Vampires
Vampire-Specific Abilities
The following are powers that vampires may choose from on Sin City Mux. A vampire is allowed to have no more than 5 powers out of chargen.
- Alternate Feeding: This power is the ability of a vampire to draw ambient life force from the environment and sustain themselves in a limited fashion. The environment must be charged with the emotion of the vampire's family (Lustfull environments for Lust vampires, etc) in order for the vampire to benefit. While no vampire can live without blood for an extended time, those with this power can gain a small boost to life force. In addition, skilled practitioners can cause the emotion of their family group as well, creating a loop of sustaining life force. This should be considered a "snack" and not a meal.
- 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.
- 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 Speed: Supernatural creatures move fast. Some can move very, very fast. Heightened Speed allows shifters and vampires to move at bursts of accelerated speed of up to 5x normal human speeds. They will be very hungry afterwards and forced to feed or risk fainting or going dormant. Practitioners work up to greater speed, some being mildly faster while others being very fast.
- 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.
- Regeneration: Regeneration is the ability to reform skin, bone and tissue from a damaged state. Vampires are fueled by life force, and regeneration will always require a feeding as you cannot create new skin and bone from nothing. The level of skill with this particular power deal thusly with the amount of regeneration a vampire can make on his or her own without an immediate feed and how long it will take. A vampire can regrow major body parts given enough skill and blood, contrary to shifters, though it might take years. A normal level of this skill would be able to repair small damage on an immediate basis (surface wounds) and more traumatic injuries would require a nightly feeding. They would NOT be able to repair severed limbs. An advanced user would be able to repair most wounds, including severed limbs with 2x normal feedings. Wrath vampires are particularly good at this power.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Influence: Influence is the vampire equivalent of Intimidate for wolves. It is, simply put, the presence of a vampire and how that effects others of their kind. A vampire with a high level of this skill will be able to intimidate other vampires with a psychic bond. A good analogy would be as if a cat walked into a party of mice. The cat would have the greater level of power while the mice would have lesser levels. Even a neophyte with this skill will be able to compel human beings through intimidation.
- Enthrall: 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.
- Control Beasts (must choose a species to control in chargen): Control Beasts is a skill where influence can be extended to a specific type of animal, including shifters. This is a rare talent, and makes the vampire both powerful and dangerous. Vampires have a special psychic link with the animals they control, which makes the animal listen more than it would an average human. Beasts might be summoned, for instance. New shifters will find themselves particularly vulnerable. This power may reach only the expanse of a room and be a general fuzzy feeling for new users of this power, while advanced users may be able to extend their presence to a whole city with a psychic net that feels more like a song that won't stop playing. Players will need to state their species of choice at time of chargen.
- 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.
- Alternate Feeding: is feeding from ambient life-force in emotionally charged situations (of your vice only) -this will not feed you but might get you by. This is skill learned over time with practice. Influence is like Intimidate in wolves. Enthrall is a skill all vampires have but some do better than others, and with more finesse. Share Blood is the ability to feed another vampire from your blood — gluttony vampires are very good at this power. Increased speed and strength are assumed in all vampires, but will be based off of Ability scores.