The W20 Cookbook

As some of you will have seen in the Kickstarter updates, one of the things that we’re offering as part of the “Holy shit you guys are awesome” level1 of stretch rewards is the W20 Cookbook.

In the grand old tradition of W20 stretch goals, we didn’t plan this. I joked about doing it over on Google+ on Sunday night and mentioned it as an offhand comment to Rich. So naturally he picked up on it as a great idea for a stretch goal, and now it’s official.

In the spirit of Werewolf20, the cookbook will include a recipe for each Tribe throughout history. So that’s sixteen recipes for the Garou, plus a suitably apocalyptic dessert for the Black Spiral Dancers.

I’ve got a topic over on the WW Onyx Path Forum where folks are already gathering ideas and making suggestions. Please head over and add your voice to the mix. I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to use every suggestion, but I do appreciate every one.

I’m trying to keep the recipes to things that people can prepare at home, which does cut down on things like “first, take the beating heart of your enemies” style cooking. As such, I’m trying to keep things fairly simple—my own kitchen’s absolutely tiny, and I’ll need to test all the recipes. If I get a lot of good ideas, we may end up with more than 17 dishes; several people have suggested steak tartare, which is named for the Tartar people of the Russian Steppes, making it the perfect inclusion for the Siberakh. If we’re including them, the Hakken and Boli Zhouisze will wonder why they’ve not got a recipe of their own.


  1. Which we hit. Because holy shit, you guys are awesome.?

38 thoughts on “The W20 Cookbook”

  1. As long as the Get wont end up with Danish sandwiches or the damn Swedish meat balls, because honestly those are SUCH A CLICHÉ that even Kevin J. Anderson would cringe.

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    • I was tempted to do something with herring, just because it’s such a fun word to say, but I’m letting Trina Hahnemann be my main influence—big pork joints and hearty fish stews. No meatballs, I promise. 😉

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      • Speaking of scandi cuisine, Salmon and other fish used to be so plentiful that many house servant and farmhand contracts had a special clause -no salmon or any other fish to be served every day of the week. 😛

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  2. You guys could to a sequel cookbook for all the Changing Breeds.

    Kitfo (Ethiopian) could be done for either the Red Talons or the Kucha Ekundu:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitfo
    Probably fits the Kucha Ekundu more, though.

    Hakken: Avoid doing sushi. Do either Katsu/Tonkatsu, Yakitori, or to be really out there, Unagi (Grilled eel).
    Boli Zhouisze: Hong Kong Street Food
    http://www.cnngo.com/hong-kong/none/40-things-eat-hong-kong-coronary-arrest-820489

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    • Kitfo is, in my experience, really hard on the guts. If you’re not used to eating raw meat regularly, your system just doesn’t wanna play along.

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  3. Hey Stew, now that it’s an official product, any idea on if it’s just going to be 20+ pages of recipes, or is there going to be some “story” element to it? An introduction by some character (wandering Silent Strider Galliard who’s keen on cooking/culture of other Tribes perhaps) who gives a short story of the group he was with when he learned this recipe?
    (This one’s more for Richard) How about Illustration work? Any idea if there’s a budget for getting some artists to draw werewolves making/eating the meal for this piece? It’s just quirky enough that you might get some interested artists who find it funny enough to draw for cheap. OR this might be a great opportunity for Richard to reach out to the fans for free illustrations who may never have gotten a chance to be published otherwise?

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    • There’s quite a bit of W:tA fan illustration artists out there. Especially for the Rage CCG fan-sets, which is all volunteer work. We usually have an art call posted when art is needed for a set by H. C. O’Neill aka ‘Fenris Lorsrai’ (Art Director: And does card artwork too).

      While some of the art is asked for permission to use else-where, there’s quite a few of us volunteer artists who start from scratch to do pieces for the cards.

      I’m one of them, along with Fenris. Also on that list is: Roz Gibson, Wes Jones (http://hwango.deviantart.com/), kailindorian (http://kailindorian.deviantart.com/), Filip (http://clone-artist.deviantart.com/), ToddTraf, and a few others I can’t recall right now.

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    • No artist worth working with would offer their work to be used in a professionally published book for free.

      If it’s good enough for W:tA, it’s good enough for the existing submission channels.

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      • The problem with that was the Onyx Path website didn’t have the submission page up for a very, very long time. Nor do I trust that one can submit artwork through the old White Wolf website much anymore (Only good for the forums).

        However, I can say that the Onyx Path has finally got the submission section going now. Link: https://theonyxpath.com/art/

        But they only take cWOD art for the big three for now. So no changeling, wraith, demon, hunter, mass etc. artwork to be submitted yet at all. The fact they will take art submissions for Mage does raise my eyebrows.

