Vampire: The Masquerade
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| Vampire: The Masquerade | |
 Vampire: The Masquerade (Revised Edition) cover |
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| Designer | Mark Rein·Hagen |
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| Publisher | 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.[1] 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.[2] It also serves as a double entendre, referring to vampires' efforts to convince themselves that they are not the monsters they have become.[citation needed]
In 1992, Vampire: The Masquerade won the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules of 1991.[3] The game line was discontinued in 2004, and followed by revised rules and a new setting in Vampire: The Requiem.
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[edit] Concept
The game uses the cursed and immortal Vampiric condition as a backdrop to explore themes of morality, depravity, the human condition (or appreciation of the human condition in its absence), salvation, and personal horror. The gloomy version of the real world that the Vampires inhabit, called "The World of Darkness", forms an already bleak canvas against which the stories and struggles of characters are painted. The themes that the game seeks to address include retaining the character's sense of self, humanity, and sanity, as well as simply keeping from being crushed by the grim opposition of mortal and supernatural antagonists and, more poignantly, surviving the politics, treachery and often violent ambitions of their own kind.
[edit] Game system
Vampire is based on the Storyteller System. In addition to the general Storyteller rules, it uses a number of specific mechanics aimed towards simulating the vampiric existence. A vampire has a blood pool signifying the amount of human blood or vitae currently in their body; this blood can be spent to power abilities and perform supernatural tricks. These tricks simulate many of those portrayed on film, such as turning into animals or mist, sleeping in the ground or having unnatural charisma and powers of suggestion.
Close to the central theme of the game is the Humanity mechanic. Each vampire has a Humanity score, measuring how closely in touch with his human nature the vampire is; as it decreases, the vampire becomes more susceptible to his Beast, the feral side of the vampiric soul that is driven entirely by rage and hunger. Brutal, immoral actions risk lowering a vampire's Humanity score. If the individual's Humanity drops to zero, the Beast takes over and the vampire is in a state of constant frenzy known as Wassail.
[edit] Vampires in the World of Darkness
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World of Darkness |
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Settings |
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Vampirism |
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Masquerade society |
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Masquerade lore |
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Masquerade history |
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Requiem |
"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 spelling is different from the Biblical Cain, though it is intended to be the same character). 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 characteristics, powers and curses. The Nosferatu, for example, all share the disciplines of Animalism, Obfuscate and Potence and the curse of disfiguring appearance. A bloodline is a distinct split from the main clans, as the curse of Caine is changed over time, representing new expressions 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.
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Vampire: The Dark Ages and Vampire: The Masquerade · Clans and Bloodlines |
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Assamite · Brujah · Caitiff · Daughters of Cacophony (V:TM) · Followers of Set · Gangrel · Giovanni (V:TM) · Kiasyd · Lasombra · Malkavian · Nosferatu · Ravnos · Salubri · Samedi (V:TM) · Toreador · Tremere · Tzimisce · Ventrue |
[edit] Tie-ins and adaptations
- Under the title Mind's Eye Theatre: The Masquerade White Wolf also provides a live action role-playing game in the same setting, using their Mind's Eye Theatre system.
- Kindred: the Embraced, a television series based on Vampire, was produced by Aaron Spelling.
- A video game based upon the Vampire milieu is Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption, developed by Nihilistic Software and published in 2000 by Activision.
- Another game followed in 2004: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Developed by Troika Games and published by Activision, it uses Half-Life's Source engine.
- A compilation album, called Music from the Succubus Club, was released by Dancing Ferret Discs to serve as a soundtrack for the Vampire RPG.
- Moonstone Books published a series of comic book adaptations of Vampire: The Masquerade which are now hard to find.
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 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] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Vasilakos, George (2007), “Vampire: The Masquerade”, in Lowder, James, Hobby Games: The 100 Best, Green Ronin Publishing, pp. 348-351, ISBN 978-1-932442-96-0
- ^ Melton, Gordon (1994). The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead, 1st, Detroit, MI: Visible Ink Press, 852. ISBN 0-8103-2295-1.
- ^ Origins Award Winners (1991). Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
- Achilli, Justin. Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition. White Wolf Game Studio, 1998. ISBN 1-56504-249-2.
- Justin Achilli et al., Kindred of the Ebony Kingdom, (White Wolf Game Studio, 2003, ISBN 1-58846-239-0)
- Robert Hatch et al., A World of Darkness (Second Edition), (White Wolf Game Studio, 1996, ISBN 1-56504-207-7)
- Dean Shomshak & Ari Marmell, Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumatrugy Companion, (White Wolf Game Studio, 2002, ISBN 1-58846-222-6)
- James A. Moore et al., Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy, (White Wolf Game Studio, 2000, ISBN 1-56504-246-8)
- Justin Achilli et al., Guide to the Sabbat (White Wolf Game Studio, 1999, ISBN 1-56504-263-8)
- White Wolf Publishing Children of the Night (White Wolf Game Studio, 1999, ISBN 1-56504-244-1)
- Justin Achilli, Clanbook: Cappadocian (White Wolf Game Studio, 1997, ISBN 1-56504-280-8)
- White Wolf Publishing et al., Vampire Storytellers Handbook, (White Wolf Game Studio, 2000, ISBN 1-56504-264-6)
- Sven Skoog & Lucien Soulban, Clanbook: Baali, (White Wolf Game Studio, 1998, ISBN 1-56504-213-1)
- Clanbook: Giovanni by Justin Achilli (White Wolf Game Studio) (1997) ISBN 1565042182
- White Wolf Games Studio et al., Vampire Storytellers Companion (White Wolf Game Studio, 1998, ISBN 1-56504-259-X)
- Andrew Greenberg, Vampire Players Guide (White Wolf Game Studio, 1993, ISBN 1-56504-053-8)
- Lucien Soulban & James Stewart et al., Clanbook: Tzimisce, (White Wolf Game Studio, 2001, ISBN 1-58846-202-1)
- Justin Achilli et al., Guide to the Sabbat (White Wolf Game Studio, 1999, ISBN 1-56504-263-8)
- Justin Achilli al., Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition (White Wolf Game Studio, 1998, ISBN 1-56504-249-2)
- Steven C. Brown & Ken Meyer, The Storytellers Handbook to the Sabbat(White Wolf Game Studio, 1995, ISBN 1-56504-042-2)
- Steven C. Brown & Jeff Starling, A Players Guide to the Sabbat (White Wolf Game Studio, 1995, ISBN 1-56504-042-2)
