Preview Victorian Age: Vampire, due out in 2002, through developer Justin Achilli's outline for the author(s):

Victorian Age: Vampire

October 2002; $25.95; 224pp. hardback; 140K words

It's the perfect setting for Vampire so why have we taken so long to do it? I don't have an answer, but we're doing it now.

While historically defined as the years between 1840 and 1900, I'd like to narrow the focus of the epoch a bit. I think that's part of what harmed Werewolf: The Wild West: the fact that there was just so much to cover in such a short period of time. As such, Vampire's Victorian era will cover the years of 1880-1897. This puts us in the era of Jack the Ripper's murders; we have Dracula whispering in the ear of a suggestible Irishman (the publication of Dracula is the "end date" for this setting, an apocalyptic event [for the Kindred] that closes the era). The smoke and toil of the Industrial Revolution has paved the way for Marxism (with The Communist Manifesto published in 1848 and Capital published in 1867), both of which provide ample opportunities for Kindred to feed and hide among the lower classes and proletariat. "Alienism" and psychology introduce the world to soft science, and parapsychology is an almost legitimate branch of this. To borrow prose (and a hundred years) from Charles Dickens, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair." Mysticism sits side-by-side with science, poverty hovers in the eaves of wealth's doorway, and faith and reason sneer across the table at each other. In short, it's exactly like the modern World of Darkness without computers and the Sisters of Mercy.

At this time, the whole of the civilized world looks like London - fog creeps the streets and even when the sun shines it's from behind a gray veneer of clouds. Despite the dawning technologies of the time, the world is still lit only by fire, even though it's a gaslight flame. This is the last of the times when cynicism hasn't completely eradicated the Kindred from the consciousness of the world. While the very notion of vampires would be absurd to mention in certain circles of society, those same circles will look over their shoulders on the carriage ride home.

Theme and Mood

This project is actually going to have numerous themes.

VA:V's primary theme is, of course, that of the Gothic literary tradition. If you need help conjuring the associated elements, please let me know and I'll take you off the project.

This is also the time period of the death knell for the relevance of the vampire in mortal society. Mysticism is still pervasive enough for vampires to be a real (or at least subconscious) threat to the world, but in generations to come, they'll just be ghost stories. You can illustrate this in a variety of ways, particularly by dividing "rural" Kindred from their "urban" fellows. To adapt a phrase from history, many rural Kindred will be "rabbitcatchers," clutching a noble legacy but really only subsisting. By comparison, the urban Kindred are part of the direction the world is heading. The vampire lord on the mountain is a dying ideal - now, if vampires exist, they hide in the cities, fooling the world into thinking they aren't there, but reaping all the benefits. Play up the importance of the Masquerade here. It's been an ideal before, but forward-looking Kindred will see that it's absolutely paramount to the survival of the race, while those anachronistic Cainites who can't read the writing on the wall will sink inevitably into torpor or meet the Final Death.

I also want the Victorian Era embodied by a clash of extreme ideologies. Piety versus science, mysticism versus established faiths, poverty versus grandeur, base desires versus high morality, Camarilla versus Sabbat. Yeah, we'll have some anarchs running around and some autarkis squatting in filth heaps, but this is the era of the secret society, and what symbolizes that better than secret societies of vampires, diametrically opposed (in their propaganda, but as always, let us see the hypocrisy that they're just the same thing with different club handshakes) in philosophy?

The weight of society is another theme that should be prevalent in this book. In fact, the preponderance of secret Victorian societies reinforces that - certain ideals aren't part of the normal flow of society, so people who uphold them join societies of like-minded fellows. The Fabians, the Freemasons, occult hellfire clubs al of these and more are examples of the sorts of "clubs" that exist in which one can direct the flow of society. Note also that the Sabbat and Camarilla are just these sorts of things, social constructs to affect a way of (un)life.

As far as mood goes, I don't think I have to spend much time discussing it here. We're actually going for the gaslight mood that characterizes the entire popular conception of Victorian culture. Take that existing mood and adapt Vampire to it, please.

Tone and Style

Be lurid! Be florid! Be overwrought! Don't bog down your point completely, but affected speech is to be expected. Indulge a bit of your inner drama queen. Vampires don't feed in the Victorian era, they ravish. Every love is the one that means the end of the world if it doesn't work out; every sexual affair is tawdry.

Note that I'm not giving you license to be an adolescent twit - we do have to have content, and hiding it beneath an impenetrable veneer of bad poetry won't do. What I do want you to do is invoke the feel of the period through literary device and presentation of your prose. A vampire disappearing down a murky alley with a flourish of his cloak - kick ass! A woeful paean to the Eternal hunger and Oh, How My Soul is Damned - too much. If certain characters are like this, fine, but don't you be like that.

