Line #222 TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness


1	[[quoteright:275:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wodlogo_348.jpg]]
2
3	[[index]]
4	[floatboxright:'''Official gamelines:'''
5	* ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade''
6	** ''Literature/VampireTheMasquerade''
7	** ''TabletopGame/ChicagoByNight''
8	* ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse''
9	** ''TabletopGame/ProjectTwilight''
10	* ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension''
11	* ''TabletopGame/WraithTheOblivion''
12	* ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming''
13	* ''TabletopGame/HunterTheReckoning''
14	* ''TabletopGame/DemonTheFallen''
15	* ''TabletopGame/MummyTheResurrection''
16	* ''TabletopGame/KindredOfTheEast''
17	* ''TabletopGame/{{Orpheus}}''
18	]
19	[[/index]]
20	[floatboxright: For fan-made gamelines, see FanWorks.TheWorldOfDarkness
21	]
22	[floatboxright: For non-RPG works set in the WOD, see Franchise.TheWorldOfDarkness
23	]
24	[floatboxright: For tropes related to the setting's reboot, see TabletopGame.ChroniclesOfDarkness
25	]
26
27	The ''World of Darkness'' is a GothicPunk TabletopRPG published by Creator/WhiteWolf. The universe is a [[CrapsackWorld dark reflection]] of our own, where humanity is not the master of the world ''or'' its fate. Throughout all of human history, [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy supernatural forces have manipulated mankind from the shadows.]]
28
29	The original or "classic" ''World of Darkness'' and the Storyteller System began in 1991 with ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade''. Over the next 13 years, it expanded to nine different "gamelines" with assorted setting- and era-based spinoffs and hundreds of books, until it officially ended in 2004. Starting the same year, the new ''World of Darkness'' was created as a [[ContinuityReboot reboot]] with a new system and is ongoing under the name ''TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness''. The Old World of Darkness [[{{Uncancelled}} returned to active publishing]] in 2011 with the release of [[MilestoneCelebration 20th anniversary editions]] of several of its gamelines, along with new supplements.
30
31	Each supernatural creature in the setting has a unique niche, theme, and {{back story}}. Crossovers between gamelines were initially meant to be optional. The resulting incompatible histories and cosmologies and lack of clear equivalents to various supernatural power sources, as well as differing [[PowerCreepPowerSeep relative strengths]] of the creatures created significant mechanical and lore conflicts when the second edition made such events more common.
32
33	In later editions, the old ''[=WoD=]'' setting acquired an overarching {{back story}} and an ongoing {{metaplot}}, advanced via both the game books themselves and an assortment of tie-in novels and comics. The ''Time of Judgment'' books [[labelnote:note]]including ''[[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse Apocalypse]]'', ''[[TabletopGame/MageTheAscension Ascension]]'', ''[[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade Gehenna]]'', and the book titled ''Time of Judgment'' itself which covered the other game lines (except ''Wraith'').[[/labelnote]] were dedicated to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, covering scenarios that were often, but not always, exclusive to a particular gameline. ''TabletopGame/{{Orpheus}}'' was another gameline with its own end-of-the-world scenario, that also doubled as the end to ''TabletopGame/{{Wraith\|TheOblivion}}''.
34
35	At one point ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' was set up as a prequel to ''The World of Darkness''; this is especially obvious in ''TabletopGame/HunterTheReckoning'' with the eponymous hunters being the equivalent of [[KingInTheMountain Solar Exalted returning]] yet again to a world that needs heroes. This eventually was changed and ''Exalted'' is now considered a separate game, although it still shares similarly named characters with ''TabletopGame/KindredOfTheEast''.
36
37	The gameline is currently in an unusual position edition-wise. While Paradox Interactive produced the 5th Edition, Onyx Path Publishing (creators of the 20th Anniversary Edition) never actually lost their license and have continued to produce new products, mostly available online as [=PDFs=] and print-on-demand. This has effectively created two separate continuities.
38	----
39	!! This role-playing game provides examples of:
40
41	* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Most of the games had some always evil faction (Baali for Vampire, Nephandi for Mage, Black Spiral Dancers for Werewolf, etc.) that was at least initially unavailable for player characters. Later, White Wolf came out with the "Black Dog" brand to publish {{Splat}}books for these groups.
42	* AndIMustScream:
43	** Clan Tzimisce vampires are particularly notorious for this, thanks to their body-sculpting powers that allow them to reshape victims into house furniture, while keeping them alive and aware of their condition.
44	** Wraiths who have been soulforged into inanimate objects are said to be aware of their existence but unable to express it. As a result, most wraiths try really, ''really'' hard to forget almost everything they interact with that isn't a relic was once a soul like them.
45	* {{Animorphism}}: Werewolves, vampire Clan Gangrel, Changelings of the Pooka Kith, and ''Orpheus'' ghosts with the Marrow Shade can all turn themselves into animals with varying levels of ease and flexibility of form.
46	* ApocalypseHow: The Time of Judgement, a series of sourcebooks and a trilogy of novels that presented various end-of-the-world scenarios for the different gamelines, ranging from ancient vampires awakening to entire Werewolf tribes falling to [[TheCorruption the Wyrm]]
47	* {{Arcadia}}: The home of the fae in ''Changeling: The Dreaming''.
48	* TheArtifact: The references to [[TabletopGame/{{Exalted}} Exalted]] are ignored now that the game is no longer a prequel to the World of Darkeness.
49	* AscendedDemon:
50	** Golconda for vampires. Particularly in the early editions, it was a state that removed many of the more monstrous aspects of being a vampire, such as the danger of frenzy and the need for frequent consumption of blood, possibly even offering a chance to become human. Later editions downplayed this.
51	** [[TabletopGame/DemonTheFallen Demon]] has the possibility of reaching zero Torment, indicating that the character in question has overcome the hate they feel over being sent to hell and have regained their former selves.
52	* AstralProjection: A common power among the supernatural creatures that populate the world:
53	** Vampires with the Auspex discipline can learn to astral project at high levels. Additionally, one path of Giovanni necromancy allows uses to project themselves (and occasionally other people) into the Shadowlands.
54	** Skimmers in Orpheus use astral projection to reach the world of the dead. Similar to the Auspex example, they are connected to their bodies by a thin silver cord.
55	** Werewolf places a great deal of importance on the Umbra, a spirit realm that exists alongside our own and can be reached by "stepping sideways".
56	** Mages with the Spirit Sphere can either do the traditional astral projecting or can "step sideways" like the werewolves do.
57	* AwesomeButImpractical:
58	** The classic, pre-fifth edition World of Darkness is often considered this. The classic World of Darkness puts players in incredibly lore-rich and creatively unique worlds, with each gameline featuring its own complex societies and histories and wish fulfillment appeal that makes them intriguing to imagine oneself in[[labelnote:note]]You've been initiated into an AncientConspiracy to control humanity and a supernatural curse going back directly to Biblical times! You're a SuperSoldier genetically destined to fight TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt in the name of MotherNature! The laws of reality are subjective and you're one of the chosen few with the ability to reshape them to how you believe they should be![[/labelnote]], often based on specific real-world mythologies, and epic and apocalyptic conflicts and events of a world-spanning nature omnipresent, even where they can only be experienced tangentially or from the ground level. At the same time, however, the gamelines were often so highly developed they were prone to becoming their own thing entirely, diverging quite considerably from what a new player might hope for and expect from the concept of playing, say, a werewolf, making it difficult to be individually flexible, and most gamelines had at least one element which could easily become an [[invoked]] AudienceAlienatingPremise[[labelnote:note]]''Werewolf'' has players serving an authoritarian, theocratic governemnt which aims to control them down to their reproductive function, ''Mage'' requires players familiarizing themselves with and learning to apply with consistency real-world metaphysical systems, ''Wraith'' has players already dead and in an incredibly depressing totalitarian underworld where their best hope is moving on to the next life...[[/labelnote]]. The powerful globally-established factions meant you were always ''someone'''s bitch and made it hard to players to sandbox or carve out a niche for themselves in the world, and their deep lore could lead to accusations you were playing your character "wrong", especially in the case of the highly organized groups which could just easily ''force'' you to act as they expected you to. The epic scope also made it difficult to have more low-stakes, personal adventures, and the cultural-based mythologies could come across as preferential treatment. Also, the mechanics could be quite janky and the factions not particularly balanced against each other, with crossovers nominally allowed but made difficult by a lack of unified game rules or balance, not to mention outright contradictory cosmologies.
