Settings of World of Darkness

Last updated July 07, 2021

There are three primary settings for the Vampire franchises developed by White Wolf Game Studio's for their World of Darkness .

Vampire: The Eternal Struggle is a tabletop card game based in part on Vampire: The Masquerade and the Old World of Darkness. Despite White Wolf ending the Old World of Darkness in 2004, VTES remained in production until 2010 and continues to be supported by the fan Vampire Elder Kindred Network. It is one of the oldest collectible card games in existence.

The newest game is Vampire: The Requiem . It is set in the New World of Darkness and is the successor to the Vampire: The Masquerade line. It was first released in August 2004, together with a new core rule book for the World of Darkness. Although it is an entirely new game, rather than a continuation of the previous editions, it uses many elements from the old game in its construction.

Vampire: The Masquerade

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 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 .

Dark Ages: Vampire

Vampire: The Dark Ages, originally published in 1996, is set in the year 1197, a spin-off from the older Vampire: The Masquerade which is set in modern times. A revised edition published in 2002 entitled Dark Ages: Vampire updated the setting to the year 1230. Both, however, are set in a dark medieval Europe. The setting lives from both its differences from the historical facts and from the predecessor game Vampire: The Masquerade.

In Dark Ages, vampires rule the night openly and some are even revered and worshipped, though the powers of the Inquisition and other mortal foes restrain their freedom.
A large number of vampires, as the rest of the European population, are deeply religious. The Cainite Heresy tries to infiltrate the Church.
The major vampire sects, the Camarilla and the Sabbat, have not been formed yet. The vampire society in Europe is ruled by Princes and other fief holders, although their power rarely extend beyond their city or domain.
The Tremere clan is in its infancy. Their clan leader has slain the founder of Salubri clan, Saulot, only a few decades ago. The Tremere are at war with a number of other clans, notably with the powerful Tzimisce.
The Blood Curse has not yet been imposed on the Assamite clan.
The Cappadocians are one of the 13 major clans. The Giovanni are a bloodline of the Cappadocian clan.

With the release in 2002 of Dark Ages: Vampire, several other game lines were added: Dark Ages: Werewolf , Dark Ages: Mage , Dark Ages: Inquisitor (approximately the Dark Ages equivalent of Hunter: the Reckoning), and Dark Ages: Fae , each contributing to the shared setting.

Victorian Age: Vampire

Victorian Age: Vampire, published in 2002, provides lore as to what was going on with the different clans during the Victorian era.

Kindred of the Ebony Kingdom

The Kindred of the Ebony Kingdom, known among themselves as the Laibon, are vampires native to Africa in Vampire: The Masquerade . Though having the same roots as the western Kindred and being afflicted with the same curse, the Laibon have existed in relative isolation from the western Kindred for an extended period, and have become distinct in a variety of ways.

Kindred of the East

Kindred of the East is a supplement to Vampire: The Masquerade . The vanguard of White Wolf's "Year of the Lotus" theme (which created "Eastern" counterparts to all of their major product lines in the World of Darkness), this rich sourcebook is a stand-alone setting, requiring only secondary rules to be fully playable. The setting spans Asia, allowing players to play the so-called Kuei-jin or Kindred of the East, vampire-like creatures of Asia.

Vampire: The Eternal Struggle

Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, published as Jyhad in the first edition and often abbreviated as VTES, V:TES or V:tES, is a collectible card game set in the World of Darkness. The game was designed in 1994 by Richard Garfield and initially published by Wizards of the Coast. After the 1996 Sabbat expansion, Wizards of the Coast abandoned the game, and in 2000 White Wolf took over development. It is thus one of the oldest collectible card games in existence.

Richard Garfield noted that the experiences he had made with the Magic: The Gathering collectible card game had helped him to improve his design of the game. In an interview with Robert Goudie, Garfield particularly notes dedicated multi-player (3+) rules, a lack of "land cards", and a more rapid card drawing mechanism.^[4]

Vampire: The Requiem

Vampire: The Requiem is set in the World of Darkness, and the successor to the Vampire: The Masquerade line. It was first released in August 2004, together with a new core rule book for the World of Darkness. Although it is an entirely new game, rather than a continuation of the previous editions, it uses many elements from the old game in its construction, including some of the clans and their powers. The game's title is a metaphor for the way vampires within the game view their life.