As long as it's obvious that it's the period talking, we can even build the clans and sects as more monolithic than they are in the modern nights. As always, the vampire is an individual, but in the Victorian setting, it's entirely plausible to find oneself face-to-face with a cabal of Tremere or a wicked conspiracy of Lasombra.

Specific Conceits

It won't necessarily be laid out in bullet points like this in the final book, but do keep these things in mind.

The Sun Never Sets

on the Union Jack. London is unabashedly the "home town" of the Victorian setting and I'd like the rest of the material to written from the point of view of a Britisher. Much as modern World of Darkness books often express things from an American context, this book should give us the frame of reference of the dominant culture of the period.

The Masquerade is Flexible

Not to encourage people to run around like maniacs, but all that mysticism combined with the Gothic mindset allows vampires to indulge a little more, or at least not be in such dire immediate danger if they're caught in a decidedly Draculoid act. Remember that information doesn't travel as quickly, so even if someone sees a Kindred, he won't have instant retribution. Hunters will eventually arrive by train (q.v. Dracula), but even then, only if the witness survives to tell someone and the message arrives. Kindred populations probably swell beyond the 1:100,000 ratio, particularly in "vampire country" like Eastern Europe and centers of Sabbat influence. In fact, because of the relative slowness of communication and awareness, 1:50,000 might even be the general rule. Assuming a population of 1.4 billion worldwide at this point in history (Jean-Noel Biraben, "An Essay Concerning Mankind's Evolution," 1980), that makes for roughly 30,000 Kindred worldwide, with 20,000 of those being Cainites (as opposed to Kuei-jin or of other origin). We'll never say this specifically anywhere, but it's a good figure to know and probably the rule of thumb for princes looking to have any degree of vampiric population control.

Secret Societies are Rampant

Secret societies are part of the period, and suggest that this is another mortal trend that the Kindred have appropriated by highlighting the social nature of the sects. They aren't vampire "governments," they're social contracts and philosophies. Even outside of the Kindred, many of these secret (and some not-so-secret) societies will have a place. I want to see everything from Mithraic cabals to the Fabians and everything in between.

Works for Reference

I can't imagine you needing much direction in this avenue, but here are a few of my favorite sources for the time period.

"The Vampyre" by John Polidori is probably the seminal work for this setting. Before this, vampires were bloodsukkin' monsters and with Polidori's short story, the vampire-as-a-Romantic-creature was born.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

"Carmilla" by Sheridan LeFanu

"The Vampire of Kaldenstein" by Frederick Cowles

The Picture of Dorian Grey and Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Silas Marner by George Eliot

It's set in America, but Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence is a great representation of New World interpretation of Old World custom during the Victorian era.

From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell (soon to be a film!). Jack the Ripper. Secret conspiracies. Freemasons. Add a vampire and this is a graphic-novel Vampire supplement.

The Unburied by Charles Palliser - This one's great because of its underplaying of the supernatural and the convoluted murder-within-a-murder-within-a-murder plot that's set in an academic quest. The "subtle" supernatural (read the book! It moves very quickly) presence reminds me very much of how Victorian Kindred would conduct themselves ("Vampires? What a quaint notion!"), while the plot is occlusive enough to give any elder an idea for hiding his schemes.

The Alienist by Caleb Carr is American in setting but and excellent work of mood and setting nonetheless.

The Waterworks by E.L. Doctorow is, again, in an American setting, but well worth the read.

Prologue

Fiction, to the tune of 4,000 words. What I want here is something similar in style to Polidori's "The Vampyre." Lurid as all hell, perhaps with a bit of subtle homoeroticism (do not grandstand). I'd like to avoid using Vampire Words™, making this instead a piece more focused on the period and its coolness instead of bogging up the narrative with a buncha proprietary terms. For the civilized fans, it's homage to the game's roots. For the exploding ninja gumby highlander trenchcoat katanas, it shows that a good vampire story need not be about lists of Disciplines and legions of enemies reduced to bloody smears.

(4,000 words)

Introduction

Here's where we introduce the passel of ideas we'll be bandying about, as well as talking a bit about the need for a new setting book, etc. Cover themes and mood here, mention that things weren't terribly different mechanically for vampires than they are now (we won't be including any full-scale treatments of Disciplines, new clans or anything of that ilk). Talk about what we're after - the "classic" time period for the vampire and its heyday as a Romantic creature deserving of awe, respect and fear, not just abject terror. These are gentleman monsters, ladies for whom the night hides a dark secret; these are rogues with more than a litany of crimes to hide or scions of the social elite with more than the usual skeletons in the closet.

