Background and Story

No flames from the hardcore, please

The world of Vampire the Masquerade is so deep and complex, it could easily take 2 or 3 Firingsquad length articles to begin to describe it. If you're really interested, I highly recommend the well written quick start over at White Wolf's page. For the purposes of the computer game and this preview, it will suffice to say that vampires have lived in a secret society of sorts for centuries. They've been living silently amongst humans, in a masquerade, in order to preserve their existence and their culture. The disaster of the Inquisition during the Middle Ages (basically a vampire holocaust) weighs heavily on their minds, so they hide in order to coexist peacefully.

Don't mess with the undead

Vampire Politics

The Vampires are not all united of course - like mortal society, there are clans split along idealogical boundaries. However, most clans have banded in a loose federation called the Camarilla. The Camarilla form "mainstream vampires" who can be anyone or anything: rich business men, brash street punks, or even hideous deformed beast vampires who hide in shadows and sewers. The Camarilla are all united in following the strict Masquerade (hiding their true identity from humans) created after the Inquisition. There's a lot of infighting between the clans but they also unite against renegade vampires who want to dominate mortals, a clan called the Sabbat. Yes, if this is sounding familiar, it's because the movie Blade superficially touched on these same issues. In a nutshell: V:tM isn't Castlevania in 3D or another Diablo - far from it. It's not just about vampires vs. humans. Like mortal society, there's a ton of diversity within vampire ranks, and V:tM is all about fleshing out these issues (and how vampires coexist with humans) to present a fascinating and robust story.