Latest revision as of 04:51, 1 May 2025

A vampire is a kind of Blooded.

Vampire is a nested trait. For the purposes of trait limits, you keep track of just the one trait and consider all other vampiric or blooded traits nested within that one trait.

Vampire | This character has dreamt The Red Dream.

Becoming A Vampire

A single drop of vampiric blood is all it takes. Whether ingested or absorbed into their blood, it opens up the possibility of The Red Dream at any point in the next three days. Some people never experience the dream. Some people emerge from the dream transformed into a horrific monster. Some people emerge from the dream subtly changed on the outside, but inwardly monstrous.

Though it is dreadfully easy to become a vampire, most transformations into a true vampire are highly ritualized affairs. Such offerings of mortals in this context tend to please The Red Duke, who is empowered by such trappings in the same way all other gods are.

Each court has its own ritual for embracing someone into undeath. More than that, individual vampires might have their own spin on those same rituals. This more formalized infection, unlike the incidental infections a single drop of blood can bring, always works.

Lineage

A vampiric lineage starts with an Ascendant. They are the progenitors of the lineage, with all latter day vampires being granted powers and banes in accordance with their Ascendant. Some Ascendants are granted that power by The Red Duke. Some are created by a vampire cannibalizing their own Ascendant. Such cannibalism is, of course, strictly forbidden by the elders of nigh all courts.

For a list of all Vampiric Lineages, go there.

Generation

The more closely related a vampire is to their Ascendant, the stronger they are. The lowest generation of vampire has all of the downsides of becoming a vampire, with virtually none of the boons.

To ascend through the generations, one must cannibalize the soul of a higher generation vampire. This can be of any lineage, not necessarily a vampire in their own heirarchy. A newly minted vampire is one generation below the vampire whose blood infected them.

The lowest possible generation of a vampire is nine. While a vampire of the ninth generation can spread their curse, the vampire they create will themselves be ninth generation.

Universal Traits

These are traits that all vampires have, regardless of their lineage. All vampires acquire these as they reach the appropriate generation, unlike abilities from their lineage which they have to choose.

Name	Required Generation	Description
Blooded Soul	9th	If someone attempts to cannibalize the soul of a vampire, they put themselves at risk of becoming a vampire.
Sunlight Curse	9th	Sunlight hurts vampires. At 9th generation, every hour they spend in the sunlight deals one point of Prowess damage until they die, the sun bleaching them. At 6th generation, this becomes every minute. At 3rd generation, the sun instantly turns the exposed area into salt.
Vampiric Visage	9th	Their eyes turn red. Their teeth become pointed fangs.
Vampiric Regeneration	8th	For every point of Prowess damage they inflict on another through feeding, they heal one point of Prowess damage to themselves.
Torpor	8th	They no longer age physically. From 7th generation on, they no longer need food. From 6th generation on, they no longer need water either. From 5th generation on, food repulses them. At 4th generation, a vampire can enter a state of suspended animation like sleep. They can rest this way for an indefinite period of time without decaying.
The Red's Favor	7th	For every five souls they have consumed (corresponding to their Glimmer), the vampire may increase one attribute by one.

Feeding

All vampires need to sustain themselves on the blood of others. This blood must be from a living thing that possesses a soul. Soulless characters can neither provide nourishment for the vampire, nor become vampires themselves. Their victim does not need to be alive, but they must have died that night. At every dawn, all blood that once could have fed them becomes totally inert for the purposes of their feeding, and once any blood has been exposed to the sun it is similarly rendered inert. The only way to eat during the day is fresh out of a person, before the blood has had a chance to be touched by the hateful sun.

Feeding on someone deals Prowess damage to them. If their victim's Prowess is reduced to below zero, their victim dies. If a vampire kills someone in this way, they absorb their soul the same way as if they had cannibalized their victim's heart. A vampire does not need to feed every night, and indeed especially powerful vampires eventually enter a state of torpor where they do not need to feed at all.

If a vampire is attempting to feed on someone in combat, they can only consume one point of Prowess per round.

Death

When a vampire dies, they return to The Red Dream. From there, the duke decides what to do with them. Sometimes they are never seen again. Sometimes they are returned as some dread figure, stronger than when they passed the first time.

Courts

Though vampires are all servants of The Red Duke, not all serve him directly. Whether vampires attempting to unite in opposition to The Red Duke, or vampires who are simply delegated to a master subservient to The Red Duke, there are many courts across a diverse range of peoples.

