What do you think?
Vampire: the Dark Ages
Vampire: The Dark Ages (World of Darkness) by Jennifer Hartshorn
In the WORLD OF DARKNESS series, this book includes everything necessary for playing the Damned of the Middle Ages, allowing characters to experience the events that have influenced our age.
Hardcover
First published December 1, 1995
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 31, 2019
This game was my first introduction to roleplaying games, and it will always hold a special place in my heart. The premise is straightforward: "you're a vampire, you're in medieval Europe, go nuts". The setting is detailed and full of fascinating historical details. The clans are interesting, fully-realized, and fairly well balanced. The politics are complex and Machiavellian, the violence is graphic, and the morals are questionable at best. There are no good guys in this game: you and everyone else at the table is playing a monster, a villain from a horror movie, pure and simple. What you decide to do with your potentially-eternal (un)life is up to you.
August 29, 2025
Simple, yet exquisitely written with striking artwork, font, and quotes (World of Darkness source material infected me with a passion for quotes); this shows the reader how to take vampires in the World of Darkness back to its Dark Ages; create characters and craft chronicles for that time period. It’s also full of helpful hints on storytelling in general. This particular sourcebook was an arresting read; sparking ideas and inspiring a number of endeavors. It was a delight to read, bringing on many a delicious shiver as I explored its pages.
January 7, 2018
2nd edition Vampire, including Dark Ages, was more focused on what it's like to be a vampire and much less about all the faction politics and powermongering that 3rd ed became, while introducing a more balanced system than 1st Ed had. To my mind it's the best of Old World of Darkness (oWoD) Vampire. The Dark Ages setting removes all the modern technology for a more medieval game feel.
April 11, 2020
Podobnie jak w maskaradzie podręcznik super napisany i zilustrowany. Odgrywanie społeczeństwa Wampirów o dziwo w średniowieczu jest znacznie trudniejsze niż w obecnych czasach.
October 12, 2021
Dice players essential for the vampire games.
September 8, 2025
Love the lore, do not like the system.
January 29, 2023
I have been immersing myself in this book for the better part of the year 2023, which is perhaps not what the author of the book intended - particularly given my insistence that I run this version of the game, the first edition, not any of the successive books (V20, Dark Ages: Vampire).
I am a fan of the World of Darkness but also a fan of making RPG settings my own at the table. My "Dark Ages" has only a select few clans. The scope is small, but I hope fairly intimate too.
V:tDA is a book steeped in evoking the total uncertainty of new existence, of losing one's faith. A world steeped in God that has suddenly, apparently, become godless. Doomed to endless nights, players scheme because there is nothing else to do but scheme. The setting is evocative and while a little hard to get into at first (it's much easier to imagine vampires in a modern setting, personally), once a Chronicle gets kicked off, it's hard to stop the momentum. Plans become fraught with danger, and mortal belief - the True Faith - permeates every action. Running through the streets, players are both kings and fugitives. They can rip the throats out of mortals but also live in fear that one day they will unite.
V:tDA is a tricky book to run sometimes because I think the book assumes that the player - or the Storyteller - has already engaged with Vampire: The Masquerade, and so therefore a few rules here and there are often skipped over a bit too fast. So maybe the book is not actually a perfect five stars. But as a book for running a world - a world, importantly, steeped in themes that the game's system actually works to support in almost every conceivable way - the book is a remarkable triumph.
I am a fan of the World of Darkness but also a fan of making RPG settings my own at the table. My "Dark Ages" has only a select few clans. The scope is small, but I hope fairly intimate too.
V:tDA is a book steeped in evoking the total uncertainty of new existence, of losing one's faith. A world steeped in God that has suddenly, apparently, become godless. Doomed to endless nights, players scheme because there is nothing else to do but scheme. The setting is evocative and while a little hard to get into at first (it's much easier to imagine vampires in a modern setting, personally), once a Chronicle gets kicked off, it's hard to stop the momentum. Plans become fraught with danger, and mortal belief - the True Faith - permeates every action. Running through the streets, players are both kings and fugitives. They can rip the throats out of mortals but also live in fear that one day they will unite.
V:tDA is a tricky book to run sometimes because I think the book assumes that the player - or the Storyteller - has already engaged with Vampire: The Masquerade, and so therefore a few rules here and there are often skipped over a bit too fast. So maybe the book is not actually a perfect five stars. But as a book for running a world - a world, importantly, steeped in themes that the game's system actually works to support in almost every conceivable way - the book is a remarkable triumph.
April 15, 2011
Basic Premise: How to Roleplay and storytell for vampires in the World of Darkness, but in the Middle Ages.
This is a system that really emphasizes role play and story over mechanics. WoD has always been rules-light and story heavy, and Vampire is the system that started it all. As always, there is lots of backstory and fluff in here. Things are different in the Vampire world than they are in the modern world, and this helps set some of the foundation for the modern WoD. That said, a lot of people who play WoD do it specifically because it is modern and more familiar. It's hard sometimes to play a game set in actual history sometimes, especially if the people at the table have wildly varying knowledge bases.
This is a system that really emphasizes role play and story over mechanics. WoD has always been rules-light and story heavy, and Vampire is the system that started it all. As always, there is lots of backstory and fluff in here. Things are different in the Vampire world than they are in the modern world, and this helps set some of the foundation for the modern WoD. That said, a lot of people who play WoD do it specifically because it is modern and more familiar. It's hard sometimes to play a game set in actual history sometimes, especially if the people at the table have wildly varying knowledge bases.
February 24, 2012
Nothing new under the sun. Could have just as easily been a soft cover supplement, but White Wolf was hellbent on launching a new line.
February 8, 2015
Best of the series. Hands down!
March 1, 2021
Had some of the best art in WoD
June 28, 2022
This being dedicated to C.S. Lewis is both wild and hilarious. Never stop.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews