World of Darkness (cWoD Dark Ages)

User Summary:

The Classic World of Darkness is the setting for White Wolf Entertainment AB's series of Storyteller games of gothic horror. Whereas the core games were all placed in a modern day setting, a number of RPGs and associated books were given historical settings in the same world.

This setting covers three distinct sets of books that, although geographically distinct, are close enough in time that there can be interactions between them:

• The World of Darkness setting of 1197 is a darker mirror of the real Dark Ages. Vampires and werewolves walk amongst humanity, strong with supernatural power. But this is also the time of the Long Night, when Christian hunters work together in the name of God to destroy these abominations. The original Vampire: The Dark Ages and Werewolf: The Dark Ages are set in this time period.

• By 1230, the World of Darkness has seen an end to the Long Night. But now the War of Princes rages across Europe. Vampires, divided by class and moral outlook, fight for power and control in a conflict that is escalating and threatening to overwhelm their complex society. This is the revised Dark Ages setting, for such titles as Dark Ages: Vampire, Dark Ages: Werewolf, Dark Ages: Mage, Dark Ages: Fae, and their opponents in Dark Ages: Inquisitor.

• In 1242, the War of Princes still continues. The Mongol army is moving across Europe. The Holy Roman Empire stands to war with the Papacy. The second Lombard League wields the word of the Pope and fights off Frederick II. This is the Dark Ages setting used in the Twentieth Anniversary edition of Vampire: The Dark Ages.

There are five settings for the Classic World of Darkness. Any book within this family should be a member of one of the following four settings based on its historical period:

• World of Darkness (cWoD Modern) for the core modern day setting running from the 1990s to 2004, as well as the 1914 setting of Wraith: The Great War.
• World of Darkness (cWoD 19th Century) for the 1830 Savage West setting of Werewolf: The Wild West and the 1880 Gothic Victorian setting of Victorian Age: Vampire.
• World of Darkness (cWoD Renaissance) for the 1466 setting of Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade.
• World of Darkness (cWoD Dark Ages) for any of the original 1197, revised 1230, or 20th anniversary 1242 Dark Ages settings.

Additionally, any books set in the Far East are also a member of the geographical setting World of Darkness (cWoD Far East), on top of the appropriate historical setting.

Video game adaptations: World of Darkness