Copyright crap: The author of this thing retains full copyright of the material, while hereby granting full permission for it to be reprinted in any format whatsoever, with the provisos that his name be forever attached to it, the text of the document be forever unaltered, and if anyone manages to figure out how to make big bucks off of it, the above mentioned author wants a cut. Oh, yes, and lest I forget, this notice must remain attached to the main text. I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU/LIB_IMC@CENTUM.UTULSA.EDU 6 January 1993/24 October 1997 *************************************************************************** I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 1 January 1994 Werewolf Human Form Wolf Form Length/Height: 1.7 2 meters Mass: 76 kg 76 kg Preferred Habitat: */*/* */*/* Max Velocity (m/s): 9 12 Body Points: 29 29 Armor Value: 0 2* Speed: 14 17 Strength: 15 21 Dexterity: 13 13 Constitution: 13 13 Intelligence: 14 14 Willpower: 16 16 Bravado: 12 15 Perception: 17 18 Appearance: 11 11 Stamina: 12 20 Power: 15 15 Size Variation: x.5 to x1.5 Food Value: 15 15 Armor Material: None Fur, 32 locs Special Attacks: Claw, DV 12III : Bite, DV 24II Skills: Brawling: 12 Tracking: 16 Hide: 16 Climb: 16 Listen: 17 Stealth: 14 Will transform into wolf form under the light of the full moon. Anyone who is bitten by a werewolf, and does not die, will also become a werewolf. Note that due to the magical nature of this creature, any weapon attempting to strike it, must be enchanted to a higher POW than the creature's AV. The only exception to this is that weapons made from silver, or one of the Sacred Woods, such as Ash, Alder, Oak, Willow, Yew, Hawthorne, etc. do normal damage, regardless of enchantment. There may be some connection between Werewolves and Magical Vampires (qv) ================== I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 1 January 1994 Demon (Low grade) Length/Height: 2 meters Mass: 125 kg Preferred Habitat: */*/* Max Velocity (m/s): 9 (walking); 12 (flying) Body Points: 37 Armor Value: 6* Speed: 16 Strength: 18 Dexterity: 14 Constitution: 10 Intelligence: 10 Willpower: 14 Bravado: 15 Perception: 9 Appearance: 3 Stamina: 21 Power: 25 Size Variation: n/a Food Value: n/a Armor Material: n/a Special Attacks: Claws, DV 34I : Bite, DV 34I Skills: Brawling: 7 Tracking Skill: 15 Camouflage: 7 Hide: 10 Climb: 12 Listen: 9 Stealth: 12 This bat winged humanoid is covered in fur, warts and slime. It has a humanoid head with a wolf-like muzzle and ears. Horns grow from its temples, reach back, down and around the neck (Giving an AV of 20 to the creature's neck). It has no other powers other than it can mimic any voice it has ever heard. Note that once a bite attack is successful, the creature's head will remain attached to the victim until either the flesh is bitten through, or until the head is pried off. Note that due to the magical nature of this creature, any weapon attempting to strike it, must be enchanted to a higher POW than the creature's AV. =============== I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 27 February 1994 Rat, Giant Mutant (Time Capsule #19 - by Greg Porter) Length/Height: 1 meters Mass: 25 kg Preferred Habitat: */*/N Max Velocity (m/s): 8 Body Points: 15 Armor Value: 0 Speed: 8 Strength: 7 Dexterity: 10 Constitution: 13 Intelligence: 2 (8 A) Willpower: 12 Bravado: 13 Perception: 10 Appearance: 4 Stamina: 8 Power: 4 Size Variation: x.5 to x2.0 Food Value: Nil Armor Material: Nil Special Attacks: Bite, DV 3 I Skills: Brawling: 10 =============== I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 27 February 1994 Wendigo (Marvel/Fabulous) Length/Height: 2.92 meters Mass: 820 kg Preferred Habitat: A/*/* Max Velocity (m/s): 22 Body Points: 95 Armor Value: 400 Speed: 20 Strength: 387 Dexterity: 12 Constitution: 100 Intelligence: 3 (14 A) Willpower: 50 Bravado: 50 Perception: 16 Appearance: 9 Stamina: 50 Power: 250 Size Variation: None Food Value: Nil Armor Material: Fur, Thin Leather, Magic Special Attacks: Claw, DV 194 III : Punch, DV 194 IV : Bite, DV 77 II : Kick, DV 387 IV Skills: Brawling: 12 The Wendigo is a creature transformed by an ancient curse. It is extremely resistant to extremes of heat and temperature. =============== I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 27 February 1994 Avatar of Set (M'Alo'Set) (Fabulous) Length/Height: 3 meters Mass: 585 kg Preferred Habitat: */*/* Max Velocity (m/s): 15 (20 in flight) Body Points: 80 Armor Value: 10 (Magical) Speed: 40 Strength: 52 Dexterity: 30 Constitution: 25 Intelligence: 19 Willpower: 20 Bravado: 20 Perception: 20 Appearance: 1 Stamina: 20 Power: 140 Size Variation: n/a Food Value: 0 Armor Material: Horny skin. Special Attacks: Claw, DV 26 II : Bite, DV 10 I : Tail Slap, DV 52 III : Wing Buffet, DV 26 IV Skills: Brawling: 19 Stealth: 19 Tracking: 19 A great "Winged Blackness" that harrasses people from their dreams. It can only manifest itself in the material world at night, and then only if forced to. If taken to a -15 impairment on anything, it will automatically return to the Astral Plane to regenerate. ================== I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 1 January 1994 Gargoyle (Traditional Demon) Length/Height: Variable, usually 2 meters Mass: Variable, usually 300 kg Preferred Habitat: */*/* Max Velocity (m/s): 9 (walking); 12 (flying) Body Points: Variable, usually 57 Armor Value: 10 Speed: 25 Strength: 30 Dexterity: 20 Constitution: 21 Intelligence: 12 Willpower: 14 Bravado: 18 Perception: 18 Appearance: 3 Stamina: 21 Power: 125 Size Variation: n/a Food Value: n/a Armor Material: n/a Special Attacks: Claws, DV 44I : Bite, DV 24I : Tail Barb. DV 60II Skills: Brawling: 15 Hide: 16 Climb: 12 Listen: 19 Stealth: 18 This bat winged humanoid is covered in fur, warts and slime. It has a humanoid head with a wolf-like muzzle and ears. Horns grow from its temples, reach back, down and around the neck (Giving an AV of 20 to the creature's neck). These demons can change their shape at will, as well as the material they are made of. The tail barb is poisoned: Infiltration method: N Normal dose: .1 G Effects: 1 second + 1s/Willpower pt of the target, (-6 All) 1 sec/infinity. Notes: There is no treatment for this magically based venom. Note that due to the magical nature of this creature, any weapon attempting to strike it, must be enchanted to a higher POW than the creature's AV. =============== I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 27 February 1994 "Bogeyman" (American Fabulous) Length/Height: 1.5 meters Mass: 75 kg Preferred Habitat: */*/* Max Velocity (m/s): 9 Body Points: 29 Armor Value: 0 (AV is based upon apparel) Speed: 18 Strength: 20 Dexterity: 15 Constitution: 20 Intelligence: 10 Willpower: 20 Bravado: 20 Perception: 10 Appearance: 6 Stamina: 20 Power: 20 Size Variation: x.5 to x1.5 Food Value: Nil Armor Material: Nil Special Attacks: Nil Skills: Brawling: 15 Hide: 15 Listen: 15 Stealth: 19 The Classical Bogeyman is essentially an entity of malevolence. feeding on the fear of its victims. It is capable of being injured, but never dies, being reborn into another form before returning for its vengeance. The Classical Bogeyman, in many ways, can be best described by its examples: Spring Heeled Jack, Jack the Ripper, Zodiac, the Grunch, Freddy Krueger, Leatherface, The Man with a Hook, etc. among them. As reflections of humanity's fear of "the other" or the "Outcast", their forms are legion. The Bogeyman is difficult to kill, as they can ignore all non-lethal damage up to a number equal to their Willpower. Even so, they regenerate a lost level of impairment per second. They can not regenerate lost body parts. If they are killed, most of them will become Ghosts and migrate into a new body to await the time of their "rebirth". Often this possession is symbolized by the presence of some form of tangible focus, such as a knife, a book, a hook, a hockey-mask, etc. ================== I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 1 January 1994 GHOSTS Ghosts are restless spirits whose "passing on to the next world" is somehow being prevented. They are often the transparent or translucent image of a person, usually how they looked at the at the time of their death. Being non-material, Ghosts leave no trace of themselves on the real world. Even the sight or sound of a ghost is elusive, and like an hallucination, they are only seen and heard in a person's mind. Their presence might otherwise be noted through a gentle wafting of air as they pass by, and some individuals seem to be able to sense their presence psychically. At times, a some Ghosts may be seen and heard by some people in a group, and not others. Some ghosts are