I will run away from my chargen!
The Game: Defiant
The Publisher: Game Machinery
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one, I think, and perhaps some cards?
Defiant bills itself as urban fantasy, and it wears its White Wolf influences pretty openly (the Inspirations section says that it leans most heavily on Vampire: The Masquerade and the court and politics bits of Changeling: The Lost). And reading it, I have no idea what a session would look like.
Anecdote time: Back in 2003 or so, when I still worked full time for what was then White Wolf, the decision was made by the higher-ups to end the World of Darkness. This led to the Time of Judgement and then to what was then called the New World of Darkness, though of course eventually they realized "hey, since we're not beholden to traditional print runs anymore we can do anything we want, provided we can find people to write these books for a pittance." Anyway, after the decision was made to blow up the WoD but before "what comes next" had been announced, there was a big staff meeting where we discussed exactly that.
The original intent was to do the ToJ stuff but then keep publishing games set in the same world, and I remember someone in the room (one of the devs, might have been Grabowski) saying that it was pretty stupid to want to blow up the world but then continue doing urban fantasy in the "our world only darker" vein. Actually I think the way he put it was "you want the end of the world but to still have AOL." (Remember, 2003.)
Reading Defiant, that sentence came to mind more than once. The game is supposedly urban fantasy, and you play supernatural beings who have their own society apart from humanity but within it, and there's a very big focus on being supernatural royalty and enforcing or adhering to one's own precepts and laws. But at the same time, apparently the world has been largely destroyed and we're existing in these little supernaturally protected pockets of reality that are made possible by observing those laws?
Defiant is one of those games that I think I'd be on board if there were a better explanation of just what the hell we're going for here, and a good way to do that would be (all together now!) an example of play. There's a fleshed-out setting with story arcs, but the process of designing a story arc is so heavily proscribed that it's impossible to tell from a quick read just what exactly is going on. Honestly what this game make me think of more than anything is the Key & Peele "Sexy Vampires" sketch, where the vampires just want to pose and hiss and the one normal dude who's just been turned it just trying to get a handle on it all.
I dunno. Let's make a character and see if it makes any more sense.
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| I'm not optimistic |
Most of that isn't important for my purposes, of course. Let's continue!
Ugh. So, character creation consists largely of choosing cards, which contain "themes" - they have some game material as well as building a character's story. Cool, The Devil, John Moulton does something kind of similar and I think that game is really interesting (though I haven't played it yet).
But like...characters have splats (they're called Origins). We're never told to pick one. Obviously we have to, since each one has its own character sheet and Origin-specific cards, but at no point does either the book or the character creation guide (side note: I actually do appreciate putting chargen into its own separate two-page PDF, I wish more games did that, I also wish this one did it better) tell us "pick an Origin" or, better yet, "pick an Origin and here's what the fuck this means." There's an awful lot of throwing terms around that we don't really understand.
Well, anyway, I'm gonna pick my Origin. I want to make a Leviathan, strictly because I love the word (when I was a kid I assumed "Levi" was a diminutive for "Leviathan" the way "Jon" is for "Jonathan"). I don't really know the implications of that choice, but whatever, perhaps the cards will explain.
So, if I were making this character in a group of two or three (apparently Defiant does not work with more than three players and a GM, which is...a choice), I'd shuffle the cards, pick a few, and then choose from among them. As a single player, however, I'm encouraged to just pick. I'd rather pick randomly, though.
OK, how many cards am I going to end up with, let's start there.
OK, waitasec, it says to draw three Origin-exclusive cards, but I only see two for each Origin. Rather, there's two for each Origin and then a "you ain't get one" card. Weird.
Oh, wait, no, I get it! You don't choose your Origin, you pick three of these Origin-theme cards and pick one, and from there pick your Origin! Jesus, that is not spelled out clearly. OK, well, I already printed the Leviathan sheet, but I'll tell ya what, I'll roll a d3 to pick my theme (the Primordial, which as a word I find almost triggering; the Siren; or no theme). Rolling...Primordial. Ugh, fine. (Beast is not listed as an inspiration, but the Kickstarter for this game funded in 2021, well after that game was published. Why am I doing this to myself?)
