The World of Darkness

The World of Darkness, in which this game is set, is not our world. It may seem very similar - geography is the same, social positions may seem familiar even though names have changed, and buildings and places may or may not be named the same things as in our world. However, there are important, dramatic differences that make Grand Rapids by Night a game, not a simulation.

In musical terms, GRbN is a game of punk and gothic themes with a heavy dose of metal laid on top - monstrosities, rebellion, black leather, pyrotechnics, and a lot of shouting should all be expected from the world.

In historical terms, this is a pre-9/11 world caught somewhere between the 80's and 90's with room for anachronisms. Hollywood has much influence as either reality or the rulebook. Drug use is prevalent, smoking is casually allowed indoors, surveillance is not ubiquitous, the entire world from bars to libraries are open later to serve a population that would rather be awake when something inevitably goes 'bump' in the night, medicine and mental health are much more coarsely handled, corruption is the rule of the day, and the media... actually isn't that different.

As vampires, the player characters are locked in a battle for their souls, clinging to their Humanity while being shredded from inside nightly by their Beast. Politically, GRbN is a neutral city that demands that newcomers leave their former politics at the border, but the very nature of immortality means that in order to advance in any social ladder after death, one must prove themselves worthy to usurp another vampire that will not leave on their own - how you choose to attempt that may have dire consequences in the war for your character's soul.

In the world at large, this chronicle uses the lore as White Wolf wrote it up to the point where everything went to shit.

The Iron Curtain has fallen, the Gangrel have left the Camarilla, a faction of Assamites have joined them after having the Tremere's blood-curse lifted from them, and the Justicar Council has been completely reseated.

Regionally, Detroit is a major Sabbat stronghold that is steadily engulfing the entire 'thumb' of the state of Michigan, including the small Anarch outpost in Ann Arbor. The Camarilla recently attempted to take control of the state capital of Lansing, but their efforts collapsed during the Justicar reseating. Kalamazoo is unworthy of a court, and everything from the Manistee National Forest northward is considered 'werewolf territory' by the Kindred community. Chicago is involved enough in its own politics to not reach north into Michigan.