Why 1995?

I wanted to play at a time before GPS smartphones, social media and other modern conveniences would be around to solve (and create) problems quickly. It is back in a time when many people openly smoked cigarettes in clubs and on the street, and so vampires could use the old Masquerade trick of smoking to look like they were breathing. Also, 1995 is a sort-of "countdown to the Millennium" time: when it seemed like the world might end . . . and for the Vampires, it just might. It would be much harder to hide when literally everyone has access to a high-definition video camera that can upload onto social media immediately, so I chose 1995 as the optimal time for a VtM chronicle. It is the end of the Cold War Age and the razor's edge beginning of the Information Age. I wanted to capture the spirit of Gehenna: that the end times are truly nigh and the long, lazy moves of the Night War suddenly get much quicker with stakes constantly getting greater. The preludes began with the Player Characters in the 1980s as humans in individual origin stories, each consisting of several game sessions (with the exception of one character).

If you are interested in knowing more about the time period in which the first two Books of the Chronicle is set:

Study up on the major real world events of 1985, when the majority of player characters were last a fully human, by clicking here.

Study up on the major real world events of 1995, around the time when the Player Characters met in-game, by clicking here.