Vampire: The Masquerade: Difference between revisions

[[File:vampir2_3400.jpg|frame|Are you afraid yet? You should be.]]

 

 

The tabletop roleplaying game that started the [[Old World of Darkness]] line. Subverted many tropes of roleplaying games from that time by making the player characters monsters (as opposed to heroes who hunt them) and installing a [[Karma Meter]] that makes violence a dubious solution in many situations. In this game, players take the roles of vampires (aka the Kindred, aka the Damned), undead beings gifted with eternal (un)life and superhuman power, but forced to endure such drawbacks as compulsive bloodlust, poor impulse control, danger of degenerating into a mindless monster by committing too many evil acts, weakness to sunlight, and being bitches of older and more powerful vampires. The common ways to spend your unlife in this game include angsting over your condition, engaging in political intrigues and games of status within the vampire society and kicking ass with your newfound superpowers (called Disciplines).

Recently, Crowd Control Productions, makers of [[Eve Online]], announced that their upcoming [[Old World of Darkness]] MMO will start off centered on ''Vampire: The Masquerade,'' rather than the [[New World of Darkness]] and ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]].'' White Wolf (now a CCP subsidiary) has released a "20th Anniversary Edition"<ref>officially abbreviated as "V20", since "20th Anniversary Edition" is kind of unwieldly</ref> of the rulebook, and will be releasing other "Classic" World of Darkness titles, though they have said they will not be updating the metaplot.

 

* Brujah: [[Rebel Without a Cause|Rebels without causes]]. Fiercely independent vampires whose powers center around physical might and kicking ass. Nickname: Rabble. Weakness: Less resistance to blood frenzy.

* Gangrel: The [[Beast Man|beastmen]]. Wild and animalistic vampires who have the ability to command beasts and shape-shift. For several reasons including their wild nature and the awakening of a clan founder, the clan as a whole has left the Camarilla, but individual Gangrel still claim membership. Nickname: Outlanders. Weakness: Becomes more animal-like with each blood frenzy.

* Ventrue: The vampire lords. Uses money, influence, and the [[Mind Control]] power of Dominate to seize power. Nickname: Blue Bloods. Weakness: Can only drink from a specific type of person.

 

* Lasombra: [[Manipulative Bastard|Manipulative bastards]] who can even manipulate the very shadows to do their bidding. Nickname: Keepers (as in "My Brother's"). Weakness: [[Glamour Failure|No Reflection]].

* Tzimisce (pronounced "ZHIM-ee-see"): Monstrous lords of the night who have rejected any semblance of humanity, using their [[Body Horror]] powers to transcend to a "higher" state. Nickname: Fiends. Weakness: Tied to their mortal homes; must have at least a handful of their native earth to rest.

* Antitribu: Members of clans that are generally Camarilla or Independent, but have joined the ranks of the Sabbat. Are considered traitors by their parent clans. On paper, Lasombra antitribu exist within the Camarilla, but they're far less common and keep a low profile.

 

* Assamites: [[Psycho for Hire|Vampire mercenaries]]. Believe in drinking the blood of other vampires to bring themselves closer to their founder. As the name should give away, their Quietus discipline makes them into perfect killers-for-hire. Nickname: Assassins. Weakness: Addicted to vampire blood.

* Followers of Set: A vampiric [[Religion of Evil]]. Dedicate themselves to corrupting both humans and vampires alike, and therefore often become drug lords, pimps, and [[Cult]] leaders. Their special discipline of Serpentis mixes some of the other vampires's powers into one handy, snake-themed package. Nickname: Serpents. Weakness: Bright lights.

* Ravnos: Vampires based on [[Roma|Gypsy stereotypes]]. [[Con Man|Con men]] whose abilities revolve around illusions and tricks. Due to the awakening of their clan founder, they are an endangered/extinct species, depending on who you ask. (Information is never reliable in this setting.) Nickname: Deceivers. Weakness: Compulsion to a specific vice.

 

* The Black Hand: A sub-sect to the Sabbat who serves as the assassins of the sect, and an elite group of warriors within the Sabbat to call upon in times of need.

* True Black Hand: Another sub-sect to the Sabbat and the ones who essentially bring it order and structure from within, while primarily concerning themselves with the return of the Antediluvians, and/or a bunch of Antediluvian worshipping loons whose "conspiracies" and "infiltrations" run a mile wide and an inch deep. Introduced in a ''very'' controversial for the time gamebook (''Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand'') in Second Edition, made irrelevant and then wiped out during Revised Edition, and then reintroduced in the "metaplot-free" 20th Anniversary Edition.

* The Anarchs: Formally a Camarilla sub-sect, this sect is home to a great amount of younger vampires who reject the rule of elders that the main Camarilla body supports, and wish to see an equal vampire society where all vampires are equal or at least judged by merit rather than age. They tend to be composed mainly of younger vampires from all clans who don't like being treated like dirt by their elders. [[The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized|They're not very good at practicing what they preach.]]

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* [[Actual Pacifist]]: Obviously varies from character to character, but the Salubri healer caste's Disciplines are all geared toward healing and they can only drink blood from willing victims, so your archetypal Salubri will probably be one of these.

* [[Added Alliterative Appeal]]: The Baali Dark Ages clanbook is full of this. In reference to the founder of the Salubri clan mentioned above: ''‎"Gentle Saulot. Philosopher. Pilgrim. Pacifist. Passionate. Pathetic. Of what use are his meditations on pity and purity now, I wonder?"''