120-843: Vampire: The Masquerade is a tabletop role-playing game (tabletop RPG) created by Mark Rein-Hagen and released in 1991 by White Wolf Publishing as the first of several Storyteller System games for its World of Darkness setting line. It is set in a fictionalized "gothic-punk" version of the modern world where players assume the role of vampires , who are referred to as "Kindred", and deal with their night-to-night struggles against their own bestial natures, vampire hunters, and each other. Several associated products were produced based on Vampire: The Masquerade , including live-action role-playing games ( Mind's Eye Theatre ), dice, collectible card games ( The Eternal Struggle ), video games ( Redemption , Bloodlines , Swansong and Bloodlines 2 , Bloodhunt ), and numerous novels. In 1996,
240-426: A pen-and-paper role-playing game , is a kind of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech and sometimes movements. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization , and the actions succeed or fail according to a set formal system of rules and guidelines, usually involving randomization (such as through dice ). Within
360-763: A "skill" in one game may be a "talent" or "ability" in another. Attributes are statistics all characters possess: strength, agility, and intelligence are common examples. These are ranked, often on a numeric scale, so that a player can gauge the character's capabilities. For example, a character's strength rating could be used to determine the likelihood that the character can lift a certain weight. Skills are abilities that only some characters possess, such as negotiation, horseback riding, and marksmanship. Game systems often define skills that are genre-appropriate. For example, fantasy settings generally include magic skills, while science-fiction settings may contain spaceship piloting skills. However, some skills are found in several genres:
480-407: A character. This can take one of several forms: Characters in role-playing games are usually represented by a number of statistics . Statistics are an abstract measure of how successful a character is likely to be at a class of tasks. Many game systems make distinctions between two key types of statistic: attributes and skills . These names are not always consistent across different games -
600-401: A clan weakness can cause the vampire to reach what is referred to as Final Death—to truly die. Torpor allows the vampire release from their existential pain but it also may make them vulnerable. Vampires in this state, if not well hidden, may have difficulty defending themselves and are vulnerable to destruction by vampire hunters or Diablerie by other vampires. Characters in this world refer to
720-421: A deck of cards or a Jenga tower. Tabletop RPG settings includes challenges for the player characters to overcome through play, such as traps to be avoided, rulers to be courted, or adversaries to be fought. Many game sessions contain moments of puzzle solving, negotiation, chases, and combat. Frequently, this involves interacting with non-player characters , other denizens of the game world, which are played by
840-463: A decline in the tabletop role-playing game industry. The financially troubled market leader TSR, Inc. , which had suffered financial setbacks from overproduction, was eventually purchased by Wizards of the Coast . To better cope with the economics of role-playing games, they introduced a new regime of open gaming , allowing other companies to publish D&D-compatible supplements. In 2000, Wizards of
960-522: A different form of group blood bonding by incorporating ancient Tzimisce Blood Magic called the Vaulderie that inspires loyalty and sodality among the sect. It will also instantly break conventional blood bonds if performed correctly by a trained vampire, typically a Pack Priest. They can also be negated by extended amounts of time depending on how far the Bond has gone (steps one, two or three), willpower and
1080-684: A different name. The Lasombra and Tzimisce do not consider themselves antitribu as most of their members are within the Sabbat. Lasombra outside the Sabbat are considered antitribu while the Tzimisce outside the Sabbat are referred to as Old Clan. A Sabbat offshoot of the Followers of Set is known as the Serpents of the Light, and have rejected both the clan founder and his Egyptian origin, in favor of
1200-485: A few hobbyists and boutique publishers to an economically significant part of the games industry. Grass-roots and small business involvement remains substantial while larger projects have attracted several million players worldwide. Toys industry leader Hasbro purchased Wizards of the Coast in 1999 for an estimated $ 325 million. Tabletop role-playing games increased in popularity in the early 2020s, facilitated by an increase in online play through videoconferencing during
1320-460: A few hours) to a series of repeated sessions that may continue for years with an evolving cast of players and characters. Play is often episodic and mission-centric, with a series of challenges culminating in a final puzzle or enemy that must be overcome. Multiple missions played with the same characters may be related to each other in a plot arc of escalating challenges. The exact tone, structure, pace and end (if any) vary from game to game depending on
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#17327902006511440-468: A few minutes old. A vampire's relative power is limited by something called their Generation, which is set at the time of their embrace. Generation is the vampire's distance from the race's mythical founder, Cain, who is alleged to be the first vampire. For example, a ninth generation is nine generations from Cain. Should this ninth generation vampire embrace someone their progeny would be a tenth generation regardless of how many times they do this. Generation
1560-437: A game premise, would get boring, so he came up with the idea of a game wherein the players played vampires instead of hunting them. Rein-Hagen stated that he purposefully did not read Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles until "very late" in the development process but admitted she was probably an influence on the vampire films that inspired the game. He wanted to go beyond what Anne Rice had done by creating individual vampires, with
1680-409: A good group, though, it can be an immensely interesting and thought-provoking game, and one of the most effective horror RPGs around. Despite its tendency to take itself a little seriously, Vampire: The Masquerade has a great deal to offer the more mature and serious gamer." Tabletop role-playing game A tabletop role-playing game (typically abbreviated as TTRPG or TRPG ), also known as
