#Jason could be either a dire wolf

[ghost-bxrd]

Prompt:

The Bat Family as shifters.

But they’re all some extinct animal.

[professorxwolf]

We Need to Talk | C&J

What: A quick Skype continuation of the thread where Ciaran finally tells Jason about Clay’s death.

When: About..three weeks ago?

Where: Dark Moon pub, after closing.

TW: Death mentions

@professor-shaw

Jason: Jason Shaw hadn’t eaten much of a meal tonight, too worried about whatever the wolf’s text was even about. It had come at an odd time and it lacked their usual banter, simply asking that he come before closing hours with no motive or reason whatsoever. So yeah, that was weird, but the human had driven over anyway, jumping out of the car in order to walk up inside.

At first, his eyes landed on the usual crowd, already starting to gather their stuff and emptying the remainder of their drink, but Ciaran caught his eye real soon, looming over the bar cleaning. Fuck. What the hell was going on? He’d never seen him look like that. Was it about Kai? Frowning lightly at the offer, he pulled back a stool and sat, running a hand down his face. “Eh..sure? What’s up, man? You okay?”

Ciaran: Was he okay? Wasn't that the million-dollar question. Ciaran had been asked that more times than he could count in the last few months, and wasn't sure if he had given an honest answer even once. Seems like tonight would be no different. A broad shoulder rose and fell in an almost helpless shrug, but nothing more than a muttered 'Aye' left the wolf's lips. Once the last straggler was finally out the door, he poured himself a whiskey, the forgoing of his beloved Guinness likely further hammering home how dire the situation was.

When Jace sat, he reached out and squeezed the male's shoulder, needed that contact. But then, never one to beat around the bush, it was all out after a long sip of his drink. "Clay's dead." He stated tonelessly, navy eyes unable to meet Shaw's. "The whole pack..they're all gone"

Jason: Call him whatever you like, but Jace didn't like the way Ciaran was looking at him..and that, that just wasn’t the norm around the werewolf. Not once. It was almost like the man wasn’t there, his squeeze so cold and distant that Shaw never noticed his choosing whiskey over guinness.. but then again, he wasn’t expecting the news either.

At first, Jason stared back at the other..squinting his eyes as though he let himself believe it --Clay. His..their Clay..gone.. but somehow it didn’t take, his lips parting with a chuckle instead."...right, and I’m next in line for the throne of England.” he managed, eyes seeking the others. “What are you on about, dude? How do you even know?”

Ciaran: Huh... Not the reaction he was expecting. Shock and disbelief, sure. But flat out thinking that he could even begin to joke about such a thing? That wasn't something Ciaran was prepared for. Though he couldn't blame the other in the slightest, as who would want to wrap their minds around such a tragedy? Unwilling to repeat himself though, he simply leveled Shaw with a look that should have told him everything.

"Qhuinn told me. She felt it before anyone got to tell her, think that I may have too a little. Or maybe it was just her pain, dunno. She's not in good shape mate, no matter what she might be tellin' ya and Quinten. She ain't in any good shape at all" Ciaran sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. "Kai and Lexi were the ones to find them. They were slaughtered Jason..the whole fuckin' pack"

Jason: Jace frowned at the next look to come from Ciaran --no, he scoffed, and flat out slapped the hand off his shoulder, leaning back against the stool as if..a sense of no gravity had suddenly swallowed him whole. "No..you're still.." he managed, chuckling still..only this time his laugh was a lot drier, more forced than anything else. You just didn't bring up Qhuinn around Jason and not expect get things through to him. Especially when it all made perfect sense. Yes..she had been acting strange for the past few weeks. And yes, it'd raised the alarms with Quinten. So what if what Ciaran was saying here was really real?

Swallowing, Jace brought his fingers to his face and skimmed it down his face too.. "W-wait, Lexi knows too..? Kai? S'that why he left..?" Baiting a much needed inhale, it seemed like the human finally cracked, eyes getting all glassy all of a sudden. Inside of him, though, he could feel a very different kind of emotion growing. He was angry.. fuck if he was.."..when, Ciaran? When did this whole thing happen?"

Ciaran: The slap had his wolf, always boiling so close to the surface these days, coming to life. He was able to easily push back the instinct to snap back, both literally and figuratively. This was Shaw, his mate. One of the damn best ones that he had. And he never meant him any harm. So Ciaran polished off his whiskey in one smooth swallow as the other seemed to take everything in, there with a refill for them both when the truth hit Jason. "I'm so sorry mate.." He started, lips soon pressing together when the inevitable questions came.

