/PathogenTheInfected
* TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful
* TabletopGame/PsychicTheGifted
* TabletopGame/SirenTheDrowning
* TabletopGame/WraithTheArising
]
[[/index]]
* AncientAstronauts: Implied in the corebook.[[note]]The [[DeusEstMachina God Machine]] story.[[/note]]
* {{Animorphism}}: Werewolves, skinchangers, vampire Clan Gangrel, the Orphans of Proteus from ''Mage'', Changelings of the Beast Seeming, and the various other changing breeds introduced in ''War Against the Pure''.
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: [[OurSpiritsAreDifferent Spirits]], although sometimes for ''very'' loose definitions of "Anthropomorphic."
** Geists have become, in part, Anthropomorphic Personifications of aspects of Death in order to overcome some of the limitations ghosts normally have. This causes them to overlap with spirits, which are (often much less) Anthropomorphic Personifications of things. The possible causes of this are briefly discussed, but ultimately discarded as unimportant to this particular game line.
** Some of the True Fae can possibly be seen as this. [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Baron Fairweather]], for example, personifies corperate greed.
* ApocalypseHow: The Sourcebook "Mirrors" presents numerous scenarios for catastrophic events, even using the scale on the page.
* AstralProjection: The Auspex discipline for vampires, some mortal merits from ''Second Sight'', and a mage ability.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Well, the vast majority of roleplaying games use this trope at least sometimes, to rein in possible sociopathic behavior of {{Player Character}}s, but in the World of Darkness it is particularly prominent. Movers and shakers of the setting tend to be on a completely different level of power than normal starting characters and the main reason this is less noticeable in the new WOD is general downgrading of supernatural abilities, which makes the scale of abilities less steep.
* BackFromTheDead:
** A few gamelines feature this for the player characters, most notably [[TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated Prometheans]] and [[TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters Sin-Eaters.]]
** Compared with TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness, there are several options for resurrection, although these come with side-effects such as [[CameBackWrong coming back slightly insane]], [[TouchedByVorlons turns you Stigmatic,]] or [[LivingOnBorrowedTime temporary.]] Finally, [[TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters Book of the Dead]] gave one possibility of true resurrection: you can try providing a body for a soul taken from the Underworld. That said, getting the soul involves entreating the favor of a certain Kerberoi, a task that is downright herculean, but by all means not impossible.
* BeastMan: There are a lot of these, but generally this is the stereotype held against the Beast seeming of Changelings and basically every Werewolf. Oddly enough, the actual Beasts look perfectly normal, unless they are in their Lairs. (At which point it's less BeastMan and more EldritchAbomination.)
* BeautyBrainsAndBrawn: This is how the various statistics are organized in the new world of darkness: Social (beauty), Mental (brains), and Physical (brawn).
* BadassNormal: ''[[SerialKiller Slashers]]'' deserve a mention- most of them are ordinary humans who can be just as dangerous and terrifying, if not more, than inhuman horrors.
** Honestly pretty much any mortal played as a character instead of an NPC will fit this trope. Experience points invested in skills tend to exist on roughly the same "power level" as experience points invested in crazy supernatural powers, and mortals lack the usually relatively obvious supernatural ''weaknesses'' as well as ''powers'', if you've actually annoyed them enough to make them figure out what you are and come for you.
** Also, mortals can outright banish ghosts by force of will (with sufficient humanity) and dispel the powers of Mages just by thinking about them too hard.
** ''Mirrors'' provides with a template named "Extraordinary Mortals", allowing to play characters who technically are entirely humans, but have skills impressive enough that they can go toe to toe with supernaturals.
* TheBeautifulElite (and/or heavy subversion of BeautyEqualsGoodness): ''Requiem''[='=]s Daeva and ''Lost''[='=]s Fairest are typically supernaturally gorgeous and get powers to match - but have trouble resisting their Vice or staying on top of their KarmaMeter. Arguably ''Promethean'''s Galateids also deserve a mention here, though subverted in that their beauty is artificial and ends up inspiring hate or jealousy in mortals courtesy of Disquiet.
* BeingGoodSucks: Basically, trying to adhere to a higher level of benevolence is extremely difficult, to the point it's incredibly easy to lose those high level dots in [[KarmaMeter Morality or equivalent]] with incredibly minor effort. To put this in perspective, if you boost your Morality to 10, you can then lose it by virtue of having to take (and fail) a Morality check if you ''have a selfish thought''.
* BlessedWithSuck: It is ''not'' fun to be a supernatural being in the new WOD. In theory.
* BloodBath: ''Immortals'' has [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Blood Bathers]], who [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment gain a sort of immortality by bathing in blood]].
* BlueAndOrangeMorality:
** Bogstandard for spirits, as given particular attention in ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken''. Even the most intelligent spirits is fundamentally alien, with a viewpoint that can be summarized as "promotes my area of influence = good" and "denies my area of influence = bad". This is why spirits can never truly be reasoned with, and certainly not trusted; a fire spirit ''has'' to burn things, and simply cannot care about anyone it maims or kills, while a spirit of love may well force someone who is experiencing DomesticAbuse to ''stay'' with their abuser, simply because "they still love each other", and thusly the pain the abuser inflicts is unimportant compared to the diminishing of love that would be caused by separating them.
*** As beings that are fundamentally part spirit, werewolves themselves are like this; Harmony focuses on promoting and understanding their nature as lupine spirit-beings, and so it is drastically different to Morality. Killing humans is only bad if it is done for no reason, and even then it bothers werewolves far less than murder does for humans, whilst betraying one's comrades-in-arms is a sin of the kind that humans reserve for mass-murder.
*** The second edition of Forsaken takes the concept further, to the point of playing 'blue and orange morality' more or less straight. The Harmony track no longer tracks any sort of moral compass of the werewolf, but measures how balanced they are. Ideally, the 1-10 track should be around 5. The lower you are, the more spirit-like you are. The higher you are, the more human-like you are. The further you stray from balance, the harder time you have keeping control of yourself, and you suffer difficulties to cross the barrier between the physical and spiritual worlds in one direction or another. In fact, if you drift too far in one direction, it's actually in your best to act in extreme ways to even yourself back out (like killing humans if you lean too far towards 'flesh,' and refusing to perform certain rituals if you lean too far towards 'spirit').
** The True Fae of ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'' have this explicitly stated as part of their psyches.
*** Changelings, however, don't have this; even though "Clarity" is supposed to be a SanityMeter, it still functions as a near-replica of Morality.
** Ghosts develop this bad as a part of their descent into undeath.
** Geists, being strongly implied to be ghost/spirit hybrids, naturally get a double dose of this.
*** [[TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters Sin-eaters]], meanwhile, are similar to werewolves in that their KarmaMeter, Synergy, focuses on their nature as walking geist-human hybrids and thusly they are far removed from the ordinary concerns of human morality.
** Demons zigzag on this; their "Morality" meter actually measures how well they can disguise themselves as humans, and thusly it is not only based on the Integrity mechanic (making it very different to the old Morality mechanic), but it also has no ill-effects on their minds as it drops low, as it instead makes them easier for the God-Machine to track. At the same time, their own personal morals are alien enough that [[BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad they can actually reverse the meanings of virtues and vices]].
* BodyHorror: Everything in the cult section of the Second Sight supplement. See LovecraftianSuperpower for more.
* BrokenMasquerade: Exemplified by at least three minor templates; "Ghouls" are humans who have been fed vampire blood to become super-powered minions to vampires, "Sleepwalkers" have partially Awakened enough they can interact with mages and magic without stuffing it up like humans do, and "Ensorcelled" have been granted the ability to see through the illusions shielding Changelings.
** A hunter's ''raison d'être''. Wolf-blooded also count, as they can see past the lunacy most other humans suffer on seeing a full-blown werewolf.
* CanonWelding: White Wolf is releasing "translation guides" which give guidelines for mixing-and-matching New and Old World of Darkness material.
* CardboardPrison: Subverted. With all the superpowers the characters, both player and non, have, keeping them confined should be ridiculously impossible. So the FBI built their own Superjail and called it the Lansing Facility.
* ChildrenAreInnocent: Can be averted or played straight. There may be a sourcebook about playing children "called" ''Innocents'', but the innocence in the title refers to a lack of experience rather than a lack of evil. Child [=PCs=] have "Faults" instead of [[SevenDeadlySins Vices]], but these include "Cruel" and "Greedy". Played straight if the character has the "Kind" Asset.
* ChurchMilitant: The Malleus Maleficarum, the Order of St. George, and the Long Night in ''Hunter''. Also the Lancea Sanctum in ''Vampire''.
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve:
** In ''Mage: the Awakening'', Paradox was changed from being ''caused'' by the subconscious disbelief of non-mage humans to merely being ''aggravated'' by it, and is ultimately caused by a flaw in the structure of the universe, and the fact that reality is actually a lie.
** In ''Changeling: the Lost'', the changelings who were originally humans can become more like the fae they are attempting to escape if they lose their grip on the true world, called "Clarity."
* ClockworkCreature / HumanResources: The Patchwork People of ''Immortals'' have clockwork hearts that can keep them going indefinitely without sleep, and maintain their immortality by stealing the organs and other body parts of unwilling victims.
* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Each gameline from the New World of Darkness has a signature color, used on supplement spines; World of Darkness ("Mortals") is Blue, [[TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem Vampire]] is Red, [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken Werewolf]] is Brown/Orange, [[TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening Mage]] is Aqua, [[TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated Promethean]] is White, [[TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost Changeling]] is Green, [[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil Hunter]] is Teal, [[TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters Geist]] is Dark Blue, [[TabletopGame/MummyTheCurse Mummy]] is Sandy Brown, [[TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent Demon]] is Grey, and [[TabletopGame/BeastThePrimordial Beast]] is Purple.
