Managed to catch up with these, and it's good to have your take on the WoD back.
So Amy is in love with Dawn, who was in love with Aaron, but died tragically, and now Amy is heading towards an inevitable confrontation with Aaron. This really is a CW show, isn't it? I await the inevitable crossover episode, which will involve a lot of Desirée talking to herself.
I don't suppose you could be talked into adding a timeline to the wiki so that your listeners could see how Amy and Aaron's adventures line up?
HOWEVER, I'm counting on Larkins playing Aaron IF/(when?) their paths intersect. I have every intention on creating a timeline because I think it's going to be funny to see how they match up and if Amy will be added to the list Aaron is already making of who and what to watch out for now when he becomes aware of her existence.
I also think she might end up interacting with Karen before Aaron. Or at least meet Karl or something...
Ha! Wait a minute there! I don't claim any ownership to Aaron even though I have a pretty good feel for what his motivations and actions might be. However, I am relishing the time (if it ever happens) when David gets to play him according to how he sees fit via AE's stats and stuff. It will be a treat to see David's take on him and I know it will be fun :D
It's already been fun seeing AE through Amy's eyes since she's noticing things about him that don't always come up for me when I'm playing him. However, I have no idea when their paths will cross again.
I forgot that you are better than average at separating between player/character knowledge and playing from the characters point of view. I'm still going to expect a few of those trademark "*laugh* No!" moments. :D
Hmmmm. So maybe you inhabit Aaron's interior voice and motivations. How he sees his actions. And David would present how he comes off to everyone else (besides Amy, since you are again in charge of interpreting her reactions).
I wonder what will happen, too :) I know AE comes off as a total ass in terms of his outward persona, but he doesn't think he does. He's sincere and more than a little self-involved, but he is a hero in his own story...and the villain in Amy's story.
It seems like it's a lot easier to be a mortal opposing the predatory forces of evil in the World of Darkness than in Cthulhu-Earth. Not safer, mind you, but I think there were a good half-dozen sanity rolls in there that Amy didn't have to make.
Yeah, WoD is more about the body, viscera, and physical survival. However, there are elements that play up the fact you lose humanity when you do inhuman things and stuff for the non-mortals. Although, I don't know if mortals lose humanity if they encounter creepier, grosser, and more terrible things as they interact with the undead.
Given that Gothic Horror is to a great extent about very human monsters, I would tend to think that Hunters should become more monstrous as they accept greater amounts of collateral damage and pursue their hunts ever more feverishly.
"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you."
I think taking the above Friedrich Nietzsche quote super literally in WoD fits with what we're talking about here.
An aspect of that - which this pair of campaigns brings out nicely - is that the monsters are often not unsympathetic. Since Vampire, the pop cultural phenomenon, has such weight it's always going to be the "sun" game, and a hunters game is always going to be the reflection of Vampire, the "moon" game - which is to say that it's haunted by the possibility that you could be playing the vampires as (anti)heroes instead.
So a really devoted hunter is already a monster. This is why Buffy the Vampire Slayer has to stress so very, very hard in its first episode that vampires are evil killer demons that may have the memories of the body that they possess, but aren't that person. Not that BtVS was responding to VtM specifically, but to the whole Rice-inflected goth culture view of vampires that VtM participated in and contributed to in the '90s.
Another reason why it's easier is that a WoD game foregrounds character, whereas CoC foregrounds plot. You're supposed to care about and become passionately invested in your WoD character, expending oodles of artisanal care on their development. While in CoC you're supposed to become invested in uncovering the mystery. WoD characters can't be treated as throwaways to the same extent that CoC characters can.
Managed to catch up with these, and it's good to have your take on the WoD back.
ReplyDeleteSo Amy is in love with Dawn, who was in love with Aaron, but died tragically, and now Amy is heading towards an inevitable confrontation with Aaron. This really is a CW show, isn't it? I await the inevitable crossover episode, which will involve a lot of Desirée talking to herself.
I don't suppose you could be talked into adding a timeline to the wiki so that your listeners could see how Amy and Aaron's adventures line up?
Yeah, it's super masturbatory....
DeleteHOWEVER, I'm counting on Larkins playing Aaron IF/(when?) their paths intersect. I have every intention on creating a timeline because I think it's going to be funny to see how they match up and if Amy will be added to the list Aaron is already making of who and what to watch out for now when he becomes aware of her existence.
I also think she might end up interacting with Karen before Aaron. Or at least meet Karl or something...
So many possibilities!
http://33.media.tumblr.com/a79a06b753f8133bbdd96770d6c68803/tumblr_nayc3uZPqc1qehu0oo3_250.gif
I can see how Dadid playing Aaron would go... "No! He wouldn't say it like that! No! That's not what he's feeling! You're ruining it!" :D
DeleteHa! Wait a minute there! I don't claim any ownership to Aaron even though I have a pretty good feel for what his motivations and actions might be. However, I am relishing the time (if it ever happens) when David gets to play him according to how he sees fit via AE's stats and stuff. It will be a treat to see David's take on him and I know it will be fun :D
DeleteIt's already been fun seeing AE through Amy's eyes since she's noticing things about him that don't always come up for me when I'm playing him. However, I have no idea when their paths will cross again.
I forgot that you are better than average at separating between player/character knowledge and playing from the characters point of view. I'm still going to expect a few of those trademark "*laugh* No!" moments. :D
DeleteHmmmm. So maybe you inhabit Aaron's interior voice and motivations. How he sees his actions. And David would present how he comes off to everyone else (besides Amy, since you are again in charge of interpreting her reactions).
I wonder what will happen, too :)
DeleteI know AE comes off as a total ass in terms of his outward persona, but he doesn't think he does. He's sincere and more than a little self-involved, but he is a hero in his own story...and the villain in Amy's story.
It seems like it's a lot easier to be a mortal opposing the predatory forces of evil in the World of Darkness than in Cthulhu-Earth. Not safer, mind you, but I think there were a good half-dozen sanity rolls in there that Amy didn't have to make.
ReplyDeleteYeah, WoD is more about the body, viscera, and physical survival. However, there are elements that play up the fact you lose humanity when you do inhuman things and stuff for the non-mortals. Although, I don't know if mortals lose humanity if they encounter creepier, grosser, and more terrible things as they interact with the undead.
DeleteGiven that Gothic Horror is to a great extent about very human monsters, I would tend to think that Hunters should become more monstrous as they accept greater amounts of collateral damage and pursue their hunts ever more feverishly.
Delete"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you."
DeleteI think taking the above Friedrich Nietzsche quote super literally in WoD fits with what we're talking about here.
An aspect of that - which this pair of campaigns brings out nicely - is that the monsters are often not unsympathetic. Since Vampire, the pop cultural phenomenon, has such weight it's always going to be the "sun" game, and a hunters game is always going to be the reflection of Vampire, the "moon" game - which is to say that it's haunted by the possibility that you could be playing the vampires as (anti)heroes instead.
DeleteSo a really devoted hunter is already a monster. This is why Buffy the Vampire Slayer has to stress so very, very hard in its first episode that vampires are evil killer demons that may have the memories of the body that they possess, but aren't that person. Not that BtVS was responding to VtM specifically, but to the whole Rice-inflected goth culture view of vampires that VtM participated in and contributed to in the '90s.
Another reason why it's easier is that a WoD game foregrounds character, whereas CoC foregrounds plot. You're supposed to care about and become passionately invested in your WoD character, expending oodles of artisanal care on their development. While in CoC you're supposed to become invested in uncovering the mystery. WoD characters can't be treated as throwaways to the same extent that CoC characters can.
Very well put, Voord 99!
Delete