| World of Darkness | |
|---|---|
 Series logo | |
| Type | Tabletop role-playing games |
| Genre | Horror |
| Creator | Mark Rein-Hagen |
| Publishers | |
| Owners |
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| First release | Vampire: The Masquerade July 1991[1] |
| Latest release | Deviant: The Renegades September 1, 2021[2] |
| Sub-series | Chronicles of Darkness |
| Related media | |
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World of Darkness is a series oftabletop role-playing games, originally created byMark Rein-Hagen forWhite Wolf Publishing. It began as an annual line of five games in 1991–1995, withVampire: The Masquerade,Werewolf: The Apocalypse,Mage: The Ascension,Wraith: The Oblivion, andChangeling: The Dreaming, along with off-shoots based on these. The series ended in 2004, and therebootChronicles of Darkness was launched the same year with a new line of games. In 2011, the original series was brought back, and the two have since been published concurrently.
The games in the series have ashared setting, also named the World of Darkness, which is a dark,gothic-punk interpretation of the real world, where supernatural beings such as vampires and werewolves exist in secrecy. The original series' setting has a large focus on lore and overarching narrative. In contrast,Chronicles of Darkness's setting has no such narrative and presents the details of its setting as optional.
The series has been well received critically for its setting, writing, and art direction, and has won or been nominated for awards including theOrigins Award. It has also been commercially successful, with millions of game books sold; by 2001,Vampire: The Masquerade was the second highest selling tabletop role-playing game afterTSR, Inc.'sDungeons & Dragons. The series has been adapted into other media, including the television seriesKindred: The Embraced,actual playweb series, novels and anthologies, comic books, card games, anda line of video games.
The originalWorld of Darkness series consists of eight core lines of role-playing games which were originally released from 1991 to 2002, presented here in order of release:
As well as off-shoots based on these, such as the Asia-themedKindred of the East and the historicalVampire: The Dark Ages.[3]
The 2004reboot series,Chronicles of Darkness, consists of eleven game lines:Vampire: The Requiem,Werewolf: The Forsaken,Mage: The Awakening,Promethean: The Created,Changeling: The Lost,Hunter: The Vigil,Geist: The Sin-Eaters,Mummy: The Curse,Demon: The Descent,[3]Beast: The Primordial,[4] andDeviant: The Renegades.[2] Most of these are based on concepts from the original series, directly as withVampire: The Requiem andVampire: The Masquerade, or indirectly as withGeist andWraith, which both deal with spirits.[3]
Both series are supported with supplementarysourcebooks detailing backgrounds and character types, which can be used when creating adventures for one's players; pre-madeadventure modules have also occasionally been published.[5][6] TheChronicles of Darkness sourcebooks in particular present the information as optional and something one may choose whether to include in one's game.[6] The supplements often take the form of a book describing a location as it is portrayed in the setting, such asVampire: The Masquerade's series ofBy Night books andWerewolf: The Apocalypse'sRage Across series.[7][8] Severalsplatbooks – sourcebooks detailing character classes or organizations – have also been published, such as theClanbook series, describing vampire clans, and theKithbook line, covering types of fae.[3][8]
The games in the original series are set in a shared universe, also named the World of Darkness,[9][10] which is a dark,gothic-punk interpretation of the real world, rife with corruption. In it, supernatural beings such as vampires, mages, and werewolves exist in secrecy, influencing humanity and clashing against each other; players take the roles of these beings,[11] who belong to various classes such asVampire: The Masquerade's vampire clans, andWerewolf: The Apocalypse's werewolf tribes.[6] The series as a whole is themed around personal horror, while individual games have their own themes, such as redemption and humanity inVampire: The Masquerade, and hubris inMage: The Ascension.[11] The series is known for its focus on metaplot – an overarching story for the setting that advances as new game books are released.[3][6]
Whereas the original series has a large focus on lore and background information for its setting,[11] the urban horrorChronicles of Darkness setting does not to the same extent;[6][11][12] it does not have a metaplot, and it presents any setting information as strictly optional to include in campaigns. With its lesser focus on lore and less defined world,Chronicles of Darkness also streamlines the character types, stripping the many vampire clans and werewolf tribes from the original series down to five each.[6]