* CompetitiveBalance: While it was something of a problem with the Old World, the New World is a bit better, but given the very different nature of each variety of supernatural and their abilities, 'balance' can be a hard thing to define.
** It's generally agreed that a [[TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening Mage]] [[Franchise/{{Batman}} with prep time]] can smoke everyone. Justified in that it's hard to compete with someone who can change reality with their mind, and also by the fact that a Mage without prep time is as squishy as any other human.
** Actually, mortals, similar to Mages, can take apart pretty much anything in the setting if they have decent willpower and occult knowledge, even if you don't take into account their usual numbers advantage. While this was initially changed in order to prevent the supernaturals from ceasing to care about the masquerade, it has actually made "not supernatural at all" a completely viable choice for a player.
* ConspiracyKitchenSink: Like the previous one but replaces a few world-dominating conspiracies with dozens of little ones.
* CosmicHorrorStory: Averted, actually-part of the horror in the New World of Darkness is you can understand the people and phenomena that are ultimately responsible for the suffering in it (apart from ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'', and even that's a bit of a subversion). ''Second Sight'' actually encourages you to avoid this trope when making an EldritchAbomination cult and focus on the {{Cult}} itself.
** Played with in ''God-Machine Chronicle'': The God-Machine is an alien, utterly amoral supercomputer which views humans as useful but unnecessary tools or meaningless obstacles to its obscure goals...and it also screws up its own plans on a regular basis, is strapped for resources, bound by time constraints for its plans, and has to work extremely subtly in order to get anything done, often with human cultists which it rewards generously if they prove successful. It's ST prerogative if the world is actually LovecraftLite or not, and it recommends that you should at least be able to EarnYourHappyEnding for people you actually care about.
* CrapsackWorld: The world is unfair, merciless, and fundamentally flawed, not very many people care or are hopeful enough to fix it, and the people who want to fix it either have no idea how or (perhaps rightly) [[WeAreStrugglingTogether view each others' ambitions as threats]]. HumansAreFlawed, and trying to ''fix'' those flaws is usually a mark of the [[KnightTemplar most flawed of all]]. Maybe someday, you'll get a happy ending, maybe even make your little part of the world better, but the rest doesn't care-and getting there usually involves confronting the worst parts, with no guarantee you'll ever come close to winning, especially if you're ''[[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids stupid]]'' enough to believe you won't need to go against your own morality. Grit your teeth and buck up-it's going to be long and hard.
* CrazyPrepared: The God-Machine's most characteristic ability is that it arranges for events to happen using Rube Goldberg methods so subtle that they are the equivalent of a butterfly flapping its wings, except that the God-Machine knows what butterfly wings need to get flapped. In one story, the God-Machine manipulated one of its agents into changing single digits in legal records or losing seemingly unimportant documents that would later result in a bridge collapse. It makes Batman and Xanatos look absent-minded.
* CreativeSterility: Vampires, Prometheans, True Fae, and assorted others.
** Inverted for Mages, for whom 99 in 100 crises are the result of someone accidentally being more creative than they intended to be.
* CrossoverCosmology: Though mostly averted, the core gamelines reference each other, and a semblance of an interconnected setting can be found in many sourcebooks. Individual ST's can decide to create one wholesale or cobble it together as a SchrodingersGun. Easing the possibility of having crossover games was also attempted by [[PowerCreepPowerSeep downgrading]] and [[CompetitiveBalance equalizing powers]] and installing {{Karma Meter}}s in every game line.
** The [[KarmaMeter Morality systems]] hilariously backfired in this regard: they were supposed to punish the character for committing certain evils, but what actually ended up happening was players having a mechanical point at which their characters stop caring about committing mass murder. By the time Geist rolled around, White Wolf seems to have said "Who are we kidding?" and points out that Sin-Eaters will likely find the suggestion of SupernaturalAngst hilarious.
* DarkerAndEdgier: The new World of Darkness plays this role to the old one. ''Changeling'' games stand in particularly stark contrast, but the difference in attitude is noticeable in every game with the arguable exception of ''Vampire'', where the new version, at least, offers much lesser chance of being eaten by some ancient vampiric demigod. If in the old WOD the world sucked, but in most game lines you had a chance to do something about it, in the new WOD the world sucks, period.
** Then again, there's ''Hunter: The Vigil'', which is pretty much built around the idea people can do something about the world's suckiness, and have done so for time out of mind. Or ''Promethean: The Created'', where it's possible to go from being a monster to being human. You may make a difference on a smaller level in the nWOD, but you ''can'' still make a difference.
** Also, there's no five deadly, inevitable apocalypses looming over the world like there was in the Old World of Darkness. Which makes the New World of Darkness relatively more positive in many ways, since the good guys can actually make lasting improvements and differences to the world that won't be wiped away by ancient vampire gods or the Wyrm bursting out of the ground and killing everyone. The more pessimistic activities of day-to-day life were probably increased to compensate.
** With ''Geist'' out, it seems that ghosts and fairies swapped places in the new World of Darkness. Fairies used to be joyful humans comprised of dreams fighting against banality and are now mentally scarred half-human survivalists fleeing from inhuman captors. Ghost [=PCs=] used to be angst-ridden horrors tortured by both the unholy hellish afterlife and their horrible living pasts are now happy half-human hybrid shamans who are more like magical versions of the Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}.
** The New is LighterAndSofter in a critical way, though; it's assumed in most games that there is no unchangable reason why things are oppressive, things are just hard all around. This also means there's nothing that says things ''can't'' change, or things ''can't'' have a happy or BittersweetEnding. Just don't expect it to be easy.
** On a personal level, it's subjective. A lot of faction characters can be awful at times, but said character writeups usually include an explanation for their behavior which is often quite sympathetic. Generally, protagonist factions are portrayed as having good ideas, but frequently terrible application and endemic corruption, while antagonistic ones often have their admirable and understandable traits.
* DarkIsNotEvil:
** The Moros "Necromancer" mages, who have the capacity to be as good or evil as any other mage. That said, there's a Moros-only Legacy of [[BlackMagic Black Magicians]] (Tremere Liches), but that's because of what they do to sustain their immortality - they eat souls. Yes, you read that right, ''they eat souls''. If that doesn't fall under ImmortalityImmorality, nothing will.
** Similarly with the Mastigos warlocks: You would think a guy whose entire schtick is the "MindControl" half of PsychicPowers and deals with TheHeartless on a regular basis would be a ManipulativeBastard, but their Awakening actually helps counteract that, and they have the unique distinction of having a Mastigos-only Legacy of [[DarkIsNotEvil Good Black Magicians]] (the Fangs of Mara), who enter the nightmares of [[EldritchAbomination Abyssal beings]] to find what they fear and use it against them.
** Same thing with the Darklings from ''Changeling: the Lost''. They've been shaped to be nightmares, but that doesn't mean they're necessarily bad guys (although having the ability to, for example, heal yourself by sucking the life out of others certainly ''does'' make it easier.)
** Lucifuge in Hunter: The Vigil, explicitly stated to be Demon-blooded Hunters who use their powers to fight and bring down ''other'' Demons.
** Beasts are {{Eldritch Abomination}}s that have to cause fear or destruction in order to survive, but most of them try to use fear as a teaching tool, not a weapon. And they are *very* protective of their family, whether they be mortal or supernatural.
* TheDarkSide: ''Every'' supernatural (with the exception of Demons) in the new WOD runs the risk of degeneration and [[EvilMakesYouMonstrous turning into something fully monstrous]] by losing all points on his KarmaMeter. Subverted, as in both cases the degeneration carries nothing but severe penalties.
** Not always subverted. Death rage, the primary penalty for degenerating as a werewolf, does make you incapable of distinguishing friend from foe, but it's also significantly more powerful than 'sane' rage in that it lasts until everything is dead instead of 5 to 8 rounds. Similarly, the vampiric rages have mechanisms for intentionally invoking them, because the Beast is powerful as well as indiscriminate.
** Futhermore, low-Clarity Changelings may expect some drawbacks, e.g. in dealing with mortals, but some rolls regarding fae magic actually ''benefit'' from this. Come to TheDarkSide, indeed.
** Then you have Mage's slipping in some Abyssal Magic into their spells because they might be desperate and it improves the spell/their chances. Too bad it's addictive.
* DarkWorld: ''Several''.
* DeadlyDecadentCourt: Most of them, though ''Requiem'''s Invictus fit the stereotype best. And Lost's Gentry.
* DeadlyRoadTrip: ''Midnight Roads'' is dedicated to provide what you need to base your campaign on this trope, describing all the things you can meet on roads outside cities.
* DemonicPossession: ''World of Darkness: Inferno'' has a very '''very''' nasty form of possession which might as well be a TropeNamer.
* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: ''Hurt Locker'' lampshades this; the writers emphasize that while violence is a bad thing, there's nothing inherently wrong with sympathizing or playing as characters who have a violent streak or simply ''cannot'' avoid it. They just want you to remember the context.
* EldritchAbomination: Many of the New World of Darkness game lines offer them - Maeljin and magath spirits in ''Werewolf'', Abyssal entities in ''Mage'', the Strix in ''Vampire'', the qashmallim (particularly Lilithim) in ''Promethean'', the Kerberoi in ''Geist'', and the [[TheFairFolk True Fae]] in ''Changeling''.)
** In ''Demon'', you are one, and you used to serve one, the God-Machine.
** There are rules in the Second Sight sourcebook for building a character who worships them. And then gets weird powers from it.
** ''Beast'' allows you to play a human whose soul has been replaced by one.
* EmptyShell: [[OurSoulsAreDifferent Soul loss]] turns a person into this over a period of time.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: The New [=WoD=] sourcebook "Mirrors" presents various scenarios in which the world might end (and what might [[AfterTheEnd come after]]).
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Quite possibly the only thing that saves the World of Darkness from total annihilation is that the various forces aligned against its continued existence literally cannot understand that not everything is as twisted, nihilistic and spiteful as they are. Particularly true of things like the Fae, who are so alienated from human compassion that committing acts of genuine altruism can actually kill them.