1800-568: A governing structure for undead societies. Laws and norms concerning the place of vampires within the mortal world, feeding, the treatment of vessels, vampiric morality, secrecy, feeding grounds, Gehenna and the distribution of power form the basis of these divisions. The two major sects are the Camarilla and the Sabbat, but there are other sects as well, such as the Inconnu or the Anarchs. A sect
1920-512: A healthy way to hone reading and arithmetic skills. Though role-playing has been generally accepted in society, the subject retains a level of controversy among some religious organizations. This belief or attitude is by no means universal among religious organizations; there are faith-based role-playing games on the market and religious role-players who disagree that these games are morally corrupt or occult in nature. Competition from role-playing video games and collectible card games led to
2040-571: A medieval rogue and a Wild West outlaw may both be very proficient at throwing knives, and a skill labeled "diplomacy" may benefit ancient Roman patricians or industrial tycoons of the 19th century equally well. Some games such as Burning Wheel and The Shadow of Yesterday represent character motivations as statistics. Character motivations are things in which the character believes strongly. The Riddle of Steel 's Spiritual Attributes, Burning Wheel 's Beliefs and The Shadow of Yesterday 's Keys are such features. They might reveal secrets
2160-483: A particular genre . Examples include Dungeons & Dragons (fantasy), Starfinder Roleplaying Game (science fiction), Outgunned (heroic action), and Ten Candles (horror). Genre-based games often come packaged with a default setting but invite adaptation to other settings in the same genre by players and GMs. Other systems are more strongly tied to the specific setting of the game they feature in. Examples include Blade Runner: The Roleplaying Game (set in
2280-571: A potent and even passionate role-playing experience, look for this game." Steve Crow reviewed Vampire: The Masquerade (2nd edition) in White Wolf #34 (Jan./Feb. 1993), rating it a 5 out of 5 and stated that "The layout has been cleaned up, the text is crisp, clear and fully intact from the original, and the MOOD! Yow!" In a 1996 reader poll by Arcane magazine to determine the 50 most popular roleplaying games of all time, Vampire: The Masquerade
2400-455: A print on demand business model, and multiple new Masquerade products have been announced. All of White Wolf's tabletop roleplaying games were then published by Onyx Path Publishing , including Vampire through its 20th Anniversary Edition, while all of White Wolf's Mind's Eye Theatre products were published by By Night Studios. In 2015, Paradox Interactive purchased White Wolf and all of its intellectual properties from CCP Games , and it
2520-510: A setting can vary. Campaign settings such as the World of Greyhawk and Invisible Sun detail entire cosmologies and time-lines of thousands of years, while the setting of games such as Deadlands or Coyote & Crow might only describe one or more nations within a brief segment of alternate history . Other settings describe smaller locations, such as Blades in the Dark , which describes
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#17327902006512640-479: A short-lived television show loosely based on the game, Kindred: The Embraced , was produced by Aaron Spelling for the Fox Broadcasting Company . Vampire was inspired by role-playing games (RPGs) such as Call of Cthulhu , RuneQuest , and Nightlife , as well as the writings of Joseph Campbell and vampire films such as The Lost Boys . Rein-Hagen felt that hunting vampires, as
2760-623: A single fantasy city, Alice is Missing , which describes a realistic small town, and Visigoths vs. Mall Goths , which takes place entirely inside one shopping mall . Some settings involve shifting between multiple different planets or timelines, sometimes with their own genres. For instance, in GURPS Infinite Worlds , the characters are "Infinity Patrol" agents who travel to alternate worlds , some of which include fantasy or steampunk as well as science fiction elements. A number of campaign settings have fused multiple genres into
2880-442: A single game. Shadowrun combined fantasy with cyberpunk , Castle Falkenstein drew on fantasy and Steampunk elements, and Torg mashed up fantasy, science fiction, pulp and horror elements. Meanwhile, Feng Shui combined Chinese historical fantasy with Kung Fu action tropes and dystopian science fiction. Instead of literary genres, some campaign settings are modeled on video game genres, such as Fabula Ultima , which
3000-578: A small office staff that manages publishing, brand development and freelance work. Guided by a developer/manager, freelancers produce most of a game line's content according to a central plan. Some start with already established franchises while others create original series and then branch out as a franchise to multiple medias. Finally, a few companies (such as Wizards of the Coast and Mongoose Publishing ) maintain an in-house writing and design staff. The standard business model for successful RPGs relies on multiple sales avenues: Typically, RPG publishers have
3120-453: A social or political component to them, but a clan is not something a character chooses; it is something they are Embraced into. Those without a clan are known as Caitiff, and are considered outsiders. Vampire: The Masquerade introduces the use of 13 clans (or major bloodlines) in the game. Each accepted clan can trace its origins to one of 13 elder vampires known as an Antediluvian , for they survived God 's biblical flood. Each Antediluvian
3240-789: A thousand units. Print on demand is often used to reduce costs for small print runs. Independent or "indie" role-playing games are tabletop role-playing games produced by individual creators or small press publishers, in contrast to games published by large corporations . As a movement, indie game design typically emphasizes creative freedom and fair financial compensation for game designers. The indie role-playing game community often produces games with signature and idiosyncratic character. Some indie designers create and sell their own games on Itch.io , DriveThruRPG , Kickstarter , BackerKit , or via in-person sales at gaming conventions, while others use distribution services such as Indie Press Revolution . Role-playing games are produced under
3360-439: A vampire's victim becoming a vampire simply from a bite. Though they are typically not repulsed by garlic or holy symbols, there is a system of merits and flaws that can affect characters in this way, though they are not animated by some demonic spirit according to in-game lore. Sunlight is fearsome and deadly to vampires of this canon, and at most, they can tolerate a few seconds of exposure before perishing. A wooden stake through