59	** In contrast to this stands ''TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness'' with its BoringButPractical approach, significantly tightening up and unifying the rules, standardizing and balancing crossover mechanics, bringing the splats closer to what one might colloquially expect by their names even at the cost of much lore and uniqueness (except for, perhaps, ''TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent''), foregoing much of the big conspiracies, factions and world-spanning conflicts in favor of more localized adventures, with an agnostic mythology, and generally treating the entire system as more of a toolkit for the Storyteller to do with as they please rather than an introduction to a specific setting.
60	** Downplayed with the fifth edition line of World of Darkness games, which aim for a "best of both worlds" approach between the two, keeping much of the lore of ''Classic'' and much of the gameplay improvements and freedom of ''Chronicles''.
61	* BadassNormal: Non-Imbued hunters, at least those few of them who weren't using some form of magic or the True Faith.
62	* BeastMan:
63	** Changelings of the Pooka Kith each have an affinity with a specific animal and take on features of that animal, with most falling somewhere between this trope and LittleBitBeastly
64	** All the werewolf (and other changing breed) forms except for homid and lupus are beastmen, with different forms at different places on the SlidingScaleofAnthropomorphism
65	** The clan curse of Gangrel vampires causes them to take on animal traits every time they frenzy, leading to older Gangrel becoming beastmen
66	* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: It got to the point where virtually every historical figure was some sort of supernatural creature. Of particular note was Rasputin, who was claimed by about five vampire clans, a Mage Tradition and a Werewolf tribe. They ultimately explained that [[spoiler: Rasputin was all of the above and the ultimate BigBad of Vampire: The Masquerade. Instead, he's eventually revealed to be a bodyriding Wraith.]] The revised editions clamped down ''hard'' on this sort of thing, making it very clear that most human things happened for human reasons with the supernaturals at most altering details. Of course, that doesn't stop numerous clans/tribes from ''lying'' about it.
67	** Absolutely and unequivocally [[DeniedTrope denied]] in the case of the Holocaust, according to ''Charnel Houses of Europe''. The writers flat-out state it would have been in astoundingly poor taste to say that the RealLife genocide of millions was the plot of some fictional vampire cabal.
68	* BeingGoodSucks: Unless you're a Mummy, most supernatural creatures in the World of Darkness spend their lives fighting against dark parts of themselves- The Beast for vampires, Rage for werewolves, Torment for demons, etc. While resisting these is possible, the things player characters have to do regularly, such as fighting or using their powers tend to make that fight more difficult. A common source of conflict in the game is the tension between the power offered by doing wrong and the moral benefits of remaining on the straight and narrow.
69	* BeneathTheEarth: Where you'll find [[AbsurdlySpaciousSewer Nosferatu warrens]] and the underground tunnels of Black Spiral Dancer hives. According to the other Changelings, Sluagh have this going on as well.
70	* BewareTheSuperman: Several factions, such as Mages and Garou, are dealing with the far-reaching effects of their ancestors lording over humans.
71	* BlessedWithSuck: It is ''not'' fun to be a supernatural being in many gamelines of the old ''[=WoD=]'' (in particular, in Wraith and often in Vampire, in other lines becoming a supernatural is more of a mixed blessing).
72	** Changelings are blessed with incredible talents via their Birthrights and can use Glamour to shape reality, but must constantly balance themselves- too much Glamour will drive them mad, while too much Banality will lead them to forget about their supernatural heritage entirely.
73	** Hunters have their eyes opened to the supernatural forces at work in their world and are given powers to fight them with, but find themselves in constant danger from creatures more powerful than they are and alienated from friends and family who can't perceive what they can.
74	** Vampires are difficult to kill with anything except sunlight, fire, or True Faith and have powers ranging from SuperStrength to [[EmotionBomb Emotion Bombs]] to BloodMagic, but at the cost of their humanity, leaving them driven by their inner Beast, forced to prey on humans to survive, and unable to experience sunlight or eat normal food.
75	** Werewolves are prone to berserker rage, and will more than likely rip to shreds someone (or something) they care about.
76	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The various alternate morality systems in Masquerade, referred to as Paths of Enlightenment in the modern day and Roads in the Dark Ages games. Depending on the Path followed, the greatest "sin" a vampire can commit could be anything from admitting another's superiority to helping demons to not feeding when hungry.
77	* BodyHorror:
78	** A large part of the Tzimisces' hat in ''Vampire: the Masquerade'' is inflicting AndIMustScream-style changes on their victims.
79	** For many Garou in ''Werewolf: The Apocalypse'', the First Change qualifies. Garou who are unaware of their werewolf nature are horrified when they transform into an eight foot tall beast with fangs and claws. Lupus Garou are often alarmed when they suddenly transform into a human.
80	** Body horror is a common experience among Wyrm servants in Werewolf as well. Fomori (living beings possessed by bane spirits) take on grotesque physical characteristics. Black Spiral Dancers frequently exhibit mutations due to Wyrm taint, inbreeding, and generations of exposure to balefire.
81	* TheCaligula:
82	** The actual Caligula was apparently a [[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade Setite]] plot, as revenge for the whole "Subjugation of Egypt" thing.
83	** Black Tooth, a [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse Simba]] king who oversaw the attempted genocide of the Ajaba (were-hyenas) and used their skulls to decorate his palace before forcing a benevolent Wyld spirit into slumber in case its presence touched off the apocalypse.
84	* ChurchMilitant:
85	** The Inquisition, aka the Society of Leopold, an order of the Catholic Church (with later help from various governmental secret services) dedicated to finding and destroying evil caused by supernatural forces.
86	** In ''Werewolf: The Apocalypse'' the Order of Our Merciful Mother (a camp of [[AmazonBrigade Black Fury]] nuns) worked to redirect the Inquisition's wrath at Wyrm servants.
87	* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve:
88	** A matter of life or death for Changelings in ''Changeling: the Dreaming'', as the central premise rests on the fae being driven into human forms by the growing unwillingness to believe in the fantastic among humanity. This tendency, referred to as "Banality," can drive a changeling to an early grave, and must be overcome if they wish to work magic on a target.
89	** In ''Mage: the Ascension'', Paradox, the backlash created by the subconscious disbelief of non-mage humans, can be the strongest force against mages, making magic a risky blur of this trope and CastFromHitPoints.
90	** In ''Vampire: the Masquerade'', vampires are only affected by symbols of faith- be they crosses, stars of David, or credit cards- if the wielder has true faith to put behind them.
91	** In ''Hunter: The Reckoning'', Hunter's powers and second sight depend on their Conviction, a measure of their willingness to stand against monsters and believe in themselves and their mission.
92	* CosmicHorrorStory: Most of the game lines offer their own brand of this.
93	** Mage stands out a bit by the players themselves frequently being the big bad threat to the stability of reality itself. Usually by accident. "Reality has enough of your bullshit and erases you" was actually the setting's primary ''antagonist'', and being a walking madness-inducing eldritch abomination was often one of your ''better'' qualities once paradigms started combining with Avatar.
94	** Vampire has the Antediluvians, millennia-old, immensely powerful, utterly inhuman vampires who lie dormant somewhere. Their awakening would be basically TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt (for humans and vampires both), but only the Sabbat officially treat this as a realistic possibility.
