Vampire: The Masquerade

Vampire: TheMasquerade is a role-playing game (RPG)created by Mark Rein-Hagen and released in 1991 byWhite Wolf Publishing as the rst of several StorytellingSystem games for its World of Darkness setting line.[1]

It is an RPG set in a ctionalized gothic-punk versionof the modern world, where players assume the roles ofvampires, who are referred to as Kindred, and deal withtheir night-to-night struggles against their own bestial na-tures, vampire hunters and each other.[2] In 1992, Vam-pire: The Masquerade won the Origins Award for BestRoleplaying Rules of 1991.[3] The game line was discon-tinued in 2004 followed by a revision of the setting inVampire: The Requiem.A 20thAnniversary Edition ofVampire: TheMasqueradewas printed in 2011 and the game was ocially revivedas part of White Wolf Publishings shift to a print on de-mand business model,[4] and multiple new Masqueradeproducts have been announced.[5] All of White Wolfstabletop roleplaying games are now owned and publishedby Onyx Path Publishing, including Vampire.[6]

Several associated products were produced based onVampire: the Masquerade, including dice, collectiblecard games (Vampire: The Eternal Struggle), video games(Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines and Vampire:The Masquerade Redemption), and numerous novels. In1996, a short-lived but successful television show looselybased on the game, Kindred: The Embraced, was pro-duced by Aaron Spelling for the Fox Broadcasting Com-pany.

1 Concept

The game uses the cursed and immortal vampiric condi-tion as a backdrop to explore themes of morality, deprav-ity, the human condition (or appreciation of the humancondition in its absence), salvation, and personal horror.The gloomy and exaggerated version of the real worldthat the vampires inhabit, called the extquotedblWorld ofDarkness, forms an already bleak canvas against whichthe stories and struggles of characters are painted. Thethemes that the game seeks to address include retainingthe characters sense of self, humanity, and sanity, as wellas simply keeping from being crushed by the grim oppo-sition of mortal and supernatural antagonists and, morepoignantly, surviving the politics, treachery, and often vi-olent ambitions of their own kind.

2 Game systemVampire is based on the Storytelling System. In addi-tion to the general Storytelling rules, it uses a numberof specic mechanics aimed towards simulating the vam-piric existence. A vampire has a blood pool signifying theamount of human blood or vitae currently in their body;this blood can be spent to power abilities and performsupernatural tricks. These tricks simulate many of thoseportrayed on lm, such as turning into animals or mist,sleeping in the ground or having unnatural charisma andpowers of hypnotic suggestion.Close to the central theme of the game is the Humanitymechanic. Each vampire has a Humanity score, measur-ing how closely in touch with his human nature the vam-pire is; as it decreases, the vampire becomesmore suscep-tible to his Beast, the feral side of the vampiric soul thatis driven entirely by rage and hunger. Brutal, immoralactions risk lowering a vampires Humanity score. If theindividuals Humanity drops to zero, the Beast takes overand the vampire is in a state of constant frenzy known asWassail.The actions taken during gameplay are expressed usingten-sided dice. The number of dice used correspond tothe players current skill level, often based on two dier-ent skills that together represent the players ability. Forexample, to land a punch, the characters dexterity andbrawl skill are combined. The resulting number is thenumber of die rolled to perform the task. It is up to thestory teller to set how high a dice roll must be to be con-sidered a success (usually 6 for standard actions).

3 Vampires inWorld of DarknessMain article: Masquerade society

In the World of Darkness, most vampires in the gamerefer to themselves and their race as Kindred althoughsome vampires, specically members of the Sabbat fac-tion, refer to themselves as Cainites as the curse thattransforms them into vampires is said to have originatedfrom the blood of Caine. The term extquotedblKine ex-tquotedbl, an archaic term for cattle, refers to humans.Characters within the Vampire setting are members ofone of the vampiric clans or minor bloodlines and usu-ally belong to factions associated with these or that re-ect a general ideological stance the characters happen to

1

2 4 THE 13 CLANS

A diagram of the genealogy of the Assamites

share. For example, a vampire of the Brujah bloodlinemight identify as a member of the Camarilla, Sabbat orAnarchs sects but very few Tremere vampires would befound among the Sabbat and even more rarely among theAnarchs. Some clans and most of the minor bloodlinesdeclare themselves independent from any sects. A vam-pire who rejects all associations with any sect and clanis known as Autarkis. Laibon, called Kindred of theEbony Kingdom by Western Kindred, are not so much asect as a cultural group bound together loosely by a pow-erful spiritual bond to the land and the people of Africa.The Kindred of the East, while sharing some supercialsimilarity to the western Kindred, are actually an entirelydierent variety of supernatural being.

4 The 13 ClansVampire: The Masquerade introduces the use of 13 clans(or major bloodlines) in the game:

Assamite: A clan of Middle Eastern assassins. TheirDiscipline of Quietus allows them to move sound-lessly and gives them power over the blood of othervampires.

Ventrue: A clan of aristocrats and bureaucrats. Mostprinces come from this clan. Their Disciplines ofDominate and Fortitude allows them to control theminds ofmortals and vampires alike and grants themsupernatural resilience respectively.

Followers of Set: A clan of cultists who worshiptheir Antediluvian progenitor, the Egyptian snakegod Set.

Malkavian: A clan of lunatics whose madness grantsthem strange insight. Their Discipline of Demen-tation allows them to spread their insanity like aplague.

Ravnos: A clan of gypsies and charlatans who hailfrom India. Their Discipline of Chimerstry allowsthem to alter perceptions to create illusions.

Nosferatu: A clan of deformed vampires who oftendwell in the shadows of the sewers. Their Disciplineof Obfuscate allow them to hide in the shadows.

Lasombra: A clan with the power to control shad-ows. Their Discipline of Obtenebration allows themto command darkness and shadows.

Giovanni: A clan of mostly Italian merchants andgangsters, who Embrace within their own humanfamily. Their Disciplines specialize in Necromancy.They were originally a bloodline of the former ClanCappadocian, who they have since usurped.

Brujah: A clan of hot-headed malcontents, rebels,rogues and anti-authoritarians who strive for free-dom from societal restraints. Their Disciplinesof Potence and Presence grants them superhumanstrength and supernatural charisma respectively.

Toreador: A clan of sensualists and artists. TheirDiscipline of Celerity gives them superhumanspeed.

Gangrel: A clan of animalistic vampires highly in-tune with their Beasts. Their Disciplines of Animal-ism and Protean allow communion with animals andthe power of shape-shifting respectively.

Tzimisce: A clan of scholars and esh-shapers. TheirDiscipline of Vicissitude allows them to reshape theesh and bone of themselves and other creatures.

Tremere: A clan of blood sorcerers. They wereoriginally a bloodline of Clan Tzimisce until theirfounder, a mage named Tremere, diablerized theAntediluvian of the former Clan Salubri, Saulot, so-lidifying the Tremeres status as a clan. Their Disci-pline of Thaumaturgy allow them to use the powerof their blood to cast spells.

Each Clan can trace its origins to one of 13 elder vampiresknown as an Antediluvian, for they survived God's bibli-cal ood. Each Antediluvian is a grandchilde of Caine,who killed Abel and was cursed by God into becomingthe rst vampire. Through the back story of the game,Antediluvians started a war among themselves, called theJyhad, and use their clansmen to ght this war for them.Bloodlines, on the other hand, either cannot trace theirlineage to an Antediluvian founder or are too little innumber to be considered a major player in the Jyhad.Some Bloodlines are considered to be o-shoots of exist-ing clans. All Bloodlines are treated as exceptionally rarein the game, leaving most of the interactions and storylines centered around the Clans.

3EachClan and Bloodline has a unique set of powers calledDisciplines, and their own set of weaknesses, also uniqueto that particular branch of vampire.

