A Love Letter to Vampire: The Masquerade
A VERY Brief History Lesson
In 1974, a new genre of game would be released to the world, forever changing how people of all ages would play games with each other, and feeding the creative minds of hundreds of storytellers forevermore. This table-top game was called ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ and was created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, published by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc (the game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997).
To break down the rules to the most fundamental, players make their own characters that are specific class, such as Bard, Paladin, Warrior etc. and a specific race. These characters then embark upon imaginary adventures within a fantasy setting. A Dungeon Master (DM) serves as the game’s referee and storyteller while maintaining the setting in which the adventures occur, and playing the role of the inhabitants of the game world, created and narrated by the DM. The characters form a party and they interact with the setting’s inhabitants and each other. Together they solve dilemmas, engage in battles, and gather treasure and knowledge, the outcomes of most of these being determined by the result of dice rules of various sides (10 sided, 20 sided, etc). In the process, the characters earn experience points (XP) in order to rise in level becoming increasingly powerful over a series of separate gaming sessions.
‘Dungeons & Dragons’ would naturally gravitate towards fans of Tolkien’s ‘Lord of The Rings’ stories, the sort of individuals who would be teased and bullied for being ‘nerds’ and/or ‘geeks’, who were the sorts to maths and creative problem-solving. Coincidentally, these sort of elements are built into the core mechanics of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’.
Whether you like it, hate it, or not give a toss, D&D would become a worldwide sensation, as I am fairly certain that most people have heard of D&D, even if they have never played it. It would also create a load of similar table-top role-playing games, including today’s topic; ‘Vampire: The Masquerade’, (VtM) which is arguably just as popular within the table-top RPG community.
The Love Letter Proper
‘Vampire: The Masquerade-Bloodlines’
Like so many other people of my generation, I discovered the World of Darkness (WoD) through the PC game ‘Vampire: The Masquerade-Bloodlines’, was developed by the now-defunct Troika Games and was released in 2004 and is based on the lore and characters from the original table-top, role-playing game ‘Vampire: The Masquerade’, developed by White Wolf Publishing. VtM is similar in style to ‘Dungeons & Dragons’, where one person acts as a storyteller, and the other players are a party of adventurers. With VtM (and VtMB), you can play as one of seven vampire types, known as Clans, that have their own powers and disadvantages that make for each playthrough unique and challenging. VtMB is a role-playing game, but not like it’s source material.
These clans are:
- Brujah, who have a reputation as fierce warriors; their affinity for war is carried in their blood, causing them to frenzy (which I will discuss later on) more frequently.
- Gangrel are similar to the Brujah, in that they are among the best vampiric fighters. Unlike the Brujah, their ferocity stems from their animalistic instinct and rage, rather than anarchic anger, with one of their powers being able to turn into a wolf.
- Toreador, whose clan has long been associated with art and socializing, which is incorporated into their weakness. They are the weakest fighters but the best talkers.
- Tremere are effectively the mage option in VtM (and VtMB) and have the best combat advantage in VtMB. Lore wise, they are not liked very much by others. This doesn’t really matter in VtMB however.
- Ventrue are a class associated with nobility, aristocracy, company CEOs, wealthy individuals, politicians. They ruled as mortals, and rule as immortals and have powers that dictate such motives.
- Malkavian vampires are referred to as lunatics, for they are either a little bit strange or bat-shit crazy (your breed of Malkavian is somewhat eccentric). In the game, all of their dialogue choices are cryptic to the NPC you are talking to you, and yourself, that is presented in a different, wonky font that is unique only to them. You will also hear whispers that only you can hear, that acts as eerie foreshadowing that newer players may not get, and gain special powers during dialogue to make certain NPCs say and do really weird things.
- Nosferatu are disfigured and have a frightening appearance, thus looking like monsters. This means that they can only use sewers to traverse and can’t be seen by humans for reasons I will cover shortly. Playing as a Nosferatu means you will be playing VtMB as a stealth game throughout, which does mean your ability to hack into computers and pick locks is genuinely better than other clan types.
Like it’s source material, this a mature game, with consistent strong language, references to sex, racism and drug use. I was a bit too young to for this game admittedly, but that did not stop me from enjoying the world and its characters and the relationships they had with each other, and their own and opposing factions. It was a game about liars and politics and I loved it, cementing itself as once of my favourite games of all time.
If you want to read about my full thoughts after a recent(ish) revisit of the cult-classic, I will leave a link to the review I wrote about VtMB
‘Vampire: The Masquerade’ & the World of Darkness
I would naturally look into more about this game with the limited internet access I had as a child (partly because the internet was still very much in its infancy in 2004) and discovered it was based on a game of the same name.
‘Vampire: The Masquerade’ was 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 (WoD) 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’ (or ‘Cainites’, for lore-related reasons), and deal with their night-to-night struggles against their own bestial natures, vampire hunters and each other.
I am fully aware that I have just thrown a lot of in-game terminology to you, all of which I intend explaining, as these contribute as to why I am terribly fond of this game and it’s setting. The games found within the World of Darkness, are dark reflections of our own. Corruption runs wild through governments, private organisations and various subcultures. It is a world very similar to our own. The technology is the same, as is the petty emotions, desires and ambitions that drive us out of bed each day…and night, as the people in this world are different things altogether.
