The setting is grounded in the fantastic, yet its individual properties have always reflected social themes of perpetual importance. From the explorations of morality in Vampire: The Masquerade to the idea of balance in Mummy: The Resurrection, the World of Darkness is ripe with opportunities to engage with real-world issues. For the revitalisation of the IP, White Wolf decided to lean on this fact, rather than the brand recognition of Vampire: The Masquerade. As such, when Cyanide pitched a vision for Werewolf: The Apocalypse that homed in on the environmental themes and questioning of violence, White Wolf leapt at the idea.
“Not saying that Vampire can’t address burning contemporary issues, but holy s**t does Werewolf feel like the right story for our strange times,” Ericsson said. “The tagline for Werewolf is ‘When Will You Rage?’ It’s essentially a radical revenge fantasy where you become a savage warrior of nature, ripping oil-pipelines, corporate boardrooms and narrow-minded bigots to shreds. I think a large percentage of the world can relate to the anger and frustration the Garou feel as they watch us humans f**k up the planet. And on the flip side it asks the question ‘what’s the price of using violence to change the world’.”
Although Cyanide’s initial pitch was spot-on, White Wolf is heavily involved in the game’s production, frequently checking in and approving “every part of the game, every piece of concept art, as a part of [the] licensing process.” The close collaboration ensures that Werewolf: The Apocalypse adheres to the rules and ideas of the original RPG, with Ericsson saying that “the mechanics of Rage and Gnosis (spiritual wisdom) and interaction with the Umbra, the world of spirits both pure and corrupted… will be central to the game’s systems. And yes, you will almost certainly come face to face with the twisted corporate employees at Pentex subsidiaries like Endron Oil and fight next to some of the tragic heroes of the Garou!”
