Okay dokey.
The world of Darkness is basically the overall setting. The setting itself is made up of various games. Vampire: The Masquerade. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension are the three big games. Also there is Changeling: The Dreaming, Wraith: The Oblivion, Demon: The Fallen, Hunter: The Reckoning, Mummy: The Resurrection, and Kindred of the East.
Keep in mind that all these creatures keep their existence hidden from humanity. Each group has it's own rules about never revealing their existence, after all humans out number all these creatures. Even if they are powerful beings, there is still strength in numbers.
Vampire info> [spoiler]Vampire society is made up of Sects and Clans. A sect being a general ideology, while a clan is the smaller, tighter unit. Vampires belong to either the Camarilla (The sect interested in keeping humans blind to the fact vampires exist), The Sabbat (the more reckless sect, who are less about skulking in the shadows) The Anarchs and the Independents. Anarchs are actually members of the Camarilla, but they seek to change the traditional structure of the top-down hierarchical structure. They believe those who can should lead, not because you happen to be the child of some former great master.
The various clans tend to side within one of the sects, but not all members of a clan have to be part of the sect associated with their parent clan.
Cam aligned clans:
Ventrue: The blueblood vampires, often cited as the leaders of the Cam.
Toreador: Artistic, to the point they can be lost in a pretty piece of art.
Brujah: The rabble, more violent, gang like clan.
Malkavian: Insanity runs through their blood.
Nosferatu: The classic hideous undead monster.
Tremere: Masters of blood magic.
Sabbat Aligned:
Tzimisce: Fleshcrafters who can appear alien. The heart of the sabbat.
Lasombra: The counterpart to the ventrue, masters of shadows.
Indie clan:
Assamite: Assassins par none, if only they could stop craving vampire blood.
Followers of Set: Pushers amongst the vampires. sly and manipulative.
Gangrel: Former members of the Cam, these animal like vampires show the beast more then any other clan.
Giovanni: Necromancers who's 'kiss' is dreadfully painful.
Ravnos: The clan of gypsies that were nearly wiped out.
Vampires all share certain abilities and powers, and then each clan is associated with a certain set of powers called "Disciplines" I'll go more into this as is needed. A preview though would include the power of Celerity allows a vampire to move at super human speeds, or allowing them to make multiple attacks in a single turn. The power of Protean allows a vampire to see in the dark, or grow wicked claws, to turn into a bat or wolf, turn into mist itself. [/spoiler]
Werewolf Info> [spoiler]
Werweolf the Apocalypse is filled with various shifter breeds called Fera. The werewolves are the Warriors of Gaia (Mother Earth) They were once 16 unique tribes spread around the world, but war and sorrow have taken 3 of the tribes away, and one tribe has left the Garou Nation.
The 4 great spirits, Gaia and the Triat. (Wyld, Weaver and Wyrm) are the powers that be. The Wyld creates the energie, the Weaver forms 'things' from the energy, and the Wyrm destroys what is no longer needed, or so that's how they used to coexist. Now the wyrm is mad, trapped in the weavers webs. The wyld is weakening. The wyrm has turned from the path of Balance, to that of Corruption. The weaver and the Wyrm prove to be the Garou (Werewolves) greatist enemies. These spirits are both concepts and real threats.(Takes some players a little while to wrap their brains around the spiritual aspect of this game)
The White Howlers: Once the tribe that protected the highlands of Scotland, they have fallen to the wyrm, in their hubris they felt they could end the long standing war all on their own. They descended into the tunnels of the wyrm, only to be forced to join the wyrm. The are now the Black Spiral Dancers, a twisters, tainted tribe of werewolves in the service of Father Wyrm.
The Croatan: One of the Pure Tribes, known as Middle Brother, the entire tribe sacrificed itself in a powerful ritual to reject an aspect of the wyrm from the world.
The Bunyip: A warning of what can happen when people appear 'different'. The entire tribe was killed, not by the wyrm, but by their own garou brothers. The second war of Rage ended this tribe, when garou allowed themselves to be tricked by the wyrm, and destroyed the tribe because they seemed 'different'.
