 |
This world is but a thoroughfare ful of woe, |
Vampire: The Dark Ages is set at the close of the 12th century in medieval Europe--the darker, nastier Europe that existed in the past of the World of Darkness. The Dark medieval World is fairly similar to its counterpart in the real world, so if you want more information, you can look into the history collections of your local library or bookstore.
Although the end of the 12th century is the primary time in which Vampire: The Dark Ages is set, you can set your own chronicle in any era. most of the information in this book applies to Europe up until the first stirrings of the Renaissance, though the technology varies depending on the period. Don't feel constrained by the history of "the real world," however, it's your game, so make of it what you will.
For those familiar with Vampire: The Masquerade and the other 20th century games, you will find both familiar and new aspects to the Dark Ages. Much changed between the 12th and 20th centuries, so don't assume that the same things hold true.
ROLEPLAYING
Vampire: The Dark Ages is not only a storytelling game, but a roleplaying game as well. You not only tell stories, but actually act through them by taking on the roles of its central characters. It's a lot like acting, only you make up the lines.
Roleplaying is equal parts improvisational acting and Cowboys and Indians, a set of rules laid out over a story that everyone in the game is involved in telling. Think back to the games you played as a child; every time you imagined yourself as a knight in shining armor or an Indian on the warpath, you were roleplaying. Every time you chased dragons around the backyard or headed the bad guys off at the pass, you were roleplaying. It's something you've all been doing all along; now you have a name for it. Besides, not everything you did as a child was inherently childish; by allowing us to try on other people's skins, even for a little while, these games helped us understand them (and ourselves) better.
Of course, we're a long way from hiding behind the swingset and arguing "Is not! Is too!" over whether the arrow was faster than the six-shooter. That's why there are rules to this sort of roleplaying, to provide a structure and a framework for the stories that you tell. By using the basic rules that are provided in Chapter Six, you can resolve conflicts and define the capacities of the characters in the stories you tell.
In Vampire: The Dark Ages, it is best to play with only a few players, five at the very most. It is far too personal a game to make it very enjoyable with a large group. Much of its mystery and flavor is lost when players must compete for attention. Indeed, we have found that storytelling games of this sort work best with a Storyteller and a troupe of only three players.
THE STORYTELLER
Vampire: The Dark Ages is structured a little differently from the games you might be used to. In the first place, there is no board or cards. Second, one player needs to be the Storyteller-- the person who creates and guides the stories. The Storyteller describes what happens as a result of what the players say and do, and must decide if the characters succeed or fail, suffer or prosper, live or die. It is a very demanding task, but it's also a rewarding one, for the Storyteller is a weaver of dreams.
The Storyteller's primary duty is to make sure the other players have a good time. The way to do that is to tell a good tale. Unlike traditional storytellers, however, she doesn't simply tell the story; instead, she must create the skeleton of a story and then let the players flesh it out by living the roles of its leading characters. It is a careful balance between narration and adjudication, story and game. Sometimes she must set the scene or describe what occurs (such as when the characters are asleep), but mostly she must decide what occurs in reaction to the words and actions of the characters-as realistically, impartially and creatively as she possibly can.
As the Storyteller, you are in charge of interpreting and enforcing the rules, yet you are also an entertainer-you must struggle to balance your two roles. Most of this hook was written to help you do just that. It won't make being a Storyteller easy, because it never will be, but it will make you better at it.
The role of the Storyteller is explained in much more detail in Chapter Eight.
THE PLAYERS
Most of the people who play this game will not be Storytellers, but rather players, who assume the roles of the central characters in the story. Being a player does not require as much responsibility as being a Storyteller, but just as much effort and concentration.
As a player in a Vampire: The Dark Ages chronicle, you will take on the persona and role of a vampire or Cainite, whom you invent and then roleplay over the course of a story. The life of your character is in your hands, for it is you who decides what the character says and does. You decide what risks to accept or decline. Everything you say and do when you play your character has an effect on the world.
You must be both an actor and a player. As an actor, you speak for your character and act out whatever you wish your character to do or say. Whatever you say, your character says, unless you are specifically asking a question of the Storyteller or are describing your actions. By announcing and describing to the other players what you are doing, you become a part of the ongoing story.
As a player, you try to do things that allow your character to succeed, so as to "win the game." This strategy element is essential, for it is what so often creates the thrill and excitement of a dramatic moment.
Often after describing the actions "you" want to take, you will need to make dice rolls to see if you succeed in doing what you have illustrated with words. Your Character Traits, descriptions of your strengths and weaknesses, dictate how well you can do certain things. Actions are a basic element of storytelling games, for they describe how characters change the world and affect the course of the story.
