Daniverse-Prime Shadow of Doubt (SoD) Contemporary cinematic-styled adventure, incomplete; intended to be first in a trilogy Company of Exceptional Beings (CXB) Contemporary “super,” cinematic-styled World of Darkness adventure series idea never implemented, using modern “literary” characters Sea Dogs Age-of-sail “pirate” campaign idea, never fully developed

Alternate Realities Autoduel: Wheels for Hire Car Wars, cyberpunk & post-apocalypse hybrid campaign based in 2076 Oklahoma City. Professional Combat Hunters Association (PCHA) Cyberpunk gladiator background, never fully developed Twilight Generation (TwiGen) Near-Future supers campaign idea focused around OKC, comic book-styled, never implemented Wasteland Contemporary characters in a composite post-apocalyptic setting with fantasy races, never fully developed

Time travel is possible, through either Lesser Magic, True Magick or psionics (Retrogression, or Chronokinesis). I don’t think I would ever introduce a truly “technological” time machine per se, although some Magickal Devices (from the Technocracy (WoD)) would fit that mold to the casual observer. In the Daniverse, time is considered “fixed,” and is, therefore, unchangeable. ”Predestination Paradox“ is in effect; if someone were to go back in time, that person would have been “predestined” to do so, and the timeline would not be changed by anything he did (as demonstrated in the movies 12 Monkeys or Timeline). This is not generally known, however, to your average time-traveler, and that person or organization may or may not believe that the past can be altered. There can be no “paradox,” since the traveler is already a part of history. “Visiting one’s self in the past” is prevented in the Daniverse through the Temporal Exclusion method; depending on the situation and method used, one individual will “bounce” (the one “in motion” being the most likely) to a nearby or similar space/time. Of course, all this makes GMing a time-travel adventure a little more difficult, but works much better for storytelling purposes. The Daniverse has incorporated a parallel world or two in the distant past, but I generally avoid that sort of thing.

Magic exists in the Daniverse in two forms: Lesser Magic and True Magick. Lesser Magic is the most common and includes most of your standard magic stuff; D&D spells, WoD:Sorcerer, mystical powers, your average “Hollywood/TV magic,” and the like. The other is True Magick (from MTA), and is ultimately more potent and flexible, but access is quite limited. The Daniverse is considered Low-Mana for the most part, with the exception of the Outlanders setting (which is excused) and possibly some “mythical” situations (that have yet to come up). There are, however, individual pockets of higher mana levels here and there; Caerns (WoD) double as “nodes” with regard to Lesser Magic, and many Realms (WoD) will have differing mana levels. For the Outlanders setting, I have developed a system where D&D magic (converted to GURPS) and True Magick work together (discussed in the Magic in the Daniverse section). Mechanics for Lesser Magic are pretty flexible, and can include anything reasonable to the involved setting, and will generally be explained along with the setting; I generally prefer rune-casting, myself. True Magick works as per WoD, with some tweaks (detailed in House Rules). Paradox affects both types to some extent; I analogize magic and Paradox in this manner: Lesser Magic is like cheating at a computer game by exploiting bugs or cheat codes (which could cause problems within the game, if abused), while True Magick is like hacking into the game’s code and changing things to your benefit or liking (which is far more likely to screw something up or crash the game).

I will go into more detail in the S³M section, but here are the basics (this information will also be repeated there, for completeness):

