Title: Vampire: The Dark Ages
Publisher: White Wolf Game Studio
Game Type: Roleplaying
Price: $28.00 (hardcover)
Pages: 288
Number of Players: 2+
Requirements: Paper, pencils, polyhedral dice
Designers: Hartshorn, Skemp, Rein-Hagen, and Hassall

In modern times, the Vampire (as seen via Vampire: The Masquerade) is tragically hip. In the Dark Ages, however, Vampires are cursed by God--a very real medieval God.

"Book One" describes this medieval mind-set, along with details about medieval Europe and the current status of the many clans of vampires who lurk in the darkness...or rule from the lamp-lit courts of feudal castles.

"Book Two" describes character generation and the game system, which is the White Wolf's Storyteller system, and leads you through selecting the various backgrounds, motivations, abilities, and advantages needed to play a vampire.

"Book Three" provides information mainly for storytellers (game masters), including a bevy of 'antagonists' ranging from Church Inquisitors to Infernal Demons. Particularly handy is a section containing crossover information for other White Wolf Storyteller system games such as Wraith and Werewolf.

One odd conundrum stands out: In Vampire: The Masquerade (modern times), neonate vampires (player characters) are usually of later generation, which the game system makes weaker than their early generation ancestors. Common sense suggests that the vampires of the middle ages (the timeline for Vampire: The Dark Ages) are precisely this earlier generation, and that the player character vampires in medieval times should be more powerful than those in modern times.

However, that's not the case. The Dark Ages player character vampires are still considered watered down versions of an earlier generation, so that relative strength is the same whether you are playing Vampire: The Masquerade or Vampire: The Dark Ages. One explanation for this oddity is that the system was balanced for certain power levels in Vampire: The Masquerade, and White Wolf didn't feel comfortable changing the balance. Whatever the explanation, all storytellers have the resources available to run whatever power-level campaign they wish.

Vampire: The Dark Ages is a strong representative of the Storyteller line of roleplaying games, and provides a real change for roleplayers who are used to roleplaying the modern cursed.

Chapter One-Ders: Vampire: The Dark Ages: The Introduction

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