3480-460: A vampiric state for murdering his brother. The vampires of this canon believe themselves to be descended from this Biblical progenitor. It is said that Cain was able to pass on his cursed state to others, thereby making them like himself only somewhat weaker. These first childer, known as the second generation, were said to have been made to keep him company, and they in turn made the third generation. The third were supposedly numbered thirteen and are
3600-434: A variety of business models , which succeed or fail based on those models' objectives. The smallest viable businesses are one person companies that produce games using print on demand and e-book technologies. Most of these companies provide a secondary income for their owner-operators. Many of these businesses employ freelancers , but some do not; their owners complete every aspect of the product. Larger companies may have
3720-412: A very long life cycle once they manage to generate an initial successful game. TSR, the initial publisher of Dungeons & Dragons was an independent entity until 1997 when it was acquired by Wizards of the Coast , who was subsequently acquired by Hasbro in 1999. Many of TSR's contemporaries remain in business as independent publishers. The core design group of a publisher is often kept as a team within
Vampire: The Masquerade - Misplaced Pages Continue
3840-483: A whole secret vampire society and culture. Some of Vampire ' s central themes of the power of belief developed out of Rein-Hagen's religious upbringing. Inspired by a comic book given to him by White Wolf business partner Stewart Wieck , Rein-Hagen developed the idea that the cursed character of the Biblical Cain was the original vampire. In an "Ask Me Anything" interview on Reddit Rein-Hagen referred to
3960-530: Is a "grandchilde" of Cain , who killed Abel and was cursed by God and His archangels into becoming the first vampire. Through the back story of the game, Antediluvians started a war among themselves, called the Jyhad , and use their clansmen to fight this war for them. Each Clan and Bloodline has a unique set of powers called Disciplines, and their own set of weaknesses, also unique to that particular branch of vampire. Most Sabbat vampires consider themselves to be
4080-791: Is based on JRPGs like Final Fantasy . The largest publisher of role-playing games is Wizards of the Coast , a wholly owned subsidiary of Hasbro and publisher of Dungeons & Dragons . Other major companies in 2020-2024 included Onyx Path Publishing ( Vampire: The Requiem , Exalted , and others), Games Workshop ( Warhammer 40K ) , Chaosium ( Call of Cthulhu) , Green Ronin Publishing ( Fantasy AGE: Cthulhu Mythos ), Free League Publishing ( Alien: The Roleplaying Game , Mörk Borg ), R. Talsorian Games ( Cyberpunk ), Paizo ( Pathfinder ), Evil Hat Productions ( Fate ), and Modiphius Entertainment ( Star Trek Adventures ), as tracked on ICv2's Top 5 Roleplaying Games articles and
4200-487: Is but all agree that it is an elusive and mysterious state and there is very little information in-game or out as to how to achieve it. In Vampire: The Masquerade , the Masquerade refers to an organized conspiracy primarily orchestrated by the Camarilla to convince the general public that vampires do not exist. The Camarilla believes the Masquerade is the cornerstone survival strategy for Kindred and fear that without it
4320-696: Is called the Blood Bond. The vampire performing the bond is called a Regnant and the one being bound is called a Thrall. In most cases, a victim must drink three times from the same vampire on three separate nights to become bonded. Once bonded, the victim feels something akin to a very twisted sort of love for the vampire and they become the most important person in their life. They also become more susceptible to mind control by that vampire and are willing to do anything, even risk their own life, to aid their regnant. Mortals, animals, and even other vampires and other supernatural creatures may be bound. The Sabbat practice
4440-406: Is cold and pale, and the only sustenance they require is blood. Despite their undead status, vampires of this world are thinking, feeling beings capable of thought, emotion, and empathy (though this capacity may diminish with age, or through a desensitization caused by immoral actions, referred to as "loss of Humanity"). Other tropes or weaknesses are described as mere legends or superstitions, such as
4560-476: Is known as Gehenna, the end of all vampiric races. Others claim that Gehenna is simply the awakening of the Antediluvians who have returned to feed on the blood of their descendants. Differing interpretations of the myths divide vampire society. The Sabbat, for example, take the myths quite literally and believe that it is their purpose to defend vampires from the depredations of the ancients. The Camarilla
4680-410: Is largely a fixed trait but characters can lower their generation by committing diablerie —the consumption of the soul of a vampire of lower generation. Attitudes towards diablerie range from criminalization to an act of liberation. Regardless, diablerie is a serious act not to be taken lightly. Motivations and more surrounding the embrace differ from clan and sect. In some sects, such as the Camarilla,
4800-454: Is more dismissive, either claiming that Cain is nothing more than a myth or metaphor or outright suppressing the myths and their study. Contentions between the different societies surrounding the origins of vampires and Gehenna are important in-game motivations for the Jyhad that color the character's understanding of their world. Regardless as to whether or not the myths are true in the context of
4920-482: Is something a character may choose in-game, though this decision is often chosen for them by their Sire. Defection to one side or the other is possible, but comes with a great risk, as much of what motivates the Jyhad are the ideological differences between the Camarilla and the Sabbat. Vampire: The Masquerade offers the players the opportunity to play in a politically diverse world in which sects rule over all of vampire society. While many factions and sub-sects exist in
Vampire: The Masquerade - Misplaced Pages Continue
5040-477: Is supposedly the reason each clan now has its own weakness. These myths are collected in an in-game document of dubious reliability known as the Book of Nod . Those who study the mythical vampire origins are called Noddists. According to Noddist mythology there are claims that Cain will return at the end of time to judge his descendants: the third-generation Antediluvians and all vampires descended from them. This event
5160-497: Is the number of dice rolled to perform the task. It is up to the story teller to set how high a dice roll must be to be considered a success (usually 6 for standard actions). Vampires in the World of Darkness make use of several familiar tropes of vampires in myth and legend such as immortality and a powerful thirst for blood. They are truly undead as their hearts do not beat, they do not require food or drink, they do not age, their skin
