It's finally here!>what is curseborne?Curseborne is the newest Onyx Path Publishing TTRPG on dark urban fantasy genre. It's about being unapologetic monsters in a world where being monstrous is the least of your worries. In Curseborne, you play as Accursed, descendants of monstrous Lineages lurking in a modern world that closely resembles our own. You rebel against the ancient feuds between these entwined families, as well as against the web of curses that bind you, while fending off inhuman antagonistsseeking to claim — or reclaim — your power.>early access download (it's a zip, and the folder is in alphabetical order so go search for it)gofile <dot> io/d/O6yTIy>official websitehttps://www.curseborne.com/>OPP forumhttps://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/curseborne>Thread QuestionNow that it's finaly released for early access, what's your opinion?
It's shit
Is me or is the tone all over the place? I feel like is a watered down version of Requiem.
>>96694677Is this "monsters are hidden" kinda shit or are monsters just hanging around horns out while ordering a coffee at a cafe kind of setting?
>>96694677it's requiem 1e confused writing/tone/identity with slightly better mechanics
>>96694811hidden
>>96694778It's probably not you but I don't think it's too bad on that front. A lot of the book is in-character (which I don't love) so there are different characters talking so there isn't a single voice but I think they're playing towards a lot of the same themes. >>96694811Neither. There isn't a masquerade and the supernatural is more out in the open but it's not a fully accepted fact of life where everyone gets along. There is a cultural shift towards belief in the supernatural, and people tend to be much more superstitious, but it's not absolute and there are plenty of things that do not want you to know they're there. There might be an openly practicing witch and she might offer her services, and her customers might think she's supernatural, and people aren't likely to to call you insane for believing it, but not everyone is going to immediately go "ah, yes, witches are real". I think it's hitting a good balance between hidden dark corners without everything being a secret society, and also having enough difference from our world without feeling like it's a full on fantasy world.
>>96694982Honestly, it feels completely toothless and out of shape. The art doesn't help.
>>96695298I think most of it is pretty good. I don't love some of the photobashed stuff but most of it isn't so I can't complain too much. How do you mean "toothless" though?
>>96694677I still can't believe it.
More urban darkness monster slop yawn
>>96695298What do you mean you don't like the rock-punk Werewolf?
>>96694982That's just hidden, numbnuts.It's a hidden game. It's something that's been done to death and I doubt the system is something ground breaking. As such it is a hard pass.
>>96695775If you say so but I'm not sure how you can square that with open known supernaturals wandering about the place. Some people rationalising it away and others accepting it doesn't mean it's not there to be seen.
>>96694677Haven't read it yet. How much time does it spend talking about discrimination and minorities and stuff? I hate to be all brainrotted, but how many times do they mention that the Cursed are more like to be poor minorities?
>>96695747The only difference between this and 90's white wolf art is that this is in color. If they're going for old-school WW they are hitting the fucking nail on the head.
>>96695849Liiike 3 times? The bit that will upset you the most is mostly talking about playing actual minorities. Which will probably be too much for you so give it a skip.>>96695863I'm not really sure that's the case but if it is and you want to share some comparisons to back that up I'd like to see.
>>96695863This. Basically, whether or not you are going to enjoy this game hinges on whether you consider 90s WoD baste or cringe.
I tried reading trough the book so many times but the in person talk they go for in the lore parts just turns me away
>>96695975They did clean up a lot of the text from the manuscript if that was when you last tried, it's more clear and definitive now if that was the problem, but everything that was in-character is still in-character in the backer pdf.
>>96695986I meant the backer pdfit is better but still awful to readand I have read trough few WW and OP books
>>96695426I don't know. Look at this for example. What is supposed to represent? A mage? A suburban hipster? Some type of counter culture? It seems to represent all these things at the same time and none at all. Besides the game has a tone that is clearly oppressed vs oppressors but doesn't commit to the bit. Everything is vague, ambiguous and non-threatening. How are you going to speak against oppression or whatever if you can even include real problems there? I wish media had more guts than this.
>>96696059>How are you going to speak against oppression or whatever if you can even include real problems there? I wish media had more guts than this.We had more guts.Now everything is "problematic" and people have more access to express themselves, influence other people and more important... Talk directly (or at least have the illusion) to the creators. And if your buyers are mad, they won't buy and your business is gone.Sure, the last part ain't that much real if you're a big company. However, people are so afraid nowadays to hurt sales or become some sort of bad name/blacklisted within their industry they prefer to keep things neutral to the point all effort to do something with "tooth" is Up To The GM (TM).
