World of Darkness Lore: Special Affairs Department

[@dragonhunter4592]

It would be funny if The Director knows all of his seconds are plants. Be nice to know that not all humans are treated as weaklings or idiots in The World of Darkness

[@lazarofstygia2241]

The previous director of the NSA figured it out. His reward was being forcibly committed into an asylum.

[@HonestObserver]

There’s a cool fan supplement called Illuminati: the Conspiracy where there’s a mortal conspiracy that secretly struggles against the supernatural by doing conspiracies. Sort of a comparable situation to the mortal director Osborne pretending to be dumb and playing off his subordinates against each other.

[@zackkilgore528]

@@lazarofstygia2241 what if the current Director himself is a plant of the Society of Leopold?

[@Jimothy-723]

@@zackkilgore528 well, inorder to be in that level of intell... your probably a member of multiple secret societies.

[@NOOBNUT08]

There's potential for another WoD game here, "Fed the Glowing".

[@XxX-vi9if]

So sorry it's taken a year until now for someone to tell you how funny that pun is

[@NOOBNUT08]

@@XxX-vi9if At least it's got 13 likes.

[@NOOBNUT08]

@@XxX-vi9ifThe first chronicle involves NWO agents trying to buy sawed off shotguns from some hunters.

[@johnnydjiurkopff]

​@@NOOBNUT0816

[@SheoGotSomeCheese]

18

[@Brutalyte616]

I imagine the SAD would eventually develop a unit consisting of those individuals of a supernatural persuasion who are aware of the organization and are willing to offer their services to the department in exchange for protection from outside parties and clemency for any transgressions they may have been forced to commit prior to joining. And, you know, a binding legal contract saying the government acknowledges them as a United States citizen with the same legal rights and protections as a human being.

[@lazarofstygia2241]

I like it.

[@Brutalyte616]

@@lazarofstygia2241 Glad to hear it, although that will probably never be canon. Or even canon adjacent.

[@BlackIce3190]

Such a thing exist in the Monster Hunter International universe, under the name Special Task Force Unicorn.

[@Hollowbarista]

@@BlackIce3190 akin to scp organisation task force team of similar name?

[@BlackIce3190]

@@Hollowbarista Not what the SCP equivalent is, but same idea yeah. Monsters do black ops work for the government in exchange for exemption from the bounty system.

[@skeletonking4119]

Holy Moma! I KNOW!! There’s something to do with FBI and government and other people’s act against vampires!! Thank you you amazing man!

[@lazarofstygia2241]

You're welcome. The truth is out there.

[@unatco1148]

*FBI OPEN UP*

[@dualphoenix9266]

Yes sir from the Book Project Twilight great book.

[@jackstefan8639]

@@lazarofstygia2241i love the idea of the government being aware of the supernatural and fighting against it but I think they took it to far with the second inquisition in 5e in terms of making them unreasonably effective.

[@GrimgoreIronhide]

I have a very soft spot in my heart for Bob Schnoblin. I hope he somehow not only survives, but becomes a powerful supernatural to continue his mission long into the future. The Pyramid rises!

[@steampunker7]

I love lore like this. While indeed fragmented, apocryphal and in some cases just flat out wrong as their intel may be, that human agencies and institutions aren't quite as ignorant about (or independent from) the various supernatural forces of the WoD as they seem is great story fodder and can provide unexpected antagonists (or even protagonists) in any game or setting. Makes for some good "Call of Cthulhu" style adventure scenarios where the humans go digging for things that go bump in the night, only to find out they can and will bump back pretty hard if pressed or antagonized. And on the other side while every Garou knows to watch out for Pentex, Fomori, or Black Spiral Dancers and all the Camarilla knows to be wary of the Sabbat or Vampire hunters, federal agents sniffing around kinfolk or ghoul fronts or breaking out silver nitrate or hellfire rounds during a fight adds a level of threat that isn't easily dealt with by claw and fang alone.

[@shilohwehrmacht2947]

That's when it pays to be lasombra

[@forestjohnson7474]

Never underestimate the ability of the shadow lords, glass walkers, sabbat, and virtual adepts ability to cover anything up.

[@ErisRising]

And whatever they don't get to, the NWO is sure to take care of.

[@sivartevafal]

Camarilla glaringly absent from this list. The games literally called “Masquerade”….

[@ryanrizzo4869]

Thank you for making Mortals scary again! Lol. Even for Hunters, these agencies are not friends. I like it!

[@Jimothy-723]

dude. the scariest thing on planet earth will forever and always be the IRS.

[@Abyssal86]

Hold up, ghoul blood looks different under a microscope? I admit I'm not 100% versed on the lore, but could I get a citation? Because that's a very important piece of info.

[@lazarofstygia2241]

Project Twilight (1995). Supposedly Vampire Vitae bears some similarities to earthworm blood. Medically, it would be a little alarming to see significant quantities of hemoglobin in human plasma, which would be a sign of hemolysis (red blood cells leaking). Which is fine for earthworms because they don't have dedicated respiratory organs.

[@Abyssal86]

@@lazarofstygia2241 Thank you very much, that's really interesting!

[@unatco1148]

@@Abyssal86 Ghouls are still living beings though theres a big difference between freelance ghouls, revenants & bloodbound ghouls.

[@Abyssal86]

@@unatco1148 I already knew that.

[@samuelrodriguez9801]

I can imagine a Vampire's perspective on how these Government organizations became the Second Inquisition. "At first the Government agencies were clueless and incompetent we'd get away easy almost all the time but then after a while they got better, more professional and they started taking down Elysiums everywhere it must've been the Society of Leopold who was responsible."

[@zackkilgore528]

Governments becoming *more* professional? Now we know it’s fiction

[@Sabian49]

​@@zackkilgore528 a true fantasy setting

[@HonestObserver]

Wonder if anyone’s ever mashed up the WoD with the Delta Green version of the Cthulhu Mythos… SAD vs. MJ-12 compromised agencies political intrigue

[@andrewlong9799]

I used to play a hunters game in WoD with the government. Played a Team Force Valkyrie member and it was set over several years, ended up as the director of the mid west territories after keeping demon pact Vampires from summoning Lucifer. It’s very, very difficult playing a Hunter at first but once you know the weaknesses of all the other types it’s like playing Batman, and it was so rewarding to have a werewolf or vampire try to jump you and using your tools you can turn the tables on them.

[@VallornDeathblade]

The Virtual Adepts tripwire in the SAD systems is a move of sheer genius, but it does come with a terrible risk of 'outing' one or both factions of mages to the department and wider government if everything goes sideways.

[@ThewarriorDraganta]

Is it just me or does the SAD seem kinda pathetic? I may have the wrong idea about them but this video doesn't really make them seem particularly competent, especially when compared to other mortal hunter groups like the Society of Leopold or even the Imbued. Hell, their initials literally spell "sad"! Which is a shame since the idea of playing a Dale Cooper/Fox Maulder-style occult detective in the WoD is rad a hell!

[@Demolitiondude]

Nobody here but the FBI's most unwanted!

[@lazarofstygia2241]

The list is almost 1/3 Garou. Don't know if that's good or bad.

[@Demolitiondude]

There's at least one extraterrestrial.

[@HonestObserver]

Wonder if the MI-6 or the DGSE knows anything about mummies

[@StarkeRealm]

@@HonestObserver Canonically, oWoD's MI5 had a supernatural investigation team called, "Division 6." As far as I know, there's maybe two paragraphs on the subject total, and no mentions of MI6 having monster hunters. The name was revived by Hunter: The Vigil, but in nWoD it was an American organization.

[@HonestObserver]

Egypt was the old stomping ground for those imperial powers, would make sense if their intelligence agencies ran afoul of local supernaturals in their former colonies, e.g. Ravnos in the Raj

[@alexandarvoncarsteinzarovi3723]

Great now, we have to worry about the fracking FBI or CIA delving into the magical arts just like KGB and any predecessors did, you might be unaware the construction of the Chernobyl nuclear plant was done on very, very old soil, however when the Soviet Union decided to civilize that area they soaked the blood of countless into it, but as side effect that part of the land held a shrine dedicated the Slave God of Darkness, Chernabog, which was destroyed...you can see were I am going with this, US, North Carolina, Cherokee nation parks 1946, FBI agent Elly was investigating rumours of cult activity and ended up getting kidnapped by a group of satanists, would wanted to use him as sacrifice in necromatic ritual, can confirm that non one made it out alive

[@dubuyajay9964]

Never heard of "Men Who Stare at Goats?"

[@alexandarvoncarsteinzarovi3723]

@@dubuyajay9964 Great movie

[@coolmanbritt]

What did kill the town in Connecticut? An earthbound? The Deep Space insane version of the technocracy?

[@lazarofstygia2241]

The most likely culprit was Pentex conducting a trial of a new strain of Ebola virus.

[@thehoodybadger3402]

As a Nutmegger, this is a pressing matter indeed.

[@VallornDeathblade]

It could be the Dancers trying to sacfice a town to summon the Eater Of Souls again.

[@blacksun6245]

Im guessing that tandy girl was a garou going through her first transformation

[@lazarofstygia2241]

That would be a correct guess.

[@blacksun6245]

@@lazarofstygia2241 cool let try again i think she ether get of fenris or sliver fang

[@lazarofstygia2241]

That's a maybe. The pack she ran away with was Fianna, but that might just have been convenient.

[@blacksun6245]

@@lazarofstygia2241 or she could be a white howler. Maybe she has the howler gene on both sides of the family

[@lazarofstygia2241]

It is a possibility. A remote possibility but, few purges have a 100% success rate.

[@fastgav]

Such awesome info. I'm glad that you included a little with the fae this video. You didn't mention any knowledge of demons though.

[@lazarofstygia2241]

At the time of this material, the Fallen were still in the Abyss and the only Wyrm creatures the SAD has met are the Black Spirals.

[@StarkeRealm]

That's because the SAD never learned about Demons. Project: Twilight, which Lazar was referencing predates the Fallen returning to earth, so the only demons loose at that point were the Earthbound and Lucifer. Hunter: First Contact updates the SAD to 2004, after the Demons had returned, and it simply says that the SAD doesn't know about any of the rarer supernatural creatures. Basically, the SAD knew about Vampires, Werewolves, Wraiths, Spirits (remember: Project: Twilight was a werewolf splat, so these guys are more important in that context), and Mages. With the exception of Vampires, their knowledge is very spotty. About the only meaningful elements from First Contact are that it lays the groundwork for the SAD to encounter the Imbued, and that by 2004 the Department had expanded to 20 agents. I'd need to double check, but I don't think it even nails down what the canon progression of events was from 1995. It does establish that Osbourne was still acting as Director in January 2003, and that the SAD would categorize the Imbued as, "type 9," supernatural entities. But, by design, a lot of the information is pretty vague. I mean, I could be wrong, but I think the SAD literally only appeared in 3 splatbooks over 12 years. They're a cool concept, and even got a card in the Werewolf CCG, but government backed monster hunters was something that was only lightly touched on very lightly in the oWoD.

[@VindensSaga]

Half Life ambience is definitely fitting. :)

[@Giles29]

I think I remember something from one of the books about "the case of the Belligerent Irishman" - which I thought also involved a non-Native American werewolf although the Delerium kind of covered that up. I could also imagine agents making fun of "Spooky" Mulder while being totally unaware of the SAD agents in their midst.

[@DarthVil]

In the context of the World of Darkness who/what is the Star Chamber?

[@lazarofstygia2241]

Probably the Skull and Bones...but with ghouls.

[@samuelrodriguez9801]

31:35 I laughed at "Captain Glasswalker"

[@Ironiclast1312]

Im imagining the pitch to Hoover going terribly until they mention "Communist Vampires" at which point Hoover hands them a blank check

[@laucorn123]

Imagine playing a Vampire who works with the SAD lol.

[@lazarofstygia2241]

Just because you're dead doesn't mean you can't serve your country.

[@StarkeRealm]

@@lazarofstygia2241 Didn't one of the factions in Project: Twilight have a captive vampire? Or am I thinking of a different Year of the Hunter faction?

[@Jsay18]

The Masquerade demands you to stop glowing in the dark.

[@VallornDeathblade]

@@Jsay18 You got a full on belly laugh out of me with that one. 10/10.

