Why 1995?

I wanted to play at a time before GPS smartphones, social media and other modern conveniences that would help 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 neigh and the long strokes of the Long Night suddenly get much quicker with stakes constantly getting greater.

The preludes will begin with the characters in 1985 as humans in individual session zeros (which might take a couple of chapters) . . . We start as humans unwillingly baptized into a World of Darkness. We will then quickly progress, possibly with a game of Ghoul: Fatal Addiction depending upon your individual character build, and after a period of tutelage with your sire . . . or hard knocks if you are a Gangrel, Brujah, Malkavian or Caitiff . . . we will start introducing the characters together to form a coterie by the game year of 1995, and that will begin the regular sessions and first primary story arc.

Study up on the major events of 1985 (when your character is last a full human) by clicking here.

Study up on the major events of 1995 (when the full game with all the other Player Characters starts) in the real world by clicking here.