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For other uses, see Vampire: The Masquerade (disambiguation). 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.
Vampires in the World of Darkness "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. 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. Clans and bloodlines Clans Names in brackets are placeholders for the unknown real names of the progenitors. Augustus Giovanni was the patriarch of a wealthy family of necromancers, who stole the power of the Cappadocians. Tremere was a powerful mage who stole the power of the sleeping Saulot. Minor bloodlines These clans vary in their origins. Some were among the original major clans, but have declined or become extinct. Others are dominant in regions not central to the events of Vampire: The Masquerade. Theories as to the founder of the Baali include Saulot and Cappadocius. The Chaos Factor book for Mage: The Ascension shows Ashur “Cappadocius”, the progenitor of Cappadocian line, as the sire of Shaitan, one of three first Baali. Clanless In the World of Darkness, there is an increasing number of "clanless"—vampires who were abandoned by their sires immediately following the Embrace and who are ignorant of their clan status; a vampire cannot choose to become clanless. They are called Caitiff by the Camarilla, and are regarded as a sign of the Masquerade spiralling out of control, therefore gaining little respect from their elders. The Sabbat, on the other hand, gladly embraces the clanless (which they call Panders) into the sect. The more superstitious see the growing numbers of these vampires as an omen of the coming Gehenna, the Final Nights of prophecy when all children of Caine will be destroyed. 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 2 Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, , 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. See also | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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