Characters are central to a story, for they create and direct the plot; without characters you can't have a story. As the story flows, it is the characters who direct and energize the progress of the plot, not the decisions of the Storyteller.
To some extent, you are a Storyteller as well as a player, and should feel free to add ideas and elements to the story, though the storyteller may accept or reject them as she sees fit. In the end, it is the story, not your character, which is the most important. The character is a tool for telling a good story, not the other way around.
CHARACTERS
On a basic level, each of us is a character, composed of mannerisms and memories, behaviors and experiences. Everything we are and everywhere we've been are reflected in each word and action we make. When playing Vampire: The Dark Ages, though, we are asked to set aside our memories and masks, and to pick up someone else's, even if only for a little while. This can be incredibly enjoyable, providing us the opportunity to achieve feats that are forever beyond us in our daily lives.After all, how many of US get to stalk castle battlements or ride to the hunt in the twilight mist every day?
This is the reward of roleplaying: the magical and impossiblc achievements that are within our grasp when we pretend we're someone else. And here lies the great difficulty of roleplaying- the creation of a believable character.
Your characters will have part of you in them. This is inescapable, and if there's nothing of your life in them, then there's nothing you can do to bring them to life. On the other hand, to be enjoyable to play a character has to be more than just a part of yourself. You're yourself every day, after all; where's the fun in being just yourself when you finally have the chance to be someone else? To make characters believable, you have to give them memories and motives that they can draw upon, unique desires and quirks that make them more than just aspects of your personality given a voice. Each character should be unique, equal parts of experience and fantasy.
Vampire: The Dark Ages characters are easy to create. It takes only a few minutes to work out all the Traits and the basic numbers. It takes more effort to make this collection of numbers into a living, breathing character. You must reach deep inside of yourself to find enough that is real and true to produce a complete character. Frankenstein's monster was easily assembled from available body parts. It was infusing the breath of life that proved difficult.
Character creation is discussed in greater detail in Chapter Five.
COTERIES
It is assumed that all the characters will be allies, and that during the game they will operate as a group. This is not to say that they will always get along, but they will watch each other's backs and will share a few common ambitions. Called coteries, such groups of vampires can be found from the halls of power to the dankest slums. In most cases, the coterie of player characters will comprise all the young vampires in a given area, unless it is one of the largest cities such as Venice or Constantinople. Whether the group is drawn together by a comrmon interest, a common enemy or mere survival, it is not hard to see that there is safety in numbers. A single young Cainite alone will face hardships beyond those of a group, and it is this group that each and every character will come to depend upon. It is the coterie that unites the characters and enables the players to work together throughout the story.
PLAYING AIDS
For the most part, Vampire: The Dark Ages was designed to be played around a table. Though it does not require a board, there are a number of props which require a table-or at least a flat surface to use properly. You will need dice, pencils andi paper, an photocopies of the character sheets. The dice required are 10-sided, which you can find in any game store. The Storyteller may also want to have paper on hand in order to sketch out a setting (so as to describe it more easily to the players), as well as a few other props to show the players what the characters are seeing (sketches, candles, scarves anything to make the experience more vivid).
LIVE-ACTION
Live-Action roleplaying can be the most dynamic and fun part of playing Vampire: The Dark Ages. Live-Action roleplaying is similar to improvisational theatre; the actors (the players) act through the scenes created and introduced by the Storyteller. This creates a much more intense and immediate storytelling experience.
Players in a roleplaying game generally describe what their characters do and even say. During Live-Action roleplaying, however, players actually do what their characters do and say what their characters say (within limits). They can stand up, walk around, hold up a letter, shake hands or rush to a window to see what is going on. Imagination is still important, and the Storyteller may still interrupt the action to describe objects and special situations.
No dice are used during Live-Action sessions; alternate rules, like those given in White Wolf's Mind's Eye Theatre line of LiveAction products, take the place of dice when needed. For the most part, everything is decided through acting. The Storyteller simply uses the characters' Traits to decide how well they manage to perform certain mechanical actions (such as picking a lock). The Storyteller also decides how the other Storyteller-run characters react to the players' characters.
RULES
You must follow a few basic rules to ensure that Live-Action roleplaying progresses smoothly and safely. These rules must he obeyed if you intend to run any Live-Action roleplaying at all. Safety is always a primary concern.
- Don't Touch: A player should never actually strike or grapple another member of the troupe. No sort of combat should ever he performed-that is one thing you should leave for the dice to decide. If players or Storyteller assistants get too rambunctious in their roles, the Storyteller should call a time-out from the acting and remind everyone of the rules of play. Repeat offenders should be asked to leave, or the action should he returned to a table and conflicts resolved thi-ough dice rolls.
