On Vampires (( repost ))

[caios]

(( So it was brought to my attention that some folks have newly made and/or revitalized characters they would like to RP with who just so happen to be vampires. That's in addition to any other vampire characters of old that might be waiting in the wings of your alts list somewhere.

This led me to think that perhaps it would be good to repost this little manual of "canon" vampire details that I had put together for everyone's reference. Again, nothing remotely official here much less set in stone, just my personal take on the vampire condition that I've been playing with all this time that others have found useful. Particularly in that it allows everyone to understand how these characters "work" if they're all following the same conventions.

Again this is just here for reference, you're welcome to use as much or as little as might suit you. Enjoy! ))

[caios]

The Three Laws of Being a Vampire

Ok, they're not laws, not by a long shot, more like guidelines.
There are three important things that I like to keep in mind when it comes to being a vampire character. Mainly I think that they really help define what is it to be a vampire.

Vampires are People too!
Becoming a vampire doesn't change who you are, it only changes what you are. It doesn't mean you lose your soul and become evil instantly. It doesn't change your likes and dislikes, it doesn't change your favorite color, it doesn't change who or what you love or hate. That said for the average person the circumstances surounding what it means to be a vampire is very hard to handle. They find it hard to live the life they once had, they start to lose their friends and family, even if it's just from old age. As dacades pass many a vampire may become jaded, eventually thinking they are above other humans that they feed on. However none of this is as a result of becomeing a vampire, but rather a psychological reaction to their new vampiric state. Like with anything in life some people just handle it better then others.
For the most part, however, vampires are just like anyone else, they can have all the same hopes and dreams, all the same faults and hang ups, all the same ups and downs as anyone else. As a result the majority of vampires are just trying to live their unlives like most normal people. So when thinking about what a typical vampire is like, think more along the lines of the girl/guy next door then the creepy dude in that castle on the hill.

Vampires Prey On Humans!
From a purely biological perspective vampires are one step up on the food chain, right above mortal humans. Of course Vampires are supernatural creatures, however that doesn't change the fact that they are Predators and humans are their Prey. Vampires are entirely designed around hunting down humans and feeding on them. First and foremost this means being able to blend in with other humans so they don't know a vampire is in their midst. There's a good reason for that, since the instinct of humans is to try and destroy any precieved threat. And so the most important part of being a vampire is being able to remove that perception. Any vampire can pass off as a human with no problem. Vampires are social creatures because humans are social creatures, and the best way for a vampire to hide what they are is to hide in plain sight.
At the same time this means that vampires are constantly surrounded by their primary food source. So avoiding the thirst for human blood is not exactly as simple as it sounds. It's like a fat man in a cake shop, the temptation is always there. The hard truth of the matter is that vampires feed off humans, and often the first thing a vampire sees when they meet a human is a potential next meal. But like most primal urges in humans, vampires are smart enough to keep these things under control.
Just because you're hungry doesn't mean you'll instantly assault the guy standing next to you just cause he's eating a burrito. Likewise just because a vampire is hungry doesn't mean that they'll instantly attack any human next to them. However if a man is hungry enough there is a much higher chance they would attack someone waving a burger in front of their face. Vampire are the same in that the hungrier they get the more likely they are to attack a random human who was just unlucky enough to stand next to them. For this reason staying well fed actually reduces the chances that a vampire will attack and perhaps kill any humans.

And the most important rule when it comes to vampires (IMO) is ...

It's all about the BLOOD!
When you consider what it means to be a vampire you realize that for the most part you have little in the way of survival needs. You don't need water, you don't need food, and the only shelter you need is some basic protection from direct sunlight, which in today's world is very easy to come by. And so the most important thing a vampire needs to survive is a source of blood. The way most humans spend their lives in the constant persuit of money, Vampires spend their unlives in the constant persuit of blood.
In addition to the ever present need for sustenence, much of what goes on in vampire society is all about the flow of blood. Who has it, who controls it, who sells it; all manner of enterprises, schemes, and outright wars between vampires can be boiled down to controlling blood as a resource. Blood is the Currency of the Vampire Economy.

[caios]

Blood

As it is the most important, most pivitol aspect of being a vampire, this topic needed it's own section.

At the end of the day the one irrefutable fact about being a vampire is that they need blood to survive. Blood is the sum all of a vampire's dietary needs. But just what does this mean to a supernatural creature like a vampire?

It's important to remember that despite all the biology vampires are, in the end, mystical creatures. They are in many ways walking corpses, they have no life force of their own, or rather they are unable to sustain their own life force on their own. To remain "alive", meaning walking, active, talking, thinking creatures like everyone else, they need the life force of other still living creatures. This is what they really get from the blood they drink. When they drink fresh blood, filled with life energy, they absorb that energy and become more 'alive' as a result. (And incidently can more easily appear human since they are filled with more living energy.) So when vampires hunger for human blood what they truly crave is life energy.