95	** In ''Werewolf: The Apocalypse'', the Weaver (the cosmic force of order and stasis) trapped the Wyrm (the cosmic force of destruction and renewal) in the fabric of reality, causing the Wyrm to go insane. Much of the corruption and evil in the world is a direct result of the Wyrm madly trying to free itself.
96	* TheCracker: Virtual Adept Mages have this attitude towards ''reality itself''.
97	* CrapsackWorld: The oppressive helplessness of the setting is what appeals to many.
98	** In ''Vampire'', the player characters have been transformed into inhuman creatures who must constantly fight against their darker impulses or lose their minds. The various factions are constantly at war with each other and older vampires lord their power over younger ones (and humans), using them as pawns in their games and often treating them as disposable. And the end of the world is coming, but only the most violent, inhuman of the sects seems to acknowledge or care about this fact.
99	** Changeling is an exception, where the object is to prevent the world from ''becoming'' a CrapsackWorld by retaining the power of imagination and possibility.
100	** Mummy: The Resurrection was primarily written as a direct subversion of this trend. The main tagline for the game is "Where there is Life, there is Hope," the [=NPCs=] are folks who lived crappy lives in the crappy world and returned with the mandate to change the world for the better, and the entire setting treats the idea of changing the world as something more than the seeming impossible.
101	** The [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse Hengeyokai]] (and possibly also the [[TabletopGame/KindredOfTheEast Kuei-Jin)]] believe that the crappiness of the world is cyclical and that, so long as the coming 6th age (the ultimate in crappiness) is finite and temporary, the universe will eventually become a better place to live (although there is some concern that ''this'' 6th age is going to be so bad it may break the Wheel of Ages).
102	** Werewolves have to contend with the fact that the three entities that shape reality are hopelessly out of balance, resulting in everything from destruction of the wilderness to [[TheCorruption twisted horrors that used to be normal creatures]]. The mistakes of their ancestors have left them hopelessly bound up in conflict between their tribes and the other shifters, all the while fighting the slow decline of their population. And if they can't manage to find a way to get everything back into balance, the world will end.
103	** ''Wraith'' played Crapsack World straighter and harder than any of the other games. The world [[IncrediblyLamePun may bite]], but it's still a paradise compared to the despair and horrors of [[TheUnderworld the Shadowlands]].
104	* CrapsackWorldEscapistSanctuary: On top of all the mortal atrocities in this setting, it's infested with vampires, werewolves, mages, changelings, ghosts, demons, mummies, fanatical monster hunters, and even stranger entities - all of them playing elaborate games for the fate of the world, all of them committing atrocities and having atrocities inflicted on them in turn. Also, every single supernatural group seems to have some kind of apocalypse scheduled [[JustBeforeTheEnd in the very near future]]. In the face of this bleakness, ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'' is one of the few games in the setting that offers escapism to the inhabitants of this dismal realm, with the mages opting to alter or even escape the grim reality rather than try to work within it. Most notably, the [[PlayfulHacker Virtual Adepts]] regularly drop into [[{{Cyberspace}} the Digital Web]] in pursuit of adventure and missions to recode reality in their favor. For good measure, the Technocracy - [[EvilCounterpart Iteration X]] in particular - like to dismiss the Virtual Adepts as fantasist kids who want to abandon their bodies for meaningless thrills in VR.
105	* CreativeSterility: When a new Vampire is Embraced, it puts them in a mental stasis, as well as physical, making it very difficult for them to do anything truly innovative or creative.
106	* CrossMeltingAura: Baali vampires are vulnerable to symbols of faith, but a merit allows them to destroy such symbols that enter their proximity.
107	* CrossoverCosmology: Each game line in the Old ''[=WoD=]'' had a long, intricate BackStory, full of probably intentional internal inconsistencies and an independent cosmology. Needless to say, they did not play well together. This was a reason for several {{Ret Con}}s.
108	* CursedWithAwesome:
109	** Vampires are doomed to live forever without the sun, at the mercy of the Beast and dependent on human blood... but they're also very difficult to kill without fire or sunlight and have a wide range of superhuman powers.
110	** Werewolves find themselves targeted by a [[EvilInc Corrupt Corporation]] and fighting a losing battle with cosmic forces, but it might be worth it to gain VoluntaryShapeshifting into a giant man-wolf hybrid with supernaturally damaging claws and the ability to regenerate from most injuries.
111	** Humanity in Vampire, which was supposed to punish characters for committing certain evils by making them lose touch with their mortal life. What actually ended up happening was players having a mechanical point at which their characters stop caring about committing mass murder.
112	** Discussed often in ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'': A number of other vampires you meet are convinced that their condition really is a pretty sweet deal, what with having a good chance at an eternal or at least really long life of doing whatever the hell they want. A low Humanity character in particular can cheerfully talk about how they like their new power.
113	* DarkerAndEdgier:
114	** Being this, by comparison with [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons DnD]] and its clones, became one of the main marketing points for World of Darkness games when they first came out in the beginning of the 1990s, featuring heavier sexual themes, graphic violence, and more mature themes.
115	** On a more meta level, the World of Darkness is a Darker and Edgier version of the real world- things are mostly the same, but the shadows are a bit longer, the bad a bit worse and the good not quite as good.
116	* TheDarkSide: A major mechanical and thematic aspect of the setting is that committing evil acts makes it easier to do more (and more extreme) ones in the future.
117	** Losing [[KarmaMeter Humanity]] in Vampire means that it will take a more severe act of evil to force a humanity roll next time, essentially meaning that the more evil you do, the less you care about it.
118	** Similarly, in Werewolf, the Wyrm taints its victims and actively encourages them to commit atrocities, thereby opening them up to greater control.
119	* DarkWorld:
120	** The Shadowlands in Wraith, a decayed, deathlike version of the land of the living, inhabited only by ghosts.
121	** The World of Darkness is a darker, more worn down version of our world, where supernatural creatures stalk the night.
122	* DecadentCourt:
123	** The Camarilla often functions this way, being composed of Vampires scheming, plotting, and backstabbing their way to power as they feed on the blood of mortals.
124	** Owing to their status as TheFairFolk, Fae courts are also havens of deadly intrigue and twisted pleasures. Given that the Fae live on creativity and emotion keeping things interesting like this is a survival strategy.
125	* DemonicPossession:
126	** The ''player characters'' in ''TabletopGame/DemonTheFallen''. The upside to being a Fallen in a mortal shell is that the shell can't be possessed by something else.
127	** Spiritual corruption in ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' can leave openings in mortals souls, ripe for filling with malevolent Bane spirits that hijack their hosts minds and bodies.
128	* DependingOnTheWriter: Storytellers and writers generally painted the other types of supernaturals with different colors than their "home" books when they showed up in other continuities, especially in the Old World. ''Hunter: the Reckoning'' is a particularly stark example of this, as many of their books encouraged [=STs=] to make sure that the players saw the hunted as monsters.
129	* {{Dhampyr}}: Revenants and dhampir. The former are families of ghouls serving their vampire masters, while the latter are natural children of thin-blooded vampires. Mechanically, they're nearly identical.
130	* DysfunctionJunction: AND HOW! ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'', ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'', and ''TabletopGame/HunterTheReckoning'' all stand out as this, with game mechanics encouraging player characters to come from a variety of traumatic and unusual backgrounds and the nature of their supernatural identities warping their perspectives.
131	* EarnYourHappyEnding: Despite the darkness and horror of the World of Darkness, almost every gameline had some ending scenarios in which the apocalypse was stopped and the world became a nicer place.
132	* EarthIsYoung: If the cosmology of several of the lines is to be believed
133	* EmptyShell:
134	** [[OurSoulsAreDifferent Soul loss]] turns a person into this over a period of time.
135	** Long-term bane possession can also turn fomori into this.
