Vampire: The Masquerade courts controversy once again, this time over ‘bleed’

polygon.com:

Vampire: The Masquerade publisher Renegade Games shared a single two-page spread late last week that caught some in the tabletop role-playing game’s community by surprise. In it, Paradox Interactive’s World of Darkness studio invoked a sensitive role-playing concept called “bleed,” sparking commentary and, in some cases, outrage. On Wednesday, World of Darkness clarified that material with the release of more pages of content — and, once again, the promise of more thorough safety materials to be published at a later time.

When Vampire launched its 5th edition in 2018 many, including Polygon, were critical of developer White Wolf’s decision to include the game’s traditional themes of vampire-related sexual violence without a fulsome discussion of in-game safety and consent. Based on that criticism, White Wolf made the decision shortly before that year’s Gen Con to reincorporate safety materials it had previously intended to publish separately as a free supplement at launch. That appendix, titled “Advice for Considerate Play” is now included in all digital and physical copies of Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Core Rulebook.

White Wolf, on the other hand, was effectively dissolved by Paradox following the mishap and a broader series of high-profile, unforced errors across multiple Vampire publications. Development of additional Vampire materials was brought in-house by Paradox for greater supervision, with publication managed by Renegade. The TTRPG has otherwise proceeded apace, buoyed by several seasons of a well-regarded actual play series.

Earlier this month, however, Renegade sent out a preview of its highly-anticipated supplement Blood-Stained Love, a sourcebook intended to help add richer storylines involving