able to "materialize" a physical form. It should be noted that the ectoplasm, or the pale gauze like matter the Ghost has built its "material" form from is massless, although the ectoplasm may be assumed to have a form of BP, based on the amount of Power the ghost has invested in producing it. The generation of Ectoplasm costs 1 point of Power for every BP of Ectoplasm generated, and the ghost can not exceed the number of BP it had during life. Therefore, a ghost can be assumed to have no BP, unless the ghost has materialized a "Body" from ectoplasm. Non-materialized ghosts have no BP, and no AV. They cannot be damaged by the vast majority of physical weapons. They may be damaged by enchanted weapons, at a DV equal to the weapons POW, as though the Ghost's POW were its BP. They may also be damaged by silver weapons, weapons of meteoric iron, or weapons made from specific forms of wood. Ghosts may be fought with normal physical weapons, but only when they have materialized a body, or have possessed one. Not being alive, Ghosts are incapable of generating Power. Therefore a Ghost must feed on the Power of the living around it. The levels of Power listed for a Ghost indicate those levels it was able to steal previously. When a ghost reaches 0 Power, it ceases to exist. As a rule, Ghosts have no real means of attack, except in those cases detailed below. At best, their most power form of attack is to act in a threatening manner, if possible. And if the person being "threatened" can actually see the ghost. Fortunately, Ghosts can possess simple physical objects for up to a minute per point of Power, assuming they possess a Concentration skill with a simple skill check, they may cause that item to react in a noticeable manner, for instance controlling the sound of wind chimes, the sound of a breeze through a harp's strings, etc. Each attempt costs an extra pt of Power. Every time they attempt such an action, people or things around them must roll a Perception roll, plus or minus one for every point the Ghost's roll was made or failed by. Ghosts can sometimes be repelled or exorcised by holy people, or spell casters, depending on the skill and power of the person performing the exorcism. There are two forms of Ghost, the Lesser and the Greater. The Lesser Ghost is the term used to define ghosts as portrayed on TV and in movies such as Ghost and Here comes Mr. Jordon. They are the "Basic Ghost" as described above. Lesser Ghosts are often trapped in the psychic trap of haunting. Although they may not see be aware of it, the living leave a psychic impression wherever they have been. Places where they spend a great deal of time, such as their homes and work places hold the strongest emanations. As a rule, these psychic impressions fade over time until they are so weak that they are imperceptible. However, strong emotions can leave a deeper, lasting mark, and at times these intense emotions can leave portions of the soul of the once living locked into repeating those brief snatches of a life. This is the most common form of a "haunting." In less common cases, a ghost will "haunt" or remain tied to a place, person or thing because there is something important that the ghost feels needs to be completed, although just what that thing is may not be part of the memory fragment that the entity is made from. Other ghosts may simply have failed to realize that they are dead. Lesser Ghosts Length/Height: n/a Weight/Mass: n/a Habitat: */*/* Max Velocity: 10 m/s BP: n/a AV: n/a Speed: 10 Strength: n/a Dexterity: n/a Constitution: n/a Intelligence: 10 Willpower: 12 Bravado: 10 Perception: 10 Appearance: n/a Stamina: n/a Power: 2 Size Variation: n/a Food Value: n/a Armor Material: n/a Special Attacks: n/a Skills: Ghosts that collect more power than they need to survive may eventually become "Greater" ghosts. These are the ghosts as portrayed on TV and in movies such as Beetlejuice. They have sufficient Power to generate ectoplasm, and therefore manifest themselves; they may alter their shape, although they will have a "true shape" to which they must eventually return. Greater Ghosts can be poltergeists, and can possess and manipulate the living and inanimate objects. The poltergeist tends to be a mischievous ghost looking for a good source of psychic energy to feed on. Poltergeists prefer to hang about young teenage girls as these tend to be a constant source of energy. Poltergeists may attack by throwing things around with Telekinesis, or they may just play pranks and jokes on the humans they have decided to spend time with. Poltergeists will have Power ranging from about 5 - 25. Their Telekinetic strength is 1 pt of POW per point of strength to a maximum of the strength they had in life. Since Poltergeists are so different in powers and personality, much of these are left to the GM for further definition. Poltergeists will steal only one or two points of Power a day from an individual, no more than can be easily regenerated. Some ghost either choose to exist, or are forced to exist by possessing inanimate objects. If they are forced to do so, by some spell caster or some such, the ghost is trapped in that object, imprisoned until the object is destroyed. The creature will then feed off of the Power of whoever touches it, often telling tales that it is a powerful magical item, to encourage physical and psychic contact. A ghost that exists in this way, generally has a Power from 25-50. In addition to the Telekinesis, they also possess the powers of Telepathy (Passive and Active), Domination (as described in the spell), and Psychic Shield (as described in the spell). Examples of Possessed Items: Amulet. A piece of soapstone carved in the form of a Sphinx. Length/Height: 3 cm x .75 cm x 4 cm Weight/Mass: .12 kg (?) Habitat: */*/* Max Velocity: 0 m/s BP: 1 AV: 1 Speed: 10 Strength: n/a Dexterity: n/a Constitution: n/a Intelligence: 14 Willpower: 15 Bravado: 13 Perception: 13 Appearance: n/a Stamina: n/a Power: 35 Size Variation: n/a Food Value: n/a Armor Material: n/a Special Attacks: Telekinesis Telepathy (Passive and Active) Domination Psychic Shield Skills: Concentration: 12 This amulet is possessed by the spirit of an old-time travelling confidence man, who fell afoul of his clientele one afternoon, and wound up being hung outside of town. His spirit has wandered about ever since, eternally seeking a Free Lunch. Several decades ago, he came upon this amulet scam, and has been using it cheerfully. He manages to dominate the amulet's new owners that he is a the "Amulet of Moldenado", a talisman of great fortune and wisdom. Eventually, believing the amulet gets the owner killers, however, and he is forced to begin with a new owner. Book of Spells. Length/Height: 20 cm x 29 cm x 4 cm (800 pg) Weight/Mass: 4.5 kg (?) Habitat: */*/* Max Velocity: 0 m/s BP: 4 AV: 4 Speed: 10 Strength: n/a Dexterity: n/a Constitution: n/a Intelligence: 12 Willpower: 12 Bravado: 9 Perception: 10 Appearance: n/a Stamina: n/a Power: 30 Size Variation: n/a Food Value: n/a Armor Material: n/a Special Attacks: Telepathy (Passive and Active) Domination Psychic Shield Skills: Concentration: 7 This large, worm eaten volume with gem studded, gold plated boards is possessed by the spirit of an ancient scholar who spent most of his time loitering about in libraries, getting the librarians to do his research for him. When he died, one of the librarians sought out his soul and trapped it into this volume, allegedly to protect it. The librarian knew that the volume's acid content would destroy the book after a few centuries, eventually freeing the troubled spirit. As they become more powerful, the ghost can eventually learn how to use its TK to "animate" the objects it possesses, even building a humanoid body out of any available materials or debris such as branches, twigs and leaves, bones, junk, dirt and rocks, etc. These objects must be small and not alive. To do this costs 1 pt. POW to possess the form and another pt POW/sec to maintain the cohesion of the body. On the other hand, the ghost can inhabit or be made to inhabit and animate objects like dolls and puppets, skeletons, mannequins, and even some statues. If the ghost possessed the item voluntarily, it costs the ghost 1 pt to enter the body, and 2 pts per hour thereafter to maintain. If the ghost has been forced into the body then there is no point cost to possess, or maintain, and furthermore the ghosts POW needs to survive are generated by the spell holding them in place. This sort of ghost can have from 50-75 POW. Note that damaging or destroying the inhabited body will in no way harm the ghost, although its body may be destroyed. These creatures take no stun effects or "eventually fatal" damage, and what