Mind's Eye Theatre

Mind's Eye Theatre is a live action role-playing game based on the World of Darkness universe, sharing a theme and setting originally with Vampire: The Masquerade and now with its revision, Vampire: The Requiem . (The rules for Mind's Eye Theatre have likewise been revised.) Other games or venues include Werewolf: The Forsaken , Mage: the Awakening , Changeling: The Lost , and others.

Related Research Articles

White Wolf Publishing was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant and White Wolf Magazine, and was initially led by Mark Rein-Hagen of the former and Steve Wieck and Stewart Wieck of the latter. White Wolf Publishing, Inc. merged with CCP Games in 2006. White Wolf Publishing operated as an imprint of CCP hf, but ceased in-house production of any material, instead licensing their properties to other publishers. It was announced in October 2015 that White Wolf had been acquired from CCP by Paradox Interactive. In November 2018, after most of its staff were dismissed for making controversial statements, it was announced that White Wolf would no longer function as an entity separate from Paradox Interactive.

<i>Vampire: The Masquerade</i> Tabletop role playing game

Vampire: The Masquerade is a tabletop role-playing game 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 roles 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.

Vampire: The Dark Ages is a tabletop role-playing game published by White Wolf Publishing in March 1996. It is a spin-off from Vampire: The Masquerade, also published by White Wolf, which is set in modern times. It was released in a new edition in 2002 as Dark Ages: Vampire, and in 2015 as Vampire Twentieth Anniversary Edition: The Dark Ages.

World of Darkness is a series of tabletop role-playing games, originally created by Mark Rein-Hagen for White Wolf Publishing. It began as an annual line of five games in 1991–1995, with Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Wraith: The Oblivion, and Changeling: The Dreaming, along with off-shoots based on these. The series ended in 2004, and the reboot Chronicles of Darkness was launched with a new line of games; in 2011, the original series was brought back, and the two have since been published concurrently.

Vampire: The Requiem is a role-playing game published by White Wolf, Inc. for the Chronicles of Darkness setting, and the successor to the Vampire: The Masquerade line. Although it is an entirely new game, rather than a continuation of the previous editions, it uses many elements from the old game including some of the clans and their powers. In the first edition, it required the World of Darkness core rulebook for use, and was released alongside it in August 2004.

Vampire: The Eternal Struggle is a multiplayer collectible card game published by White Wolf Publishing. It is set in the World of Darkness and is based on the Vampire: The Masquerade roleplaying game.

Mind's Eye Theatre is a live action role-playing game based on the White Wolf World of Darkness universe, sharing a theme and setting originally with the table-top role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade and with two revisions, Vampire: The Requiem and Mind's Eye Theater: Vampire The Masquerade. Other games or "venues" include: Werewolf: The Forsaken, Mage: The Awakening, Changeling: The Lost and more.

<i>Kindred of the Ebony Kingdom</i> role-playing game supplement

Kindred of the Ebony Kingdom is a source-book, alternative setting, and stand-alone pen-and-paper RPG designed for Vampire: The Masquerade, Vampire: The Dark Ages, and other games set in the Old World of Darkness developed by White Wolf Game Studios. It was released in 2003 and dealt with vampires throughout the African continent.

<i>Victorian Age: Vampire</i> Tabletop role-playing game

Victorian Age: Vampire is a tabletop role-playing game published by White Wolf Publishing on September 30, 2002. It is part of the World of Darkness series, and is based on the 1991 game Vampire: The Masquerade. Players take the roles of vampires existing in secrecy among humans, in 1880–1897, during the Victorian era. The setting is primarily focused on Europe, but also features locations including Africa, India, and the United States. The core book does not contain the full rules for the game, and so an additional rulebook is required, such as Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition or Dark Ages: Vampire.

