Chicago by Night

Vampire: the Masquerade

by Andrew Greenberg

At Death's Own Wake...

Chicago, favored city of the Damned, is not as it once was. The streets, which have tasted blood time and time again, feasted as never before during the attack of the savage werewolves. Decades of effort fell in less than a month. That which has been immortal is no more. Crowning this pile of despair is the torn corpse of the prince, the last vestige of immortality ripped out by red-stained claws.
The Dead Can Dance
The city has become a swirling vortex, pulling in fresh victims from every direction. From across the world the undead swarm, drawn by Chicago's suffering. Who can resist its desperate call? Who can survive its tragic fate? Chicago by Night, Second Edition includes:

* a full description of the horror of Chicago, brought on by and compatible with Under a Blood Red Moon;
* complete information on the Kindred, geography and history; and
* a complete reference for adding stories of intrigue to your chronicle.

Genres: Role Playing Games, Horror, World Of Darkness, Gaming, Vampires, Games, Fiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Andrew Greenberg, best known for designing computer games and roleplaying games, co-created the “Fading Suns” roleplaying and computer games, recently developed “Rapture d20,” and was the original developer of White Wolf’s “Vampire: The Masquerade.” He has credits on more than 50 White Wolf products and more than 20 HDI books. He has also worked on products with other roleplaying game companies, including “Star Trek Next Generation” and “Deep Space Nine.” His computer game credits include Dracula Unleashed, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, Emperor of the Fading Suns, Warhammer 40K: Final Liberation, Merchant Prince II, Mall Tycoon, Dungeon Lords, and more. He began teaching game design at the Art Institute of Atlanta in 2006, and serves on the International Game Developers Association Curriculum Committee. He regularly writes for publications as diverse as Prick Magazine and the Matthew Bender legal reference series. Very active with a variety of causes and organizations, in 2006 he co-chaired both the Environmental Design Research Association and Mythic Journeys conventions in Atlanta, and coordinated the Human Forum in Puerto Rico.

Reviews

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

I genuinely believe this to be the all time greatest gaming supplement of all time. It's a setting which would go on to influence many other supplements as well as the Vampire: The Masquerade line itself. The book isn't flawless despite my awesome claims about it as the stats are more less useless. Kindred with powerful Obfuscate can't actually it because they don't have a Stealth core. Some characters are nothing but blocks of 5's and so superhuman they could fight a tank division. Still, what the book has more than anything else is personality.

The heart of the book is Prince Lodin, the often imitated and never surpassed archetypal Ventrue Prince. He remains one of the great RPG villains alongside Vecna, Strahd Von Zharovich, and Artemis Entreri. He's a greedy, charismatic, and vicious sociopath who is never so evil that you can't imagine occasionally siding with him to protect the Masquerade or preserve the city's stability. Most of my player characters eventually ended up killing Lodin but it was usually a slow build up that involved many confrontations beforehand.

The book is also filled with many other fascinating and memorable characters. There's Critias, the first gay RPG character I ever encountered who was also a philosopher in Ancient Greece. He's determined to prove he's smarter than anyone else alive and at 2500 years--he probably is. There's the seductive Annabelle who is old enough to do whatever she wants but has no real ambitions other than being the person everyone likes (or else). There's Khalid the Nosferatu who seeks redemption but in contrast to the usual vampire tropes--really really is bad at it (and should probably be killed for the safety of everyone). I fell in love with characters like Maldavis, Erichtho, Anita Wainwright, and Kathy Glen. Not every character is a hit and some NPCs are a bit generic but even those have their place.

Rating: 10/10

[Arthur B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A by-product of the original Vampire: the Masquerade playtest campaign, and consequently extremely useful in setting the tone for the game. Important for popularising the idea that your own home town as it is today might be just as worthy of making the subject of an RPG campaign as, say, Krynn. Most easily found bundled with The Succubus Club in the first Chicago Chronicles volume. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...