The Masquerade (role-playing game)

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The Masquerade is a 1994 live action role-playing game published by White Wolf Publishing.

Contents

Publication history

Shannon Appelcline relates that "Besides their five RPGs, White Wolf also expanded the World of Darkness in another direction: live action roleplaying games, starting with the Vampire -focused Mind's Eye Theatre: The Masquerade (1993). Mark Rein•Hagen had been thinking about LARPs since Ars Magica , but this was the first time his ideas saw print." [1] :15 Appelcline explained that LARPs remained distanced from the role-playing hobby for many years, but "That changed in the ’90s, a fact that many attribute to White Wolf ’s Mind's Eye Theatre LARP, The Masquerade (1994) — a Vampire-based live action game. Certainly, The Masquerade was wildly successful and introduced a whole new generation of players to the roleplaying community, including a much larger proportion of women than had been seen before." [1] :372

The adventure The Elder's Revenge was published in 1995.

Reception

Derek Pearcy reviewed The Masquerade in Pyramid #4 (Nov./Dec., 1993), and stated that "Overall, the game was executed very well. The graphic design is consistent with the feel of previous Vampire products, and playing the game with the right people is a good experience. At conventions, where you can get several hundred people playing at once, all scheming and conniving, it can be exhilarating. And okay, so you don't like the rules? Like their rulebook says, don't use them." [2]

Reviews

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Live action role-playing game</span> Form of role-playing game where participants act out the roles

A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by real-world environments while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may be mediated by game rules or determined by consensus among players. Event arrangers called gamemasters decide the setting and rules to be used and facilitate play.

A storytelling game is a game where multiple players collaborate on telling a spontaneous story. Usually, each player takes care of one or more characters in the developing story. Some games in the tradition of role-playing games require one participant to take the roles of the various supporting characters, as well as introducing non-character forces, but other systems dispense with this figure and distribute this function among all players.

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 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.

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<i>Werewolf: The Apocalypse</i> Tabletop role-playing game

Werewolf: The Apocalypse is a role-playing game from the Classic World of Darkness line by White Wolf Publishing. Other related products include the collectible card games named Rage and several novels. In the game, players take the role of werewolves known as "Garou". These werewolves are locked in a two-front war against both the spiritual desolation of urban civilization and supernatural forces of corruption that seek to bring about the Apocalypse. Game supplements detail other shape-shifters.

<i>Minds Eye Theatre</i> Live action role-playing game

Mind's Eye Theatre is a live action role-playing game (LARP) based on the White Wolf World of Darkness universe, sharing a theme and setting 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>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.

Jason Carl is a game designer who has worked on a number of roleplaying games for companies such as White Wolf, TSR and Wizards of the Coast, Kenzer & Company, and Exile Game Studio. He is currently the Brand Marketing Manager of Paradox Interactive's World of Darkness property.

Stewart Douglas Wieck was one of the founders of the publishing company, White Wolf, Inc. He was also one of the original writers of Mage: The Ascension.

Ken Cliffe is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. He is known primarily as the author and developer for the third edition of Ars Magica, and as co-author and developer of the Trinity, Hunter: The Reckoning and "new" (2004) World of Darkness role-playing games.

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<i>The Book of Nod</i> 1993 epic poem by Sam Chupp and Andrew Greenberg

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.

<i>The Fragile Path: Testaments of the First Cabal</i>

The Fragile Path: Testaments of the First Cabal is an epic poem written by Phil Brucato, Laura Perkinson, James A. Moore, Nancy Kilpatrick, Tina Jens, Beth Fischi, and Owl Goingback. It was published by White Wolf Publishing in 1995, and is based on the tabletop role-playing game Mage: The Ascension and the World of Darkness series.

<i>GURPS Vampire: The Masquerade</i> Licensed adaptation of Vampire: the Masquerade for GURPS

GURPS Vampire: The Masquerade is a licensed adaptation of White Wolf Publishing's horror role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, written by Jeff Koke and published by Steve Jackson Games in 1993 for the third edition of their GURPS rules.

<i>The Elders Revenge</i> Live action horror role-playing game supplement

The Elder's Revenge is an adventure published by White Wolf Publishing in 1995 for the horror live-action role-playing game Mind's Eye Theatre.

<i>GURPS Werewolf: The Apocalypse</i> Role-playing game supplement

GURPS Werewolf: The Apocalypse is a supplement published by Steve Jackson Games (SJG) in 1993 that translates the role-playing game Werewolf: The Apocalypse to the GURPS rules set.

<i>Under a Blood Red Moon</i> Role-playing game supplement

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 and around Chicago, 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

  1. 1 2 Shannon Appelcline (2014). Designers & Dragons: The '90s. Evil Hat Productions. ISBN   978-1-61317-084-7.
  2. "Pyramid: Pyramid Pick: The Masquerade".
  3. "Anmeldelser | Article | RPGGeek".