"No, I think they had just gone for a visit. Kai..wasn't exactly a well of information. Left without a fuckin' word, if I'm bein' honest here." But that was neither here nor there, as his mission right now was to help Jason through this. When those startling emerald eyes showed the sheen of tears, Ciaran reached out again. "Not long ago. A week? Maybe two. Don't..be mad at them. Be mad at me, for not steppin' up sooner"

Jason: He shouldn't have been so brusque. And yes, he should have probably never laughed when Ciaran had done the one thing nobody else had had the balls to do...but his instincts had got him beat. Even more so now, as he wiped the tears off his face..refusing to be touched by anyone or anything as he swallowed down the missing bits of information that pieced the puzzle together.. incapable of uttering a single word that was close to intelligible. He didn't know what to say, not about Kai, not about how much Ciaran didn't deserve any of that..or this --no, Jace just turned a looked to the side becoming angered suddenly when the wolf mentioned how long it'd been. "Don't touch me, please. I can't do this."

Balling one of his hands into a fist, Jace reached for the booze, frowning something bad. Yes, he was mad at the two women..but he wouldn't bother arguing with Ciaran now.. "..do we know who did this..? Was it..hunters, maybe? When are we going to get them back for it?"

Ciaran: Ciaran dropped his hand at Jason's request, holding his arms up in a gesture of surrender as he took a step back and gave the other male his space. Even though all he wanted to do was grab him and hold on as they both mourned, seeking the comfort that deep down he felt he'd been denied. Or rather, that he hadn't opened himself up for. "Sorry.." The wolf muttered, downing another glass full. At this rate they were both going to be crashing in his office, but he had a feeling Shaw gave about as few fucks about that as he did.

"Don't be mad" Ciaran repeated. "Think of what they've been through. Lexi, havin't to find him that way. And Qhuinn, losin' him and her whole goddamn family. They couldn't do it..so I did. Don't channel the anger that ya feel at them" It wasn't so much advice as it was a command. He loved Jason like his own, but if he found out that a single harsh word had been said to either of those poor girls...

"Aye, hunters. And Kai found 'em. That's what he was doin' all this fuckin' time" Without access to a phone apparently, but that was neither here nor there. "Killed 'em. But it came with..consequences.."

Jason: As terrible as he knew he would be feeling much later, Jason still did not make a single move towards the other. He was scared he would break down..and let himself feel more than he could possibly handle now..or ever..no matter how difficult to believe things were. He needed /his/ time-- the time that he hadn't had those two weeks, while he was leading his life as normal..completely ignorant of everything. Again. "I can't help it, man...they kept it from me." the human shook his head, swallowing harshly. Ciaran was right.. fuck if he was, but he wasn't being rational right now..

It was a relief, however small, that the hunters had been dealt with..and so he nodded, rubbing at his face again before emptying the glass of liquor in front of him..then pushing it over for a refill. "For what's worth..I'm sorry. Same about Kai....is he okay?"

Ciaran: Ciaran's lips tightened into a thin line. Jason was the furthest thing from cruel, so he knew that he really had no reason to worry. But grief had a way of making people say shit that they didn't mean. "Not on purpose mate.. They ain't stoppin' and sayin' 'hey let's keep this from Jace because the bastard don't deserve to know'. Aye? They didn't tell ya because they couldn't. Because their grief is too strong for them to bear right now. Is it wrong? Is it right? Who the fuck knows. But it's what they needed in the moment. And I know they feel shit enough about it too so they don't need ya makin' it worse. Ya got every right to be hurt my brother, I ain't sayin' that ya don't. I'm just sayin' to not take it out on them" Ciaran of course couldn't speak for Lexi, but if she looked like as much of a ghost of herself as Qhuinn did, then there was no doubt she carried just as much guilt.

