Date: Tue, 2 Nov 93 23:20:06 -0800 From: David Alexander McMasters Subject: Punk and the WoD Here's something I thought I'd share with all of you out there. I wrote it a while back after discussions with those of you on the list, particularly with Rust. After the discussion of skinheads and steroetypes it seems particularly apropos. Please let me know what you think; I welcome flames as well as positive comments so let 'em fly. Without further ado, my diatribe (thanks Rust :)!) Archangelo di Novara. (Usual disclaimers and notice of trademarks for World of Darkness, Gothic-Punk, White Wolf, Vampire the Masquerade, Camarilla, clan names etc.) White Wolf Games refers to their setting as Gothic-Punk which got me to thinking about the Punk part of this. The Gothic aspects seemed pretty straightforward: Gothic atmosphere, an almost morbid interest with death, and so forth (this is a very heavy-handed simplification here but this is about punk, not goth). In fact, there are elements of the gothic movement go together with vampires almost by default. On the other hand, punk isn't necessarily immediately identified with vampires and their genre, thus the reason for this essay. The rulebook for VtM describes the Punk aspect as, "...the way people live...Simply emphasize all that you see wrong in our world, and you've got the Punk half of it." (p. 167, VtM, First Edition) This essay is about punk, what it means as a form of expression and how to incorporate it into a Chronicle. There's more to incorporating punk than just the appearances, particularly if you want the depth and atmosphere can bring to a game. It's the punk that really got me interested, yet it's not as well articulated as the gothic aspects. The obvious examples are the Clan Brujah and the Anarchs. Brujahs and their rants. What could be more punk? Anarchs rebelling against the stifling confines of the Camarilla and the Elders. Very punk. Except that punk isn't just about rants. Or punk music. Or many other of the outward manifestations of the punk movement. There's more to it than that. For the World of Darkness in your Chronicle to be Gothic-Punk, it's necessary to have more than just the trappings and certain aspects of punk. If you want you chronicle to be Gothic-Punk (emphasis on the punk), I think you have to express what might be termed "punk sensibilities" in a variety of aspects in you Chronicle. I think, at the heart of it, punk is more than being rebellious, anti-social and dressing different, it's a whole new form of self-expression and of looking at the world. Every era has its movements that are in opposition to the status quo, some form of expression that goes against previous generations. The punk movement was in many ways the antithesis of the counter-culture movement of the sixties. For all its rebellion against mainstream society and culture, the motto of the punk has never been, "Turn on, tune in, drop out." That's because members of the Punk movement, as much as they were disillusioned with society the way it was, chose to try and change things. Dressing differently to rebel against being categorized and to draw attention to the fact that we discriminate based solely on things like appearance. Likewise, the rant wasn't argument for argument's sake, but a means of individual expression and a sharing of information with others. And of course, the music that served many purposes and was perhaps the most visible part of the punk movement, giving voice to the frustrations of punks everywhere and drawing them all together. Without trying to get more in-depth or display more of my ignorance than I have to, I'll leave the punk movement at that because those are the key parts that I think relate directly to Vampire: the Masquerade and the World of Darkness. Anarchs "The whole assembly then rose, and they brough him before Pilate. They began their accusation by saying, "We found this man inciting our people to revolt." -Luke 23: 1-2 "The Anarchs rebel against all the strictures of the Elders, their hated enemies, which are represented by the Prince's power. These fledgelings believe that there is little to fear in the modern world, and that the old superstitions and Traditions should be thrown away. Some believe that the Masquerade is the incarnation of the terror of Kindred grown too old and too fearful." -VtM, p. 172 "That government is best which governs least." -Thomas Paine As above, so below. The Camarilla seems to mirror, in many ways, the human society from which it was derived. Like the Catholic Church and the Inquisition that gave birth to it, the Camarilla now uses the same methods to control or remove those who would undermine it. Blood Hunts are called for open rebellion and the Anarchs are kept in line by the power of the Prince and the Elders. ("A Hunt should be viewed as a violent form of excommunication.", VtM, p. 177) The question that begs to be asked is, why don't the Anarchs join or seek allies from the Sabbat? Do they see the Sabbat as equally superstition-bound and regressive as the Camarilla? Or is it the Anarchs' abhorrence of the Sabbat and the beliefs and practices of its members? Either way, the Anarchs are just that, Anarchs. Like punks of a decade ago, they are rebelling against the structured society they find themselves a part of and seek to change it or to acquire a degree of personal freedom. Unlike punk, however, there's no expression of views or an attempt to understand what's going on, why vampire society developed the way it did. All there is, amongst the Anarchs is anarchy. Anarchs reject beliefs in Gehenna, doubt the existence of Caine and readily dismiss legends that form the basis for the Elders' existence. Unfortunately, punk isn't about rejecting ideas, it's about understanding them, knowing where they come from and even being able to use them against your enemies, if necessary. Blind rebellion and violence is commonly associated with the punk