The Stargazers: A tribe that still lives on, but they left the nation as a whole, though a few still remain with the nation, to become part of the Asian Beast Courts.
The two main character types are garou, and Kinfolk. Kinfolk are members of the garou family, but they only carry the genes, they are not werewolves themselves. Kinfolk can be human or wolf.
Each Garou has a Tribe, a Breed and a Aupsice.
The three breeds are:
Homid born: You were born from a coupling of either 2 Kinfolk, a human an a kinfolk, a human and
a Garou, or mot likely, a Kinfolk and Garou.
Lupus born: The result of a kinfolk wolf and garou, 2 kinfolk wolves or less likely a normal wolf with a kinfolk or garou. You were born into a wolf liter, and your the lucky one to change.
Metis: The horrible result of 2 Garou who choose to breed. (Breaking one of the Litany laws) This child is always deformed, be it in body or mind. Gaia's curse for the garou not keeping close to their kin.
The Auspice of a Garou is the Moon Phase they were born under, and though it's not a strict rule set, each phase of the moon tends to give an idea of the werewolves strengths.
Ragabash: The Garou born under the new moon, Luna is not seen, and so these Garou have no fear of stalking through the darkness. Often the humor of the garou, as well as the questionnaires of the way. They make great scouts, and sometimes assassins.
Theurge: The Crescent moon, these are the mystics, as Luna barelly opens her eye. They are the most likely to deal with spirits, and to perform rites.
Philodox: The Half Moons, they are often leaders in peace, as they are the Judges of Gaia. They settle disputes, which is not easy in a warrior race such as the Garou.
Galliard: The Gibbous moon born, they are the song singers, story tellers, and keepers of the garou's spoken history.
Ahroun: The Full Moon born, these are the warriors elite.
The Garou Nation is now made up of 12 Tribes, they are as follows.
Black Furies: A nearly all female tribe of Amazons. They call Greece their home.
Bone Gnawers: The lowest of the social order, these garou live in the cities as bums and the homeless, listening on the streets for word of the wyrm. They call America their home.
Children of Gaia: The peace loving garou, they try to keep the peace between the tribes, though others consider them weak. They often take care of Metis of other tribes.
Fianna: The Celtic tribe hailing from Ireland. They are the greatist of story tellers and song singers.
Get of Fenris: Self proclaimed greatist of Gaia's Warriors, they follow the Fenri wolf, and are known for their battle prowess. They hail from the lands of the Norse.
Glass Walkers: The tribe that calls the skyscrapers their turf. They are the other tribe the prefers to live in the city, though they have their HQ in Italy. Mostly of Homid breed and Metis.
Red Talons: The opposites of the Glass Walkers, this tribe is made up mostly Lupus born, killing human and metis as soon as they are born in the tribe. They believe humanity needs to be pushed back, and culled for the good of gaia.
Shadow Lords: The Beta tribe, they hail from the Black Forest and the surrounding areas. They seek to lead, as they feel the Fangs are no longer worthy. Many consider them better politicians then warriors.
Silver Fangs: The Alpha tribe, calling Russia their home. They believe themselves to be the Kings of the garou, though madness has found its way into the tribe.
Silent Striders: They once called Egypt their home, but now the tribe as the whole is forever wandering, but hope to one day retake Egypt as their own. They are often seen as messengers of doom, as they often show up with very bad news.
Uktena: the Older Brother of the pure tribes, the tribe was once pure Native American, but now they call any and all native people as their own. They are the most mystical of the tribes.
Wendigo: Little Brother of the Pure, they hate the wyrmbringers (European Tribes) and consider themselves great warriors.
Each tribe has a totem spirit they follow, but that can wait for now.