136	* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Imminent throughout the Old World of Darkness... and then in ''Time of Judgment'', it ''happened''. In at least five different apocalypses. [[FromBadToWorse All at once.]] Each race got 3-5 different apocalypses for a story teller to choose from, with the results ranging from bittersweet to [[DownerEnding incredibly depressing]]. Only one of the Mage endings was totally unambiguously happy.
137	*** There was a full-on semi-officially sanctioned ending for all the game lines used in the official New Bremen [=DigiChat=] online text-based game run off of the ''White Wolf'' website, since it catered to all the game lines together and crossover (while discouraged) was frequent and inevitable. In the end, the [[AbusivePrecursors Antediluvians]] rose up to devour their vampiric progeny, werewolves had their final battle with the [[EldritchAbomination Wyrm]], [[SatanIsGood Lucifer's]] Black Cathedral rose out of Los Angeles as a base from which to fight his Earthbound former captains, the changelings headed off to [[AnotherDimension Arcadia]], mages found their [[{{Magick}} powers]] overflowing now that humanity's [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve belief in the supernatural]] was restored and either killed each other or [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascended]], ''the sun went out'', untainted humans disappeared to some unknowable reward or destination, and the [[HaveYouSeenMyGod Metatron]] showed up to collect all the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Fallen]] who were willing to come with him to [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans take another crack at this whole "Creation" thing]] before the world simply collapsed. It was, in fact, fairly epic.
138	*** Oh, and to expand a little bit: The final scenes for the game were for Werewolf and Demon and happened simultaneously. At the same time as the Metatron took the Fallen off to get involved in Creation, the Wyrm was released (by PlayerCharacter efforts, no less) from the Pattern Web and shattered the material universe, restoring itself and the Weaver to balance so that a whole new and better creation could happen. They way that it was run left room for both groups of beings to witness the destruction of the universe at the same time, and for each to understand the very same obliteration from within their own lens. As said above, it was epic and it ended on a very bittersweet and hopeful note. Plus the good guys got to go out in [[TheLastDance style]].
139	* EnemyWithin:
140	** All vampires suffer from The Beast, the animalistic, id-like force with a hint of supernatural malice, that attempts to compel them into immediately satisfying their instinctive urges, such as craving for blood, fear of sunlight, or anger at a slightest provocation, no matter the circumstances.
141	** The Shadow from ''Wraith: the Oblivion'', and the P'o, its ''Kindred of the East'' equivalent, fits this trope even better; in both cases, it is intelligent and consciously attempts to turn you to TheDarkSide.
142	* EnlightenmentSuperpowers
143	* EveryoneIsBi: While not outright stated or heavily enforced, it was implied that most of the Fae were bisexual in ''Changeling: The Dreaming''. Especially since a husband and wife could reincarnate as two men or two women, among other reasons.
144	* EvilCounterpart: [[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade The Sabbat]], [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse Black Spiral Dancers]], [[TabletopGame/MageTheAscension Nephandi]], [[TabletopGame/WraithTheOblivion Spectres]], and [[TabletopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming Thallain]] all existed to be Evil Counterparts of the [=PC=] supernaturals.
145	* EvilFeelsGood: Morality, in gamelines with a KarmaMeter, is lost by not showing remorse for misdeeds. You also can still lose it anyway if the dice screw you.
146	* EvilTastesGood: Vampires find themselves enjoying the taste of blood more than they had ever enjoyed any food or sex they had experienced before their Embrace.
147	* EvilerThanThou: Default playable factions in both Worlds of Darkness tend to be morally dubious at best and outright evil at worst. Then there are guys like the Sabbat, the Technocracy and the Black Spiral Dancers, who are firmly lodged in the "outright evil" camp, despite their rhetoric. But even they pale before the crazy, dog-raping, demon-worshiping, apocalypse-mongerers that usually serve as each game's ''worst'' faction.
148	** The Technocracy certainly started out as "outright evil", but this was ameliorated steadily over time; when they actually became player characters with the Guide to the Technocracy book, the designers made it very clear that as world-straddlingly huge a conspiracy as the Technocracy must contain multiple factions, and that your players were intended to be firmly in one of the better-natured ones (Friends of Courage, Harbingers of Avalon or Project Invictus).
149	*** Indeed, what may be interesting is that, since Guide to the Technocracy, the Technocracy may be "antagonists" but by no means are they the "bad guys." The difference between the Traditions and the Technocracy is that the Traditions tend to want a better world (though better for whom?) and the Technocrats tend to want a safer world (though safer for whom?). The Technocracy's often over-stifling control might even be downright necessary in a world where reality itself is based on consensus - a world where anything is possible and the laws of physics are constantly in flux is downright horrific. If you end up playing Technocratic [=PCs=], they tend to be Reality Cops.
150	*** And it cannot be stressed enough that the Technocrats are '''NOT''' a hivemind! Whatever you think about the overarching goals and actions of the order, it's extremely silly to think each and every agent is "outright evil" ([[WordOfGod White Wolf themselves]] even coined the term "Soulless Technocratitis" for that kind of one-dimensional portrayal and mocked it repeatedly). The Technocracy is home to countless different ethoses[[note]]Website/TheOtherWiki's friend the Wiktionary says that plural is non-standard and prefers ethe or ethea. Uh, no. We're not that Greek-reverent here.[[/note]] and philosophies, and features people from every CharacterAlignment. The book gives many examples of good Technocrats and the like ...
151	** Similarly, the Sabbat got this treatment in the Revised Guide to the Sabbat. The book presented the idea that the Sabbat isn't just a howling mad group of nutcases who want to murder humans 'cause it feels good, but rather they want to destroy the Camarilla due to feeling that it is a pawn of the Antediluvians. And because they think they're better than humanity. There are plenty of examples of KnightTemplar Sabbat.
152	* EvilutionaryBiologist: Pentex in ''Werewolf: the Apocalypse'' has the trappings of this trope, but is actually run by outright evil cultists. Developmental Neogenetics Amalgamated is a straight example. Progenitors and Etherites in ''Mage: the Ascension'' could be this.
153	* ExtraStrengthMasquerade: Depending on the game, you're sometimes left wondering "okay, how the ''hell'' can they cover ''that'' up?"
154	* 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?
155	* FantasyKitchenSink: Each game line in the original was incredibly insular; vampires could go centuries never meeting a werewolf, though for a vampire, meeting a werewolf is good way to NOT go any more centuries.
156	* FighterMageThief: The "big three" gamelines fit this pattern nicely when taken together, both in terms of abilities and game-feel. Werewolves are the most combat-capable of the three, and also have the most martial and militant role, that of essentially a SuperSoldier in a world-wide war, making them the Fighter. Meanwhile, Mages are often [[SquishyWizard squishy]], but have the most flexible supernatural power system in the entire setting, and much of their existence is all about philosophy, abstraction, esotericism and furthering their understanding. Finally, Vampires are the Thief, with both abilities and a society that revolves around secrecy, deception, betrayal, crime, long-term plotting, and social play.
157	* FromBadToWorse: The entire point of the ''Time of Judgement'' line. Plus you can mix and match.
158	* FunctionalMagic: Usually used by Sorcerers or Mages, but almost all have their own supernatural powers. Some ''[[{{Muggles}} mortals]] even'' get [[IncorruptiblePurePureness True Faith]].
159	* GameFace: A Werewolf's Crinos warform could considered this, and a Demon's Apocalyptic Form ''definitely'' is.
160	* GeniusBruiser:
161	** ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' had Beckett the Gangrel AdventurerArchaeologist.
162	** The Akashic Brotherhood Tradition has Mind as their specialty Sphere, and practice Do, the ur-Martial Art. They tend to be more philosophic than scientific but they are still sharp cookies.