Vampires derive the most living energy from fresh human blood. The fresher the blood the more life energy it still contains. (And thus the better it tastes to the vampire.) Therefore the most "nutritious" food source for the vampire is blood drank directly from a still living human. But vampires aren't limited to just fresh human blood to survive. The Life energy it provides can be obtained from other sources. Human blood can be stored, such as with a blood bank, for some time and stil be viable. Th only problem is blood quickly loses it's life energy the longer it remains outside the human body. So the longer the blood is stored the less sustenance it provides the vampire. Eventually the blood cells just die, and dead blood provides absolutely no sustenance to the vampire. (Indeed some vampires have been known to have extreme "allergic" reactions to drinking dead blood.)
Blood that doesn't provide enough sustinence means that the vampire remains deprived and must feed on more blood for the same effect. Fortunately Blood Banks try to keep their stores of blood as fresh as possible, but even the freshest blood at a blood bank is never as good as blood taken directly from a living host.
There are non-human alternatives, though, a number of animals can provide relatively decent blood substitutes for human blood. It also provides some vampires with a moral peice of mind since they don't have to prey on their human neighbors to survive. However no matter how lively an animal is, Vampires aren't as efficient proccessing animal blood as compared to human blood. And so this non-human blood can never provide as much sustinence as humans do. However animal blood has the advantage that it's easier to come by and cause fewer questions to be asked, so even if the vampires have to drink more of it some consider it well worth the effort. In general pigs' blood is considered the best blood substitute, not only is it physiologically similar to human blood, but the amount of pork and bacon churning through the collective American diet means there's always a fresh supply somewhere.
Incidently, vampires that refuse to drink human blood, prefering instead to stick soley to animal blood, are refered to, ironically enough, as vegitarians. For the most part the word is used as an insult, though some of the more recent "new age" vampires of the modern age consider it a good thing.
There are other much more exotic blood sources. One such exotic source that is often seen is other vampires. The blood couorsing through a vampire isn't entirely their own, however regardless of the source the blood of another vampire is always primed to provide the as much life energy as possible. This is because this blood comes preproccessed for use by the vampire, it is often "distilled" down to a more efficient life energy source. Even so, on average vampire blood isn't much better then human blood, since for the most part the two remain very similar. Still it's a common practice, but usually for psychological reasons; when one vampire feeds on another it's most often as a show of dominance. You are, in effect, putting the vampire down a peg to the same level as any other human, reducing them to just a simple meal.
Another interesting blood source is the blood of people like Werewolves and other supernatural meta-human creatures. Such blood is often more of a delicacy, or a rare treat, made all the more prized by how hard it is to obtain. Werewolf blood, for example, is incredibly powerful and pint for pint has the most amount of life energy you can possibly fill into a blood source. The same can often be said of other mystical creatures, such as Fae blood. The biggest problem with such exotic blood is that it often comes with unusual side effects as a result of its supernatural origin. The actual effect on the vampire can vary depending on the individual. Werewolf blood might cause the vampire to enter into a berzerk rage, for example, while Fae blood could just cause the vampire to hallucinate as if they were on all manner of recreational drugs. In fact there have been many cases where certain vampires become addicted to supernatural blood, so much so that they spend the rest of their unlives hunting down these creatures for their blood, ignoring more plentiful human blood entirely.

Interestingly Vampires don't need much blood to survive. How much a vampire actually needs can vary from one to the next, and of course the quality of blood also has a profound effect, but as a general rule of thumb an average vampire needs only half a pint of fresh human blood to survive and remain typically active for about a week. However vampires that exert themselves, particularly by using their supernatural abilities, tend to burn through the blood's life energy much faster, meaning they'll need more of it. This is no different then an olympic level athlete needing a much higher calorie diet during training compared to the average person.

[caios]

Continuing this guide, I suppose one can't talk about blood and vampires without talking about ...