In this world, werewolves, mages, daemons, faeries, mummies and, of course, vampires all exist, each of them shaping the World of Darkness. ‘VtM’ (and all of the other WoD games) uses the Storyteller (ST) system, where Game Masters are embraced to become storytellers, thrusting you in a plot of good and evil, right and wrong and redemption and damnation. Players and the ST are encouraged to become their characters as if they were budding actors, and bounce off each other’s actions as if it was real.
This differs greatly from the likes of Dungeon & Dragons, where you are a group of brave adventurers off to slay a nasty dragon in a dungeon. That is a game that is emphasised on its battle mechanics. Whilst fights do occur in games of ‘Vampire: The Masquerade’, where guns, knives and a whole host of vampiric powers known as ‘Disciplines’ are used, usually in quick succession of each other, The emphasis with VtM is more on the social drama, hostile in-game politics and a variety of themes of moods to reflect not only the dark and terrible situations you have been put in but the turmoil you may have with yourself, as you try and come to terms with your new undead condition. VtM is a game of personal horror, as perform questionable things to keep (un)living.
Some people would have been turned off by the idea that a game is ruled by politics, but ask yourself this: what hasn't been affected politics? Whether you’re at school, college, university, or the workplace, there is a social and political hierarchy in all of these places, and you must decide where you want to stand on all of these things.
Vampire: The Masquerade Enters the Internet Age
With the evolution of the Internet, with the likes of YouTube and Twitch dominating every breathing moment of today's youth’s lives, it is inevitable that the likes of D&D and VtM would reach out to new audiences. Once again, D&D would be the first to do so.
I am of course referring to ‘Critical Role’, an American ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ (D&D) web series. There are well over 100 episodes spread across two series (or campaigns, at the time of typing) and has gained 1000s of fans across the four years this televised series of D&D has existed. It’s GM is famous voice actor Matt Mercer, and his players are a load of other enthusiastic D&D players including, and not limited to Laura Bailey (‘Catherine’, ‘Dragon Ball Z’, ‘Final Fantasy XIII’ etc.) Travis Willingham (‘Tales of Vesperia’, ‘Sonic The Hedgehog’, ‘Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor’, etc.) and Ashely Johnson (‘The Last of Us, ‘Teen Titans’, ‘The Avengers’ etc.).
This ongoing series has done wonders for table-top games. Not only has D&D entered households of millions of teens, but it presents the idea that playing D&D is ‘cool’. It also spawned ‘The Matt Mercer Effect’, something that I explored in a previous blog.
Sure enough, World of Darkness fans would soon leap into action, and do their own similar streams of ‘Vampire: The Masquerade’, but only after ‘Geek & Sundry’ would start another popular web series that would present the notion that playing tabletop RPGs was cool. This was ‘LA By Night’.
‘LA By Night’ has it’s own cast of professional actors, including (but not limited to) Erika Ishii (‘Fallout 76’, ‘Crypt of the Necrodancer’, ‘Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Sim’ etc.), Alexander Ward (‘Annabelle Comes Home’, ‘Spongebob Squarepants’, ‘American Horror Story’, etc.) and Bryan Dechart (‘Detroit: Become Human’, ‘Red Dead Redemption II’, ‘The Remaining’, etc.). I should also note that that game has Jason Carl as it’s storyteller. For those who are unaware, Jason Carl was one of the founding/original members of White Wolf Publishing, the creators of VtM, and the producer of VtM V5 (Fifth Edition, the latest edition, and the version that ‘LA By Night’ uses).
What both of these shows and many of other live streams of VtM & D&D have also introduced to viewers that it is also fun watching people play these games, bounce off each other, and be part of the casts/player’s many inside jokes. Watching LA By Night certainly encouraged me to pick up V5, in addition to re-energising my passion for playing VtM (and Bloodlines again).
Coda
As I sit and ponder over many years of replaying ‘Vampire: The Masquerade-Bloodlines’ and partaken in many a session of ‘Vampire: The Masquerade’, there have been very few occasions where VtM and the personal horror that is playing as a vampire hasn’t been cool. To my knowledge, vampires have always been popular, as has the game in question.
If any of this sounds familiar to any recent vampire film you’ve seen, any vampire game you’ve played or book you’re read, then the chances are it has been influenced by ‘Vampire: The Masquerade’ in some way or another. ‘Blade’, ‘True Blood’, ‘Twilight’, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, ‘Underworld’, ‘Vampyr’, all of these pieces of media draw inspiration from this highly popular table-top RPG. VtM also drew a lot of influence from ‘The Lost Boys’ and Anne Rice’s popular ‘Interview With a Vampire’ book and it’s subsequent sequels. So if you like any of those titles at all, there is no way you don’t like ‘Vampire: The Masquerade.’
To the friendships formed, and many positive memories formed and the many new ones to be made with ‘Vampire: The Masquerade’, and (hopefully) with the upcoming ‘Vampire: The Masquerade-Bloodlines 2’ and the various new VtM games expected to hit consoles and PCs, the people of White Wolf Publishing, Modiphiu Entertainment sand Onyx Path Publishing, you have my deepest thanks and gratitude.
If you are new to my blogs and fancy reading more ‘Vampire: The Masquerade’ related blogs, I will leave a few more for you to read at your leisure.
What are your thoughts on VtM? Let’s start a conversation, people!
