The God Machine Chronicle

New World of Darkness

by Matthew McFarland (Developer), Dave Brookshaw, David A. Hill Jr.

What is the God-Machine? That question doesn't have a single, easy answer, but that doesn't stop people from asking. The World of Darkness is layer upon layer of mystery, but what is the mechanism that keeps it all moving? Is there a design in play? And what happens to those who think to use the Machine for their own ends?

What Has Fallen May Rise Again

A Chronicle Book for the World of Darkness©

- A "default" chronicle, a way to introduce new players to the World of Darkness and experience one of its greatest mysteries
- Choose the depth of madness that's right for your group, from local to cosmic!
- A modular approach to building a chronicle, 20 different stories that fit together to form "chronicle tracks"
- Revisions of many of the core rules from the World of Darkness Rulebook

Check out the God Machine Chronicle Fiction Anthology, a collection of terrifying insights into the God Machine and its effect on the inhabitants of the World of Darkness©.

Note: Requires the core World of Darkness Rulebook.

Genres: Role Playing Games, Horror, Gaming, World Of Darkness

252 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 2013

Reviews

[Ramón Nogueras Pérez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un revamp completo de las reglas del Mundo de Tinieblas 1ª edición (¿sería la 2.5?), con todo mejoras a mi entender. Además de eso, una campaña completa, no en el sentido de una lista de aventuras preparadas, sino como una ambientación que puedes usar como marco de referencia para tus aventuras.

Onyx Path (antes White Wolf) se han superado con este producto.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book so many times, but I wanted to do a more comprehensive read of it in preparation for telling stories using the God-Machine Chronicle mechanics that then became Chronicles of Darkness. For me, New World of Darkness was where it began and in that book was the seed for what would become the God-Machine. The concept appeals to me deeply. I can't help but see it as a critique of the times we live in and an incredible development of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos in the modern day. The God-Machine can be anything. The book provides multiple examples of how it can manifest, what tier of conspiracy (whether it affects a small town or a country), and the blueprints for running the story as a satisfying horror mystery in a world so similar to ours, yet darker, and all the things we are afraid of that lay in the dark are real.

[Arthur B · Rating 3 out of 5]

The update to the WoD/CoD system is sound, but now that the new Chronicles of Darkness core book is available this is rather redundant. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...

[Patricia Willenborg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Good: This book does a solid job of giving us a healthy dose of technohorror, paranoia, and shared overarching themes while eschewing dogmatic approaches to the material and leaving many options open for interpretation. What the God-Machine is, ultimately, does not matter as much as what you need or want it to be. For myself, the God-Machine is the missing piece in the larger puzzle I was putting together for my own World of Darkness. I am almost alarmed at how perfectly and easily it fits, as though it already had a space just waiting for it. At the same time, one of the beauties of it is that the God-Machine does not have to take over every chronicle, or any chronicle. It can be a one-time entry, a sporadic chain of eerie events, or a thread that wends its way through all of your WoD games. And you don't have to decide that right away.

The book also invites not only local storytelling but an opening up into the regional, global, and cosmic scales, and it doesn't pay such things lip-service, either. Chapter Two, which gives many ideas for God-Machine scenarios, is organized first and foremost by the scale (local, regional, global, and cosmic). I really love the layout of the scenarios, since they are consistent and evocative without being excessively detailed or hemmed in. You can alter them for just about any supernatural type or simply run mortals through the stories. (For a sample, see this scenario I made: http://www.vtm.kismetrose.com/pdfs/Th...)

A whole chapter is dedicated to antagonists and their statistics, and then the second half of the book gives way to the rules update (available for free here http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product...). Some changes, like aspirations and different vices/virtues, have been staples of many people's World of Darkness games for some time. Other changes, like beats and custom morality scales, might take some getting used to. And while some will argue about which changes made no sense or which offended them, the system is flexible enough that you can ignore or change what you can't stand and still be able to use the book.

Did I mention that the layout and art are great throughout and that the volume itself is a damned handsome book to have around?

The Bad: The intro fiction goes on a bit too long, but it has nice, creepy ideas embedded in it, so don't let that stop you from moving forward. The chronicle tracks section also makes very little sense where it is placed, but don't let that turn you aside. Read Chapter 2: Tales of the God-Machine, and then go back to the tracks, since they give guidance on how to weave the tales together.

The Ugly: If you hate core mechanics like conditions and beats/the new experience model, you might have more work ahead of you when approaching upcoming New World of Darkness books - but you should be able to use the GMC book just fine.

[Szymon Szweda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pomysł na Maszynę Boga tak bardzo nie dla mnie jak tylko się da. Nie mnie oceniać, jestem anty-targetem boskiej maszyny, nie podoba mi się, używać nie będę (choć z tego powodu nie dla mnie jest też nowy Demon).

Za to poprawki do zasad wydają się bardzo fajne. Co prawda zamiast 150 stron poprawek do książki zasad, która ma 150 stron, wolałbym po prostu drugą edycję tejże. Niemniej zasady wydają się świetne (rezygnacja z Vice i Virtue, cele postaci), ale są takie, które po prostu trzeba przetestować (nowy system doświadczenia, jednorzutowe walki).

[Stokely Klasovsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

The content was thematically interesting and a lot of potential scenarios were introduced for integration into a chronicle. While I appreciate their usefulness as examples and templates, I suppose I wanted a bit more. The three stars are more a failing of expectation than a dismissal of content, although my expectations were set by the descriptions preceding purchase. What was available was quite good, if not somewhat fragmented.

[Cyber Killer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome expansion with an an enormous amount of content and inspiration. It's like there's at least one scenario idea on each single page (aside from the normally included many scenarios). The rules update part is also very good, among other things it finally brings a sanity mechanic to nWoD.

Highly recommend for anyone using nWoD to run urban horror (and generic horror) games.