Courts do not have a physical effect on the vampires within them. While some lineages are associated with specific courts, this is merely by tradition.

A court is typically led by a Count or Countess. Less formalized courts often eschew this, however.

The Red Court

Those who serve The Red Duke most directly, who consider themselves the masters of all the other vampires and courts. While they are the most widespread and powerful, they are also the ones who try to keep the tightest leash on other Blooded and so are the occasional protectors of regular mortals. The Red Court's Count is considered The Red Duke's earthly envoy, or is at least often presented that way.

The Black Court

It is a legend among the Blooded that The Eighth Hour never died. That the Hours created The Red Duke and she tried to seduce him in order to gain power over their rebelling creation. That this manipulation backfired, she herself became a vampire, and beholden to the duke. Instead of bending to his will, according to legend, she beget her own rival court in what was then the sparsely colonized hinterlands of the world.

The Black Court presents itself as a rival to The Red Court, and peaceful meetings between the two are rare. The power brokers in both factions hate the other, and reward any action taken against them handsomely.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-A vampire is a kind of [[Blooded]]. Vampires are common throughout the world, predators that prey on normal society. Most vampires are not able to transmit their curse to others by accident, but instead it must be done through careful ritual. Most of the time.
+A vampire is a kind of [[Blooded]].
-It is said that a gift is also a curse, and a curse also a gift. This is perhaps best demonstrated by the vampire. On the one hand, they are granted great powers and tremendous boons. On the other hand, they are cursed to live a life they may not have wanted to live, and their powers are balanced out by new weaknesses they would not have faced in life.
+Vampire is a ''nested trait''. For the purposes of trait limits, you keep track of just the one trait and consider all other vampiric or blooded traits nested within that one trait.
+ Vampire | This character has dreamt The Red Dream.
-Vampires on Ayaria are inherently monstrous, and not for the noncommittal. Once a character has become a vampire, there is no way of fixing it. Vampires cannot die, cannot be cured, and cannot be tamed to defy their predator instict. They are monsters through and through.
+=Becoming A Vampire=
+A single drop of vampiric blood is all it takes. Whether ingested or absorbed into their blood, it opens up the possibility of The Red Dream at any point in the next three days. Some people never experience the dream. Some people emerge from the dream transformed into a horrific monster. Some people emerge from the dream subtly changed on the outside, but inwardly monstrous.
-Not all who are infected by a Blooded become vampires. For those unfortunates who refuse the Red Dream, see [[Wasting]].
+Though it is dreadfully easy to become a vampire, most transformations into a true vampire are highly ritualized affairs. Such offerings of mortals in this context tend to please The Red Duke, who is empowered by such trappings in the same way all other gods are.
-==Ascendancy==
+Each court has its own ritual for embracing someone into undeath. More than that, individual vampires might have their own spin on those same rituals. This more formalized infection, unlike the incidental infections a single drop of blood can bring, always works.
-There are three kinds of vampire: fledglings, peers, and elders. '''Fledgling''' vampires are of course those who have just been cursed. '''Peer''' vampires are ones who have experience with their life. '''Elder''' vampires are frightfully powerful creatures, leaders of entire bloodlines of vampires, and masters of their new life.
-==[[Bloodlines]]==
+==Lineage==
-Beside for outright rank, there are also different kinds of vampires. These clans are all founded by a progenitor who may or may not still be alive, and are wiped out when every last vampire of that bloodline has been consumed by members of another bloodline.
+A vampiric lineage starts with an Ascendant. They are the progenitors of the lineage, with all latter day vampires being granted powers and banes in accordance with their Ascendant. Some Ascendants are granted that power by The Red Duke. Some are created by a vampire cannibalizing their own Ascendant. Such cannibalism is, of course, strictly forbidden by the elders of nigh all courts.
-==Uninitiated==
+For a list of all [[Vampiric Lineages]], go there.
-A vampire must be initiated into a bloodline to become part of it. Each bloodline has its own unique initiation ritual. Becoming initiated into a bloodline is a major event in a vampire's life in its own right, and is the greatest influence on the direction their life will take from that point on. For a fledgling to become a peer, they must be initiated; for a peer to become an elder, they must come to lead their bloodline.
-==Becoming A Vampire==
+===Generation===
-A prospective vampire must first of all not be a [[vampiric thrall]]. Attempting to make a thrall into a vampire will simply kill the thrall. Assuming that requirement is met, the ritual to create a vampire is thus:
+The more closely related a vampire is to their Ascendant, the stronger they are. The lowest generation of vampire has all of the downsides of becoming a vampire, with virtually none of the boons.
-The prospective vampire must have their blood drained to the point of near death. This done, their creator must give them a pittance of their own blood in turn. This is the point of no return. Once the creator's blood has been given, the prospective vampire must complete the ritual or they will die. If the ritual is attempted during the day, the prospective vampire will also just die at this stage.
+To ascend through the generations, one must cannibalize the soul of a higher generation vampire. This can be of any lineage, not necessarily a vampire in their own heirarchy. A newly minted vampire is one generation below the vampire whose blood infected them.
-Soon after they consume this vampiric blood, the prospective vampire will feel a sort of insatiable hunger with no self control. They seek the blood of the living, turning on their creators if they’re not properly restrained or guided. They cannot be reasoned with, and will stop at nothing to consume ''any'' sapient creature's blood. They have until the sunrise to fully drain someone of their blood lest they wither away and perish from accelerated starvation, so they’re quite desperate in this time and anyone can be a target. The unfortunate target must die for this process to complete, otherwise the transformation is incomplete and the effects of their creator’s blood will gradually fade until the fledgling vampire dies with the sunrise.
+The lowest possible generation of a vampire is nine. While a vampire of the ninth generation can spread their curse, the vampire they create will themselves be ninth generation.
-Once they’ve killed someone and drank of their blood, they will feel extreme lethargy. They’ll be drawn to find somewhere dark and hidden in order to rest and sleep, with some extreme examples being digging themselves a shallow grave to do it, for they don’t need to breathe during this final part of the change. Once they wake, they will be officially a fledgling vampire, with all the changes in place (i.e fangs, red eyes, etc).
+==Universal Traits==
+These are traits that all vampires have, regardless of their lineage. All vampires acquire these as they reach the appropriate generation, unlike abilities from their lineage which they have to choose.
-===The Bond===
-Between every vampire and their creator, there is a bond between them that is unlike any other relationship. Be it something more romantic or familial, it seems somehow more intense and closer than in their mortal lives. While it is likely that such relationships begin positively, after all the creator of this fledgling vampire has likely taken some risk in order to change them, all emotions toward their progenitor are heightened. Meaning that should the relationship sour, the intensity of that sourness will be manifold what it would otherwise be.
-The bond allows the creator to have a sense of the wellbeing of their spawn, and if they’re within the same area (think a city) they’ll be able to eventually track them down and locate them, wherever they’re hiding. In contrast, spawn have a sense that their creator is near though cannot pinpoint them, and if their creator dies they’ll feel the pain as if it were their own, though injuries are phantom ones and no physical damage is done. They’ll feel an emptiness for a time until they return. If a fledgling consumes the life blood of their creator, they will become a peer even without a clan and feel only the memory of their connection with their creator.
-A vampire's creator is able to overpower the will of their spawn, exactly as if the creator were invoking the true name of the spawn.
-==Feral==
-Vampires must constantly balance between two extremes: starvation, and overindulgence. If they consume too little, they will be driven mad by hunger and lose themselves to their curse, becoming feral. If they consume too much, they will be driven mad by ecstasy and lose themselves to their curse, becoming feral. Thus, though they depend on blood, if they wish to survive for any length of time they must learn to discipline themselves.
-===Starvation===
-The longer a vampire goes without feeding, the more animalistic they become. Literally their human fading away, to be replaced by the base instinct to consume. The desperate need for sustenance.
-===Overindulgence===
-The more a vampire embraces their curse, the more cursed they become. But they do not see it that way. They become sociopathic, unable to see the people they feed on as that, people. The more pleasure they feel from feeding on others, the more they wish to experience it again and again. Their emotions begin to slip, trending toward the negative and sadistic. Even their fellow vampires, they will see as mere competitors for the chance to imbibe another indulgence.
-==Vampire Traits==
-These are all the traits uninitiated vampires can have. Traits unique to vampire bloodlines will be listed as part of those bloodlines.
-===The Curse===
-An uninitiated, fledgling vampire has all of these. For the purposes of character trait limits, just list ''Vampire'' as a trait and remember these are the downsides.
 {|class="wikitable sortable"
-!Name !! Description