163	** Garou can be very intelligent as well. The Garou Nation has produced poets, philosophers, historians, and scientists. Among the Black Spiral Dancers, W. Richard [=MacLish=] (a.k.a. Writlish) is a professor of anthropology and a walking repository of Wyrm history.
164	* {{Glamour}}: Many supernaturals can make themselves seem beautiful, trustworthy, desirable, and invincible to onlookers.
165	* GollumMadeMeDoIt: Shadows and Spectres, in ''Wraith: the Oblivion''.
166	* GothicPunk: The old World of Darkness defined this trope.
167	* GrowingUpSucks: In ''Changeling: the Dreaming'', changelings tended to lose their fae side as they grew up, succumbing to banality and becoming dull adults.
168	** The worst thing about the game was that all of your abilities could be duplicated if you were playing insane psychics. This puts a different spin on the whole thing.
169	** Arguably inverted in the new Changeling, in which the focus is no longer on keeping your innocence and naivete in a harsh and dark world but rather about finding the way back from the loss of innocence and the pains of life and learning how to put yourself back together and discover what comes next.
170	* 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 most of the following examples are not exclusive of each other or even the main supernaturals (Mages can be ghouls, Changelings can be Kinfolk, etc., though too much crossing over is frowned upon):
171	** ''Vampire: the Masquerade'' has Ghouls (mortals who gained a portion of supernatural power and longevity by feeding on vampire blood) and {{Dhampyr}}s (the offspring of Vampires conceived under very specific conditions, which vary depending on whether they're the Eastern or the Western variety).
172	** ''Werewolf: the Apocalypse'' has Kinfolk, relatives of werecreatures who inherited a whisper of the spiritual nature but not the ability to shapeshift. They're immune to the Delerium/Lunacy effect that befalls most humans who see shifters in their war form. They sometimes have access to Gifts. At best they're treasured allies, family members, and lovers of the Garou; at worst they're treated as brood mares to make more werewolf babies.
173	*** On a side note, some Werewolves are the offspring of a Spirit and another Garou, and will have some spiritual boon from the ethereal parent's side and improved relations with other spirits of that type.
174	** ''Mage: the Ascension'' has Sorcerers, humans who lack the "spark" of mages, instead practicing linear paths of magic like tarot cards or weathercraft. They can't rewrite reality and their spells tend to require more preparation, but they're immune to Paradox backlash. Mages who scoff at their perceived weakness sometimes don't live to make that mistake twice.
175	*** Mage also had an entertaining inversion in the form of Sleepwalkers, mages that hadn't actually "awakened" and disbelieved in magic even while using it. Actually a substantially more annoying, and potentially terrifying, foe for a mage to fight than another mage, because they usually specialized in counter-magic (making them walking null-zones with disbelief piled on top) and just existing was enough for a mage to challenge their paradigm ("magic's not real, I'm just really lucky"), which is a free pass to homicidal rage town.
176	** ''Changeling: the Dreaming'' has Kinain, people of True Fey blood (diluted now, but the True Fey were horny bastards when they were still around) who have the ability to interact with fae existence to a degree without experiencing the risk of Banality.
177	** ''Wraith: the Oblivion'' has Mediums, who are not hybrids but follow the theme: humans who can speak to the dead and often give them a hand on the other side.
178	** ''Hunter: the Reckoning'' has Bystanders, humans who were given the ability to perceive the supernatural by the angelic Messengers but "refused the Call", gaining none of the anti-supernatural powers of the various Hunter Creeds but also not having their lives steadily taken over by the life of the Hunt. A major theme of Reckoning was that you only get one chance at the Call and Bystanders can never "awaken" into true Hunters, serving as [=NPCs=] and sidekicks -- but that you could play a particularly tragic game by having a Bystander try to take on the supernaturals without any Hunter powers and doom himself to a tragic end (albeit the same end most Hunters head to eventually). Interesting note: the gameline recommended that while "normal" Hunters come from typical, everyday backgrounds and have no special occult knowledge, combat training or other unusual resources, that it would be appropriate to have such a character introduced into the game as a Bystander for the sake of "balance". Think Buffy and Giles.
179	** ''Demon: the Fallen'' has the Nephilim, offspring of Angels and humans, considered an aberration by both and (probably) all dead back at the dawn of history, though some Demons speculate that some or all of the other supernaturals might be their descendants.
180	*** ''Demon'' also had Thralls - humans who had made pacts with Demons in return for (sometimes supernatural) gifts.
181	* HermeticMagic
182	** Technically, all magic is a result of pure enlightened will, but the Order of Hermes explicitly advocates this (obviously) along with some of the Sons of Ether who've implanted themselves with their gadgets or quaffed some mutagens to gain "psychic powers" instead of more traditional paradigms.
183	* HistoricalRapSheet: Explicitly averted in one specific instance. Almost anything else is allowed to have been a Vampire/Werewolf/Mage plot, but the Holocaust is required to remain a purely human atrocity. Or not: in several splatbooks, the Get of Fenris are stated to have been involved.
184	* HollywoodDreamtime: The Umbra in its entirety was built upon ideas of the Aboriginal Dreamtime.
185	* HorrorHunger: Vampires need blood. If they go too long without feeding, they'll end up doing ''anything'' (to anyone) to get it.
186	* HypnoticEyes: The vampire discipline of Dominate works entirely via eye contact until you're powerful enough to take the sixth rank, then you can use Dominate Disciplines via touch.
187	** Eyes of the Serpent allow you to hold a mortal, or kindred to a limited degree, in place. Also overlaps with SupernaturalGoldEyes.
188	* IKnowYourTrueName: One of the power branches in ''Mummy: The Resurrection'' is called "Nomenclature," where knowing anything's True Name (which requires varying amounts of time invested in study to learn - it's easier to learn the Names of simple things like plants and animals than, say, the Name for humans, which is even less complex than an individual human's personal True Name, and so on) allows for varying effects, culminating in (at the highest level) ''total erasure from existence.'' Of course, that last one automatically costs the Mummy a permanent dot on the KarmaMeter, no matter who you do it to.
189	** True Names play a ''very'' important part in ''Demon: The Fallen''. Certain rituals, invocations and evocations require knowledge of the target's True Name to work properly (granted, you are able to try and use a target's Celestial Name -- their "common" angelic name -- if the target is another fallen and you don't know their True Name, but it's far less reliable and generally much more difficult to do so); the fallen's Abyssal Lords can use their subjects' True Names to contact them even from inside the Pit; knowing a target's True Name makes many rolls you can make against them substantially easier; and a demon's True Name can be invoked to have them hear what you're saying (and possibly who you're saying it to and where you're doing it, given enough successes on their roll) from ''anywhere in the world'', regardless of their distance to you -- in fact, invoking a demon's True Name will very likely send shivers down their spine and make their extremities tingle, regardless of whether you want them to notice you speaking of them or not. And this is just to mention but a few of True Names applications in ''Demon''. The sourcebooks are crawling with other fun and interesting uses for them ("fun and interesting" for the user, not the target, obviously).
190	*** In ''Demon'', a True Name isn't even really a name ''per se''. Rather, it is the metaphysical representation of something or someone: you don't have a True Name, you ''are'' your True Name. Before the Fall, when the angels still had access to the full breadth of their power, they could use True Names as the targets of any evocation or invocation, instead of having to be in the presence of the actual being or thing -- this was, in fact, the preferred/official method of relaying God's orders across the cosmos, and even of transporting oneself across the cosmos, depending on which House the angel was from (''e.g.'' if you knew Earth's True Name, you could teleport yourself from wherever you were in the whole Universe directly to Earth, by using the appropriate evocation with its True Name as the target).
191	* ImmortalityImmorality: Oh, where to ''begin'':
192	** Firstly, vampires. While it is possible to live by drinking the blood of animals and to only drain humans of minute amounts, succumbing to Frenzy is a bitch and most vampires come out of it with a dead human or three on their hands. Killing humans while feeding is strongly frowned on by the Camarilla; for one it brings you closer to the beast and the last thing you want is a vampire frenzying in Elysium. For another, there are only so many corpses you can hide before the mortal authorities catch on and put the Masquerade at risk.