might otherwise be considered a mortal blow is often shrugged off. What this means is that NO impairments are take from damage done to the body, although the appropriate BP is done. When the creature takes sufficient BP to render that body part non-functional, it stops working. The Body must be entirely destroyed to stop one of these creatures. At the GMs option, depending on the composition of the body used, Puncture and Cutting attack may only do half their normal DV, while Blunt and Entangling attacks do their normal damage, and electrical and freezing attacks do no damage at all. Examples: Zombie/Mummy: Length/Height: 1.7 m Weight/Mass: 99 kg Habitat: */*/* Max Velocity: 9 m/s BP: 34 AV: 0 Speed: 15 Strength: 21 Dexterity: 7 Constitution: 16 Intelligence: 12 Willpower: 16 Bravado: 14 Perception: 16 Appearance: 8 Stamina: 19 Power: 73 Size Variation: n/a Food Value: n/a Armor Material: n/a Special Attacks: Bite, DV 5II Fist, DV 10IV Telepathy (Passive and Active) Domination Psychic Shield Telekinesis (Special) Skills: Concentration: 14 Brawl: 12 Zombie/Skeleton: Length/Height: 1.5m Weight/Mass: 18kg Habitat: */*/* Max Velocity: 9 m/s BP: 14 AV: 15 Speed: 11 Strength: 11 Dexterity: 11 Constitution: n/a Intelligence: 12 Willpower: 16 Bravado: 14 Perception: 16 Appearance: 6 Stamina: 19 Power: 73 Size Variation: n/a Food Value: n/a Armor Material: Bone Special Attacks: Bite, DV 2 III Claw, DV 5 III Telepathy (Passive and Active) Domination Psychic Shield Telekinesis (Special) Skills: Concentration: 14 Brawl: 12 Rubbish Monster: Length/Height: 2.1m Weight/Mass: 120kg Habitat: */*/* Max Velocity: 7 m/s BP: 36 AV: 5 Speed: 15 Strength: 21 Dexterity: 11 Constitution: n/a Intelligence: 12 Willpower: 16 Bravado: 14 Perception: 16 Appearance: 4 Stamina: 19 Power: 73 Size Variation: n/a Food Value: n/a Armor Material: Junk Special Attacks: Fist, DV 12 III Telepathy (Passive and Active) Domination Psychic Shield Telekinesis (Special) Skills: Concentration: 14 Brawl: 12 Doll Monster: Length/Height: .5m Weight/Mass: 10kg Habitat: */*/* Max Velocity: 7 m/s BP: 10 AV: 5 Speed: 11 Strength: 11 Dexterity: 11 Constitution: n/a Intelligence: 12 Willpower: 16 Bravado: 14 Perception: 16 Appearance: 4 Stamina: 19 Power: 73 Size Variation: n/a Food Value: n/a Armor Material: Wood (solid) Special Attacks: Bite, DV 2 III Fist, DV 6 III Telepathy (Passive and Active) Domination Psychic Shield Telekinesis (Special) Skills: Concentration: 14 Brawl: 12 The most powerful of the ghost (POW 75+) is able to possess living bodies. The touch of one of these ghosts, whether astral of physical drains 2 points of Pow per successful strike, leaving a spreading feeling of cold numbness over the victim's body. Note that a successful strike means that the Ghost must hit the victim, then, subtracting the victim's POW total from the Ghost's, the Ghost must make a successful POW check. A strike, whether successful or not will cost the Ghost 1 pt/POW. When the victim's Pow reaches 0, the ghost can enter the body and possess it. Once the body is possessed, it will retain the stats it had previously, or change to become those of the ghost. A successful possession means the entity has fully inhabited the body of a living creature and totally dominates it. As the victim's body regenerates it's POW, that energy is immediately transferred to the Ghost, so that when the Ghost vacates the body, the victim will be left with only 1 pt. of Power. The ghost has the option of rendering the body's mind unconscious, or merely helpless, at it's leisure. Once the possession is successful, the ghost can even allow the body's mind to appear to be "in charge," although the ghost can assume control at an instant's notice. Since they never actually vacated the body, they do not have to fight to regain control. If the victim's mind remains conscious, he or she will be aware of everything their body does, but be helpless to stop it. =============== I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 27 February 1994 Vampire (CORPS) Length/Height: meters Mass: kg Preferred Habitat: Max Velocity (m/s): 9 Body Points: Armor Value: Speed: Strength: 18 Dexterity: 14 Constitution: 16 Intelligence: 12 Willpower: 16 Bravado: 15 Perception: 16 Appearance: 10 Stamina: 16 Power: 20 Size Variation: x.5 to x1.5 Food Value: Nil Armor Material: Nil Special Attacks: Nil Skills: Brawling: 9 Advantages: Immortality Pain Tolerance: Ignore non-lethal damage up to level of Willpower. Toughness: Only take half damage from physical attacks. Night Vision May have psionics Disadvantages: Vulnerability to UV light: Exposure causes DV6I/sec. Vulnerability to Anti-Bodies: Exposure causes DV6I/sec. Exposure to Strong Spices: Exposure causes DC6IV/sec. Strong Addiction to Human Blood. ================== I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 1 January 1994 Vampires and Vampirism The vampire, as we know the species, was originally a creature of myths and legends told over the flickering flames of the campfires, first in primitive hunting camps, then in peasant's hovels and lord's castle. The concept of life-stealing spirits of the night is a universal one. Vampires are predators whose natural prey, humanity is more usually the hunter than the hunted. Different traditions and cultures throughout history have believed a variety of things about vampires. It isn't easy for a researcher to balance between the mystique and an explanation of what is true about these creatures. Further confusing the issue, are the inherent differences between the types of vampires, as different bloodlines of creatures have differing abilities from on another, going so far as to separate into vampires whose powers are magical in nature, and those whose powers are not. Making this research more difficult, it is the power of the mystique of vampirism, those superstitions that have clustered around the vampires, which has had a enormous effect on what differences from one vampire to another. It is often the effect of the legend-telling tradition's beliefs, and the power of those beliefs that have proven most important to the forms that vampirism, particularly magical vampirism, have taken in regions where those legends are told. Other cultural beliefs, such as how a vampire should react to holy objects, or what they feed on, can have an effect on how a vampire will behave, even when those beliefs are wrong. There are myriad examples of the reputed origins for vampirism. The first of these examples begins in prehistory when the evil Elder Gods of Earth fled the Earth, or were imprisoned or destroyed. One of these imprisoned gods kept watch to try and escape. This evil god created the vampires for some unspeakable reason. Some of the other origins state that vampires are corpses possessed and animated by demons, or that they are people who have been blessed by a god of the life-death-rebirth cycle, that they are people who were cursed by the manner of their death or something that happened to them after their death, or even that they are people who have made pacts with demons. The final origin I shall examine, and the one which is the premise that this essay is based on, states that an alien organism arrived on Earth at some unknown time in the past. This organism, resembling a virus, was carried in a strangely radioactive meteor, which struck the Earth and exploded. The ground around the impact site was permeated by an obscure form of emanation from the broken meteor necessary to keep the organism or virus, and those creatures eventually affected by the virus healthy. In its basic form, the virus is a semi-sentient, psychically-endowed group organism, and harmless to terrestrial life. At some point, however, the virus began to mutate into a self-sustaining form that would affect humanity. And from this mutation, the basic, non-magical vampire was born. Later, other mutations engendered the vampire that was magical in nature. Vampires, considered by tradition to be undead creatures who exist off of the blood of their victims, are almost as varied as the types of people who become them. Each different `bloodline,' or a group of vampires who have descended from the same vampire, can have different mutations or forms of the disease. So two vampires who may appear totally the same, can have totally different reactions to the traditional defenses to the undead, or have totally different abilities. Most, however, share certain common traits. The `basic vampire' is non-magical in nature. It is inhumanly strong, capable of tearing a human being in half like a small phone book, and unbelievably fast, fast enough to reach into a person's chest and pull out the heart between two heartbeats. The vampire possesses a frightening