White Wolf Wants to 'Bloodlines' ALL the World of Darkness? Should We Stake Our Hopes?
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
White Wolf wants to adapt more World of Darkness games like Mage into big RPGs, but given the *Bloodlines 2* saga, some skepticism might be wise. It's an ambitious plan, but can they actually pull it off?
Right, so White Wolf, the folks who wrangle the World of Darkness tabletop RPG universe, are apparently itching to give more of their games the 'Bloodlines treatment'. That's according to Jason Carl, their brand marketing manager, who mentioned *Mage: The Ascension*, *Changeling: The Dreaming*, and even the *Dark Ages* setting as prime candidates.
Now, if you've been following the saga of *Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2*, that phrase 'Bloodlines treatment' might raise an eyebrow or two. Are we talking about a deep, lore-rich RPG? Or are we talking about development hell, narrative director firings, and handing the keys to a studio that makes you go "Who now?"? Because, let's be honest, it's been a wild ride.
White Wolf, if you didn't know, are the official licensing and publishing arm for all things World of Darkness. Paradox Interactive (of *Crusader Kings 3* fame) snapped them up back in 2015, and they're now co-publishers on the aforementioned *Bloodlines 2*. The World of Darkness itself is this sprawling, gloomy playground, a bit like Dungeons & Dragons if everyone was deeply, deeply miserable and possibly undead. We've had a few video game stabs at it before – remember *Hunter: The Reckoning* back in the day? And there's been a recent flurry of *Werewolf* games, plus a few mobile bits and bobs. But *Bloodlines* is the big daddy.
Carl, in a chat with PCGamesN, was pretty upfront about White Wolf's ambition to keep churning out these spin-offs. "Who says we're not already?" he teased. "All of those supernatural creatures have their own stories to tell, and many of them are just waiting their turn and for the right story to come along."
He's particularly keen on *Mage*, which, as the name suggests, is all about spell-slinging. Apparently, he's been giving it a lot of thought. "I have spent considerable time thinking about what Mage would look like in a new edition," Carl said. "The world we live in today is very different from what we imagined it would look like when the White Wolf team were building those previous editions of Mage, and I think we're all looking forward to the challenges of figuring out how Prime and Paradox work in this world, as opposed to the world we thought we were going to get."
Now, I'll admit, my Mage lore is a bit rusty, but apparently, we're talking about Prime – the raw energy of reality – and Paradox, which is basically the universe fighting back against mages who think they're a bit too clever for their own good. Which sounds...ambitious, to say the least. How do you turn that into a fireball spell? I'm genuinely intrigued (and slightly terrified).
Carl reckons there's "no obstacle or gatekeeping function" stopping any of these from getting the Bloodlines treatment. Just time, resources, the right partners, and, y'know, the whole story thing. Which, let's be fair, are the exact same obstacles that *Bloodlines 2* has been headbutting for the past five years.
Maybe, just maybe, they should get *Bloodlines 2* out the door (it's due in October, despite some recent layoffs) before promising the moon to the rest of the World of Darkness. Just a thought.
Tags: World of Darkness, Vampire The Masquerade, RPG, White Wolf, Mage The Ascension
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun