New York by Night brings Vampire-themed actual play to the City That Never Sleeps

polygon.com:

New York by Night, the successor to the long-runningVampire: The Masquerade actual play LA by Night, premieres Friday night on Twitch. The show headlines a slate of new streaming content from Paradox Interactive set to debut in 2022. Even if you’ve never played a game of Vampire in your life, you might want to tune in live or catch the video on demand when it goes live. The show features some familiar faces and promises to be a leap forward for non-Dungeons & Dragons actual play.

Following the rocky launch of Vampire’s 5th edition in 2018, Paradox has managed to pull the tabletop franchise out of a dive. The strategy started by cleaning house at White Wolf (which it acquired from CCP Games in 2015) and providing more oversight for the development team. It continued with a series of strong book releases — and the wildly popular livestream, LA by Night, which ran for 63 episodes starting in 2018. Thanks to its loyal fan base, the show survived Geek & Sundry’s decline and inspired multiple By Night streams. This is thanks in no small part to the masterful work of storyteller and series creator Jason Carl, Paradox’s brand marketing manager for World of Darkness. His subtle and effortlessly cool style was the ideal foil for big, theatrical performances by leads B. Dave Walters (Black Dice Society, Invitation to Party), Erika Ishii (Apex Legends, Dimension 20), Xander Jeanneret (Invitation to Party), Cynthia Marie (Outbreak: Undead), and Josephine McAdam (Battle for Beyond). While many of the biggest actual plays rely on a vibe that feels like a beer with good friends, the Vampire chronicles are far more theatrical — these players don’t break, and you’ll want to pour yourself a glass of wine for this show.

Like many stories