The person leading campaigns – a role calledgamemaster or dungeon master in other games – is called a storyteller inWorld of Darkness, highlighting how the series is more focused on collaborative storytelling than on combat or on players overcoming the game leader's challenges; the rules exist to give players a framework for telling stories, and players are rewarded by being part of the setting rather than by escalating power levels.[11]Chronicles of Darkness has a larger focus on making the gameplay systems work together, enabling easier cross-over play between the games.[11]
TheWorld of Darkness series began development in 1990 by game designerMark Rein-Hagen atWhite Wolf Publishing, as his next major role-playing game project after 1987'sArs Magica. Designed as the first in a planned series of five annual games,Vampire: The Masquerade was released in 1991, and was followed byWerewolf: The Apocalypse (1992),Mage: The Ascension (1993),Wraith: The Oblivion (1994), andChangeling: The Dreaming (1995), all set in the same world and using theStoryteller rule system. This rapid expansion with new games, although successful and capturing players' and the industry's interest, led to often flawed first editions, prompting several revised, new editions of the core rulebooks between 1992–2000, resulting inMage: The Ascension morphing a lot between its editions as its themes changed.Ars Magica was initially tied toWorld of Darkness and used as a historical backdrop:[3] its House Tremere was reused as a vampire clan inVampire: The Masquerade, and its Order of Hermes as a mage tradition inMage: The Ascension. The rights toArs Magica were sold toWizards of the Coast in 1994, and the histories of the games were separated.[3]
Rein-Hagen constantly moved on to designing new games after finishing one,[3] designing all the original five games exceptMage: The Ascension, which was designed by White Wolf Publishing's founders, brothersStewart andSteve Wieck, and Chris Earley;[3][13] as such, new staff were brought in to manage the game lines, includingAndrew Greenberg forVampire andBill Bridges forWerewolf, who came to define the look and feel of the series. An economic downturn for White Wolf Publishing in 1995–1996, caused in part by bookstore returns forWorld of Darkness novelizations, led to a falling out between Rein-Hagen and the Wieck brothers, after which Rein-Hagen left the company. As the original planned five annual games had already been published, White Wolf Publishing next devised a new model of role-playing games with a historical setting based on previous games, resulting inVampire: The Dark Ages (1996),Werewolf: The Wild West (1997), andMage: The Sorcerers Crusade (1998), of which onlyVampire: The Dark Ages sold well. This led to the cancellation of the underperformingWraith line, with the release of the historical-settingWraith: The Great War and the 1999 supplementEnds of Empire, which functioned as a finale to the game's metaplot.[3]
In 1997, White Wolf Publishing developed another model, where they would release a game that required anotherWorld of Darkness rule book to play, which thereby would get the same attention as a new stand-alone core game without requiring them to further support it with supplements; this was used for 1997'sMummy Second Edition and its 2001 re-releaseMummy: The Resurrection, and 1998'sKindred of the East. The two final major modern-day-settingWorld of Darkness role-playing games,Hunter: The Reckoning andDemon: The Fallen, followed in 1999 and 2002, after which White Wolf Publishing returned to historical-setting games withVictorian Age: Vampire andDark Ages: Vampire, a new edition ofVampire: The Dark Ages, and a line ofDark Ages games based on otherWorld of Darkness games that, likeKindred of the East andMummy, required a main game's rule book to be played. A final game,Orpheus, was released in 2003 as a sequel toWraith.[3]
In 2004, following dwindling sales, White Wolf Publishing ended the series with the major eventTime of Judgment: a line of books that ended the overarching narratives ofVampire: The Masquerade,Werewolf: The Apocalypse,Mage: The Ascension,Changeling: The Dreaming,Demon: The Fallen,Hunter: The Reckoning,Kindred of the East, andMummy: The Resurrection. Following this, White Wolf Publishing rebooted the series with the 2004 rulebookThe World of Darkness, and released new games with updatedStorytelling System gameplay rules and a new setting, beginning withVampire: The Requiem in 2004 andWerewolf: The Forsaken andMage: The Awakening in 2005.[3]
In 2006, the Icelandic video game developerCCP Games acquired White Wolf Publishing and their intellectual properties, with the intention of developing an online video game based onWorld of Darkness. Business continued as usual until 2009, when CCP Games started transferring White Wolf Publishing staff to video game development and slowed down tabletop game production.[3]