Feeding

Assuming the vampire isn't getting their blood from a more convinient source, at some point they will need to feed from a human. The primary tool for this is, of course, the vampire's fangs. These are perhaps the most significant, certainly the most noticable change in a person when they are turned. These fangs are not just feeding tools but supernatural weapons; they can easily tear through the toughest hide. In fact more powerful vampries have been known to chew through steel bars and other increasibly hard objects, but these are the exceptions, a vampire's fangs are not indestructable.
Fangs grow, supernaturally, from the vampire's original human canines. This is a concious act done at the will of the vampire. These fangs actually work as two seperate sets, the top fangs and the lower fangs. The top fangs are the major workhorses, these are the fangs that grow the longest and actually dig into flesh to seek out a victim's blood supply. The bottom set grow very little, barely jutting out above the other teeth in the lower jaw. Often these bottom fangs are unnoticable by comparison. Keep in mind however that the actual length can vary from vampire to vampire. The purpose of the bottom set of fangs is merely to grasp onto the feeding victim. These fangs will dig into flesh but only just deep enough to allow the vampire to remain latched onto their victim, preventing them from escaping as they feed.
In the process of feeding, a vamprie generally does not actually "suck your blood", this is a pure fictional interpretation. Instead the vampire will simply peirce a major blood vessel with their fangs, then drink in the blood as it flows out from the wound. It's the victim's own heart that actually does all the work, pumping out the blood into the vampire's mouth. A vampire will only forcefully suck the blood from a body when they're trying to drain every last drop from a body, which generally kills the victim so there is no heartbeat to finish pumping the last of the blood. Alternatively this can be done when drinking blood from a body without a beating heart, such as from another vampire. As you can imagine cases like this are very rare.
Another, often overlooked, component of feeding is the vampire's saliva. It contains several biological and mystical properties designed to allow the vampire to feed more easily. The saliva acts as a sedative while feeding, making the victim less likely to resist the feeding. In addition once the vampire is done feeding the remaining saliva seems to have accelerated healing properties designed to "get rid of the evidence" of feeding. As such the wound a vampire inflicts to feed from will heal very quickly, becomming nothing more then a bruise in as little as an hour after feeding, and often disappearing completely after about a day. Some gentler vampires have been known to lick the wounds they cause after feeding in order to further boost this healing effect.
The act of feeding, and getting fed on, can be a very intense experience. But generally a vampire will be careful about the proccess such that most people who are fed upon don't even realize it. Even so some people will still remember the feeding. What's more some humans even become addicted to the experience, going so far as to seek out vampires who will feed on them. These people, refered to as "blooddolls", will generally try to find a vampire they can trust to build a mutually beneficial relationship, but are more often then not reduced to a willing slave to their vampire master, chained by their own addiction.

It should be noted that, like anyone else, vampires tend to have a wide range of tastes and preferences with it comes to feeding. Some vampires prefer feeding only from specific people or creatures, others prefer feeding from specific areas of the body. ( While the neck is the most common, some vampire prefer to feed from the victim's wrist area, for example. ) While some trends can become common among bloodlines, regions, etc. In general these are all personal preferences that will vary from one vampire to another as much as food preferences vary among humans.

[caios]

Vampire Psysiology

As described before vampires are effectively walking corpses. However that's a bit of a misnomer. The fact is vampires aren't entirely alive, but they aren't entirely dead either. They are most certainly dead in the sense that a vampire does not breathe, has no heartbeat or seperate body temperature, and can easily survive conditions that would be impossible for normal humans. But they remain alive in their ability to move around, experiencing life around them, and more importantly, in their ability to adapt and grow on a personal level. It would be more accurate to say that a vampire's body is in an eternal state of stasis. This is the true nature of a vampire's immortality. They are unchanging, unaging, undying creatures.

Vampires remain in the same state that they were in when they turned into a vampire. Their bodies remain the same in every way, same size, same shape, even their hair remains the same length, for all time. The static nature of their bodies means they are extremely resilient to any changes, both negative and positive. Any scars, tattoos, body deformations, or even unfortunate hairstyles that a vampire had when they "die" remain with them for all time. This also means that any new scars, tattoos, or any other form of body modification done to the vampire after they are turned will disappear as their body reverts to its static form. This doesn't happen right away, however, a vampire who gets a new tattoo will have that tattoo on their skin for a while before it disappears. In general vampires return to their static forms once a day, usually at dawn, though the more extreme the modification (or damage) the longer it might take to change back.
This makes vampires very hard to hurt, physical damage that would be tramautic for a human, can be easily shurgged off by a vampire's body as it resists that "change". In addition vampires are completely immune to poisons, venoms, illness, deseases, and any other lethal agent that might affect a living body. Whatever damage a vampire does sustained can be easily healed as well. However in this case the vampire's body doesn't actually "heal" itself but rather revert the damage back to its original static form. In fact with simple concentration a vampire can trigger this effect conciously, though it does take some energy to fuel. Still with enough time and energy a vampire can undo even the most extreme amount of damage. An appendage that's chopped off, for example, can be reattached and healed back to normal. ( This sort of healing occurs much faster if the original appendage is placed in contact with the offending stump, otherwise the process of regrowing an arm or leg will be very, very long. )

This unchanging nature of a vampire's psysiology can also affect other areas of a vampire's being. For example vampire's tend to have excellent memory. Technically a vampire's mind is the only part of their body that really experiences any change; A vampire is capable of learning and adapting. They have to be in order to remain effective hunters of humanity. But their static biology means that their memory tends to remain very sharp for all time. This doesn't mean that all vampries have a photographic memory. In actuality vampires tend to remember and forget with a frequency that's only a little better then the average human. Instead vampries find that all of their memories remain fresh in their minds rather then degrading like one might experience as a mortal. So when a vamprie does recall something it's generally with much, much greater clarity then an average human, even after centuries have passed by. Unfortunately this mainly applies to memories the vampire gains after their transformation, any memories of their time before becoming a vampire don't suddenly become more clear as a result but retain the same level of natural human degredation. This creates a strange condition within the vampire themselves as their memories of their actions since becomeing a vampire are all too easy to recall in excrutiating detail, while any memory of their mortal days seem more and more muddled by comparison. This often becomes a major contributing factor to vampires who feel they are losing their humanity as the years pass by.