[@monasteryfounder]

@@Jsay18 Network Zero lurking on /x/.

[@jasonfrancese8359]

Dude, imagine being part of the sad unit.

[@KS-PNW]

Loving your channel but this is probably my favorite so far! 👍👍

[@lazarofstygia2241]

Thanks!

[@rejvaik00]

I don't know what's weirder the fact that humans think they can take on the supernatural and win or the fact that Bethesda operates a mental institution 🤣

[@BlackIce3190]

I mean…they *have* done it. There is a reason humans don’t run things openly anymore.

[@breakerofrocks]

But humans can take on the supernatural and win. This has been true even in the gray haze of the prehistoric past. To wit: • Throughout all the years of recorded history and even in the days of the First City, vampires generally lived under a social injunction or full law that limited the ratio of vampires to humans to no greater than 3 for every 10,000. This was done not only because more vampires than that meant conflict over sustenance would encourage violence between vampires, but because the sustenance is human blood itself, and humans have a tendency to take extreme umbrage with being fed upon as a resource. • Garou (and other fera) operate their lives around the principle of protecting and aiding the humans closest to them (their kinfolk and other allies) and mitigating or neutralizing those supernaturals and *humans* injurious to their interests. And, this is not emphasized enough, but everyone of the changing breeds is called that because they are a breed of beings that change between a certain kind of animal *and a human*. There are cat-human shifters, bear-human shifters, raven-human shifters and even spider-human shifters, but there are no turtle-bat shifters, dolphin-beetle shifters or wolf-lobster shifters. Even the mokolé, who can remember times in the past when they had a form resembling a humanoid saurian, have access now to only the humanoid form in addition to their dream shape and their reptilian species form. They also have no memory of any changing breeds - other than themselves - having any form at one end of the shape changing spectrum that wasn't a human. What does it say about the value and power of humanity that many species, by turns closely and distantly related through genetics, time and place, would *all* share a human form and none after the death of the dragon kings would ever have a tool-using non-human form. • All mages are literally humans with will enough to awaken their avatars and focus their strength. It is the operational assumptions and real world expectations of the sleepers in a given area that determine it's tolerance and thereby the effectiveness and intensity of paradox. •Wraiths are the spirits of dead people who are somehow behind in their progress along then birth, life, death routes. • Fae have long since been forced away from the world and something as simple as an iron rod (iron, I remind you, is, aside from quartz and hydrogen) is the most abundant element on the planet. When iron smelting was discovered, the Fae were past being threats at all to humans, as a whole of course. Cut it any which way and you might expose different layers of truth but the hard, underlying fact - which is true for us and the world of darkness - is that baseline humanity is the apex predator and ultimate decider for what happens to the planet and who gets to live on it. Even when the 'god-like' *antediluvian* Zapathasura woke and rampaged through northeastern India and Bangladesh in 1999, the whole rampage lasted around 5 days before he was killed and consumed by sunlight, all of the damage his hunger tantrum had wrought was 2 or 3 million deaths in a world of (at the time) just under 8 billion. That means even if there were 13 antediluvians remaining to wake up (and there isn't even that many), each one would have to kill 615 million people to cause our extinction, and the one who gave wrecking the modern world a go in 1999 got 2 or 3 million if we're fudging the numbers and being generous with our interpretations. It seems the strongest or at least nearly the strongest supernaturals in the setting (the antediluvians) may be *god-like* and even *godly*, but we have no more problem killing them than we had killing god anytime throughout history. Remember what Nietzsche said: 'God is dead, god remains dead and we have killed him.' The truth is that the most pathetic thing is when the supernaturals have deluded themselves into believing they have any real hope against us.

[@rejvaik00]

@@breakerofrocks _....And so it came to pass that the countess who once bathed in the blood of 100 virgins was buried alive_ _And her castle in which so many cruel deeds took place fell rapidly into ruin, rising over the buried dungeons amongst the forgotten hills sits a solitary tower like some monument to evil is all that remains_ _The countess' fortune was believed to have been divided among the clergy although some say that more remains unfound still buried alongside the rotting skulls who bear mute witness to the inhumanity of the human creature....._

[@mrraisbeck]

Another top quality video, making Stygia proud.

[@lazarofstygia2241]

Hail Charon! Stygia Aeterna!

[@raybrimberry4882]

Not sure if anyone said this, but the number 1 most wanted vampire is Sheriff from Chicago by Night.

[@AlexKrossLore]

Could The Hook be some of the Prometheans?

[@StarkeRealm]

Short answer: No. The Prometheans were a New World of Darkness critter type, which didn't exist for oWoD. The slightly longer answer is that oWoD would later, explicitly, have rules for one-off urban legends and other kinds of weird monsters. Though, there really isn't enough information on The Hook to narrow it down to something specific. (Could be a Tzemice fleshcraft, a fomori, some technocracy critter run amok... there really isn't enough information to start narrowing it down.) Changling: The Lost (so, new World of Darkness) would later introduce a True Fae as The Hook, but that's a different character in a different setting, though it is possible that The Hook was always meant to be a Fae.

[@tinfoilhat3268]

Been binge watching your stuff. You've the best WOD creator I've found on here

[@danny_decheeto8300]

Now I want to play a vampire hunting G man

[@johannmueller9660]

I love this. Great stuff for my gaming group who are playing hunters who may have been using their phones and the computers rather foolishly.... BWAHAHAHA!!!

[@egillskallagrimson5879]

Dude Thomason didn't fail to protect the budget, the most successful hunter of the gob just suffer the most crushing budgetary cut? yeah all coincident nothing to do with the Camarilla...

[@lennoxshepherd3905]

I am honestly surprised the glasswalkers didn't come up more

[@Kholan95]

This episode is awesome! I remember skimming through project Twilight but not paying too much mind to it. Does anyone happen to know where any American Indian movement references comes from?

[@Vikstorm]

Most of the native American's in WoD makes up werewolf clans. Hence the lore of skin walkers or the Wendigo. Pretty good lore reading really.

[@Kholan95]

@@Vikstorm The American Indian Movement (AIM), in 1968, is an international movement whose goals included the full restoration of tribal sovereignty and treaty rights. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indian_Movement

[@Kholan95]

I'm familiar with the Three Brothers. Was talking about the organization, specifically. There are also a lot of natives in Wraith, mostly spectres but still. Then there is the Nunnehi changelings and Dreamspeakers for mage have all been coded to include natives.

[@StarkeRealm]

My first experience running a WoD campaign was started from the adventure setup in Project: Twilight.

[@Trollioli]

I always liked the Hunters Hunted book. It really lowered the power levels of the characters and made even the most minor vampire deaths a big deal. Eventually though the players would "figure it all out" and then the game would become an US vs. THEM and THEM. THEM and THEM being the WOD and humans on the take.

[@CrimsonFuqr]

Anyone notice the visual similarities between the killer of Horner in the thirties, and Balthazar from Chicago by Night?

[@francoguerra4047]

Lmao that's what i tought. It's %100 him.

[@CrimsonFuqr]

I thought I was alone in that! Glad someone else noticed

[@DARKthenoble]

I think the vampires that would pass a thermal test would be a thin blood.

[@thousandpagesofmadness]

That or they used Blush of Life

[@DARKthenoble]

@@thousandpagesofmadness what is that?

[@thousandpagesofmadness]

@@DARKthenoble at least in v5 (don't know about other editions) you can fake being alive temporarily with almost minimal effort

[@DARKthenoble]

@@thousandpagesofmadness damn

[@sillygoblin0156]

This is a really good topic. Not many people talk about it. This kind of organization gives lots of room for subtly and connection.

[@GKiernan01]

I love that their acronym is SAD

[@jharrington2112]

So these books were written well before Homeland Security and the Patriot act. What do you think the lore with those would be?

[@rikhenry9701]

I often listen to your videos while I do construction work but sometimes (though it is rare) you include visuals that tend to throw me off with a lack of vocal context. Would you be able to narrate some of these or to at least announce that what's on screen won't be expanded upon so I can view it later? I like listening to your country accent talking about the super natural while I tear apart and reseal dry wall.

[@JohnSmith-xm4dk]

45:09 I see what you did there...

[@lazarofstygia2241]

What ever do you mean?

[@thomaslancaster4223]

Is this officer401?

[@duemender9780]

Can i ask which books you sourced from? Would love to read them myself

[@lazarofstygia2241]

Hunter's Hunted and Project Twilight.

[@krispalermo8133]

Department of Paranormal Investigation Affairs ( D.P.I.A.) " Hell Boy." My last game shop from around 15 to 17 years ago started it up after Changeling the Lost came out. WW I veterans M.I.A. shown up during WW II without aging a year, and soldiers from WW I & II shown up during the Korean war with strange powers and even stranger stories about where they were all those missing years. Changeling are a cross between the X-Men & Night Watch. M.I.A. " I went missing during WW II and all I wanted to do is get home and protect my family. Irony my fetch raised my son to be a good man and I pop out during Korea just in time to save my son who grown to become a US Marine. God bless America." Other than poking fun at the old J.I. Joe cartoons, more of our other Changeling games were a bit more .. emotional/mental. a.) Young man just trying to get back to his pregnant wife, turn old his fetch is working four part time jobs to support his son and is trying to raise three other street teenagers and keeping them out of trouble. So how is he going to help his family and give his fetch hope ?" b.) Most changelings that can remember their durance hated their Keepers, so what if a changeling doesn't remember being abuse by their keeper and just taught magic ? Or a child just ran around on a river bank all day playing with otters and came back as an otter themselves. Will other changelings hate them for having a happy time in Fairy while they were abuse slaves ? c.) I played a changeling that was both a little girl rag doll that had derange tea parties with and her dog's chew toy. The only reason my PC made it back through the Hedge was cause the dog was running around with me in his mouth. My PC is afraid of all dogs and changeling beast kith related to dogs. Worry that my Keeper will come looking for me. d.) Disney " Duck Tales " Wood Chuck guide book, it is a Hedge to Fairy internet hook up to ask question to all of my Keeper's other scholars. The book is a McGuffin to move the story plot along. And everyone will want that book if they real found out what it is. e.) Everyone at my last game shop had some mental problem, so playing Changeling we just play our own personal derangements and can really let our social guards/walls down and just be ourselves. Half of us have hyper fight/flight panic attacks so we don't have to control our nerves twitches or worry about being mess with like we would be at work. Changeling is a great game since you don't have to worry about role playing blood sucking vampires or rage induce werewolves. Changeling goblin market is just one great treasure hunt and cut deals.

[@BlueBedouin]

Listening to this late at night Epic

[@gasmonkey1000]

How much else is known about Tandi Grubhold? It sounds like she'd make for a fun character

[@lazarofstygia2241]

Not much. She only appears in one book.

[@gasmonkey1000]

​@@lazarofstygia2241Dang, ya think there'd be more.

[@invaderHUNK]

Any chance of a video on the Technocracy? I wanna know of the frogs are gay in World of Darkness

[@rubyismycatman7335]

i love this it amuses me in a twisted way that the universe of the world of darkness is a lot more innocent and far less evil than reality🤩

[@tommartin1223]

You mentioned a piece of equipment called a sting ray....what is that?

[@lazarofstygia2241]

It's like a fake cell phone tower. It captures IMSI numbers allowing the user to track and locate individual cell phones.

[@TheKagar]

Thank you for Upload :)

[@peternunez2893]

Is #1 supposed to be Clark Gable?

[@Fpwc2]

Seems more like Balthazar to me.

[@perdurabo56]

10:15

[@FretboardToAsh]

These videos are great, but that intro is way too long. It's like we're back in the early 2000's.

[@VoicedNat]

For some reason I just can't be on the same side as normal people fighting supernatural that isn't inherently evil. Yes, most of the supernatural is evil, but there are still people there, I just believe that for some reason something worse and unfair will happen when they interfere, even though some times they really make good things like fighting serial killers and nzis.

[@arisumego]

2:57 how is that possible if vampires turn to ash upon final death? Genuinely confused

[@lazarofstygia2241]

On Final Death, Vampires begin decaying to what condition their corpse would be in at the time of their Embrace.

[@Jimothy-723]

depends on situation. different types of vampires die differently.