Playing a Vampire

What you need to know…

The current MotC is a Greed vampire named Mister See. He claims kinship with Horatio Media himself, and some sort of familial right to Las Vegas itself. He is never seen, though his leutenants are easily found if one asks in the right channels. Some even speculate that the man does not exist, but is merely a Stalking Horse for another vampire who lurks within the ranks.

In our current game, the Vampires own most of the important property in Vegas, and lease to a variety of patrons. They hold controlling interests in most of the town casinos by a myriad of names and tangled associations. They have currently contracted with the Hunt to handle the fine entertainment in the city, including booking headliners in the major casinos and the population of many clubs and venues. By this association, the Baron has promised the Hunt a controlling interest in Mandarin's Court casino, much to the dismay of others in town, including the Court itself. The Baron hires the Pack almost exclusively for protection and security, supporting and valueing the protective nature of the wolves. The wolves are currently in negotiations for a patch of land to replace their lost hunting ground in Jean, NV.

Vampires are generally slow to adapt to new changes and technology. They rely on the day-bound to act as their intermediares. The latest technology frequently escapes their comprehension, and they prefer to stick with the old, tried-and-true ways. Often, a person will be brought over to act as an interpreter for each generation.

Lieutenants: It would be nice to assume that Lieutenants work together for the betterment of their community. However, this is often a fallacy proven by the manipulation and general backbiting and political wrangling that happens within the Vampire community. A vampire's strength comes not just from inward power, but from his friends and enemies. With an ear, and easy access to the MotC, Lieutenants have a prime spot for insight and mischief. Lieutenants are chosen, and can be either masters or non-master vampires. New Vampires would meet with one of these Lieutenants to gain access to the territory or face being hunted down. Remember, even in Vegas where food is easy, Vampires are still very protective of their hunting grounds. Lieutenant of the Morning Star: Gwen Rosemont, an Envy Vampire and entertainer. Lieutenant of the Evening Star: (NPC -Could be You!).

Things Vampires Can Do:

Vampires all start the same, and over time form into the people they will be, with a natural affinity as defined by their family groups. (see Vampire Families) A newly fledged vampire will develop their skills with age, though they may choose to focus on one particular skill over another. Skills are like muscles, and need to be improved with time. Nobody, not even a vampire in her prime, is excellent at everything.

All vampires are assumed to have greater than human strength, greater than human senses, and greater than human speed. Compared to other preters, they would stack up like this:

Smell Sight Taste Strength Speed

Human < Vampire < Shifter Human < Shifter (day) < Vampire (night) Vampire < Human < Shifter Human < Vampire < Shifter Human < Shifter < Vampire

Shifters have superior scenting abilities Shifters excel, though Vampires have superior night vision. Vampires have poor taste. Vampires and Shifters are almost equal. Some shifters can surpass masters, in special cases.

Choosable Skills

Vampires may choose a maximum of 5 skills for their vampires in chargen. The skills should follow the strengths of the vampire's family.

• Super-speed: An average vampire can move at speeds of 4x human speed for short bursts. This taxes their power, so extended journeys will need rapid feedings. These actions should be thought of as sprints. Most vampires prefer modern transportation to running, in general situations. Vampires of advanced power/age can move faster than the base average.

• Cause Emotion: Some vampires have the power to cause emotion in human beings. This emotion is the same as their family, so a Lust would engender Lust in a person, an Envy would engender longing and jealousy and a Greed would bring on a need to hoard. This power is especially useful for vampires with Alternate Feeding, as the power can create a loop that allows the vampire to siphon off some ambient life force. This is considered a basic skill and vampires would be able to affect all in their immediate vacinity, or just one person as desired.

• Alternate Feeding: A vampire may draw from a highly charged emotional situation (one caused or found) and siphon some of the life force to sustain themselves. This is not enough to regenerate, but should be considered a small "snack" at the most. A vampire with this skill will be able to go longer between feeds, if the adequate emotion is available. However, nothing replaces a true blood meal.

• Suggestion: Vampires can influence human behavior in several ways, but some have the ability to be the devil on a person's shoulder. The vampire is said to have the power of Suggestion, and has the power urge a person towards a decision or action that they might not normally make on their own. Hard to prove in a court of law, this is one skill that vampires don't confess to knowing about too often. A minor use of this power would be having a person choose red over white wine, for instance. A major use would be having a person act out of their nature to do something… like a nun breakdancing on the street. PCs will be able to roll against the power's influence, as it does not always work. This power is most common in Lust, Greed, and Sloth vampires.