Also, include an overview for the rest of the book. You know: the traditional breakdown, using this outline as your model. Here you can also include your own expanded list of source material.

(3,000 words)

Chapter One: The Empire After Nightfall

Much as Chapter One of Vampire discusses the World of Darkness, this book discusses the World of Darkness over the time period of 1880-1897. It's the broad setting chapter, the one that introduces us to the general feeling of the world without going too deeply into any one subject. I say that mostly to keep the geography section small in this chapter, but please don't skimp on material by any means.

Mostly what I'm looking for here is how the world is different from the modern setting, or how the modern setting's ideas translate into this earlier period. Don't compare them expressly. That is, no "Unlike the modern nights, all princes have shoes with buckles." Don't reference the modern nights at all; build these pieces of the set anew.

Focus mainly on Europe, with a harsh division between "civilized" Western Europe and the more rustic, more barbaric Eastern Europe. Think of Western Europe as London, Eastern Europe as Transylvania. Eastern Europe still has peasants, for God's sake, and it's a superstitious land still living in fear of the blood-drinking count "living" high up the mountain in his castle. Western Europe is more cosmopolitan, more elegant, better educated and less prone to believe in such things as vampires. In fact, mysticism and the supernatural in Western Europe are ways to indulge taboos, and often not seen as truths.

For some of your word count, pay attention to America, as well, particularly in the East. America is still a land of buffalo-clad colonials to many Europeans, but what I'm more interested in is the age of the American Gothic. No, not the portrait, but that epoch of new grandeur that America built for itself. That's why I put Age of Innocence on the reading list, as well as The Alienist and The Waterworks. Boss Tweed's in Tammany Hall, New York is a Victorian Gotham. It's less formal than the Old World, but Victorian America wants to be just as tony as the heritage it left behind.

Some specific things I want to see in this chapter:

Descriptions of the era's Camarilla and Sabbat, including positions therein and the nature of cities in which one or the other is the dominant sect. What makes a Victorian-era prince or bishop different from his modern-nights counterpart? What about the ruck and run of the sects?

An idea of what unlife is like in the Victorian World of Darkness - we don't have punk clubs, raves and skyscrapers, so what do we have? Some of these ideas will remain very much the same as their modern counterparts but will differ only in the details. For example, the Rack is still going to be the Rack, but what sorts of businesses, clubs and salons comprise it?

Some geographical conceits with minimal detail, such as who's where, overarching mortal trends (which vampires follow, of course), the upstart New World, the mysterious Orient, the Dark Continent, etc.

(20,000 words)

Chapter Two: A Society of Monsters

The clans, done Victorian style. Like the previous chapter, focus on what's different from the modern idiom without using the modern idiom as a point of reference. Each of the 13 clans will have 4,000 words devoted to them, to be spread out over the following array of topics.

Overview: The general "shtick" of the clan. Most of these will be very similar to their modern incarnations, but the ones that have fallen so much in the modern nights (Brujah, Lasombra, Tzimisce) won't have been so far down the spiral by this point.

Domain: Where the clan is strong, whether as a group or by dint of individual territories. Surely, some overlap will occur, so feel free to build in some conflicts over what domain "belongs" to whom.

Interests: Hey, while all those vampires are hanging out in the areas described in the previous entry, what are they doing? This needn't be a unilateral clan agenda - I don't want Team Ventrue aligning on the pitch to scuttle the Manchester Chantry United - but inform us of some of the trends, ideals and schemes of various factions of the clan and even influential individuals.

How It Breaks Out

<2>Clan Name

<i>A quote from a character of that clan

<n>- Quote attribution

A few words of introduction to the clan's Victorian archetype.

<3>Overview

<n>Blah blah blah.

<3>Domain

<n>Blah blah blah.

<3>Interests

<n>Blah blah blah.

Opening for the groupings of clans will be the sect (and independent) overviews. These should run to 1,000 words each and not be broken up with any subheaders - just discuss the ones you've been assigned in a broad perspective.

The break out is like this.

<1>Sect Name

<i>Quote from a guy in the sect.

<n>- Quote attribution

Blah blah blah.

If you're being assigned a sect or clan, it's highlighted below.

The Camarilla

Brujah

Gangrel

Malkavian (note that the Discipline spread during the period is Auspex, Dominate, Obfuscate for Camarilla Malkavians)

Nosferatu

Toreador

Tremere

Ventrue

The Sabbat

Lasombra

Tzimisce

The Independents

Assamites

Followers of Set

Giovanni

Ravnos

(55,000 words)

Chapter Three: Characters

The usual array of character-generation processes goes in here, with spoken emphasis this time on the differences from the modern setting. That is, this book requires the core Vampire book to use, and we're going to be telling people what's different from that core book.

