The success of White Wolf's Vampire: The Masquerade , the popular role-playing game created by Mark Rein-Hagen in 1991, suggested to Richard Garfield of Wizards of the Coast the possibility of the adaptation of the game as a card game. As the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons had been the great success of the 1980s, so the card game Magic: The Gathering (also from Wizards of the Coast) had become the new phenomenon of the early 1990s. On the heels of completing Magic, Garfield met with Rein-Hagen, who had played Magic, and opened discussions of creating a vampire-based card-game version. Garfield's staff began designing cards, and adapting the concept to the new format.

Originally released as Jyhad in 1994, a reference to the battles going on inside the vampire community, the new card game pitted several older vampires, called Methuselahs, against each other. These hidden figures who never show themselves manipulate the more public vampires of the contemporary vampire community in order to accomplish their goals, including the destruction of other Methuselahs. In the game, usually played at midnight, the Methuselahs seek the control of vampire society, which means using the minion which the player controls to destroy the influence of the other Methuselahs over their minions. Working through Machiavellian political action and using cunning in the face of various conspiracies, the successful player gains influence in the form of blood counters while others lose theirs. When a player runs out of influence (blood counters), he or she must leave the game.

Jyhad was slow to take off, in part due to its adult theme, and in part to some level of confusion in the original version. As with Vampire: The Masquerade, Jyhad required the new player to master the rather detailed world of the vampire including its vampire clans and their varying attributes and the nature of vampiric power. Thus, Wizards of the Coast redesigned the game, streamlining the rules for beginners, and reissued it as Vampire: the Eternal Struggle, with a 437-card deck. The deck include cards for vampires, the Methuselah's primary minions; equipment cards to be given to the minions to increase their effectiveness; reaction cards to block another's action; and political action cards, concerning the political ploys tried by a Methuselah.

The cards used in play are also designed as artistic works, much as modern trading cards , and hence also function as tradable and collectible items. As with Magic, individual cards are designated as common, uncommon, and rare, and those more difficult to obtain assume an enhanced value.

As Vampire: The Eternal Struggle took off, Wizards of the Coast quickly issued three expansion sets: Dark Sovereigns (1995), Ancient Hearts (1995), and The Sabbat (1996).

Campbell, Brian, ed. Darkness Unveiled. Clarkston, GA: White Wolf/Wizards of the Coast, 1995. 200 pp.
Greenberg, Andrew, et al. The Eternal Struggle: A Players Guide to the Jyhad. Stone Mountain, GAL White Wolf Game Studio,1994. 201 pp.
Haines, Jeff. "Strange Things in the Night." Inquest 1, 1 (May 1995): 16-20. Moore, James A., and Kevin Murphy. House of Secrets. Clarkston, GA: White Wolf Game Studio, 1995. 263 pp.

Vampire: The Masquerade

Vampire: The Masquerade is a popular role-playing game introduced in 1991 by creator Mark Rein-Hagen of White Wolf Game Studio. It quickly challenged the popularity of Dungeons and Dragons, the original role-playing game, and itself became the basis of several other horror role-playing games based on the Werewolf and Wraith, and a role-playing card game, Vampire: The Eternal Struggle (originally named Jyhad). From the beginning, the game presented a complete alternate worldview, the fantasy into which the player enters, a world in which vampires and other creatures of horror such as ghouls and werewolves populate the landscape. The popularity of the game, however, has allowed for its expansion and the development of different aspects of the fantasy world in great detail.

Role-playing games are built around a storyteller, who begins a story in which all of the players are characters. As the story unfolds, the players become active participants and their actions have consequences for winning and losing. Players of Vampire: The Masquerade enter the fantasy world by creating a character (numerous suggestions are given in the literature published to support the game), a vampire, or possibly a werewolf or ghoul minion, and during the game they assume and act as that character along with all of the other characters who inhabit the local vampire community. In the world of this role-playing game, there is a community of vampires who exist incognito within the space otherwise inhabited by humans. Since they closely resemble humans, and thus have little problem passing as such, they can come out at night and co-mingle, especially when they are in search of food. However, mostly they move among themselves. There is an organized vampire society whose power is held by older vampires, the majority of whom have withdrawn into their solitude. The more visible society is highly politicized and power is the valued commodity. Thus, most stories concern the jockeying for power among the players.

