Vampire: The Masquerade
The World of Darkness World of Darkness (cWoD 19th Century) World of Darkness (cWoD Dark Ages) World of Darkness (cWoD Far East) World of Darkness (cWoD Modern) World of Darkness (cWoD Renaissance)
Fantasy (Modern Urban Fantasy) Horror (Supernatural) Occult (Magic) Horror Fantasy (Low Fantasy) Modern Crime Crime (Criminal / Law Enforcement) Modern (Urban) Adult / Mature Culture (Asian / Far Eastern) History (Medieval) History (Europe) History (Victorian Era)
Attribute/Stat Based (STR, CON, PER, etc) Dice (Primarily d10) Dice Pool (Roll multiple dice vs target) Point Based (allocate points to get skills, powers, etc) Progression Tree (Skills, professions, magic abilities, etc.) Race Based (Player Race/Species affects gameplay) Skill Based (buy or gain skills)
The original RPG setting Vampires in a modern Gothic-Punk world.
Vampire: The Masquerade was an original RPG allowing players to explore a dark world of modern vampires in a Gothic-Punk world. The game took players away from traditional elements of RPGs and vampiric lore and into a modern 1990s view of style and performance which was much darker and bleaker than before.
It was designed on a Storyteller system using the dice pool as a main mechanism. The success of this original game lead to a series of similar horror games covering Werewolves, Mummies, Demons and other horror favourites. The White Wolf games led the way in story centred gaming and the move from dice rolling to role playing. It also encouraged RPGs to try the newly developing Live Action Role Playing (Larp) scene (it being easier to dress up as a Goth Vamp than an Elf.)