Despite the undead nature of a vampire's body it is important to note that at any time a vampire can easily emulate a living body. They can conciously decide to make their heart beat, for example, or raise their body temperature. In fact a vampire can cause any bodily funciton to take place simply by willing it. Again there's good reason for this since it allows the vampire to more easily pretend to be a human. This is a consious act, so it only works for so long as the vampire thinks about it, however it is a very simple effort, much like walking, so it takes very little concentration to maintain it. In a sense the vampire's body retains the "muscle memory" for all of its functions. Even so the vampire is still "faking it" and no amount of concentration will keep the vampire 'alive'. They can choose to allow their entire digestive system to funciton so they can enjoy a fine meal without having to throw up later, for example, but they won't ever gain any nutrition from it. Also having their body funciton in this way requires that they use up their store of life energy which will only increase their need for more blood.
It should also be noted that due to the undead nature of vampires, some human functions can never be replicated. For example it is impossible for vampires to have children in the biological sense. No matter what a male vampire can't father a child, nor can a female vampire become pregnant. All vampires are biologically inert and thus remain forever sterile. This, of course, assumes there is no other supernatural and/or magical interference.

The energy a vampire gains from the blood they drink can also be used to fuel many number of supernatural abilities. The undead nature of their bodies means a vamprie can easily push their flesh far beyond the capacity of normal human boundaries. This is just a matter of "supercharging" their bodies with the energy they've absorbed through the blood they drink. As such all vampires are much stronger and much faster then the average human. Just how strong and fast can vary a lot depending on the vampire and their bloodline, but all vampires have the capacity to easily surpass even the best olympic athletes. This is just raw speed and stregth, however, it doesn't necessarily mean the vampire will know how to use their physical abilities to the best effect. That usually requires training.
In addition to their enhanced physical abilities, vampires also possess enhanced senses. All of a vampire's senses are made much sharper in order to allow them to better see, hear, smell, even feel their prey better. Again the level of enhancement can vary by individual vampire. These enhanced senses are developed purely as a tool for hunting humans, so they tend to be "tuned" to that end. A vampire will smell even a small trace of human blood, they will hear a human scream a mile away, they will clearly see a human alone in a dark alley, and so on.
Additional changes to a vampire's psysiology is entirely dependent on their bloodline. Some bloodlines inherently grant vastly more supernatural strength and speed compared to most other vampires. Others develop greatly superior senses, even granting the vampire a 6th "supersense" which would allow them to see auras, for example. Some bloodlines allow the vampire to temporarily or permanently alter their psysiology entirely, allowing them to change shapes or changing their bodies into something entirely alien. These are all exceptions, however, all limited to individual bloodlines, often enhanced more by training then any actual inherited abilities.

[caios]

Becoming a Vampire

There is some argument of how the process of becoming a vampire actually works. It's possible many great variation exist depending on things like customs, rituals, and of course bloodlines. The most common form of creating a vampire basically requires the vampire to drink the blood of their intended initiate before having them drink their own blood in turn. This dual exchange of blood is a pivitol part of the proccess. Equally important is that the human being turned must be close to death. Otherwise drinking vampire blood would likely just make them sick.
( Some vampires claim that a normal human who drinks the blood of a vampire will become their thrall, also refered to as Ghouls, which they can then further empower to form a sort of vampire hybrid. However this is not a typical vampire ability but a form of magical enslavement that certain bloodlines have developed. )
By drinking the vampire's blood when they are close to death a human can be transformed by the power of the vampire's blood, turning them into a vampire themselves. Often this whole process is done all at once, with a vamprie drinking most of their initiate's blood until they are close to death before feeding them some of their own blood. Other times this is done in response to external events. A vampire might come upon a dying human and decide to offer them the chance of eternal life rather then letting them slip away.

How much blood is needed to be taken by either party can vary a lot, just as how close to death the human needs to be. Some humans have been brought back to unlife even after being clinically dead for hours, for example. A lot of this can be subject to customs and rituals passed down from one vampire to the next over the centuries. Some of these rituals may or may not be essential to a particular bloodline, however most of the time these serve as nothing more then a psychological assurance to ease the transition for both parties. Whatever the circumstances it will usually take about an hour from the time the human drinks the vampire blood to the time they awaken as a vampire themselves. At which point they are almost always starving, thirsting for human blood. Therefore it's no surprise that alot of these creation rituals will require some form of a first meal be made available to the new vampire. This could be in the form of a simple bowl filled with fresh blood to an awaiting human victim setup for the purpose of the vampire's first kill.

