Vampire: The Masquerade

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Vampire: The Masquerade

Vampire: The Masquerade (Revised Edition) cover
Designer(s) Mark Rein·Hagen
Publisher(s) White Wolf
Publication date 1991 (1st edition)
1992 (2nd edition)
1998 (Revised edition)
Genre(s) Personal Horror
System Storyteller System

Created by Mark Rein·Hagen, Vampire: The Masquerade was the first of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness live-action and role-playing games, based on the Storyteller System and centered around vampires in a modern Gothic-Punk world. The Revised Edition, sometimes alternately referred to as the Third Edition by fans, was released in 1998 and explains, "the setting of Vampire is a composite of its populace and their despair." The title of the series comes from "The Masquerade", referring to the Camarilla's attempts to hide vampirism from humans and their governments and media; it also serves as a double entendre, referring to vampires' efforts to convince themselves that they are not the monsters they have become.

In 1992, Vampire: The Masquerade won the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules of 1991. The game line was discontinued in 2004, and followed by revised rules and a new setting in Vampire: The Requiem.

Contents

[edit] Vampires in the World of Darkness

World of Darkness
Vampire series

Settings
Dark Ages
Victorian Age
Masquerade
Eternal Struggle
Requiem

Mythology
Caine · Lilith ·
Antediluvians ·
Book of Nod
Revelations of the Dark Mother
The Erciyes Fragments

Vampire history
Cainite Heresy · Gehenna ·
Time of Thin Blood

Vampire society
Anarchs · Antitribu · Autarkis · Black Hand · Blood hunt · Bloodline · Caitiff · Camarilla · Clan · Inconnu · Laibon · Kuej-jin · Masquerade · Sabbat · Tal'mahe'Ra

Vampirism
Blood bond · Blood point · Childe · Dhampir · Diablerie · Embrace · Frenzy · Ghoul · Revenant · Rötschreck · Vitae

Requiem
Requiem Clans · Requiem Bloodlines · Carthian Movement · Circle of the Crone · Invictus · Lancea Sanctum · Ordo Dracul

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"Kindred" is the term many vampires in this game use to refer to themselves. Some vampires, namely those of the Sabbat, refer to themselves as "Cainites", as the curse that transforms them into vampires originated with Caine. The term "kine" (an archaic term for cattle) is the opposite of this, and refers to humans.

In general, vampiric societies consist of two levels: sects and clans. Characters within the Vampire setting are members of one of the clans or minor Bloodlines offered, and usually belong to factions associated with these or that reflect a general ideological stance the characters happen to share. For example, a Brujah may belong to the Camarilla, the Sabbat, or the Anarchs, but very few Tremere would be found among the Sabbat and even more rarely among the Anarchs.

Some clans and most of the minor bloodlines declare themselves independent from any sects. A vampire who rejects all associations with any sect and clan is known as Autarkis. In addition, the Laibon, known as Kindred of the Ebony Kingdom by Western Kindred, are not so much a sect as a cultural group bound together loosely by a powerful spiritual bond to the land and the people of Africa. The Kindred of the East, while sharing some superficial similarity to the western Kindred, are actually an entirely different variety of supernatural being.

[edit] Clans and Bloodlines

Each Vampire belongs to a distinct clan or bloodline. These groupings share distinct characterisics, powers and curses. The Nosferatu, for example, all share the disciplines of animalism, obfuscate & potence and the curse of disfiguring appearence. A bloodline is a distinct split from the main clans, as the curse of Caine is changed over time, representing new expresiions of vampirism. Some Bloodlines, such as the Gargoyles are artificially created through applications of Thaumaturgy. The Caitiff are an exception to the rule, as they are considered clanless sharing no disciplines and curse, they are viewed as a disquieting sign of the coming armageddon.

Vampire: The Dark Ages and Vampire: The Masquerade · Clans and Bloodlines

Assamite · Baali · Brujah · Caitiff · Cappadocian (V:DA) · Daughters of Cacophony (V:TM) · Followers of Set · Gangrel · Giovanni (V:TM) · Harbingers of Skulls (V:TM) · Kiasyd · Lasombra · Malkavian · Nosferatu · Ravnos · Salubri · Samedi (V:TM) · Toreador · Tremere · Tzimisce · Ventrue

[edit] Tie-ins and adaptations

Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Wraith: The Oblivion, Changeling: The Dreaming, Hunter: The Reckoning, Mummy: The Resurrection, Kindred of the East and Demon: The Fallen are other RPG titles set in the so-called World of Darkness.

In August 2004, the now-defunct game set in the original World of Darkness was replaced by Vampire: The Requiem. Although it is an entirely new game, rather than a continuation of the old, it uses many elements of the old game, including certain clans and disciplines.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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