Vampire: The Requiem

Last updated

Vampire: The Requiem
Vampreq c.jpg
First edition cover
Designers Ari Marmell, C.A. Suleiman, Dean Shomshak; Justin Achilli, Philippe R. Boulle, Bill Bridges, Dean Burnham, Ken Cliffe, Michael Lee, Chris McDonough, Ethan Skemp, Richard Thomas, Mike Tinney, Stephan Wieck, Stewart Wieck, Fred Yelk, Aaron Voss, Pauline Benney
Publishers
Publication
  • August 21, 2004 (1st edition)
  • December 2013 (2nd edition)
GenresModern Gothic
Systems Storytelling System

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.

Contents

In December 2013 the supplement Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle was released, adding a default world setting and significantly revising certain aspects of the game to bring them in line with the upcoming changes to the core rules of the new World of Darkness. At GenCon 2014, it was announced that Blood and Smoke would be re-branded as Vampire: The Requiem, Second Edition, with a new cover, index and very minor changes in November 2014. This release in both its forms was a stand-alone game, able to be played with no other books as references.

History

Vampire: The Requiem was released by White Wolf Publishing on August 21, 2004, [1] as a supplement to the simultaneously released book The World of Darkness , giving players rules for playing as vampires. [2] : 228–229  It became the publisher's flagship title, and was in turn supplemented with its own line of supplements; the line developer was initially Justin Achilli, who was succeeded by Will Hindmarch in November 2004. [3] The Resurrectionists (2007) by Hindmarch for Vampire: The Requiem was first adventure released in the Storytelling Adventure System. [2] : 229  Greg Stolze was working on books for Vampire: The Requiem when he developed the One-Roll Engine dice system for Godlike (2002). [2] : 249  In 2015, the "new" World of Darkness was rebranded as the Chronicles of Darkness by White Wolf Publishing, in an effort to further differentiate the setting from the Classic World of Darkness. [4]

Background

The game takes place in modern-day earth where vampires form complex societies hidden from human awareness. Vampires are unliving humans created when a vampire drains a human of blood and then feeds the corpse a few drops of their own vampiric blood. Vampires that have inherited common physical powers and qualities group themselves into "clans", but they also join "covenants" along religious, political or philosophical lines. These groups differ radically in purpose and outlook and are often in conflict, though they agree that they must hide their existence from humans.

Vampires generally dwell in large cities, where they can find plenty of prey and easily remain inconspicuous. Vampires do not need to kill humans to steal blood; humans go into a trance when a vampire feeds on them and do not remember the moment, and a vampire can erase the bite marks it made by licking them. While vampires use the stolen blood they call vitae to bolster their physical prowess, heal wounds, and wield Disciplines, it is also the fuel they use to arise every night; a vampire cannot awaken if it does not have any blood.

Clans and covenants

Similar to the previous game, Kindred are brought into one of five clans as part of their metamorphosis into vampires. Each clan covers a broad range of vampiric archetypes:

Within these clans are many sub-clans, known as bloodlines.

There are also many political or religious factions, known as Covenants. These include:

Powers, abilities and weaknesses

A vampire's Blood Potency increases steadily with age, but can also be boosted by spending experience points or consuming the soul of another vampire (diablerie). A more potent vampire can store more blood points and access greater supernatural powers. However, his feeding needs become more stringent as well: the weakest vampires can live on animal blood, but the most powerful vampires can only live on the blood of other vampires. Powerful vampires who cannot meet this need usually go into a prolonged slumber either by choice or from hunger; either way, the centuries weaken their blood until they can feed on humans again.

Kindred can use a variety of supernatural powers called Disciplines, reflecting such traits as inhuman speed, strength, or charisma, as well as other vampiric attributes such as control over vermin and predators. These are special abilities associated with their curse which, like their undead bodies, are "fed" in a way by the living blood they take from mortals.

Weaknesses

Unlike many fictional portrayals, vampires in Requiem are not universally repelled by crucifixes, garlic or holy water, and they can enter any private domain without invitation. A stake through the heart merely paralyses them. Fire, sunlight and the claws and fangs of supernatural creatures inflict terrible injuries that take significant time and blood to heal. During the daytime most vampires slumber; while their bodies will not begin to degrade (unless exposed to the sun or other means of harm) they cannot otherwise be distinguished from corpses.

