Line #41 Literature/MasqueradeOfTheRedDeath


1	[[quoteright:277:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blood_war.jpg]]
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3	The ''Masquerade of the Red Death'' trilogy was written by Robert Weinberg for the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness, specifically tying in to ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade''.
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5	The trilogy consists of:
6	* ''Blood War'' (1995)
7	* ''Unholy Allies'' (1995)
8	* ''The Unbeholden'' (1996)
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10	Dire [=McCann=] is a private detective and rogue mage of the [[TabletopGame/MageTheAscension Euthanatos tradition]], working for Prince Vargoss, the vampire Prince of St. Louis. Alicia Varney is a billionaire businesswoman and ghoul, serving Justine Bern, the Sabbat Archbishop of New York City. Both of them are older than they look, with mysterious ties to two older vampires considered mythology to the current Kindred.
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12	The Red Death is a vampire of unknown lineage, with strange control over fire. He insists that only he can stave off the coming Gehenna, and only if he's granted control of all Kindred, whether Camarilla or Sabbat. But for some reason, he also demands the deaths of two humans ... Alicia and [=McCann=].
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14	-----
15	!!This series contains examples of:
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17	* BadassNormal: Alicia's bodyguard Jackson.
18	* CoolestClubEver: Prince Vargoss holds court in the "Members Only" area of one of these clubs. When Madeline Giovanni arrives in St. Louis and needs to speak with the prince, she's immediately allowed to skip the WannabeLine.
19	* DealWithTheDevil: Technically the [[spoiler:Sheddim]] aren't demonic/devilish, but close enough -- especially as their pact with the Children of Dreadful Night will eventually [[spoiler:let the Sheddim move permanently into our world]].
20	* {{Fiction 500}}: Alicia. Possibly [=McCann=] as well (he's been skimming the Giovanni coffers for a ''very'' long time), though his lifestyle doesn't match the trope.
21	* TheFogOfAges: Both [=McCann=] and Alicia suffer from this effect.
22	* FortuneTeller: Madame Zorza is a Gangrel mystic and seeress, who gives Alicia some cryptic clues as to the Red Death's plot.
23	* HackerCave: Phantomas' lair under Paris.
24	* {{Infodump}}: The entire prologue to ''Blood War'' consists of an Inquisition priest being urged to tell everything he knows about vampires to someone who already knows even more about vampires, in order to make sure the reader is up to speed on the World of Darkness.
25	* JustToyingWithThem: Don Lazzari likes to give the children he's about to suck dry a "chance" to get away. He pretends it's a MercyLead, but a centuries-old vampire using all his powers can easily catch a child before they can escape and everyone (except the children) knows this.
26	* MadameFortune: Madame Zorza.
27	* TheMafia: Several of the antagonists are vampire leaders of the Mafia.
28	* MissingFloor: The Varney Building has both a hidden subbasement and a hidden thirteenth floor, both only accessible from private elevators linking the two to Alicia's penthouse suite.
29	* MistakenForProstitute: When Madeline (dressed in a skin-tight minidress) and Flavia (dressed in skin-tight leather) follow [=McCann=] to his hotel room, the hotel security guard immediately jumps to this conclusion.
30	* MundaneSolution: On one side, we have four ancient vampires channeling fire magic. On the other, we have NASA-surplus drones equipped with liquid nitrogen tanks and sprayers. Ouch.
31	** And then the Red Death invokes his own mundane solution, in the form of enough thermite to raze several city blocks.
32	* MysteriousProtector: Reuben to Alicia, during the Red Death's first attack on Justine's headquarters.
33	* TheQueenpin: In addition to her "legitimate" businesses, Alicia runs a huge underworld empire.
34	* SheFu: Alicia advanced to the attack once by doing a series of cartwheels and backflips, while stripped to bra and panties. Justified in that she needed to take the ghouls by surprise, and they definitely weren't expecting ''that''. (Her normal combat style is a mix of PsychicPowers, custom weapons and CombatPragmatism.)
35	* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: The bloodbath in the Newark Airport in ''The Unbeholden''.
36	* TurningBackHuman: The offer is made to Madeline Giovanni. She's tempted, but decides to remain a vampire since she can't collect on a honor debt she's owed without her vampiric abilities.
37	* VoluntaryShapeshifting: The Children of Dreadful Night have the ability to take on the form of any vampire they've met. The mechanics aren't clear, but apparently the shift can be made permanent -- when two of the Children are tricked into burning through all their energy, they still retain the forms of the two vampires they're impersonating.
38	* WaifFu: Madeline Giovanni. Though, unlike many examples, she really ''is'' good enough to defeat larger opponents -- see her DuelToTheDeath with Don Caravelli (larger than Madeline, armed when Madeline isn't, and of older generation).
39	* WallOfWeapons: Don Caravelli has a wall of melee weapons in his office, and can use everything on it effectively.
40	* WoodenStake: [=McCann=] carries several thin, sharp wooden rods in a special pocket. He can throw them hard enough and accurately enough to stake vampires with them.
41	* WouldHurtAChild: The Mafia ''capo'' Don Lazzari insists that the blood of a virgin child tastes the best. His decision to chow down on a child taken under Madeline's protection is what gets him killed.

Context Literature / MasqueradeOfTheRedDeath