Vampire : The Masquerade began as the table game Vampire, in which a small group of players gathered to listen to a storyteller and periodically stopped action to interact, the consequences of the player's acts being determined by the throw of the dice. Players had a supply of blood and when their acts led to a complete loss of blood, they lost. However, the game continued to evolve, and in 1993 Rein-Hagen introduced the live-action version of the game, The Masquerade. This version freed the game from the delays caused by the use of dice, which were replaced with a series of hand signals. The new form of the game allows players to remain in character during virtually all of the game and vastly expands the number who can play at one time. As currently played as Vampire: The Masquerade, as many as 20 or more players can for several hours each enter a new persona and act out a situation presented to him or her or carried over from the last session. A local playing group will usually gather to play at midnight on a predetermined day, once or twice a month.

At present, the typical game is set in the local community and the players assume a position in the local vampire society. There is a prince, the nominal head of the community, and the vampires identify with one of the several clans, each clan having its own particular characteristics and local leaders. Overall, the members of the community must keep up the Masquerade, that is, perpetuate the idea among humans that vampires are a thing of the past, a myth best sold as the scientific conclusion that vampires never really existed. Breeching the rules of secrecy brings the wrath of the community down upon a vampire. It is also the assumption of the game that the Masquerade is currently threatened by the current youth culture. Mind-altering drugs, rock music, and the popularity of the vampire image in Western culture have opened large segments of the public to the possibility that the vampire exists and many people even view vampiric existence as a desirable life they would assume if only it were possible. A second threat is posed by the new generation gap between the older vampires who originally conceived the Masquerade and have enforced its existence, and a brash younger generation of new vampires who are seen as acting in such a way as to call human attention to vampire society.

As a sophisticated role-playing game, Vampire: The Masquerade assumes the following vampire myth: Succinctly stated, vampire society originated with Caine (the cursed brother introduced in the Bible in the fourth chapter of Genesis). According to the game, the curse was that he was made a vampire. After wandering in the wilderness for many years, he settled down and created a city. He also created other vampires, the second generation, who in turn created a third generation. They built a city. The city was destroyed by a flood, and the survivors of the third generation scattered around the world. Whether Caine or any of the second generation survived is unknown. Various individuals of the third generation would become the originating vampire of the bloodlines that would later become the clans. The vampires of the fourth and fifth generation have largely withdrawn from any involvement with the larger vampire community. The bulk of the presently existing vampires constitute the sixth generation, and they face pressure to create no more vampires as it is believed that the blood thins (the vampiric powers diminish) as each generation from Caine is created.

The vampire clans originated from the banding together of the children (new generations) of the third generation who found in their physical relationship shared characteristics of the one who originated the bloodline. Enlightened self-interest became a reason to organize more or less loosely, and create a clan ethos. There are seven major clans: the Brujah, the youthful rebels; the Gangrel, the wanderers; the Malkavian, somewhat insane; the rodent-like Nosferatu; the Toreador often described as hedonists; the Tremere, the best organized of the vampires; and the Ventrue the most human of the vampires. There are also other clans who are not members of the Camarilla such as the Assamite and the Giovanni. And finally there are the Caitiff, or clanless vampires. The latter are usually the result of having been abandoned by those who made them vampires. The clans are at the heart of the political intrigues of the vampire community.

In the middle of the fifteenth century, the Inquisition wreaked havoc on "the Kindred" and whole bloodlines were stamped out (put to the true death in fire). At about the same time, some of the youthful vampires, who were being used as a barrier between the elders and the Inquisition, rose in revolt. The revolt of the Anarchs spread. This period of attack drove the survivors completely underground. In 1486 at a global convocation, a secret worldwide network, the Camarilla, was established. It established a rule of law for the community of vampires. Within the community are some powerful individual vampires called justicars who have been granted the power to punish lawbreakers. Vampires are largely urban dwellers, and currently each major city supports a vampire community. It is headed by a prince, and any vampire changing locations is expected to present him-or herself to the prince of their new city (or alternate authority where no prince has been designated, as in Los Angeles).

