Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong

Big Bad Wolf devs tell us why choices have gory consequences.

Dead like me

Meet your three deadand-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.”