array of metafunctions, and using them could pull out that same heart in the middle of a crowd with no one, including the victim, ever noticing the creature's presence. A vampire can psychically coerce its victims into lying back and baring their throats to it with but a thought. Vampires can absorb an amazing amount of damage before they are hurt, and they can regenerate that damage very quickly, depending on what made the wound. Vampires do not age physically, and as time goes by, most vampires grow more powerful. In part they simply grow wiser, learning new tactics and tricks. There are no stupid old vampires. In addition, they become physically tougher as their pseudoflesh becomes denser and harder to damage. Vampires are feared by humans because of their dangerousness in combat, because the feed on humans, whom many vampires consider little more than cattle ripe for the slaughter, and they are feared because, to paraphrase, vampires don't reproduce, they recruit. On the other hand, the more traditional vampire, the vampire as represented in legend, is a magical creature who is considerably more dangerous than their merely metapsychic brethren. Not only can the magical vampire do all the things mentioned for the basic vampire, it also possessed a wide range of supernatural powers. These powers are limited only by the strength and power of the vampire's will. For example, magical vampires can summon and control a variety of animals, they can shapeshift, even assuming a gaseous form at will. The strongest vampires, however, can control the weather, and many have even more unique powers. There are other general types of vampires, and these will be looked at more closely later. There are also different `bloodlines' of vampires, lineages stretching through the centuries from generation of vampire to the next. These different bloodlines often have different powers and reactions to things, different mutations from the basic vampire. But in general, all vampires, magical or not, conform to a general profile, straying from that profile only in detail. In the description that follows, it is to be assumed that what is being portrayed is valid for both the magical and non- magical vampires, except where the text is describing a particular detail of one form or the other. Appearance Vampires usually appear nearly exactly as they did during life before they `died.' The key terms here are `usually' and `nearly.' The most obvious difference in their appearance is the perpetually pale, faintly luminescent complexion that is due to lack of blood in the circulatory system. Most vampires are simply more pale in aspect than are normal people, although some vampires also have bleached hair and luminously pale eyes, and a few bloodlines have perpetually pure alabaster skins. Feeding brings about bloody eyes, blood stained tears, and the fetid, tainted breath of a hemophage, or blood drinker. If the creature has fed, its complexion appears slightly flushed. If it is cut or stabbed, the creature bleeds. Over the next few days after feeding, the body begins to lose it fresh appearance, and the face turns gaunt and gray. Regardless, most vampires can easily pass for normal humans, or whatever species the creature was originally. A vampire will usually appear between twenty and forty years in age. If they were elderly before they changed, they will rejuvenate somewhat, while children will remain children physically, in perpetuity. Vampires are capable of regenerating themselves, and the vampiric pseudoflesh can eventually repair any damage incurred by the vampire. A vampire will regenerate physical details such as hair, nails, etc. every night, although more significant regeneration of damage takes more time. Vampires are usually still, when not moving intentionally, or breathing in order to speak. This is an absolute stillness, as if of a corpse. If a vampire chooses, it can enter a form of suspended animation for up to centuries at a time. Although a few forms of vampire have fixed permanent fangs, in general, the teeth appear perfectly normal, and even X-rays will show no significant difference. Where the upper canines once existed, a rigid body of erectile tissue covered with finely fragmented enamel forms. When the vampire becomes hungry, or aroused, these teeth become engorged with the ichor that passes for blood in the body of the vampire. The teeth swell and achieve their full erect size, up to half an inch long. These are very sharp, fine blades that are used for cutting and penetrating. Finally, magical vampires have no reflection in a mirror or similar item. Because they have no reflection, nor can they be photographed. Feeding Vampirism is a disease, or interlocking arrangement of micro-organisms, operating similarly to a retro-virus, which alters the very nature of the cells in the vampire's body, one by one, and has exotic side effects and symptoms. The virus is quasi-sentient and is a psychically aware psychovore, surviving by consuming the life energies of others. Therefore, both magical and non-magical vampires are hemophagic psychovores with a hunger to live, a hunger for life. There are some forms of vampire that exist on other things besides blood, and these will be covered further on. In general though, while vampires seem to survive by the sheer force of their own will, they actually maintain their existence by feeding on both the blood and vital life force of their victims. The more intense the victim's emotion, the more psychic energy is created, the higher the psychic output of the victim, and the better it is for the vampire to feed upon. Vampires require psychic energy at the levels of intensity generated by death, terror, passion, or other extremes of emotion. This is why most vampires terrorize their victims, playing with them before feeding. Other vampires use techniques to arouse great passion in their "victims" before feeding. During the feeding process, the vampire often psychicly triggers an outpouring of pleasure from the victim, coercing the maximum energy output possible from the victim. Vampires themselves experience an intense orgasmic ecstasy while feeding. Vampires are addicted to the, to them, drug-like ecstasy gained from absorbing the of the victim. More addictive than the mere life energy though, is life energy that has been tainted with the psychic emanations of fear and death. If the vampire is not fed, there is an increasing chance of the creature going berserk until it is able to glut itself in a mindless feeding frenzy, as the beast within emerges. If still unable to feed, or to enter the state of suspended animation, the vampire can eventually begin to broadcast its hunger, frustration, and terror in a telepathic screaming. This screaming will continue until either the vampire is either fed or totally destroyed. This screaming causes serious distraction to most farsensors nearby. The energy taken in feeding is used to fuel the vampire's powers, as well as to maintain the creature's existence. Each cell in the vampire's body becomes a conduit for energy, as if each individual cell of the vampiric pseudoflesh were possessed of its own chakra. These chakratic cells are usually unable to collect from the ambiance, and convert this energy into their own life force. This inability is due to post mortem damage to the creature's primary chakratic system. It is possible that there are vampires out there whose chakratic systems have not been so damaged, and who can convert , but it is doubtful as the post-mortem damage is a result of the vampiric transformation. The sun is the primary source of the energy used by living beings as life energy, and although the vampire can't absorb this energy to support its powers, the creature's chaktratic system is somehow stimulated by `solar .' This stimulation is similar to vitamins given to a human; the vitamins are not the primary source of life, but are important to the overall health of the being. The chaktratic system is most efficiently stimulated by the amount of `solar ' energy found in the intensities of reflected moonlight at night. Under the intensity of the full sun, the chakratic system is stimulated into intense hyperactivity that quickly destroys the vampire, incinerating it as each of its cells burst into flame. This burning generates an intense heat that will consume the vampire's entire body. Onset is instantaneous with the first contact with sunlight, and even simple burns take upward of fifty years to heal. As the vampire ages, it develops better control over the excessive chakratic energy and is able to survive in indirect sunlight, then finally, to walk by day. However, even those vampires who are able to survive in daylight are less