How can I have a mixed game of nWoD without having a thematic mess?

Question

I'm planning on starting a full-on mixed nWoD game, but I don't know how to avoid having it feel like a fantasy kitchen sink, since that can easily destroy the feel of a game. What are scenarios or starting adventures that could bring together every class of supernatural being in a natural feeling way? More importantly, what would I need to watch out for in terms of preventing intraparty conflict? I'd like to have the group together for as long as the campaign lasts.

I'm not terribly worried about mechanically balancing a mixed game of New World of Darkness: I'm of the opinion that balance is an illusion in the sense that characters of vastly different power levels can get equal "screen-time", and that D&D 3.5 wizards and fighters can not only both be played in the same campaign, they were intended to be played that way. So balance issues with this campaign isn't my concern.

Answer 1

Use a very strong central theme and mood. Think of your campaign as if it was a TV series held together by these things, as well returning props, characters, places etc.

Use a strong, universal antagonist, possibly an organization that has agents from all the various supernatural factions as well. Even better if your party are members / helpers of the same organization, and there's an internal power struggle between the few "good guys" and the powerful "bad guys". Wait, I mean between the "lighter gray guys" and the "darker gray guys". :)

An example: Two of your characters, Mully and Sculder are Mages of the Pentacle working within the FBI. They have a group of outsider "friendlies" to rely on: The Gone Loonmen, made up of a Vampire, a Werewolf and a Changeling (who are, by some weird twist of fate, are blood relatives of one another. Half-siblings or something.) Together, they're up against a powerful conspiracy within and above the FBI that tries to use the organization to further its own needs: a conspiracy of powerful Vampires, Seers of the Throne, etc.

Keep the focus on the human side of the characters. If possible, start and run the campaign for a while (a few stories) for the mortal PCs only, previous to their turning supernatural. Even after their turning, give more screen time to humanity, human motifs etc. Keep the power level low as long as you can. Have your players grow to love the human side of your characters, have them be happy they're playing a well developed, dramatically important Mully and Sculder with their gripping, deep human background and the issues they have to deal with because of it (lost sister, family trouble etc.)

Allow / introduce the transformation into supernatural creatures only gradually, when the templates to be applied will be mere additions to the strongly developed and strongly bonded human characters only, not what define them primarily. ("Sculder is a guy who's become best friends with Mully and great mates with the Loonmen by sticking together through X, Y and Z adventures. Sculder does everything to find his still lost sister whom he believes now to have been taken by the Fae (not the Atlantean Demon, that was a red herring.) Sculder loves to pour half his coffee off his balcony in the morning on foggy days, and is afraid the Smoking Cigarette Woman might in fact be his own true mother", etc etc. Not "Sculder is a Silver Ladder Mastigos with •••• Gnosis, this and that merit who can raise the dead in a minute with this and this spell." I guess you get my drift. :))

This gradual introduction technique, which you may consider and call an extended prelude, seems strongly supported and recommended by the authors of the nWoD, especially for those troupes (of, optimally, 3-5 players) who prefer a more personal, gothic/psychological horror Storytelling--in the vein of movies and series like Twin Peaks, the X-Files, Interview with the Vampire etc--instead of action, slasher or splatter horror. See Character Creation, nWoD p34. and Preliminary Story, nWoD p196. Of course, your mileage may strongly vary when deciding which subgenre of horror you like to play.

Make true supernatural enemies and NPCs scarce, use them rarely for direct interaction and confrontation. Have them rely on mortal or semi-mortal (ghoul etc) pawns, possibly aided by magic and other similar powers. Have them use spirits and ghosts - creatures more PC "factions" are familiar with.

Well, this is it for now... I may expand on it all later, but I need to get a coffee now. Not to pour it off our balcony, mind you, but to properly start my brain. :)

Answer 2

My first response is to refer to a game that I was in for a short time. The ST made it the "Outcast" game, where everyone had to play something considered a pariah to its own type (IE, Catif, Orphan, Skinwalker / Unclaimed) so the ragtag group had to watch out for each other because their own people are on their backs.

Second is the interloping party. The bigass person/organization/whatever could actually be the benefactor or contractor to the party. Because of the simple fact that this individual has their fingers in many pies, they can call in favors and put the pressure from above to the party whenever things start to get out of hand.

EDIT1: Something that just came to me is a game I rand back in '06 where the party was Changing Breeds only in a world that had everything. They ended up making a pact with the local Hunters because the Wyrm decided to manifest a little bit. This falls under the answers above about the one Big Bad, but it's esoteric enough that it doesn't have to be the focus of the campaign - it just happened, was dealt with, now there's a precedent.

Answer 3

All WoD games have their own themes and ambients, just how it is explained on the respective Storytelling chapters.

Now, just imagine that they did a single RPG in which players could choose which supernatural to play. What would be the themes? What would they write in the Storytelling chapters?

If you've read the games, you have enough Storytelling chapters to figure out how to write/imagine one.

I think this can work better than trying to actually mix the themes.

Answer 4

I would say that this isn't really a multi-splatbook problem. Sure, it seems more difficult when you have vampires and changelings and whatnot in the same group, but you get the same problem in games with just multiple tribes of vampires (usually the Malkavians do it to the rest) or even when characters are allegedly more homogeneous. A group of 5 Brujah doesn't mean that the players have the same expectation of the game's tone and themes - the most common WoD playstyles I've seen mean that potentially one is into the dark and gritty roleplay of an outcast vampire, and another plays it like it's D&D in the modern day. A group of allegedly similar characters doesn't mean you'll have a coherent play experience without some additional discussion first.

You should proactively work with the players before play starts in this or any other situation. Give them guidance on the desired tone and theme (and get their input into it) and put the onus on them to jointly craft their characters to NOT make it a thematic mess.

Answer 5

The best way is to have the majority of the party of a single type. A single outlier in a group of 3-4, or a pair in a 5-8 player group, and most of the story will focus on the one theme.

Mind you, I can't get specific as to clans/traditions, as my experiences are all oWoD... but limiting the choices to compatible ones also narrows the theme.

Keep in mind as well: the choices of Clan or Tradition can drastically affect theme as well - don't be afraid to limit the choices there, as well, within the main group of the party.

In short - pick and choose the available types to make certain the groups picked from are not at odds more than their type differences engender.