World(s) of Darkness - Editions Disambiguation
Jun 24, 2017 20:40:32 GMT -8
Post by RudeAlert on Jun 24, 2017 20:40:32 GMT -8
This is a re-post of a post I put up on the HJRP 19-03 thread and briefly summed up again on the HJRP 19-14 thread. Sbloyd suggested it might be a good idea to sticky this in the White Wolf Sub-Forum so here it is. Stu Venable if you'd like to Sticky this, it might save a lot of people a lot of headaches in the future. Also, if anyone spots any mistakes please let me know and I'll edit this post to make it as accurate as possible.
So, the whole Old World of Darkness, New World of Darkness, Chronicles of Darkness, 20th Anniversary editions thing:
First, let's define which is which:
Old World of Darkness: Vampire the Masquerade, Werewolf the Apocalypse, Mage the Ascension, Wraith the Oblivion, Changeling the Dreaming, Hunter the Reckoning, Mummy the Resurrection, Demon the Fallen, Orpheus. Plus various historical and geographical variants.
Published from 1991 to 2003.
One World of Darkness (or Classic World of Darkness): Vampire the Masquerade 5th Ed. (not out yet as of June 2017)
New World of Darkness: Vampire the Requiem, Werewolf the Forsaken, Mage the Awakening, Promethean the Created, Changeling the Lost, Hunter the Vigil, Geist the Sin-Eaters, Mummy the Curse.
Published from 2004 to 2013/15ish.
Chronicles of Darkness (NWoD 2nd Ed.): Vampire the Requiem 2nd, Werewolf the Forsaken 2nd, Mage the Awakening 2nd, Promethean the Created 2nd, Changeling the Lost 2nd*, Hunter the Vigil 2nd*, Geist the Sin-Eaters 2nd*, Mummy the Curse 2nd*, Demon the Descent**, Beast the Primordial**, Deviant the Renegades** (not out yet).
Published since 2013/15ish.
*Not published yet as of June 2017.
**These are 2nd Ed. originals.
20th Anniversary Editions: Vampire the Masquerade 20th, Werewolf the Apocalypse 20th, Mage the Ascension 20th, Wraith the Oblivion 20th (not out yet), Changeling the Dreaming 20th (not out yet).
Published since 2011.
Explanation
Alright, regarding the whole White Wolf / Onyx Path editions kerfuffle, it is true that things got a bit hectic there, but basically there are two versions of the World of Darkness in concurrent production, from the two listed companies. Also the 20th Anniversary editions were never meant to be entire new "editions," they were initially supposed to be just one big, compilation book for each game line as slightly updated, cleaned up, compiled versions mostly just for old fans and collectors. However, they were so insanely successful that it just made good business sense to give people more material to buy. In fact, the initial V20 was really just supposed to be a single-book one-off thing, at the time there were no plans on a Werewolf 20 or any other "20s," they only made the other "lines" because V20 was so popular and the fans were so eager to get similar books for the other game lines. So the whole 20s are kind of a separate thing. They're only considered an "edition" now because White Wolf decided to make a new edition of Vampire the Masquerade so they retroactively called V20 a 4th edition.
OPINION: The new Chronicles of Darkness books have a pretty solid rule-set and very slow production paces; they aren't churning out supplements every few months so they're likely to stick with those game lines for quite a while, and you're not likely to go broke if you get into them. Heck, the Vampire the Requiem 2nd edition core book was first posted on DriveThru in December 2013 and there are currently only two supplement books specifically for that game line. And of the eight 1st edition games of New World of Darkness that came out before they switched to 2nd edition (Chronicles of Darkness) only 4 of them have been updated to Chronicles rules by now... after 3 1/2 years. So if you want a bunch of solid games, without having to worry about new editions coming out all the time, Chronicles of Darkness games would be my recommendation.
ADDENDUM: This weird state of affairs has not always been the norm, and once the 20th Anniversary lines are done and V5 and the other 5s (if V5 is successful I expect they won't stop there) are on their way, it should become fairly simple again, it'll just be a choice between World of Darkness (White Wolf) and Chronicles of Darkness (Onyx Path), which really comes down to personal preference. Also, please don't blame Onyx Path for any of this mess, they were bound up in contracts all the way and still are. If it weren't for the White Wolf company changing hands a few years ago none of this confusion would have happened. Also, Onyx Path is basically just doing Chronicles of Darkness, the 20th Anniversary editions and their own proprietary game lines at this point, which is really not that confusing.