• I tend toward what I refer to as “semi-hard science” in my sci-fi stuff...realistic, but not too realistic (reference: the TV series Babylon5, Firefly or the new Battlestar Galactica). High tech for all participants in the Daniverse is ultimately, at its root, the result of True Magick (WoD), as developed and implemented by the Technocracy or related groups, and designed to be used by the non-Enlightened.
• Power and gravitic technology in the galaxy revolves around a substance I refer to as Elerium-115 (one of many names; now known as Ununpentium), which I pulled from the game X-Com, which got it from the accounts of Bob Lazar’s supposed “visits” to Area 51 (if you don’t know, don’t bother). For power generation, it is used in relatively small reactors featuring the mutual annihilation of anti-matter (also from Lazar’s story).
• Reactionless thrusters exist either as magnetic-based drives or Force Magick (WoD) manipulation, and “total-conversion” antimatter rockets are also available. In the Daniverse, FTL is the standard fold-space (or jump) theory, and is the ultimate manifestation of Correspondence Magick (WoD); it is basically instantaneous and has no side-effects, although its use of Correspondence Magick can sometimes result in Paradox effects. Natural wormholes exist here and there as points where space is already folded onto itself.
• There is no FTL communication or sensors.
• Precursor tech could possibly break any of these rules as the GM sees fit.
• As to alien life forms, I tend to dislike the “endless menagerie of weirdness” approach to alien species, but I like having some aliens. In the Daniverse, I have limited non-human races to a total of around 20 or so, including several which are considered “secret” and a few that have yet to be defined (room to grow). My general rule with aliens is that they should be distinctly not human, but believable looking. I also have tried to shy away from the clichés of modern sci-fi (like obvious beast-men). I haven’t been entirely successful in either case, but it’s close enough for now (and is always being refined).

The Daniverse has, in the past, featured the Judeo-Christian God as the only “real” deity. However, He has not been featured in the foreground of any of my campaigns or adventures (with one very old but notable exception—old enough it won’t appear on this site), although He could be said to be a background element, as manifested through the GM (who generally sees to it that the good-guys win). He may appear in other cultures by other names. Other “deities” or pantheons exist, but are generally the result of powerful/influential Magi (WoD) or similar beings. With the addition of the After the End campaign, angels and demons have now been officially incorporated, though in this case, they are more “extra-dimensional aliens” than their usual depiction.

I liked the original World of Darkness setting immediately after being introduced to it (accidentally) in early 1993. Even so, as usually happens, I began to recognize problems with it over time. That doesn’t mean I like it any less now, really, but in the Daniverse there needed to be some changes. This section will present the basic changes and implementation of the series, with details to be presented in full in the House Rules section. White Wolf has recently done a “reboot” of the entire series. Although I am marginally acquainted with the changes in the new stuff, I am not familiar enough to incorporate any of those changes “officially” into the Daniverse, as yet. Since the group I play with doesn’t play any White Wolf games, it is unlikely that I will become familiar with the new material any time soon, for good or ill. In this section, I am assuming that you are at least marginally familiar with the World of Darkness setting. As to the more-recent reboot of the setting, I haven’t really had any meaningful experience with it, so I can neither legitimately comment on it, nor incorporate any of it into my material.

For the full work-up, see the associated House Rules page.

Vampire: The Masquerade

Vampires in WoD are a lot like angsty Mafioso with teeth and super-powers. In the Daniverse, they are generally more “dead-like,” and less prone to active social lives. There are also some movie conventions that were dropped from the WoD for reasons I couldn’t begin to explain, that I have re-introduced here. A subtle, behind-the-scenes change is that vampirism is a gengineered sentient (and malevolent) virus, created by the Changelings (see S³M) as an experiment to boost humanity’s survivability. The biggest change, I think, is the Clan structure. I have eliminated several Clans that didn’t make any sense, including many of the lesser Bloodlines. Some “redundant” Clans have been mixed together with others. The Sabbat, as a separate entity, has been folded into the Camarilla, and Sabbat-exclusive Clans have become Camarilla. In the Daniverse, vampires do not all originate from Caine, but all Clans have their own originator, and have differing “ages.” Each Clan has its own Clan-specific Bans, or mystical disadvantages, like being repelled by crosses or garlic or whatever. Some changes for vampires in the the Daniverse are more functional. For instance, all vampires possess all the augmenting Disciplines, and have fewer Clan-specific Disciplines. In the Daniverse, Disciplines are passed through the blood, so learning the Disciplines of another Clan requires drinking the blood of one from that Clan. All vampires can fly, with the Flight Discipline (I never could come up with a spiffy WoD name for that one); one of those movie conventions that was abandoned for WoD. In WoD, vampires looked mostly human but could pass as human by expending Blood Points. In the Daniverse, they look like animated corpses, for the most part, unless they spend BP (this accounts for the effect in popular cinema where a vampire will adopt a “monster-face” before attacking or whatnot, as the vampire would drop his “disguise”).