Whatever the proccess of becoming a vampire there is no doubt that the sire and the initiate are forever tied together as a result of this act. However the relationship between a sire and the vampires they create can vary widely from one to the next, just as with any interpersonal relationship. Much of what happens with this relationship is also affected by the culture of the vampire society the newly created vampire is first exposed to. Some vampires take the relationship very seriously for any new initiates they create, treating them much like a master and his apprentice. The master is often considered responsible for the actions of the apprentice until they have learned enough to strike out on their own, and this can easily develop into a more paternal bond. Meanwhile other vampires will abbandon their creations almost as soon as they are turned, forcing them to fend for themselves in their new inhuman state. Such vampires often take a brutal Darwinistic approach, beleiving that if the vampire cannot survive on their own they don't deserve to live anyway.

Without a doubt vampires are their weakest when they have most recently been turned. But even then they are by no means weak. Even a newly created vampire is born with the ability to hunt and feed off humans. The act of feeding itself becomes almost instinctual as a result, as does the inate ability for enhanced strength and speed along with the enhanced senses that all vampires are capable of. In addition some new vampires might also gain access to special supernatural abilities unique to their bloodline. Even so these vampire initiates remain completely inexperienced with their abilities, and will generally make a mess of things without some proper guidance and instruction.


(( RP Note: The proccess of becoming a vampire as described here is in effect a mystical transformation. Therefore in CoH terms all vampires are technically Magic Origin. However this doesn't mean that vampires are particularly magically adept, and in fact some vampires may very well have an great hatred for all things magical. ))

[caios]

Many of a vampire's innate strengths and obvious advantages were covered in their psysiology but there are a few other strengths and more importantly weaknesses that have yet to be covered. The following strengths and weaknesses represent the most common added benefits and disadvantages that come with being a vampire. ( Bloodline variations notwithstanding. )


Vampire Strengths

Unreliant on normal living resources
As mentioned before vampires have little in the way of needs when it comes to surviving. This means they don't need food or water, so the resources they need to survive are very few indeed. But this isn't just limited to food. A vampire doesn't need to sleep at all and suffers no ill effects from a lack of sleep. Vampires will often sleep during the day as a way to escape the sun, not because they need to rest. Though doing so also preserves their energy so they don't need to feed as much. But so long as they have a sufficient supply of blood, a vampire can remain awake and active indefinately with no ill effects whatsoever.


Magical Ressilience
A vampire's undead body which offers much ressilience against normal attacks also offers some protection against magical attacks as well. Not only will a vampire's body naturally ( or unnaturally rather ) resist any magical changes, but by their mystical nature they are already more likely to resist the effects of magic as compared to normal humans. Of course much of this is due to the fact that most magic is designed to affect the much larger human population. Vampires are mystically speaking entirely different animals and so are often highly resistant to affects targeting humans, if not entirely immune.



Vampire Weaknesses

Vulnerable to Sunlight
Vampries are, quite litterally, creatures of the night. They hunt at night and are always active at night. They have been, for thousands of years, perhaps the top reason to be afraid of the dark. As such they are all vulnerable to sunlight to some degree. Most often this vulnerability comes in the form of a deadly reaction to sunlight. The vampire will quite litterally burn in direct sunlight. This isn't anything like a bad sunburn one might get from a long day at the beach, but actually bursting into flames that can quickly reduce the vampire to ash if they remain in the sunlight for any extended period of time. Should the vampire survive the wounds they receive are extremely brutal, and will often take days and even weeks to heal even under the best conditions.
It's important to note that only direct sunlight has this deadly effect. Contrary to some Hollywood tricks, sunlight reflected off mirrors is not deadly to a vampire. ( Though generally such reflected light is still very aggrivating. ) This is why moonlight has no effect on vampires even though it is technically sunlight reflected off the surface of the moon.
Over the millenia vampires have come up with many various ways to deal with this, often considered their deadliest weakness. By far the best defense is to simply remain out of direct sunlight at all times, which is why a vamprie will often just sleep during the day and avoid the sun entirely. However humans who hunt vampries quickly learn that it's very easy to kill a vampire while they're sleeping during the day. So vampires have always tried to find ways to operate safetly even while in direct sunlight. Not only does this make them less vulnerable to hunter attacks, but it makes it much easier to hide their vampiric nature.
Another increasingly popular method to accomplish this in modern times is through the use of special protective charms that the vampire must wear while in sunlight. These charms don't make the vampires immune so much as redirect the light so it is not striking the vampire directly. To the keen observer vampires using such devices appear slightly darker in direct sunlight, as if under a constant shadow. These vampires are technically being illuminated by the ambient light and not by the sun directly so the comparison is very appropriate. These charms can be created into just about anything that the vampire will be able to wear constantly. However the most popular choice in modern times is sunglasses, no one would think twice about a person wearing sunglasses in direct sunlight, and more then likely the vampires enjoy the poetic nature of using sunglasses to protect them from the sun. Even with such charms there is no doubt that vampires remain weakened in the sunlight. Even while protected vampires feel constantly agitaged in the sunlight, as if constantly being picked by a sharp needle all over their body.