* EvilFeelsGood: Morality is lost by not showing remorse for misdeeds. You also can lose it anyway, if the dice screw you.
* EvilMakesYouMonstrous: Slashers.
* EvilTastesGood: Vampires and blood.
* EvilTwin: Entire race of 'em, the EnemyWithin/[[EnemyWithout Without]] (it depends on the spell used to summon them) Goetia in ''Mage'', who are literally the emotions a person hates about himself given a form similar to his own and a mind. The minor ones just annoy people while they're in the [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind Oneros]], while the big ones personify his [[SevenDeadlySins Vice]] and cannot truly be defeated as long as he lives.
** Cannot be defeated as long as he lives? The quickstart begs to differ on that count, with a character who has the listed Vice "None" because he beat it. Granted, if it was originally {{Pride}}, it may have come back with a vengance...
** And then there are ''Changeling: The Lost'''s Fetches, who are created to be replacements for those taken by the True Fae. These can either reinforce or subvert the Trope, depending on how aware and how moral the Fetch is... and how moral the Changeling they replace is when they get back.
* EvilerThanThou -- Default playable factions in both Worlds of Darkness tend to be morally dubious at best and outright evil at worst. Then there are the {{Outside Context Problem}}s. ''Requiem'' had VII and Belial's Brood, ''Mage'' has the Seers of the Throne and Scelesti, ''Werewolf'' has the Pure and Bale Hounds, and ''Promethean'' had the Centimani.
** Some Seers aren't even EVIL, they just think the Exarchs can't be defeated, and sign up to be on the winning side and get advantage of all the assorted Swag that comes with serving the Exarchs. If you have to pick a side, why not go with the winning one that gives you shittons of cash? They may be opportunist assholes, but they just don't want to die horribly when the Exarchs eventually crush the Pentacle Orders.
** ''Changeling: The Lost'' tends to avoid this on the large scale. The 'society' of the Freehold is based around 4 Seasonal Courts who differ in general approach to governance and how one should deal with the threat of the Others, but aren't outright malevolent (Autumn Court notwithstanding). The 'other' factions are depicted as individuals or tiny groups of loyalists still beholden to their True Fae abductors or privateers out for themselves. There is no large scale 'Court of Evil' for the setting. One can point to the Gentry as the darker side of the coin, but they aren't a faction per se, unless one wants to argue that the Wyrm of ''[[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse Apocalypse]]'' or the Antediluvians of ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' were a 'faction' of their respective gamelines.
** Also true for the Sin-Eaters. The Archetypes describe how a Sin-Eater approaches their second chance at life, but again, none are outright malevolent. A krewe may go off the reservation, but there's no evil Sin-Eater wide group.
** True of the demons, too. The Agendas generally relate to what a given demon intends to do with their existence, but aren't necessarily malevolent. Even the Integrators, who seek reconnection with the God-Machine on their terms, aren't antagonistic to their fellow Unchained. If a demon goes against their kind, it's going to be for their own reasons.
*** Centimani are also usually not 'evil'. They're often just Prometheans who are tired of being hurt by the world, and decide to hurt it back.
* ExtraStrengthMasquerade: Deconstructed. With certain gamelines, you may wonder why anything is still secret given the amount of weirdness and destruction supernaturals can cause. Answer: it really ''isn't'', but supernaturals have created such a climate of fear that the average mortal gives it the widest berth possible. Certainly enough to not know anything concrete.
* FantasticFragility: Most supernaturals can get ''all'' the new powers they want, and more cheaply and quickly than working honestly would bring... at the downside of getting loaded down with (usually permanent) potentially crippling weaknesses. Have we mentioned being a supernatural is BlessedWithSuck?
* FantasyKitchenSink: Each game line in the original was incredibly insular, Vampires could go centuries never meeting a werewolf. The new one made the setting modular to help "write in or out" other supernaturals as the [=ST=] needs.
* FinalDeath: Possibly the TropeNamer.
* FiveRaces: And five factions.
** Averted in ''[[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil Hunter]]''. Since all Hunters are still human (or as human as you can get in some circumstances), they are instead split into various groups based on what they believe, or who found them first.
* FunctionalMagic: Each supernatural has its own form of "magic" with its own rules and origins. Vampires have Disciplines, Werewolves have Gifts, Mages have... [[CaptainObvious well, magic]], Changelings have Contracts, Beasts have Nightmares.
* GameFace: A number of supernaturals have this, especially werewolves. Beasts somewhat avert it, in that they appear as completely normal humans to mortals, even when they are breathing fire or throwing cars. Other supernaturals, though, see an overlay of the Beast's monstrous aspect when they use their powers, and a Beast in it's Lair ''is'' the monster they have the soul of.
* GeniusBruiser: Mirrors has the ''wargaz'', the purely fleshy descendants of [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken Father Wolf]]. As one might expect, they're viking berserkers...who also have a vested interest in having high Mental stats, since their pack-forming abilities depend on Intelligence. "Brilliant and savage warrior" is the main keyword here.
** In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'', we have ''two'' Gangrel Bloodlines: the Mystykoi, whose {{Personality Power|s}} lets them [[CrazyAwesome gain insight from]] [[EnemyWithin the Beast]], and the Maghreb Taifa scholars.
* {{Glamour}}: Many supernaturals can make themselves seem beautiful, trustworthy, desirable and invincible to onlookers.
* GlassCannon: Both Mages and Hunters are incredibly scary when attacking. Prepared mage is commonly considered "the perfect assassin" of the setting, and for hunters, unlike most other splats who generally go about their business, killing supernaturals is explicitly their business. Both are also physically human (or the closest to one among splats) with little to none supernatural capability to withstand assault, which makes them quite squishy compared to hardened, regenerating and sometimes outright nigh-undestructable creatures which other players are.
** Demons are one of the truest examples of this trope in all of table-top gaming. On one hand, a Demon in human form is just that - human. They don't have the regenerating powers of Werewolves or the resilience of Vampires but still have to face off against creatures that can override reality to a limited degree. While they can get an edge by manifesting abilities from their mechanical form these tend towards masquerade breaking, and this is far worse for a Demon then it is for a character from one of each of the the other lines ''combined''. On the other hand, a Demon can punch you so hard the last action you took is erased from the timeline.
* [[GodIsEvil God Is an Amoral Supercomputer with Little Regard for Humans]] [[GodIsInept with Even Less Ability to Make Effective Plans]]: It is unknown if the God-Machine is either a DitzyGenius with regular bad intel from glitches and errors in its Infrastructure, a [[XanatosSpeedChess master of the backup plan]] which doesn't care if a scheme fails if it has more in the oven, or both. Either way, Mr. DeusEstMachina is not your friend, and probably not the worst enemy in the divine realm you could have in a horror setting (though it's still damned scary).
* GoodIsDumb: For spirits of negative emotions, even the stupidest ones cause downward spirals in their victims that exacerbate the spirit's emotion and feed it more and more. For spirits of positive emotions, they're so stupid, shortsighted, and ignorant of human culture and morality that they're just as likely to cause horrible tragedies which only end up starving the spirit. No wonder positive spirits are so rare and weak.
** For example, a toy spirit in an abandoned toymaker's store only wants children to have fun playing with handmade toys, so instead of teaching people about keeping traditions alive or a lesson in anti-commercialism, it teaches children to ''murder'' anyone who tries to bulldoze the store.
* GothicPunk: Toned down significantly from the original. The constant grimdark angst is gone, and even the bleakest gamelines have hope for their protagonists. Humans are also every bit as dangerous as the supernatural creatures that feed on them.
* HalfHumanHybrid -- Every game has at least one sub-class of mortals who have some of the parent supernaturals' strengths, but none of their weaknesses. It's worth noting that one can only have one template on a character at a time to prevent some of the oWoD wonkiness.
** ''Hunter: the Vigil'' has the conspiracy known as "the Lucifuge," who are humans that have demon blood in their family trees but have chosen to turn their heritage to good ends. ''Inferno'' gives us their dark counterparts, "L'Enfants Diabolique," who embrace their heritage.
* TheHeartless: ''Inferno'' demons are like this...[[OurDemonsAreDifferent Sort of]]. They either begin as [[TheFaceless nameless, formless creatures called Whisperers]] or [[TheDarkSide corrupted versions of spirits and ghosts]] until they gain enough power through [[DealWithTheDevil tempting sinners]] that they [[OneWingedAngel gain a True Name and become Dominions]], which then do whatever they please.
* HermeticMagic
** Of special note are the hunters of the Ascending Ones, who accept Hermes Trismegistus as one of their patrons.
* HumansAreFlawed: In a change of pace from the Classic [=WoD=], humans in general (especially in 2nd Edition) are portrayed as well-intentioned and meaning, but prone to very stupid or callous behavior because they at least subconsciously suspect what kind of world they live in and are scared out of their minds.
* HybridOverkillAvoidance -- Used in the new [=WoD=] to avoid a new Samuel Haight. It's made very explicit in all books that major supernatural templates ''cannot'' be combined.
* HypnoticEyes -- The vampire discipline of Dominate works entirely via eye contact.
* IKnowYourTrueName -- Shows up in ''Mage'' (where knowing someone's true name makes magic easier to use on them), ''Changeling'' (where swearing Pledges on your True Name has specific effects, and many Storytellers expand the concept considerably in keeping with its importance in fairy tales), and ''Mummy'' (where knowing a true name gives you power over someone, and true name magic is the speciality of the Lost Guild).
* ImmortalityImmorality -- Oh, where to ''begin'':