The wolf crossed his arms over a frame that had gotten a bit leaner over the last month or so, tucking in his hands so that he didn't reach for Shaw again. "Cheers. I am too love, ya lot knew him a fuck of a lot longer than I did. But he showed me nothing but kindness at a time when I needed it, and for that I will always hold him in high regard" Ciaran replied softly. At the question about Kai, all he could do was shake his head. "No.. I mean, physically he's fine. But he's..different. Everythin' about him is different"

Jason: The human let out a low groan and rolled his eyes, not taking well to being lectured about the right way to feel right now. About what he should or shouldn't do..how wrong it would be to be upset at Qhuinn or Lexi.. But yes, he listened, grinding his teeth and staring at the Irish man from across the table with the same glassy eyes from before..only darker, his body tense as he squeezed his fingers around the glass in front of him. Damn Ciaran for having a point.. "..I know..I know that they would have told me if this wasn't bigger than them. I know that. That they did none of this on purpose. But it still hurts..." he choked, angrier..even more upset, if possible. "..t-that I was the last to know..Qhuinn tells me everything../everything/, hard or not...and I thought, I don't know..at the very least I deserved to know. Tell me, if you hadn't stepped up..would I?..or would I have kept goin' about my life not knowin' my friend was dead like I have for TWO weeks? I mean, way to honor his fuckin' memory, mate."

Shaw brought the whiskey glass to his lips again and dampened his lips before taking another long sip, clearing his throat as he let his thoughts visit the memories he had with and about Clay. "..we hadn't spoken that much this past year ..we'd grown apart a bit.. and I was plannin' on fixin' that, guess I never will now." he said, smiling weakly at what Ciaran said about the alpha. Kai, however, erased that soon. "..different meaning..you guys aren't okay anymore? ..you still love eachother..right?"

Ciaran: Ciaran frowned slightly at Jason's reactions. But, in all fairness, he supposed he had gone all dad on the bloke. But he just hated the idea of more strain being put on those women. They both looked as if they could crack any day as it was, something that he could relate all too well to. But that didn't mean that he couldn't see his friend's point as well. "I know darlin'" He muttered, the little term of endearment slipping easily past his lips. "And again I ain't sayin' that ya don't have every right to be upset, because ya do. Just..try and help each other, aye? Take that grief, all that anger..and try and turn it into love. Clay wouldn't have wanted any of us to do anythin' else." He pointed out, then had the grace to flush as Shaw continued. "I'm sorry that I took so long to tell ya. That's all on me and I accept full responsibility. But I promise..ya would have been told. Likely still by me. But if not, by someone" He assured him, as empty as those words seemed to even his own ears.

"Aye...same. I know that Qhuinn had planned on goin' sometime over the summer and I was gonna join her. He knew that we loved him though. Ya gotta believe that Jason. He knew how loved he was. He had to, with so much love around him" Ciaran gave the other a tight smile, those shoulders lifting and falling once again. "If I'm bein' honest..I dunno. He ain't himself, though he insists that he is. Just a better version of himself. He made.." The wolf paused, once again trying to make sense of what had happened to Kai. "Some kind of pact. With a goddess, if ya can believe that. She helped him find the hunters, but it came with a price. He belongs to her now, or some shit like that. I swear to fuck Jace..I'm a werewolf and I didn't even believe that somethin' like that could even happen. Fuckin' daft of me, ain't it.."

Jason: "..tell me, do you ever get tired of doin' the right thing?" Jason blurted out, mostly still out of anger..which likely bubbled under the surface. It was an ongoing problem with him..and more often than not, it ate him up..especially in moments like this. That, is exactly why he took the other's lecture the way he did, running his fingers across his hair and covering his face with the same hand for a few seconds at the end, defeated at last. "..I'll try my best to do that..just promise me you won't pull the 'what clay would've wanted' card again--please?..not this soon.." A lot felt like too soon right now. Everything did. Licking the taste of liquor off his lip, Shaw looked up as the werewolf seemed to take responsibility for the late news, reaching out to give the other man's wrist a gentle squeeze..at damn last. "..it was never you job to do this..but thanks for bitin' the bullet. I...don't know what to say anymore.." Did he believe he would've been told? Not right now, no.. but Jace was done arguing.

Nodding yet again..but this time at the mention of plans to visit Vancouver, the human bit back the tears again and chose to focus on the Kai subject instead, saddened to hear that Ciaran was having relationship trouble on top of all this...on top of having to tell him.. "..well, if you ever need to crash somewhere else for a bit of space, time..anythin'...you know my place is yours." he shrugged, "But you ought to listen to him too, even if his leavin' was..wrong and unfair, by all means. See if you can love this new version of him.."

