The Classic World of Darkness is a Gothic-Punk setting, using the Storyteller System, published by White Wolf from 1991 to 2004. While not a real game line in its own right, it is the shared setting for a myriad of other games. The setting closed with the long-promised end of the world, and in 2004 White Wolf launched a New World of Darkness.
Classic WOD Logo
Overview
Beginning in 2011 with the release of VTM: Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition 
, White Wolf began releasing new Classic World of Darkness products concurrently with the current World of Darkness. Some of these products pick up series where they left off 10 years ago or more.
To differentiate between the two settings, most fans took to dubbing the original the "old World of Darkness" compared to the "new World of Darkness". With the return of the line, White Wolf officially branded the original as the Classic World of Darkness, while the current is simply the World of Darkness.
The Original Settings
Big Three
These were the three heavy-hitters of the WoD.
- Vampire: The Masquerade: A game of personal horror, wherein players play vampires. (See also Dark Ages: Vampire and Victorian Age: Vampire.)
- Werewolf: The Apocalypse: A game of savage horror, wherein players take on the role of werewolves. (See also Dark Ages: Werewolf and Werewolf: The Wild West.)
- Mage: The Ascension: A game of reality on the brink, wherein players take on the role of modern mages. (See also Dark Ages: Mage and Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade.)
Underdogs
Along with the above three games, the following two games were part of the originally-conceived lineup of five games set in the World of Darkness.
- Wraith: The Oblivion: A game of passion and horror, wherein players play wraiths, those who have died but remain due to unfinished business. (See also Wraith: The Great War and Orpheus.)
- Changeling: The Dreaming: A game of modern fantasy, wherein players play changelings, the last remnants of the legendary fae. (See also Dark Ages: Fae.)
Apocalyptica
These three games heralded the end of things, from three different perspectives: the dead, the fallen, and the humans who fight back against the darkness.
- Hunter: The Reckoning: A game of righteous fury, wherein players play hunters who have been imbued with the ability to see and fight the monsters in their midst. (See also Dark Ages: Inquisitor.) Part of the Year of the Reckoning.
- Demon: The Fallen: A game of infernal glory, wherein players assume the role of the Fallen, angels who had been consigned to the Abyss for loving humanity too much. Part of the Year of the Damned.
- Orpheus: Following in Wraith's footsteps, Orpheus is a game of ghost stories for ghosts. The theme is "don't look back"
Additional Games
Games which, while they presented separate fully-playable concepts, often required one of the main games in order to have the complete rules. The first fatsplats.
- Kindred of the East: Featuring the Kuei-jin, the vampires of the Middle Kingdom. Part of the Year of the Lotus.
- Mummy: The Resurrection: Featuring the Amenti, ancient "mummies" reborn in the modern world. Part of the Year of the Scarab.
Historical Settings
Games based off one of the above concepts, but set in a separate historical era.
- Dark Ages: Vampire: The Dark Ages (revised as Dark Ages: Vampire), Werewolf: The Dark Ages (revised as Dark Ages: Werewolf), World of Darkness: Blood & Silk, Dark Ages: Mage, Dark Ages: Inquisitor, Dark Ages: Fae, Dark Ages: Devil's Due
- Renaissance: Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade
- Wild West & Victorian Era: Werewolf: The Wild West, Victorian Age: Vampire, Sunset Empires
- World War I & Great Depression: Wraith: The Great War
Theme Years
White Wolf provided a series of themes, one a year, which informed many of the major releases to follow that year.
- 1995-1996: The Year of the Hunter
- 1997: The Year of the Ally
- 1998: The Year of the Lotus
- 1999: The Year of the Reckoning
- 2000: The Year of Revelations
- 2001: The Year of the Scarab
- 2002: The Year of the Damned
- 2003-2004: The Time of Judgment