Vampire: The Masquerade (tabletop RPG)

Vampire: The Masquerade features 13 major vampire clans, each with unique supernatural Disciplines, weaknesses, and cultural identities, including iconic bloodlines like the warrior Brujah, the secretive Tremere blood sorcerers, the monstrous Nosferatu, and the aristocratic Ventrue. The choice of clan fundamentally shapes both gameplay mechanics and political roleplay, as each clan aligns with different factions within vampire society.

The Camarilla is a conservative, hierarchical sect of vampires that enforces the Masquerade—the tradition of hiding vampiric existence from mortals—while the Sabbat is a militant, fanatical sect that rejects human morality and embraces vampiric supremacy. Most tabletop campaigns are set within the Camarilla's political intrigue of the World of Darkness, but the Sabbat serves as a major antagonist faction and is playable in its own right.

Vampire: The Masquerade was originally published by White Wolf in 1991 (1st Edition), with major new editions in 1992 (2nd Edition), 1998 (Revised Edition), 2004 (as Vampire: The Requiem, a reboot under the new World of Darkness line), and 2018 (5th Edition, or V5, which returned to the original Masquerade setting). V5 was initially published by Modiphius Entertainment and later by Renegade Game Studios, with Paradox Interactive owning the World of Darkness IP after acquiring White Wolf.

The most famous video game adaptation is *Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines*, developed by Troika Games and released in 2004 using Valve's Source engine; despite being released in an unfinished, buggy state, it became a cult classic and received extensive fan patches. A sequel, *Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2*, was announced by Paradox Interactive but has faced multiple delays and developer changes.