5280-529: Is through age. Younger vampires wanting respect and power must prove themselves to their elders. While ambition can provide a degree of upward mobility among immortals, oftentimes respect comes to those who can prove they can survive. Characters are loosely divided into several age groups. Ages are not titles or jobs but rather loose descriptions to describe a vampire's development and the social expectations that come with aging. Vampires organize and divide themselves politically and ideologically into sects which form
5400-586: The Blade Runner science fiction universe), Vaesen (set in mythic Sweden), Call of Cthulhu (settings where the Cthulhu Mythos features strongly), Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game (set in the fantasy world of Avatar: The Last Airbender ), and Dogs in the Vineyard (set in an alternate universe American frontier ). Universal role-playing game systems also exist, created with
5520-476: The COVID-19 pandemic , viewership of actual play programming on streaming media such as Twitch , and the development of user-friendly marketplaces to buy and sell indie role-playing games as PDFs , such as Itch.io . D&D has seen many shows and podcasts in recent times. These include streaming shows and podcasts such as Dimension 20 , Critical Role , and The Adventure Zone . In 2023, Wizards of
5640-425: The COVID-19 pandemic . Some common examples of tabletop role-playing games include Dungeons & Dragons , Call of Cthulhu , and Pathfinder . In most games, a specially designated player typically called the game master (GM) purchases or prepares a set of rules and a fictional setting in which each player acts out the role of a single character . The GM describes the game world and its inhabitants;
5760-602: The Society for Creative Anachronism began to perform "creative history" reenactments introducing fantasy elements, and in the 1970s fantasy wargames were developed, inspired by sword and sorcery fiction, in which each player controlled only a single unit, or "character". The earlier role-playing tradition was combined with the wargames' rule-based character representation to form the first role-playing games. Dungeons & Dragons , developed in 1974 by Dave Arneson and E. Gary Gygax and published by Gygax's company, TSR ,
5880-473: The d20 system , many games have their own, custom rules system. Game rules determine the success or failure of a character's actions, or adjudicate changes in the setting or the characters themselves. Many game systems use weighted statistics and dice rolls or other random elements. Some games offer a System Reference Document (SRD) that allows other designers to use part of the game system in their own, future game products. Some systems are designed for
6000-399: The miniature wargame Chainmail , was released in 1971, both of which became the basis for Dungeons & Dragons . According to RPG designer John Wick , chess can be turned into a role-playing game if chess pieces such as the king , queen , rooks , knights or pawns are given names, and decisions are made based on their motivations. According to Wick, Dungeons & Dragons
6120-427: The "anti-Clans" or antitribu in rebellion against their parent clans' values, goals, or loyalties. For example, Toreador within the Sabbat consider themselves Toreador antitribu . Some rebel or twist the expectations of their clans, while others take a more radical view of their lineage's core ideas. Some are so different that they are considered different bloodlines manifesting different Disciplines, weaknesses or even
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#17327902006516240-649: The 20th Anniversary Edition, which was published during the Grand Masquerade event in New Orleans on September 15–17, 2011, and released to the attendees. Customers not attending The Grand Masquerade were offered a limited time preorder option. The 20th Anniversary Edition contains revisions of rules and is a compendium of most information provided in supplemental material in the game's earlier life. The 20th Anniversary Edition officially revived Vampire: The Masquerade as part of White Wolf Publishing's shift to
6360-478: The Beast takes over and the vampire is in a state of constant frenzy known as Wassail . The actions taken during gameplay are expressed using ten-sided dice . The number of dice used correspond to the player's current skill level, often based on two different skills that together represent the player's ability. For example, to land a punch, the character's dexterity and brawl skill are combined. The resulting number
6480-492: The Bestselling Titles list on DriveThruRPG . Most role-playing game publishers are privately held companies and do not release sales figures, making precise estimates difficult. There has been no publicly available, systematic examination of point of sale data, limiting further estimates to a rough consensus between industry analysts. Most commercially published RPGs are small press products, selling fewer than
6600-485: The Camarilla's masquerade to protect themselves. Vampires in the World of Darkness have a rich, complex, and diverse secret society with a range of ideologies, goals, and backgrounds. Sects largely divide along ideological disputes surrounding the distribution of power among vampires, the role of vampires in the human world, and the ancient myths that allegedly explain the origins and purpose of vampires. An important means of social distinction among vampires in this setting
6720-616: The Coast attempted to alter the Open Game License . When the community protested, they walked the decision back, and placed 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons into the Creative Commons as a show of trust. Later that year, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was released. The set of rules of a role-playing game is known as its game system ; the rules themselves are known as game mechanics . Although there are game systems which are shared by many games, for example,
6840-482: The Coast's Dungeons & Dragons brand manager Ryan Dancey introduced a policy whereby other companies could publish D&D -compatible materials under the Open Gaming License (OGL). He was frustrated that game supplements suffered far more diminished sales over time than the core books required to play the game, then this would spread the cost of supplementing the game and would increase sales of
6960-511: The GM. In most games, the full details of the setting are kept secret, but some broad details of the game world are usually given to the players. Tabletop RPGs are often conducted like radio drama : only the spoken component of a role is acted. Acting in tabletop RPGs is not always literal, and players do not always speak exclusively in-character. Instead, players act out their role by deciding and describing what actions their characters will take within