powerful under the sun than they would be at night as they are forced to commit more of their strength and concentration to controlling their bodies. Generally, the vampire becomes absolutely inactive during the hours when the sun is above the horizon, locked away from all light. This inactivity is forced on the vampire by its owns body. trying to protect itself from the sun. Those vampires that need their `native soil,'as discussed later, can hide from the sun any place, but will not be able to rest properly without that soil. Magical vampires who have changed their shape, for example into a bat, or a mist form, are frozen into that shape for the day, if they have not returned to their normal form by the time the sun rises. However, this other form will still burn if caught in the sun's light. The average vampire requires no more than a quart of blood every other day, and certainly not less than a cupful every week. This blood contains the necessary materials for the vampire to physically survive. Some vampires are also able to consume other fluids, such as fruit juices, bouillon, etc. These other fluids have little, if any nutritional value to the vampire, and may be consumed more out of social politeness than hunger. While vampires can survive by feeding from dead creatures, stored blood, or from animals, this diet lacks the proper psychic energies they require to survive. Stored blood is as bad, or worse than, animal's blood as the possibility for anti-coagulant poisoning also exists. It is possible for vampires to become effected by chemicals, such as alcohol or cocaine, that exists in their victim's blood. This tends to indicate the possibility that poisoned or diseased blood might have some long term effects, such as madness, on the vampire. The vampiric virus is transmitted when a vampire feeds from a victim, or engages in sexual activities, etc. The microbes are transmitted through saliva, or other bodily fluids, thereby enter the victim's bloodstream. The virus will remain inert in the victim's bloodstream until there have been six or so exposures, or more than 90% of the victim's blood has been removed by the vampire. After this point the virus enters its first vigorous stage, and takes an active hold on victim's system. Assuming the victim is still alive, the virus becomes a part of the victim's genetic code, and cannot be easily removed. After the virus has completed the genetic work in the first vigorous stage, it becomes dormant once more until conditions become more favorable for the change into the vampiric form. Therefore, the virus will not enter this first vigorous stage unless there is a large amount of the virus present. This usually happens only if the victim was the primary source of food for a vampire for an extended period of time. If a person feeds off the blood of a vampire, then the change can be brought about immediately. While it is possible for a person to become a vampire when killed by a single vampiric bite, this is unlikely because there is also a chance that the vampire who is draining a victim unto death will be dragged along into death by the psychic connection. If this doesn't kill the vampire, it could destroy their mind. Due to the magical nature of the mutation, it is possible for a person who is killed by a magical vampire, even though in barehanded combat, to be transformed. While the virus is highly active and potentially dangerous, neither the basic virus, nor the magical form is really able to defend itself against the body's immune system. It is only after that immune system has stopped working, can the virus begin the transformation. If none of the things mentioned above occur, and there is insufficient virus present to enter the first vigorous stage, the virus can't become part of the genetic code, the virus can be metabolized out of the victim's system in a matter of 2-6 weeks. Although, during this time the victim can still be controlled by the vampire who infected them. When an infected victim dies, the virus once more becomes active as the second vigorous stage begins the metamorphosis to vampiric form. The virus becomes a stimulus that revivifies the non-living host while simultaneously causing major modifications to the host's body. The virus first rewrites the body's genetic structure. Assuming that there is no extensive internal damage, the corpse undergoes a major metamorphosis. Minor damage will either be repaired, or else healed around, possibly leaving the vampire permanently mutilated. However, if the body had been extensively damaged before death, or immediately after death, particularly if there had been damage to the nervous system, then the transformation will not occur. After the genetic code has begun to be rewritten, all waste materials are forcefully eliminated, and all body fats are either converted into regenerative raw material or else is ejected with the bodily wastes. This often leaves the vampire with an appearance of gauntness and elongation. Then the flesh begins its gradual conversion to the `pseudoflesh' of the vampiric form. This pseudoflesh contains the vampire's cellular chakratic system. The total conversion from flesh to pseudoflesh takes centuries, and is similar to petrification of fossils. The older the vampire is, the more pseudoflesh it is. Pseudoflesh toughens against the allergens that effect vampires with time, as the vampire's control over its bodily energy increases. When exposed to the sun, the pseudoflesh of older vampires burns slowly and more completely while that of the younger vampires burns hotter and faster. Other changes that occur are an enhancement of the senses to a preternatural level that can allow the vampire to count the people in a building from outside, merely by the sound of their breathing, or to detect a lie by the trembling of the speaker's voice. The changes to the senses also allow the vampire to see at great distances and further into the ultraviolet bands of the spectrum. The digestive tract is redesigned to allow the absorption of necessary enzymes and amino acids for the body's continued existence from the circulatory fluids of other creatures, or, if necessary, to build those nutrients from whatever it can glean from the fluids the vampire consumes. The creature's musculature and skeletal systems are rebuilt and strengthened to grant a strength that is 10-20 time what it had been in life, as well as increased speed, reflexes, dexterity and agility. Finally, there is an alteration to the neurological systems, triggering the vampire's psionic powers, as well as increasing the speed at which a vampire can think, its reaction times, and improving its memory. Other, more cosmetic, changes to the magical vampire can include an increase in hirsuteness, a lengthening of the face into a muzzle or snoutish appearance, pointed ears, etc. The change to vampiric form may, but not necessarily, cause insanity, or other personality change. For some magical vampires, such a personality change might be part of the magical effect, but, in general, these personality changes have less to do with what happens during the transformation, than with how the person being transformed reacts to the changes. It is possible that the virus might fail, and create a Vrykolakas or `ghoul,' or perhaps a mindless or insane vampire. A vrykolakas or mindless vampire might also occur if the vampiric virus is introduced into a corpse. Vrykolaki are more fully discussed elsewhere The change generally takes twelve to twenty-four hours, although transformations taking up to three days aren't unknown. The transformation requires the expenditure of a great deal of energy, so that once transformed, the vampire will either become active and very hungry, or else sleep for a number of days. The response is fairly individual and unpredictable. The primary powers of vampires are their psionic powers. Of the vampiric powers, the Coercive powers are of the greatest importance. These are exemplified by the vampiric abilities to charm and seduce their victims, to exert great mental control over other beings, and to control vampires of lesser strength and power. Vampires can control and manipulate the powers of other vampires nearby, by a special exertion of their coercive will, because of the similarity between the vampiric forms. The more powerful vampire can override the lesser vampire's control over itself, and its mental and physical systems. Vampires can also mesmerize or hypnotize those around them. By extending this ability into an aura, or field, of Avoidance, or psionic Invisibility, the vampire can disappear from sight, as the minds of those around the vampire refuse to acknowledge its presence. If the vampire should desire, it