Post by Evagrii Pakoslav on Feb 17, 2013 0:00:43 GMT -5
Here are some basics on vampires. Since popular ideas, concepts, and definitions of vampires are as varying as there are people within the world, I decided to compile what research and knowledge I had of vampires into a nice little short summary of them.
For those of whom that are aware of White Wolf Publishing's pen-and-paper roleplaying game Vampire: The Masquerade, we will be using some terms from there. Clan powers are usable but since we are not strictly following the RPG's rules, there will be some exceptions to vampiric abilities such as immediately becoming toast in the light. Now it depends on clans, bloodlines, and individuals. Else, rules of the Masquerade do not have to be upheld, especially since vampires, werewolves, and other such creatures of the night and demons are already very well known to humans at this point in this forum.
All vampires are injured in some way by the sun and UV exposure either by death, severe burns, or just sunburns. All vampires are equally mortal to stakes to the heart, regardless of material. All vampires have the ability to move at supernatural speeds (but keep it realistic), have supernatural strength, supernatural healing, and supernatural senses. All vampires drink blood but don't have to in order to survive. Vampires are immortal in the sense that they do not age and are cold to the touch. Not all vampires are undead as a person that was changed while still alive will still be able to maintain bodily functions such as pregnancy. Vampires changed while dead, however, won't be able to reproduce. Same goes for blood, bleeding, and the like. Vampires changed while alive are able to bleed. Vampires changed while dead will have coagulated blood and won't be able to bleed as easily. As far as those born as vampires, these traits will be dependent on the parents' traits.
Detailed here will be a few of the most used types of vampires. If anyone has any questions or comments, please feel free to contact Evagrii Pakoslav.
Not only are there as many concepts and ideas of vampires as there are people, there are also just as much ideas and concepts as to how to become a vampire. For the sake of this roleplay, we'll use the concept of embracing. An embrace is when a vampire bites a victim that is still alive then feeds the victim the blood of said vampire. The victim could either be on the last breath of life or simply a person who was bitten and fed. It is possible for the victim to die during this process if he or she is on his or her last breath of life and become an undead. Otherwise, again for the purpose of the roleplay, the concept and transformation of the undead vampire are narrowed down to two main ways. Transformation can be caused by being killed and/or bitten by a vampire in a violent enough way where the soul that should leave the body fails to leave the body, keeping it animated but with a dead body. Transformation can also be caused by a vampire biting a rather violent and socially horrible person, such as a murderer, who then dies with the soul too troubled to move on thus returns to the dead body. The person could either have died during when he or she was being fed upon or at a later date.
While one may want to come up with something a little more common or traditional, I do suggest that it does in some way, shape or form stay within the confines of the rules. As this is a roleplay forum, creativity is encouraged. One example I can think of is a person is dying, a vampire comes by and vampire bites the victim. If the person that is dying was dying due to say a sword fight, which is rather violent, then it qualifies as a violent death thus turning the person into an undead vampire. Though at this point an embrace could've been used as well but either way, you get the picture. =]
Since this is set in the future some, if there are evolutionary advancements and scientific advancements that will allow some vampires to be somewhat more tolerant to certain things, please explain them in detail whether on the profile or in the post. For example, and this is a bit more magical, a charmed or enchanted item can prevent vampire flesh fires when coming in contact with UV. Bad example since that's magic. Erm, better example: A vampire won't poof if they've had medical skin treatments to make them more tolerant to UV. Things along this nature are welcomed. Just keep it within the bounds of the forum.
For those of whom that are aware of White Wolf Publishing's pen-and-paper roleplaying game Vampire: The Masquerade, we will be using some terms from there. Clan powers are usable but since we are not strictly following the RPG's rules, there will be some exceptions to vampiric abilities such as immediately becoming toast in the light. Now it depends on clans, bloodlines, and individuals. Else, rules of the Masquerade do not have to be upheld, especially since vampires, werewolves, and other such creatures of the night and demons are already very well known to humans at this point in this forum.
All vampires are injured in some way by the sun and UV exposure either by death, severe burns, or just sunburns. All vampires are equally mortal to stakes to the heart, regardless of material. All vampires have the ability to move at supernatural speeds (but keep it realistic), have supernatural strength, supernatural healing, and supernatural senses. All vampires drink blood but don't have to in order to survive. Vampires are immortal in the sense that they do not age and are cold to the touch. Not all vampires are undead as a person that was changed while still alive will still be able to maintain bodily functions such as pregnancy. Vampires changed while dead, however, won't be able to reproduce. Same goes for blood, bleeding, and the like. Vampires changed while alive are able to bleed. Vampires changed while dead will have coagulated blood and won't be able to bleed as easily. As far as those born as vampires, these traits will be dependent on the parents' traits.