movement because punk is about anger and outrage against society. Sometimes this aggression takes extreme forms, but most often it's internalized and expressed with violence towards other punks in an almost ritual form as with slam-dancing. If we equate the Anarchs among the Kindred with punks of our society, much of the Anararchs' behavior can be better analyzed. As anarchists, they reject both the Camarilla _and_ the Sabbat as entrenched institutions that serve to suppress the free will and expression of the individual. Their rejection of the superstitions and myths of the Elders should not be seen as an ipso facto denial of any truth behind these beliefs, but rather a denial of the repression brought about by an unquestioning belief in these stories. An Anarch may very well wish to explore the truth behind these stories without being forbidden by an Elder for fear that an Antidiluvian might take offense or, far worse, Caine himself might take offense. Of course, foolish Anarchs who do turn over too many stones tend to disappear... Lastly, as note in the Vampire: the Masquerade rulebook, Anarchs tend to be among the younger vampires and in opposition to the Elders. When punk was at its height in the early Eighties, its adherents, particularly in England, were mostly the disaffected youth who were rebelling against the attitudes of the Sixties (just as the Sixties were in response to the culture of the Fifties...) The Anarchs are young (at least by the standard of vampires). Some would say that their attitudes are due to a lack of wisdom and understanding of how things are in the world. Others would say that Anarchs are the ones with their eyes truly open and see the world without the misconceptions and blindness of centuries. The Brujah "A little rebellion now and then is a good thing; the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." -Benjamin Franklin The basis of the Brujah, like the Anarchs, seems to be rebellion. The Brujah, we are told, are allowed liberties not allowed of the other clans. The reasons for this seem to be a case of adaptation, that being easier than attempting to remove the Brujah from the Camarilla. More important, perhaps, is the possibility that the Brujah provide a necessary degree of conflict and prevent stagnation of the Camarilla. On the other hand, it may be that the fierce Brujah as the force behind the Anarchs have created a force that, while weak, still has political power and stands in opposition to the Elders. The Elders have accepted the Brujah, not merely because to do otherwise was too much trouble, but because they feared an open rift in the society of the Kindred that might result in a severe loss of power for them and possibly risked exposing the Masquerade. The Brujah form the most rebellious clan in the Camarilla, expressing a variety of radical philosophies (as noted in the rulebook). It is the expression of these ideas and attitudes that give rise to the infamous Brujah "rants." The Nosferatu Like the Brujah, the Nosferatu are at the fringes of vampire society, but unlike the Brujah who force the Camarilla to accept them, the Nosferatu are content to remain outcasts, never considered part of the society that they actively influence from the shadows. Their appearance sets them apart not only from mortal society, but also from the society of vampires, making them the most alienated of the Kindred, yet giving them a unique view of many things. Since they need not be concerned with social obligations and interaction with other Kindred, they are free to explore their own interests and learnings. Being part of the fringes, they also see much more clearly what is going on around them, having a remarkably detached point of view. Using Punk in a Chronicle Words and expressions All these confessions Of where we stand How I see you And you see me Dedications of symmetry Together we will be Forever -Fugazi, "Promises" Punk is about a number of things including rebellion, the alienation of youth, fighting for social change and a great many other things. The unique way many of these themes are expressed in punk lend themselves to a Chronicle and can be used to give it a vitality and immediateness that lend themselves to an enjoyable game and enhanced roleplaying experiences. "You don't sing about love to people on the dole." -Johnny Rotten Alienation is a strong theme in punk and a can be the basis for a Chronicle all by itself. Vampires, by their very nature, are apart from mortal society and the youngest may feel this the strongest, particularly those brutally torn from their breathing life and brought into the shadowy world of the Undead. How the Neonate copes with his or her new existence can be a fascinating roleplaying exploration. Not to reiterate at length what may be found in the VtM rulebook, suffice it to say that the Neonate may react with apathy or even withdrawal from everything, with anger, with curiosity. In all cases, though they may hope for (and possibly even achieve) a return to their mortal state, they must cope in the meantime with being an outsider, a predator, with an uncrossable void between them and the mortal world they interact with. "Anytime but now Anywhere but here Anyone but me I've got to think about my own life The world is not our facility We have a responsibility To use all of our abilities To keep this place alive" Fugazi, "Burning Too" Punk is also about social conscience. More than many other movements, punk has been the voice for social discontent. Concerns like prejudice and social inequity are often voiced. The expression of this conscience speaks a common language rather than being an abstract discussion of principles and translates in extremely direct fashion to the members within the movement. The concerts for Rock Against Racism in 1977 and 1978 are an example of how this was expressed as part of a popular movement. In many ways, the society of vampires contains aspects