Vampire: The Dark Ages

Vampire: The Dark Ages is set in medieval Europe in 1197, in the World of Darkness; the updated version Dark Ages: Vampire moves the timeline forward to 1230,{{cite book |title=Dark Ages: Vampire |publisher=White Wolf Publishing |page=15 |year=2002 |isbn=1-58846-276-5}} and Vampire Twentieth Anniversary Edition: The Dark Ages further to 1242. Players take the roles of vampires, who believe themselves to have descended from the biblical Caine, the first murderer. Each vampire belongs to one of thirteen clans with different vampiric powers and weaknesses, and with different relationships with other clans. Vampires hold a lot of power, and humans know of their existence, unlike in the modern setting of Vampire: The Masquerade; because cities were smaller in the time of Vampire: The Dark Ages, however, it is more difficult for vampires to hide their activities, and they need to face enemies directly as they do not have access to modern technology. In addition to vampires, all other beings from the World of Darkness games appear in the Dark Ages setting, including werewolves, changelings, wraiths and mages.

Vampire: The Dark Ages shares its basic Storyteller System gameplay system with the other World of Darkness games, and is compatible with Vampire: The Masquerade.

{{Main article|List of Vampire: The Dark Ages books}}

Vampire: The Dark Ages was published by White Wolf Publishing in March 1996 as the first in a line of World of Darkness games with historical settings,{{cite magazine |date=January 1996 |title=Vampire: The Dark Ages |magazine=Arcane |publisher=Future plc |issue=2 |page=10}} each based on previous games in the series; the series also included 1997's Werewolf: The Wild West and 1998's Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade. An updated version titled Dark Ages: Vampire was released in 2002,{{cite magazine|title=Year of the damned |issue=79|magazine=InQuest Gamer|page=24|publisher=Wizard Entertainment|date=November 2001}}{{cite book |title=Dark Ages: Vampire |publisher=White Wolf Publishing |page=10 |year=2002 |isbn=1-58846-276-5}} and received supplements based on other World of Darkness games, including Dark Ages: Mage and Dark Ages: Inquisitor in 2002; Dark Ages: Werewolf in 2003; and Dark Ages: Fae in 2004. A further update of the core game, Vampire Twentieth Anniversary Edition: The Dark Ages, was published by Onyx Path Publishing, and was funded through a Kickstarter campaign in 2014{{cite web |url=http://diehardgamefan.com/2014/10/21/tabletop-review-book-of-the-wyrm-werewolf-the-apocalypse-20th-anniversary-edition/ |title=Tabletop Review: Book of the Wyrm (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition) |author=Lucard, Alex |date=2014-10-21 |website=Diehard GameFan |access-date=2020-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114203947/http://diehardgamefan.com/2014/10/21/tabletop-review-book-of-the-wyrm-werewolf-the-apocalypse-20th-anniversary-edition/ |archive-date=2019-11-14 |url-status=dead }} and released on July 29, 2015.{{cite web |url=http://theonyxpath.com/now-available-v20-dark-ages/ |title=Now Available: V20 Dark Ages |author=Watson, Ian A. A. |date=2015-07-29 |publisher=Onyx Path Publishing |access-date=2020-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504190351/http://theonyxpath.com/now-available-v20-dark-ages/ |archive-date=2016-05-04 |url-status=live }}

The game was given a French translation and published in France by Hexagonal in November 1996; Twentieth Anniversary Edition also got French and Spanish releases by Arkhane Asylum Publishing and NoSoloRol in 2016 and 2017, respectively, both of which were financed through crowdfunding campaigns,{{cite magazine |date=May–June 2016 |title=Et au sud? |language=French |magazine=Casus Belli |issue=19 |page=30 |publisher=Black Book Éditions}}{{cite magazine |date=May–June 2017 |title=L'Âge des Ténèbres |language=French |magazine=Casus Belli |issue=22 |page=19 |publisher=Black Book Éditions}} and is planned to be released in Russian by Studio 101 in 2022.{{cite web |url=https://www.mirf.ru/news/studiya-101-zapustila-predzakaz-nri-vampiry-tyomnye-veka-klassicheskie-pravila/ |title="Студия 101» запустила предзаказ НРИ «Вампиры: Тёмные века. Классические правила" |language=ru |date=2021-07-13 |website=Mir Fantastiki |publisher=Hobby World |access-date=2021-07-26 |archive-date=2021-07-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210717221801/https://www.mirf.ru/news/studiya-101-zapustila-predzakaz-nri-vampiry-tyomnye-veka-klassicheskie-pravila/ |url-status=live }}