Here's a rundown of changes. Please arrange these ideas in the same format as the existing Chapter Three of the Vampire core book. Cut the example of character creation, but do include the stages of the process.

o Please provide a few more period-specific examples of concepts and Nature/Demeanor archetypes.

o Character generations begin at 12. The much-feared 13th Generation appears with alarming frequency in the 20th century and beyond, but this is the last stage of vampiric presence before the widespread dilution of the Blood.

o Academics 1 is a requirement for literacy; anyone without it can't read.

o Computer goes away. As tempted as I am to replace it with Babbage Engine, we'll instead be adapting Enigmas from a Secondary Ability to a primary one. Focus on the "puzzle" nature of Enigmas over the supernatural - Enigmas is puzzling out an algorithm as much as it is deciphering the Golden Dawn's secret alphabet.

o Discuss Backgrounds, noting how many of them will change in the environment. Stuff like Status and Fame travel only as fast as the rest of communications do at the time.

o We'll need some new Merits & Flaws, unfortunately. Definitely in there will be 13th Generation. Stay away from Social Merits & Flaws because they're bullshit. You may wish to work with some of the existing ones, adapting, for example, Medium, to represent communication with spirits and ghosts instead of just seeing them. I don't want too many of these, but use them to build the setting if we don't have some other suitable Trait that covers the idea.

o Talk about morality, and emphasize the division between the Sabbat and Camarilla with it. Specifically, put most Sabbat on very low levels of the alternate moralities. WHEN YOU DO THIS, however, mention in no uncertain terms that the Sabbat is doomed if it continues to act like this, which is why so many Sabbat of the modern nights are once again back on Humanity. Those alternate moral codes are just too difficult for most Cainites to uphold, and the Sabbat often ends up as the big loser during this period because so many of its members end up caving in to the Beast. Also mention again that the Sabbat is mostly elders and neonates - the really clever neonates may one night become elders, but most die before even becoming ancillae. There are few ancillae in the Sabbat because tactics haven't changed much, and those elders spoon-feeding the rabble their "freedom!" spiel are still sending them to die in conflicts with the Camarilla (or burning themselves up in various ritae.

(10,000 words)

Chapter Four: Geography

I'm at a loss for a name for this chapter, as I didn't want to reiterate "empire" in a chapter header. If you have an idea for it, great.

I'm seeing this chapter broken up into four parts. All parts should have an English viewpoint; when you're not talking about England, let us feel like you're English and talking about the other stuff. More importantly, how is what you're talking about relevant to vampires? Historical bits are good, but anyone can check out a history book on the Victorian era. What this section needs to do is show the impact of Victorian-era events on the Kindred and vice versa.

First and most important is England itself. Note that I'm probably using that word incorrectly. How about a sidebar on when to use England, when to say United Kingdom and when to say Britain. As a dumbass American, I have no idea. Right, anyway; back to England. As it's the central focus of the time period, what with the queen providing for the name for it and all, it receives the most scrupulous attention. Remember that Mithras is the Prince of London at this time. You'll probably get some use out of the British Isles (another term!) chapter of A World of Darkness, Second Edition and out of Giovanni Chronicles III, so I'll send those along to you. If you make Jack the Ripper, Aleister Crowley or John Dee a vampire, you'll earn yourself a kick to the jimmy. Focus on the English imperial mindset here - give us the Dickensian conditions, too, but let us know that it's the most glorious squalor we could ever hope to live in.

Next comes the rest of Europe, with the pronounced divide between West and East that I've mentioned before. Western Europe is regal and cultured, with cities like Venice, Paris, Vienna and Madrid all displaying their pageantry to anyone who will watch. Eastern Europe is rustic, rural and, well, plagued by monsters, but no one else really cares. Let them worry about it. Economically depressed, Eastern Europe is still very much incomprehensible and withdrawn from Western Europe. That said, both regions have tremendously pronounced cultural divides, even within their own realms. Break this section down, naturally, by country under region, and talk about every location independently.

America is your third region, and I feel a little awkward breaking it out by itself, but fuck it, we're an American company making games predominantly for the American market. That said, I've mentioned before my desire to have America be the "American Gothic" defined by nineteenth-century New York. Focus on the East Coast, with a nod historically to the fact that the Manifest Destiny is sending people westward. The New England region is probably the most pertinent to the setting, but you should certainly mention the prosperity of those original colonies with the temerity to have gone off on their own. Oh, and those stupid Yanks just spent a long time killing each other in a "civil war," the posing fakes.

