World of Darkness - notes from a new player

Today, a change from GM blogging to blog about the World of Darkness

Relatively recently I've started playing the World of Darkness. My first game, quite a few months ago was Changeling: the lost. I loved the concept – that you were taken to the world of Faerie and somehow, by holding onto the memories of the past you find your way back to your world only to realise that everything has changed. The GM ran it based on the Fables comic, with players picking characters from fairy tales. It was a beautiful concept and I wish I had been more sure of myself when I played. Unfortunately I only knew one of the players and felt a bit awkward about not understanding the roles – pro tip: always ask. No one's going to think less of you. I understood the game as a metaphor for an abusive relationship, that everything in Faerie is beautiful and intense but it's also cruel and evil. That might be me thinking about it too much though. Unfortunately that game didn't continue beyond one session.

I'm now playing Wraith:the oblivion which I really like. One of the favourite parts for me is that you play another player's shadow (in the Jungian sense). You choose an archetype and whisper things according to your archetype. For example, my archetype is parent so my shadow player whispers things about how I am better off alone and I will only hurt the people I'm trying to help and that she knows best for me. I am playing the freak archetype so I whisper about how I am the only one who understands and that Tina, the character should do the things she wants to do, even if they involve murder. It's an interesting way of involving other players in scenes when the party is separated although it can get confusing when we're all together.

There is also another relationship I like, a contentious one with a character who hates the fact that my character, Linda had been indoctrinated into a cult and was responsible for indoctrinating others. When we left the last game he had just elbowed Linda in the face during a flashback. I need the next game to run soon so that she can catch up with him and 'talk' to him!

Anyway, aside from me getting far too into Wraith I'm also going to be playing a number of vampires in a few months which I still have to figure out. If those games are as good as the other two World of Darkness games though I'm really looking forward to it.