can generate an aura of Fear to terrify those around it, or cause other beings to fall into a deep sleep. The vampire can force its victim's mind to go blank, or into a trance-like state, prior to, or during, feeding. Helping their enhanced senses, vampires also have extensive farsenses, and can even taste or feel the minds of others. The process of feeding creates a psychic link between victim and vampire. This link may last well after the virus has been metabolized from the victim's system. This communication may be either one way, with the vampire able to communicate with the victim from a distance, or two way, the vampire able to receive impressions from the victim. Some vampires develop the PK ability to levitate, then to fly as they get older. The magical vampire may possess a wide range of supernatural powers. These powers are limited only by the strength and power of the vampire's will. For example, magical vampires can summon and control a variety of animals, they can shapeshift, even assuming a gaseous form at will. The strongest vampires, however, can control the weather, and many have even more unique powers. If a sleeping vampire is disturbed, it will attack as if awake, without necessarily waking up. Some magical vampires have the ability to temporarily drain life energy merely by a soul chilling touch. A person drained to unconsciousness in this fashion will fall into a coma, remaining unconscious until all the energy has been regenerated. There are no other ill effects from this touch. Potentially, the most dangerous power of the vampire is the toughness of the pseudoflesh and the immunities that result from that toughness. A non-magical vampire can absorb a tremendous amount of damage from any physical attack aimed at them, as though they were wearing armor. Even without that, they regenerate at a sufficiently great speed that weapons made from certain types of materials, the allergens, can harm them badly enough to wear them down. A magical vampire, on the other hand can only be damaged at all by weapons made from allergen materials, or that are magical in some way can even harm them. Kinetic energy damage is shrugged off, bullets, knives, etc. either pass through them as though they were mist, or bounce off their skin, depending on the bloodline of the vampire. Vampires, and the virus, have a number of `allergies.' Different `bloodlines' of vampires, including different types of vampires, having slightly different mutations of the virus, immunities to one or two of these allergens, but for the reasons explained below, these allergens will at least strike and damage all forms of vampire. If they are not immune to these substances, these allergic reactions can easily be lethal to the vampire. And so these things could be used to kill the vampire. The term allergen is used only in its definition of `a substance that produces and altered body reactivity.' The allergens are the Sun, as mentioned before, silver, certain specific herbs such as Garlic and Wolvesbane (also called Monkshood or Aconite), as well as Hawthorne, Whitethorn, or Blackthorn woods. Some other woods, such as Oak, Ash, Alder, Willow, Aspen, Maple, Yew, etc. can be used to damage the vampire, but will not trigger an allergic reaction in the vampire. Certain organic materials, such as the woods mentioned above, and metals, silver, have the ability to disrupt the vampire's chakratic systems, even if they aren't allergens, because those materials interfere with the natural flow of Vril. Large bodies of water tend to inhibit the vampire's natural absorption of Vril, by dampening the energy levels. The burning affect of the Sun on the vampiric chakratic systems has already been discussed. In totally magical vampires, the divine energy, and the energy of belief found in holy objects acts similarly to sunlight, burning the vampire. Because the amount of pseudoflesh that makes up the vampire's body changes over time, as well as the vampire's control over his own bodily energies, the physical response to the allergens differs overtime. In the young vampire, allergic reactions consist of agonizing swelling and burning, lasting for upwards of weeks at a time, while for older vampires, the reaction becomes little more than a small burn, and eventually the vampire becomes immune to them to the allergies over time. `Native soil' is a symbol of the vampire's links to the patterns of Vril power of the Earth. Any vampire can `go to ground' or bury itself to sleep in the earth, and survive asleep off the life energy of the planet. Vampires of a magical nature reflect this symbolism in their need for native soil. The magical vampire needs the soil of the vampire's human birthplace, or perhaps the soil of the vampire's vampiric birthplace, to survive. Some magical vampires may walk by daylight, if the vampire maintains some of its native soil on its person. To kill a vampire, tradition states the vampire's mouth should be filled with garlic, a wooden stake driven through the creature's heart, and finally decapitation. Garlic deadens the creature's brain, as the herb's antibiotic properties attack the virus. The stake, or a consecrated dagger stuck through the creature's heart stops the circulatory system, and decapitation disrupts the central nervous system. Other suggested weapons are silver nitrate injections, garlic distillate, etc. In one case, bullets carved of lignum vitae, a hardwood dense enough that it won't float, with a silver or lead core was used. Submersion under a depth of water can force the vampire into a state of suspended animation, as the Vril flow is disrupted, and as the cells begin to die, eventually, the regeneration breaks down and the vampire will dissolve. After the creature is dead, post-mortem decomposition is rapid as the pseudoflesh disintegrates. Different `bloodlines' of vampires, including different types of vampires, have different mutations of the virus. Some of these mutations grant immunity to silver, garlic, and/or the other allergens, as well as different physical modifications. Mutations in the bloodlines tend to `breed true' into their `fledglings,' or newly created vampires. Young vampires, particularly newly created vampires, are helpless to flooding impressions of the senses, as well as the weaknesses to sunlight, etc., and they need an older vampire to teach them. A permanent psychic bond exists between the young vampire, sometimes called a fledgling and the vampire that created them. Because of the power inherent in this bond usually only the head vampire of an area is allowed to create new vampires. ================== I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 1 January 1994 Game notes: 1. Allergens for Type I and II vampires are generally Sunlight, Garlic, Silver, the Sacred Woods, such as Ash, Alder, Oak, Willow, Yew, Hawthorne, etc. Allergens for Types III and IV include those for types I and II, and add to them the "Belief" energy of holy and consecrated items and relics. With the exception of Sunlight, Allergens have a DV of 5III per second of contact with the vampire's flesh. Sunlight has a DV = vampire's total exposure time in seconds/vampires BP. Sunlight Damage is Type I. 2. Vampires that have been undead for fifty years or so, show a marked tendency to become careless as their peer group begins to obviously age and die. A large majority of vampires never survive past this age. At this age, a vampire can stand about a minute of direct sunlight before they die. This will burn them badly, but not kill them. For every decade of vampiric existence, the vampire receives a 1% resistance to the vampiric allergens, and is able to survive an additional minute of direct exposure to sunlight. By sunlight, this refers to the direct light of the sun on the vampire, not the diffused light of dawn, etc. 3. When a vampire reaches 300 years old, there is a tendency to lose all touch with whatever humanity they might have once possessed, and go insane. This is often fatal as such insanity can lead to carelessness. 4. At the age of 400 years, a vampire's resistance to the sun jumps to an hour. 5. At the age of 500, a vampire achieves a reasonable immunity to solar radiation, as long as reasonable precautions are taken, such as avoiding exposure to sunlight at the intensity found in space, etc. 6. By the age of 1000, the few remaining vampires are totally immune to all allergens, and sunlight. 7. Vampiric POW is determined as follows: A base 5-50 +1/BP +1/Int +1/Decade of vampiric existence. ---------------- This is the vampire's base POW, and will regenerate as long as the vampire has fed recently. Added to this is the POW it has drained from its victims the last time it fed, minus anything it has spent so far. 8. Vampire populations run about 60% (under the age of 50), 30% (51-200 years old), 8% (201-400 years old), 1.5% (400-500 years old), and about .5% (over 500 years old). 