7080-654: The Inquisition of the 15th century required it. During this period vampires were destroyed in large numbers by vampire hunters which largely prompted the formation of a sect known as the Camarilla whose primary purpose was to promote and enforce the Masquerade as a means of survival. The Masquerade is largely enforced through self-policing, but it is primarily the job of the Prince in Camarilla controlled cities to enforce it. Princes may use any means at their disposal to ensure vampire society stays hidden and that those who break
7200-461: The Masquerade are duly punished. Punishments for breaches have a range but are usually draconian in nature due to the seriousness of the Masquerade. Final Death, often by means of a ritualized "Blood Hunt" by other vampires, is not uncommon. When breaches do occur, the Camarilla takes great pains to repair them. This could include anything from erasing a mortal's memories using supernatural powers to manipulating mortal pawns in order to keep events out of
7320-411: The Vineyard that rely on the contributions of players to enhance moral agency in a process of emergent storytelling. In January 2012, Wizards of the Coast announced that a new edition of D&D , at the time referred to as D&D Next , was under development. In direct contrast to the previous editions of the game, D&D Next was developed partly via a public open playtest. An early build of
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#17327902006517440-460: The ability to survive, use intelligence, curiosity or artistic talent. Some create other vampires for power, others for companionship and some are created as fodder for the endless, ancient conflicts, known as the Jyhad, that are central to gameplay. Vampires in the World of Darkness believe that their race originates from the Biblical figure of Cain . Cain was said to have been cursed by God with
7560-401: The adage, "A Beast I Am, Lest a Beast I Become." Vampires may enter a deathlike sleep called torpor. Torpor may be caused by near-fatal injuries or may be entered into voluntarily. In-game, the level of the vampire's humanity determines how long they sleep for. Though they cannot die of old age, vampires in this setting can die. Fire, sunlight, decapitation, supernatural powers, or succumbing to
7680-421: The assigned difficulty rating. This system was a boon for the narrative style of play that emphasized story over mechanics, as it was easy for new players to quickly grasp, but it often provided unexpected results, such as a highly skilled character being more likely to fumble. The original 1991 version was superseded by a second edition in 1992 and a revised edition in 1998. The Vampire: The Masquerade game line
7800-424: The authority of the GM to different players and to different degrees. This technique is often used to ensure that all players are involved in producing a situation that is interesting and that conflicts of interest suffered by the GM are avoided on a systemic level. The players describe their characters' actions, and the GM responds by describing the outcome of those actions. Usually, these outcomes are determined by
7920-481: The central theme of the game is Humanity. Vampires each have Humanity scores, measuring how closely in touch with human nature they are; as Humanity decreases, vampires become more susceptible to the Beast , the feral side of the vampiric soul that is driven entirely by rage, hunger, and hatred of God and humanity. Brutal, immoral actions risk lowering a vampire's Humanity score. If the individual's Humanity drops to zero,
8040-831: The character has kept, aspirations they hold, or other characters they care about. Each game has a setting in which adventures and campaigns (connected strings of adventures) can take place. Campaign settings are usually designed for a specific game (such as the Forgotten Realms setting for Dungeons & Dragons ), though some settings are published with the intent of being usable in many games. There are numerous campaign settings available both in print and online. In addition to published campaign settings available for purchase, many game masters create their own. Campaign settings exist for almost all genres of fiction . Because two long-time best-selling role-playing games, Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder , are part of
8160-466: The clans. Martin Wixted reviewed Vampire: The Masquerade in White Wolf #29 (Oct./Nov. 1991), rating it a 5 out of 5 and stated that " Vampire: The Masquerade is a game which will leave you thirsting for campaign-style play. Its character development elements are particularly rich and satisfying over a period of extended adventuring. But with pregenerated characters and the possibility for mayhem that
8280-436: The core books, which could only be published by WotC. The new D&D rules became known as the d20 system , and a System Reference Document was published, containing all the rules needed to write a supplement or run a one-off game, but lacking the character advancement rules necessary for long-term play. The open gaming movement and 3rd/3.5 edition D&D (2000, 2003) enjoyed a great deal of success, and although there
8400-663: The creation of new vampires is tightly controlled. Among the Sabbat or the Anarchs the norms are much looser. Individual clans, especially the Independent Clans, have different norms, rituals and restrictions surrounding the creation of new vampires. Some only embrace a certain ethnic group, such as the Romani with the Ravnos or within certain mortal families as with the Giovanni. Others simply look for certain qualities such as
8520-406: The cultural trappings of Caribbean voodoo. Bloodlines, on the other hand, either cannot trace their lineage to an Antediluvian founder or are too little in number to be considered a major player in the Jyhad . Some Bloodlines are considered to be offshoots of existing clans. All bloodlines are treated as exceptionally rare in the game, leaving most of the interactions and story lines centered around
8640-453: The development process provided a much-needed character class-like system based on vampiric archetypes. This system proved very popular with players. For the game's mechanical elements, Rein-Hagen turned to Tom Dowd , co-designer of Shadowrun (1989). Vampire ' s system of "comparative" dice pools drew on the mechanics innovated by Shadowrun, changing only the type of dice rolled from six-sided to ten-sided. Skill values that determined
8760-666: The early 2000s, after the intelligence agencies of the world discovered the existence of a clandestine computer network known as the SchreckNET, they formed what is known as the Second Inquisition. Utilizing the knowledge of the Society of St. Leopold, which had been canonized under the Vatican, they killed hundreds of thousands of vampires the world over. In reaction, this forced a secondary level of masquerade measures in
