I added a number of links, and if you have any I should know about, please let me know. I also started a blog for all of the bits and pieces I'd like to write but don't have the time to spin into full articles. I'm not sure if I like it or not, but we'll see.

12/28/2009

I have apparently built up to a huge update today. I added a whole seciton for Changeling: the Lost, as well as a number of things I have created for that game. I expanded my lists of derangements, adding a section for New World of Darkness derangements.

12/20/2009

For a while, I've been thinking about what makes a vampire a vampire, particularly when hearing people complain about Twilight. It's not like I'm innocent of raising my eyebrows and saying, "Vampires shouldn't sparkle." But I've found myself stopping and realizing that vampires are more humane and less monstrous in different milieus. I mean, Bram Stoker's Dracula could walk in the daylight and looked like a gentleman, not a walking corpse. The vampires of True Blood can be nice to humans and even take mortal lovers they seem to value, but I wouldn't necessarily call them weak. Is complete emotional detachment required for them to be awesome? Or can they have sex with mortals and eat them too?

With this in mind, I put up an article on the common aspects of a vampire, from the need for blood to their weakness to sunlight. I wanted to take these things apart to look at them, with an eye toward how I will use vampires in the future.

I also moved some things around. Most things will not be noticed, but I did put all information about the details of Cainites on one page.

12/19/2009

Another new article in a month - I must be on a roll. (Actually, I've taken a little time to write and I've been loving it.) Tonight's article is about Sires and Progeny, specifically focusing on the reasons Kindred sire. It's not as utterly complete as I'd like it to be but it's close. I'm tempted to do quick examples for each major reason, drawn from the PCs and NPCs I've seen over the years, but that'll have to wait. There are other articles burning a hole in my keyboard.

12/13/2009

Over the last few days I have taken a bit of time to write about World of Darkness settings, particularly as they're chosen at the start of a chronicle. I've also reworked the site's navigation, as you can see to the left.

11/29/2009

It has been quite some time since I've done a substantial update here, and that indicates a few things. First, real life has become quite hectic and I've had less time and energy for web site updates all around. I really miss being able to sit for a few hours and just write about the games that have been so much fun. I am trying to get back into updating, even if it means I only get to write a few paragraphs at a time. Secondly, it's been a little while since I played or ran a World of Darkness game regularly. In 2006, I ran a very successful Dark Ages game that I would like to get back to. In 2007, I played in a spectacular Changeling: the Lost game (played in the setting but with oWoD rules). And then, in 2008, much of my world fell apart. I tried feebly to start a Vampire game and then realized I needed time to recover. I have been reading books and working on things behind the scenes in fits and starts. I ran D&D in 2009, but I would like to return to the World of Darkness in 2010.

With that in mind, I would like to share my efforts and difficulties here. I will be learning and using the New World of Darkness system for the first time, and there are a number of things that I will be trying that I am not used to. I hope to report on what works, speculate on what doesn't, and inspire myself further by writing here. I don't know if anyone will read it and right now I don't care. I just want to do it and enjoy it.

Today, I updated the site's home page so that it wasn't such a lengthy treatise on the history of the game. I also added a new page on the setting of the World of Darkness and what it means for players to interact with it. I found myself using examples from our Changeling game and I think I'm going to continue to do so as I go along, not only because they help to illustrate ideas but because they also make me smile.

04/25/2008

I fixed the fonts on the Vampire fonts page, since they were linked improperly. (One of the bad things about running a site by yourself is that you've got no one else to blame when something like that happens.) I also added quite a few links to my links page. I added some resources I found while prepping for my Vampire: the Dark Ages game, as well as some places I've gone for character names and portraits.

03/28/2008

I added several fonts to the Changeling page.

02/10/2008

I added several fonts from Dark Ages and Kindred of the East to the Vampire Fonts page.

02/08/2008

I am in the process of updating and expanding my selection of fonts. I am enlarging my focus to include fonts from other White Wolf games, including the new ones. Right now VtM, CtD, and CtL fonts are available. More will follow.

01/27/2008

I've completely rewritten my page on the anarchs, with a new format and new information all around. It's the sect that I've had the hardest time placing in my own mind but I've come to understand them a lot more. I'm hoping to rewrite a whole lot more here but I can't promise a deadline or anything like that. I'm slacking off studying as it is. Speaking of which...

01/26/2008

I hadn't been thinking of renovating this site when suddenly I decided to give it a go this weekend. About this time last year, I'd started to rewrite my Vampire information to make it cleaner, meaner, and altogether more interesting. I approached it in a methodical way, perhaps too methodical, but ran out of time before I could complete the changes. I'm thinking that might end up being a good thing. Not only have I done some new writing here, but I'm broadening this site to encompass more of what I've been doing. My Dark Ages game is currently on hiatus but I've been working on making it better, and preparing to make it bigger (it is poised on the edge of the Black Death). I've also been working on a whole new project - a city in which I can run any game I want. I've been very concerned with place and characters, and I want to share more of my meanderings in a productive fashion. So this site is now "Kismet's World of Darkness," and I look forward to doing more with it.

01/16/2007

I have added a few new links and some polls to the links page today, and I'll be adding more polls in the near future. I'm hoping against hope to find time to write this week so I can finish one of the pages I've been working on. In the meantime, I've reduced the sizes of just about all of the image files on this site and made a few minor adjustments to make things look right on all browsers.

01/03/2007

When I first started this site I had all the time in the world, or so it seems from my current vantage point. I was also filled with inspiration, so I would pound out the pages in a white heat and put them up right away, without any editing and largely without any further substantial alteration. But recently I have reconnected with Vampire after a very long break from it and I've started to look over my old writings carefully. They have the heart but not the quality that I always hoped for - so I've decided to start all over again, and over my holiday break I have grabbed what time I could to do just that.

My original goal was to completely rework this site from the ground up, every page, every morsel, and to have it ready by the dawn of the new year. I started with the graphics, since I wanted people to think of Vampire from their first glance. I am by no means proficient but I did the best I could, keeping things as simple as possible. Then I wrote as much as I was able and though I am still far from done, I've made good headway. Even though major sections of this site are under construction, I feel that it has a hell of a lot more information than it did before, and certainly a better, more coherent presenation. I have found, however, that there were a few bits that only required some revising - not many, but a few - so I relaxed my initial goal a little bit. I also discovered that I was not going to have as much hobby time or energy during my break as I thought I would, so I have been getting used to the thought of debuting this site in an unfinished state.

All in all, this site will be about 98% new material and I will add to as much as possible in the following weeks. Truth be told, a finished web site is usually a dead web site, an archive more than an interactive experience. For a long time this site stood dormant and dead. It's time for it to rise again.