| World of Darkness | |
|---|---|
 Series logo | |
| Type | Tabletop role-playing games |
| Genre | Horror |
| Creator(s) | Mark Rein-Hagen |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Owner(s) |
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| First release | Vampire: The Masquerade July 1991[1] |
| Latest release | Deviant: The Renegades September 1, 2021[2] |
| Sub-series | Chronicles of Darkness |
| Related media | |
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World of Darkness is a series of tabletop role-playing games, originally created by Mark Rein-Hagen for White Wolf Publishing. It began as an annual line of five games in 1991–1995, with Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Wraith: The Oblivion, and Changeling: The Dreaming, along with off-shoots based on these. The series ended in 2004, and the reboot Chronicles of Darkness was launched the same year with a new line of games. In 2011, the original series was brought back, and the two have since been published concurrently.
The games in the series have a shared setting, also named the World of Darkness, which is a dark, gothic-punk interpretation of the real world, where supernatural beings such as vampires and werewolves exist in secrecy. The original series' setting has a large focus on lore and overarching narrative, whereas Chronicles of Darkness's setting has no such narrative and presents the details of its setting as optional.
The series has been well received critically for its setting, writing, and art direction, and has won or been nominated for awards including the Origins Award. It has also been commercially successful, with millions of game books sold; by 2001, Vampire: The Masquerade was the second highest selling tabletop role-playing game after TSR, Inc.'s Dungeons & Dragons. The series has been adapted into other media, including the television series Kindred: The Embraced, actual play web series, novels and anthologies, comic books, card games, and a line of video games.
- ^ "Vampire: The Masquerade". Backstab (in French). No. 1. FC Publications. January–February 1997. pp. 69–70.
- ^ Watson, Ian A. A. (2021-09-01). "Now Available: Deviant: The Renegades!". Onyx Path Publishing. Archived from the original on 2021-09-01. Retrieved 2021-09-02.