** Firstly, vampires. While it is possible to live by drinking the blood of animals and to only drain humans of minute amounts, most are so greedy for Vitae that they don't really care.
** From ''Immortals'', we have [[BloodBath Blood Bathers]], who ''have'' to kill people to fuel their life, but the "curse" aspect rings hollow when you realize that ''they choose this on purpose''.
*** It is actually possible -- although not terribly common -- to have a [[BloodBath Blood Bathing]] ritual that ''doesn't'' require you to kill the subject... but generally, that only means you're guilty of Serial Assault and Mutilation, rather than Serial Killing. It's still one of the explicitly recommended options for PlayerCharacter Blood Bathers so they don't fly screaming off the "Unplayable" end of the KarmaMeter in a handful of sessions.
** Also from ''Immortals'', we have Harvesters, who extend their lives by killing ''other'' immortals.
** Another ''Immortal'' splat, the Patchwork People. Super rich people buying new bodies from a secretive network of unethical doctors who do their job by forcibly ''taking'' the body parts from unwilling victims, and stealing the Spark of Life from Prometheans.
** ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'' gives us abmortals, highly ritualized serial killers that live forever as long as they can shunt the death off somewhere else. Naturally, their existence generates hordes of angry ghosts, putting them at odds with Sin-Eaters. Unfortunately, they can be ''extremely'' difficult to kill, as they can only be truly finished off by their WeaksauceWeakness, which tend to be extraordinarily specific. Typically, the weakness is tied to their mythology and method of killing people (an abmortal that shoves people off a specific bridge every full moon might only be truly killed by being pushed off the bridge himself during a full moon, for example).
** And finally, Tremere Liches. With Soul Eaters.
*** By the time a Tremere is old enough for immortality to be useful (Age 100+), they are eating a soul every month.
* ImmuneToBullets -- Vampires tend to take less damage from gunfire than some other forms of attack. Werewolves can easily shrug off most non-aggravated damage, including gunfire, except when faced with [[AchillesHeel silver bullets]].
** Every Mage Arcanum has a protective shield that fits this trope to a lesser (Mind: people just miss) or greater (Death: your bullets just get tired and give up, then fall laconically from the target after giving him a light tap) degree.
* KarmaMeter -- Universal in the new WOD, and comes with various mechanical punishments for bad behavior.
** For Mortals, this is now averted and replaced with a SanityMeter...sort of. See the proper entry on Sanity Meter on this page.
* KatanasAreJustBetter -- Averted. Unlike in the Old World of Darkness, Katanas have the same stat as all other swords, though extremely expansive "genuine" katanas are more durable. Moreover, starting with ''Blood and Smoke'', vampires no longer have any special vulnerability to slashing weapons, meaning swords no longer are more effective than guns against them.
* KillAndReplace: Subverted, in ''Hurt Locker''; the metro station in Shinjuku has a ghostly platform that replaces people who get on its train with impulsive cyborgs called ''kishimono''...to fill the occult vacuum caused by the platform's ''actual'' purpose, creating a brand new life for people who were borderline suicidal due to the circumstances of their current one. The original person is still out and about, just wearing a different face.
* KillItWithFire -- Overall, much less true in the NWOD than the old; now only three splats have it as a real weakness. Vampires are specifically burned and blighted by fire as much as they are by sunlight. Prometheans also take aggravated damage from fire. Being instantaneously healed by electricity is a nice trade-off, though. Mummies take aggravated damage from fire and relic weaponry. Other supernaturals have their own banes, of course. Werewolves don't like silver. Fae don't like Iron. Mages don't like....reality. Fire itself specifically only harms vampires and Prometheans more than, say, getting stabbed in the chest does.
** Subverted in ''Changeling: the Lost''. Fire is not a common weakness among changelings. It might [[ManOnFire work fine on most of them]], only [[PhlebotinumBreakdown sometimes]] [[OutOfTheInferno it doesn't]]. But things might get [[IncendiaryExponent more drastic]]. Instead of just shrugging it off, the changeling might [[PlayingWithFire throw it back]] or [[DeathByIrony end it all]] with a true InfernalRetaliation. Of course, these powers have a [[BlessedWithSuck short duration]].
** Some of the Anathemas that a Hero can inflict on a Beast make them vulnerable to a specific thing, even if they would be otherwise immune to it. Yes, this means a Beast that is otherwise immune to fire can be harmed by a burning torch in the hands of a Hero that has caused it to be vulnerable to such.
* KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade: As usual, most supernatural have no qualm about killing mortals who know too much about them so their existence will remain a secret.
* LifeDrinker: The supplement ''Immortals'' details a number of types of people who have managed to overcome the limitations of age - generally through this trope.
* LightIsNotGood: Most shown in Hunter. Sure, you're trying to make the world a safer place against the uncountable monsters for humanity's sake, but the sacrifices weigh on the soul, and you might just [[HeWhoFightsMonsters become...]] Heroes from ''Beast'' are even worse, as whereas Hunters ''might'' end up becoming {{Knight Templar}}s obsessed with killing monsters and with little regard for human life, Heroes ''start out'' like this.
* LongRunner: 2012 was the 20th Anniversary for the World of Darkness as a whole. The New World of Darkness had been running pretty strongly for about 8 years by then.
* ManipulativeBastard: In some gamelines, being this is almost a requirement for obtaining any power within your supernatural society.
* {{Masquerade}}: Each supernatural enforces their own, but vampires and mages are typically first to do clean up. Still, sometimes the ability of supernatural beings to maintain it stretches the suspension of disbelief, considering their penchant for superpowered violence. When they ''don't'' maintain it - storytellers were suggested to use hunters in response to Masquerade breaches.
* TheMenInBlack: Task Force VALKYRIE are the men in black, and work for the US government. There's also Division Six, but they're not a real government agency and actually are the pawns of a Seer of the Throne.
** And then we have the Men in Black of ''Summoners'', who aren't human in the least...
* MinMaxing: With enough XP and tricky manipulation of game mechanics, supernaturals can be capable of some pretty insane stuff. Examples include golems so heavily armored they can survive nuclear blasts, [[http://archive.foolz.us/tg/thread/17562003/#q17563860 vampires that can jump 13 stories in a single bound]], [[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/17222728/#17234486 waterborn Changelings that swim at 1569 MPH]], [[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/6059125/ Immortals that can pump their stats up using money]] and [[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/5898587/ Mages possessed by their own sins that can attack ten times in a row with 27 dice worth of lethal damage without even skirting Paradox.]]
* MindControl: Almost everyone can potentially do this, including mortals, but vampires and mages are particularly notorious for this.
* MonsterLord: Vampire bloodlines, or just plain elders above Blood Potency 6. Changelings with Entitlements, at least in the eyes of the Gentry.
* MrViceGuy: Potentially any and every player and character.
* TheMultiverse: In the New World of Darkness, though the full picture only emerges if you piece together ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'', ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'', ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'', ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'', and ''TabletopGame/BeastThePrimordial''. The various planes of existance are...
** The World Of Flesh / The Real World: The mundane world in which humanity lives. Referred to as the ''Gurihal'' by werewolves.
** Twilight: Partially a state of being and partially a plane in its own right, people and things that are "in Twilight" are intangible and, usually, invisible. It serves as a kind of border-realm between the Underworld and/or Shadow and the World proper; thronged by ghosts that have yet to truly pass into the Underworld and Spirits who have crossed over from the Shadow. It's basically the job of Sin-Eaters and werewolves to clear it out and ship them on to their proper places.
** The Shadow: A SpiritWorld that resembles a DarkWorld in form, inhabited by the animistic spirits of the world. Spirits of elements, objects, concepts, animals, places, everything, all have their home here. Referred to by werewolves as the ''Hisil''.
** The Gauntlet: Less of a plane and more of a planar phenomenon, a kind of barrier between the World and the Shadow. When it's too weak, spirits can more easily slip through -- this is not a good thing. When it's too strong, though, the spiritual disconnection negatively affects the world, so it's just as bad.
** The Underworld: A DarkWorld (or perhaps a specifically focused form of SpiritWorld) that is the resting place of all human souls. Ever wonder why human spirits don't show up in the Shadow? It's because they go down here. Also visited or partially inhabited by animistic death spirits -- geister are technically magath (unnatural hybrid spirits) formed of a fusion between a human ghost and a death spirit.
** The Hedge: The twisting, treacherous border plane between the second Arcadia and the World proper, earning its name because it most commonly takes the form of a great field of thorny, soul-tearing brambles. It does take other forms too, mimicking the mortal world it is entered through, but it's always labyrinthine and dangerous to body, mind and soul.
*** The previously-listed planes of existance are collectively known, in ''Mage'', as the "Fallen World." The planes listed below are known as the "Supernal Realms" (well, ''maybe''. See Arcadia below regarding some uncertainty on that point).
** {{Arcadia}}: 1 -- One of the five Realms Supernal from which the Mages draw their power, associated with the arcana of Fate and Time. Said to be a beautiful, terrifying place of emotional extremes and ever-present glamour, home to the myriad forms of faeries. 2 -- The nightmarish, ever-shifting domains of TheFairFolk, the terrible hell-realms from which the Changelings have escaped. Whether the two realms are one and the same is intentionally left [[ShrugOfGod nebulous]] so that Storytellers can choose whichever configuration makes for a better story.
** Pandemonium: A twisted, purgatorial plane also known as the Realm of Nightmares, as it is infested with entities that resemble fear come to life and often resemble various forms of demons. One of the five Realms Supernal, associated with the arcana of Mind and Space.
** Stygia: A dark, gloomy, plane of barren wastes and decaying ruins and moaning spectres. One of the five Realms Supernal, associated with the arcana of Death and Matter. Possibly connected to or part of the Underworld.
** Aether: A plane that calls to mind the heavens, both in the terms of stars and celestial bodies and its portrayals in various religions. A world of crackling energy and pure magic, it is one of the five Realms Supernal, associated with the arcana of Forces and Prime.
** Primal Wild: One of the five Realms Supernal, associated with the arcana of Life and Spirit. As the name suggests, an iconic wilderness, untamed and vibrant with emotions and life. Possibly connected / part of the Shadow.
** The Abyss is an anti-existence between the aforementioned Supernal Realms and the Fallen world, filled with [[EldritchAbomination cosmic horrors]] and [[OmnicidalManiac embodiments of nihilism]] galore. It taints the magic from the Supernal, and corrupts the people in the Fallen just by (un)existing.
** The Lower Depths, a canonically mentioned but less developed realm supposedly "below" the Underworld, which may or may not be related to...
** The Pit/Inferno/Hell in the classical sense, which has a mentioned-but-underdescribed Empyrean/Heaven counterpart, either of which may or may not be related to the Pyros of the Qashmallim.
** The Primordial Dream, where the Horrors of Beasts have their Lairs. It touches most of the other planes, and Beasts are able to use it to access any other plane they can find a portal to.
** There are also a range of optional "Outside" or "Other" realms, which range from generic homes for homebrew Lovecraftian horrors to more specific "places" populated by undead [[Franchise/{{Dune}} sandworms]] and the Men in Black.
* MundaneUtility: Subverted in ''Mage: The Awakening'': while it's possible to use magic for everyday chores, doing so is considered an (extremely minor) act of hubris and dings the KarmaMeter.
* {{Not So Harmless Villain}}s:
** This is the effect the Hunters have when brought into play against the supernatural protagonists of the other game lines--suddenly, the "mere mortals" have very sharp teeth and can completely level the playing field against supernaturals... if not imbalance it the other way when vampires and the like go up against the plasma cannons, biotechnological augmentations, and less... mundane weapons the Hunters can bring to bear.
** The Malleus Maleficarum, Lucifuge, Aegis Kai Doru, Ascending Ones, Cainite Heresy, and Knights of Saint George all bring considerably less conventional tools to the fight. Or recall ''where'' the Cheiron Group gets the things they implant into their agents. In no particular order, the Conspiracies mentioned use things like mini-[[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]] on a leash, on-the-spot divine intervention from God, blood magic rites even vampires don't understand...
** And there's a couple of Cheiron Group weapons which consist of grafting an Abyssal Intruder into your body and ''living in symbiosis'' with the thing. Life tip #1: do NOT give the humans ''prep time''...seriously.
* OmnicidalManiac: One of the possible motivations for worshipping an EldritchAbomination in ''Second Sight''.
* OurSoulsAreDifferent: Souls can be affected by powerful magic, and every supernatural race has different troubles involving theirs. It is not, strictly speaking, necessary to survive...but losing one is a delayed FateWorseThanDeath. See TheSoulless.
** Beasts take this to a whole new level: Their ''souls' are actually extra-planer [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]] that have to be kept fed or they go rampaging throughout the human dreamscape, inflicting nightmares and attracting Heroes to the Beast.
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Five clans' worth of "Different" in the new setting, which is less than the thirteen featured in the old setting (though there are both lost clans and newly forming clans as well). However, the differences between political views and origins are much more pronounced in the new [=WoD=]. All vampires share the same common weaknesses, but each clan has a unique new weakness and each Bloodline (a sub-group of a clan) has an extra one.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: Moreso in ''Werewolf: The Apocalypse'' than in ''Werewolf: The Forsaken''. The nWOD also provides werewolf options beyond the Forsaken.
* OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions: Zigzagged. Becoming a member of the supernatural races often does a number on a person's faith, but sometimes it doesn't, and the general attitudes towards "human" religions varies widely throughout the [=NWoD=] even going by "race".
** With vampires, not only is there the Lancea Sanctum, which is essentially a vampiric take on the Abrahamic religions -- most obviously Christianity, though references are made to Islamic and Judaic-based sects -- complete with CrystalDragonJesus in the form of Longinus, their "first vampire", but many vampires believe God exists -- and hates them, personally. One splat even presents an alternate mythos (which may or may not be true) that vampires are literally the sons and daughters of Eve's bastard offspring by the Snake in the Garden of Eden. On the other hand, they also have, among other things, the Circle of the Crone (vampire Wicca with a heavy emphasis on BloodMagic) faction, and minor/optional beliefs like the Blood Gods cult (vampires are literally gods that have lost their power due to growing corrupt) and Mithraism (a claim by vampires they are descended from the "God of Darkness", Ahriman, of Zoroastrianism).
** Werewolves have a very hard time holding on to Abrahamic beliefs they held before their First Change -- constantly travelling to the spirit world and interacting with the animistic spirits that are the reality of the World of Darkness tends to erode such beliefs. "Blood of the Wolf" even implies that the tendency for new werewolves to violently argue with and break away from their former church is something that [[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil Hunters]] can take advantage of. Indeed, many werewolves are {{Naytheist}}s, though some do come to worship spirits in their own right (particularly those who used to adhere to more "compatible" religions beforehand). However, some do retain their old beliefs; the most notable mention of these, though, is that they have actually led hunters to their "heathen" kin more than once.
** Many Mages break with their old religions upon awakening, others don't. Notably, despite it being an obvious choice, White Wolf didn't go with the angle that those who were strong believers or TheFundamentalist before are more likely to become Banishers (mad mages who seek to kill all magic users). Admittedly, two of the most notable Christian mages mentioned are a somewhat-unwitting founder of an Abyssal cult and a HolierThanThou type who actually used his powers to become an ''inquisitor'' and hunt down other mages -- he failed to realise what his spirit-infused axe was learning from his actions and ending up being beheaded with his own weapon after being condemned as a witch himself.
** Changelings may or may not experience religious changes as a result of their trauma. Many do become Naytheists, though -- especially those who believe the Gentry are angels that, abandoned by God, have gone mad.
** Prometheans don't care about religion one way or another; they may adopt a faith, but usually to find some comfort or to try and understand humanity.
** Sin-Eaters, surprisingly, are the least-likely to lose faith, even though the Underworld looks absolutely nothing like heaven or hell. On the other hand, they are very, very willing to create their own new belief-systems, mixing and matching whatever details and ideas sound good to them.
** Also subverted in general for the mundane parts, in contrast to the Classic version: While [[{{Muggles}} mortals]] generally ''claim'' to not believe in monsters, the books often emphasize that this is, in general, complete hogwash. They know perfectly well that something goes bump in the night ([[BelievingTheirOwnLies despite what they may tell themselves]]), but (a) don't want to be seen as eccentric or crazy, and (b) suspect ([[KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade probably correctly]]), that if they talk about it, they make themselves targets. Thus, the general response to suspected supernatural activity is to '''very loudly''' ignore it. As a side note, this is also noted as one of the main differences between RealLife and the World of Darkness-people are more deceptive and paranoid in the setting, which is probably the main reason why it's a CrapsackWorld.
** Hunters zigzag all over the place, but Null Mysteriis is a third dominated by extreme rationalists who hold no stock in religion anymore.
** Mummies typically had their belief in the gods of Irem validated with the Rite of Return; meeting the judges of the afterlife will do that.
** Demons have their perceptions of divinity tied in with the God-Machine, and tend to view it and the Judeo-Christian as synonymous. Most are also {{Nay Theist}}s, though Integrators, who want to rejoin it on their own terms, tend to be quite religious.
* ParabolicPowerCurve: All supernatural characters have a "Power" stat that determines how much {{Mana}} they can store and impacts the power of their abilities. Raising it above 5 usually starts to incur drawbacks: Mages have to roll more dice for [[MagicMisfire Paradox]] (and successes = bad stuff), Werewolves lose Essence over time, Sin-Eaters start having to spend a part of each month in the Underworld, and so on.
** Balanced with the exclusive advantages: raising supernatural advantage ("Power") over five is the only way to permanently raise attributes over five, and the amount of supernatural "mana" you can hold at one time increases exponentially. (At advantage 1 you can hold 10, advantage 5 you can hold 14, advantage 8 you can hold 30, advantage 10 you can hold 100) Supernatural advantage is also used to resist other supernatural powers, and each race has their own perks for raising their advantage over five.
* PointBuildSystem
* PowerAtAPrice: Many gamelines make this as a rule. You can only progress to higher power levels at the cost of something. For [[TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost Changelings,]] you'll gain FantasticFragility. For [[TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters Sin-Eaters,]] you will have to create Fetters to sustain your powers. For [[TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent the Unchained,]] you'll develop [[GlamourFailure Glitches.]]
* PowerPerversionPotential: White Wolf's willing to acknowledge it sometimes. There's at least one supernatural power per major splat specifically aimed for this.
* PrestigeClass: Each game has a set, used to further specialize or develop a character. ''Vampire'' has Bloodlines, ''Mage'' has Legacies, ''Werewolf'' has Lodges, etc.
* RecycledInSpace: Or rather, Recycled IN ANCIENT ROME! in the case of ''Requiem''.
** The historical settings and 'world shards' are basically this. ''New Wave Requiem'' transplants Vampire to the 1980s (whilst the earlier "Requiem for Rome" and "Fall of the Camarilla" splats allowed one to play Roman Empire-era games). ''Mage Noir'' is Mage post-World War II. ''Victorian Lost'' is Changeling in Victorian Britain. ''Bleeding Edge'' is the World of Darkness as Cyberpunk. And ''Infinite Macabre'' does this literally, making the WOD Space Opera.
* RomanticizedAbuse: Common in the relation between vampires and their ghouls, among other things. Also, in the book ''Inferno'', you can build a character with superpowers based on one of the seven deadly sins. The "lust" ones pretty much run on this trope.
* SanityMeter: An option presented in ''Mirrors'' allows for human characters to learn ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow, [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity gaining power]] [[PowerAtAPrice at a price]].
** Clarity in ''Changeling'' is quite literally this, though it also doubles as a KarmaMeter.
** With the new rules in ''God-Machine Chronicle'', humans' KarmaMeter (Morality) has been replaced with Integrity, which is this...kinda. Unlike most sanity meters, it doesn't go down when exposed to most supernatural events, only things that the character would find genuinely traumatic (watching a monster kidnap a human when the character had that same thing happen when she was a child would ding it, seeing a zombie after being informed of their existence, especially if the necromancer controlling it is friendly, would not). That, and many of the things that ding it would, in fact, be KarmaMeter violations (again, you're encouraged to customize it), and derangements are no longer a thing, meaning an Integrity 1 StepfordSmiler is just as functional in daily life as someone with Integrity 10-[[InsanityImmunity and it's actually impossible to slip any lower]].
* ScienceIsWrong: Subverted it in [[TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening ''Awakening'']]. While other books ''did'' hint that science might have been a device of the [[GodIsEvil Exarchs]] to keep humanity in line, the book about their servants makes it explicitly clear that they actually ''hate'' it, since as science helps humanity grow into the truth, the better chance they have of Awakening, something the Exarchs ''do not want''. Well, actually it's their servants who hate it, but the odds of their masters not sharing their opinion are slim at best (to Luddites).
** In general, science gets a far better shake in the New [=WoD=] than the old... with the painful exception of ''Second Sight''.
* SealedCastInAMultipack: Ubiquitous.
** In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'', this is usually some kind of elder vampire in torpor. The awakening of just one of them is enough to change the power dynamic in a town.
** In ''TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated'', these are the Pandorans, failed Promethean creations that lay dormant until a Promethean gets near them. [[BodyHorror They are not nice]]. They are less characters and more like (extremely nasty) forces of un-nature.
* SerialKiller: Any old person or supernatural can be one. Special mention goes to the Slashers from the source book of the same name.
* SevenDeadlySins: By fulfilling their Vice, the character can gain a point of Willpower due to gratifying their ego. However acts that fulfill Vices are usually going to damage the KarmaMeter.
* ShoutOut: The new World of Darkness has several that border on MythologyGag or ContinuityNod, in the form of references to the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness. Division Six and Panopticon are both nods to the Technocracy from ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'', while the Cainite Heresy, which is portrayed here as a [[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil Hunter faction]], is a nod to vampire history in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade''. In fact there are a fair amount of nods to the Technocracy in ''Hunter: The Vigil'', up to and including arguably the entirety of Task Force VALKYRIE and the entire Cheiron Group.
** Look closely and you'll see this happening all over the NWOD. ''Werewolf: The Forsaken'''s 'Hosts' are essentially two of the changing breed races with completely monstrous personalities. The Lancea Sanctum is most certainly a latter day Sabbat (tweaked to be a little less 'evil by evil's standards', of course, and given a CrystalDragonJesus touch). And then there's the pinnacle of this trope: ''Mage: The Awakening'' has their 'Supernal Realms', which amongst other things are pretty blatant shout outs to ''Changeling: The Dreaming'', ''Wraith: The Oblivion'', ''Demon: The Fallen'' and arguably ''Werewolf: The Apocalypse''.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Quite far on the cynical end of the scale. Power is fundamentally corrupting and usually comes at a too high price (especially in capacity for free will and choice), there are problems in the world nobody can fix, and moral purity is usually a weakness, and a privilege enjoyed by those who don't have to do anything of importance any more. You ''[[EarnYourHappyEnding can]]'' make it better-somewhat-but you may hate yourself getting there, if you hope for a decent chance at winning.
* SlidingScaleOfTurnRealism: Action by Action.
* TheSoulless: notable examples in TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening, TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost, and TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated.
** [[TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated The Created]] are a rare positive example, in that their life goal is to learn enough about humanity to forge their own souls and become humans.
** For everyone else though, losing your soul ''sucks''. [[BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad Your Virtues and Vices]] invert due the delirium of losing an important component of your psyche, but [[BeingEvilSucks it's harder to get Willpower from Vice and it]] [[SanitySlippage eats your Integrity]] until you start losing the ''will to live'', and from there eventually devolve into a [[EmptyShell Thrall]] until someone attaches a soul back to you.
* {{Sourcebook}}
* SpecialSnowflakeSyndrome: Almost every game has several [[PrestigeClass smaller splats]] mentioned in the various sourcebooks. ''Vampire'' has Bloodlines, ''Werewolf'' has Lodges, ''Mage'' has Legacies, ''Changeling'' has Entitlements, etc.
* {{Splat}}: Essentially the TropeNamer, more or less.
* StagesOfMonsterGrief: Just about every {{splat}} has members who deny, love, hate, or go off the deep end after changing from mere human. Except Prometheans, who weren't human but still feel the effects of their inhumanity, and Demons, who likewise aren't human, and instead react to their newfound independence from the God-Machine.
* StringyHairedGhostGirl: ''Hurt Locker'' uses Tokyo as an example setting, so it's really not surprising it features one haunting Shinjuku Station. What ''is'' surprising is how the Tek-Tek managed to [[PostModernMagik hack the God-Machine's Infrastructure in the area]] and turn it into a way to prevent the tragic circumstances of her death (see KillAndReplace, above-that's her doing). Just don't expect her to be happy if you decide to go back to your old life...
* SuperLoser: The default for a player character.
* SuperPoweredEvilSide: The Dreamers from ''Hurt Locker'' are people who have had an assassin personality subliminally implanted into them as a SleeperAgent. Accessing their sealed memories gives them their other half's powers and skills, at the cost of falling under the influence of whoever programmed them.
* TakeThat: Lots of little tidbits around, but ''Dudes of Legend'' is an entire book of take thats.
--> [[EverythingsBetterWithSparkles This one’s pretty easy. You glimmer and shimmer, like you’re covered in glitter. It’s pretty awesome. It gives you +3 to all Socialize rolls, because who doesn’t want to talk to some dude or chick whose flesh twinkles with cosmic glitter?]] [[Literature/{{Twilight}} If your character is a vampire, you gain doubleextra-awesomeness in that you also get to walk around in the sunlight.]] [[YourVampiresSuck When you do, though, you’re fey and frail, suffering a -3 to all Physical dice pools. Further, all Physical-based dice rolls lose the 10-Again quality. Everyone also thinks you’re a little gay.]]
* ThinDimensionalBarrier: Verges are sites where the barrier between the physical world and [[SpiritWorld Shadow Realm]] has been worn away completely. Some only open when a particular condition is met; others allow anyone to wander between worlds, usually with very bad results.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Since ''God-Machine Chronicle'', this is now an inherent part of the human condition; it is always an Integrity check to kill other human beings, even for soldiers, police and other "hardened" individuals.
* TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: Thus far, Tokyo is the only city which has appeared as a sample chronicle location in all Chronicles of Darkness lines, and the generic expansion Hurt Locker even has a chapter dedicated to it. As a result, whereas other cities may appear to be only primarily occupied by a single type of unnatural phenomena, Tokyo is packed to the brim with vampires, werewolves, mages, agents of the God-Machine, and every other inhuman entity under the sky. Oddly enough, ''Beast: the Primordial'' establishes that the most supernaturally influential creature, or Apex, in the city is an ''independent [[TabletopRPG/VampireTheRequiem ghoul]]''.
* TouchedByVorlons: The origins of Changelings in ''Changeling: The Lost,'' Only they were touched in the ''[[MindRape worst]]'' [[MindRape way possible]]. Imagine experiencing a combination of kidnapping, sexual abuse, MindRape and some terrors humans don't even have words for. As a result of this, you are horribly mutated and in many ways no longer essentially human. The only plus side is that you MIGHT have enough power to keep yourself from getting taken back after you escape (if you even manage to escape; the escape rate is fairly abysmal).
* UnEqualRites: The feelings between the Lancea Sanctum and Circle of the Crone in ''Requiem''.
* TheUnmasquedWorld: ''Mirrors'' gives you several suggestions on doing this and the possible consequences thereof. Scenarios range from simply [[BoringButPractical the Internet making it impossible to hide anything anymore]], to [[UltimateShowdownofUltimateDestiny all-out warfare between the supernatural factions]].
* UnstoppableRage: Vampires when they frenzy, Werewolves in frenzy/Death Rage, and certain Prometheans (mostly Frankensteins) in Torment.
** Werewolf's crossover rules lampshade this by mentioning that mages do not quantifiably explode in Rage.
* UrbanFantasy: Authors prefer to define the genre for most World of Darkness games as {{Horror}}, but [=WoD=] actually fits this trope.
* TheUsualAdversaries: Humans!
* VanHelsingHateCrimes: Hunters generally don't know the difference between the good supernaturals and the bad. [[BlackAndGreyMorality Can't really blame them.]]
* VirtueViceCodification: They are: Charity, Faith, Fortitude, Hope, Justice, Prudence, and Temperance. They take more effort than Vices to fulfill, but fully restore Willpower when pulled off.
* WainscotSociety: Multiple, intermittently interacting hidden factions — of vampires, werewolves, wizards, etc. — each have substantial, organized social systems of their own.
* WalkingWasteland: If a Promethean settles down for too long, the world around them begins to suffer.
* TheWallAroundTheWorld: The borders between the physical realm and the spirit worlds.
* WarIsHell: 2E takes a ''very'' cynical view of violence and people who resort to it as a first option. ''Hurt Locker'' is all about how hurting people weaker than you ends up creating more problems than it solves, and the fundamentally self-destructive nature of hate. [[DoNotDoThisCoolThing It does admit up front that violence is still pretty cool to watch, though]].
* WeaponOfChoice: Quite a few of the fighting styles provided in supplementary material for the New World of Darkness focus around these, including [[KnifeNut knife fighting]], sword-and-shield, and [[{{BFS}} heavy sword]].
* WellIntentionedExtremist:
** Hunters in general are at risk of this. They want to protect humanity against monsters, but their lack of information on the supernatural means they frequently end up making the situation ''worse'' without even realizing it.
** One of the many, many dangers of traveling the roads is the risk of running into Gremlins, which are one half this, one half MadDoctor, and all BodyHorror. They want to fix things... cars, machines, people, they don't care what. They live to fix things. But they aren't very smart: if something moves, it's working, if it's not moving, it's broken. If you stop near a gremlin's lair, be it consciously or not (say, you have a crash), then the gremlin will come to fix you. Or use you to fix something else. They'll just keep tampering and tinkering until you die, all in the name of trying to get you to "work". Then they'll take you apart and keep the best bits for future "repair jobs".
** Also, be careful around hobgoblins. They mean well, but sometimes...
* WolfMan: The Uratha, naturally. They actually have a sliding scale of forms; human, wolf, "dire wolf" (really big wolf), "near-man" (this trope), and "war form" (the form modernly associated with werewolves; essentially an anthropomorphic wolf... only very muscular and stuck in a berserk rage that can easily lose focus on the werewolf's ''enemies'').
* WrongContextMagic: Just about anything from the perspective of a different gameline. However anything related to the Divine Fire is in a league of its own for being incomprehensible to other forms of magic. Faerie magic isn't nearly as far out of context but still plays by different rules to most other magic.
* YourVampiresSuck: Like the previous setting, the vampire book includes a section clarifying which facts are true or false about vampires. Toned down in the second edition, where almost all the stories about vampires have ''some'' truth to them- it's just that they apply to vampires individually rather than as a whole.
----