• Fortune: This power is most common in Pride vampires. It allows the user to manipulate fate to the extent that things can go in their favor…or not. There is always a chance that things will not go according to the vampire's wishes. Any use of this power will engender a hit not only to life force but to the mental capacities of the vampire as well. Basically the more it is used, the more insane a vampire gets. At first, the effects are temporary, but as the vampire uses the power more, the more stonger the power's seductive influence becomes. A Pride vampire lives longer by a judicious use of this power. An example of this power at a low level would be influencing the turn of dice or the roulette wheel, where a larger and more damaging use would be influencing what horse wins a race, or if a weather pattern hits a given area..or not. Players who chose this power will need to work closely with Staff.

• Charm: Some vampires share a special affinity to effect human beings on a special and unique way. Regardless of how loathesome the vampire might be, humans seem to be attracted towards them. Charm should be considered as a variety of preternatural attraction where vampires can attract and hold the attention of humans (other preternatural beings are immune). Examples would be more situational: a mild use would be a vampire attracting the attention of a single person (or many single people at a time) where an advanced use would be attracting and holding the attention of everyone in a sporting event. Charm user's victims almost never retain negative feelings afterwards to the vampire.

• Control beasts: Many vampires have the ability to attract certain varieties of animals to themselves, and in some cases have them do their bidding. Usually reserved for skilled older vampires, it does not mean that vampires of a younger vintage cannot have some control over small beasts if that is their influence. For instance, Stella may be 80, and she has an affinity for ants. She can attract ants or repel them, but a were-ant would look at her as if she were any normal vampire. Very Skilled vampires with enough accumulated power may be able to influence and “call” even shapeshifters. This means that very young shifters are vulnerable to vampires, and usually need advocacy or to strike a bargain with the vampire in some way. Shifters are very useful to vampires as a show of strength and power beyond their own selves, but keeping a cadre of shifters happy tends to need involvement in often volatile situations that are constantly changing. Some vampires thrive on this change, while others find it tiresome. A vampire should be aware, though, that to call a shifter group is often the same as painting a giant target on their chest, as some groups do not take kindly to the influence.

• Enthrall: All vampires have the ability to enter human’s minds and alter their short-term memory. This is believed to be a survival mechanism developed from years in the shadows. It has long been legend that vampires can hypnotize with their eyes. The truth is much more sinister. Enthrall is the ability of vampires to enter the minds of human beings through direct, extended eye contact and selectively view, add and even remove memories. While a vampire might be able to share memories of their lives, they can also sift through the human's past. They cannot affect long-term memories (a person's childhood, for instance) but can certainly give a different impression of recent events. Emotionally charged events shine like becons, and are most adaptable. This power does not work on Shifters. Most vampires have some degree of this power, but some are quite skilled. A basic user would be able to remove the memory of a painful bite from someone's mind, while an advanced practitioner might be able to reach back several years to change events, and even might be able to view more than the person recalled consciously. An advanced user would also be able to implant memories of a sophisticated nature, such as a date that never happened.

• Monster: This power allows the vampire to alter their appearance into a monsterous state. While true transformation cannot take place, a vampire with skill might be able to grow claws and distort their face into something horrific. As with any power expenditure in vampires, any use comes at a cost of life-force and the vampire will need to feed after a prolonged session. Wrath family vampires are especially good at this power and have utilized the skill during intimidating encounters. A vampire with minor skill would be able to lengthen teeth and form nails into claws, while an advanced user would be able to twist bone and stretch the boundaries of skin into something terrible while taking less of a hit to life force. Growing extra limbs is not a feature of this power. Players should define their PCs ablities.

• Share Blood: Share Blood is the ability to feed another vampire from your blood and act as a reservoir. Gluttony vampires are very good at this power. Blood does not sour in these vampire's veins, but stays life-like for up to 5 days (advanced). This can be useful in dangerous situations where vampires are under duress and need to feed but might not be able to get away.

• Control Light: This power allows a vampire to manipulate light and shadow. Some vampires might use this skill to adjust their appearance in such a way as to become more appealing and generally beautiful (to their own standards) while others might use this power to conceal themselves in the deepest of shadows. Envy vampires come by this power naturally, while it is less common in other families. This is an illusionary skill, and does not effect the actual corporeal presence of the face or body. A less-skilled user of this power would be able to wrap themselves in shadow or dispell shadows in times of crisis while an advanced user might manipulate shadows and create a different persona that they wear upon their skin like a mask (sex will always remain the same as will gross features, like amputations). Shifters with Enhanced Senses can see through these illusions.

• Heightened Strength:Vampires are known to be very strong when they want to be, capable of focusing their gathered life force into action. However, this costs them in terms, taxing their reserves. A Vampire might be able to throw a car, but he will not be able to then run a triathalon without feeding.

• Regenerate: Vampires are able to regenerate many wounds given enough time and blood. Eyes, ears and noses and even limbs are able to be reconstructed with daily feedings over a period of weeks and months. A vampire who loses a limb will take months, perhaps even years, to regrow completely.

• Heightened Senses: Vampires have enhanced sight, vision and hearing. Their taste sense is diminished from human values, but present in this theme. A vampire is capable of decent night vision of at least 3x that of human levels, though some may have enhanced vision as a special talent. Their hearing is likewise approximately 3x a human’s best. A vampire does not have nearly the quality of senses that a shapeshifter does, as they are by nature shadows of life.

• Night Vision: A Vampire's vision at night is at least three times as acute as human's vision. They are used to dealing in low-light situations and have adapted to their environment.

Vulnerabilities Silver: It is considered that vampires in general have a violent, devestating allergy to the element Silver. Silver hurts like a normal bullet would affect a human being. It causes pain and can cause damage that will take a significant amount of time and blood to recover from. Silver can incapacitate a vampire and causes burns when applied to the skin. Vampires can be restrained with silver chains. Silver nitrate can be used as well. Marks from silver will not heal in some cases, resulting in annoying scars. Sanctified Items: Sanctified items ONLY work against a vampire if the weilder has true faith. Such as, a man who goes to church on Christmas and Easter will have little protection, where a Priest will have great protection. Unless your PC is devout, assume a vampire will laugh at your cross. Heights: Vampires are born of the earth. After 3 days of death, they rise from the earth to begin life anew. Because of this auspicious begining, vampires are earth-bound. They find heights disturbing and would never think of flying on a plane. This has slowed their movements in modern times. A vampire would find a high-rise apartment very disarming, and most if not all prefer to sleep below ground, out of potential sun accidents. Holy water: Holy water that has been blessed by a preist of devout faith burns like acid. The marks are as permanent as silver burns, and can take years to heal, or not. Sunlight: Vampires cannot enter sunlight. During the day, most enter a torpor that last until dark. In this state, they are vulnerable. Vampires may be revived during the day, but fall quickly 'asleep' again, as if drugged. A daytime resting place is the vampire's most cherished secret and it is common for vampires to have several hiding spots throughout a territory. Fire: Vampires are hurt by fire in an equivalent sense as with silver. They will not explode into flames on contact, but are very unhappy either way.

A vampire can be killed by staking through the heart with a wooden stake or by decapitation. Other injuries can be recovered from, given enough time and blood. There are healers within the vampire community, usually Gluttony vampires, who help vampires recover faster from injuries. Things Vampires Cannot/Do Not Do Fly Shapeshift into creatures or objects (i.e. fog, shadow, whiskey) via power transformations or any other means. Enter sunlight. Sunlight causes instant severe burns, often explosively. Produce offspring with humans or whatever. Just no. Enter Sanctified ground/Churches UNLESS they are of the Pride family of vampires. Sanctified ground is classified as a specific place where ritual has happened from many souls for a length of time. Temples and Synagogues count, however your home shrine to your personal deity does NOT count. Pride vampires have the power of belief, twisted into their fate changing gifts. It is thought that they believe they can enter the ground without harm, and so they are thusly able. Gain nourishment from food. In our universe, vampires can taste food and drink as it is an aspect of scent, but they cannot gain any satisfaction. Example: Colin can taste the flavor and nuances of the red wine, but he will be forever thirsty until he drinks blood. Sparkle.