Editing Vampire: The Masquerade (section)

==Development==
''Vampire'' was inspired by [[Role-playing game|role-playing games (RPGs)]] such as ''[[Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game)|Call of Cthulhu]]'', ''[[RuneQuest]],'' and ''[[Nightlife (role-playing game)|Nightlife]]'', as well as the writings of [[Joseph Campbell]] and vampire films such as ''[[The Lost Boys]]''. Rein-Hagen felt that hunting vampires would get boring as a game premise, so he came up with the idea of a game wherein the players played vampires instead of hunting them.<ref name="RHreddit" /><ref name="popcults1">{{cite web |author=stygianjim |date=September 13, 2012 |title=The Wyrm's Turn: Interview with Mark Rein-Hagen |url=http://www.popcults.com/the-wyrms-turn-interview-with-mark-rein-hagen/ |access-date=August 31, 2015 |work=Pop Cults |publisher=popcults.com}}</ref> Rein-Hagen said he purposefully did not read Anne Rice's ''[[The Vampire Chronicles|Vampire Chronicles]]'' until "very late" in the development process but admitted she was probably an influence on the vampire films that inspired the game.<ref name="RHreddit" /> He wanted to go beyond what Anne Rice to create a whole secret vampire society and culture.<ref name="RHreddit" /><ref name="popcults1" />

Some of ''Vampire''{{'}}s central themes of the power of belief developed out of Rein-Hagen's religious upbringing. Inspired by a comic book given to him by White Wolf business partner [[Stewart Wieck]], Rein-Hagen developed the idea that the [[Cain and Abel|Biblical Cain]] was the original vampire. Rein-Hagen has said the idea of Cain (spelled ''Caine'' in the game) as the progenitor of all vampires was a "big turning point."<ref name="RHreddit" /> After initially "trying to shy away from religion", this encouraged him to lean into the religious themes.<ref name="RHreddit">{{cite web|last=Rein-Hagen |first=Mark |url=https://www.reddit.com/comments/2boyia/i_am_mark_reinhagen_world_creator_and_game/ |title=I am Mark Rein-Hagen, world creator and game designer. AskmeAnything.|publisher=Reddit |date=2014|access-date=August 31, 2015}}</ref>

''Vampire'' was conceived as a dark [[urban fantasy]] game, with a [[Gothic fiction|gothic]] feel similar to TSR's ''[[Ravenloft]]''. It would also be the first of a series of linked games sharing the same game world.<ref name="appelcineWW1">{{cite web |last=Appelcline |first=Shannon |date=2007 |title=A Brief History of Game #11: White Wolf, Part One: 1986-1995 |url=http://www.rpg.net/columns/briefhistory/briefhistory11.phtml |access-date=September 17, 2015 |publisher=RPG.net}}</ref> Shannon Appelcline suggests that its visual style was considered striking at the time – its simple cover featured a photo of a rose on green marble. The game also focused on plots, intrigue, and character as opposed to more straightforward dungeon scenarios. While the RPG industry in general had been trending towards a more narrative approach, ''Vampire'' is considered one of the first mainstream games to focus on these elements.<ref name="appelcineWW1" /> The vampires, or ''Kindred'', were also given an extensive list of broad supernatural powers called Disciplines, which included superior strength, speed, and toughness, as well as other powers such as mystic senses, mind control, and blood magic. This helped the game appeal to fans of the superhero genre, which was more marketable at the time than horror. The 13 clans, based on vampiric archetypes, were added late in the development process, after a suggestion by Chris McDonough that players needed greater structure, similar to the [[Character class|character classes]] of other games. This system proved very popular with players and led to the popularization of the [[splatbook]].<ref name="appelcineWW1" /><ref name="designers" />{{Rp|pages=16–17}}

For the game's mechanical elements, Rein-Hagen turned to [[Tom Dowd (game designer)|Tom Dowd]], co-designer of ''Shadowrun'' (1989). ''Vampire''{{'}}s system of "comparative" [[Dice pool|dice pools]] drew on the mechanics innovated by ''Shadowrun,'' changing only the type of dice rolled from six-sided to [[Ten-sided dice|ten-sided]]. Players rolled a number of dice determined by their skills, similar to games like ''[[Champions (role-playing game)|Champions]]'', but rather than adding the results of the dice together, ''Vampire'' counted the number of dice which met or exceeded a target number or ''difficulty''. Skill levels were relatively low, ranging usually from one to five, and were represented with dots rather than numbers, which was the standard of its contemporaries. Players could quickly calculate their dice pool and roll against the assigned difficulty rating. Appelcline suggests this system aided a style of play which emphasized story over mechanics, as it was easy for new players to quickly grasp, though it sometimes produced unexpected results, such as a highly skilled character being more likely to [[Natural 1|fumble]].<ref name="appelcineWW1" />