All of this would be easier if I had any context for any of this shit, of course. Fine, we choose 1 from each set of traits. Let's pick: noble glare, regal draconic form, and war legacy. I write down those three questions; evidently I can spend a "Shard" to ask them. That's a pretty PbtA mechanic, and I really wish those questions were better explained. "What do they struggle to control?" "They" who? What does "takes an interest in my draconic outlook" mean? (This might be explained in the book, hang on, let's read the Leviathan section.)
OK, starting to come into focus a little more. I have two Features right off the bat, "royal horns" and then one more of my choosing. Because of my Theme (Primordial), I get two more. Is there a list, perchance? No, but there's a little guidance; I need an adjective and then something on a dragon. So my horns need an adjective (other than "royal"), so let's say "Majestic Royal Horns." Then I need three more.
Well, I picture my dragon as being at the forefront of armies, since his legacy is war. Can I have a halo as a feature? Inspirational Halo? Ooh, how about "Fearsome Mien," that's more dragony. I want wings, too. Obscuring? Sure, why not. And then I think Iron-hard Claws.
OK, then! Now I get a Personal Theme. I get two of these and there are 12 to choose from. Suppose I roll 2d12 and just count up? 12 and 5 gives me...the Guide and the Weaver. Hrm. You know, I like both of these but I don't want them both. I'm gonna keep the Guide but reroll the second one. Actually, no, I'm just gonna pick the Goliath.
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| Not because they're next to each other, that's just a bonus |
OK, so, we'll take strongly built, unsurpassed stamina, radiates dominance, martial field, grandeur focus, and cruel reputation. Writing down the questions, wish I had more space. Writing down the special rules, ditto. Writing down the Troubles, those fit, more or less.
Now we choose House, which I think for Leviathan also determines my element. Yeah, I can do Storm, Earth, or Fire. Well, since my dragon is at the forefront of war and armies on the march, I think Earth, since that's also metal.
This one doesn't actually give me much in terms of gamestuff (rather, it does, it's just basic elemental powers). I do like the name "Isheradon," however, so I'ma take that.
Right, now Spouse. We're all expected to have 'em. Sure. There are 9 Marital cards, so I'll just roll a d10 and ignore 10.
Sure, why not. My spouse is evidently another Defiant, so let's say Isheradon is married to...(randomly picking a House) a Daeva of House Kyrios. What's their deal? Oh, they're ambitious and all about proving their worth, perfect. Obviously this person was a former student of Isheradon who surpassed his expectations. Actually let's say that she (let's name her Echo; it's one of the examples) prevented Isheradon's draconic form from rampaging and wrecking part of our Province. Echo is terrible at keeping secrets (she talks to herself and talks in her sleep and is just generally bad at it). She loves Isheradon's commanding presence and his insistence on decorum.
Court cards! Again, there's 9, so let's roll a d10.
I dig that. Maybe Isheradon wrecked the last Court. Now I'm meant to pick six of those 12 archetypes and name them. Ugh, fine. Let's say: bright anarchist, pessimistic warrior, courageous fool, cheerful gossip, bored duelist, insightful idler. I tried to pick archetypes that would gravitate to Isheradon's focus on teaching and smashing shit. Let's say the anarchist and the duelist are Leviathans (Hadad and Shemesh, respectively), the warrior is an Infernal (Black), the fool and the idler are Angels (Hariel and Aratron, respectively), and the gossip is a Daeva (Sekh). I'll go through and pick names for them (and yes I'm using the example list, jesus). So in the listed order: Xethra, Julius, Satharion, Hanif, Isenea, Dagra. Good grief.
Oh, wait, shoulda read further. I only had to name three. Well, fuck it. Let's say that Isenea is the one I know well, and I wish she'd do more. What causes disagreements between Courtiers, lord, I don't know. Probably my spouse's inability to keep a fucking secret.
And now we're supposed to have Holding cards, but I don't see those? Ah, they're something the GM makes up for the Province. There should be some that come with the sample setting, though. Yep, here we go. Rolling a d6 to pick one.
So clearly it's not a train station anymore. Let's take a page from my hometown and say it's a market! The carts are immobile (decorative), the waiting room is sterile, the platform is lively, and the hall is echoing.
And that's everything, I think. Good gravy. Let's say Isheradon is tall, muscular, and has thick wavy hair and a mustache (Echo would love him to grow out his beard; it comes in a darker color than his hair and he doesn't like it). He has a deep and intimidating voice, and he can say something simple as "excuse me" and quiet a room.
That'll do it! Man, I really want to like this game, but it is not at all user friendly.
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