Detailed here will be a few of the most used types of vampires. If anyone has any questions or comments, please feel free to contact Evagrii Pakoslav.
- Germanic Vampires: Germanic (or Trannsylvanian) vampires are the stereotypical vampire that most are aware of. They are very sensitive to sunlight as it burns them but won't readily kill them, silver won't affect them as readily as what was made popular in the 1897 book except in large doses, garlic won't readily affect them in nothing less than large doses, and crosses won't affect them either. Of course, there is always high-velocity silver poisoning, but anything dies from that. Germanic vampires survive on blood and aren't known to eat much else but we won't restrict what you eat.
- Slavic Vampires: Slavic vampires are not as well known as the Germanic ones but are about as frail as humans. Granted they do have all of the qualifications of the vampires but are more susceptible to sunlight. Slavic vampires will burn in the sun after at least ten minutes of exposure. Most times, it'll only be as severe as sunburns but long term exposure can lead to severe 3rd degree burns and even death due to shock. Slavic vampires aren't affected by silver nor are they effected by garlic. Slavic vampires are said to be more carnivorous in diet as well as blood feeders (even if that could be technically classified as carnivorous).
- Nordic Vampires: Vampires of the Nordic type are said to be extremely vicious blood suckers with extremely aggressive attitudes. They are said to only be able to be killed by removing their heads and staking their hearts (simultaneously or consecutively). Nordic vampires are extremely susceptible to sunlight exposure, silver, and garlic. They are said to be able to be killed by crossbow bolts to the heart from distance but are fierce warriors at close range. Good luck on getting a stake into that heart during a sword fight.
- Irish Vampires: While statistically uncommon throughout history, what little is known about them states that they are extremely susceptible to sunlight and UV. Because of Bram Stoker's use of Irish-based stories, this means that Irish vampires are the ones that go poof in sunlight. They are also the ones that poof when in contact with silver and have extremely severe allergic reactions to garlic. Irish vampires are also said to have a sexual difference as male vampires are far more potent than female vampires when turning humans into one of their kind.
- Asian Vampires: While Asian vampires are quite widespread and varied, much like the continent, it is quite widely agreed upon that Asian vampires are able to segment themselves and fly around with bat wings. This means they're able to detach their own heads and sprout bat wings and fly around. For the purpose of realism, we won't allow this to be so as it would create quite a strange situation. Otherwise, Asian vampires are said to typically feed on the entrails of women, plegm of the sick, the fetuses of pregnant women and/or the life source of a person. Well... take a pick. Personally, all of them are disgusting, save for the life source part. Oh yeah, and Asian vampires are typically extremely attractive females. =] Yummy.
Not only are there as many concepts and ideas of vampires as there are people, there are also just as much ideas and concepts as to how to become a vampire. For the sake of this roleplay, we'll use the concept of embracing. An embrace is when a vampire bites a victim that is still alive then feeds the victim the blood of said vampire. The victim could either be on the last breath of life or simply a person who was bitten and fed. It is possible for the victim to die during this process if he or she is on his or her last breath of life and become an undead. Otherwise, again for the purpose of the roleplay, the concept and transformation of the undead vampire are narrowed down to two main ways. Transformation can be caused by being killed and/or bitten by a vampire in a violent enough way where the soul that should leave the body fails to leave the body, keeping it animated but with a dead body. Transformation can also be caused by a vampire biting a rather violent and socially horrible person, such as a murderer, who then dies with the soul too troubled to move on thus returns to the dead body. The person could either have died during when he or she was being fed upon or at a later date.
While one may want to come up with something a little more common or traditional, I do suggest that it does in some way, shape or form stay within the confines of the rules. As this is a roleplay forum, creativity is encouraged. One example I can think of is a person is dying, a vampire comes by and vampire bites the victim. If the person that is dying was dying due to say a sword fight, which is rather violent, then it qualifies as a violent death thus turning the person into an undead vampire. Though at this point an embrace could've been used as well but either way, you get the picture. =]
Since this is set in the future some, if there are evolutionary advancements and scientific advancements that will allow some vampires to be somewhat more tolerant to certain things, please explain them in detail whether on the profile or in the post. For example, and this is a bit more magical, a charmed or enchanted item can prevent vampire flesh fires when coming in contact with UV. Bad example since that's magic. Erm, better example: A vampire won't poof if they've had medical skin treatments to make them more tolerant to UV. Things along this nature are welcomed. Just keep it within the bounds of the forum.