Decapitation
Other then direct sunlight, the only other sure-fire way to kill a vampire is to cut their head off. Unlike all other appendages, a vampire cannot grow back their own head when it's chopped off, they simply die as a result. Why this is exactly is uncertain, some beleive that cutting off a vampire's head severs the link between their mind and their soul (i.e. their brain and their heart) thus forcing their soul to leave their body.
If this is the case then it's likely a metaphysical connection, as there have been reports of vampires having their hearts ripped from their bodies and still surviving. On theory as to why this is the case is because the heart is rarely torn out completely, often the violence of such an act will leave bits and peices of the heart behind, in the form of some lingering heart cells or even some of the larger blood vessels near the heart. This has also led some people to theorise on what would happen if you could tear out a vampire's brain while still leaving their head attached to their body, however to date there have been no reports of such an occurance.

Relliance on Blood
While a vampire is completely unreliant on most of the things that humans require to live, they are instead heavily reliant on human blood to remain alive. This has been stated before but is worh repeating nonetheless. It is important to understand that a vampire who runs out of life energy and does not have access to fresh blood will not have any energy available to do anything at all. The vampire will be litterally incabable of doing anything whatsoever. They can only remain still and unmoving, for all effects nothing more then a corpse from that point on.
Obviously in this state they are completely at the whim of whatever might happen to them. Even a weakened human could easily kill a vampire in this state. Slowly but surely cutting their head off or even just exposing them to direct sunlight. The vampire would be completely unable to defend themselves against even the weakest assault.

Magical Vulnerability
As a corralary to the Magical Ressilience discussed above it is important to note that vampires can be vulnerable to certain types of magic. Specifically certain magics that target vampires would be designed from the start to ignore their usual vampiric ressilience. Any magic spell, item, or charm can be made to target any specific creature, especially supernatural ones, and vampires are no exception. Such magics are, by their very nature, highly specialized and thus somewhat rare. Though there are entire groups of vampire hunters that have developed such magics over the years. Interestingly enough, because these magics target vampires specifically they are often completely ineffective against normal humans.

[caios]

Vampire Myths

Over the centuries many myths about vampires have developed, mostly as people try to figure out how to confront this creature that hunts them. Many of these myths developed during the dark ages, a time when some vampires ruled out in the open and many people sought ways to be rid of their vampire oppressors. In recent times popular media in general, and Hollywood in particular, have only spread these myths even more, often developing new ones, mostly as a way to add drama and plot devices to the latest vampire flick or TV show. The source of these vampire myths are far and wide. In some rare cases these myths are in fact true, but only for a singular bloodline. By and large, however, the one thing these myths have in common is that when it comes to the average vamprie they're all false.

Aversion to Holy Water / Crosses
This myth comes directly from the church and their faithful warriors who always sought to prove to the masses that their power was absolute, even against these seemingly unstopable vampires. Vampirism was, in their mind, a curse from God, and thus only in God's name could you defeat these vampires. In practice however crosses and holy water do nothing special against a vampire. Holy water is just water, and the Cross is just a peice of geometry as far as their effects go.
Some theorize that the real effect of such holy symbols is not in the symbols themselves but in the person who uses them. It is in fact the true faith and spiritual beleif of a person that has power over a vampire. And these religious symbols are simply a way of focusing that faith. As the theory goes, most people, even those in religious service, simply do not have the level of true faith ( as opposed to blind faith apperently ) to have any effect on a vampire. Critics of this theory tend to dismiss this claim as nothing more then wishful thinking by religious freaks. But some proponents claim that if this is indeed true then it doesn't matter what the person beleives in, so long as their faith is pure and strong. In this regard they like to tell the story of one stoned out utterly fanatical Dead Head back in the 1980's who they claim was able to turn a vampire away using nothing more then a Greatful Dead sticker.
That said, there have been cases of certain mystical priest, wielders of faith based magic, who have very effective abilities to combat vampires. There are many examples of such people all over the world. Proffesional Exorcists, Kabbalist Rabbis, Tribal Shaman, Native American Medicine Men, etc., etc. In all these cases personal faith may well be a major component of the magic they wield, however this is a seperate mystical force being applied. There is insufficient evidence that faith alone has any effect on a vampire, even when focused through a religious symbol.

