World of Darkness (WOD) Chicago [Hardcover]

Greg Stolze (Author), Chuck Wendig (Author), Tim Bradstreet (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 12, 2005

Chicago isn't corrupt.
It's passionate.
Genuine.
Willing to do whatever it takes
to be the city it wants to be.

And corrupt.

- Maxwell, Vampire Prince of Chicago

The Windy City Beckons

Chicago lies at the center of the web that is the American heartland. Tendrils of power, wealth, and reward stretch outward, ensnaring the selfish, greedy, and unwary. Yet, Chicago attracts its predators, too. Creatures that would have the city for their own, spinning their own webs of malice and intrigue. But among the city's towering skyscrapers and wind-swept streets, who is the spider and who is the fly?

A city setting book for all World of Darkness Games

This book includes:

Guides to the history, geography and politics of the Windy City, twisted to suit the mysterious World of Darkness

A huge collection of new game material, including dozens of complex and surprising characters, new threats to face and three complete stories to play

Numerous ways for characters from any World of Darkness game to interact and collide. This book is a fully compatible supplement for Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken and Mage: The Awakening

* Companion fiction title (World of Darkness: Chicago - Three Shades of Night) releases in 2006

Product Details

• Hardcover: 421 pages
• Publisher: White Wolf Publishing; First edition (December 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1588464792
• ISBN-13: 978-1588464798
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #458,138 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chuck Wendig is equal parts novelist, screenwriter, and game designer. He is the author of the novels DOUBLE DEAD, BLACKBIRDS, and MOCKINGBIRD. In addition, he's got a metric boatload of writing-related e-books available, including the popular 500 WAYS TO BE A BETTER WRITER. He currently lives in the wilds of Pennsyltucky with wife, dog, and newborn progeny.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Worthy Successor To A Classic Setting Book, November 6, 2006

By 

Stephie Fryar "Stephie" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: World of Darkness (WOD) Chicago (Hardcover)

Thirteen years ago, White Wolf Game Studio brought us the landmark role-playing game, VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE, and the city setting which itself would become a classic - Chicago, as immortalized in a series of CHICAGO BY NIGHT setting books.

Now, this classic setting has been brought back to vivid life in WORLD OF DARKNESS: CHICAGO. This time, the Windy City is a city out of balance as vampires, werewolves and mages vie for control of the city, and this big book (over 400 pages) takes you into the politics, rivalries and battles between and among the vampires, werewolves and mages who call Chicago home.

There's a richly detailed backstory about Chicago's supernatural heritage throughout history and how that supernatural heritage influences the mortal and supernaturals in ways both subtle and overt. Each WoD gameline - VAMPIRE: THE REQUIEM, WEREWOLF: THE FORSAKEN and MAGE: THE AWAKENING - has it's own fully fleshed-out section which details how vampires, werewolves and mages deal with problems among themselves, as well as dealing with the mortals and other supernaturals of the city.

Laced throughout the book are story seeds and information which Storytellers can use to make their Chicago Chronicles more interesting, while players will find plenty of ways to get their characters, willingly or not, involved in the affairs of the various supernaturals. Plenty of rich details about the city's neighborhoods are brought forth, which makes this an ideal setting for a World of Darkness game, or it can lay the foundation for a potential crossover game with any of the other World of Darkness game lines.

WORLD OF DARKNESS: CHICAGO is an impressive book, and as a native Chicagoan, I give the writers high marks for capturing the "feel" and essence of Chicago in such a vivid and compelling manner. I was already impressed with the CHICAGO BY NIGHT books for VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE when they were first published, and WORLD OF DARKNESS: CHICAGO is a worthy successor to these classic city setting books.

Definitely worth having if you're a Storyteller or player, and the hardcover format is perfect for this type of book, because the one drawback I had with the CHICAGO BY NIGHT paperbacks was that they were easily prone to wear and tear, but WORLD OF DARKNESS: CHICAGO's hardcover format is quite forgiving, and will hold up with many readings.

This is an excellent resource and reference book for those who wish to set their World of Darkness games in Chicago, and it's compatible with all of the current WoD titles, so it's easy to create vivid stories of mortals caught in the world of the supernatural, or supernaturals caught up in struggles from without and from within.

I highly recommend this book!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great if you are not running a pure WOD campaign, October 25, 2007

By 

BuikD (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: World of Darkness (WOD) Chicago (Hardcover)

Don't get me wrong I think this is a great supplement, beautiful like all WW products with a good creative history and mood. That said, as it is advertized as a core WOD product and not for one of the Vampire/Mage/Werewolf lines I thought it would have more information for a pure WOD campaign. The book is divided into 3 sections, one each for Vampire, Mage, & Werewolf and ideas for the interplay between those factions. I guess I would have appreciated maybe a fourth section for the purely supernatural aspects of the city for a general WOD campaign instead of having to sift through the other sections to glean what is useful. Anyway, that's my beef but a great book overall hence the 4 stars.

5.0 out of 5 stars Review for WOD Chicago, March 31, 2009

By 

A. E. Terry - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: World of Darkness (WOD) Chicago (Hardcover)

As a setting book, this one has been by far the best of White Wolf's settings. It provides a brief overview of Chicago's history as it concerns World of Darkness. And then it covers each of the major factions of WOD with Vampires, Werewolves and Mages, what areas of influence they have, movers and shakers. There's lots of story hook ideas through out the book to help get started. I found this to be a really good read and resource.