Genuine question: Why people don't like in-character conversation?Sure, it's just a matter of personal taste, but I'm curious on why.
>>96694778Not just you, it feels both bloated and space
>>96695747>you have gifts but that doesn't make you godok, book is shit. Real tired of "uhm aktshually we're still human" monsters with humility. Cringe ass millenial writing
>>96696110it limits whatever is being described as just having that 1 voice, that 1 thing. With a neutral, third person description, it is up to your own imagination to give something texture. With crap like >>96695747 the description is immediately colored by the characterization of the narrator, forever tainted to be only this one voice. All werewolves are now cringe ass punks because of this text.
>>96696248Except for when more is released that's either not in character or isn't by that character. Which isn't a hypothetical.
>>96696110I've noticed that it isn't even "in character" that pisses people off, a conversation tone also truly rustles people's jimmies.
>>96696272because its the writer talking down to you, forcing you to have a one sided conversation with a character you may not like. It's rape and literary violence.
>>96696220That's just the Get, they're pack focused and community minded. The next family is the Hydes and they're a lot more "actually, we are better". Although even the Get are plenty monstrous and the game does want you to be unapologetic about it. It's just not a game where every Family is monstrous in the same way.
Their summary of police officers was very even-handed and not at all a pile of ACAB wank.
>>96696313Cringe. Who wants cops on their side in a game about being monsters? They should all be bastards.
>>96694677What do you think of the new Families in the Players Guide, like the Napoleons? I personally wonder why the Outcastes only got one while the other Lineages got two.Also, if you were to create a new Family of your own, what would you make? I'd do a new Sorcerer Family that focus more on the intersection of curses and technology.
>>96695897I mean, I don't really mind playing minorities, I just wish they wouldn't ramble on so much about it. I don't need to be told to make a minority. I would've considered doing so without the callout. But they make it sound so lame when they talk about it.
>>96696364>Also, if you were to create a new Family of your own, what would you make? I'd do a new Sorcerer Family that focus more on the intersection of curses and technology.Do they have rules for making your own families or not being in one?
>>96696313Anon, why would you expect cops in the magically worst version or earth to not be the worst version of cops? Use some critical thinking, bud.
>>96696368It's not even half a page and it's not telling you to play a minority. It basically boils down to "You want to play a minority? Go for it, try not to be a tool though".>>96696387Not currently. Tomorrow the manuscript on Orphans comes out though. Orphans are Accursed without a Family and are in their own weird little groups instead. I'm not sure if it'll come with rules for making your own Family but it's pretty simple to do, they're not incredibly complex on a mechanical level depending on your Lineage of choice. >>96696406It's just culture war brainrot.
>>96696096The problem is that this type of corporate bland slop doesn't make anyone happy. If you already support the "cause" then there's 0 reason to see the developers trying to be neutral. If you're against it you don't care either. This neutered stuff smells like mediocrity and not wanting to test any real boundaries that could make the thing interesting.
>>96696459In a cottage industry like TTRPGs where assholes like Evil Hat Productions have legitimate financial bullying power, corporate cowardice is all you can hope for.
>>96696059That's a Sorcerer. You can tell by the Sorcerer symbol and the fact it's on a page with the heading SORCERERS in giant block capitals. It says the Hermit at the bottom because it's a reference to the tarot Major Arcana of the same name, stylising the traditional lamp and walking stick as a more modern street light, and the old man as someone younger and in more contemporary clothing to fit the setting and characters the game is about. The Hermit symbolising things like wisdom, introspection, solitude, among other relevant themes for the Sorcerers. Notably they chose the Hermit over the Magician because dispite the latter's more obvious name its own means of will, skill, and resourcefulness are less specifically applicable to Sorcerers. It says IX at the top because the Hermit is the ninth major arcana. The IX is on top of the game's moth logo with the moth being symbolic of how they gnaw away at threads in fabrics, directly analogised to the web of curses which are all interconnected. Like threads in a tapestry. I would say the thematic content of the artwork is on full display.Rebellion is an theme of the game but it's not the only thing going on either and while you say it's clear that the game is about oppression it doesn't really talk about it much. It's much more about the status quo being shitty than it is about some form of monolithic oppression. So I think you might have made a really heavy assumption that it should be really all in on the oppression thing and are now annoyed it's not. But the reason it's not all in on it is because it's not really about that as such. Every Family is up to some fairly shitty things going on but it's not really about toppling power structures or anything and likely won't be at this tier. This tier is about personal level stories.
