What is the World of Darkness and Who Would Enjoy It?

What is the World of Darkness and Who Would Enjoy It?
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What is the World of Darkness?

World of Darkness is the name used for three related fictional universes which are settings for tabletop roleplaying games. There are two

main versions of World of Darkness that have been produced, from 2004 there is the “New World of Darkness” and before that there is the “Old World of Darkness”.

Both settings are quite similar and so fans of the Old World of Darkness will easily find something they enjoy in the New World of Darkness, however more emphasis has been placed on dealing with the unknown and fighting personal demons, rather than in the Old World of Darkness where the focus was on an oncoming apolalypse and the gothic setting.

Why is the World of Darkness So Important?

The World of Darkness setting was one of the first to introduce vampires into how we view them in modern media today, and really brought the idea of vampires forward from the days of Nosferatu and Dracula to attract a new audience. Vampire the Masquerade (a setting in the World of Darkness) was greatly influenced by the works of Anne Rice, especially The Vampire Lestat.

The influence of the World of Darkness has spread and we can clearly see similarities in modern media, for example the drama show True Blood has very similar themes to those used in the Old World of Darkness.

Who Would Enjoy the World of Darkness?

New World of Darkness MMO Coming Soon

If you are a fan of tabletop roleplaying and are looking for something different than your usual Dungeons and Dragons style of game, then I highly suggest that you check out the World of Darkness setting, both the Old World of Darkness and New World of Darkness are aimed for different types of players so my advice is to look more into them to both to see which would suit you.

Also if you are not a fan of tabletop roleplaying but are still looking for a fictional universe with a huge amount of depth, then I suggest you look into one of the World of Darkness PC video games such as Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines.

How Can I Get Started with the World of Darkness?

To get started into roleplaying with the World of Darkness I suggest that you check out the White Wolf website or look into buying one of the core books to learn more about the game. World of Darkness consists of not only vampires, but werewolfs, mages, geists and many more so you will definitely find a playstyle to suit your personal tastes.

The New World of Darkness has been made much more accessible for new players and has a far more simplistic ruleset to learn, however some prefer the tone and depth that the Old World of Darkness has.

The Old World of Darkness remains so popular that CCP, the makers of Eve Online, are producing a World of Darkness MMO to be released sometime in the future.