History TableTopGame / VampireTheMasquerade

* AncientConspiracy: Vampires in general play this role to humanity. There is also multiple conspiracies within their own society.

** Its played pretty straight for the Tzimiszce, the Followers of Set, the Sabbat and to a lesser extent the Lasombra, all of which basically idolise this trope.

The tabletop roleplaying game that started the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness line. Subverted many tropes of roleplaying games from that time by making monsters into the player characters (as opposed to heroes who hunt them) and installing a KarmaMeter that makes violence a dubious solution in many situations. In this game, players take the roles of vampires (aka the Kindred, aka the Damned), undead beings gifted with eternal (un)life and superhuman power, but forced to endure such drawbacks as compulsive bloodlust, poor impulse control, danger of degenerating into a mindless monster by committing too many evil acts, weakness to sunlight, and being bitches of older and more powerful vampires. The common ways to spend your unlife in this game include angsting over your condition, engaging in political intrigues and games of status within the vampire society and kicking ass with your newfound superpowers (called Disciplines).

A tabletop roleplaying game that started TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness line. Subverted many tropes of roleplaying games from that time by making monsters into the player characters (as opposed to heroes who hunt them) and installing a KarmaMeter that makes violence a dubious solution in many situations. In this game, players take the roles of vampires (aka the Kindred, aka the Damned), undead beings gifted with eternal (un)life and superhuman power, but forced to endure such drawbacks as compulsive bloodlust, poor impulse control, danger of degenerating into a mindless monster by committing too many evil acts, weakness to sunlight, and being bitches of older and more powerful vampires. The common ways to spend your unlife in this game include angsting over your condition, engaging in political intrigues and games of status within the vampire society and kicking ass with your newfound superpowers (called Disciplines).

A tabletop roleplaying game that started TheWorldOfDarkness line. Subverted many tropes of roleplaying games from that time by making monsters into the player characters (as opposed to heroes who hunt them) and installing a KarmaMeter that makes violence a dubious solution in many situations. In this game, players take the roles of vampires (aka the Kindred, aka the Damned), undead beings gifted with eternal (un)life and superhuman power, but forced to endure such drawbacks as compulsive bloodlust, poor impulse control, danger of degenerating into a mindless monster by committing too many evil acts, weakness to sunlight, and being bitches of older and more powerful vampires. The common ways to spend your unlife in this game include angsting over your condition, engaging in political intrigues and games of status within the vampire society and kicking ass with your newfound superpowers (called Disciplines).

Recently, Crowd Control Productions, makers of EVEOnline, announced that their upcoming WorldOfDarkness MMO will start off centered on ''Vampire: The Masquerade,'' rather than the new WorldOfDarkness and ''Vampire: Requiem.'' White Wolf (now a CCP subsidiary) has released a "20th Anniversary Edition" of the rulebook, and will be releasing other "Classic" World of Darkness titles, though they have said they will not be updating the metaplot.

** Rasputin's origin was deliberately muddled for a MetaPlot that never took off - various WorldOfDarkness books describe him as a mage, werecreature, and at least three different vampires. The idea was that Rasputin was a powerful alchemist and Ventrue ghoul who mastered mystical blood magic and distilled the blood of all his vampire allies into the Blood of Caine. Ingesting it caused him to become a "clone" of Caine - with the powers and attributes of all vampires - who would show up as the BigBad of a Gehenna scenario where killing Rasputin would prevent Gehenna because the universe would be fooled into thinking Caine died. Since it was a relatively happy ending for the game ([[TrueArtIsAngsty and God forbid that]]), White Wolf rejected it and Rasputin remained in limbo.

* WhamEpisode: The Week of Nightmares, depicted at the end of the Time of Thin Blood book. The Ravnos Antidiluvian wakes up and goes on a rampage in Bangladesh, causing the entire Ravnos clan go insane for a week, trying to kill each other and anyone else around, spitting out dangerous illusions. The three most powerful Eastern vampires try to stop him, conjuring a hurricane to block out the Sun. The hurricane prevents the [[TabletopGame/MageTheAscension Technocracy]] from using their orbital mirrors, so they launch a dual-plane (Skinland/Shadowland-affecting) nuclear weapon. It kills the Kuei-jin and hurts Ravnos. The hurricane dissipates and the Technocracy hits Ravnos with their mirrors of doom, which may not have worked if the Kuei-jin and the nuke hadn't hurt him first. In the wake an entire clan is near dead, the Antidiluvians are clearly real and other consequences reverberate [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse across]] [[TabletopGame/MageTheAscension all]] [[ChangelingTheDreaming the]] [[HunterTheReckoning other]] [[DemonTheFallen games]].

* RealMenWearPink: The Brujah ''antitribu'' wear purple on their clothes as a sign of clan affiliation. Mind, they are generally considered Sabbat's shock troops [[spoiler: but also actively recruit Camarilla's and Anarchs' lost youth into their sect]].

