Redemption Primer

Welcome, fans of Vampire: The Masquerade — Redemption! 2000’s Redemption is one of the best computer RPGs of all time, and is a great introduction to Vampire: The Masquerade and the wider World of Darkness setting. The first Vampire rulebook was first published in 1991, and the setting has since manifested through novels, PC games, a collectible card game, a TV series, and even a wrestler.

If you’re interested in transitioning to the tabletop material, this page should be a guide to help you find the material which most interests you.

The Dark Ages

The first part of Redemption takes place in the 12th century. If you prefer this era,  the primary material you need to play is the 2015’s Vampire Twentieth Anniversary Edition: The Dark Ages (aka V20 Dark Ages), a giant full-color 488-page source for nearly everything. The original Vampire: The Dark Ages book was released in 1996, so there’s about 20 years’ worth of material covering this era. Accordingly, the supplements listed below only scratch the surface, and are intended as a way to get you started rather than as anything comprehensive.

Fragments of the Book of Nod are found throughout Prague, like the fragment Ecaterina sends Christof to retrieve as his first mission. Other fragments can be seen, such as the Chronicle of Caine in the Nosferatu tunnels. The Book of Nod is a sort of Vampire Bible, describing how Caine slew Abel and was subsequently cursed by God and exiled to the land of Nod. This book describes the founding of each clan and gives warning signs of the impending Gehenna, the vampire end of the world. The compilation most common in the Dark Eras is The Erciyes Fragments (1999).

Via Humanitas — the Road of Humanity — is but one of many paths available for Cainites to take in order to stave off the Beast, and the closest to human morality. It’s detailed in Road of Humanity (2004).

Clans

  • Brujah: The clan of Christof Romuald, Cosmas, Ecaterina the Wise, and Wilhem Streicher is most recently detailed in the Players Guide to High Clans (2003). Their clan shield can be seen on the floor of the University.
  • Cappadocian: The clan of Garinol, Mercurio, and Serena can be found in the Players Guide to High Clans (2003). Their clan shield can be seen within Prague’s Petrin Hill Monastery.
  • Gangrel: The animalistic clan of Erik is featured in the Players Guide to Low Clans (2003).
  • Lasombra: The clan of Luther Black is covered in the Players Guide to High Clans (2003).
  • Nosferatu: This grotesque clan of Ilig, Josef, and Othelios can be found in the Players Guide to Low Clans (2003).
  • Tremere: The recent Usurper clan of Ardan, Etrius, and Virstania, is distrusted due to having only gained their vampiric mantle within the last century. Most of their former organization, the mages of Order of Hermes, are not yet aware that House Tremere have become vampires. The Tremere can be found in the Players Guide to Low Clans (2003).
  • Tzimisce: The clan of Ahzra the Unliving, the Voivode Urdo, and the Voivode Vukodlak, creators of vozhd and szlachta, is most recently detailed in the Players Guide to High Clans (2003).
  • Ventrue: The clan of Prague’s Prince Rudolf Brandl, Vienna’s Count Orsi, and Orsi’s three childer Kazi, Teta, and Zil. The Ventrue are found within the Players Guide to High Clans (2003).
  • Other clans also exist, such as the Assamites, Followers of Set, Malkavians, Ravnos, and Toreador, and can be found spread across the above two books. Some rarer bloodlines can also be found, such as the Tremere-created Gargoyles and the recently-destroyed Salubri. The latter are referenced via the death of their founder Saulot (although Redemption calls him “Salout”). Both bloodlines and many others get brief coverage in the V20 Dark Ages rulebook, although the Salubri are also covered in detail within Clanbook: Salubri (1999).

Other Creatures

The Premysl family is but one of many families of Revenants who serve the Tzimisce. Revenants, as well as the Tzimisce fleshcrafted servitors, the szlachta and vozhd, can be found in the Tzimisce chapter of Players Guide to High Clans (2003).

King Vaclav I is a wraith, a ghost trapped among the living (and incidentally, the subject of the popular Christmas carol “Good King Wenceslas”). While there are no Dark Ages books dedicated to the dead, they are covered as protagonists in the modern-era Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition (2018).

Orvus is a member of the Order of Hermes, one of a number of different Fellowships of magi found in the Dark Medieval. The Tremere were formerly a House of Hermes, but were uncovered as vampires in the late 12th century. The magi of the world are covered as protagonists in the Dark Ages: Mage (2002) rulebook.

Modern Nights

The rulebook which most accurately reflects the status of the world in Redemption‘s modern era is Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition (“V20”, 2011), a giant full-color 528-page source for nearly everything. If you’d like a more recent update reflecting the present-day, please check out Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition (2018). Since Vampire‘s been around for almost 30 years, bear in mind that the supplements listed here only scratch the surface, and are intended as a way to get you started rather than as anything comprehensive.

The Book of Nod (1993/2012), a sort of Vampire Bible, describes how Caine slew Abel and was subsequently cursed by God and exiled to the land of Nod. This book describes the founding of each clan and gives warning signs of the impending Gehenna, the vampire end of the world. This is the modern translation of the Erciyes Fragments text available in the Dark Ages.

New York by Night (2001) covers the city and its environs shortly after the events of Redemption. Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York (see below) is a visual novel set in the city. London is covered in Fall of London (2020), after several catastrophic events have taken place in the city.

The Kindred sects detailed in Redemption are covered in detail within the Guide the Camarilla (1999) and the Guide to the Sabbat (1999). While others exist (the Anarch Movement, the Tal’Mahe’Ra, the Inconnu), the Camarilla and Sabbat are the most prominent.

Clans

All 13 of the Clans of Caine are featured in Lore of the Clans (2015) for V20. For older, clan-specific material released for Revised:

Other Creatures

Ghouls such as Anezka and Lusilla are described in detail in Ghouls & Revenants (2016), as are Revenants and Tzimisce creatures like vozhd and szlachta.

Mortal hunters such as Father Leopold Allatius and Friar Ignatius of the Society of Leopold, or Brother Maynard of the Arcanum, are detailed in The Hunters Hunted II (2013).

Werewolves are warriors of Gaia, and are covered in their own World of Darkness game line separate from Vampire, called Werewolf: The Apocalypse.

Wraiths such as those in found in the Tower of London, or those summoned by the Giovanni, are also covered in their own World of Darkness game line separate from Vampire, called Wraith: The Oblivion.

Other Stuff

If you enjoy watching streams on Twitch, please follow Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption. Also recommended: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines and Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York. If you’d like to watch people playing the tabletop game, please follow Vampire: The Masquerade.

Christof and Ecaterina return circa 2005 in the pages of Beckett’s Jyhad Diary.

There’s a wide variety of Vampire: The Masquerade and Dark Ages fiction available from both White Wolf (we recommend the Clan Novel Saga) and Onyx Path (we recommend the Endless Ages Anthology).

If you’re interested in other modern-day Vampire: The Masquerade material published by Onyx Path, you can buy Vampire: The Masquerade products now.