Ciaran: Ciaran couldn't help but bark a dark, humorless laugh at that little comment. Jason had been there through nearly everything he'd done and been through in the last two years, so it truly amused the wolf that he could still ask that. Even in the angrily joking manner that it was clearly meant. "Really? Ya should know the answer to that as well as I do. I've made my share of mistakes..real shit ones too. And ya can chalk this up as one of them" He relented, a long sigh deflating his lean form as well. "Sorry love, ya right. I shouldn't have said that. I'm just..tryin'. Ya know? That's all I feel like I ever fuckin' do, is try." The Irishman smiled tightly at the touch to his wrist, absorbing the simply human contact as he briefly covered Jace's fingers with his own before giving the other his space again. "I know..neither do it. What can we say, ya know?"

Another tight smile curved the man's lips, as he was now on the receiving end of a lecture. "I did, I have. And I get why he stayed away for so long. I would have done the same. I have done the same. But it don't change the fact that he left with no word, and stayed away for that long without lettin' us know if he was still even fuckin' alive. Not just me, but Kyle. The one that he made a promise to protect. I look at him now and I just see..nothin' Jace. No love. No emotion. No passion. He's like a robot now. I feel like.." Ciaran shook his head, swallowing hard. "I feel like I lost him too"

Jason: Jason looked up at the sound of that humorless laugh and felt himself lean back gently, mostly coming to terms with the countless times he had been the one to do what he was accusing the wolf of doing. Wanting to be surprised he realized, but still struggling to be.. "..well, for what is worth, you've kept me from makin' one." he said, clearly hinting at his earlier intentions of confronting the two women about his not knowing when they were not doing so hot themselves. It would have been selfish..and chances are he would have regretted it deeply. "..it's fine. I'm not really seein' things for what they are right now..m'too upset.." Jace offered, letting go off a wavering sigh at the contact as well, brief as that was, and reached out for the bottle to pour them both a refill, assuming they would be needing more than just a few socially acceptable drinks that evening.

Loosing Clay was not something he had ever thought possible and it was still hard to accept, as it would be for some time. "Y'know, I always thought I'd be the first to go.." He said, sucking in a soft inhale before their topic shifted to Kai again, his body tilting forward to hear all his friend had to say. "..yeah, no..you're right on that one. He could have at least left you a note telling you not to worry or where he was headed...as useless as that would've been. Maybe it would've been a comfort.." Shaw frowned,  falling quiet, or quieter anyway..the second the irishman mentioned something about feeling like he had lost him too.. "Fuck, I'm sorry, man...have you tried talking to Lexi or somethin'? Those two seem close..and maybe..I don't know, she might give you an insight, help you deal with this..but how you feel.." he started, reaching out for that touch again, "It ain't wrong..okay? Kai's got to see that too. It's you two against the problem."

Ciaran: "Aye..cheers for that. I'll consider it my good dead for the day" Ciaran joked weakly. Though really, if he did one good thing that day, that week, he would consider it a fucking success. "I still believe that we gotta get each other through this though. We're still a family" He pointed out lowly, dark head nodding at the others words. "Fuck, I don't even know if I'm seein' things clear yet. It's gonna take a while, it's just..too big of a loss to absorb all at once. We're all gonna mourn and deal with it in our own way, ya know?" The wolf let out a long sigh as well, accepting the refill with a small nod.

"Huh..me too. And not just because I'm older. He just seemed..immortal almost. Like nothin' could touch him" Ciaran agreed, downing his drink in one shot and absently reaching for the bottle. He did smile a bit, a genuine one, at Shaw's reassurance. It was nice to hear that he wasn't being an unreasonable git about the whole thing. Communication was important in any relationship, and in his mind, Kai had flushed it all right down the shitter. "Fuckin' would have been, instead of spendin' the last month tryin' to convince myself and Kyle that he was okay and comin' back. Bloody dragon is a trooper though. I wouldn't have gotten through it all without him" Ciaran admitted, then shook his head. "Nah..don't wanna bother her with my shit. If Kai has somethin' to say, somethin' he needs from me, he needs to be the one to tell me, ya know? That's the only way we can move forward" He reasoned, then gave another tight smile. "Thanks..really. I feel like I'm bein'..a real asshole about this. Like I'm the one in the wrong again. But I didn't do anythin' this time, for fuck's sake. I'm so bloody tired of bein' made to feel that way"

Jason: Jason smiled back at the werewolf just as weakly, glad that at least he could bring the tinniest bit of relief to them both. "..yeah, that's what I had hoped, but apparently they need their time. Maybe I just got scared they just didn't need me anymore..or that I was too human..again, you know?" he huffed, "I can't believe how selfish I sound..makin' it all about m'self." Shaw nodded through the rest of the other's words, and caught himself almost not wanting to leave here..dreading having to mourn Clay on his own..as well as telling everyone why he suddenly wasn't up for certain things. Like Celine's party.