Aversion to Garlic
Garlic is just like any other food to a vampire, it has no special properties against them. Indeed some vampires rather like the taste. If anything this myth has served to better hide the vampire as they are all too willing to bite into a garlic clove just to "prove they're human". Certainly hanging cloves of garlic around one's neck will offer no protection against a vampire attack. Likewise vampires are more likely to encourage their victims to eat garlic, as it's health benefits for human blood make for a much better meal for the vampire.
The source of this myth is beleived to be a case of the vampire's abilities working against them. Back in the dark ages most people weren't very good about personal hygeine. Eating garlic in this case would have certainly enhanced a person's already putrid breath due to lack of brushing. Just breathing on a vampire, with their enhanced sense of smell, would certainly be a revolting experience for certain vampires.

Lack of Reflection
A Reflection is a property of light and the physical world and has absolutely nothing to do with the vampire itself. Simply put if you can see a vampire directly then there is no reason they would not have a reflection. The light you see when you look at a vampire is the same light which would be reflected in a mirror. As such all vampires will have a reflection, though they will gladly pretend this is not the case if it lets them pretend to be human.
The source of this myth likely had to do with the Church and the claim that vampires were soul-less creatures. Since the vampire has no soul, the theory went, then they could not cast a reflection as there was nothing inside them to reflect. This, clearly, reveals more about a complete lack of understanding of the physical world at the time. Another possible source for this myth was early magic spells being used to protect the vampire from sunlight, it's likely some vampries developed other mystical methods of protection but these magics had the side effect that would prevent the vampire's reflection from showing up.

Wooden Stake through the Heart
Be warned now, a wooden stake through the heart will generally not kill a vampire, but is more likely to severely anger them. For the most part this is no different then being skewered by any sharp object anywhere in their body, regardless of what it's made of. It will certainly hurt the vampire, but it won't kill them.
That said a stake through the heart is an effective attack against a vampire. Vampires still store blood in their blood vessels for later use, which makes the heart and the surrounding area the biggest concentration of blood in a vampire's body. A stake through the heart, or in fact any serious damage to this area, can cause the vampire to bleed out a great deal. No blood means No Energy, and that could leave the vampire extermely vulnerable. Such a situation is most likely where this myth originated from. However any skilled vampire can probablly just kill the human who just stabbed them, using their victim's blood to replace what they may have lost.

Bound by Hospitality
This refers to the myth that a vampire cannot enter your home unless specifically invited in. Again this is simply not the case. It would not make much sense for a vampire to be defeated entirely by something as simple as an invitation. If you don't invite a vampire into your home nothing will really stop them from busting down your door and attacking anyway.
The current theory for the source of this myth boils down to simple protocol. During the dark ages the most well known vampires were often feudal lords and nobles. They gained their station by using their supernatural abilities to forcefully grab control of the land around them. Afterwards they styled themselves as nobles and often lived by many strict codes of their positions. As part of this they would not enter the home of another noble unless invited in, as this was considered rude and an insult to the other noble. In this case the other noble could have well been another vampire, perhaps a more powerful one that even a vampire lord might not wish to insult. Some of these vampires may even be alive today, and possibly retain many of the same customs of hospitality that they fostered so long ago.
Alternatively it is possible to create special magical wards specifically targeting vampires that protect a specific space, such as a home, from vampiric entrance. It's very likely such wards had special built in caveats that would allow a possibly friendly vampire ally to enter the warded space, but only under invitiation of the owner. Short of such unique cases, however, an uninvited vampire will always remain equally dangerous as an invited one.

Must Sleep in Coffins
As stated before, vampires don't really need to sleep at all. As such they certainly aren't forced to sleep in a coffin. Modern day vampires much prefer to sleep on a normal, and more comfortable beds.
The source of this myth comes from an old practice for staying out of direct sunlight during the day. In the dark ages not everyone had access to decent construction techniques. There was little gaurentee that whatever building the vamprie slept in would be completely sealed against sunlight. And even if it was it did not prevent creative vampire hunters from breaking open a wall or a ceiling to let more sunlight in.
By contrast it was much easier to construct and aquire an essentially light proof coffin, creating a sleeping pod that completely surrounded the vampire in solid wood. As a coffin a vampire could also place it in the underground catacombs of a town or castle, providing yet another layer of protection against the sun.
In modern times it is far easier to remain out of dangerous sunlight just by staying indoors and closing some curtains. Even a cheap hotel room provides more then enough protection for a day. Therefore if a vampire decided to sleep during the day, it's unlikely they will do so in a coffin.

