A Proper Vampire Class Is Coming to D&D via a Vampire: The Masquerade Tie-In
If you're looking to play a vampire in a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG), Vampire: The Masquerade is the obvious choice. However, the game requires a full table of pretend bloodsuckers to truly come to life. If you're the only one in your group who wants to be a vampire and everyone else prefers more traditional RPG heroes, your options have been limited. While the D&D supplement Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft included rules for playing a dhampir in 2021, being half-vampire doesn't satisfy everyone's desire to fully embrace the vampire experience.
Enter Bound By Blood, an upcoming supplement by Ghostfire Gaming in collaboration with White Wolf. This new addition to the D&D 5th edition ruleset brings a full vampire class to the table, complete with blood points to spend, bloodline powers known as disciplines, and an inner beast to contend with — all elements that are familiar to fans of Vampire: The Masquerade. The supplement also includes an adventure set in the "Dark Ages" timeline of the Vampire universe, transporting players back to medieval Europe for a new kind of storytelling experience.
White Wolf was careful to clarify that Bound By Blood is not the only project they're unveiling at the upcoming Gen Con event. The publisher recently hinted at a major announcement, and some fans speculated it was this very supplement. However, White Wolf made it clear that Bound By Blood is not the primary project they're unveiling at the convention. "We're very excited about sharing the love for Vampires with even more people," White Wolf said, "but want to clarify something since we've seen some wires getting crossed: Bound by Blood is not the primary project we're announcing at Gen Con. They're two different projects."
With Bound By Blood on the horizon, the Vampire: The Masquerade universe is looking up. The upcoming CRPG Eternal Whispers promises a narrative-driven experience with strong Disco Elysium vibes. Meanwhile, Dimension 20's current actual-play series City Council of Darkness has been a fun and unique take on what Vampire would be like if it were set outside of the city and blended with the humor of Parks and Recreation.
Bound By Blood is set to release in July and will be available on D&D Beyond. Following this release, the D&D schedule includes some Greyhawk adventures and a supplement for the Eberron setting called Frontiers of Eberron: Quickstone.
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