Vampire: The Masquerade turned 35 on Sunday. So, I think I’ll dedicate this week here on the blog and on my social media channels, including my Facebook Page, Sunglar’s Musings, to the venerable bloodsucker.
Before getting to the topic of the post, allow me a rather long digression.
If you read my About Me: Tabletop RPG post, you may wonder, “Why would you write this post if you think the game is overrated?” Allow me to elaborate.
I stand by my take that some people talk as if Vampire—and indeed the World of Darkness—were the absolute pinnacle of gaming—and I must say that’s my biggest gripe. However, Vampire: The Masquerade and the revolution it caused in tabletop role-playing games is undeniable. While TTRPGs had been evolving out of the dungeon for years, Vampire was lightning in a bottle. It arrived at the perfect confluence of gaming and pop culture.
It seems to me that Anne Rice was riding a wave of popularity, especially after the publication of Queen of the Damned in 1988, and everyone around me seemed to be into Rice in the late 80s and early 90s. Vampire captured a post-punk feel and aesthetic, married it with gothic horror, and built a gothic-punk world with a classic, highly imaginative mythology.
To me, the setting of Vampire and the larger World of Darkness (WoD) was its true strength. The system was never my favorite, but as I mentioned in a previous post, people did not play it for the system. They played it for the story.
The game was a showcase for a different style of play that had become increasingly popular, but White Wolf popularized it with a massive audience. It also brought many people to TTRPGs in ways that D&D, the big brand, hadn’t.
As a gamer in the 90s, it felt like Vampire and WoD were everywhere. I had a few fun sessions with my friend Karlo, and I really liked Werewolf. Still, as the game’s popularity exploded, WoD sessions around me became large-group affairs where people rarely got to play, and I became disillusioned. Also, I really enjoyed fantasy gaming, and there was a prevailing attitude of “your game is lesser” from some WoD players. This really turned me off.
I did love The Book of Nod, and I’ve had plans for a Vampire game I’d like to run for years (I wrote about it here). I also own a LOT of WoD books, including some of the 20th-anniversary editions for Vampire, Werewolf, and Mage.
But I also think some overstate the importance of the game. If you watch the World of Darkness documentary, it makes it seem like there was just one popular game in the 70s and 80s, that Vampire remade TTRPGs, and that nothing has been the same since.
And that’s not quite true. Vampire and WoD have waxed and waned, never quite gone but no longer the cultural phenomenon they once were, and games have evolved in incredibly interesting ways since. TTRPGs have moved well beyond the WoD explosion, yet some fans still act as if it was the end-all, be-all. That’s why I think it’s overrated at times.
Well, that was quite the digression. But it is important context if I’m going to write about Vampire this week!
While I like the modern setting of Vampire: The Masquerade, I am a massive fan of the original inspirations for the vampire myth, of Dracula’s shadow over the mythology, and of the themes of Stoker’s work that the game presents.
In 2004, I was taking classes toward an MA in English literature, revisiting Vampire through the new World of Darkness (aka The Chronicles of Darkness) —specifically Vampire: The Requiem—and brainstorming what I wanted to do with the game.
I was also a big fan of Frank Wildhorn and his musical Jekyll & Hyde. So, when his Dracula, the Musical opened on Broadway, we took a trip to NYC to see it.
I really enjoyed it! Not quite as much as Jekyll & Hyde, which I had seen on Broadway a few years earlier (that score remains one of my favorites), but it really inspired me to run a vampire game. Just as the sweeping lyrics and themes of shows like Les Misérables deeply influence my creative process and Game Mastering style, the music of Dracula always makes me want to dive back into the World of Darkness.
I never actually played Vampire: The Requiem, preferring Masquerade. But the music of Dracula, the Musical constantly makes me want to run a Vampire game.
I know the world of Masquerade probably conjures very different musical cues for others (like 90s industrial or goth rock). Still, the classic tale told in song is always inspiring, speaking to longing, the nature of undeath, and profound loss. I invite you to listen to it!
In fact, Jekyll & Hyde is also a phenomenal tale of duality and the nature of good and evil that could very well be inspirational to WoD players.
If you are interested in Dracula, the Musical or Jekyll & Hyde, here are some links to check out:
- Dracula the Musical (2011 Cast Recording on Spotify): I understand this has additional songs and improvements from the one I listened to back in 2004! Listen Here
- Dracula the Musical (2004 Original Broadway Cast Recording on YouTube): I own this one on CD! Listen Here
- Jekyll & Hyde Soundtrack (YouTube): Listen Here
- Jekyll & Hyde Soundtrack (Spotify): Listen Here
- Jekyll & Hyde featuring David Hasselhoff: Yes, you read that right. Watch Here
- Dracula the Musical, a trailer for a 2013 Production: Watch Here
Thanks for reading! Tomorrow I’ll write about my original Dracula movie—the first one I watched as a kid—over at Sunglar’s Musings, in case you are interested.
