Time of Thin Blood
In the role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade by White Wolf, Inc., The Time of Thin Blood is the time immediately preceding Gehenna, the vampires' prophesied armageddon.
Named in reference to a line of the Book of Nod, referring to one of the signs of the end times being The Time of Thin Blood - when the curse of Caine would no longer carry the strength to create new vampires, when the clanless would come to rule and Vitae would be as rare diamonds.
Most Cainite authorities agree that the current age is the Time of Thin Blood, and that judgement of the Cainites has come due.
The RPG Supplement
Time of Thin Blood is also the name of the 1999 book (see References) that describes both the changes in vampiric society due to the coming of vampires of thin blood and the rules for playing with those vampires.
In game terms, those are 14th and 15th Generation vampires with generally reduced capabilities and an uncertain placement in either vampiric or mortal society. The supplement also describes a couple of specific capabilities exclusive to those vampires and Dhampirs biologically descended from 15th Generation vampires. Surprisingly, one of those capabilities is the creation of new Disciplines.
Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines
The computer game Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines deals with the issue, featuring Thin Bloods and an investigation into their population, but the issue is inconclusive.
References
- Dean Shomshak et al., Gehenna (White Wolf Game Studio, 2004, ISBN 1-58846-855-0)
- Justin Achilli, Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition (White Wolf Game Studio, 1998, ISBN 1-56504-249-2)
- Andrew Greenberg, The Book of Nod (White Wolf Game Studio, 1994, ISBN 1-56504-078-3)
- Dean Shomshak & Sarah Roark, Time of Thin Blood (White Wolf Game Studio, 1999, ISBN 1-56504-245-X)