Kindred: The Embraced is something I think was fairly unique in its time… a television series (or, arguably, soap opera) based on a roleplaying game. Specifically, based on White Wolf’s Storyteller system, the first game in which was Vampire: The Masquerade. As you might expect from such a humble beginning, this series wasn’t exactly the best thing on TV. Even so, it wasn’t awful.
The series lasted for 6 episodes and was not renewed. It did well enough to be issued on tape, and then reissued on DVD a few years later. I suspect most people buying the tapes and DVDs are people who like the roleplaying game, rather than people who watched the show.
Fans of the game will have a mixed reaction. It’s not for purists. Some of the basic rules of vampiric existance were changed; not all the clans are represented; the plots are not all that devious. There is a great deal of melodrama. And yet, the show taken as a whole is not a bad representation of what the game world might be, within the constraints of the medium.
Of course, the traditional attraction of roleplaying games (that is, making up your own story) isn’t available. Despite that enough meat remains to be enjoyable watching if you like soap opera, vampires, or happen to be a fan of the roleplaying game. If you’re not an afficionado, though, it’s not worth wasting time or money on.