** In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'', these is usually some kind of elder vampire in a torpor. The awakening of just one of them is enough to change the power dynamic in a town.

In 2007, a spin-off ''TabletopGame/MonteCooksWorldOfDarkness'' was published using the TabletopGame/D20Modern rules.

In 2013, April, CCP Games (the folks behind VideoGame/EveOnline and owners of White Wolf since 2006) announced that a ''World of Darkness'' MMORPG, tentatively called ''World of Darkness Online'', which would be based on the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness.

The '''New''' World of Darkness was created in the wake of [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Time of Judgment,]] the [[MassivelyMultiplayerCrossover gameline-spanning event]] which served as the promised cataclysmic close to TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness. However, while it shares many tropes with the [=oWoD=] it is also quite different, since it was rebuilt taking into account many criticisms of its predecessor.

As a revamping of the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness, some of the themes it keeps (albeit twists a bit) are the following. The World of Darkness, both old and new, are settings where several Supernatural Creatures exist. Each has a unique niche, theme, and BackStory. There are three core supernatural races (TabletopGame/{{Vampire|TheRequiem}}s, TabletopGame/{{Werewol|fTheForsaken}}ves and TabletopGame/{{Mage|TheAwakening}}s) and many supplemental ones (TabletopGame/{{Changeling|TheLost}}s, TabletopGame/{{Promethean|TheCreated}}s, [[TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters Sin-Eaters]], TabletopGame/{{Mumm|yTheCurse}}ies, TabletopGame/{{Demon|TheDescent}}s, TabletopGame/{{Beast|ThePrimordial}}s) and [[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil humans who hunt them.]] The setting is a CrapsackWorld, albeit rather than overwhelming oppressive cataclysmic impotence, it focuses on hidden horrors, kitchen sink despair and moral degradation.

