Real Lich Hours 85: The Fu Syndicate
Added 2025-09-07 17:47:18 +0000 UTCThis week we wrap up Chinatown with a little science experiment... performed on us. Our quest for the Ankaran Sarcophagus has led us into the underworld of the Kuei-jin, who want to subject us to something called the Belmont Protocol. Additionally, we do some standout side quests, with one massive addition from the Clan Quest Mod.
Other Segments:
Clan Chapbook: The Kuei-jin
Chronicles of Darkness: Fera (animal shapeshifters)
Up on a Soapbox: The Troika Curse
Comments
With the Mandarin, I wonder if initial plan for this character was for him to have some sort of ties to the Technocracy, the same way we had a Werewolf earlier in the game, to let the Mage part of the World of Darkness get a little guest appearance? For those who unfamiliar, the Technocracy are the antagonists of the Mage line, representing science putting the world into clearly defined, rigorously studied boxes while also putting microchips in vaccines to control people, compared to the "Move Fast and Break the Fundimental Laws of Reality" of the Virtual Adepts tradition - among other very anti-science elements of the WoD that were hip, cool, and subversive in the New Age 90s, and have aged very badly in the 2020s, particularly when there's a Secretary of Health and Human Services who publicly has endorsed Miasma theory, thinks Wi-Fi gives you cancer, and has been gutting vaccination programs. (Look: Paradox White Wolf hasn't said that's the reason we have gotten Mage and Changeling 5e yet, but that's at got to be at least part of it)
Alexander Case
2025-09-08 14:24:52 +0000 UTCIt's been a long time since I've really looked into Werewolf: The Apocalypse, but I definitely remember that the difference in tone to Vampire, Wraith, Mage, Changeling etc felt really noticeable? There's stuff in there that's so close to being a Saturday Morning Cartoon version of WoD, that I kind of wish they had swung harder on that angle, and pushed it as 'this is the line that's safer to run for younger players out of the box'. I think a lot of the dissonance would click into place if it were aestheticized and marketed more as the WoD's answer to Disney's Gargoyles? Like at least, I think that would have been fun!
Joe Byrne
2025-09-08 02:52:51 +0000 UTC