5 FactionsVampire: The Masquerade oers the players the opportu-nity to play in a politically structured world in which sects(large factions) rule over all of vampire society. Whilemany factions and sub-sects exist in the game, the mainfocus is the conict between the Camarilla, the Sabbatand the Anarchs.The primary sect is the Camarilla (see camarilla), some-times called extquotedblthe Ivory Tower extquotedbl.They originated in the rst attempt for control over theentire vampire population. Through their use of the SixTraditions, Camarilla Kindred survive the night, hidingtheir existence from humans.The secondmost populous sect is the Sabbat. The Sabbat,sometimes called the Sword of Caine, is the archenemyof the Camarilla; their goal is rule over humanity, whichthey see as their birthright.The third major sect is the Anarchs, who oppose the ruleof the Elders and wish to manage their own lives.Other minor sects include The Black Hand and the In-connu. Independents are those who take no sides withany of the factions but have their own goals and agendas.

6 Tie-ins and adaptations Under the titleMinds Eye Theatre: The MasqueradeWhite Wolf also provides a live action role-playinggame in the same setting, using their Minds EyeTheatre system.

Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, a collectible cardgame based on Vampire, was produced byWizards of the Coast and later by White Wolf.

Kindred: The Embraced, a television series based onVampire, was produced by Aaron Spelling.

A video game based upon the Vampire milieu isVampire: The Masquerade - Redemption, developedby Nihilistic Software and published in 2000 byActivision.

Another game followed in 2004: Vampire: TheMas-querade - Bloodlines. Developed by Troika Gamesand published by Activision, it uses Valve's Sourceengine.

A compilation album, called Music from the Suc-cubus Club, was released by Dancing Ferret Discsto serve as a soundtrack for the Vampire RPG.

Moonstone Books published a series of comic bookadaptations of Vampire: The Masquerade which arenow hard to nd, but some of them made it intoDriveThruRPG's Print on Demand service.[7]

Steve Jackson Games published an adaptation ofVampire: The Masquerade using their popularGURPS generic table-top roleplaying system. Theyfollowed this book up with a supplement calledGURPS: Vampire Companion. Both books were pro-duced for use with the Third Edition of the GURPSrules and are no longer in print. The Steve Jack-son company also produced GURPS conversions ofWerewolf: The Apocalypse, and Mage: The Ascen-sion. Steve Jackson Games had the original copy-right to the World of Darkness setting. Initially, SJGames decided not to release their version; how-ever, after the massive popularity the game settingreceived during the White Wolf Companys release,SJ Games, which still held their ocial rights of re-lease on the system, published its version.

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 otherRPG titles set in the Old World of Darkness.In August 2004, the now-defunct game set in the originalWorld of Darkness was replaced by Vampire: The Re-quiem. Although it is an entirely new game, rather than acontinuation of the old, it uses many elements of the oldgame, including certain clans and disciplines.At the White Wolf Camarilla meeting in October 2009it was decided to re-support this game system both in theocial Camarilla fan club and outside to Table Top play-ers.

7 20th Anniversary EditionOnMarch 17, 2011,WhiteWolf announced the 20th An-niversary Edition, which was published during the GrandMasquerade event in New Orleans on September 1517,2011, released to the attendees. Customers not attend-ing The Grand Masquerade were oered a limited timepreorder option. The 20th Anniversary Edition containsrevisions of rules and is a compendium of most infor-mation provided in supplemental material in the gamesearlier life.

8 Print on DemandAs of fall 2011 White Wolf and online role playing gamestore DriveThruRPG.com began oering the new andclassic World of Darkness source books in a print on de-mand format through the DriveThruRPG web site start-

4 12 EXTERNAL LINKS

ing with a number of formerly out of print Vampire: TheMasquerade books and gradually adding more as theywere ready for print. DriveThruRPG and White Wolfhave indicated that eventually all World of Darkness ma-terial will be available in this way.

