by Kris@WLP » Mon Dec 05, 2011 1:51 pm
Thanks for letting me know! It's always good to know one's work has inspired others.
I've only read the first book of Vaughn's Kitty series (wasn't much taken by it- Kitty seemed too passive for my taste, although I'm told that changes in later books). I was a bit surprised when you mentioned her works and ours as a common inspiration, though, since the depictions of werewolves in both have significant differences from what I recall- the most notable being the anthropomorphic v. full shift difference.
You ask: what's Fae (the full shifters) and what's Therianthrope (the hybrids)? For that you're probably going to have to do something I've avoided doing in PitW: reveal the origins of both kinds, or at least decide on it and structure what you tell players from that point. With the name 'fae' you've pretty nearly decided on the origin of one side already: either members of an extradimensional alien race more dependent on magic for basic biological functions than humans, or humans with some sort of contact with such (blood, enchantment, etc.).
With non-fae werewolves, you have a variety of choices. They could be humans, descended from some who "hacked" the fae's shapeshift magic but either couldn't get it quite right or deliberately changed it to get what they want. They could be the subject of some ancient sorcerer's experiments (Gold Digger). They could be possessed or empowered by celestial beings (angels or demons). Or it could be a symptom of untapped, untrained magical power (for example, in southern Europe it was apparently a folk belief that babies born with the birth caul stuck to their heads would be witches and werewolves, and that as many such used their powers for good as for evil).
In a world with only one kind of zooanthrope you can elide over this point. If you're only telling a story, rather than fleshing out a whole world for multiple stories, you can also skip it. You've chosen a path which won't let you do this, though, because origins will always affect how different groups of people relate to one another. Also, since you're doing this in a vampire world, with lots and lots of different magical races and subraces, origins also provide hooks for adventures. We never stop becoming- our origins are, in essence, everything that has come before us, and get larger every moment. When you define those origins, you are forced in turn to define other origins, and others, and others, until you get a wealth of possibilities for adventures- and that's what RPGs are about.
One final note, on conspiracy. One of the things that annoys both Ben and I about the White Wolf mythos is how EVERY GODDAMN THING is part of a great Game, a conspiracy in which absolutely everyone (so it seems) is a major player. This is not how civilization works. The vast majority of people will be totally unaware that anybody is manipulating anything. A minority is vaguely aware of some manipulation, but can't point to specifics. A tiny minority know who the players are, but know that they aren't in and never will be. A tiny, tiny minority are manipulators, but are comparatively inept at it- Gus leaps to mind here. Only a tiny, TINY handful of people actually get to manipulate people, and society, on a long-term basis without being found out and undone- and even then they do NOT get anything like total control, or even RELIABLE control, except in isolated circumstances. Too many such people think they're putting a puppet Chancellor in power, only to realize too late they've just let Hitler in the door.
So really, don't be too quick to put major power politics on the table. Simple interpersonal relationships, combined with outside threats and unexpected emergencies, are plenty exciting enough for most characters, especially for low-level adventures. Making every little interaction have World Shaking Consequences isn't dramatic- it's DUMB. Characters will have all they can do (for example, in a PitW-style world) finding a way to get a blackmailing human cop to lay off without exposing themselves or offing the cop. Making the cop the right-hand man of one Mastermind Ogliarch while the players are top servitors of three other different Mastermind Ogliarchs, all four with competing, conflicting, and concordant goals depending on circumstances, isn't adventure- it's melodrama.
That's about all I have to say at the moment.
(One thing: yes, I HAVE decided where PitW werewolves, etc. originate from. No, I've not revealed it yet, nor do I intend to, nor is it important in any way whatever to Peter's story. I DO intend to make a reference to it towards the very, very end of the comic, though... just so I can pull one mother of a And that's the only hint I'm giving.)