"..yeah, you're old as dirt, man. You sure you don't dye your beard already?" Jace frowned, trying to look and sound serious but ultimately breaking into an awkward laugh, not sure his joke landed the way he saw it in his head. "I mean...how old are you again?" Taking a lengthy swing of his glass, he let the talk..happy to switch topics back to the new issue concerning Ciaran, eyes scanning his face when he spoke about some Kyle and what role he had in their relationship. Not that he was opposed to it, but they'd barely touched on it before. "..yeah, but I feel like sometimes we are too scared to reach out too, you know? Be it because you've built these theories in your head that it wouldn't be well received..or fuck knows..I just hope y'all can fix it.. " he shook his head, "You care..and there's nothin' wrong with that...take it easy..do what you feel is right."

Ciaran: "Ah love, ya don't sound selfish at all. Ya sound like what ya are: a fuckin' stand-up guy that anyone would be lucky to have for a friend. I can't speak for Lexi, but I'm sure that she needs ya just as much as Qhuinn does. Give 'em their time, they'll come around. Though.." Ciaran paused, raking a hand through his dark hair. "May not be my place but..fuck it. It is. Like I said, we're all family. I'm worried about the girl. I ain't seen her cry, or mourn in any way. Ain't natural Jace. At all. Ya keep an eye on her, yeah? Ya and Quinten have the best chance of gettin' through to her"

His peace said, Ciaran continued to finish cleaning, noting the late hour. He should get home, though he wasn't entirely sure if Kai worried anymore. But, he also kind of had a feeling that Shaw wanted to be alone to start absorbing everything. "Fuck..ya found out my secret. Better be as loyal as we all think ya are and not tell anyone" He actually laughed, running a hand along his dark stubble. "Last I checked..one hundred and seventy-seven. I really am an old fuck, but believe it or not there are those who are older" Ciaran chuckled again, then went silent as he took Jason's words to heart, as always. Do what you feel is right... Did he even know what that was anymore? "Aye..aye, ya right. I just need to figure out what that is. Easy peasy, right?" Ciaran smirked, shaking his head as his eyes fell on the antique clock. Fuck..was it really almost three in the morning? "Shit..time flies don't it? We should both get a move on, yeah? No need to fuel the rumor mill if someone catches us crashin' in my office together" He teased, eyes full of gratitude and fondness as he smiled lightly at Jason. "We'll talk again soon. Ya take the time that ya need" Ciaran vowed, as they made their moves to part for the night.

[ladystylestores]

For World of Darkness, the future of tabletop RPGs is increasingly digital

The early-’90s, in all of its grunge-soaked glory, saw vampires and werewolves roam the night while humanity became part of a herd to be culled and controlled. A World of Darkness had been born in shadow and masquerade. With the birth of the first editions of Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse tabletop role-playing games, White Wolf Publishing had crafted a gritty, cloistered realm where playing with monsters wasn’t just encouraged — it was the whole purpose.

Monsters need management, however. Throughout the early-aughts and into the 2010s, White Wolf was in dire need of restructuring and solvency. CCP Games stepped in for a time — there was even an MMO in the works — but the partnership ultimately faltered. In 2015, Paradox Interactive, which had started to branch out from its grand strategy PC gaming roots more and more by that point, acquired White Wolf Publishing from CCP Games.

For three years, White Wolf operated fairly independently. After Vampire: The Masquerade’s fifth edition source books were published, there were a number of callous and homophobic passages that forced Paradox to adroitly absorb White Wolf in both name and management.

With World of Darkness’ monstrous roots firmly managed, Paradox Interactive has had to rethink ways to analog storytelling with digital experiences in order to broaden its approach to tabletop roleplaying games. Part of that is ensuring that the analog source material and their digital counterparts are as seamlessly integrated as possible.

Paradox’s firm leadership coupled with the deep creative well at World of Darkness has required more blood, both new and familiar. Justin Achilli, a veteran writer (1995-2005) in the world of Vampire: The Masquerade, has rejoined the “vamily” as brand creative lead at World of Darkness. Martyna “Outstar” Zych, a popular Twitch streamer and indie game developer, has also joined the World of Darkness team as brand community developer.