• The virus has a mind of its own and takes over the body once it “dies,” but can be fought off, allowing the former person’s consciousness to remain mostly in control (or the former consciousness could be restored by a Gypsy curse...)
• Incorporated “Daywalkers,” and Blade himself.
• Incorporated the “half-vampire” stage of becoming (most notably, in my recollection, from Lost Boys)
• Vampires have individual methods of succumbing to second death (also from Lost Boys)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse

Werewolves in WoD were one of the biggest disappointments for me, as they are one of my favorite monsters, but WoD turned them into Greenpeace wackos. Not so in the Daniverse! Lycanthropy in the Daniverse is also a gengineered virus, like vampirism (the two were in competition, hence the animosity between the two species). However, since lycanthropes aren’t dead, the condition is hereditary. One is, however, hard pressed to think of a cinematic representation where lycanthropy is not infectious, so I have incorporated that aspect into the Daniverse. This brings up the Born vs. Made issue in lycan society. As for VTM, some Tribes have been dropped, and some changed. The Black Spirals (no longer called “Dancers”) are not a separate Tribe, per se, but what a Lycan becomes (or is called) when he is cast out of “polite” Lycan society (generally for man-eating or endangering the secrecy of others), but includes those who have been physically altered by gazing into the Abyss (the Evil™ dimension). Although Lycans in WoD suffer from Rage issues, I have taken that a step further and incorporated a “Bloodlust” which peaks every month, so a werewolf must “shed innocent blood” to satisfy it (taken from The Elder Scrolls game series and some mythological references).

• Lycans have a mystical “mark” that is only visible in moonlight (among werewolves, this mark can easily be mistaken for a pentagram)
• Born Lycans have an extended lifespan, though they are not immortal
• Society is less “ecoterrorist” and more “survivalist,” living not unlike the Fremen of Dune, but in the forests of Earth.
• Though they still interact with and can travel through the “Spirit World,” it is less central to Lycan society.

Mage: The Ascension

MTA has changed the least, when incorporated into the Daniverse, and is very prevalent throughout it, in some form or another. The biggest change is that Spheres no longer stop at Level 5, but they “roll-over” continuously to a higher scale of effect. For instance, a Magus with the Matter Sphere at Level 6 could alter matter as normal for Level 5, but could sense matter on a continental scale. That same Magus at Level 10 could alter matter as for Level 5, but on a continental scale. These higher levels would be prohibitively expensive for beginning Characters, and probably would only be seen in the most powerful NPCs. Of course, those possessing those higher levels would be seen as gods by the Unawakened. A number of the Traditions have been altered slightly, but mostly in a “cosmetic” sense. I think the Technocracy in itself has not changed much, except that I have eliminated the Conventions altogether. At the higher levels (specifically with the Symposium) the Technocracy is run by a society of Changelings (very similar to the MiBs from Dark City). A great many of my campaigns have featured the Technocracy as either a background or direct antagonist to some degree.

Wraith: The Oblivion

I have had the least contact with this book in the WoD series, and as such have not really incorporated it into the Daniverse. However, there is a hard-to-find sourcebook for WTO called The Risen, which deals with situations like The Crow, which has been incorporated into the Daniverse.

Changeling: The Dreaming

As for WTO, I really haven’t incorporated a lot of this one. I have slightly “modernized” the feel of it, though, giving it more of a Labyrinth flavor, while incorporating elements from GURPS Celtic Myth to make the Fée more “historical.” All in all, I would say CTD has had more of an effect on other elements of the Daniverse (specifically, the fantasy stuff) than the Daniverse has had on it.

Others

As the other lesser books are part of the World of Darkness, they are a part of the Daniverse as well, to whatever extent they have cropped up in the course of things. The unofficial Highlander:The Gathering has had the most effect, simply by incorporating the movie/series into the WoD (and a rather good job of it, I must say). WoD:Sorceror is indirectly evident in most of the contemporary magic situations. Although I have had little contact with it, Hunter:The Reckoning is subtlely present through the use of GURPS Supers, and best represents situations like the Buffy, the Vampire Slayer series.