The Garou fallow a strict set of laws called the Litany, the skinny of the Litany is this:
Garou shall not Mate with Garou
Combat the Wyrm wherever it dwells, and whenever it breeds
Respect the Territory of another
Accept and Honorable Surrender (Note: The garou are few, so this exist to protect the Garou, not the wyrm)
Submission to those of higher station
The first of the kill shall go to the Greatest in Station (Note: This can mean the kill of a deer for food, or the right to take something off a fallen opponent, say a magical item or weapon)
Ye shall not eat the flesh of a humans
respect for those under ye- all are of gaia
The Veil shall not be lifted (Note: The Veil is what they call keeping themselves hidden from humans)
Do not suffer thy people to tend thy sickness
The Leader May Be Challenged at Any Time during Peace
The Leader May Not Be Challenged during Wartime
Ye Shall Take No Action That Causes a Caern to Be Violated
The Garou have access to powers called Gifts. Gifts can fall under Tribe, Auspice or Breed.
The Fera within Werewolf includes:
Ajaba:The Warrior of Africa, though both Garou and the Bastet have tried to kill them off, they still thrive today.
Ananasi: The Were-Spiders, they keep to themselves, and are touched by all three members of the Triat.
Bastet: The spies of Gaia and Luna, they often work alone, and have various tribes, though their tribes are based on breed. Simba are Wereolions, Khan the Weretigers, and so on.
Corax: The Were-Ravens, the messengers of Gaia, they spread word from place to place, and sometimes acting as spies.
Gurahl: The nearly extinct Werebears. The healers of Gaia.
Kitsune: The Werefox's of Japan, the last born.
Mokole: The werelizards/reptiles. They are the memory of Gaia.
Nagah: They were the weresnakes of India, believed to be dead now.
Nuwisha: The Werecoyotes of America, they are the teachers of Giaa, though they are fond of practical jokes....that often end in pain with a lesson learned.
Ratkin: The wererats who keep the human population in check, or at least they try to.
Rokea: The weresharks of the sea, who are nearly mythical, so few have contact that live to talk about it.
Like the garou, the Fera have lost some of their own, all due to the first War of Rage, when the Garou killed all of these.
Apis: Wild Ox, once keepers of the land. They cultivated agriculture, and were the Matchmakers of Gaia. They taught humans about nature as well.
Camazotz: Very little is known about these Bat-shifters. They were called the Voice of Luna, functioning as messengers, spies and travlers of the Umbra.
Grondr: Wereboars, They were the 'groomers' of gaia. They were the ones who would remove problems from the earth before they could thrive
Other things to know, there have been 2 War's of Rages, when Garou call war upon their cousins.
The Umbra is the spirit half of the world, the shadow of what we see.
I can go into more another time.
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Mage [spoiler] I wont go into as much, as this would be rather difficult, but in mage you play a...mage. A magic wielding human. They are nearly all powerful, and nearly anything you can think of, the character can do as long as you have the right stats on your sheet. The down side is Reality doesn't like to be messed with, so when a mage pokes to much at 'what can and can't be done', they often get a nasty b!tch slap by reality called Paradox. It's never pretty. [/spoiler]
As for the other games; [spoiler]
Changeling you play Fae (Fairies of sort), creatures of dream who try to keep dreams, artistry alive in a ever dieing, and dull world.
Wraith has little to do with the living world, as these characters are dead, in the Shadow lands, having an after life, as if livign a new life.
Hunters are humans giving the power and knowledge to fight back against the creatures that the other humans just don't seem to see.
Demon is a game of fallen angels, were one can play one of those angels that once fought against the creator. They now try to find a niche in a world that has little use for faith.
Mummy is a game that not many choose to play and doesn't really fit as nicely into the setting as the other games.
Kindred of the East, is another vampire game, but this one dealing with Asian vampires.
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There is another very awesome game put out by the same people who made these called Scion.
In Scion you play the child of a God from one of the major Patheons in the world. Be it the Norse, Greek, Japanese, Egyptian, Loa, Aztex, Celtic, India, Persian, and China.
So feel free to ask here, or PM me if anyone is interested in these games. I can see Animorphs fitting into them easily. Okay maybe not easily, but I'm sure I can figure out a way.