        I’m still wondering if they will do the Rage CCG for it’s 20th ann. on 2015 and if it will be a print on demand CCG.

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      • I know quite a few artists who do commission work, who got started with W:tA, and are more than willing to contribute free artwork just to have their work officially published in something W:tA… even if it’s a cookbook. Also, I know a lot of artists who enjoy doing quirky work, and will often either do work for less, or free, just because it’s amusing and fun. Heck, I know some artists who enjoy doing artwork for THINGS instead of money too. Artists are quirky. And it could be an interesting “No Lose Situation” if artists who otherwise have never been able to get their foot in the door can do artwork for this book. Plus, “Free” might be all Rich is willing to put into the illustrations (or, giving a free hard-copy to the accepted illustrators) since it may not have much of a budget either.
        AND he might get a lot of contributions and find new artists and weed out the ones he doesn’t like too. 🙂

        Long story short: There’s a lot of great artists who are such big fans of W:tA that they’d be happy to offer free work just to be a part of the game they love. (Hell, a lot of people just paid an extra $200+ just to get their names/character names/likeness in a book. Imagine being able to draw something, have it published and say “I did that!” to your friends.)

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        • “I know quite a few artists who […] are more than willing to contribute free artwork just to have their work officially published in something W:tA…”

          And that’s highly unprofessional behavior. Exploiting such people would wreck Onyx Path Publishing’s reputation. If these artists want to be officially published by OPP, you can tell them to submit a portfolio.

          If you’re worried about the budget, note that the Scroll of Swallowed Darkness has paid art. OPP can afford professional artists.

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          • Making something for free doesn’t mean giving away your rights to the work.

            Not all artists are greedy and only in it for money.
            Some actually enjoy it beyond just work.

            Not taking money for their work doesn’t make an artist any less professional.

            Van Gogh didn’t take or get money from his works so he must have been a real shitty artist by your definition Mr I ?

          • Those are some mighty fine straw men you got there, Blue Fox. Mighty fine. I reckon those scarecrows will keep your fields clear of birds for sure.

          • … we’re talking about a cook book of recipes based on werewolves that was originally a non-associated fan-created project to begin with that didn’t have to be made in the first place, but Richard decided to make happen anyways as a gift to contributors because he found it funky and interesting enough to get behind and make it “official” from OPP.

            Since Stew was going to make it AS a fan anyways, why not allow other fans to contribute to it as well? Sure, he can still use the portfolio review, but only for some quality control.

            If you think OPPs reputation is dependent on the method of artwork submissions used for a werewolf-themed cookbook, then you have a sad interpretation of the industry. This is purely fan-service (and cool fan-service at that, IMO), so why not include the fans in its visuals as well?

            If this were a true supplement, intended for the game line, designed and created to enhance the game, then, yes… “flooding” the field with free artwork could upset artists who depend on being paid and would be “out of work” that could have paid them. HOWEVER, this is a project that didn’t exist until an hour before it was announced. It was a book proposed as a fun thing by a fan (who happens to also be in charge of the W:tA line too), and got picked up. Why not the same for the art? I’m not saying Rich can’t pay $ for it, or pay in physical materials, or some other means if he chooses, but that this project is already a quirky thing, so why not consider something a bit more quirky for the illustration work?

          • “If these artists want to be officially published by OPP, you can tell them to submit a portfolio.

            If you’re worried about the budget, note that the Scroll of Swallowed Darkness has paid art. OPP can afford professional artists.”

            Going to disagree here. I’ve read a lot of interviews in old Card Game magazines, and while White Wolf did use their staff of artists to do work on Rage, they also went looking for other artists to do work on it. In other words, people who didn’t have to submit their work via portfolios.
            But were already well known within the comic book industry for their art.
            This is because Rich was looking for a particular style for the Rage CCG.
            Also noted that Rich himself had to do a lot of art on the deadline because Edward Beard, Jr. did not turn his art in for the cards.

            Yes, while most artists have to submit portfolios, it is not the be-all end-all to getting actual work.

            It is also feasible of them to the same with what’s considered a humorous cook book. That they will be certainly looking for a certain style for it. And with deviantart and other art websites, it’s not hard to go looking for art in the style you want either.

            And there are artists out there who don’t mind only getting credits. Because it often is a way to get noticed and contacted about if they are just starting out. Onyx Path can certainly afford professional artists, but nobody starts out as a professional artist day one. Everyone starts somewhere, and their art keeps evolving/changing.
            Hey, if SCAR can get work…

          • If being able to see that people can do something purely out of passion is being naive, than flag me right up there too. Life isn’t about making money, it’s about enjoying it. Money is a very powerful means to that, but there are other ways. It all comes down to how you see life.