{{Game ratings

| title = Reception

| rev1 = Arcane

| rev1score = 8/10{{cite magazine|last=Butcher|first=Andy|date=April 1996|title=Vampire: The Dark Ages|magazine=Arcane|publisher=Future plc|issue=5|pages=56–59}}

| rev2 = Backstab

| rev2score = 7/10{{cite magazine |last=Bailly |first=Arnaud |date=October 1996 |title=Vampire: L'Age des Ténèbres |language=French |magazine=Backstab |issue=0 |page=12 |publisher=FC Publications}}

| rev3 = SciFi-Universe

| rev3score = 70/100{{cite web |url=https://www.scifi-universe.com/critiques/9067/vampire-l-age-des-tenebres-edition-20eme-anniversaire |title=Critique du jeu de rôle : Vampire: l'Age des Ténèbres Edition 20ème anniversaire [2017] |language=French |first=Christophe |last=H. |date=2018-04-23 |website=SciFi-Universe |access-date=2020-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629002600/https://www.scifi-universe.com/critiques/9067/vampire-l-age-des-tenebres-edition-20eme-anniversaire |archive-date=2019-06-29 |url-status=live }}

}}

Andy Butcher of Arcane called Vampire: The Dark Ages a great game with a lot of potential for many different kinds of scenarios. He called its "moody" atmosphere one of the biggest achievements of the game, which was helped by the artwork in the rule book, and enjoyed the interaction between the medieval setting and the vampires. He did however criticize how the game does not clearly define the nature of its version of vampires and only describes the setting broadly, making the game more difficult to play unless players have experience with Vampire: The Masquerade and some knowledge of 12th century history. He appreciated the single-roll, dice-based system for determining whether attempted tasks succeed, describing it as "simple and elegant" for allowing degrees of success or failure, but also criticized the gameplay for having unclear combat rules, something he described as a recurring problem in World of Darkness games.

By 1998 White Wolf was facing continued economic problems, and was hitting a crisis. Vampire: The Dark Ages was the only game from their remaining five World of Darkness games – the three historical games, and 1994's Wraith: The Oblivion and 1995's Changeling: The Dreaming – that sold well.{{cite book |last=Appelcline |first=Shannon |year=2014 |title=Designers & Dragons: The '90s |edition=2nd |publisher=Evil Hat Productions |pages=7–52 |isbn=978-1-613170-84-7}}

• Pyramid{{Cite web|url=http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=4593|title = Pyramid: Pyramid Pick: Vampire: The Dark Ages}}
• Casus Belli #94{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/casus-belli-094/page/n13/mode/2up | title=Casus Belli #094 | date=1996 }}
• Australian Realms #29{{Cite book |last= |url=https://archive.org/details/australian-realms-magazine/Australian%20Realms%20#29%20JulyAugust%201996/page/4/mode/2up |title=Australian Realms Magazine - Complete Collection |date=June 1988}}

In 1998, video game publisher Activision acquired the rights to develop video games based on Vampire: The Dark Ages, along with Vampire: The Masquerade and Kindred of the East.{{cite magazine |title=Os vampiros da Activision |magazine=Dragão Brasil |language=Portuguese |page=4 |publisher=Trama Editorial |date=July 1998 |issue=40}}

The game was novelized as the thirteen-part Dark Ages Clan Novel series from 2002 to 2004.{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Jones (author) |year=2003 |title=The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror |volume=14 |pages=51–52 |publisher=Constable & Robinson |isbn=978-0-786712-37-3}}{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Jones (author) |year=2004 |title=The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror |volume=15 |page=48 |publisher=Constable & Robinson |isbn=978-0-786714-26-1}}{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Jones (author) |year=2005 |title=The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror |volume=16 |page=66 |publisher=Constable & Robinson |isbn=978-0-786716-00-5}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011006141426/http://www.white-wolf.com/Games/Pages/Darkageshome.html |date=October 6, 2001 |title=Official website}}

{{World of Darkness}}

Category:Fiction set in the 1190s

Category:Fiction set in the 13th century

Category:Historical role-playing games

Category:Kickstarter-funded tabletop games

Category:Role-playing games introduced in 1996

Category:Vampire: The Masquerade

Category:Vampires in written fiction