Vampires all have an aspect of their personality they refer to as "The Beast," which exists only to feed when hungry and kill when upset. When a vampire is sufficiently distraught, either through threat, injury, hunger, or humiliation, they enter a berserk rage called Frenzy during which the Beast takes hold.

Vampires keep the Beast in check with the memories and behaviors of mortal life, collectively referred to as a vampire's Humanity. Without actively working to maintain it, a vampire's humanity will degrade: the need to feed upon humans can drive a vampire to become inured to the cruelty they inflict, and a centuries-long life can leave them jaded to the human experience. In addition to the ever-present threat of losing oneself to the Beast, the Kindred have other motivations to maintain their humanity: vampires with lower humanity are also more grievously harmed by exposure to sunlight, spend longer in the extended slumber called torpor, and their alien perspective makes it more difficult for them to relate to humans.

Antagonists

Vampires have many enemies, most from within their own clans and covenants. There are some that stand out as being opposed to vampire society as a whole, and some of the most prominent enemies vampires face are vampires themselves. There are only two "enemy only" covenants in the core rulebook:

Belial's Brood
A loose confederation of Satanists, demon-worshippers and overt miscreants. The Covenant claims that the Damned originate from Hell itself, and exalt in the spread of misery and pain. They are intended to be more straightforward enemies, as their goals (spreading wanton misery and violence, heedless of whether they expose the existence of vampires) are antithetical to nearly any character.
VII
A mysterious organization, VII is a faction of vampires dedicated to the destruction of their own species. There is no concrete information given regarding its greater structure, nor any reason given for VII's agenda; the Storyteller is encouraged to create their own.

The second edition also focuses on a different race with vampiric traits that have often clashed with the Kindred:

Strix
Vampires that were never human, the Strix (also known as Owls or Nemeses) are monsters inspired by Roman spirits of the same name, as well as classical, more ghoulish myths of vampires. Strix are living shadows who seek to take over physical bodies so they may experience physical sensation. They are completely amoral beings who despise the very concept of humanity, to the point where even draugr, insane vampires who have lost their Humanity completely, are usually too much like the living for their liking.

Books

Reception

Vampire: The Requiem was met with critical acclaim. [3]

Vampire: The Requiem won the 2005 Gold Ennie Award for "Best Supplement" and the Silver Ennie Award for "Best Interior Art". [12]

Reviews

Other media

New Line Cinema optioned the feature rights to Vampire: The Requiem in 2004, but to date no script has emerged. [14]

White Wolf released two board games for the Vampire: The Requiem setting: Prince of the City was released in October 2004, and Dark Influences was released in October 2006. [15] [16]

An original Vampire: The Requiem book trilogy was released in 2004, written by Greg Stolze and Lucien Soulban. In 2004, White Wolf conducted a novel writing competition, shortly before canceling their fiction line in 2005. One of the winners, The Silent Knife by David Nurenberg, was eventually published in December 2012. [15]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Storytelling Adventure System

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Wolf Publishing</span> American roleplaying game and book publisher

White Wolf Entertainment AB, formerly 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.

<i>Vampire: The Dark Ages</i> 1996 tabletop horror role-playing game

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 the same year with a new line of games. In 2011, the original series was brought back, and the two have since been published concurrently.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alignment (role-playing games)</span> Way of categorizing the ethical and moral perspective of characters in various role-playing games

In some role-playing games (RPGs), alignment is a categorization of the moral and ethical perspective of the player characters, non-player characters, monsters, and societies in the game. Not all role-playing games have such a system, and some narrativist role-players consider such a restriction on their characters' outlook on life to be overly constraining. However, some regard a concept of alignment to be essential to role-playing, since they regard role-playing as an exploration of the themes of good and evil. A basic distinction can be made between alignment typologies, based on one or more sets of systematic moral categories, and mechanics that either assign characters a degree of adherence to a single set of ethical characteristics or allow players to incorporate a wide range of motivations and personality characteristics into gameplay.

The Storytelling System is a role-playing game system created by White Wolf, Inc. for the Chronicles of Darkness, a game world with several tabletop role-playing games tied in. The Storytelling System is largely based on the Storyteller System, the rule set used for White Wolf's older game setting, the World of Darkness.