Among the biggest differences between the two is that the [=nWoD=] is highly modular. The ''very first'' "gameline" that came out was about ordinary vanilla mortals. This book also served as the core rulebook, creating a unifying (though not always balanced) set of rules for all the following supplements to build on and adhere to. In contrast to the Old World, it lacks a unifying CrossoverCosmology and {{Metaplot}}, so the existence of the supernatural creatures from any other gameline is optional in your game - in fact, if you're playing a "Mortals" game, you could decide that none of the classics exist. The [[GameMaster Story Teller]] can craft his or her own cosmology wholesale from the various toolkits given. Because of this, some see the new setting as a {{Retcon}} of the old, to fix mistakes and imbalances; while no wholesale plot is lifted several themes, clans, institutions and other things are ported over. Many key themes and features of the old games were lost. In the case of ''Changeling'', the [[TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost new game]] is entirely different from [[TabletopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming the old]]. The new games are also much more mutually compatible rules-wise, which is important for those who want balanced and easily manageable crossovers.

In 2007, a spin-off, ''TabletopGame/MonteCooksWorldOfDarkness'', was published using the TabletopGame/D20Modern rules.

In 2010, White Wolf announed that it would be moving away from traditional print in favor of focusing on print-on-demand services and publishing to [=PDFs=]. While the outcry was expected, the [=nWoD=] has continued on with new game-lines released afterwards.

In 2012, White Wolf celebrated the [[LongRunner 20th anniversary]] of the World of Darkness as a whole, the 8th anniversary of the New World of Darkness.

In 2013, White Wolf released the God-Machine Chronicle, expanding and formalizing on hints and references to the entity made throughout the line. In addition, it overhauled some key systems of the line. Morality became Integrity, Social Maneuvering was introduced, experience is gained through "beats", etc. All pre-GMC lines are in the process of being summarily updated to bring them in line with the new systems, starting with Vampire in "Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle", and all post-GMC lines, starting with ''TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent'', will be compatible with the new systems out of the gate. In 2014, it was announced that the updates would officially be renamed as second editions of their respective games, with "Blood and Smoke" becoming ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' second edition, and the core "World of Darkness" mortals rulebook would receive a second edition as well.

CCP Games, the folks behind VideoGame/EveOnline and owners of White Wolf since 2006, had announced a World of Darkness MMORPG, tentatively called World of Darkness Online, which would be based on the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness. [[http://www.ccpgames.com/en/public-relations/press-releases/article/77171/ccp-games-halts-development-of-world-of-darkness-mmo/ Sadly, it was cancelled as of April 2014]], with the company license eventually being sold to Creator/ParadoxInteractive in October 2015, with White Wolf being renamed to White Wolf Publishing-and Creator/ObsidianEntertainment expressing their interest in making their own game.

In December 2015, the New World of Darkness [[http://theonyxpath.com/announcing-chronicles-of-darkness/ was officially renamed]] '''Chronicles of Darkness''' to further distinguish between it and the Old World of Darkness, making clear that they were two separate settings. The individual gamelines kept their original names.

!This [=RPG=] provides examples of:

** Beasts are EldritchAbominations that have to cause fear or destruction in order to survive, but most of them try to use fear as a teaching tool, not a weapon. And they are *very* protective of their family, whether they be mortal or supernatural.

* TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: Thus far, Tokyo is the only city which has appeared as a sample chronicle location in all Chronicles of Darkness lines, and the generic expansion Hurt Locker even has a chapter dedicated to it. As a result, whereas other cities may appear to be only primarily occupied by a single type of unnatural phenomena, Tokyo is packed to the brim with vampires, werewolves, mages, agents of the God-Machine, and every other inhuman entity under the sky. Oddly enough, ''Beast: the Primordial'' establishes that the most supernaturally influential creature, or Apex, in the city is a ''ghoul''.

* TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: Thus far, Tokyo is the only city which has appeared as a sample chronicle location in all Chronicles of Darkness lines, and the generic expansion Hurt Locker even has a chapter dedicated to it. As a result, whereas other cities may appear to be only primarily occupied by a single type of unnatural phenomena, Tokyo is packed to the brim with vampires, werewolves, mages, agents of the God-Machine, and every other inhuman entity under the sky.

** Beasts take this to a whole new level: Their ''souls' are actually extraplaner EldritchAbominations that have to be kept fed or they go rampaging throughout the human dreamscape, inflicting nightmares and attracting Heroes.

* TheMultiverse: In the New World of Darkness, though the full picture only emerges if you piece together ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'', ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'', ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'' and ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters''. The various planes of existance are...

As a revamping of the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness, some of the themes it keeps (albeit twists a bit) are the following. The World of Darkness, both old and new, are settings where several Supernatural Creatures exist. Each has a unique niche, theme, and BackStory. There are three core supernatural races (TabletopGame/{{Vampire|TheRequiem}}s, TabletopGame/{{Werewol|fTheForsaken}}ves and TabletopGame/{{Mage|TheAwakening}}s) and many supplemental ones (TabletopGame/{{Changeling|TheLost}}s, TabletopGame/{{Promethean|TheCreated}}s, [[TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters Sin-Eaters]], TabletopGame/{{Mumm|yTheCurse}}ies, TabletopGame/{{Demon|TheDescent}}s, TabletopGame/{{Beast|ThePrimordial}}s) and [[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil humans who hunt them.]] The setting is a CrapsackWorld, albeit rather than overwhelming oppressive cataclysmic impotence and moral degradation, it focuses on hidden horrors, kitchen sink despair and moral degradation.

* GameFace

As a revamping of the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness, some of the themes it keeps (albeit twists a bit) are the following. The World of Darkness, both old and new, are settings where several Supernatural Creatures exist. Each has a unique niche, theme, and BackStory. There are three core supernatural races (TabletopGame/{{Vampire|TheRequiem}}s, TabletopGame/{{Werewol|fTheForsaken}}ves and TabletopGame/{{Mage|TheAwakening}}s) and many supplemental ones (TabletopGame/{{Changeling|TheLost}}s, TabletopGame/{{Promethean|TheCreated}}s, [[TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters Sin-Eaters]], TabletopGame/{{Mumm|yTheCurse}}ies, TabletopGame/{{Demon|TheDescent}}s) and [[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil humans who hunt them.]] The setting is a CrapsackWorld, albeit rather than overwhelming oppressive cataclysmic impotence and moral degradation, it focuses on hidden horrors, kitchen sink despair and moral degradation.

It also leaves more room for homebrew expansions and games, [[SturgeonsLaw though most of them aren't really worth the trouble]]. The ones listed here are [[SoCoolItsAwesome decent, detailed and balanced enough]] [[SoOkayItsAverage to be worth consideration]]. Although [[SoBadItsGood particularly featherbrained homebrew]] may be worth noting.

Humans share the Earth with various supernatural creepy crawlies that [[WarmBloodbagsAreEverywhere prey on them like cattle]], [[TheChessmaster use them]] [[AncientConspiracy as pawns]], and kill them when convenient (or at whim). In an interesting tightrope walk, individual humans have little power; but a tenet of most of the supernatural groups is that ''humanity'' as a force is dangerous and must remain ignorant. There is a reason that whenever a [[TheHunter Hunter]] dies, [[TakeUpMySword another rises elsewhere]].

* SuperPoweredEvilSide: The Dreamers from ''Hurt Locker'' are people who have had an assassin personality supernaturally implanted into them as a SleeperAgent. Accessing their sealed memories gives them their other half's powers and skills, at the cost of falling under the influence of whoever programmed them.

** Some of the True Fae can possibly be seen as this. CorruptCorperateExecutive Baron Fairweather, for example, personifies corperate greed.