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What These Page Provide the Storyteller
Arms, and the Man I sing, who forc'd by Fate,
And haughty Juno's unrelenting Hate;
Expell'd and exil'd, left the Trojan Shoar:
Long Labours, both by Sea and Land he bore;
And in doubtful War, before he won
The Latian Realm, and built the destin'd Town:
Welcome to Gloria Mundi.
These pages are not meant to be a substitute for owning Vampire: the Masquerade, but merely as a supplement for it. White Wolf produces a great role-playing game, go buy it. You aren't going to find all the rules here.
These pages are not meant to be an excuse to play a game of meet-the-Antediluvians. According to White Wolf's cannon many of the founders of the clans are awake and alert during this time period. Carthage, a city at the center of much of White Wolf's meta-plot, is destroyed within the early time frame of the game. The movers and shakers of the Camarilla and Sabbat are neonates or simply don't exist during the game. This game is not meant to fuel those power fantasies. If you want to play that sort of game you are more than welcome to, and you will find the historical sections of the game very useful for setting ideas. If you see Haquim, tell him hi for us.
These pages are not meant to be a further exploration of cannon. White Wolf writes a lot of books every year and many of them have hints or facts about what is going on in the ancient period. Cannon is constraining though, and it takes away the mystery of the game for players who have read the same White Wolf books that you have. Further, a lot of cannon's ideas don't make much sense when considered in the historical framework of this time period. Again, if you want to run a cannon game set in this period you will find the historical information very useful, but don't expect us to detail the supernatural aspects for you.
These pages are not meant to be a textbook. A great deal of research went into writing the Gloria Mundi setting, and we try to communicate that information to you in an interesting fashion. But we can't write a complete history of the Roman Empire, nor do we want to, its been done before and better than we could ever do it. If you want to read a history of Rome we can suggest several good books.
That's what this is not. What is it?
These pages are meant to improve on White Wolf's rules. We add many new rituals, better rules for combat with a shield and armor, modifications of Disciplines, and new paths of Thamaturgy.
These pages are meant to explore a brand new meta-plot. We investigate what sort of myths will Kindred believe about themselves before the coming of Christianity and what effect will Christianity have on pagan Kindred. We present an entirely new outlook on Gehenna and on Kindred who were young before the Empire. We presents several new myths about the Kindred that can be used in either an ancient or a modern game to confuse the players and return mystery to the game.
These pages are meant to create a new cannon based on the historical realities of the time period. We introduce two new clans who have disapeared in the modern day. Pre-existing clans have been modified to make them more interesting and broader in scope or to make them compatable with the time period. Several geographic regions of the roman world have been detailed to provide settings for games to occur. The differences between time periods are examined so a game can accurately reflect the roman world at that time, and so a long term game can have its mood and setting change as time passes.
These pages are meant to be a summary and compilation of historical details of interest to gamers. Every scholarly book has interesting tidbits for a gamer in any system, but there is so much that is uninteresting it can make the book hard to get through. We've done the work for you, pulling out the details we think are interesting and sugesting ideas for how you can use them in games These historical details might be of interest to anyone who wants to run a game in the Roman Empire, not just Vampire players.
Overall, these pages represent an e-book in progress, a completely new look at the Ancient World from the perspective of Vampire: the Masquerade. We haven't yet written everything the above introduction claims, but it is all coming. Join us as we explore Rome.
He rais'd his Arm aloft; and at the Word
Deep in his Bosom drove the shining Sword.
The streaming Blood distain'd his Arms around:
And the disdainful Soul can rushing thro' the Wound.