They're among us.
The Vampire: The Masquerade Prince Duology is a pair of novels set in the Old World of Darkness and specifically the Vampire: The Masquerade setting during 1st Edition. It is the first literature written about the setting and takes place in San Fransisco under Prince Vannevar Thomas.
The first book, Dark Prince follows a despicable pimp named Sullivan who is the product of Chinese vampires despite being white Irish himself. He finds himself soon way over his head and struggles to do whatever he can to get out of the situation that he's found himself in. This includes some genuinely despicable acts and turning to whatever faction will help him.
The second book, Prince of the City follows Vannevar Thomas as he is Embraced as a Old Money Virginian during the early years of the American Revolution and his rise to power as the Prince of San Fransisco, following the city's transformation from a Wild West boom town to one of the most important ports in California. We also see his slow slide from being an idealistic young Kindred to a scheming elder like all the ones he opposed.
A short story in The Beast Within called "Dancing with the Devil" is a sequel to these stories.
The books were re-released in 2024 by Crossroad Press.
open/close all folders
Both
- Adapted Out: Vannevar Thomas despite being one of the earliest Princes in canon is frequently left out of supplements and adaptations. First by later supplements saying the Prince of San Fransisco was Jochen Van Nuys and Kindred: The Embraced making Julian Luna the Prince of the City. LA By Night would finally canonize Vannevar as the former Prince of San Fransisco and later Prince of LA.
- Aerith and Bob: The protagonists of the book are Sullivan and Vannevar. Other Kindred names are equally eclectic.
- Anti-Hero: Vannever and Sullivan are both individuals who are obsessed with protecting themselves at all costs.
- Been There, Shaped History: A lot of the books deal with the growth of the city of San Fransisco that happens due to the influence of the Camarilla in the city. This includes the overthrow of Delfonso and death of Snake leading to California joining the Union during the Civil War.
- Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Sebastian Melmoth was actually Oscar Wilde in his mortal years.
- Coolest Club Ever: The Alexandrian is a permanently docked luxury ship that caters to the Kindred in its lowest levels.
- Decadent Court: The vampire community of San Fransisco is always plotting against one another in hopes of gaining advantage.
- Dragon Lady: The Dowager is a corrupt Chinese Nosferatu who revels in violence as well as participates in organized crime with the Tongs.
- Dumb Muscle: Sullivan, despite being the protagonist, is this. He serves the Family as such and later Vannevar Thomas. Many of his problems also stem from his inability to think through his actions.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- The depiction of vampires and their interactions is still in 1st Edition and thus all vampires should be members of the Thirteen Clans as well as the Camarilla. These novels include unidentified (but recognizably Kindred) Chinese vampires, Japanese vampires, and ones from South America prior to being visited by Europe.
- Joachim is a Gangrel that used to run with werewolves, disguised as one of them. Anyone who knows anything about Werewolf: The Apocalypse would find this ridiculous as the Garou can sense life.
- The Princes of San Fransisco let Embraces without the Prince's permission go with shocking regularity despite the fact it is usually punished by death.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Sullivan is an abusive pimp and homophobe but even he's disgusted by Delfonso's religious murder of immigrants and the Sabbat.
- Vannevar may be willing to do ruthless things to protect his power base but he attempts to live up to his word.
- Fur Against Fang: Keeping the peace with the werewolves of San Fransisco is one of Vannevar's greatest challenges.
- Happy Ending Override: The supplement San Fransisco by Night and later LA By Night render a lot of the accomplishments of our heroes for naught. San Fransisco is eventually taken over by the Kuei Jin after Vannevar is replaced with a pair of incompetent princes and later ends up driven insane by Therese in a failed bid for LA's praxis.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Kathy is far too much of a Nice Girl to work for Sullivan or Vannevar Thomas.
- Innocuously Important Episode: The books are ones that were frequently ignored in later supplements or rendered irrelevant by later events. However, the character of Vannevar Thomas would eventually play a starring role in LA By Night.
- Scary Black Man: Reverend Hayes is a former Black Panther offshoot (The Death Panthers), a Baptist vampire hunter, and a werewolf.
- Switching P.O.V.: The second half of Prince of the City is the events of Dark Prince from Vannevar's perspective.
- Token White: Sullivan is the only Caucasian member of the Family.
- Vampire Monarch: Vannevar Thomas is the Prince of San Fransisco and ruler of its undead.
- Villain Protagonist: Both Sullivan and Vannevar are unpleasant individuals who are out for themselves in addition to being undead bloodsuckers.
- Yellow Peril: The Chinese vampire group, the Family, serves as villains in both books.
Dark Prince
- Antihero: Sullivan is a hundred year old career criminal and toady.