            As a matter of fact, I spend at least 2 hours a day working my ass off on my Werewolf LARP. My only payment is the frequent “thank you”s from my players and seeing my work being enjoyed by others. And that, my friend, is more than enough because I love doing this. This feeling is at the core of what keeps a Storyteller going through all the drama, and all the work and all the problems. That is the very thing that makes our hobby, our passion, even possible.

            If I was an artist, I would partake in this for free. Would it be professional? Nah. I agree it wouldn’t. Neither was writing in the Malkavian clanbook that the secrets of the universe would be on page XX of the werewolf corebook. A blank page. But, it sure was awesome.

  4. Hakken should be something like….. Electric eel Onigiri 😛

    Uktena-Seminole should be their famous pumpkin bread,

    Glass Walker-Either something high class or something like…. Hot pockets and Monster for those techie GWs,

    White Fang-Golden Ossetra, aged premium vodka,

    Red Talon-Venison Rare if cooked at all

    Silent Strider- Peas pot, Traveler’s Stew (cooked over an open flame)

    Fianna-Corned beef and cabbage cooked with some fortified Ale

    Black furies-Hmmm Amazonian treat of some kind dont know easily cooked amazonian food

    Bone Gnawers-Hobo Chili, Generally a poormans chili made with scraps of food and what little meat can be salvaged

    Children of Gaia- Something heartwarming like a family style meal, maybe a whole turkey or something?

    Get of Fenris-Saurkraut, Sausages, Beef Haunch, Mead(can be made at home and tastes good)

    Shadow Lord-Garlic Soup, Ghoulash

    Stargazer-Simple chinese vegtable mix bok choy, chinese cabbage, sprouts

    Wendigo-Simple inuit foods, generally cooked with fat and good game meat, high in protien and energy for those cold winters

    I don’t know if this was to be posted here but I can never resist helping in a game I’ve been playing for years, creating new content for daily

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  5. How bout for the GW a bit of make your own home made pizza with lots of meat lover’s topping. Just enough modern flare, but harkening back to Italian Wise Guys roots. Very versatile to handle the eclectic tastes of many of the different camps of the tribe. Either fancy topping for the Corporate Wolves, Artichoke hearts, Gorgonzola cheese and minced garlic with sun dried tomatoes; or down and dirty pepperoni and cheese from the Random Interrupts. You can make your own dough or pick up a pre-made crust. Cooking times may vary depending on ingredients, but not by much to make it really risky for a kitchen newb.

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    • I think that Pizza, even if it may seem a little banal for some is a very good representative for the Glass walkers.

      The first Pizza’s were made by Romans as street food to be sold at festivals and later evolved into “edible dinner plates” I.E hard round dinner plate sized crackers that were used instead of real plates and eaten at the end of the meal with the leftover gravy.

      Somewhere around the turn of the 19-20th century Naples street vendors started selling Pizza like bread with tomato topping for tourists coming to see the ruins and once the idea for Pizza Margharita had been conceived, Pizza had basically been resurrected once more and the American Joe’s took it home…

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  6. I’m loving this idea personally. I’ve been doing a lot of things food related the last few years and with two chefs in my family it’s only getting better. Really looking forward to this part of the rewards for my deluxe edition.

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    • I wonder if there is a W20 Curse? I mean… I can see that there is an intent to do the Open Development, get feedback, keep folks interested in the projects… but “things” come up and the folks on their end seem to either forget that they asked questions and folks are still posting, forget to say “Thanks guys. That’s all for now”, or are somehow too shy to let us know that they’re still watching and utilizing what we’re saying, or afraid to tell us that what they would like us to do…

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  7. 4 days left for the KS survey… Oh man I really hope this project would get done in timely fashion but nor I’m entirely surprised if it gets delayed a few days or even weeks from it’s original dead lines.

    Speaking of dead lines… I wonder if Stew’s been cooking like mad to taste test the recipes and is henceforth too busy (or sick) to reply? 🙂

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    • I think this is just the result of the method they are using. Children of the Revolution ended in June, and the PDF was given to the KS members in September. Now, I don’t think this will be true with W20, since the book is clearly in its final stages, but delays are something I expected.

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  8. Wait wait 4 days left for the survey, you mean before the survey is handed out or in 4 days it’s over and done and I’m screwed because I never got it?

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  9. I do not know whether it’s just me or if perhaps everyone else encountering issues with your website. It looks like some of the written text within your posts are running off the screen. Can someone else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them as well? This could be a problem with my web browser because I’ve
    had this happen before. Thanks

    Reply

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