Lastly, of course, comes "Everything Else." Attention here should fall on India and Africa as bastions of English imperialism. With India, be sure to mention that clans are more like castes (Dean Shomshak has written some interesting spins on the phenomenon, which I'll gather for you). With Africa, be very careful. Mention that most of what's known about Africa, at least so far as it concerns vampires, is above the Sahara. Out there in sub-Saharan Africa, no one knows what the order of the night is. There's some mention of the "Laibon," and "Kagn," but no one even knows what they are. Keep this vague, but tease us with it, as I want to have the African "Kindred" show up at some point over my tenure whizzing in Vampire's pool.

(26,000 words)

Chapter Five: Storytelling

This is a large chapter on storytelling, but remember that this is the first time, historically, that vampires have been anything other than mindless, blood-guzzling monsters. Of course, some of those are still out there, but vampires can also be sexy, like Lord Ruthven, Carmilla and Dracula himself. You can even model ideas for the sects on that (though beware of pigeonholing), with the Sabbat being the night-fiends and the Camarilla being the refined monsters.

Break down the gothic literary tradition in this chapter, with attention on how to adapt those devices and techniques to a storytelling game. Seriously, this is the place for top hats and velvet capes, so give us some guidance on using the genre conventions to make the stories count. Invoke the period - how would a "penny dreadful" or "shilling shocker" chronicle differ from a regular chronicle? One of my favorite ideas in the lamentably defunct Castle Falkenstein game was the concept that roleplaying was introduced to the Victorians as a parlor game. We won't be so "meta" with it, but how about a series of short installments, not unlike the penny dreadful serials?

How do we introduce the themes of VA:V into a chronicle? How do I use the archetypal mood without it devolving into stereotype or being ham-fisted with it?

Would a diceless Trait-comparison system of resolution work for a more storylike feel?

(15,000 words)

Chapter Six: Antagonists

Here, we'll be providing a uniquely Victorian take on the usual battery of antagonists lined up against our dashing Kindred.

Witch-Hunters: The pariah-hero fighting to save the night from the scourge of the undead. Of course, Doctor Van Helsing is our archetype here, but give us another handful of vigilant loners. How about a mystic, the "daughter" of a vampire (revenant family, perhaps), or obsessed priest? I'm not interested so much in the broad categories here as I am in the neat genre conventions (and reinventions) of the characters.

The Arcanum and the Inquisition: What are they up to in the Victorian Age? I'm thinking League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but with a bit more seriousness and less "pulp." I also want an Inquisition that's close to its religious cause without being yet another incarnation of the Evil Church of White Guilt. These are "antagonists" I want to feel for because, for the most part at least, they're trying to do the world some good.

Secret Societies: If you don't imagine the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the Templars and the Freemasons coming into conflict with the Kindred, you're not thinking hard enough. These are your "average" members, not magic-capable members of the group. I will also give you a smooch if you can delicately incorporate the Weeping Moon from Werewolf: The Wild West without relying too heavily on Werewolf for their supernatural capabilities. Note that they're predominantly American, but surely some are across the pond.

Sorcerers and Witches: Mages? Sure. "Hedge mages"? Yep, them, too. Give me a few examples of these sorts of witches and, as vampires aren't savvy enough to tell the difference, lump 'em all together.

Werewolves: Now's a great time to drive home the fact that they're all monstrous, frenzied killing machines. Don't break them into tribes, but do allude to different "clans" of Lupines from seemingly different ethnic origin. Think of the Lupine section as a mini-vampire section - perhaps compile a cultural spectrum that also takes age into account. That is, a vampire lord in India is probably going to have a different experience with a werewolf than a crud-stained Scottish Ravnos who woke up in a peat bog.

Changelings: Something about Gormenghast, despite its lack of "magic," really struck the Victorian Changeling chord with me. I'd like to see them represented more as fey than changelings, with emphasis on historical roles ("Leave some milk on the stoop or the 'good folk' will leave your wee bairn dead in her cradle.") and perceptions of them. Again, don't divide by kith, but use archetypes to create a Victorian mystique.

Ghosts: Hell, yeah. With all the hellfire clubs and mediums running around doing their thing, ghosts will have a good presence here. Note also that the ghost is more of a staple of the Victorian/gothic horror tale than even the vampire.

Others: Tropes of the period include the birth of the serial killer, madness incarnate (shades of The Fall of the House of Usher), long-lost evil twins, etc. We don't need hard-and-fast Traits for these, but suggesting literary twists and new interpretations of established ideas can make this more than just a "baddies to whack" chapter.

(7,000 words)