of this conscience. By contrasting the members of the Camarilla against the Sabbat, these values become more apparent. The Path of Humanity is not about being a predator, but actually grappling with the moral issues involved in feeding off of mortals and the interdependent existence that springs from this. A Storyteller can heighten these feelings by making the players in his Chronicle aware of inequities in the Camarillan-dominated vampire society, the inequities in mortal society, the moral decadence inherent in the World of Darkness, or whatever themes have already been incorporated naturally into the Chronicle as it's created. By making them aware of these issues, players may examine their responses with regard to their new existence. Thus rather than incorporating punk by emphasizing all that is wrong with our world, merely make the players aware of the darkness without as well as the darkness within and allow them to roleplay their reactions and let them come to terms with their altered perceptions. The key is to avoid being heavy-handed. A world that is truly dark, unrelentingly bleak, decaying, immoral (or at least amoral) and so forth will wear down the characters and, in many cases, sap their enthusiasm for the game. There is more to darkness than just an absence of light. In a chronicle, for darkness to have real impact, it must be contrasted with light. This is what makes it important to get more than just the appearance of punk. Get your characters feeling about the world around them, make them angry, make them want to change things or withdraw, to create something of beauty against an overwhelming sadness or fear, and the character become involved as active participants in the Chronicle, helping to shape it and act on the world as much as it acts on them. As with all roleplaying, the creation of a Chronicle is a collaborative experience. Like punk, I think that Vampire the Masquerade is about violence. By way of qualification: violence can be found in many aspects of the game and pervades the life of the Kindred. Even the drinking of blood from a willing mortal may be regarded as violent, involving submission to the desire of the vampire. Indeed, the attractions of the vampire to those of the Victorian era were the expressions of behavior and attitudes that the Victorians avoiding expressing themselves. Particularly, killing (whether on the part of the vampire or the vampire's hunters) and sex (or the suggestion thereof as with the common gothic theme of the seduction of young women) were regarded with abbhorrence, expressing the bestial nature of man. At the same time, there is an attraction that is still felt today, particularly in our attraction to the morbid, ranging from a strong interest in "true crime" literature to the display of accidents and mishaps on television, all of which are about violence against people, whether the source be other people or inanimate forces that cause bodily harm or psychological trauma. Players in a Chronicle will experience the effects of various kinds of violence, ranging from fights with other vampires, werewolves, hunters and other hazards of the World of Darkness. There also exists the threat of violence whether it be from Elders keeping Neonates "in their place" and similar power struggles (which also occur in WtA among the Garou, though it takes different forms) or from such occurrences as hunters trying to track down vampires for the purpose of slaying them. What keeps a Chronicle from being more than a linked set of "hack-and-slash" encounters is situations in which outright physical violence is either undesirable or not possible. The tension created by needing to keep a fight from developing will propel the Chronicle along and, when it finally does erupt, the resolution will be much more satisfying. Similarly, a character fighting to keep from frenzying will find the delayed resolution more satisfying than just giving in. In a case like this, the resolution need not be a frenzy, but may be a realization by the player as to the character's nature or motivations or some sort of moral victory that makes it all worthwhile. In this expression of restrained violence or internal violence is the expression of the essence of punk. Sometimes anger towards society can't be contained and it is expressed in acts of vandalism or confrontations with authority (with concomitant negative repercussions, just as with the careless vampire who breaks the Masquerade), but is more often expressed through music or other artistic expression or as violence against other, consenting members of the punk community. The Brujah rant is exactly this sort of internalized anger expressed in verbal form, allowing the Brujah to vent opinions, frustrations and thoughts rather than expressing them as physical violence. A rant is till violent, but it is contained and non-physical. Rebellion is a characteristic most commonly associated with punk. Without belaboring the point, the idea of rebellion should be a constant theme running through a campaign. Not just rebellion against authority, but against symbols and ideas, against those things that deny a vampire his or her free will or even life itself. To be told that one is undead and condemned forever more to live apart from the living is something that the Kindred struggle with continuously and that conflict finds common ground with the punks' rebellion. Punk seems to stem from conflict, though it is a conflict with the world outside. This seems to be the key difference that separates punk from goth and why the good folks at White Wolf Games have decided that the World of Darkness shall be Goth-Punk: While punk is outward turning and angry, goth is inward turning and dark, the anger suppressed or transformed, often into suicidal depression and unresolved conflict. Balancing the two yields a world that is, by turns, contradictory and confusing while being very much alive and unique.