- Always Chaotic Evil: The Sabbat are depicted as literal baby-eating monsters.
- Bittersweet Ending: Sullivan ends up the Blood Bonded servant of Vannevar Thomas but the Sabbat are beaten back and quite a few evil Elders are ash. Kathy is also an employee of the Prince, a vampire herself, and much happier than she was as a part-time prostitute and full-time waitress.
- The Chessmaster: Vannevar Thomas is one of the best manipulators in the Americas and a testament to Clan Ventrue.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Sullivan ends up betraying the Family, the Prince, the Primogen, and the Sabbat. Justified as the book makes it clear that vampire society will do you in if you don't do it first.
- Eats Babies: Sullivan is presented a koala to snack on. It's actually a human baby and they've Dominated him into seeing otherwise.
- Emergency Transformation: Sullivan transforms his prostitute, Kathy, into a vampire in order to save her life.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Sullivan is a piece of work but he freaks the hell out at keeping humans in cages before executing them by feeding like Delfonso does and the demon-worshiping baby eating of the Sabbat.
- Fate Worse than Death: Played with. Sullivan is now Brainwashed and Crazy but he was always a sycophant who preferred obeying others than making his own decisions.
- Foreign Fanservice: Carlotta's naked blood dance is meant to invoke this, being a Ravnos and foreign to the court.
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Not Sullivan, who does numerous despicable things (even if Even Evil Has Standards), but the Toreador Angel that helps the suffering gays of San Fransisco.
- Hot Gypsy Woman: Carlotta the Ravnos serves as an erotic blood dancer for Vannevar Thomas' celebration, stripping naked and draining a human audience member before covering herself in his blood. This is when the Ravnos were all explicitly Romani.
- Karmic Death:
- Phillips the vampire hunter (turned vampire) is left for the Sun by Sullivan, ranting and screaming the entire time.
- Selene the Sabbat is torn apart by Reverend Hayes the Werewolf at the height of her intended massacre.
- Reverend Hayes, himself, is forced to tear out his own guts after he refuses to back down from killing Sullivan via Psychic-Assisted Suicide.
- Mercy Kill: Angel delivers these to AIDs victims in the last stage of their disease with the Kiss at their request.
- Morality Pet: Kathy becomes this to Sullivan despite the fact he was previously her abusive pimp. Gradually, he comes to care for her and she returns the favor.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Angel serves as the savior of both Sullivan and Kathy both for no other reason than the goodness of his (dead) heart. He ends up being murdered by the Sabbat to frame the Prince.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Sullivan, despite the fact he is a vampire who lives in San Fransisco, is homophobic and strongly dislikes Angel as well as uses slurs against some lesbian Brujah bikers.
- Psychic-Assisted Suicide: Vannevar shows just how powerful he is by forcing Reverend Hayes, a werewolf, to kill himself.
- Religious Horror: Delfonso murders young men and women that he keeps imprisoned under his mission, proclaiming it is God's will.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The Grandfather believes Sullivan will eventually turn on him and kill him. So the Grandfather turns on Sullivan first. Guess what happens? This is notably something the Dowager and Honerius arranged by making a fake prophecy as an Invoked Trope.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Kathy the Prostitute is a drug addicted prostitute and in bad shape before working for Vannevar Thomas and vampirism make her much prettier as well as happier.
- Undying Loyalty:
- Sullivan has been content to be a low level earner for the Family since the 19th century. Its only events that cause him to become a different sort of vampire.
- Chi has this to the Grandfather. Played with as after the Grandfather is killed, he transfers it to Sullivan. Then again, he is a ghoul and his loyalty is sealed in blood.
- Unproblematic Prostitution: Resoundingly averted. Sullivan is a scumbag who intimidates the women under his control even when he's not feeding on them or shaking them down for money.
- Van Helsing Hate Crimes: Phillips is an insane vampire hunter who has been turned into a vampire himself. He is willing to kill anyone and anything to get at his target.
- Villain Protagonist: Sullivan is a pimp who abuses the women underneath him, is a lifelong member of a Chinese Triad, and our hero.
Prince of the City
- Abusive Parents: Cullen is a monster who uses Vannevar as a slave and refuses to introduce him to Kindred society despite both being Ventrue aristocrats.
- Anti-Hero: Vannevar Thomas is a vampire and not the Friendly Neighborhood Vampire kind.
- Army of Thieves and Whores: The Sydney Ducks are a bunch of Australian criminals and vampires who rampage across San Fransico for decades.
- Assassin Outclassin': Vannevar Thomas manages to kill the Assamite assassin sent to kill him, which restores some of the fear the other vampires used to hold for him but had atrophied.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Vannevar stands triumphant at the end of the book with his adopted childe, Sullivan, and all of his enemies destroyed.