According the game's myth, the elder vampires have more powers than newer ones. For both old and young, the stake is hurtful, but by itself not fatal. Sunlight and fire are the main dangers. Holy objects have no effect, nor does running water. The vampire has sharpened senses that aid them in hunting, including the power to impose their will on mortals. The elder vampires can change shapes, but most of the newer ones cannot.

New vampires can be created by first having their blood drained and then receiving some of the vampire's blood, although the new vampire has slightly less power than that of the vampire who created him or her. Vampires no longer breathe, although they can fake respiration. The heart no longer beats, the blood consumed spreads through the body by osmosis rather than through the old artery/vein system. It carries the necessary oxygen. The vampire heals quickly of most wounds. The stake produces a form of paralysis.

As Vampire: The Masquerade has evolved, a vast literature has emerged to support the game. There are a number of books with suggestive plots for the storytellers, and where players have emerged in strength, books to tell the story of the vampire communities' various cities (from Berlin to Denver). The live-action version of the game offers greater freedom and possibilities of expanding the playing community. Vampire: The Dark Ages is a version of the game exploring vampire life before the formation of the Camarilla. Many players are also members of the fan club created to carry the myth, appropriately named the Camarilla.
Sources:

Ackels, Ron. The Kindred Most Wanted. Stone Mountain, GA: White Wolf Game Studio, 1995. 142 pp.
Albright, Jennifer, with Nicky Rea and Phil Brucato. Antagonists. Clarkston, GA: White Wolf Game Studio, 1994. 103 pp.
Berry, Jeff. Alien Hunger. Stone Mountain, GA: White Wolf Game Studio. 64 pp.
Bridges, Bill. The Hunters Hunted. Stone Mountain, GA: White Wolf Game Studio, 1992. 87 pp.
Browder, Dustin. Bloody Hearts/Diablerie: Britain. Stone Mountain, GA: White Wolf Game Studio, 1993. 67 pp.
Brown, Steve. The Sabbat. Stone Mountain, GA: White Wolf Game Studio, 1993. 135 pp.
Campbell, Brian, ed. Darkness Unveiled. N.P.: Wizards of the Coast, 1995. 200 pp.
Cliffe, Ken. Blood Bond. Stone Mountain, GA: White Wolf Game Studio, 1991. 32 pp.
deLaurent, Aristotle. The Book of Nod. Stone Mountain, GA: White Wolf Game Studio, 1993. 134 pp.
Findley, Nigel. Awakening/Diablerie: Mexico. Stone Mountain, GA: White Wolf Game Studio. 55 pp.
--- and Geoff McMartin. Dark Alliance: Vancouver. Stone Mountain, GA: White Wolf Game Studio, 1993. 125 pp.
Fischi, Beth, and John Cooper. Dark Colony: Vampires in New England.
Greenberg, Andrew, et al. Storyteller's Handbook: The Complete Handbook for Storytellers of Vampire. Stone Mountain, GA: White Wolf Game Studio, 1992. 151 pp.
---. The Succubus Club. Stone Mountain, GA: White Wolf Game Studio, 1992. 143 pp.
Greenberg, Daniel. Who's Who among Vampires: Children of the Inquisition. Stone Mountain, GA: White Wolf Game Studio, 1992. 70 pp.
Koke, Jeff. Gurps Vampire: The Masquerade. Steve Jackson Games, 1993. 192 pp.
McCubbin, Chris W. Vampire: The Masquerade Companion. N.p.: Steve Jackson Games, 1994. 160 pp.
Rein-Hagen, Mark, et al. Book of the Damned. Stone Mountain, GA: White Wolf Game Studio, 1993. 138 pp.
---. Vampire: The Masquerade. Stone Mountain, GA: White Wolf Game Studio, 1991. 263 pp.
Roskell, Patricia Ann. New Orleans by Night. Stone Mountain, GA: White Wolf Game Studio, 1994. 125 pp.
The Vampire Player's Guide. 2nd ed. 1993. 207 pp.
Vampire: The Dark Ages. Clarkston, GA: White Wolf Game Studio, 1996. 286 pp.
Wieck, Stewart. Ashes to Ashes: A Story for Vampire. Anniston, AL: White Wolf Game Studio, 1991. 80 pp.
Wright, Jana. The Tome of the Kindred. Seattle, WA: The Camarilla, 1993. 44 pp.