9. Invulnerability: (With many thanks to Kirk Haines for his help here and his suggestions) A. Plain invulnerability. Here the being has a certain innate AV. This is reflected in the "Natural" AV's of various creatures, but could be extended upwards to beings whose "Hyperdense flesh" made them "bulletproof" ala Comics. B. Magical Invulnerability I. The DV of a weapon must exceed the Power of the creature being attacked. Ba. After the Power has been exceeded, only the DV of the attack that actually exceeded the Power is taken. Bb. After the Power has been exceed, all the DV of the attack that actually exceeded the Power is taken. C. Magical Invulnerability II. The Power of the weapon must exceed the Power of the creature being attacked for the attack to be effective. Once the Power has been exceeded then ALL the DV from that weapon during that attack is used. D. Magical Invulnerability III. This actually blends BOTH #1 and #3. E. MI IV. The creature is assumed to have an innate base effect of X for magical protection. It is always on, without concentration, willpower expenditure, etc.... For example, the Evil Child Eater has a POW of 26, giving him a POW aptitude of 7. Evil C.E. has a base effect of 280 for invulnerability. This gives him an AV of 40 (280/7=effect of 40) against all weapons of POW 1. This means that normal weapons (or those that the invulnerability is not effective against -- maybe silver or whatever) won't affect him unless they are pretty powerful, but even moderately enchanted weapons, or powerfully applied lightly enchanted weapons will make him sit up and take notice. F. MI V = MI IV, except that the creature has the capacity to improve his capacity for magical protection, by improving those innate powers of concentration and willpower he is using to give him the MI. G. MI VI = MI V, except that it is a further expansion, allowing more conscious control over the MI, such as letting the creature have control over the amount of MI active. H. MI VII. Invulnerability via regeneration. Basically, the creature has an always active base effect of X for healing wounds. Short of instantly fatal results, or a lot of hits that overwhelm the regenerative capacity of the creature, it would be REALLY hard to kill. I. MI VIII. similar in spirit to V. J. MI IX. similar in spirit to VI. MIs V-IX could all be combined with natural physical DV. Non-magical vampires have Invulnerability type #1, and their AV increases, 1/decade of vampiric existence. This means that our 500 year old non-magical vampire can still be brought down by an M16 with an DV of 50. He can be brought down, though by any weapon with a POW of 1; Silver bullets or blades, and certain types of wood, depending on his Bloodline. Just to liven up the pot, we give the Non-magic vamps a +1/50 years regarding stun effects, and only specific wounds, such as decapitation are fatal. They get a regeneration of: Lethal impairment - number of hours Non-lethal impairment - number of minutes Stamina Impairment - Half the imp. in seconds Power impairment - Recovery when fed. Note that Allergin wounds will take the normal amount of time to heal. Magical Vamps, on the other hand, instantly heal any wound whose DV is less than their Magical AV. This means that a longsword with a POW of 11, hitting a 500 year old vampire does, say 13I (Max. 16I). It exceeds the MAV of 10, so 13DV is taken. 10 of that is instantly healed. 3 then goes through the normal damage procedure on the vampire. Added to this, Magical vampires, can have any of the various types of Magical Invulnerability, as a part of their bloodline's powers. As a rule Magical Vamps gain a magical AV of 1/every 50 years of Vampiric life. Our five hundred year old vampire can be brought down with silver bullets or blades, specific woods, or a weapon with a POW of 11 or better. Costs for vampiric survival: Survival: Nighttime or in properly shaded area. Normal Activity: 1/day Combat or stress: 1/hour Direct Sunlight* Normal Activity. 1/hour . Combat or stress. 1/minute Suspended animation: .2/day Costs of powers vary with use. ================== I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 1 January 1994 Vampires, Type I Length/Height: 1.7 m Weight/Mass: 100 kg Habitat: */*/* Max Velocity: 20 m/s BP: 33 AV: 18 Speed: 35 Strength: 49 Dexterity: 20 Constitution: 20 Intelligence: 14 Willpower: 18 Bravado: 18 Perception: 18 Appearance: 16 Stamina: 20 Power: 95 Size Variation: x.5 to x1.5 Food Value: Nil Armor Material: Dense flesh Special Attacks: Punch 25III Skills: Concentration: 15 Tracking: 18 Stealth: 17 These are the `basic,' non-magical vampire, the stats based on an age of 200 years. They are psychovoric hemophages with enhanced physical properties, and metafaculties. They can be seen in mirrors, are photographable and recordable. They have allergies to silver, garlic, and the sun, but they have no allergies toward holy items. They have no definite need of "native soil" to survive. New vampires are usually under the total psychic domination of creator. Any `vrykolakas' they may create are totally mindless, and have few, if any powers. ================== I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 1 January 1994 Vampires, Type II Length/Height: 1.7 m Weight/Mass: 100 kg Habitat: */*/* Max Velocity: 20 m/s BP: 33 AV: 18 Speed: 35 Strength: 49 Dexterity: 20 Constitution: 20 Intelligence: 14 Willpower: 18 Bravado: 18 Perception: 18 Appearance: 16 Stamina: 20 Power: 95 Size Variation: x.5 to x1.5 Food Value: Nil Armor Material: Dense flesh Special Attacks: Punch 25III Skills: Concentration: 15 Tracking: 18 Stealth: 17 Basic description of the creature remains unaltered from that of the type I vampire. They are psychovoric hemophages with enhanced physical properties, and metafaculties. Their powers are basically nonmagical in nature. That these creatures have any magical specialties is only identifiable by the fact that they need of soil from the vampire's human birthplace to survive. These creature's have no reflection, and they are not photographable. They possess many of the same allergies as the Type I vampire, and they still have no aversion to holy objects. New vampires are not under any form of Psychic Domination by their creator. Their `vrykolakas' are non-powered, immortal, daywalkers with full mental powers. ================== I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 1 January 1994 Vampires, Type III Length/Height: 1.7 m Weight/Mass: 100 kg Habitat: */*/* Max Velocity: 20 m/s BP: 33 AV: 18 Speed: 35 Strength: 49 Dexterity: 20 Constitution: 20 Intelligence: 14 Willpower: 18 Bravado: 18 Perception: 18 Appearance: 16 Stamina: 20 Power: 115 Size Variation: x.5 to x1.5 Food Value: Nil Armor Material: Dense flesh* Special Attacks: Punch 25III Skills: Concentration: 15 Tracking: 18 Stealth: 17 The stats are figured for a vampire ages 200 years. For one aged 500 years, the AV = 48 and the POW = 145 These are the classical, traditional vampires with magical powers. They need the soil of the vampire's grave to survive. They have no reflection, and they are not photographable. They can change their shape. Some are alleged to control the weather. They have the full range of allergies. They are susceptible to the religious power in holy objects. They must be invited into a residence before it is possible for them to enter. New vampires are usually under the total domination of creator. The virus may be inadvertently transmitted by animals. Their `vrykololaki,' are mindless or insane. Examples are found in the Wiesczy (Poland); Bruxsa (Portugal); Ciuateteo (Mexico); Dearg-Dul (Ireland); Ekimmu (Assyria); Empusa (Greece); Katakhana (Crete); Krvopijac (Bulgaria); Krvopijac (Bulgaria); Lobishomem (Brazil); Murohy (Rumania); Nosferat (Rumania); Ogoljen (Bohemia); P'O (Chinese); Pamgri (Hungary); Upuir/Upierczi (Russia, Poland); Vapir (Bulgaria); Vlkodlak (Serbia), etc. *Note that due to the magical nature of this creature, any weapon attempting to strike it, must be enchanted to a higher POW than the creature's AV. The only exception to this is that weapons made from silver, or one of the Sacred Woods, such as Ash, Alder, Oak, Willow, Yew, Hawthorne, etc. do normal damage, regardless of enchantment.