Quick note: This is something I do every Saturday on my Facebook Page, Sunglar’s Musings. Since I know not everyone is on Facebook and I wanted to close out the week here on the blog, I’m sharing my post from FB here.
To close out our week here on the blog celebrating Vampire: The Masquerade’s 35th anniversary, let’s look at my recommendations for playing VtM and exploring the World of Darkness (WoD).
(Note: The links below are DriveThruRPG affiliate links!)
The Classic World of Darkness
First, most obviously, Vampire: The Masquerade. I own the current 5th edition of the rules in digital format, but I feel like I would probably run a game with the 20th-anniversary rules. For those of you who have played both, which do you recommend?
- VtM 20th Anniversary Edition: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/94815/vampire-the-masquerade-20th-anniversary-edition?affiliate_id=3727
- VtM 5th Edition: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/256795/vampire-the-masquerade-5th-edition?affiliate_id=3727
Like I said earlier this week, if I were to run VtM, I would keep it an all-vampire affair. But if you want to mix your games, I have played Werewolf, Mage, and I really like Demon: The Fallen (I never actually played Changeling or Wraith).
- Werewolf 20th Anniversary Edition: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/112871/werewolf-the-apocalypse-20th-anniversary-edition?affiliate_id=3727
- Mage 20th Anniversary Edition: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/149562/mage-the-ascension-20th-anniversary-edition?affiliate_id=3727
- Demon: The Fallen: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/636/demon-the-fallen?affiliate_id=3727
My absolute favorite book for VtM, other than the core rulebook, has always been the lore-heavy Book of Nod:
- The Book of Nod: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/538135/vampire-the-masquerade-5th-edition-the-book-of-nod?affiliate_id=3727
A Savage Alternative
For something COMPLETELY different, I could easily see myself running a Vampire and World of Darkness campaign using (say it with me now!) Savage Worlds.
What would I need? The core rulebook, of course, and the Horror Companion. The rules in that latter book have most of what I need, including rules for Vampires, Werewolves, Demons, Ghosts, and magic for Mages.
- Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (SWADE): (A steal for $9.99 in PDF!) https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/261539/savage-worlds-adventure-edition?affiliate_id=3727
- SWADE Horror Companion: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/448302/swade-horror-companion?affiliate_id=3727
Finally, Contagion Savage Adventures is a setting for Savage Worlds that proposes a world not unlike the WoD—a world where mythical creatures fight a once-secret battle now out in the open. It is a very interesting setting, fully compatible with the Horror Companion above, and something I would definitely mine for a possible “Savage World of Darkness” homebrew:
- Contagion Savage Adventures: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/198324/contagion-savage-adventures?affiliate_id=3727
(Bonus tip: If you look online, you can also find a fan-made Savage Worlds conversion for Monte Cook’s World of Darkness. While it’s not exactly the original WoD, it has rules for the creatures in that book that give you great ideas for additional tweaks!)
Thanks for reading along this week! It’s been so much fun doing this themed week on the blog. Is this something you enjoyed? Let me know in the comments, and if it proves popular, I may try doing another themed week soon!