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

Werewolf: The Apocalypse is a role-playing game of the Classic World of Darkness game series 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 the Apocalypse. Game supplements detail the other shape-shifters.

<i>Kindred of the East</i> 1998 role-playing game book

Kindred of the East is a tabletop role-playing game book and game line released by White Wolf Publishing in February 1998 for use with their horror game Vampire: The Masquerade. It is part of the World of Darkness series, and is the first and main entry in the Year of the Lotus line of Asia-themed books released throughout 1998.

<i>Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines</i> 2004 action role-playing video game

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is a 2004 action role-playing video game developed by Troika Games and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows. Set in White Wolf Publishing's World of Darkness, the game is based on White Wolf's role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade and follows a human who is killed and revived as a fledgling vampire. The game depicts the fledgling's journey through early 21st-century Los Angeles to uncover the truth behind a recently discovered relic that heralds the end of all vampires.

<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 and shares the setting with the tabletop role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, among others.

<i>Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption</i> 2000 video game

Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption is a 2000 role-playing video game developed by Nihilistic Software and published by Activision. The game is based on White Wolf Publishing's tabletop role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, a part of the larger World of Darkness series. It follows Christof Romuald, a 12th-century French crusader who is killed and revived as a vampire. The game depicts Christof's centuries-long journey from the Golden Ages of 12th century Prague and Vienna to late-20th century London and New York City in search of his humanity and his kidnapped love, the nun Anezka.

<i>Kindred: The Embraced</i> American television series

Kindred: The Embraced is an American television series produced by John Leekley Productions and Spelling Television. Loosely based on the role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, the series premiered on Fox on April 2, 1996, and ran for seven episodes before it was canceled with one episode unaired on May 9, 1996. Scripts for two other episodes were never filmed.

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

Werewolf: The Forsaken is a tabletop role-playing game set in the Chronicles of Darkness created by White Wolf Game Studio. It is the successor to Werewolf: The Apocalypse, the "game of savage horror" from the old World of Darkness line of games, but has moved to a more personal sort of horror, reflecting the "dark mystery" theme of the Chronicles of Darkness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kindred of the Ebony Kingdom</span> 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 universe. It was developed by White Wolf Game Studios and released in 2003. The setting focuses on vampires in the continent of Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vampires in popular culture</span>

Vampires are frequently represented in popular culture across various forms of media, including appearances in ballet, films, literature, music, opera, theatre, paintings, and video games.

<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.

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.

<i>Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2</i> Upcoming 2025 video game

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. The game was initially developed by Hardsuit Labs, but by 2021 had been moved to The Chinese Room. It is scheduled to release for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S in the first half of 2025.

<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.

The World of Darkness: Storytelling System Rulebook is a 2004 role-playing game supplement published by White Wolf Publishing for the World of Darkness.

References

  1. ↑ "Media". Chronicle. No. 252. DNA Publications. October 2004.
  2. 1 2 3 Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN   978-1-907702-58-7.
  3. 1 2 "White Wolf Announces Staff Changes". Pyramid . Steve Jackson Games. 2004-11-22. Archived from the original on 2005-03-22. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  4. ↑ Thomas, Richard (12 December 2015). "Announcing Chronicles of Darkness". Onyx Path Publishing. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  5. ↑ "White Wolf Publishing". Wiki.white-wolf.com. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  6. ↑ "cam-wiki.org".
  7. ↑ "White Wolf Publishing". Wiki.white-wolf.com. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  8. ↑ "White Wolf Publishing". Wiki.white-wolf.com. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  9. ↑ "借りる目的 - カードローンの限度額". Lanceasanctum.org. 2013-10-08. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  10. ↑ "White Wolf Publishing". Wiki.white-wolf.com. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  11. ↑ "cam-wiki.org".
  12. ↑ "The ENnie Awards -- 2005 Awards". www.ennie-awards.com. Archived from the original on 3 August 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  13. ↑ "Pyramid: Pyramid Review: Vampire: The Requiem (For the World of Darkness Storytelling System)".
  14. ↑ "New Line will stake claim to 'Vampire'". Variety. 2004-07-14. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  15. 1 2 "Vampire: Dark Influences". BoardGameGeek. 2017-07-12. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
  16. ↑ "Vampire: Prince of the City". BoardGameGeek. 2017-07-12. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.