193	* 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]]. This is part of the reason that werewolves and vampires do not get along: werewolves can rip a vampire to shreds without a lot of effort due to a combination of their aforementioned damage resistance, and the fact that they deal out Aggravated Damage with their claws.
194	* IronicHell: The Demon book "Days of Fire" had three different visions of the end of the world. In the first one, every Clan, Tribe, and Tradition gets a unique end; Ventrue's refined tastes become so refined that they can't feed off anyone, the Black Furies are enslaved and submit to men, the Cult of Ectasy reach their perfection only to realise how futile it all was, etc.
195	* KarmaMeter: A prominent feature of Vampire, but more optimistic/action-oriented gamelines, particularly Mage and Werewolf, avoided this.
196	* KatanasAreJustBetter: In those gamelines of the old World of Darkness where mundane weapons did matter.
197	* KillItWithFire: The most surefire way to kill something in the ''[=WoD=]'' is with fire: if it isn't extra vulnerable to fire, rest assured it's probably not invulnerable to it either.
198	** Averted with the Devils in ''Demon: The Fallen'', whose [[GameFace apocalyptic forms]] are completely immune to fire. Otherwise, ''Demon'' is actually the one old ''World of Darkness'' gameline that uses [[DepletedPhlebotinumShells aggravated damage]] where fire ''isn't'' a source of said damage.
199	* KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade: The short version is, every single supernatural group has ''very'' good cause to keep their existence hidden, and while some are quicker to resort to this solution than others (vampires are frequently very quick on the trigger), all of them are willing to kill a sloppy member of their group. Moreover, since the reveal of one type of supernatural is likely to get people questioning which other types are real, not to mention several of these groups are actively antagonistic ([[FurAgainstFang werewolves and vampires most notably]]), it's quite possible to get killed to uphold ''someone else's'' Masquerade.
200	* KnightTemplar: In ''Hunter: The Reckoning'', even normal Imbued that had Zeal as a primary virtue often leaned towards this. But they paled in comparison to Waywards, who were prepared to eradicate every last supernatural on the planet - and didn't care about humans who got in their way. In ''Werewolf: The Apocalypse'' becoming a KnightTemplar is a major occupational hazard, considering that werewolves were created to defend all existence from {{Cosmic Horror}}s that are indeed every bit as cosmically horrible as werewolves believe, and also extremely good at corruption, seduction and infiltration.
201	** The Garou have managed to KnightTemplar themselves into killing [[NiceJobBreakingItHero three other races of shapechangers]] and one of the Garou Nation's own tribes. This sounds pretty bad on its own, but without those three races, they've seriously hurt their chances of [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt defeating the Wyrm during the apocalypse]]. Whoops.
202	** Not to mention the Inquisition and the ''actual'' Knights Templar, who are a small craft of Mages.
203	* LiveActionAdaptation: ''Series/KindredTheEmbraced'', a short-lived 1996 series on Creator/{{Fox}}, based on ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade''.
204	* LiminalBeing:
205	** In ''Vampire: The Masquerade'', Kindred straddle the line between living and dead (being undead), as well as between human and beast (as former humans who cling to their human traits as they struggle to keep their Beast at bay).
206	** In ''Werewolf: The Apocalypse'', the Garou and Fera are beings who straddle the line between human and animal, partaking of the natures of both.
207	** Deceased persons in ''Wraith: The Oblivion'' straddle the line between living and dead. They are no longer alive, but not truly dead, since they can still interact with the world of the living and are not yet able to pass on.
208	** In ''Changeling: The Dreaming'', the eponymous Changelings are creatures of both the Autumn World (physical reality) and the Dreaming, existing simultaneously in both.
209	** The fallen angels of ''Demon: The Fallen'' are supernatural entities who now inhabit human hosts, partaking of both human and angel impulses.
210	* LordBritishPostulate: Averted. There are rules for fighting Cain: ''You lose.''
211	* MadScientist: The Sons of Ether. Within the Tradition, Mad Scientist is an official designation.
212	* TheMagicGoesAway: Almost every game line describes magic as not being as strong, or at least not as accessible, as it used to be.
213	** Each successive generation of vampires is weaker than the last, and the default generation for player characters (the thirteenth) is the last one to be "full" vampires, with their progeny being half-breeds.
214	** Changelings and traditional mages both rely on [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve human belief in the supernatural]] to practice magic (and in the changelings' case, to exist in the first place). With science and reason being the order of the day, both groups are reduced to a shadow of what they used to be. Not so with the Technocracy, a group of mages that use [[DoingInTheScientist human belief in scientific advancement]] to make {{magitek}}.
215	** Demons have the same problem as mages and changelings (in their case it's specifically [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly faith]] they need), and also suffer from a) the world having been broken in the Fall so that the occult resonances that they use to rely on to amplify their magical workings no longer function, b) having been stripped of large parts of the power by God before being thrown into the Pit, and c) trying to make what's left work while occupying a [[DemonicPossession human host]] whose brain was never made to comprehend celestial Lore. On the other hand, their return to Earth signify [[TheMagicComesBack the return of the divine]] and cause an upswell in religious fervor and faith, for better or worse.
216	* [[MagicVersusScience Magic versus "Science"]]: The Traditions vs Technocracy.
217	* {{Magitek}}: Weavertech is described as this. Various other factions also make use of it, with the Technocracy specializing in it almost exclusively.
218	* ManipulativeBastard: In some gamelines, particularly Vampire and Demon, being this is almost a requirement for obtaining any power or status within your supernatural society.
219	* {{Masquerade}}: ''Vampire: The Masquerade'' is the trope namer. 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.
220	** They ''don't'' always maintain it - storytellers were suggested to use both kinds of hunters in response to Masquerade breaches, and even then, you have the capital H Hunters that are capable of nearly ignoring it.
221	* MassiveRaceSelection: Just look at the list of games; nearly every title is named after a separate playable race (although mages, sorcerers, and hunters could all just be called humans).
222	* MayContainEvil: Taken to insane lengths by the Pentex Corporation in ''Werewolf: The Apocalypse''. Pentex's subsidiaries frequently sell products that corrupt the bodies and souls of consumers. Once in a while, they even sell products possessed by banes.
223	* TheMenInBlack: Merely one type of agents for the Technocracy.
224	* {{Metaplot}}: Yeah.
225	* MindControl: Almost everyone can potentially do this, but vampires and mages are particularly notorious for this.
226	** One of the big edges of old ''[=WoD=]'' Hunters over normal people was ''total immunity'' to mind control as long as second sight was running. A sourcebook tells of a Hunter that was once Dominated while off-guard by some mid-rank vampires (who had heard about the Imbued and wanted one as a pet), then activated second sight (or had it activated by the Messengers) eight months later, used a candlestick and the Cleave edge to dust ten vamps, and ''got away alive''.
227	*** Not to mention that old ''[=WoD=]'' Fallen (demons) are immune to mind control at all times, period. Suck it, Ventrues.
228	*** The exception being the Blood Bound that comes from drinking a vampire's blood, which works via supernatural chemistry rather than psychic commands and explicitly bypasses the Demon's usual protections by affecting the body they're wearing. So best not to suck ''on'' a Ventrue...
229	* TheMissingFaction: Just about every game line has at least one.
230	* MonsterLord: Vampire elders below 7th gen.
231	* MonsterMash: Essentially the premise of the game. The core game lines introduce [[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade vampires]], [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse werewolves]], [[TabletopGame/MageTheAscension witches]], [[TabletopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming fae]], and [[TabletopGame/WraithTheOblivion ghosts]].