9 See also Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines Vampire: The Masquerade Redemption Kindred: The Embraced

10 Notes[1] Vasilakos, George (2007). Vampire: The Masquerade.

In Lowder, James. Hobby Games: The 100 Best. Renton,WA: Green Ronin Publishing. pp. 348351. ISBN 978-1-932442-96-0.

[2] Melton, Gordon (1994). The Vampire Book: The Ency-clopedia of the Undead (1st ed.). Detroit, MI: Visible InkPress. p. 852. ISBN 0-8103-2295-1.

[3] Origins Award Winners (1991) extquotedbl. Academyof Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from theoriginal on 2008-03-15. Retrieved 2008-01-12.

[4] At GenCon we announced our partnership with Driv-eThruRPG in their Now in Print program, oering out-of-print and PDF-exclusive products as physical booksthrough print-on-demand technology. White Wolf Pub-lishing. Retrieved 2011-08-31.

[5] White Wolf Release Schedule 2011-2012. White WolfPublishing. Retrieved 2011-08-09.

[6] http://theonyxpath.com/vtm/.

[7] DriveThruRPGs List of Moonstone Comics with Worldof Darkness Theme

11 References Achilli, Justin. Vampire: The Masquerade RevisedEdition. 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 (SecondEdition), White Wolf Game Studio, 1996, ISBN 1-56504-207-7

Dean Shomshak & Ari Marmell, Blood Sacrice:The Thaumatrugy Companion, (White Wolf GameStudio, 2002, ISBN 1-58846-222-6

James A. Moore et al., Blood Magic: Secrets ofThaumaturgy, White Wolf Game Studio, 2000,ISBN 1-56504-246-8

Justin Achilli et al., Guide to the Sabbat, WhiteWolfGame Studio, 1999, ISBN 1-56504-263-8

White Wolf Publishing Children of the Night, WhiteWolf Game Studio, 1999, ISBN 1-56504-244-1

Justin Achilli, Clanbook: Cappadocian, White WolfGame Studio, 1997, ISBN 1-56504-280-8

Justin Achilli, Clanbook: Giovanni by White WolfGame Studio) (1997) ISBN 1-56504-218-2

White Wolf Publishing et al., Vampire StorytellersHandbook, White Wolf Game Studio, 2000, ISBN1-56504-264-6

Sven Skoog & Lucien Soulban, Clanbook: Baali,White Wolf Game Studio, 1998, ISBN 1-56504-213-1

White Wolf Games Studio et al., Vampire Story-tellers Companion White Wolf Game Studio, 1998,ISBN 1-56504-259-X

Andrew Greenberg, Vampire Players Guide, WhiteWolf Game Studio, 1993, ISBN 1-56504-053-8

Lucien Soulban & James Stewart et al., Clanbook:Tzimisce, White Wolf Game Studio, 2001, ISBN1-58846-202-1

Justin Achilli et al., Guide to the Sabbat,WhiteWolfGame Studio, 1999, ISBN 1-56504-263-8

Justin Achilli al., Vampire: The Masquerade Re-vised Edition, White Wolf Game Studio, 1998,ISBN 1-56504-249-2

Steven C. Brown & Ken Meyer, The StorytellersHandbook to the Sabbat, White Wolf Game Studio,1995, ISBN 1-56504-042-2

Steven C. Brown & Je Starling, A Players Guide tothe Sabbat, White Wolf Game Studio, 1995, ISBN1-56504-042-2

http://www.white-wolf.com

12 External links Vampire The Masquerade in The ocial World ofDarkness wiki

Vampire the Masquerade 20th Anniversary EditionOcial blog

513 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses13.1 Text

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ConceptGame systemVampires in World of DarknessThe 13 ClansFactionsTie-ins and adaptations20th Anniversary EditionPrint on DemandSee alsoNotesReferencesExternal linksText and image sources, contributors, and licensesTextImagesContent license