The CCP Games incarnation of White Wolf Publishing published its last print products for distribution in 2011, withVampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition, an update of the pre-reboot game. Amid mass layoffs at CCP Games the same year, leaving few resources to produce tabletop games, White Wolf Publishing's creative director Rich Thomas formedOnyx Path Publishing and licensed both of theWorld of Darkness series, continuing support for them and producing new material. This included further anniversary editions, and new games likeMummy: The Curse (2013) andDemon: The Descent (2014);[3] these projects were frequently financed through crowdfunding.[14]
White Wolf Publishing and its intellectual properties were sold again in 2015, to the Swedish video game publisherParadox Interactive.[15] Following this, the rebootedWorld of Darkness series was renamedChronicles of Darkness, while the original series remained asWorld of Darkness. This was done to prevent confusion among players over there being two series and settings with the same name:[16] Prior to the renaming, the two had been distinguished from each other by being referred to as theOld orClassic World of Darkness and theNew World of Darkness.[3][17] Onyx Path Publishing's in-developmentVampire: The Masquerade 4th Edition, which they had announced only a few months earlier,[14] was cancelled following this, as Paradox Interactive planned to publish their own fifth edition.[18][a]
The Paradox Interactive incarnation of White Wolf Publishing released the fifth edition ofVampire: The Masquerade in 2018, which included references toneo-Nazis and a character interpreted as being apedophile, leading to accusations that they were catering to neo-Nazi groups. White Wolf Publishing denied that this was their intention, and apologized.[19] Following the use of the real-worldanti-gay purges in Chechnya as the backdrop for fictional events inVampire: The Masquerade sourcebooks, in what Paradox Interactive's vice president of business development described as a "crude and disrespectful" way, Paradox Interactive integrated White Wolf Publishing directly into the parent company, made changes to its leadership, suspended sales and printings of the books, and halted its development and publishing ofWorld of Darkness games.[20] The material was removed from the books, andVampire: The Masquerade development was moved to the licenseeModiphius Entertainment and collaborators including Onyx Path Publishing.[21][22]
Starting with the 2020 bookVampire: The Masquerade Companion, Paradox Interactive introduced further changes to the handling of the series: headed by creative leadJustin Achilli, they would develop core game books internally, while collaboratorRenegade Game Studios would develop other game material. Along with this reorganization, Paradox Interactive announced thatWorld of Darkness development from then on would involve sensitivity reviewers to ensure respectful portrayal of themes and topics.[23][24] In addition to tabletop game development, theWorld of Darkness team at Paradox Interactive plans the setting's overarching narrative, and coordinates with external developers, such as those ofWorld of Darkness video game adaptations, to ensure cohesion.[25]
In addition to the tabletop games, the series has expanded into other media, including video games, card and board games, theMind's Eye Theatre series oflive action role-playing games, novels,[3][26] fiction anthologies,[27] comics,[28] the 1996 television seriesKindred: The Embraced,[29] theactual playweb seriesL.A. by Night (2018),Seattle by Night (2019),Vein Pursuit (2020), andThe Nightlife (2021),[30][31] and an in-development film and television franchise.[32] AlthoughWorld of Darkness multimedia projects slowed down under CCP Games, production began anew after Paradox Interactive acquired the series.[30]
Acollectible card game based onVampire: The Masquerade was released byWizards of the Coast in 1994 asJyhad, before being re-launched a year later asVampire: The Eternal Struggle;[3][33] Wizards of the Coast continued publishing it until 1996, and then White Wolf took over, publishing it in 2000–2010.[3] In 2018, Black Chantry Productions licensedThe Eternal Struggle, reprinting old cards and continuing production of the game.[33][34] FollowingThe Eternal Struggle, White Wolf also published a collectible card game on their own,Rage, based onWerewolf: The Apocalypse, from 1995 to 1996, which was even more successful thanThe Eternal Struggle; Five Rings Publishing licensed it, and continued producing it in 1998–1999.[3] Two otherVampire: The Masquerade card games,Vendetta andRivals, were released in 2021 by Horrible Guild and Renegade Game Studios, respectively.[35][36] A story-basedboard game,Vampire: The Masquerade – Chapters, is in development by Flyos Games.[37]
