u/lexyp29

Hey there, after years of playing dnd with my group i've been running a mixed-splat Chronicles of Darkness game (mage, vampire and werewolf) and we've found out that it's the best kind of ttrpg for our group. Particularly, we like:

• The skill-based system where you buy what you want with XP instead of being locked in a class, which allows for a lot of character customization. (very VERY big emphasis on this, and also a good XP system is ESSENTIAL for me. The Beat system in Chronicles is phenomenal for this reason, because you dont just gain xp by defeating stuff in combat or the DM deciding that you level up, but it's your choices and actions that determine how much you advance)
• The focus on the intrigue and social aspect of the game, so lots of social rules and social/investigative abilities for players, as opposed to a relentless focus on combat and combat abilities. Still, we need good rules for combat
• The power level being somewhat grounded and never reaching epic scale (im so tired of campaigns where the players face gods or world-ending-threats)
• The narrative being driven by the players and their characters
• if possible, I'd like if the players weren't beings with specific innate powers or "chosen ones" (kinda like the CofD splats) but normal people that learn and grow and suffer to become powerful

I'm basically looking for something that fits these criteria but is also a game in a fantasy setting like DnD. I appreciate any suggestion.

I'm running a multisplat (Vampire, Mage, Werewolf) chronicle. Reading the mage handbook, the mechanics of immortality seem a bit iffy. Some mages go extreme lengths to become immortal, such as abusing their own souls by becoming liches and so on, so why would achieving immortality be as easy as casting a life spell once a month to make your body stop aging ?

So my new rule is: you can use ordinary spells to stop your aging, but, depending on how much you do it, it causes hubris and if their duration runs out or if they get dispelled, time catches up with you and you return to the age you'd be without the magic; which means that if you're a 400 year old mage and your infinite lifespan spell runs out because you forgot to recast it, you become a pile of dust. (this is kind of how ghouls work for vampires)

My reasoning is i want to have immortality be a big deal, it's a curse for vampires and a source of extreme obsession for deranged mages, i don't want to have godlike 1000 year old mages walking around my setting as if it was nothing just because they can cast a life 3 spell, because then it wouldn't feel grounded and would undermine the other splats.

What do you think ?

just a guide that explains the politics of the Splat and helps the storyteller build the city in a way that makes sense

Heya, im running a Chronicles of Darkness multi-splat chronicle set in modern times, we've been playing for almost a year now, both the players and the characters have become very experienced and pretty powerful and we're gradually moving away from the street-level business and reaching greater heights.

Up until now, there was always (unbeknownst to the players) the presence of some sort of New World Order that nudged a lot of things to make history go the way they wanted; for example, they contributed to ww1's start because they funded the industries that produced weapons, they fabricated political alliances etc. In short, they're the stereotypical shadow government that controls everything and manipulates events for god knows what reasons. Hell, they even manipulated a lot of the player's actions and they literally had no idea.

Now inevitably i believe the players are going to discover about them, and i want to execute the interaction between them and this new world order perfectly; so i need inspiration, or even rules from other ttrpgs.

Any help is appreciated