- Became Their Own Antithesis: Vannevar starts as an idealistic young kindred who hates his tyrannical sire who blood bonds his enemies. He ends up exactly like him.
- Blue Blood: Vannevar was a member of a fine Virginian family before his Embrace into the Ventrue, the most prestigious of the clans.
- The Coup: One happens against the Prince of San Fransisco a couple of times.
- The first time is when the Primogen turn to the Family to terrify Prince Delfonso into stepping down with images of his own death as well as the assassination of Snake Whitecomb. This makes Montelaine Prince.
- Cyrano proceeds to trick Montelaine into murdering Dugan the Brujah Primogen and thus warranting Karsh, Warlord of the Camarilla into staking her then sending her back to the Inner Council.
- Cyrano is assassinated by Vannevar during the San Fransisco Earthquake when he's trapped underneath a collapsed building.
- Cruel Mercy: Dirk is spared by Vannevar after Margaret kills herself only because Vannevar hopes it's even more miserable for him in the long run.
- Drugs Are Bad: Margaret drinks LSD from some hippies and runs out into the Sun, destroying herself.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Vannevar manages to survive centuries as a vampire and proceed to destroy all of his enemies before reigning over a city that he loves with a woman that reminds him of his true love.
- Eats Babies: Cullen murders a Native American infant in order to feed on to Vannevar's horror.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: Vannevar rescues Riley, a free black man, from being lynched by a group of whites offended by him owning land.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Vannevar Thomas and his sire fed on Native Americans before going to San Fransisco and his later enemies are the Chinese vampires known as the Family. Played with as his closest friend and retainer is a black man named Riley.
- Been There, Shaped History: Vannevar's management is one of the reasons that San Fransisco grows into the power house that is today.
- Blue Blood: Vannevar Thomas is a Virginian Aristocrat during the American Revolution.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Vannevar is enslaved by his sire, Cullen, for decades before being freed by the vampire's final death.
- The Coup: Tons and the princedom of San Fransisco is inherently unstable.
- Vannevar is part of the group that plots the end of Delfonso's rule as Prince, terrifying him with the wrath of the family.
- Warlord Karsh stakes and sends off Montelaine to an Uncertain Doom after they execute a Brujah primogen without cause.
- Vannevar is not the first Prince of San Fransisco (or even third) and overthrows Cyrano before being permitted to stay as Prince by Karsh.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: After Montelaine murders the Brujah primogen, she is executed by Karsh and Vannevar is stripped of all of his wealth.
- I Hate You, Vampire Dad: Vannevar's hatred for his sire is something that lasts long after his master's death.
- Karmic Death: Snake Whitecomb dies at the hands of the Chinese Family when he hires them to kill the Prince.
- The Lost Lenore: Vannevar feels this way after Dona loses her mind and he eventually has to give her a Mercy Kill.
- Noble Demon: Vannevar may be a darker and crueler man by the end of the book than what he started as, but he remains a man of his word and protective of his allies.
- Parental Substitute: Samuel Travis educates Vannevar far better in vampirism and its customs than Cullen ever did.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Snake Whitecomb is a racist pro-confederate vampire that makes slurs about Vannevar's black ghoul, Riley. He ends up being killed by the Family.
- Prequel: Vannevar's story chronicles two hundred years of his life before the events of Dark Prince.
- Reincarnation Romance: Vannevar is in love with a Chilean woman named Dona for much of his life but after she dies, becomes fascinated with another woman named Donna who reminds him of her.
- The Renfield: Riley is Vannevar's ghoul, being made his servant after an Emergency Transformation to save Riley's life.
- Scary Black Man: Riley is enough of one that when Reverend Hayes tries to intimidate him, the ghoul forces the werewolf to back down.
- Series Continuity Error: Vannevar and his sire, Cullen, are able to feast on animals in the woods as well as humans. Being Ventrue, they should not be able to feed outiside of their specific pallette.
- Starter Villain: Choker Barnes is the leader of the Sydney Ducks and a vampire. Choker later rapes and turns Vannevar's girlfriend, Dona, but is killed for the trouble.
- Walking the Earth: Sergei the Nosferatu leaves Vannevar to start doing this in his quest for Golconda.
- What Does She See in Him?: Vannevar wanted to Embrace Sullivan himself before the Family got to him first. This despite Sullivan is a scummy pimp and petty bully.
- Yellow Peril: Vannevar believes the Family is the greatest threat to his reign as Prince.
- You Can't Go Home Again: Vannevar finds out his family thought he was killed in the Revolutionary War and is worried he'd hurt them as a vampire.
- 0% Approval Rating: Delfonso is disliked by everyone as prince and only has the job because he's the oldest Kindred in the City.
