Who created Vampire: The Masquerade and when was it released?
Vampire: The Masquerade was created by Mark Rein-Hagen and released in 1991 by White Wolf Publishing. It was the first game in the Storyteller System line set in the World of Darkness.
Questions about Vampire: The Masquerade
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What is the Masquerade in Vampire: The Masquerade?
The Masquerade is an organized conspiracy maintained primarily by the vampire sect known as the Camarilla to keep the existence of vampires hidden from the general public. It is enforced through self-policing, with punishments for breaches that can include Final Death delivered via a ritualized Blood Hunt.
What inspired Mark Rein-Hagen to make players the vampires instead of vampire hunters?
Rein-Hagen felt that hunting vampires would get boring as a game premise, so he reversed the concept and made players the vampires themselves. His inspirations included Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, Nightlife, vampire films such as The Lost Boys, and the writings of Joseph Campbell.
How many editions of Vampire: The Masquerade have been published?
The original 1991 release was followed by a second edition in 1992 and a Revised Edition in 1998. The game was discontinued in 2004, revived with the 20th Anniversary Edition in 2011, and Fifth Edition was released in early 2018. Fifth Edition won the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Game of the Year in 2019.
What video games are based on Vampire: The Masquerade?
Video game adaptations include Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption (2000), Bloodlines (2004) developed by Troika Games using Valve's Source engine, Coteries of New York (2019), the battle royale Bloodhunt (2022) by Sharkmob, Swansong (2022), Justice (2023), and Bloodlines 2 (2025).
What is the Beast in Vampire: The Masquerade?
The Beast is the feral, predatory side of a vampire's soul, driven by rage, hunger, and fear. As a vampire's Humanity score falls, the Beast grows stronger and can take over conscious control, forcing the vampire into a frenzied state. If Humanity drops to zero, the vampire becomes a barely sentient creature called a wight.