Vitae, vampires, and song

Maxime Moze and Laure Delmas talk to Jess Kinghorn about Big Bad Wolf’s next pretty little ditty, Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong

Dead like me

Meet your three dead and loving it protagonists

Leysha

Clan: The unconventional and irregular clan of the moon, Malkavian

Laure Delmas, who is both the game’s writer and a clinical psychologist, tells us the team has taken particular care in how they portray the Malkavian clan’s fractured perspective. She tells us, “We thought it was more interesting to build a realistic psychopathology than exploiting the well-known and clichéd ‘goofy’ or ‘sadistic’ psychopath. Leysha’s character sheet is built upon a true clinical test, avoiding any caricature.” As she searches for her daughter, Halsey, we can see Leysha is caught at a crossroads of perception. This is both a curse and a blessing, as it allows Leysha to hide reality behind illusion. The Obfuscate discipline can be used to hide potential Masquerade violations or indeed Leysha herself from the view of humans. Maxime Moze says this ability is especially useful as it allows Leysha to pretend “to be some important person or to access high-security areas.”

These modern nights are unpredictable at the best of times. As Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong begins, vampires are under threat. Across the pond London is no longer a safe home for their kind, and stateside Kindred are forced to set aside clan politics in an anxious bid for survival. Under the guidance of its newest Prince, Boston tries to reclaim its former glory by merging into a unified domain with Hartford, Connecticut. But this bid for stability is threatened when peace treaty celebrations erupt into a violent bloodbath.