8880-560: The entire World of Darkness brand and that they would release Vampire: The Masquerade products. The company also announced it would bring IP development back in-house under the World of Darkness team and "placed White Wolf veteran Justin Achilli at the helm of that effort as the World of Darkness Creative Lead." ICv2 reported that it was unclear how this would impact the publishing relationship with Onyx Path Publishing and Modiphius Entertainment. In 2021, Polygon reported that "since
9000-466: The extended absence of the regnant in order to do so. Vampires may create more of themselves by draining a human to the point of death and then feeding the victim some of their blood. The creator vampire is known as a sire , the newly created vampire a childe and the creation process is referred to as the embrace . Very little vitae is required to trigger the metamorphosis but the victim must be freshly dead. It does not work on corpses that are more than
9120-506: The fantasy genre, fantasy is among the most played role-playing genres. While role-playing's roots began in fantasy, science fiction has been used in settings such as Traveller , horror formed the baseline of the World of Darkness and Call of Cthulhu while Spycraft was based in modern-day spy thriller -oriented settings. The comic book and superhero genres have been utilized for games such as Mutants and Masterminds . The size of
9240-465: The game mechanic of critical hits . According to creator Barker, "this simulates the 'lucky hit' on a vital organ." The game influenced Arneson and Gygax, who was so impressed with it that his company TSR published Empire of the Petal Throne in 1975. TSR published Barker's game and setting as a standalone game, rather than as a "supplement" to the original D&D rules. Another early game
9360-407: The game the myth of Cain represents important themes presented in the metaplot such as sins of the father coming back upon his children, the threat of apocalypse, questions of faith, conspiracies, and war of ages. Golconda is a fabled state of enlightenment that offers vampires a release from their struggle with the Beast. Different editions have gone into different level of detail as to what Golconda
9480-428: The game world. In many game systems, characters can increase their statistics during the course of the game (or over multiple games). The GM then begins the game by introducing and describing the setting and the characters. Specific tabletop RPGs may have a unique name for the GM role, for examples: Dungeon Master, Referee and Storyteller. Some games, such as Polaris and Primetime Adventures , have distributed
9600-473: The game world. Vampires now use everything from burner phones and disposable email, to the use of carrier pigeons and information dead drops, sometimes using hypnotized or ghouled humans to pass information. The Camarilla Sect have also become more of a closed off society, only accepting notable kindred, leaving most recently embraced to be slaughtered or adopted by the Anarch Sect, who have adopted tenets of
9720-474: The game's success, the term Dungeons & Dragons has sometimes been used as a generic term for fantasy role-playing games. TSR undertook legal action to prevent its trademark from becoming generic. Dungeons & Dragons was a subject of controversy in the 1980s when opponents such as Patricia Pulling claimed it caused negative spiritual and psychological effects. Academic research has discredited these claims. Some educators support role-playing games as
9840-568: The game, the main focus is the conflict between the Camarilla, the Sabbat and the Anarchs. A vampire who rejects all associations with any sect and clan is known as "Autarkis". The Laibon, called 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
9960-827: The game. The changes in this setting over time, especially those involving "the Fifth Frontier War" as depicted in the Journal of the Travellers Aid Society , arguably constitute the first use of metaplot in a role-playing game. Up to this stage, each game had tied itself to a particular setting; If a player wanted to play in a science-fiction game and a fantasy game, they had to learn two game systems. Attempts were made in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons to allow cross-genre games using Gamma World (1978) and Boot Hill (1975) rules, but
10080-804: The grim opposition of mortal and supernatural antagonists and, more poignantly, surviving the politics, treachery, and often violent ambitions of their own kind. 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 in film, such as turning into animals or mist, surviving and healing from grievous injuries or having unnatural charisma and powers of hypnotic suggestion. Close to
10200-423: The heart is not deadly to these creatures but will immobilize them until it is removed. Arguably their biggest weakness is what is known in-game as the Beast . The Beast is a savage, carnal predatory drive within all vampires. The Beast seeks only to satisfy its base urge to survive. Anger, mortal threats, hunger, or bloodlust are some of the things that can cause the Beast to rise. The Beast is capable of taking over
10320-481: The human condition (or appreciation of the human condition in its absence), salvation, and personal horror. The gloomy and exaggerated 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
10440-474: The idea of Cain as the progenitor of all vampires as a "big turning point." He commented further: "I was trying to shy away from religion. After that... I went all in. The game and the world became about religion and belief. My father was a Lutheran minister, and I think that played a huge role in not only Vampire but the whole WoD series. I was always fascinated by what made people believe so strongly when I didn't seem to believe at all. Talking about that theme,
10560-587: The initial launch of the game, the Core Rulebook and other products have been revised and updated to meet new ethical standards enforced by the team at Paradox." V5 was released on Roll20 in June 2021. In July 2021, Renegade Game Studios released retail "reprinted editions of Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Roleplaying Game core rulebook and sourcebooks." The online toolset World of Darkness Nexus , which supports Vampire: The Masquerade and other games in
10680-578: The intent of building a rule system that can be adapted to any genre. Examples include Basic Role-Playing , Champions , and GURPS . The d20 system , based on the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons , has been used in science fiction and modern-day game settings such as Spycraft and the Star Wars Roleplaying Game . In practice, most universal systems are more effective for particular settings, power levels, or types of play. Before play begins, players build or select
10800-516: The kine would rise up and exterminate all the undead. Prohibitions against exposing the existence of Kindred existed prior to the 15th century in a set of ancient laws known as the Traditions. The First Tradition reads: "Thou shall not reveal thy true nature to those not of the Blood. Doing such shall renounce thy claims of Blood." This stricture was not consistently nor as strictly enforced until