Can't Cross Running Water
This is an unusual wives tale about vampire that, perhaps not surprisingly, as been proven quite false. The idea was that the running water represented purity as it washed away all the filth. A vampire, being anything but pure, would be unable to cross the line of purity created by the running water. Needless to say this doesn't work at all. Very powerful vampires have little trouble jumping across entire buildings, so crossing a running stream is nothing.
The source of this myth likely has it's origins in vampire nobles of the dark ages once again. To the lords and land owners of the time, honoring the borders of one's land was extremely important. Even crossing onto another lord's land uninvtied could be considered an act of war. As such these vampire nobles made sure not to cross the borders into enemy territory unless they had to. During this time land was generally divided by natural borders so anyone could easily tell where one territory ended and the next began. Often this meant rivers, streams, and other bodies of running water. Thus people would see a known vampire lord refusing to cross a running river but not truly understand why.

[sabakakrazny]

so, which canaon is this? Is it consistant to CoH canon, or outside of it?

In the main, what I'm wondering is are there established differences from CoH canons veiw of vampires as opposed to commonly accepted interpretations of World Of Darkness vampire canon ?( argueably the most consisantly available canon)

I man, personally, Im cool withn people playing vampires - they have their place in comics for sure - but Im not sure I feel obligated to play Vampire the Superhero Game either. How much of this do I need to suck up if I don't entirely agree with it?

[ghostveil]

None of this is canon. It's a set of guidelines that you can use or reject as you please. It isn't official in any capacity.

As for World of Darkness vampires, World of Darkness is a setting that doesn't transplant well to City of Heroes at all. WoD is 75% atmosphere, and Paragon City just doesn't have a WoD atmosphere. Additionally, you have to answer questions like: Who is the Prince? Who are the Primogen? How do we play out disciplines? Generation? All that stuff?

Sure, you can play a WoD vampire if you like, no one is going to stop you. But the WoD/V:tM style of play just doesn't fit well in City of Heroes.

[drjackwolfe]

You forgot sparkles

[gothicshark]

Something for everyone to consider about Caios’s Vampire post, these are good and well thought out guidelines for vampire alts or mains in the city of heroes’ environment. With this said yes there is a similarity to WOD however that is because Caios and many others of us are Gamers, and WOD is one of the better RPGs where you could play a Vampire, yes you could have played an AD&D or Shadowrun Vampire but that was less common. I use to play a AD&D vampire, however WOD had a much better system even with all the politics involved.

Basically what I am trying to say is some of us have and do play Vampires in COH and if you want a set of guide-lines this will be helpful.

Currently I do have a semi-vampire character completely based in city lore, ie.. Nitus. So I find the guidelines rather useful however my ‘vampire’ is not at all traditional and I haven’t yet made it known ‘Who’ it is but lets say my Vampire is not at all normal, traditional, or lore braking in any way, but is a lot of fun and full of good RP potential and is already in Blood Angels, also I have a villain one who is a WOD style Demon who was in Alpha and may get switched to Rogue just for the hilarity of the character.

[Warp Factor]

Sept 27, 2010 22:38:22 GMT -5 sabakakrazny said:

so, which canaon is this? Is it consistant to CoH canon, or outside of it?

It's just a set of guidelines and general ideas that some of us have been using since the old days to keep vampire characters more or less consistent. Like Caios said, use as much or as little of it as you like. As far as I know, CoH canon hasn't addressed traditional undead vampires at all, they haven't appeared or been mentioned in any official material.

[sabakakrazny]

that’s why I was curious, because what little CoH canon there is seems to be vague at best, and pretty much non existent otherwise. While there’s vampires around in the canon, they seem to be manufactured ( Council sorts) more than the usual sort what you usually see.

Personally, I find it sometimes annoying the wide diversity of interpretations of how people handle vampires - more often than I care to contemplate they seem to be super powered killing machines who, considering many of the loopholes one encounters have few or no weaknesses at all making them OP to the point its nearly impossible to deal with or interact with them unless the your willing to contend with endless bulletproof posturing. And they are faster than Flash, tougher than Superman, fight better than Batman, richer than Bill Gates, are all gorgeous and well hung but with emotional issues that make a high school cheerleading squad seem well adjusted.

Mind, that’s not ALWAYS true - I’ve played Masquerade and used to play in Camarilla and Sabbat Minds Eye games in the larp, but those balanced players that were the norm there were woefully few and far between in unmoderated environments like MMOs such as CoH and WoW.

But a good vampire player? those are usually a joy to find, since they tend to devote effort to a well rounded character as opposed to a total mary sue. But sometimes they are hard to find ^.^ hence my curiosity. I like the fact there’s a set of consistent things people can follow, because it gives folks a common ground to work with.

Well done, Caois!

So, thats what I wanted to know!

[The Cheshire Cat]

I like the discworld take on vampires. They're naturally invulnerable, but they're very impressionable; so while they SHOULDN'T be harmed by garlic, people keep saying how they're weak against it and well, they can't ALL be wrong, can they?