VTES 3rd Edition (Third) is a complete base set for White Wolf's trading card game Vampire: The Eternal Struggle released on September 4, 2006. White Wolf's page dedicated to the set indicates the reasoning for calling it the third edition: "White Wolf's eleventh expansion for Vampire: The Eternal Struggle is a stand-alone base set. It is called Third Edition ." The expansion also happens to be the third set based on the Sabbat sect. It contained a whole new set of vampires, but mainly reprints of library cards. Due to insufficient quality management the distribution of the cards in the boosters and the overall printing quality was significantly worse than in previous expansions. In addition the card backs are printed upside-down. De facto it is now required to use card sleeves in tournaments when a player uses cards from the 3rd Edition set mixed with cards from other expansions. These flaws caused some resentment towards the 3rd Edition set in the player community. Nonetheless the expansion won the InQuest Gamer 2007 Fan Awards for best trading card expansion.

Geoffrey C. Grabowski is a role-playing game designer and writer, known primarily as line developer for the 1st edition of the Exalted RPG for White Wolf games from 2001 through 2006. He was described as the "guiding force" of the first edition.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is an upcoming action role-playing video game published by Paradox Interactive. A sequel to Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines (2004), the game is part of the World of Darkness series and based on the tabletop role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade. It was originally developed by Hardsuit Labs, but in February 2021 the publisher announced that production had been moved to another developer.

The Book of Nod is an epic poem written by Sam Chupp and Andrew Greenberg, published by White Wolf Publishing in 1993. Based on the tabletop role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade and the World of Darkness series, it tells the creation myth of vampires, following Caine, the first vampire and the biblical first murderer.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong is an upcoming role-playing video game developed by Big Bad Wolf, a branch of Cyanide, and published by Nacon. It is scheduled for release in February 2022 for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It is based on White Wolf Publishing's tabletop role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, and is part of the larger World of Darkness series.

As a well-known and iconic creature type, vampires are central to a variety of games, including board games, role-playing games, and video games.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Shadows of New York is a visual novel video game developed by the Polish studio Draw Distance, and released on September 10, 2020 as a stand-alone expansion to their 2019 game Coteries of New York. It is based on the tabletop role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, and follows Julia of the vampire clan Lasombra, who investigates the death of the Anarch movement's local leader. Throughout the game, the player makes decisions that cause the narrative to branch.

Sabbat: The Black Hand is a tabletop role-playing game supplement planned to be released in August 2021 by Renegade Game Studios, for use with the game Vampire: The Masquerade, and is part of the larger World of Darkness series. It describes the Sabbat, an antagonistic and apocalyptical sect of vampires who follow the mythical first vampire Caine, and their relationships to other factions in the game's setting.

Second Inquisition is a tabletop role-playing game supplement planned to be released in October 2021 by Renegade Game Studios, for use with the game Vampire: The Masquerade, and is part of the larger World of Darkness series. It describes globally connected groups of vampire hunters in the game's setting, and how to create antagonists belonging to them for one's game campaigns.

Under a Blood Red Moon is an adventure module released in June 1993 by White Wolf Publishing for use with either of their tabletop role-playing games Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and is a part of the World of Darkness series. It is set in Chicago in 1993 and follows the conflict between the local vampire and werewolf communities; players take the roles of werewolves or vampires belonging to the Camarilla or Sabbat sects.

References

↑ Vasilakos, George (2007). "Vampire: The Masquerade". In Lowder, James (ed.). 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 ed.). Detroit, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 852. ISBN 0-8103-2295-1.
↑ "Origins Award Winners (1991)". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2008-03-15. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
↑ Garfield Reminisces on the Jyhad Archived 2007-12-16 at the Wayback Machine (interview with Richard Garfield, by Robert Goudie, July 2001. Retrieved 2008-01-10.)

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[HG-1] Vasilakos, George (2007). "Vampire: The Masquerade". In Lowder, James (ed.). Hobby Games: The 100 Best. Green Ronin Publishing. pp. 348–351. ISBN 978-1-932442-96-0.

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

[3] "Origins Award Winners (1991)". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2008-03-15. Retrieved 2008-01-12.

[4] Garfield Reminisces on the Jyhad Archived 2007-12-16 at the Wayback Machine (interview with Richard Garfield, by Robert Goudie, July 2001. Retrieved 2008-01-10.)

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