================== I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 1 January 1994 Vampires, Type IV Length/Height: 1.7 m Weight/Mass: 100 kg Habitat: */*/* Max Velocity: 20 m/s BP: 33 AV: 18 Speed: 35 Strength: 49 Dexterity: 20 Constitution: 20 Intelligence: 14 Willpower: 18 Bravado: 18 Perception: 18 Appearance: 16 Stamina: 20 Power: 95 Size Variation: x.5 to x1.5 Food Value: Nil Armor Material: Dense flesh* Special Attacks: Punch 25III Skills: Concentration: 15 Tracking: 18 Stealth: 17 This category includes any creatures created by the mutation of the virus past the Type III form. This includes all unique or local variations such as the Alp (Saxony); Ananngel (Philippines); Asanbosam (Africa); Blautsauger (Bosnia-Herzegovina); Catacano (Crete, Rhodes); Hantu-Pari/Hantu Penyardin (Malaysia); Jilaiya (Bihar); Lamia (Greece); Langsuir (Malaysia); Lobishumen (Brazil); Moslem (Yugoslavia); Mulo (Serbia); Rakshasa (Northern India); Striges (Greece); Strigoi (Rumania), etc. *Note that due to the magical nature of this creature, any weapon attempting to strike it, must be enchanted to a higher POW than the creature's AV. The only exception to this is that weapons made from silver, or one of the Sacred Woods, such as Ash, Alder, Oak, Willow, Yew, Hawthorne, etc. do normal damage, regardless of enchantment. ================== I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 1 January 1994 Vampires, Type V Length/Height: 1.7 m Weight/Mass: 100 kg Habitat: */*/* Max Velocity: 9 m/s BP: 33 AV: 0 Speed: 10 Strength: 11 Dexterity: 10 Constitution: 10 Intelligence: 14 Willpower: 15 Bravado: 14 Perception: 12 Appearance: 12 Stamina: 12 Power: 20 Size Variation: x.5 to x1.5 Food Value: Nil Armor Material: Nil Special Attacks: Punch 10IV Skills: Concentration: 15 Stealth: 12 Pistol: 10 These vampires are unlike the others in that they are not dead, and may never have even been exposed to the virus. They are living people who subsist of the psychic emanations of other living beings. They may have the full psionic armory of the full vampire, but have none of the allergies. ================== I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 1 January 1994 Vrykolakas Length/Height: 1.7 m Weight/Mass: 100 kg Habitat: */*/* Max Velocity: 9 m/s BP: 33 AV: 0 Speed: 12 Strength: 13 Dexterity: 11 Constitution: 14 Intelligence: 13 Willpower: 16 Bravado: 15 Perception: 10 Appearance: 14 Stamina: 20 Power: 30 Size Variation: x.5 to x1.5 Food Value: Nil Armor Material: Nil Special Attacks: Punch, DV 6IV Skills: Concentration: 13 Stealth: 15 Pistol: 14 These are really not vampires, so much as they are zombies, or animated dead, resembling those possessed by Greater Ghosts (qv). They, too have a myriad forms, the basic form being non- magical while other forms are magical. In the non-magical form, it is possible that the virus might fail, and generate a mindless vampire, or `ghoul.' A `ghoul' might also occur if the vampiric virus is introduced into a corpse. Also called a mindless vampire, these creatures literally have no minds, or at best their minds have been destroyed. Rarely, or with certain types of vampire, the virus will generate an undead being still housing its intact mind. They have a number of the vampiric powers, such as regeneration, etc., but they have no allergies to things, or to the sun. They may exist on the blood and meat of carrion, rather than the energy and blood from living things, in perpetuity. In the magical form, it is also possible that the virus might fail, and generate a mindless vampire, or `ghoul.' A `ghoul' might also occur if the vampiric virus is introduced into a corpse. Also called a mindless vampire, these creatures literally have no minds, or at best their minds have been destroyed. They have a number of the magical vampiric powers, such as regeneration, but they have no allergies to things, or to the sun. They may exist on the blood and meat of carrion, rather than the energy and blood from living things, in perpetuity. ================== I. Marc Carlson IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU 1 January 1994 Types of vampires: Alp (Saxony) A vampire that appears as a butterfly. Type III or IV. Alukah (Hebrew) This is a unique entity. He is a normal Type III vampire. Accompanied by his twin daughters, who constantly cry "Give, Give." He reputedly has a castle hidden in a large group of mountains, but rarely stays there, preferring to wander the Earth. Ananngel (Philippines) See Pennagalin Asanbosam (Africa) These vampires have hooks instead of feet. Only a priest can kill an Asanbosam. Type IV. Baobhan Sith (Ireland) While not technically a vampire, it is often considered such. See Vrykolakas, as well as description elsewhere. Bhuta (West India) See Vrykolakas. Blautsauger (Bosnia-Herzegovina) Type IV vampire. Hairy, with no skeleton and large eyes. It only turns it victims into vampires by forcing them to eat dirt from its grave. Bramaparusha (Northern India) See Vrykolakas. Bruxsa (Portugal) Normal Type III vampire. Burkolokas (Greece) See Vrykolakas. Catacano (Crete, Rhodes) Type IV vampire. Always grinning with very white teeth, this vampire spits blood, which causes horrible burns. Ch'ing Shih (China) While not technically a vampire, it is often considered such. See Vrykolakas, as well as description elsewhere. Ciuateteo (Mexico) Normal Type III vampire. Dearg-Dul (Ireland) Normal Type III vampire. Dhampir A Dhampir is human born of a sexual union between a human and a vampire. Due to their unusual nature, they have certain affinities for vampires. For example, they can identify a vampire at any time, and have tremendous resistance to all a vampire's coercive powers. They can use any weapon against any vampire as the weapon were magical vampiric allergin, effecting even older vampires, according to traditional vampiric lore. Dybbuk (Hebrew) Although thought of as a type of vampire, neither of the two creatures that use this name are actually vampires. Ekimmu (Assyria) Normal Type III vampire. Empusa (Greece) Normal Type III vampires. Beautiful women, they coax young men into marrying them, then kill and feed from them. Farkaskoldus (Hungary) See Vrykolakas. Hantu-Pari/Hantu Penyardin (Malaysia) Type IV vampire. 3' tall invisible vampires that suck blood from open wounds, and keep them from healing. Hungry Dead (Hollywood) See Vrykolakas. Jilaiya (Bihar) Type IV vampire. Wear the form of night birds, singing an eery song. They prefer to feed only from people they know. Katakhana (Crete) Normal Type III vampire. Krvopijac (Bulgaria) Normal Type III vampire. Krvopijac (Bulgaria) Normal Type III vampire, allegedly with only one nostril. It is said that they can be defeated by having a wizard or priest walk over the vampire's grave, order its soul into a bottle of blood and then burn the bottle. Lamia (Greece) Type IV vampire, although many may be Type V. Beautiful women, their preferred form is human headed serpent or reptile. Langsuir (Malaysia) Type IV vampire. This is a woman who dies in childbirth, having been exposed to the virus. She feeds primarily off of small children. Lobishomem (Brazil) Normal Type III vampire. Lobishumen (Brazil) Type IV vampire. This vampire looks like a small, stumpy hunchbacked monkey with a yellow face, bloodless lips, black teeth, a bushy beard and plush covered feet. Moslem (Yugoslavia) Type IV vampires. Vampire snakes. Mulo (Serbia) Type IV vampires. These appear as normal people wearing white clothes, who charm their victims and place them into boiling pots of water. The term can also refer to evil spirits in general. Murohy (Rumania) Normal Type III vampire. Nocnitz Looks like a Hag. They may be a form of Type V, as they are normally astral in form, manifesting a physical body only to attack or to feed. Nosferat (Rumania) Normal Type III vampire. Ogoljen (Bohemia) Normal Type III vampire. P'O (Chinese) Fairly normal Type III vampires, but they can't shape change, and usually remain invisible. Pamgri (Hungary) Normal Type III vampire. Rakshasa (Northern India) Preferred form is Tiger. Magic-using flesh eaters. Although relatively normal Type IV vampires, see description else where. Stirge See Strige. Striges (Greece) Type IV vampire. These wear the form of birds,a nd prefer to feed on young children. Strigoi (Rumania) See Strige. Tii (Polynesia) See Vrykolakas. Upuir/Upierczi (Russia, Poland) Normal Type III vampire. Vapir (Bulgaria) Normal Type III vampire. Varcolaco (Rumenia) See Vrykolakas. Vilkolak (Poland) See Vrykolakas. Vlkodlak (Serbia) Normal Type III vampire. Vrykolakas (Greece) See Vrykolakas above. Vyestitsa (Serbia) `Sorceress' Vampires (any type) who are also powerful wizards. They are accused of eating the hearts of small children. `Water-Colts' (Celtic) These are usually though of as black unicorns. They may be a form of Type IV, although they are normally intangible in form, manifesting a physical body only to attack or to feed. Wiesczy (Poland) Normal Type III vampire. Wurwolaka (Albania) See Vrykolakas.