Time of Judgment

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Time of Judgment is a series of scenario books for the World of Darkness settings of White Wolf Game Studio. These scenarios are presented as the semi-canonical ending of the original World of Darkness, as preparation for the new version of the setting.

The series ran for 4 hardback books; one for Vampire, Mage and Werewolf respectively, with the fourth book delegated to each of the remaining settings. Each setting received between 3 and 6 potential scenarios.

Vampire: Gehenna, released in January 2004, began the Time of Judgment chronicle, providing 4 different scenarios and tips for Storytellers to end their Vampire: The Masquerade game sessions. It's scenarios are;

- "Wormwood", which is similar to the biblical story of Noah's arc, in which God silently eradicates vampiric life from Earth. The focus is on character interaction as the Player Characters are among the sole survivors.

- "Fair is Foul", which concerns the mythology of Lilith and the struggles of her own descendants against those of her enemy, Caine.

- "Nightshade", a large-scale story which follows up on many metaplot hooks such as the rising of the antideluvians and rebirth of Saulot.

- "Crucible of God", is best described as a post-apocalyptic monster epic, with the antideluvians having completely rewritten the world to their ideals.

Werewolf: Apocalypse, released in February 2004, providing 4 different scenarios for Werewolf: The Apocalypse game sessions.

- The first scenario covered the apocalypse as a great battle, taking place in the spirit realm, where the players would seek for any support before the final battle.

- The second scenario covers what events could occur if one of the existing thirteen tribes fell 'to the wyrm', like the Black Spiral Dancer tribe.

- The third scenario essentially places the weaver as the source of all problems in the cosmos, and throws the characters into conflict with it.

- The fourth scenario outlines what would happen if a giant asteroid were to collide with the world.

- The fifth scenario outlines what would happen if the wyrm were to win the great conflict.

Mage: Ascension, released in March 2004, providing 4 different scenarios for Mage: The Ascension game sessions.

- The first scenario is the most metaplot-heavy of the lot, featuring many current strands (rogue councils, forgotten traditions, the avatar storms), which ultimately leads to all characters ascending while the universe becomes one great singularity.

- The second scenario outlines possible events from a technocratic viewpoint.

- The third scenario outlines what would happen if a giant asteroid were to collide with the world, in a different manner to the event in Werewolf.

- The fourth scenario dealt with a threat from an alien lifeform, which had not previously been mentioned within the game for many years.

- The fifth scenario outlined what would happen were the Nephandi to win the battle and bring chaos to the world.

"Time of Judgment", also released in March 2004, covered Changeling: The Dreaming, Demon: The Fallen, Hunter: The Reckoning, Kindred of the East, and Mummy: The Resurrection, with each receiving between 3-4 scenarios.

There are also three fiction novels that picture the end of times for Vampires, Werewolves and Mages, respectively. None of these are considered to be the canonical ending of the line, as the storylines are left open for each group to end them as they please.

As the Time of Judgment approaches, vampires cease to exist, werewolves fight their last battle against the Wyrm and mages face their last test.