From: sdh5@po.CWRU.Edu (Scott D. Hurley)
Newsgroups: alt.games.whitewolf
Subject: Gothic-Punk: Beyond the Unnatural
Date: 15 Mar 1994 15:35:16 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc10.ins.cwru.edu


There was a question I posed a while back that seemed to get lost
in certain other, lengthy threas, which I would now like to 
rephrase and pose once again.

How do you think the Gothic-Punk Mileau should be treated in the
Storyteller gams/Chronicles?

When I first read the Vampire 1st Edition book, I remember the 
world that was being broached by the very first Storyteller game
being refered to as the "Gothic-Punk" setting.  A place in which
the sharp contrasts between the monolithic, majestic, and yet
brooding traditions of old clash strongly with the ever-shifting,
vibrant yet dark, dancing-on-the-edge feel of desperation and
despair--a heady and potent mix for the Kindred of the world.

The world that was presented was not the World of Darkness that
was to later be expounded upon in future supplements.  Indeed,
I don't think I even saw the phrase "A World of Darkness" until
the sourcebook of that name came out.  Even then, I thought it
was just the name of that particular product line, until I read
Werewolf . . . and then Mage--and then kept seeing it used just
about everywhere *instead* of the Gothic-Punk term that I so
prefered.

Eventually, the idea arose, and seemed to be confirmed by entries
in the Mage book.  Now the setting is no longer the Gothic-Punk
world, but the World of Darkness.  The original strands are still
there, but what was perfect for the Vampire books wasn't so for
the later ones, it seems.  So, I've been mulling over it, and am
about to propose a synthesis that seems to make sense to me, while
remaining true to the conceptions presented.

The World of Darkness is the realm of the supernatural, or just
plain UNnatural.  It is representative of the smothering embrace 
that the supernatural is giving that other Earth, a choking hold
as the factions from within that Darkness compete with one another,
seemingly unaware or uncaring to the damage they cause the world.
Indeed, perhaps a better name for the fusion would be a World *IN*
Darkness--which is what I originally thought the phrase used was,
as it seemed so appropriate.

Then what is the Gothic-Punk world?  To me, it is the frentic yet
monumental work of the mortal kind in that darkly mirrored world.
Humanity is struggling to maintain its identity, shape its own
destiny, but it is being torn apart, forcibly shaped and reshaped--
and yet held fast--by the supernatural elements in the world.  The
Kindred support the Establishment--or the Camarilla at any rate.
The Anarchs and Sabbat tear at the roots of human and vampire
society, attempting to force their own vision onto the mortal world.
They are aided by the Garou, who seem determined to purge the earth
of all that humankind has accomplished--save for a select and elect
few.  Then there are the Technomancers, who back tradition while
trying to accelerate humanity to the breakaway of Ascension with its
science--in their own way, serving both sides of the Gothic-Punk
Mileu.  The Shades, the lingering essences of those who are no more,
add stronly to the Gothic taint, the remaining traces of the old ways
and the old superstitions--they have no tangible influence, but their
presence can be felt by the mortals still living.  The Changelings
left behind by Arcadia bring their own fey and mysterious brand to
the world, infusing their own eldritch vitality anew into humanity.
The Traditions stand athwart this boundary, taking and giving from
all sides in the World of Darkness.  The Wyrm is there, to, with its
servants adding to the corrupting decay of the mortal and immortal
realms, attempting to plunge it all those last few teetering steps
that remain, and into the abyss of oblivion.

Where all their efforts meet in the mortal realm arises the setting
known as the Gothic-Punk Mileu.  Unaware, yet sensing the grave
threats about them, and desperate to cling or build *something*
that matters, their wills and beliefs, wants and desires, merge with
the influence of the supernatural to create a world of starkest 
contrast--where one is for and a part of some great traditional
establishment or other . . . or one attempts to rebel at the extant
society--but almost non seem to have the drive or conviction to try
and bring about a new world, for all past attempts have failed.  The
intangible war between the Weaver and the Wyrm, choking Order and
the decay of Entropy, has wedged
itself into the human psyche.  And so the mad dance goes on and on,
this instant a graceful waltz from centuries past, the next the
latest in hyperkinetic speed metal--then back, only now the waltz
is almost mechanical, devoid of all life...and the latest fad is to
dance till you die.  This is the true World of Darkness--the last
attempts by humanity to free itself from that Darkness, the hold
of the Gothic and the Punk, to find at last some surcease . . . but
in change, Ascension, new order, or Oblivion no one can know.

And still falls the rain,


sdh5@po.cwru.edu
aka Cromwell/Dorian

signing off...
-- 
"Time is on no one's side...least of all an immortal's"--The Dark
"The monolith will one day crumble, but the winds may change"::
"Watcher waits and watcher grows--to match wits with what the
 Darkness sows":"Between order and chaos lies the human soul..."