Above: Martyna Zych

Image Credit: World of Darkness

We had an opportunity to chat with Achilli and Zych, with additional commentary from Jason Carl (Brand Marketing Manager at World of Darkness) and Sean Greaney (Brand Manager at World of Darkness), about World of Darkness’ approach to transmedia, the role of streaming and liveplay shows, and exploring World of Darkness’ properties as “platform agnostic.”

World of Darkness, but time to shine

Over the last two years, Paradox Interactive has made waves in both development and publishing, especially with an eye on World of Darkness. A 2018 $2 million investment in Hardsuit Labs for a 33% minority stake coupled with full IP control over World of Darkness’ properties meant that a sequel to much beloved cult RPG, Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines, was finally possible.

Paradox has been playing with the interplay between analog and digital for a handful of years with its own IP as well, including tabletop adaptations of Crusader Kings (released in 2019) and Stellaris (due out in 2021).

Fully absorbing White Wolf into the Paradox brand meant that World of Darkness could shine on its own. Letting these shadowy analog and digital realities bleed together with ease has become far more of a focus than it had been when White Wolf was independent (despite Activision publishing Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption in 2000) or even when CCP Games had acquired the company in the mid-aughts.

The word “transmedia” appears to be more of a buzzword than it is. At its root, transmedia refers to media that is explored across multiple mediums. So, in World of Darkness’ case, it means taking their properties from the page to the stage (live-action roleplay) and from analog to digital.

Above: Justin Achilli

Image Credit: World of Darkness

“The World of Darkness has been hugely influential to so many areas of entertainment, especially early on in the brand’s life,” Achilli told us. “I want to reinvigorate that and take this in an innovative new direction in every medium of entertainment that we can. It takes not only a good design intuition, but an understanding of how we want to welcome players and what we want them to take away. Making players feel like they belong, ensuring they have questions to answer and mysteries to unearth and discuss is some of my responsibility.”

Making a property like Vampire: The Masquerade or Werewolf: The Apocalypse accessible to audiences across platforms and mediums is essential in making sure players feel like they have a place in a World of Darkness. For some, that introduction may be with Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2. For others, it may be with World of Darkness’ “L.A. By Night” live-play show or through playing Vampire: The Masquerade as the TTRPG it was originally built as.

For Jason Carl, the future of World of Darkness’ products will be tied to streaming, from liveplay or “actual play” productions to news shows like Martyna Zych’s weekly show.

“Streaming is an increasingly important part of World of Darkness,” Carl said. “It lets us tell interesting stories, some that are incorporated into official canon like ‘L.A. By Night’, and interact with our fans in ways that just weren’t possible before. It also helps provide a very accessible example of how to enjoy our games, showing rather than telling how much fun it is to play TTRPGs with your friends. Incorporating streaming into products is new in the TTRPG space and luckily is something we had already started dipping our toes in with the live-play shows from By Night studios.”

“One important aspect of ongoing development is that people play games differently now than they did when the World of Darkness first emerged,” Achilli continued. “Streams, virtual tabletops, virtual and augmented reality, and a variety of new media formats give us a host of new ways to tell stories. Because, of course, it always comes back to storytelling — the World of Darkness thrives on players and audiences making, experiencing, and sharing stories in its secret world.”

Zych’s formidable presence on Twitch (20,000-plus followers) and newly minted role as brand community developer at World of Darkness means that she is tasked with developing a community built for transmedia experiences. Given the complexities of World of Darkness’ properties spanning digital and analog spaces, there are a number of challenges that Zych and her team will be facing.

“The main challenge is reaching the whole World of Darkness community with news, updates and the content that we’re cooking,” Zych said. “Our social media efforts, streams, videos and the work of our ambassadors help with that a lot. The second challenge is maintaining approachability and easy onboarding for new audiences, while at the same time keeping our core fans in mind. The way we interact with our community needs to reflect it.”

As we’d discussed in a previous interview with Carl, streaming the development of the next edition of Werewolf: The Apocalypse will be an integral piece of sharing the game with fans right from the start. Developing a ruleset that will embrace being “media-agnostic,” as Greaney puts it, isn’t a tacked on approach at World of Darkness, either. It’s an important starting point.