- No Weapons: No props can he used if they must touch another player to he effective. No real weapons of any sort can ever be handled at any time during Live-Action roleplaying. Not even prop swords can be used. The "no touch" rules must always be in effect.
- Play Inside: Play inside your own horme or in whatever private area the game normally takes place. Make sure that everyone else in the area understands what you are doing. Never perform Live-Action if passersby may he confused or frightened by the event. If you play outside, such as in the woods behind your house, make sure privacy is maintained.
- Know When to Stop: When the Storyteller calls for a timeout, all action must immediately stop. Even during Live-Action (especially during Live-Action), the Storyteller's word is final.
THE BECOMING
The moment a human becomes a vampire is never forgotten, for the transformation is usually painful and traumatic. A vampire is created when an existing vampire drains all the blood from a mortal, killing him. However, just before final and absolute death sets in, the sire pierces open her own skin and releases a small amount of blood into the victim's mouth. This rouses him somewhat, and he begins to drink from the sire's open wound. All it takes for the transformation to occur is the absence of one's own blood and the tiniest hit of vampiric blood.
Most characters take on the lineage of their sires, and are therefore of the same clans. The clan membership affects what Disciplines a character can have at the heginning of the game; it also delineates a special weakness of the character. Often characters of the same clan will he allies and will strive to support one another, though this is not always the case.
For the next few years or decades, the newly created childe remains with his sire. He may be taught nothing or everything, nurtured or abused, restricted or granted full freedom. But until he is released by his sire and presented to the prince of the fiefdom, he is not accepted in vampire society.
THE HUNGER
Vampires must feed; this fact is the lowest common denominator of their existence. Hunger is not merely a need, it is an all-consuming passion. The thirst for blood is a primal instinct for survival, for only through blood may the vampire survive. The blood need not he human, and even if it is mortal vitae, the death of the vessel is not required (although the bloodlust often causes vampires to lose their restraint when they begin to feed, and thus to drain all life from their victims). Vampire teeth leave only a small wound, and even this disappears if the vampire licks the wound.
Because the sire never returns to the childe all of the blood she withdrew, the young vampire is soon consumed by a ravenous hunger for blood. As the childe has no experience with this overwhelming urge, it is as total as it is immediate. The fledgling cannot fight the urge except through a constant exertion of Willpower, and even then frenzy might overcome him if fresh blood comes within smelling distance. Vampires need to feed regularly, usually once or twice a week.
NATURE OF THE BEAST
What does it mean to be a vampire? Cainites are not, despite their appearance, human-they have an alien nature and differ from mortals in many fundamental ways. One may start with the picture of a human, but it is a lethal mistake to think vampires are exactly like us. Yet they are similar enough to us that they can he compared and contrasted to humanity. By comparing vampires to humans, it is possible to discover what their capabilities and limitations are.
It is important to keep in mind that, because a vampire's basic needs differ so completely, other desires vary as well. Food other than blood is no longer necessary--but unfortunately, one can't just purchase blood at the local farmer's market either. Vampires are predatory beasts by nature, and though the desire for temporal power over the world of Cainites and kine alike often distracts them for a time, they cannot deny what they truly are.
Most vampires who survive more than a few years develop a kind of philosophy that allows them to continue on each night, to balance their own souls with the needs and desires of the Beast within. Many call these systems of belief Roads or Via, for they help to guide the vampire through unlife, establishing a code of ethics and beliefs that remain constant in a chaotic world.
SOCIETY OF THE NIGHT
Caine's childer are relatively numerous in the Middle Ages. A city of 10,000 mortals may have a dozen resident vampires, with half a dozen more in the surrounding towns and
villages. Princes often have only loose control over their subjects, and cannot easily restrict the number of neonates who are sired. And some Cainites exist without ever hunting a mortal, instead establishing willing herds in isolated communities or feeding from easily available animal vitae.
This is a grand but terrifying age in which to be a vampire. On one hand, it is a time of fear and superstition, of blind ohedience and casual brutality. If an isolated cottage is too far from the nearest village for the screams of its inhabitants to be heard, then the withered husks within may not be discovered for a season or more. Life is cheap and for the taking, and few gainsay the right of the strong to subdue-or destroy-the weak.
On the other hand, it is also a time of terror for Cainites. There are few places to hide from the sun and the torch, and the roads are made perilous by brigands and ravening Lupines. It is an age of faith as well, and the lowliest peasant might hold in her heart the power to thwart even the mightiest vampire lord. Great rewards and great perils fill the nights and days of the Cainite. From the Nile Delta to the Iberian Peninsula, from Moslem Jerusalem to the Teutonic barbarisms of the Schwarzwald, it is an age of darkness, lit by the flickering of torches and the gleam of red eyes in the night.
ORGANIZATION
Travel through medieval Europe is slow and dangerous, and so communications are limited. Information and orders are difficult to relay. There are no large sects overseeing the Cainites. There are simply individual clan elders and princes, all exerting influence on their neighhors for their own disparate ends.
THE CLANS
The most important clans, both the most numerous and most powerful, are Clans Ventrue, Tzimisce, Lasombra, Brujah, Nosferatu, Malkavian, Cappadocian and Gangrel. In addition, the newly formed Tremere clan, the Setites, the Assamites and the Toreador are each established in small portions of Europe. Ravnos vampires visit occasionally from the East, and the remnants of the demonic Baali remain in hiding somewhere on the continent.
CAINITES AND MORTALS
There are few large cities in Dark Medieval Europe, and even those such as Madrid, Venice, and Constantiople contain but a fraction of the number of kine in modern Paris, London or New York. Few people stray from their houses after dark, instead waking with sunrise and sleeping at sunset, echoing the cycles of the vampires who would prey upon them. The Church wields the powers of Faith against all creatures of the night, especially undead creatures who would steal the lifeblood of their parishoners . One would think that these factors would mean but a few vampires would be found in each city...but this is not the case.
Certainly, vampires are not found in the same numbers during this age as in later periods, but overpopulation is becoming a serious threat to the survival of Cainites during this period. Many ride the night as dark lords, using their power to control and frighten the local folk into timid obedience. Territory is fiercely guarded, and to feed from another vampire's herd is a quick path toward Final Death, if discovered.
Vampire politics are heated, with a great many Cainites competing for scant resources. Vampire princes struggle to keep hunting and feuds among their subjects from drawing the attention of mortal authorities, but this is often difficult. It is not hard to see why the Inquisition formed not long after this period, in an attempt to curtail the perceived flood of undead who threatened the good folk of the Church.
Moreover, because vampires are unable to participate in normal mortal life-whether commerce or leisure--those who want power in mortal society must act through proxies and attend the few feasts and fetes held after sunset in the noble houses while the common folk are fast asleep. In this night and age, Cainites' relations with their ghouls, herds, allies and retainers become more important.
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
This book is designed as a guide, a jumping-off point from which you will create your own stories. Remember that it is not meant to be the final authority-that job is left to the Storyteller. Use what you find here as the basis on which to buid your own chronicle, and let your imagination be your guide.
The book is further divided into Books One, Two and Three. Book One describes the world in which Vampire: The Dark Ages takes place. Book Two contains all the information you need to create a beginning character and start playing. Book Three is information for the Storyteller, including suggestions for how to resolve difficult rules situations, how to structure a chronicle, and what sorts of antagonists the player characters may run into.
Chapter Two: Setting describes the world of Dark Medieval Europe, combining the history of the real world during this period with the sinister goings on in the World of Darkness.
Chapter Three: The Clans details the bloodlines of vampires present during this period, and their relations to each other.
Chapter Four: Character demonstrates how to create a character and explains the Abilities and Attributes that will be used to describe your character.
Chapter Five: Disciplines explains the supernatural powers vampires possess.
Chapter Six: Rules covers the basics of how to play the game, converting ideas and situations into die rolls.
Chapter Seven: Systems outlines a number of different ways to resolve conflicts in the game, as well as showing how the characters' Traits can increase or decrease as the game goes on.
Chapter Eight: Storytelling is intended as an introduction to the art of storytelling, giving both new and experienced Storytellers ideas for chronicles and advice on how to keep things moving.
Chapter Nine: Antagonists provides a range of potential enemies and other characters for the Cainites to interact with, including mortals, beasts fantastical and mundane, faeries, spirits, werewolves and mages.
To Vampire Resources.
Movies, TV, Books, Games, and Other Sources to expand upon the rules.
To Vampire Lexicon
The terms, common and "old form" that define the "lives" of vampires.
© Copyright 1996 by White Wolf
White Wolf, Vampire the Masquerade and Mage the Ascension are registered trademarks of White Wolf, Inc. All rights reserved. Vampire the Dark Ages, Werewolf the Apocalypse, Werewolf the Wild West, Wraith the Oblivion, The Risen, and Changeling The Dreaming are trademarks of White Wolf, Inc. All rights reserved. All characters, names, places and text herein are copyrighted by White Wolf, Inc. Reproduction without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for the purposes of reviews. The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned. Because of the mature themes involved, reader discretion is advised. Check out White Wolf on the World Wide Web at http://www.white-wolf.com
Magazine articles and contents are copyrighted property of the respective publication. All copyrights, trademarks, and other rights are held by the respective magazines, companies, and/or licensors, with all rights reserved. MagWeb, its contents, and HTML coding are © Copyright 1996 by Coalition Web, Inc. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com