Edit (June 29, 2017): Added Orpheus in "Old World of Darkness" section.
So, the whole Old World of Darkness, New World of Darkness, Chronicles of Darkness, 20th Anniversary editions thing:
First, let's define which is which:
Old World of Darkness: Vampire the Masquerade, Werewolf the Apocalypse, Mage the Ascension, Wraith the Oblivion, Changeling the Dreaming, Hunter the Reckoning, Mummy the Resurrection, Demon the Fallen, Orpheus. Plus various historical and geographical variants.
Published from 1991 to 2003.
One World of Darkness (or Classic World of Darkness): Vampire the Masquerade 5th Ed. (not out yet as of June 2017)
New World of Darkness: Vampire the Requiem, Werewolf the Forsaken, Mage the Awakening, Promethean the Created, Changeling the Lost, Hunter the Vigil, Geist the Sin-Eaters, Mummy the Curse.
Published from 2004 to 2013/15ish.
Chronicles of Darkness (NWoD 2nd Ed.): Vampire the Requiem 2nd, Werewolf the Forsaken 2nd, Mage the Awakening 2nd, Promethean the Created 2nd, Changeling the Lost 2nd*, Hunter the Vigil 2nd*, Geist the Sin-Eaters 2nd*, Mummy the Curse 2nd*, Demon the Descent**, Beast the Primordial**, Deviant the Renegades** (not out yet).
Published since 2013/15ish.
*Not published yet as of June 2017.
**These are 2nd Ed. originals.
20th Anniversary Editions: Vampire the Masquerade 20th, Werewolf the Apocalypse 20th, Mage the Ascension 20th, Wraith the Oblivion 20th (not out yet), Changeling the Dreaming 20th (not out yet).
Published since 2011.
Explanation
Alright, regarding the whole White Wolf / Onyx Path editions kerfuffle, it is true that things got a bit hectic there, but basically there are two versions of the World of Darkness in concurrent production, from the two listed companies. Also the 20th Anniversary editions were never meant to be entire new "editions," they were initially supposed to be just one big, compilation book for each game line as slightly updated, cleaned up, compiled versions mostly just for old fans and collectors. However, they were so insanely successful that it just made good business sense to give people more material to buy. In fact, the initial V20 was really just supposed to be a single-book one-off thing, at the time there were no plans on a Werewolf 20 or any other "20s," they only made the other "lines" because V20 was so popular and the fans were so eager to get similar books for the other game lines. So the whole 20s are kind of a separate thing. They're only considered an "edition" now because White Wolf decided to make a new edition of Vampire the Masquerade so they retroactively called V20 a 4th edition.
OPINION: The new Chronicles of Darkness books have a pretty solid rule-set and very slow production paces; they aren't churning out supplements every few months so they're likely to stick with those game lines for quite a while, and you're not likely to go broke if you get into them. Heck, the Vampire the Requiem 2nd edition core book was first posted on DriveThru in December 2013 and there are currently only two supplement books specifically for that game line. And of the eight 1st edition games of New World of Darkness that came out before they switched to 2nd edition (Chronicles of Darkness) only 4 of them have been updated to Chronicles rules by now... after 3 1/2 years. So if you want a bunch of solid games, without having to worry about new editions coming out all the time, Chronicles of Darkness games would be my recommendation.
ADDENDUM: This weird state of affairs has not always been the norm, and once the 20th Anniversary lines are done and V5 and the other 5s (if V5 is successful I expect they won't stop there) are on their way, it should become fairly simple again, it'll just be a choice between World of Darkness (White Wolf) and Chronicles of Darkness (Onyx Path), which really comes down to personal preference. Also, please don't blame Onyx Path for any of this mess, they were bound up in contracts all the way and still are. If it weren't for the White Wolf company changing hands a few years ago none of this confusion would have happened. Also, Onyx Path is basically just doing Chronicles of Darkness, the 20th Anniversary editions and their own proprietary game lines at this point, which is really not that confusing.
Edit (June 29, 2017): Added Orpheus in "Old World of Darkness" section.