Above: Mark Meer (Commander in Shepherd in Mass Effect) plays Chaz Price, and Cynthia Marie (Sirens of the Realms) plays Nelli G in “L.A. by Night.”

Image Credit: World of Darkness

“When we start development on our franchises it’s from a media-agnostic perspective, because we’re a transmedia brand and we know the franchise will exist far beyond tabletop,” Greaney said. “Systems design and rulesets are about building foundations for the kinds of experiences we want fans to have with the franchises. TTRPGs are a great way of ‘opening the hood’ on those foundations for fans and partners alike, but [conceptualization] begins at a higher-level than a specific medium.

“This also requires building an ecology between the narrative and the rules and systems,” Achilli added. “The single largest difference between games and traditional media is that games are interactive. Players touch the systems and have an influence over what happens in a way they simply don’t with more traditional consumable media. That means the game systems need to reinforce the narrative; the themes of the stories are communicated significantly through the actions the player takes. For example, as a vampire, there’s a reason you choose individual victims when you feed, and there are consequences for feeding too much or exposing what you are.”

This ecology isn’t just relegated to developers and writers, or even to World of Darkness all by itself. Greaney describes World of Darkness as an expression of “living play culture.”

“That’s where we see the greatest opportunity to move between and across media, whether that be digital or analog media or linear or emergent stories,” Greaney noted. “This is a collaborative effort with our community, partners and Paradox game teams. And, so we definitely want your favorite vampire to show up to surprise and delight in many products, but more so we want to give you the tools to take them into your own stories. For example, the work our partner Vault Comics is doing to bring Winter’s Teeth characters to TTRPG. But what we’re most excited about … are platforms that enable the community to speak directly back into our story world.”

“Living play culture” also needs to ensure meeting players where they are when onboarding them into the World of Darkness as it exists today. Greaney specifically noted that there are two distinct player bases at the moment: fans that have been exploring World of Darkness since the ’90s and new players that are sinking their fangs into V5 (Vampire: The Masquerade fifth edition) and are anticipating Bloodlines 2. The former is looking for “continuity in experience,” namely with metaplot and characters. The latter is hungry for, well, more.

Above: Vampires love Ferris wheels.

Image Credit: Paradox Interactive

“So for those who’ve joined us through LA or Seattle By Night, Bloodlines 2 transmedia work like Tender or Vein Pursuit, or V5 Discord roleplaying servers,” Greaney said, “we work across the product portfolio, marketing and individual products to ensure there’s a fun experience of discovery and peeling back the layers of secrets in WoD and in that process of discovery a chance to join the World of Darkness community.

“And that’s what is ultimately important to us — that we can help customers become fans of our franchises rather than directing them to a specific medium. If you’ve watched Jason every season over the past few years or joined the Tender ARG (Alternate Reality Game) or played through Coteries of New York or spend time discussing WoD5 (World of Darkness fifth edition) lore online — but have never filled in a character sheet and sat down at a table for a chronicle, you’re just as much a Vampire: The Masquerade fan as anybody else and we have no strategic aim to make you experience the franchise in a specific way.”

Looking ahead, World of Darkness is dedicated to creating “more low barrier to entry video games” like Coteries of New York and other visual novel experiences. Additionally, we can expect more alternate reality games like Tender.

“Expect to be able to experience World of Darkness at the table, with a controller, in your earbuds and with your TV remote,” Greaney concluded. “We want to make discovery as seamless as possible, whether that is discovery of lore, fan content, products, or communities relevant to the experience the player is driving. So, whether you’re a new fan eager to discover the breadth of our story world or a long-time fan going deep, our aim is to enable that seamlessly without taking you out of your WoD experience.

“World of Darkness has rapidly evolved and adopted new ways to engage with our fans. Our live-play shows like ‘L.A. By Night’ and games like Bloodlines 2 are just some examples of how we are embracing the future and welcoming new players to our world. We have big plans to continue this expansion and drive discovery that we can’t wait to share with you when the time is right.”

World of Darkness’ approach to being “media-agnostic” is laudable, especially given White Wolf’s roots in print media and old school tabletop RPG culture. Paradox’s levelled leadership, both from CEO Ebba Ljungerud and from the team at World of Darkness, has rebirthed a World of Darkness that exists in all realities at once. We often talk about companies needing to “evolve or die” in the chaos of the game industry, but to find that evolution in death is the sweetest victory of all.

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