A large number ofWorld of Darkness novels and anthologies have been published,[27][38] starting with theWerewolf: The Apocalypse anthologyDrums Around the Fire in 1993,[3] and were described byWhat Do I Read Next? A Reader's Guide to Current Genre Fiction as "old-fashioned adventures" in the style ofpulp fiction.[27] The books were popular and helped White Wolf Publishing grow,[3][38][39] and were described as leading among horror novelizations byThe Mammoth Book of Best New Horror in 1996,[40] but were in the end not financially successful, due to book chains closing mall stores in 1995–1996 and returning a large amount of unsold books to the publisher.[3] By 1998,What Do I Read Next? considered the novelizations to have improved in quality, citing White Wolf's move to commissioning established horror and fantasy writers;[27] in 2002,Black Gate considered Andrew Bates'sYear of the Scarab Trilogy a standout compared to previous "lackluster"World of Darkness novels.[41] NewWorld of Darkness novelizations started to disappear around 2006,[3] but have since resumed.[42]
The series has been adapted into comics, sometimes published in theWorld of Darkness tabletop game books,[43][44] but also as comic books, includingVampire: The Masquerade andWerewolf: The Apocalypse lines published byMoonstone Books in the early 2000s,[45] andaVampire: The Masquerade series published byVault Comics since 2020.[28]
There are several video game adaptations of the series, based onVampire: The Masquerade,Hunter: The Reckoning,[46]Mage: The Ascension,[47]Werewolf: The Apocalypse,[48] andWraith: The Oblivion.[49] Critical reception of the games has varied, ranging from average to positive,[50] with 2004'sVampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines standing out, being described by video game publications as acult classic[51][52][53] and a "flawed masterpiece";[54][55][56] when Paradox Interactive acquired the series, they had consideredBloodlines the "crown jewel" ofWorld of Darkness, and something they knew from the start that they wanted to bring back witha sequel.[57]
World of Darkness has been critically well received, with several of its games having won or been nominated for awards,[58] and withVampire: The Masquerade having been inducted into theOrigins Award hall of fame.[59] The series has also been highly successful financially, primarily in the United States, with over three million game books sold by the late 1990s;[10][60][61] around 1995, newWorld of Darkness releases were frequently top sellers, making White Wolf the second biggest publisher of tabletop role-playing games at the time afterTSR, Inc.,[3] and by 2001,Vampire: The Masquerade was the second best selling tabletop role-playing game after TSR, Inc.'sDungeons & Dragons.[62] Onyx Path Publishing's crowdfunding campaigns forWorld of Darkness games and material have also been successful, particularly those for the original series, such as the anniversary editions ofWerewolf: The Apocalypse andMage: The Ascension.[3]
The series' setting, plot, and art direction have been well received,[6][63][64] withRue Morgue describing the series' "fabulous artwork" as one of its major strengths,[65]Fenix praising the series' mood and the quality of the writing,[66] andRealms of Fantasy appreciating the broad scope and the familiarity to players due to being based on the real world.[67][68]Shadis described the setting as "truly unique", bringing something never before seen to games.[69] Some publications found the setting too crowded or defined, however;Diehard GameFan thought this took away from opportunities for horror, andTor.com thought it left little room to tell new stories, often choosing to ignore the metaplot when running games.[63][6] In his book seriesDesigners & Dragons, Shannon Appelcline considered the series' focus on metaplot to likely be what had caused sales to dwindle prior to the reboot, as players would have stopped playing the games when feeling they could not keep up with the story. Reactions to theChronicles of Darkness setting have been divided, with some preferring the original series' setting for being more fantastical and grand in scale, and some the reboot's more grounded setting.[3]
The original series' rules were criticized byArcane as, although generally easy to understand, often having confusing and unclear combat rules,[70] whileTor.com described them as having a recurring problem with statistical anomalies.[12] The updated gameplay rules ofChronicles of Darkness were however generally seen as a big improvement,[3][12][71] and seen by critics as fluid, elegant and open-ended, to the point whereTor.com andBackstab [fr] recommended using them even when running non–Chronicles of Darkness games.[6][12][71]Fenix appreciated the speed of creating characters and of playing, comparing the system of dice pools and dots favorably to number-based role-playing game systems.[72]
In his 2023 bookMonsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground, RPG historian Stu Horvath noted,
For all of the innovation and great ideas on display across all of theWorld of Darkness lines, there were problems from the start. The first version of nearly every game in the series was ugly and semi-broken, followed soon after by the second edition, which attempted to salvage the games with corrections and tidier production values. Given that White Wolf books had a habit of physically falling to pieces in short order, that is, perhaps, a feature and not a bug.[73]