10920-609: The market. Its content was also novel, as the game focused on plots, intrigue, and story as opposed to more straightforward dungeon scenarios. While the RPG industry in general had been trending towards a more narrative approach, Vampire was one of the first games of its kind to center on these things. The vampires were given an extensive list of broad supernatural powers called disciplines, which included superior strength, speed, and toughness, as well as other powers such as mystic senses, mind control, and blood magic. The 13 clans added late in
11040-474: The media. The Masquerade is one of the main in-game points of contention between the two major factions of vampires in the World of Darkness. While many vampires see the pragmatism in the Masquerade some do not agree with it. For example, the Sabbat do not uphold the Tradition that justifies the enforcement of the Masquerade but behind closed doors even they take some steps to contain breaches. In-game around
11160-436: The needs and preferences of the players. During the first session, players typically create characters whose roles they will play in the game. As well as fleshing out the character's personal history and background, they assign numerical statistics to the character; these will be used later to determine the outcome of events in the game. Together, these notes tell the player about their character and said character's place in
11280-425: The new company for the purposes of continuity and productivity, though layoffs are common after such mergers and acquisitions. For example, Wizards of the Coast experienced multiple layoffs in the wake of acquiring Last Unicorn Games and after its own acquisition by Hasbro . Tom Dowd (game designer) Thomas A. Dowd is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games . Thomas Dowd
11400-415: The new edition debuted at the 2012 Dungeons & Dragons Experience event to about 500 fans. Public playtesting began on 24 May 2012, with the final playtest packet released on 20 September 2013. The 5th edition's Basic Rules , a free PDF containing complete rules for play and a subset of the player and DM content from the core rulebooks, was released on 3 July 2014. In forty years the genre grew from
11520-456: The number of dice rolled had been used in games like Champions , but rather than add the result of the dice in total, Vampire compared the result of the dice with a fixed value to determine the degree of success or failure. Skill levels were relatively low, ranging usually from one to five, and were represented with dots rather than numbers, which was the standard of its contemporaries. Players could easily figure their dice pool and roll against
11640-468: The obscure rules went largely unused. Meanwhile, Call of Cthulhu and Paranoia offered different role-playing experiences, in which the story arc of a group's investigation would lead to death and/or madness, or where comical infighting within a group would be expected and reinforced within the genre conventions of "a darkly humorous future". The Hero System , first introduced in Champions (1981),
11760-416: The other players describe the intended actions of their characters, and the GM describes the outcomes. Some outcomes are determined by the game system, and some are chosen by the GM. This pattern was established by the first published role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons , but is not universal across all tabletop RPGs. Games are of indefinite length, from a single brief session (sometimes completed in
11880-568: The power of a vampire persona offers, don't forget to try a simple night out." In the November 1991 edition of Dragon (Issue 175), Allen Varney did not like unprofessional production values of the gamebook, pointing to "amateurish" artwork and poor copy-editing. Varney also found the rules remarkably lacking in detail. However, he applauded the wide-ranging campaign advice. "There are whole chapters on how to plot stories, maintain suspense, handle players, and so on." He concluded, "If you're up for
12000-440: The power of belief, fueled the second half of Vampire game design." Vampire was notably new in many respects. It was conceived as a dark, moody, urban fantasy game with a unique gothic feel that harkened back to TSR's Ravenloft . It would also be the first of a series of linked games sharing the same game world. Its simple cover photo of a rose on green marble set the tone for the game and differentiated it from other games on
12120-527: The room, a character may or may not notice an important object or secret doorway, depending on the character's powers of perception. Determining the outcome usually involves rolling dice and adjusting the result for the character's statistics and environmental factors to see whether the action was successful. Typically, the higher the character's score in a particular attribute, the higher their probability of success. There are alternate game systems which are diceless , or use alternate forms of randomization, such as
12240-431: The rules of the game. Tabletop role-playing games have origins in wargaming , which has roots in ancient strategy games , particularly chess and its predecessor Chaturanga . From the late 18th century to the 19th century, chess variants evolved into modern wargames, most notably Kriegsspiel . Over a century later, David Wesely developed Braunstein , the first tabletop roleplaying game, from Strategos , and then
12360-453: The rules, players have the freedom to improvise , and their choices shape the direction and outcome of the game. Neither pen and paper nor a table are strictly necessary for a game to count as a TTRPG; rather, the terms pen-and-paper and tabletop are typically used to distinguish this format of RPG from role-playing video games or live action role-playing games . Online play of TTRPGs through videoconferencing has become common since
12480-571: The semi-legendary founders of the thirteen original clans. According to in-game legend, all of these vampires lived in peace under Cain's rule in the legendary city known as Enoch , or the First City. When God caused the Great Flood , however, the city was destroyed and Cain disappeared, leaving his Children to fend for themselves. The third generation eventually rose up and slew their sires. Cain, upon discovering this, cursed them. Cain's curse
12600-481: The series in-house due to references in the sourcebook to the anti-gay purges in Chechnya and other controversies surrounding White Wolf. In December 2018, Paradox Interactive announced that Modiphius Entertainment would continue the development of the series with final approval by Paradox Interactive. In November 2020, Paradox Interactive announced that Renegade Game Studios would become the publishing partner for
