Las Vegas (WOD)

Las Vegas is a city in the American state of Nevada. In the World of Darkness, it offers many possibilities to near-human supernaturals to blend in. In Vegas, throwing around large amounts of money is standard and it is nearly impossible to look out of place, whether you wear magicians' robes or the garb of a second-century centurion. People tend to ignore others and no one notices when a person goes missing. For a more detailed description of city, particularly in relation to Mage: The Ascension, see The Fallen Tower: Las Vegas.

Vampire: The Masquerade

Las Vegas is a city under Camarilla control, with a Ventrue prince named Benedic, who enforces the Six Traditions, in addition to several rules specific to the city. These include a ban against playing poker (for reasons of secrecy, as a talented poker player might draw all kinds of attention), the exclusion of casino and hotel owners as prey, as well as a limit of ten million dollars per night that may be lost by a vampire in bets and other games of chance, lest the loss attract attention. Additionally, Kindred are forbidden from interfering with the business of the mob. About two dozen vampires claim permanent residence within the city, but several pass through, seeking easy prey and staying only for a couple of nights. The Tremere chantry of Las Vegas is also the only place that has access to the ritual to erect wards against Kuei-jin next to the two Tremere that had actually formalized the ritual.

Anarchs often travel through the city in groups, paying no respect to Benedic or any other authority. While Benedic and his Sheriff, the Nosferatu Montrose, usually keep the peace, manage to keep disturbances to a minimum and cover up any problems, they shy away from putting on harsher restriction, fearing that this will only serve to encourage Anarchs to flaunt the prince’s edicts. Occasionally, Sabbat packs come from Southern California, start raids against the Camarilla infrastructure and vanish. Agents of the enemy sect are dispersed in the city and seek for signs of weakness from the local Cainites in order to take the city. These infiltrators generally pose as Anarchs and should they be discovered, usually face Final Death.

The city also holds a reasonable Giovanni presence, centered on the Jewish Rothstein family, although the main family also has activities within the city. The local capo of the Giovanni, a position occupied by Shlomo Rothstein, is a main concurrent with Benedic for control over the city, encouraged by the recent taking of Boston by the Clan. Both groups seek to remove the other, but enough vampires recognize their claims of domain to avoid open bloodshed.

Before the Week of Nightmares, the city used to house a high Ravnos population, and even now, the city represents something familiar to the survivors who wander the nights. There are rumors of Setite temple in the surrounding deserts, and from time to time, members of the Clan arrive in the city and leave a certain period of time. A few disappearances per year tend to get blamed on them, but few wish to challenge the Snake Clan in the city.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse

As the city is completely man-made and was built with extreme effort in the middle of a desert, Weaver-spirits dominate the city even more than elsewhere, as well as a growing Bane population that feed on the vices of the inhabitants. Block 16 is the home of a particular vile spirit of repressed dark desires like bestiality and pedophilia, who attracts some of the worst humans to give in to their hungers. Pentex subsidiary Black Dog is known to host conventions in the city to feed on the spiritual unstable. The spiritual landscape of the deserts surrounding Las Vegas are occasionally plagued by Umbral storms and in Yucca Mountain, most of the radioactive waste of the United States is stored, making the city for the most part inhospitable to the Garou. Nonetheless, Las Vegas is inhabited by Bone Gnawers and Glass Walkers, who struggle to fight the worst of urban corruption in the city. The Anasazi, the indigenous culture who originally inhabited these lands, were the Kinfolk of the Uktena, and when their culture vanished, the Uktena bound the three great Banes that had caused them to vanish in special Caerns.

It is not known if any Fera have a permanent residence in the city. Likely candidates are the Ratkin and the Ananasi, both adept in the urban environment, as well as the Nuwisha, who once called these lands home.

Mage: The Ascension

Las Vegas used to be a major center of the Technocracy, although their influence has waned over the years. Traditionalists are attracted by the prestige of stage magicians and the Rogue Council seems to be more active within Las Vegas. The Tapestry within the city is unruly and some mages that travel to the city are swept away.

There are two chantries and two constructs within the city. One chantry is the Black Pyramid, a multi-tradition chantry within the Luxor Hotel, headed by the Hermetic Malcolm Henry. The other is the Big Spring, centered around a powerful Node that they seek to protect from abuse. One of the Constructs is the Cloud Room, a center of Syndicate activity within the city. The last one is the Advanced Energy Comission Construct (AEC for short), a cross-Convention Construct who focus on researching and testing hypertech before it can be released into the Time Table. In addition to them, at least one Nephandus makes its permanent residence in the city, along with one known Orphan and one known Sorcerer.

Wraith: The Oblivion

The Underworld around Las Vegas resonates with the hate-crimes against Mormons from 1857, whose Wraiths still continue their conflict. Some of the ghost towns are actual Ghost Towns, still inhabited by the remnants of their former population. The city is home to various Wraiths, many of them under Giovanni control. Of special note is the Haunt in the Venetian, a casino hotel under the control of Dante Giovanni, which is built over the remains of a burnt-out casino. Within the Shadowlands, the structures of the former Casino overlay the structures in the Skinlands, making it easy for creatures of the Dark Umbra to conduct their business within the hotel.