>>96696495>where assholes like Evil Hat ProductionsQRD?
>>96695832Okay, fuck nugget.You first said "someone claiming to be a witch" and people just rolling with it is the level of supernatural people are dealing with. We have that with fucking Wiccan tards now. So the bigger shit wouldn't be known, so it's hidden.Now you say, open known supernatural shit is walking around in the open like it's not hidden.So which is it? It 100% CANNOT be both. It's either a known element or an unknown element.
>>96696538Yes, is obvious the card is a reference to the tarot. But what does that mean? Changing the original illustration for a fairly vapid image of someone who looks like a stereotypical hipster has any meaning besides the obvious? Seems that the answer is no.If the developers really wanted to take this whole thing seriously, they should have taken a moment to think what they wanted to say and how to say it. How this better than any of the legacy White Wolf stuff that existed previously and treated the same themes and ideas? How is this even better than the products Onyx Path worked previously years ago? Apparently the developers think putting a worse copy of something from the past is 100% fine. If is really the case that they're being policed by some wrong-thinking mafia alright. But don't be surprised when they called out for it.
>>96696581They've been known to threaten Drive-ThruRPG into banning certain things they don't like from sale. They have the leverage since FATE sells really well there.
>>96696581They also pay their freelancers notoriously low.
>>96696689>certain things they don't like from sale.such as? genuine question
>>96694677NOPE LMAOJUST NOT GOING TO BUY ITJUST NOT GOING TO PLAY ITHAHAHAHAHAHA
>>96696686It means the really obvious thing it means. You've picked a very explicit bit of art to struggle with, anon. Sorcerers encapsulate the thematic elements of the Hermit. Sorcerers also dress like people and not like old men wizards. Simple as that. 90% of RPG art is just "this is what a thing looks like in a tonally appropriate way" and has been basically forever. If you say so man. I think you're getting hung up on stuff you've largely invented but there isn't anything more to say on that. I'm not here to convince you to like the game.
>>96696581What's funny is they've been very, very effective at burying the incident where they bullied a trans person off the internet after she complained one of their employees stabbed him in the eye at a convention.
>>96696668Witches, ghosts possessing a corpse, same difference. Some supernatural person is out and about and not hiding it. Some stuff is known, some stuff isn't, not everyone agrees or wants to believe, everything I've said is accurate. I genuinely do not believe this is a complex thing to apply a small amount of nuance to.
>>96696448>Not currently. Tomorrow the manuscript on Orphans comes out though. Orphans are Accursed without a Family and are in their own weird little groups instead. I'm not sure if it'll come with rules for making your own Family but it's pretty simple to do, they're not incredibly complex on a mechanical level depending on your Lineage of choice.Cool. Non-family was really more what I was interested in.
>>96696780At least from the small bit we've seen they're Lineage-agnostic pseudo-Families.
>>96696581They lied about a public playtest for a non-existent game to trick people into signing up for a marketing mailing list, the persons name they attached to this ended up having to leave the industry entirely.
>>96696718It started, at first, with a Gamergate themed card game during the heyday of 2015 then escalated to other games like Rebel Scum.
>>96696748I'm not struggling with anything. I explained what I disliked about the game. If you don't have anything smart to say save the bitch attitude for yourself.
>>96696748You think that is someone dressed like a person?
>>96696808You needed tarot explained to you.
>>96696825Whatever you say WytchWynd834 enjoy the sabbat
>>96696844I accept your concession.
>>96696856I'm not even the guy you were talking to I just think also think you're a faggy dumbass and your game sucks
>>96695747Looks like an IMVU avatar
>>96696495Didn’t Evil Hat have a big sexual assault scandal or am I thinking of a different company?
>>96696936As usual with every one of those jewy male feminist dudes and the companies they work for if they haven't already it's only a matter of time.
They really just should've kept supporting CofD instead
>>96696985Paradox Interactive actively blocked OPP from touching CofD ever again. Internal competition for their pet project WoD5.
>>96696993So Paradox killed CofD to necromance WoD and make it shit? What a fucking waste
>>96697012What did you expect? The only reason they even bought the IP was to make VtM Bloodlines, so an alternative continuity like CofD is useless except to strip for mechanical parts (case in point, turning Hunter the Reckoning into a worse Hunter the Vigil).
