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I used to play WoD many years ago (before the revised editions and the gehenna/apocalypse/etc). Now I want to get back playing WoD with my daughter and my little siblings (11-14)...

They are fine with some violence and cursing. My biggest concern is, how much is sex there in the nWoD? Specifically, in Mage the Awakening.

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Not much. There's nothing that's explicit in the rules for Mage: the Awakening that mandates adult themes or anything involving sex. (If you're thinking of groups like the Cult of Ecstasy or the Verbena from Ascension, there's nothing like that in Awakening.) You can keep things to the level of intimacy you'd find on television and not miss anything.

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You can completely eliminate sex, and it won't make much of a difference to the game.

However, there are far too many things I'd call "kid unfriendly". They are everywhere, and to remove them all would be to play a totally different game (not to mention you would probably not want your players to read the players book)

In mage:

  • Magic to break a part of your soul
  • Magic to steal anothers soul/trap it
  • Magic to consume another, causing terrible pain, to regain mana
  • Live sacrifices (of animals/humans) for mana
  • Magic to steal life from another person, with the intent of living longer
  • Magic to animate corpses
  • Magic to manipulate people, changing them deeply (/revive them as a obsessed copy of themselves)
  • Magic to decompose an enemy's living body
  • Magic to curse people/ their decendants
  • The whole hubris thing: Rules specifically designed for characters that slowly lose their connection to the world and fall prey to hubris (aka the morality system)
  • Rules to create a new mind, including the possibility of the mind going insane for lack of human contact or the possibility of the said mind suffering with its "death" after the spell ends
  • Very graphical descriptions of violence in almost arcana (the 10 "types" of magic)

(I stopped because I got tired, but there is much more ...)

In wod in general

  • Ghosts (aka: lost souls, having lost much of their humanity, kept from release by obsession or terrible regret)
  • Rules pertaining madness (that are hard to escape: they are associated with the morality system)
  • A general mood of violence and hopelessness
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    \$\begingroup\$ Those are more "parent unfriendly" than kid unfriendly. Neil Gaiman has had some good blog posts, talking about how adults are really bad at gauging what elements of horror kids can handle. \$\endgroup\$
    – starwed
    Commented Sep 14, 2012 at 0:46
  • \$\begingroup\$ I am not so much worried about what they can handle then to what they shouldnt (of course, in my opinion) Mage has too much magic that is cruel. Not only harmful, but cruel \$\endgroup\$
    – josinalvo
    Commented Sep 14, 2012 at 0:48
  • \$\begingroup\$ @starwed but a link to neil gaimans posts would be appreciated =P \$\endgroup\$
    – josinalvo
    Commented Sep 14, 2012 at 0:49
  • \$\begingroup\$ I can't find the specific post I was remembering, because he seems to allude to this a lot! But here is one example where he thinks that kids tend to just ignore stuff that's beyond their years. A lot of the examples you give are kind of like that -- they're only dark if you think about them. Things like life-stealing magic pop up in all sorts of kids stories; Snow White is a pretty damn dark tale, really, but I don't think it's left anyone's kids scarred. If you played WoD s/t the good guys always win, it'll be fine for kids. \$\endgroup\$
    – starwed
    Commented Sep 14, 2012 at 11:54
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    \$\begingroup\$ +1 Adult stuff != Sex stuff. I think sex is one of the more innocuous them for children (if properly treated). I am annoyed about how many parents are more concerned about a breast than about a beheading. \$\endgroup\$
    – Flamma
    Commented Jun 25, 2014 at 9:52
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I will warn you, many of the themes presented in the books are of an extremely adult nature, beyond the scope of what a child will be exposed to in most video games or TV. Also there is at least one picture of nudity within the core WoD book (in the insanity section).

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I have only played some Vampire from nWoD and as far as I'm concerned, sex plays no part in the rules, so I guess the answer to your question is "as much as the GM wants/allows"

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    \$\begingroup\$ I'd say that sex plays a greater part in Vampire than that, what with vampires being sex metaphors in a lot of ways. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jadasc
    Commented Jan 30, 2012 at 14:22
  • \$\begingroup\$ Not necessarily - I never played any Vampire, oWoD or nWoD, with any sexual themes in it. I realise it might be a common theme in Siring, if not other things, but not necessary. \$\endgroup\$
    – OddCore
    Commented Jan 30, 2012 at 14:25
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    \$\begingroup\$ Huh. No Blood Bonds, or the thrill of the Kiss, or socialite Daeva using lust as a weapon, or anything like that? I believe you, but it seems an odd way to play. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jadasc
    Commented Jan 30, 2012 at 14:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ There were Blood Bonds, but as far as I witnessed, they involved a vampire drinking another vampire's blood. No sex at all. Also, no Daeva (I don't even know what they are) and neither do I know what The Kiss is, but there was none of that either. It mainly consisted of Cammies, Sabbat and Indies, and that's it. 99% of the players were begginers, so I think the GM spared us the expanded universe. \$\endgroup\$
    – OddCore
    Commented Jan 30, 2012 at 14:32
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    \$\begingroup\$ If there weren't Daeva, but there were Cammies, Sabbat, and Indies, then you weren't playing nWoD — that was oWoD. (The analogous clan would be Toreador, then.) Blood Bonds are shared by drinking blood, but the level of devotion and pleasure that comes from it is comparable to sex. The Kiss is the feeling of pleasure that's felt when fed on, and that's described as being "like an orgasm." (Helps hide the bite and preserve the Masquerade.) \$\endgroup\$
    – Jadasc
    Commented Jan 30, 2012 at 14:38

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