Advantages and disadvantages of nWoD

There has been lots of discussion over the internet about one major advantage in nWoD. When you buy World of Darkness core rule book, you basically buy rules set only once. After it you decide by buying the supplement you want to run or play. You don't have to buy basic rules over and over again with every new book. Also, the rules are the same for every "race" was it Vampires, Werewolves, Mages, Changelings, Hunters etc. In those supplement books come ofcourse additional rules for those "races" but core books are always the same. Always the one you originally bought in that one - World of Darkness - book.

But, even if that explained upper is a great advantage, there is also a minor disadvantage. You always have to have (atleast) two books in hand. For example, if running Werewolf: the Forsaken book you need to have World of Darkness book for general game rules and also W:tF book for Werewolf special rules (and setting).

As played today Werewolf: the Forsaken, I noticed that I have to check two separate books to figure out how things work. That was kind of a annoyance. It reminds me a bit of Dungeons & Dragons where you got own book for GM, other for players, third for monsters and possibly fourth for setting. And few extra books for advanced rules and other supplements.

Before, when I played Vampire: the Masquerade and Vampire: the Dark Ages it was quite simple. I basically just needed one book to run the game. Still, even if I had to buy rules several times with every new book, all I needed was within one cover.

Conclusion for nWoD is not absolute. It is good thing that you only buy one time the rules and the space used in next books is not repeated over and over again, but yet you need several books in hand to run the game.

New exciting games

I had some new games this month, and are quite excited of them. Two past years I have had games total more than last 7 years, so my game shelf is growing quite well at the moment. There is always space for new games, even if I am not planning to run them. Shelf full of roleplaying games is just beautiful, yet nerd. Well, when it comes to rpg's, I like nerd. Alot.

My new games are the following:

Ikuisuuden laakso. Finnish rpg about penguins and anti-penguins. Sounds exciting, doesn't it? Well it is. Innovative, cool exciting, dramatic. Even if that game has penguins on it, it is not cute. Those penguins do get in dangers, some of them are cast away from their society because of their wrong colouring and are doomed to live their life of anti-penguins. Seagulls steal their eggs and hunting fish for food from sea is always a danger. And those penguins do battle their bloody clan-wars. Sadly Ikuisuuden laakso is available only in finnish, as I see it could be quite big hit in it's own little fanbase, if it ever would grow it. There is not much new for roleplaying in that game, yet it feels fresh. And it has dicepools, what I adore the most from dice systems!

Itran kaupunki is a translation from norvegian rpg. It is quite different, as it is surrealistic rpg with feeling of noir. I haven't read it yet, but the concept is quite fascinating. As I have read it from here and there, it is nice book to read certainly. But I am not sure has it any value to play. I mean, it is fun to read, but as a roleplaying game it doesn't hit the spot for me.

Kätyrin osa (My life with master). Finnish translation from english game. I had so big expectations for this game, and have to say, they were all filled and I got more from this small rpg book. This game's concept and idea are awesome. Totally awesome. It works well, is interensting, it has clear ending and goal, it is horror with moral questions you can win. There is nothing wrong here. This will be my first indie/forge game I will run, and I look forward to it. This rocks hard!