12720-419: The series, is planned to be released in 2022, with a rules and lore compendium, character creation and management tools, matchmaking , and video chat functionality. Early access to Vampire: The Masquerade Nexus was launched in June 2022; this launch includes bundles of both physical and digital game products. The game uses the cursed, vampiric condition as a backdrop to explore themes of morality, depravity,
12840-401: The setting and the GM's common sense; most actions are straightforward and immediately successful. For example, if a player has their character look around a room, the GM will describe the room; if they have their character leave, the GM will describe whatever they encounter outside the room. The outcomes of some actions are determined by the rules of the game. For example, while looking around
12960-535: The supernatural blood in their bodies that sustains them as vitae . Vampires gain vitae by drinking blood. In-game, this accumulation of vitae is called a blood pool . This represents the amount of vitae the player has available to expend to fuel supernatural powers, to heal wounds, or to increase their physical strength, agility, or stamina. Characters can replace lost Vitae by drinking more blood. A vampire's vitae can inspire false feelings of love and foster dependency if drunk by others. This addiction to vampiric blood
13080-413: The vampire's conscious mind, forcing them into a frenzied state where they take violent, often deeply regrettable, actions that they perhaps otherwise would not. One of the major themes of Vampire is characters' battles to strike a balance between their violent, predatory nature and being morally responsible before their humanity is eroded by this powerful force within themselves. This theme is summed up in
13200-439: The western Kindred, are actually an entirely different variety of supernatural being. A clan is the character's vampire family. All members of a clan allegedly descend from the clan's Antediluvian founder. It is widely accepted that there are thirteen clans with thirteen founders, though not all of them are technically Antediluvian. Some clan founders, such as Giovanni or Tremere, usurped their position via Diablerie. Clans may have
13320-501: Was Traveller , designed by Marc Miller and first published in 1977 by Game Designer's Workshop . This was originally intended to be a system for playing generic space-opera-themed science-fiction adventures (in the same sense that Dungeons & Dragons was a system for generic fantasy adventures), but an optional setting called "the Third Imperium " that was detailed in subsequent supplements became strongly identified with
13440-472: Was a "sophisticated, intricate and complicated combat simulation board game that people were turning into a roleplaying game" just "like giving your rook a motive" in Chess. The assumption of roles was a central theme in some early 20th century activities such as the game Jury Box , mock trials, model legislatures, and "Theatre Games". In the 1960s, historical reenactment groups such as The Sealed Knot and
13560-872: Was also used in Justice, Inc. (1984), Fantasy Hero (1985) and other games. Steve Jackson Games followed with GURPS (the Generic Universal Roleplaying System) in 1986. At the same time, games using the fictional worlds of Star Trek , DC Heroes , the Marvel Universe or The Lord of the Rings expanded the range of possibilities for Table-top gaming. Games such as GURPS and Champions introduced character creation via point-buy systems; later, Vampire: The Masquerade and similar games emphasized storytelling, plot and character development over rules and combat. Due to
13680-491: Was announced that White Wolf would remain a subsidiary of Paradox Interactive. A 5th edition of Vampire: The Masquerade (also known as V5) was then released in early 2018. Development of the new edition was led by game designer Kenneth Hite , and it was distributed by Modiphius Entertainment . After the release of the Anarch sourcebook in November 2018, Paradox Interactive announced it would no longer allow White Wolf to develop
13800-663: Was discontinued in 2004, at which point it was superseded by Vampire: The Requiem . In mid-2010, White Wolf switched exclusively to a print-on-demand model via online role playing game store DriveThruRPG , offering the new and classic World of Darkness source books through the DriveThruRPG web site starting with a number of formerly out of print Vampire: The Masquerade books and gradually adding more as they were ready for print. DriveThruRPG and White Wolf indicated that, eventually, all World of Darkness material will be available in this way. On March 17, 2011, White Wolf announced
13920-568: Was one of the writers who created supporting material for the Villains and Vigilantes role-playing game from Fantasy Games Unlimited . The Shadowrun 2nd Edition rules from FASA , by Dowd with Paul Hume and Bob Charrette , won the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules of 1992. Dowd was working at FASA in 1990 when he met Peter Adkison , who was trying to understand how the gaming industry worked, and Dowd advised him to attend
14040-491: Was ranked 6th. Editor Paul Pettengale commented: " Vampire has always proved the most popular of the World of Darkness games, a testament both to the continuing appeal of the vampire itself, and to the structure and design of the game. Like all of the Storyteller range, it's not an easy game to get right, and it relies heavily on both the players and the referee putting a lot of effort and imagination into their roles. With
14160-406: Was refocused as a role-playing game to segregate it from the typical wargame. One of the first original role-playing games was M. A. R. Barker 's Empire of the Petal Throne , first published in 1974, the same year as Dungeons & Dragons . It introduced the fictional world of Tékumel , influenced by Indian , Middle-Eastern , Egyptian and Meso-American mythology . It also introduced
14280-405: Was some criticism of the move, a great many d20 System games were released until around 2008. Meanwhile, indie role-playing game communities arose on the internet, studying role-playing and developing several forms of role-playing game theory such as GNS theory . Rules innovations combined with literary techniques to develop games such as Apocalypse World , The Quiet Year , and Dogs in
14400-447: Was the first commercially available role-playing game, though at the time its first printing was marketed as a niche wargaming product. Gygax expected to sell about 50,000 copies total to a strictly hobbyist market. After establishing itself in boutique stores, it developed a strong, lasting fan base that distinguished itself from the typical wargame player base. By the time of its first major reprinting in 1977 , Dungeons & Dragons
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