Changeling: The Dreaming

Las Vegas is part of a Duchy within the Kingdom of the Burning Sun of Concordia. As a city of highs and lows, of wonders and terrors, Glamour and Banality intermingle deeply within the city, allowing Changelings to act within it.

Kindred of the East

Although the Kuei-jin have not yet advanced that far, it is rumored that one of the Ancestors that took up residence in the conquered city of San Francisco has agreed to visit Las Vegas to conduct talks with the Giovanni for an unknown cause, likely involving the state of the New Promise Mandarinate of California. It is not known when or even if this diplomat would come to visit the city.

Hunter: The Reckoning

As of late, Imbued Hunters have appeared in the city and attacked various supernaturals. After an incident in the Creepshow, the main base of activities from the Hunters where the Imbued battled a coterie of Kindred, most have left the city. Three, however, remain, watching for more vampires and other supernaturals. The Arcanum chapter house is known to feed information about unruly supernaturals to the police, who seems to be more competent about dealing with these kind of threats than the scholars are.

The local Mafia of Las Vegas is aware of the supernatural – partly through their connections to the Giovanni, partly through the deduction of the local boss, Victor Manelli. Mr. Manelli does not like people causing problems and as such is content to let the supernatural elements of the city act as they wish, as long as they do not interfere with Mafia business. He is aware of both mages and vampires that live in the city, has ties to the Giovanni and the Syndicate, but avoids becoming too entangled in their politics. He also appreciates that the vampires keep the city clean of destitutes and homeless people, so that they do not tarnish the appearance of the city.

Demon: The Fallen

Since the Abyss cracked, some demons have made their home in Las Vegas, among them the Defiler Sabriel. The Earthbound Avitu was trapped in a tree near Las Vegas since before the settlement of the land by the Europeans, and after the revelation of Lucifer, she began to call back the descendants of her former Thralls to serve her once again. which attracted the notion of several returned Demons, among them Sabriel, Gaviel, Hasmed and Usiel, who eventually faced her and consumed her essence.

Beyond the RPG: Hell-Storm, Rage Across Las Vegas and Vampire: The Masquerade - Las Vegas

Hell-Storm (1996)

Las Vegas as a World of Darkness setting was further explored early on in the Werewolf: The Apocalypse HarperCollins fiction novel Hell-Storm (1996) by author James A. Moore. This version of the city differs and conflicts with some of the later game materials, but nonetheless has some intriguing details, characters and ideas within it.

Rage Across Las Vegas (1998)

Five Rings Publishing further developed and fleshed out the environment, history and setting of Las Vegas in their licensed reissuing and rebranding of the Werewolf the Apocalypse Collectible Game Rage, under the name Rage Across Las Vegas. Over seven successive limited edition card expansions/phases (Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, Phase 4, Phase 5, Phase 6 and Equinox). Five Ring's elaborated and expanded upon both the city's modern history in the World of Darkness of the late 1990s and as a site of major conflict with the Wyrm. A brief sojourn into the Werewolf: The Wild West setting of the 1800s in Phases 4, 5, 6, and Equinox provided further historical background to the area, primarily with an emphasis on the struggle against the Storm Eater. The plot of Rage Across Las Vegas thus acted as a continuation of the metaplot storyline begun in the RPG's Tales from the Trails: Mexico. The trading card game also revisited and updated some of the characters from the original White Wolf Rage TCG/CCG that had previously appeared in White Wolf Games, Warriors of the Apocalypse. Specifically; Banana Split, Crick Rumwrangler, Virus-to-Wyrm, Fireclaw, Nadia Wyrmfoe, Sings-for-the-Beast, Natasha Moon Chaser, who plays a central role in the Rage Across Las Vegas storyline, and a Pentex First Team #21 operative the Black Spiral Dancer Corinna, as well as several Garou taken from the original CCG's Legacy of the Tribes and Umbra expansions; Janus, Tracker-By-Moonlight, Chaser-After, Friede Counts-The-Scalps, Howls-Like-Thunder, and Dreams-of-Wonder. A key setting in the storyline is the Ragnarok Casino and resort, run by the local Get of Fenris sept, one of the local leaders of which is a true bred tribe relation to the Garou War Chief of the Amazon, Golgol Fangs-First, the seemingly as potent but much younger Gillian Fangs-First.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Las Vegas (2017)

Vampire: The Masquerade - Las Vegas, is superficially a "who done it" mystery themed browser based slot machine game released in 2017, that utilizes the Vampire: The Masquerade setting in a brief tale featuring a unnamed vampire in pursuit of his prey in a modern Las Vegas' fictional Black Dog Hotel and Casino.