Vampyr: The Edge Lording
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You died, probably horrifically, and probably with some asshole biting your neck, and now you're trapped in a world of terror and nightmares. A world of shadows and the politics that fester within. You're confused, angry, probably scared, and ultimately a pawn of a higher power. Or at least one that has more authority than you.
If you're lucky, the person who killed you (your sire) stuck around to explain things. In short, you're now a vampire and part of what conspiracy theorists call the Illuminati: Thirteen bloodlines that control the world in secret. You're not part of it in a "cool" way, however - you're bottom rung and expendable. You also crave and require fresh blood to "live." On the upside, though, said blood allows you to perform some supernatural abilities.
You're still a monster, no matter what you tell yourself.
Basic Points to being a Vampire
1. Blood - Or Vitae if you're feeling fancy. You need it to function and you constantly crave it. You get it from delicious humans. Animals are technically drinkable, but too much animal blood turns one dumb and violent. "You are what you eat." You require about a pint of blood every time the sun crosses the horizon.
2. The Hunger - Did I mention you're a monster? Inside of you is an insatiable longing for blood, to the point where any particular gruesome scene carries the risk of berserking until you've bloated yourself on blood.
3. Powers - You get some neat powers based on your bloodline, along with the ability to heal wounds that would kill mortals. But, you also get one or two weaknesses.
4. The Sun - It doesn't actually harm you, as some think. Or make you sparkle (you're welcome). What it does do is significantly dampen your blood power, to the point most of your effort is spent staying animated. You are a corpse after all. Mechanically, you've no access to your powers during the day (including healing), and appear as a VERY sick mortal, near the edge of death.
5. You're a Pawn - Probably to the vampire that sired you. Or that sired them. Or that sired them. And so on. You were created for a purpose. Do you play into it? Or do you admit you don't know how to play chess (a game for madmen and fools) and start moving how you see fit? Anyway, the people controlling you are part of the Illuminati.
Advanced Points of being a Vampire
1. Blood Pool - You, yourself, hold 15 “points” (roughly a pint each) of blood on average. A point is spent every time the sun crosses the horizon, and variable points are spent when using a Blood Power. You can hold up to a total of 20 points at any one time, but points above 15 cause some…social issues. Your body is engorged with blood and leaking everywhere. Bloody eyes, gums, genitals, ears. You resist frenzy better (see below), but auto fail social interactions
2. Frenzy - Sometimes the Hunger grows too much and you lose your shit. When presented with a particularly bloody scene, make a check against your Blood Pool current value. On a failure you Frenzy and attempt to consume as much blood as possible.
3. Advancing - One of the notable characteristics of corpses is that they neither learn nor improve themselves. You’re no different. You have four templates taken strictly from your bloodline and that’s it. No more. No advancing.
4. Diablerie - Unless, of course, you’re prepared to get your fangs bloody. While you can’t “learn” new abilities, you can sure as hell steal them. In order to advance past fourth level, you’ll need to start feeding on other vampires, stealing their strengths, skills, weaknesses, and abilities in the process.
The Illuminati
An organization of five bloodlines - or "clans" in old world parlance - that control and synchronize world operations, forming what is often referred to as a New World Order. This is no different than farmers tending to a herd of beef cattle.
It also serves to keep any one bloodline from getting too much power over the others.
Though many assume groups like the Bilderburg Group, Skull and Bones, Club of Rome, and others, are part of (or in fact the whole of) the Illuminati, these groups are merely unknowing servants of the Illuminati (be it through blood or cash) and serve to muddy any investigations by mortal kind, while unknowingly carrying out their master’s plots.
Imperare Veli
"The Rule of the Veil" is one of the oldest traditions of the Illuminati, dating back to the Inquisitions, that has served to create stability within the organization and keep the presence of vampires largely hidden from human societies. Simply put, from translation of the long winded Latin that served as the lingua franca of the time, one must never reveal their true nature to feral humans. It also forbids completely draining a feed human, as it removes a portion of the food supply. This is less important today, what with so damn many of us being around, but improvements in forensics continue to make the rule a necessity.
Sanguine Furto
Another important rule, that of forbidding "stolen blood," stating a vampire must never feed from a vampire with intent to fully drain - an act known as "diablerie." This act is seen along the same lines humans view cannibalism: delicious, but damning.
The Bloodlines
No one knows how or when the whole "vampirism" thing began. Some say a curse from God, some say a gift from Jesus, some say interference from the Anunnaki, still more make accusations towards ancient Rome, Babylon, Atlantis, Aztecs, and many more. What is known is that there are at least five major bloodlines currently, each with their own abilities.
Discordant - Twisters of reality that take pleasure in tormenting their prey. Real bastards.
Exalted - Bound by their Pride, they hold themselves in high regard due to their inhuman strength, speed, and presence. Real annoying.
Ferox - Live on the fringes of civilization, away from the prying eyes of the others. They’re also in a secret war with the Sasquatches.
Necrodom - Summoners and masters of the undead, they call forth restless spirits to do their bidding. Real edgelords.
Umbra - Call forth living shadows to carry out their will. Different and legally distinct to any nominally similar licensed property you might be thinking of.
Mechanics of Being a Vampire
Base Rules: As the GLoG unless contraindicated here.
Hit Dice: Like all monsters, your HD is d8. You gain 1d8 health points per level, unbound by the “Max 20 hp” rule that mortals are. This score is unaffected by your Constitution.
Healing: You don’t do that so much. Not naturally, at least. The corpse thing? Yeah. Luckily you’re full of all that blood you can use to restore hit points at a 1:1 ratio.
Skills: You start with one from your failed career as a mortal, and one of your choosing. You want more? Your friends have more. Drink them dry.
Ghouls: A fun thing about vampire blood (for you at least) is that mortals can get addicted to it. Like any drug addict, this gives the dealer some form of control over them. More than just force them to listen to your shitty mixtape, or play mario kart when they would clearly just rather leave, you can enthrall them to your will. While your blood is in their system they will freely carry out your commands. Additionally, when they are in your presence, you can spend 2 blood each to send them into a frenzy, giving them +4 to all saving throws and attack rolls, as well as +2 to damage. Mortals hold 10 blood points, and need at least 4 of their own before they get…weird. Your blood burns out of their system at one per sun crossing the horizon.
Animals, strangely, automatically frenzy and are uncontrollable, unless ghouled by the Ferox.
Blood Powers: Each clan has a set of abilities they can power using their own blood. It's not magic, but it sure as hell ain't normal. Powers are listed with the individual clans.
So where are the clans? In another post coming up. This has gotten too long.
