Sodium Noir

This game has an ADULT theme and is rated 18. For information click here

The Original Gotham by Night - The first ever Film Noir WoD PbEM - Now in our 7th year

A Million Stories in the Big City

Imagine, if you will, a city of industry by the bay. A city that might, in another reality, have been named New York but instead goes by the name of Gotham. Visually identical to the Gotham of the Batman Mythos, but without the caped crusader to keep it safe from the supervillans in spandex. The City as envisioned by Tim Burton and the animated series he inspired. Add to this the City of Frank Millers Sin City and the Alien construct of the Film Dark City . Assume that it is always night and it is always raining, colour it with every Film Noir movie ever made and mix in the Gothicpunk atmosphere of the World of Darkness. Finally sprinkle all those lovely White wolf player types, and ba-boom, we have Gotham, the City of Sodium Noir !! A game more about mood and concept than detail and rules.

The situation in Gotham is unique, because the game is designed to be separate from any time line or metaplot. There is no Avatar storm for the Mages, no red star, no Gangrel leaving the camarilla. Outside concerns are deliberately left vague because the setting is concerned with the City alone. Even its place in history is deliberately left vague, because while all modern technology is available, we try to present a Film Noir / 1940’s feel to it where possible. That’s why Gotham was chosen as the name of the fictitious city because most people have seen the Batman movies and Cartoons and can relate to the modern Art Deco fantasy. Its basically a self contained game, unconcerned with the details of the World of darkness, with 2nd edition rules and mood.

Dark Art Deco buildings tower, brooding, above Sodium washed streets. Gargoyle strewn corporate headquarters, baroque Theatres, gothic Cathedrals and Massive factories all block the sun from the twilight streets of Gotham. To the North is the business district and the modern splendour of the Up town borough. To the south are the ghettoes and projects of the tired old town. The Gotham canal and the Gotham River cut the Metropolis into three and the large Isle of Crabs in Gotham bay is almost half as big again. The bay plays witness to nightly dramas to which the public denies knowledge, while the Neon city caters to every Vice. Huge factories pump noxious fumes into the sky and questionable substances into the River and the bay.

Prince Montoya and his Camarilla Primogen rule over the old school tie brigade and a prosperous white-collar industry, leaving the streets and its organised crime to Bishop Santiago and the Sabbat. The Wylds, suburbs and the Docks belong to the Shadow Lords and their Garou kingdom, while the Mages and the Changelings are still licking their wounds from a catastrophic event three years ago. Mayor Venkman's Long tenure has left little cash or incentive for urban renewal or Suburban development. The Police, plagued by corruption and lack of funding, struggle to keep the uptown areas free of crime in an attempt to keep the old money and the tourists safe while the Business district prefers to police itself with private security firms. South of the gleaming spires the streets are tough and life is a matter of siege mentality for the huddled masses.

Although the cars appear to be from the 30's and 40's, as do most of the fashions, the technology has a modern edge. The city reeks of Philip Marlowe and Mickey Spillain, with taste of Ellery Queen, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald. Of course the Vampires and Mages, the Restless Dead, the Were-beasts and the Fae have had an effect on the City as well. The year is, Unimportant! Who is President of the United States is unimportant. Details about the outside world and mankind's latest achievements really don't matter. All that does matter is the City and surviving another night in it environs. Whether working for the multi national Dusk Industries or 'the Family' crime syndicate, life is hard and cheap in Gotham, even for the supernatural's. Hard-boiled fiction and classical detective novels came close to capturing the mood of the city, but the truth is that one has to live in the city to understand it.

Lurkers welcome

Tell a Friend to Visit

Gotham City: Population;

Previous
Population: 1671

Sodium Noir

Visit this group

Subscribe to Sodium Noir

Email:

Visit this group

Sodium Noir is a Role Playing game of Story telling set in the brooding Gothic punk World of Darkness. It uses the White wolf Storyteller game system and follows their guidence to create a multi level tale of monsters fighting to retain what remains of their humanity or mere men and women struggling against a hidden world of omniprescent terrors. Although life in the City of Gotham is cheap and violence is an everyday occurance, combat is not a big part of the Sodium Noir game. Role playing is encouraged above Roll playing and the art of storytelling and talecrafting are given presedence over the use of Kewl powers and blatent supernatural abilities. This does not mean that players of combat orientated Characters should become bored, as playing such a creature out of his depth is just as much fun. However if you are only used to collecting dots and powers and of reading every book to supersize and minimax, you won't get a lot out of this particular game.