Aliens, Predator, AvP series:

The look and feel of the movies figures heavily into the S³M setting, and the stories happened as depicted with a few minor adjustments (primarily places and nations involved). Although it had some problems, I didn’t hate the 3rd movie in the series (as did most people I know). However, the 4th movie absolutely did not happen, and should be ignored (and if you haven’t seen it, don’t); think of the 3rd as the last movie in the series. Predator and Predator2 happened as depicted (although I suspect the situation in LA of 1997, as depicted, was considerably less—chaotic). Aliens versus Predator the movie was really bad, and as such did not happen...but something like that may have. The AvP games, story-wise, also did not happen (but could have, I suppose). Since I am mostly unfamiliar with the comic book series or any other literary representation of the franchise, they have not been included in the Daniverse.

Event Horizon:

Not the best movie ever, but it yielded good inspirational results for me. As a story, it probably did happen, although I haven’t included the incident in the timeline. What is prevalent in the Daniverse, however, is the concept of the “evil dimension” around which the depicted incident revolved. In the Daniverse, it is a Realm within the Deep Umbra (WoD), which has an adverse effect on those who encounter it, and is home to many things-man-was-not-meant-to-know. In the Daniverse, Swiss artist H.R.Giger looked into that dimension briefly, from which he drew the inspiration for many of his paintings. Animals introduced to that dimension are generally mutated into evil Giger-esque creatures. The concept of the “evil dimension” (hereafter referred to as The Abyss) also meshes well with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel alternate-dimension elements.

Highlander:

The first movie, Highlander, is the only one that happened in the Daniverse (as it is the only one that is any good). Ignore the rest (including the TV series). Rules are as per the unofficial WoD source, Highlander: The Gathering, with a few exceptions.

• No female immortals (as implied by the first movie)
• One Immortal per “region” (e.g. only one “Highlander,” as implied by first movie)
• The Gathering occurs during the (WoD) Ascension/Apocalypse/Reckoning/etc.
• The Watchers organization from the series is combined with the Watchers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer into a single organization.

The Matrix:

The first movie was solidly entertaining, but I pretty much breeze over most of the details of the second and third movies. In any case, it needs some modification to work properly in the Daniverse. Some examples:

• The Matrix = The Consensus (WoD), the fabric of reality as enforced by the Technocracy; Tradition Magi have recently taken to calling it the “Matrix”
• Zion = The Traditions’ (WoD) secret Chantry, New Horizon; location known only to cell leaders
• Matrix’s “reality” = (WoD) Traditions’ Chantries and Realms; like The Matrix, it is dangerous for Magi to leave the Chantry, since the Technocracy has eyes everywhere, and they must use time wisely when they “go in.”
• Agents = powerful Paradox (WoD) spirits created/summoned by the Technocracy specifically to hunt down Deviants (Magi)
• Phone Lines are a common focus used to teleport (Correspondence). SOP for Magi is to teleport to a secluded spot near their destination, rather than travel there physically.

Stargate:

The movie, Stargate, happened in the Daniverse pretty much unchanged, except that Ra was a Changeling (see S³M Races), and the planet they went to was situated within the Milky Way galaxy. Although I wasn’t generally disgusted by the Stargate SG-1 TV series and spinoffs, it just doesn’t fit in the Daniverse, so ignore it. The stargate itself is Precursor tech (referred to in the series as the “Ancients”), and is not reproducible by any of the civilizations that currently exist in the galaxy.

Unbreakable:

Happened as depicted in the Daniverse-Prime timeline. Happened as depicted, but a bit earlier, in the TwiGen (superhero) alternate timeline, and is one of the first “modern” superhero appearances.

Underworld (and related) series:

The first Underworld movie could have happened with little-to-no tinkering, as it was obviously influenced heavily by VTM (some at White Wolf would say too much so). The following movies were not as good, and presented some facts about the nature of things that are at odds with the Daniverse mythos, and as such could easily be ignored. I consider The Covenant (not a great movie in its own merits, but obviously influenced (not enough in my opinion) by MTA) and Blood and Chocolate (a ”lighter“ version of WTA) to be “related.”