**** And a a few other Antediluvians are confirmed dead in the Gehenna sourcebook as well. [[spoiler:Ventrue was murdered, probably by Lasombra, as he left the First City. Lasombra, Malkav and Set are all bodily dead but still around in various spritual ways and may or may not be able to return. Troile (the Brujah Antediluvian) was diablerised a long time ago. But the ones that are left are still quite enough to cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.]]

** Make that 12. The awakening of an Antediluvian is detailed in one sourcebook. It was a fight from almost the very moment he woke up and lasted a whole week, resulting in the destruction of: 2 ancient [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Asian]] [[GameBreaker vampires]], a significant portion of the population of the Middle East, a massive corner of the lands of the dead, most werecreatures in the general global neighborhood, and the ENTIRETY of said Antediluvian's clan. Everything but the last item on that list was caused by the fight between the founder and the forces attempting to contain him, but the last was all the work of the founder himself. [[OmnicidalManiac He needed to break things, he was hungry, and his kids had a handy leash tethered to his very essence]]. Many people noticed and were affected by this event. There are rumors that some Ravnos managed to survive, but if there are, they are probably in hiding to keep the rest of the supernatural community from gutting them out of anger for what their Antediluvian did.
*** The Salubri Antediluvian is dead too, his soul was consumed by Diablerie by Tremere to found the clan of the same name... Or so he thinks, it's hinted that Saulot's soul still sleeps within his body and is biding its time.

* The Anarchs: Formally a Camarilla sub-sect, this sect is home to a great amount of younger vampires who reject the rule of elders that the main Camarilla body supports, and wish to see an equal vampire society where all vampires are equal or at least judged by merit rather than age. They tend to be composed mainly of younger vampires from all clans who don't like being treated like dirt by their elders. [[MeetTheNewBoss They're not very good at practicing what they preach.]]

* SocietyMarchesOn: The entire setting ended in 2004, one year before {{YouTube}} came alive. In the Caramilla sourcebook it stated that the Masquerade was becoming more and more difficult to uphold (a real concern for the elders and the creation of a more draconian watch force) because our society was a vouyerist with internation instantaneous devices at the hand of the humans... know think about this and compare with the day today where is weird not have a cell with internet, iphone, amateur video pages and reality shows. Or hell, 2008 to get the idea how long it would have lasted.

** It should be noted, that the first edition didn't really hold this viewpoint. Example Malkavian from the first setting book published, Chicago By Night, mostly were dangerous psychopaths. This troper heavily suspects that "wacky Malk" stereotype (with various degrees of wackiness, of course) got so prominent, despite appearing mostly in their original clanbook, because it is more fun in actual play that a realistic portrayal of a mentally ill person.
*** Every once in a while you do get someone who plays a wacky Malk and then proceeds to explore the more serious consequences of things like lack of inhibition/impulse control... but don't hold your breath.

*** The Salubri Antidulvian is dead too, his soul was consumed by Dialberie by Tremere to found the clan of the same name...Or so he thinks, its hinted that Saluot's soul still sleeps within his body and is biding its time.

* VampireMonarch: Caine, though he's not particularly interesting in ruling his vampiric descendants. That task falls to the Antediluvians

* True Black Hand: Another sub-sect to the Sabbat and the ones who essentially bring it order and structure from within, while primarily concerning themselves with the return of the Antediluveans.
* The Anarchs: Formally a Camarilla sub-sect, this sect is home to a great amount of younger vampires who reject the rule of elders that the main Camarilla body supports, and wish to see an equal vampire society where all vampires are equal or at least judged by merit rather than age. They tend to be composed mainly of younger vampires from all clans who don't like being treated like dirt by their elders.

*** The Saluot Antidulvian is dead too, his soul was consumed by Dialberie by Tremere to found the clan of the same name...Or so he thinks, its hinted that Saluot's soul still sleeps within his body and is biding its time.

* DangerouslyShortSkirt: Jeanette Voerman, but she isn't an ActionGirl.

* DangerouslyShortSkirt: Jeanette Voerman.

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: And Cain was the first vampire (spelled Caine when referring to him as a vampire). Many modern-day vampires think that this is a myth. They are wrong. Many other people from history and mythology were/are vampires too, from Helen of Troy to Rasputin.

*** The Cappidocian Antidulvian is dead too, killed by Mages using a powerful ritual to convert themselves into Vampires which gave birth to Clan Tremere (The Cappidocians are still alive if you play in the middle ages though). It took a LOT of effort and magical power to pull off, and it only was possible because the guy was torpored at the time.

** Make that 12. The awakening of an Antediluvian is detailed in one sourcebook. It was a fight from almost the very moment he woke up and lasted a whole week, resulting in the destruction of: 2 ancient [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Asian]] [[GameBreaker vampires]], a significant portion of the population of the Middle East, a massive corner of the lands of the dead, most werecreatures in the general global neighborhood, and the ENTIRETY of said Antediluvian's clan. Everything but the last item on that list was caused by the fight between the founder and the forces attempting to contain him, but the last was all the work of the founder himself. [[OmnicidalManiac He needed to break things, he was hungry, and his kids had a handy leash tethered to his very essence]]. Many people noticed and were affected by this event.