Black Dog Game Factory was a publishing label founded in 1995 by White Wolf, Inc. for the publication of a number of adult-themed books in their original

World of Darkness ''World of Darkness'' is a series of tabletop role-playing games, originally created by Mark Rein-Hagen for White Wolf Publishing. It began as an annual line of five games in 1991–1995, with ''Vampire: The Masquerade'', ''Werewolf: The Apocaly ...

RPG RPG may refer to: Military * Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon **''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...

line. Although several products were critically acclaimed, the audience was limited, and Black Dog ceased publication in 2002.

Publication history

White Wolf Publishing published '' Vampire: The Masquerade'' in 1991, the first in a series of horror role-playing games titled

. In 1994, Dirt Merchant Games published the satirical RPG ''

HoL HOL or Hol may refer to: Places * Hol, Norway, in Buskerud county * Hol Municipality (Nordland), a former municipality in Norway * Hol, Tjeldsund, Norway * Hol, Ludhiana, Punjab, India Science and technology * HOL (proof assistant), a family of i ...

'' that used several adult themes like sex and drugs. White Wolf Publishing was interested in republishing ''HoL'', but they were concerned it might damage the company's reputation as a publisher of entertainment intended for young adults. For that reason, White Wolf created the Black Dog Game Factory imprint, lifting the name from a company mentioned in '' Werewolf: The Apocalypse'' (1991). White Wolf also used the Black Dog imprint to release more adult-themed supplements for ''Vampire'', ''Werewolf'', ''

Mage Mage most commonly refers to: * Mage (paranormal) or magician, a practitioner of magic derived from supernatural or occult sources * Mage (fantasy) or magician, a type of character in mythology, folklore, and fiction * Mage, a character class in ...

'', and '' Wraith'' in 1995. After that initial flurry of activity, output from Black Dog decreased to an average of two books a year. As game historian Shannon Appelcline noted in 2014's ''Designers & Dragons'', "In many ways, these Black Dog books represented a return to form for White Wolf. They offered up new ways to present innovative material, just as ''Vampire'' had been cutting edge back when it appeared on the gaming scene in 1991. Some of that innovation was noticed. '' Charnel Houses of Europe: The Shoah'' (1997) — which adapted the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

for Wraith — and the four-volume, award-winning ''

Giovanni Chronicles ''Giovanni Chronicles'' is a series of adventure modules by White Wolf Publishing for their tabletop role-playing game '' Vampire: The Masquerade''. The series spans four books: ''Giovanni Chronicles: The Last Supper'' (1995), ''Giovanni Chronic ...

'' (1995–1999) — which traced a family from the 1400s to the modern day — both earned attention and acclaim for White Wolf." The constant friction between pushing the envelope and damaging White Wolf's reputation eventually led to the end of Black Dog. Appelcline explained that "Despite that critical acclaim, Black Dog's smaller audience and the chance that it could still damage the reputation of White Wolf with its more intense and grittier subject matter eventually spelled the end for the imprint. Like ''

Streetfighter A streetfighter, muscle bike, or supernaked is a type of high-performance motorcycle. It is typically a large-displacement sport bike with the fairings and windscreen removed. Beyond simply removing fairings, specific changes that exemplify the ...

'', Black Dog was another attempt to break new ground in the late '90s that ultimately went nowhere." The last publication produced under the Black Dog name was in 2002.

Description

Books published by Black Dog had adult or mature themes, though not all Black Dog-published books dealt with sexual material. Some are labeled as adult because they deal with themes of strong violence or evil (such as ''Hunter Book: Wayward''), religious themes (''Cainite Heresy''), or controversial subject matter (the

-based '' Charnel Houses of Europe: The Shoah''). Books published by Black Dog include: {, class="wikitable sortable" !Name !Game Line !Release Date , - , The ''

'', a four-part series
:Part I :Part II :Part III :Part IV , Vampire: The Masquerade ,
?
April 1, 1996
March 12, 1998
April 291 1999 , - , ''

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

by Night'' , Vampire: The Masquerade , November 1, 1996 , - , ''Clanbook: Baali'' , Vampire: The Dark Ages , June 1, 1998 , - , ''The Cainite Heresy'' , Vampire: The Dark Ages , February 24, 1999 , - , '' Freak Legion: A Player's Guide to Fomori'' , Werewolf: The Apocalypse , December 1, 1995 , - , ''Destiny's Price'' ,

Mage: The Ascension ''Mage: The Ascension'' is a supernatural fiction tabletop role-playing game first published on August 19, 1993, by White Wolf Publishing. It is set in the World of Darkness universe. History Following the success of '' Vampire: The Masquerade ...

, December 1, 1995 , - , '' Charnel Houses of Europe: The Shoah'' , Wraith: The Oblivion , February 1, 1997 , - , ''Dark Reflections: Spectres'' , Wraith: The Oblivion , December 1, 1995 , - , ''Dead Magic'' ,

, July 2000 , - , ''HoL: Human Occupied Landfill'' , Hol (role-playing game) , 1995 (re-release) , - , ''Hunter Book: Wayward'' , Hunter: The Reckoning , January 28, 2002See Amazon Homepage
/ref> The imprint also published ''Eternal Hearts'', an erotic novel set in the universe of '' Vampire: The Masquerade''. A book for ''

Aberrant An aberration is something that deviates from the normal way. Aberration may also refer to: Biology and medicine *Form (zoology) or aberration, a rare mutant butterfly or moth wing pattern *Cardiac aberrancy, aberration in the shape of the EK ...

'', titled ''Cults of Personality'', was planned for release, but the game line was cancelled before the book made it to print.

References

Role-playing game publishing companies White Wolf Publishing