Enough Vampire: The Masquerade Games to Slake Our Thirst

Quietly and relentlessly, Vampire: The Masquerade has returned. Currently in its fifth incarnation, released last year by Modiphius Entertainment, the supernatural horror role-playing property has enjoyed a revival of sorts over the past several years, owing in large part to the game’s 20th anniversary edition—released in 2011 by property holder White Wolf Publishing, owner of the World of Darkness universe in which the game (along with many others over the years) is set. Now in as strong a position as it’s ever been, Vampire is seizing its opportunity by releasing a variety of spinoff games for elder kindred and neonates alike to sink their teeth into.

Livestreams and Podcasts

The success of series such as Critical Role and Titansgrave has opened up professional tabletop role-playing as a new genre of streaming entertainment. For an introduction to the Vampire: The Masquerade setting and the role-playing game’s mechanics, Geek and Sundry hosts LA by Night, a weekly campaign using Vampire’s 5th Edition rules, with Jason Carl of White Wolf serving as Storyteller. The series, which recently concluded its third season, streams weekly on Twitch, with past episodes viewable directly on the Geek and Sundry website as well as on YouTube and in podcast form.

Geek and Sundry

Writer B. Dave Walters, who plays the charmingly ruthless Victor Temple on LA by Night, has also started his own game on Twitch, Long Beach by Night, with the first episode airing on QueueTimes on October 6, 2019. And Minnesota fans seeking something closer to home can follow Twin Cities by Night, a fan chronicle that has been going strong since June 2017 using the game’s Revised Edition rule set. The group also hosts several other dark campaigns beyond Vampire, both in the World of Darkness and in other properties. Lastly, a recent tweet by PAX Australia announced Melbourne by Night, a livestream to occur during the convention, starting at 1:30 p.m. Melbourne time on October 13 (9:30 p.m. October 12 Central time). Melbourne by Night will act as a one-shot prelude to Seattle by Night, the setting of Bloodlines 2.

Speaking of which  . . .

Video Games

Perhaps the most anticipated Vampire game among the community is Vampire: The Masquerade—Bloodlines 2, designed by Hardsuit Labs. It will put players in the shoes of a Thin Blood—a kindred of the 14th or later generation of separation from Caine, the original vampire—who has just received the Embrace and is now on their own in the streets of present-day Seattle. And this is a pretty sucky situation, as Seattle is currently controlled by the kindred society known as the Camarilla, authors of the titular Masquerade, which enforces vampires doing their best to blend in with mortal society; the Camarilla hates Thin Bloods, maybe stopping short of killing them on sight but unwilling to offer them any favors, either. The group views the “Mass Embrace” that sired you and other Thin Bloods as an act of vampire terrorism, and your existence will therefore be treated as such. The game features a branching story line that will be heavily influenced by player decisions. The original Bloodlines has garnered something of a cult following over the years since its release in 2004, and 15 years later, enthusiasm for a sequel has been significant. Bloodlines 2 is set to arrive in March of next year for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Paradox Interactive, Hardsuit Labs

Any fan whose inner Beast is crying out for Bloodlines 2 and can’t wait until spring will be able to sate their hunger with Vampire: The Masquerade—Coteries of New York, published by Draw Distance and scheduled for a release before the end of 2019 on Nintendo Switch and PC, with other platforms being a future possibility. Like Bloodlines 2, Coteries of New York has a branching plot, with an emphasis placed on the narrative itself, delivering a “Telltale-like” experience. You’ll be building your own coterie (setting lingo for “party”) and working to build relationships with the other members as you face the game’s threats together. I find this concept true to the setting, as while vampiric powers do play a heavy part in your typical chronicle, Vampire: The Masquerade is at its best when the focus is on the characters themselves and the struggle to maintain one’s humanity despite the constant urge to kill.

Tabletop Games

The most ambitious tabletop game to come to Vampire: The Masquerade as far as I’m concerned is Blood Feud by Everything Epic. Coming soon to Kickstarter, the game is branded as a mega board game—the first ever out-of-the-box massively multiplayer offline game commercially available, as far as I’m aware. Anywhere from 4 to 32 players will take on the roles of vampires and mortal humans, each belonging to one of the various factions of the city, having a role within their faction, and working toward their own specific goals—interacting with one another, positively or negatively, as they do. The genre blends the best elements of live-action role-play, teamwork, and negotiation-based gaming that is like Diplomacy but doesn’t necessarily depend on eventually backstabbing the players you made deals with—though you certainly can.

Everything Epic

Gamers seeking a less grandiose expression of undead power plays might be interested in trying Vampire: The Masquerade—Vendetta, a 30- to 60-minute area-control card game for three to five players by Horrible Games. Players represent clans competing to overthrow and replace the current Prince of Chicago by acquiring allies, kindred and mortal alike, in the interest of building influence within the city. Conflicts between vampire clans rarely end within a single century, so as each of the three ages, or rounds of play, begins, players draw new cards to represent the new tools that have become available to their chosen clan. Over the course of the game, you will come to know some of your rivals’ tricks, but they’ll come to know yours, and there will always be opportunities to catch one another off guard.

One of the most captivating aspects of vampiric drama is the fact that vampires are immortal, and the true powers behind the scenes have been around for centuries, if not millennia. Far too long of a story for a single game night to encompass. Nice Game Publishing has managed to get around this obstacle by designing a legacy game called Vampire: The Masquerade—Heritage, in which events taking place in the first session of play have permanent repercussions for future sessions, each of which corresponds to an era in a 700-year campaign leading from the Dark Ages toward the Modern Nights. This saga encompasses a total of 21 sessions of play. Players Embrace mortals into their bloodline in order to shape historical events in their favor and accumulate power. Should these new vampires distinguish themselves, they are flipped over within their sleeves to reveal a customizable version, which the player can name and give a sticker that permanently establishes them as a member of the player’s clan. Then, if someone playing the same clan in a future game manages to recruit that vampire, they can upgrade the card by sticking a new special ability onto it. As time marches on, new rules are introduced that further impact gameplay: the Inquisition begins, the Masquerade is introduced, and so forth. This game is for two to four players, who are ideally the same two to four players during each session—legacy games tend to develop an “in-crowd” mentality in the same way that role-playing games do—but Heritage also offers a “custom game” mode that anyone can jump into. The game is currently slated for a 2020 release.

Finally, a game that is likely to shake things up in the customizable card game community—but not, I pray, the existing fan base of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle—is the Vampire: The Masquerade Expandable Card Game that was teased at this year’s Gen Con and will be unveiled to the public at Gen Con 2020. Little is known about the game apart from the teaser hinting that the Masquerade itself will play a prominent role, something that is absent from The Eternal Struggle as a game mechanic and is mostly expressed through card flavor. This further leads me to speculate that players might take on the role of younger vampires as opposed to the Methuselah they represent in the existing collectible card game. Regardless, I am cautiously intrigued and look forward to what this game might offer the Vampire and CCG fandoms.

In full disclosure, this vast array of games all coming to Vampire: The Masquerade in such a short timeframe has me slightly overwhelmed. But I look forward to the growth these diverse offerings promise to bring to the fandom.