Equilibrium:

Although it is not a part of Daniverse-Prime as it is, it is central to, and the later end result of, the Underground campaign. The concept of the Grammaton Cleric and the Gun Kata have been incorporated, as a Technocracy Technique (WoD) passed on to Superiors and the like. I do have my interpretation of the Gun Kata, in GURPS 3e, in the House Rules section.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel:

As much as I liked the series and its spinoff, there are plenty of changes that need to be made, given the nature of things in the Daniverse. Some examples:

• Vampires of BtVS, in particular, are typical of Hollywood of late, and are little more than mooks-with-fangs that neatly disappear when killed. Vampires in the Daniverse are much more WoD-like, and are considerably more powerful (and interesting, in my opinion). Ditto for werewolves, although the series doesn’t really go into any real depth with them.
• Vampires have no “demon” heritage.
• The Powers-that-Be are not gods per se, but ascended Magi (Oracles, WoD).
• I don’t care for the series’ “menagerie” of demons, and would pretty much ignore all that outright. If anything, they would be replaced either with other monster types or “aliens” (a la Lovecraft).
• Wolfram & Hart would make an excellent Camarilla-sponsored “cleaner” outfit, and would fit in nicely, sans the “inter-dimensional” aspects and the dedication to Evil™ as a virtue.
• Hellmouths are easily incorporated without much tinkering (corrupted Caerns maybe?), and are featured throughout the Daniverse.
• The Slayer is an Imbued (from Hunter:The Reckoning, WoD).
• The Watchers organization is combined with that of the Highlander series.
• The Angel spinoff-series’ first season or two could’ve happened as depicted, except that the whole “soul” thing would be a little different—more of a semantic change—due to the changes in vampire mechanics.
• In either series, the later seasons started to go into the toilet a bit, and I would pretty much ignore them. With Angel, I just skip over the entire Prophecy/Connor/Jasmine bit and go straight to the W&H “takeover.”

Pretender/John Doe:

As to The Pretender, I only saw the first season or two, so I’m not familiar with the whole story. What I saw of it would fit in nicely, though, if you make the Center into a Technocracy-related organization. Pretenders themselves would be a Technocratic equivalent of “Hollow Ones” (WoD). The John Doe series was similar enough that I’ve lumped it in, here, and is also easily incorporated by using a Technocracy excuse.

Doctor Who:

I never watched a lot of the old Doctor Who series (sadly), but have enjoyed most of the new series. There are some elements that I have incorporated into the Daniverse. Time Lords are Oracles of Time, primarily Etherites (Sons of Ether) still in touch with their Technocracy roots, that rely more heavily on tech for their effects (not to mention biologically modified to a considerable degree). The TARDIS is an extremely powerful combination (Time and Correspondence) Device/Talisman that can basically go anywhere and anywhen; only a few exist, and are controlled by the Time Lords (and sought after by everyone else that knows about them). As to show-related events, most will not have happened as depicted, as the “rules” don’t really match-up.

Firefly series (and Serenity):

Events happened in the Daniverse pretty much as depicted, with some minor changes to the nations involved. Its current position in the Daniverse timeline, however, hasn’t been set to my satisfaction yet.

X-Com:

Mostly unchanged in the Daniverse. The Technocracy is ultimately behind the X-Com organization, and the aliens involved are a little different. Secretly, the Technocracy (WoD) is using the events depicted in the game as a training exercise to prepare for the eventual Sk’ran invasion.

Half-Life:

The biggest cosmetic change here would be the aliens themselves, which are Sk’ran (see S³M). The administration is a branch of the Technocracy (the Administrator being an Agent), and the “accident” results in the opening of a portal to the Sk’ran final staging area for the invasion to come. As to the sequel, Half-Life 2, I haven’t really incorporated it into the Daniverse yet, but there might be a place for it, perhaps in an alternate timeline or somesuch.