232	** Supplementals also include mummies[[labelnote:note]]Originally as supplements called ''World of Darkness: Mummy'', and later ''TabletopGame/MummyTheResurrection''[[/labelnote]], hunters[[labelnote:note]]Originally in ''The Hunters Hunted'', and later in ''TabletopGame/HunterTheReckoning''[[/labelnote]], gargoyles[[labelnote:note]]As servants to the Tremere clan[[/labelnote]], mad scientists [[labelnote:note]]The Mage Tradition, the Sons of Ether[[/labelnote]], hunchbacks[[labelnote:note]]A flaw that can apply to any character[[/labelnote]], gypsies[[labelnote:note]]In the controversial ''World of Darkness: Gypsies'' book, along with Silent Strider werewolves and Ravnos vampires being tied to them[[/labelnote]], and demons[[labelnote:note]]Referred to in many supplements until they were given their own game, ''TabletopGame/DemonTheFallen''[[/labelnote]]. There are even references to "Prometheans", who are effectively a race of [[FrankensteinsMonster Frankenstein's Monsters]].
233	* MrViceGuy: Potentially any and every player and character. The Toreador clan in ''Vampire'', the Cult of Ecstasy Tradition in ''Mage'' and the Satyr Kith in ''Changeling'' are some of the more ready-made examples.
234	%%* MundaneUtility - ZCE; needs expansion
235	* MysticalJade:
236	** Jade, specifically that found in China, can be used to store Yin- and Yang-aligned chi. Black Jade is aligned with Yin, and can only store that; Red Jade, aligned with the element of Fire, stores Yang; Green Jade, aligned with the element of Wood, and White Jade, aligned with Air, can store either kind, but not as much of either as the specialized variants; Grey or Yellow Jade can store large quantities of either type. Jade can also cause grievous wounds to the Hsien, the little gods of China.
237	** The area of the Underworld connected to China is referred to as Dark Kingdom of Jade.
238	* NakedNutter: In the crossover game ''Midnight Circus,'' it's mentioned that the Nephandus Devyn Cavendish managed to make his way into the uppermost ranks of the circus by becoming an apprentice to the current Ringmaster, a hedge wizard by the name of Mauritius. Once Cavendish had learned everything he could from his master, Mauritius was soon found inexplicably naked and barking like a dog - allowing Cavendish to claim the post of Ringmaster... but not before having his now-insane predecessor ripped to pieces by his own hounds.
239	* OmnicidalManiac:
240	** In ''Vampire: The Masquerade'', the Giovanni want to bring about the end of life as we know it ForTheLulz. Setites are also working towards Gehenna, though most of them don't know it, but they are doing so in the name of their god.
241	** In ''Werewolf: The Apocalypse'', the Black Spiral Dancers and various Wyrm cults seek to either (1) free the Wyrm from the Weaver's web, which would destroy the fabric of reality in the process, or (2) empower the Triatic Wyrm to destroy Gaia and the cosmos.
242	* OnesieArmor: Downplayed, while some armors are called things like "armor t-shirt" or "flak jacket", the armor with the highest rating is simply called "full suit". While this makes some sense, it raises the obvious question of why you can't just attack someone wearing a flak jacket in the legs to ignore their armor, other than just [[BecauseISaidSo because the game rules say so.]]
243	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Thirteen clans worth of "different". However, the differences between political views and origins are much more pronounced in the new ''[=WoD=]''. All vampires share the same common weaknesses (fire, sunlight, staking), but each clan has a unique weakness on top of this.
244	* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: Moreso in ''Werewolf: The Apocalypse'' than in ''Werewolf: The Forsaken''.
245	* PersonalityPowers: In ''Hunter: The Reckoning'' a hunter's edges -- the supernatural powers they use to fight evil -- are determined by their beliefs and personality. In ''Mage: The Ascension'' the ways a true mage used his power also depended on his beliefs.
246	* PointBuildSystem: You put dots into your Attributes and Abilities and whatever other specific items from the gameline, and those determine the number of dice rolled to accomplish things.
247	* PowerBornOfMadness: The Marauder mages and the Malkavian vampire Clan.
248	* PowerPerversionPotential: White Wolf was willing to acknowledge it sometimes. There even was at least one supernatural power specifically aimed for this. Just please don't dwell on [[{{Squick}} Tzimisce body-altering powers]] for too long.
249	* PushedAtTheMonster: This is the reason Clan Nosferatu participates in the Camarilla and Sabbat despite their interests not aligning with either organization. They believe that [[spoiler:the [[EldritchAbomination Nictuku]]]] are on the way to devour all Kindred. The more Kindred the Nosferatu surround themselves with, the more chance they have to escape while the monsters chow down on their less subtle sect-mates.
250	* RankScalesWithAsskicking: Movers and shakers of the setting tend to be on a completely different level of power than normal starting characters, as supernatural abilities tend to increase in power on an exponential scale and many of the higher-level ones take decades (or in the case of vampires, centuries) to master.
251	* RedRightHand: All of vampire Clan Nosferatu, as well as Metis Werewolves. Tzimisce deliberately do this to themselves.
252	* ResurrectiveImmortality: The mummies are immortals who would resurrect every time they were killed. It is possible to destroy them outright, but not particularly easy (like putting them at ground zero of a nuclear explosion).
253	** Subverted as it is not unlimited, as mechanically, each resurrection drains the mummy, and repeated resurrections without time to recover what they lost can slowly push them into being permanently locked in the afterlife. But in-universe, it is sold as infinite to inspire fear.
254	* RecycledInSpace: Every game has one or two historical supplements [the Dark Ages and often one other]. Plus, The Year of the Lotus event gave Eastern counterparts for every gameline. Some, like the [[TabletopGame/KindredOfTheEast Kuei Jin]], are a totally different type of creature but conceptually similar, while others, like the [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse Hengeyokai]], are the same creatures as before in a different setting.
255	* RenownedSelectiveMentor: Placing [[PointBuildSystem four or five dots]] into the "Mentor" Background will give one of these to your PlayerCharacter.
256	* RoguishRomani: The basic stock for members of the Ravnos Vampire Clan are the Romani. Their clan discipline is making illusions, and they are one of the few clans who prefer the open road to city strongholds (though unlike Gangrel, they seldom have friends amongst the Were). They are also mistrusted by the more citybound kindred, and often accused of any petty acts of larceny when the Sabbat or Giovanni aren't handy.
257	* RomanticizedAbuse: Common in the relation between vampires and their ghouls, among other things. Also, in the book ''Possessed'', you can build a character with superpowers based on one of the seven deadly sins. The "lust" ones pretty much run on this trope.
258	* ScienceIsBad: If it is not used by a fascist AncientConspiracy to control humanity, then it is a tool of an EldritchAbomination that strives to eliminate free will and change.
259	** In the old ''[=WoD=]'', science is generally associated with the principle of Stasis, which serves as a sort of WellIntentionedExtremist to Entropy - it's not actually evil, but if it gets its way it will remove change from the world and steal everyone's freedom. This idea gets a bit jarring at times, since science has historically been responsible for most of the changes to human society, and those changes have resulted in the average person having far more freedom and choice than ever before. Conversely, the default heroes in the games that have this theme (mainly ''Mage'', ''Werewolf'' and ''Changeling'') are assumed to represent the freedom-loving, change-embracing principle of Dynamism - [[BrokenAesop despite being members of extremely hierarchal societies that haven't changed for the last several thousand years]].
260	** Stasis is less about "No change, ever" and more about "Carefully controlled, slow moving change is essential, and no more." ...Or was, until the Weaver went around the bend.
261	*** Except Changelings, their society changed quite drastically on July 20 1969 and several times since.
262	** That said, most gamelines where this comes up have at least one {{Splat}} [[ScienceHero dedicated to proving that this doesn't always hold true]], with the [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse Glass Walkers and Bone Gnawers]], [[TabletopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming Nockers]] and ''especially'' the [[TabletopGame/MageTheAscension Sons of Ether and Virtual Adepts]].
263	* ScienceIsWrong: ''Mage: The Ascension'' (usually) posits that all Science is Wrong — except when enough people believe that it's not. The Technocracy convinced humanity that science is right during the Enlightenment, though, so mundane reality works on observable principle as long as people believe it does. The whole point of the game is that Awakening allows the True Mage(tm) to flip mundane reality and the collected observers the bird and do things through "discredited" systems of magic/faith/pseudo-science. The mere presence of mundanes who believe in conventional science also tends to make True Magic go awry in non-repeatable and/or fatal ways, making it basically impossible to objectively observe magic.
264	* SelfParody: "Black Dog Game Factory" was an in-universe RPG studio (in contrast with White Wolf's "Black Dog" brand of books). It had a number of parodies of their own works: ''[[TabletopGame/DemonTheFallen Fiend: The Pacting]], [[TakeThat Human: The Protagonist]], [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse Lycanthrope: The Rapture]], [[TabletopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming Pixie: The Delusion]], [[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade Revenant: The Ravishing]], [[TabletopGame/WraithTheOblivion Spectre: The Annihilation]], [[TabletopGame/MageTheAscension Warlock: The Pretension]], [[{{Metaplot}} Zombie: The Putrescence]].''
265	** Which begs the question, did those games have their own fictional game studio in-in-universe also? And just how GrimDark would that "World of Darker Darkness" setting be?
266	* SerialKiller:
267	** The Wayward creed from ''Hunter: The Reckoning'', just... focused on supernaturals. Of course, if some mortals die when they blow up that apartment building with a vampire living in the basement, well, that's collateral damage for you.
268	** In ''Werewolf: The Apocalypse'', Black Spiral Dancers are often serial killers. Wyrm cults such as the Pretanic Order and Seventh Generation have racked up a significant body count through their human sacrifices.
269	* SerialKillerKiller: In ''Werewolf: The Apocalypse'', some factions and individuals hunt down serial killers and related scum. The Get of Fenris' Hand of Tyr camp hunts down those who harm the innocent, such as murderers and rapists. The Black Fury tribe ruthlessly kills domestic abusers, sexual predators, and serial killers who target women. The narrator of the first edition Nuwisha tribebook describes how he tormented a serial killer with the voices of his victims until the serial killer committed suicide. Two characters from ''Warriors of the Apocalypse'' -- Volcheka Ibarruri and Gere Hunts-The-Hunters -- maim and kill wolf hunters.
270	** ''Hunter: The Reckoning'' can be seen as "Serial Killer Killer: The Game", if the Hunters target the more vicious supernaturals in their area.
271	* SinisterNudity:
272	** In the ''Bygone Bestiary'' sourcebook, a few of the more humanoid entities in the book are depicted nude in order to make them seem more upsetting. The [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier Ghul]], for example, is portrayed naked in its ShapeshifterDefaultForm, both so that the reader can clearly see its [[RedRightHand telltale hooves]] and to emphasize the fact that the Ghul can also be a [[ILoveTheDead sexual horror]] to its victims once it's finished killing and eating them. Thankfully, the depicted specimen's groin is hidden both by a CensorShadow and its own immensely thick lower body hair.
273	** The ''Midnight Circus'' adventure "The Wasteland" features a charming image of two [[NothingButSkinAndBones horribly emaciated-looking women]], completely naked and [[ToplessnessFromTheBack with their backs to the reader]]: one of them is eating a live spider, and the other is clutching a plank with a few nails driven to it. The text soon reveals that these are the Rampall Sisters, two [[TheWormThatWalks Hollow Men]] formori working for the Malfean Nephandi Rod Lightner in his dealings with the Circus. For added horror, they're described as looking attractive from a distance, up until you notice the withered builds, the decomposing skin, the bite marks from {{autocannibalism}}, and the spiders crawling out of their bodies...
274	* SlidingScaleOfTurnRealism: Action by Action.
275	* TheSoulless: How a number of Fallen end up with a human body to possess.
276	* {{Sourcebook}}: And frequently several revisions of each as well.
277	* SpecialSnowflakeSyndrome: Almost every game has several smaller splats mentioned in the various sourcebooks, for players who somehow can't create interesting characters otherwise. Vampire has Bloodlines, Mage has Crafts, Changeling has Thallain, etc.
278	* {{Splat}}: Essentially the TropeNamer, more or less.
279	* StagesOfMonsterGrief: Just about every {{splat}} has members who deny, love, hate, or go off the deep end after changing from mere human.
280	* StateSec: The Technocracy definitely has elements of this trope, what with the secret agents, cyborg and bio-engineered soldiers and what-not.
281	* SuperLoser: Many starting [=PCs=].
282	* ThirteenIsUnlucky
283	* UnluckilyLucky: The dhampyr suffer from this. Since their birth (a child of a human and an eastern vampire) is so unlikely, it messes up their fate. As a result they gain supernatural luck, which they can learn to consciously manipulate, but at the same time they tend to [[WeirdnessMagnet attract trouble]].
284	* UnstoppableRage: Vampires or Werewolves in Frenzy.
285	** Werewolf's crossover rules lampshade this by mentioning that mages do not quantifiably explode in Rage.
286	* UrbanFantasy: Authors prefer to define the genre for most World of Darkness games as {{Horror}}, but actually ''[=WoD=]'' fits this trope.
287	* TheUsualAdversaries: Humans!
288	* VanHelsingHateCrimes: Hunters generally don't know the difference between the good supernaturals and the bad. [[BlackAndGreyMorality You can't really blame them.]]
289	* WainscotSociety: Multiple, intermittently interacting hidden factions — of vampires, werewolves, wizards, faeries, etc. — each have substantial, organized social systems of their own. Vampires have their {{Masquerade}}; other beings have less formal systems of secrecy.
290	* TheWallAroundTheWorld: The borders between the physical realm and the spirit worlds.
291	* WatchTheWorldDie: The line had a battery of books about how the world AscendedToAHigherPlaneofExistence/[[CosyCatastrophe concluded]] / [[EndoftheWorldasWeKnowIt ceased to exist]] / [[OmnicidalManiac got destroyed]].
292	** A scenario for ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' included a group of vampires hiding away from God's judgment to hold vigil and repent; even though the PlayerCharacters might not leave the church they are stuck in, the fates of vampires the world over were written with detail.
293	** A scenario for ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'' included an illustration where a mountain tall[[OmnicidalManiac Nephandus]] with [[GlowingEyesofDoom burning eyes]] is breathing atomic fire on cities. The [=PCs=] were welcome to survive long enough to see how the victorious Nephandi and their Malfean masters tore holes in Reality and raped it to death. Depressing as it is, the book for [=MtA=] included other scenarios where the player factions won and ended the world for a better, more comfortable age.
294	* WellIntentionedExtremist: Hunters and Werewolves in general are at risk of this, but in the old ''[=WoD=]'', Waywards especially, being willing to kill hundreds of normals just to take out -one- supernatural.
295	* WeAREStrugglingTogether: Hoo boy.
296	* WolfMan: The Garou.
297	* WolverinePublicity: The Gangrel Beckett, who appeared in various Sourcebooks and novels, sometimes without adding anything to the story or even advancing his own quest to uncover details about Cain. Perhaps the worst was his appearance in a ''Hunter/Mummy'' crossover trilogy of novels where he never met any of the main characters and it seemed his only purpose was to artificially stretch out the story.
298	* WorldWreckingWave: The Sixth Great Maelstrom, which not only was powerful enough to put an end to ''Wraith'', but set into motion many of the events that ended the other games' story lines as well. It simultaneously managed to spawn three new gamelines.
299	* YourVampiresSuck

Context TabletopGame / OldWorldOfDarkness