+!Name !! Required Generation !! Description
 |-
-| Vampiric Immortality || When a vampire dies, they do not stay dead. Their body will enter stasis, and there it will remain until conditions are favorable for it to reanimate. If the conditions are not favorable for long enough, the vampire may ressurect into a different corpse that gradually changes to resemble their previous form, their old body becoming ash.
+| Blooded Soul || 9th || If someone attempts to cannibalize the soul of a vampire, they put themselves at risk of becoming a vampire.
 |-
-| Sunlight Sensitivity || This character is weakened by sunlight. Their skin burns easily under its intense light. Every round they spend in direct sunlight, all of their attributes reduce by one, their red eyes are visible, and their fangs protrude. If all of a vampire's attributes reduce to zero from this effect, they turn to ash. The attribute reduction remains until they've rested for a full day outside of the sun.
+| Sunlight Curse || 9th || Sunlight hurts vampires. At 9th generation, every hour they spend in the sunlight deals one point of Prowess damage until they die, the sun bleaching them. At 6th generation, this becomes every minute. At 3rd generation, the sun instantly turns the exposed area into salt.
 |-
-| Overstimulated || This character's senses are heightened to a far too intense degree. They are easily overwhelmed if not outright crippled by overstimulating environments.
+| Vampiric Visage || 9th || Their eyes turn red. Their teeth become pointed fangs.
 |-
-| Immortal Infertility || This character cannot bear children with other immortals. They can with mortals.
+| Vampiric Regeneration || 8th || For every point of Prowess damage they inflict on another through feeding, they heal one point of Prowess damage to themselves.
 |-
-| Vampiric Hunger || This character constantly craves blood. Consuming blood is like experiencing the sweetest ecstasy. Feeding from another person reduces all of their victim's attributes by one for the remainder of the day. Drinking from someone to the point of death raises the vampire's attributes by one for the remainder of the day.
+| Torpor || 8th || They no longer age physically. From 7th generation on, they no longer need food. From 6th generation on, they no longer need water either. From 5th generation on, food repulses them. At 4th generation, a vampire can enter a state of suspended animation like sleep. They can rest this way for an indefinite period of time without decaying.
 |-
-| Fangs || At times of heightened emotions or when hungry, the vampire's incisors will grow more pronounced and into obvious, sharp fangs.
+| The Red's Favor || 7th || For every five souls they have consumed (corresponding to their Glimmer), the vampire may increase one attribute by one.
 |}
-===Fledgling===
+===Feeding===
-Fledglings have their choice of two traits. One of these traits must match a trait their creator has. These traits ''do'' count toward the character trait limit.
+All vampires need to sustain themselves on the blood of others. This blood must be from a living thing that possesses a soul. Soulless characters can neither provide nourishment for the vampire, nor become vampires themselves. Their victim does not need to be alive, but they must have died that night. At every dawn, all blood that once could have fed them becomes totally inert for the purposes of their feeding, and once any blood has been exposed to the sun it is similarly rendered inert. The only way to eat during the day is fresh out of a person, before the blood has had a chance to be touched by the hateful sun.
+Feeding on someone deals Prowess damage to them. If their victim's Prowess is reduced to below zero, their victim dies. If a vampire kills someone in this way, they absorb their soul the same way as if they had cannibalized their victim's heart. A vampire does not need to feed every night, and indeed especially powerful vampires eventually enter a state of torpor where they do not need to feed at all.
+If a vampire is attempting to feed on someone in combat, they can only consume one point of Prowess per round.
+===Death===
+When a vampire dies, they return to The Red Dream. From there, the duke decides what to do with them. Sometimes they are never seen again. Sometimes they are returned as some dread figure, stronger than when they passed the first time.
-{|class="wikitable sortable"
+=Courts=
-!Name !! Description
+Though vampires are all servants of The Red Duke, not all serve him directly. Whether vampires attempting to unite in opposition to The Red Duke, or vampires who are simply delegated to a master subservient to The Red Duke, there are many courts across a diverse range of peoples.
-|-
-| Nightvision || This character can see perfectly in total darkness, albeit only in shades of red.
+Courts do not have a physical effect on the vampires within them. While some lineages are associated with specific courts, this is merely by tradition.
-|-
-| Daywalker || This character ignores the stat reduction elements of the ''Sunlight Sensitivity'' curse.
-|-
-| Heightened Senses || This vampire ignores the ''Overstimulated'' curse. For the purposes of perceiving something in their environment, their effective Cleverness is raised by one.
-|-
-| Vampiric Healing || When this vampire feeds on others, their wounds stabilize and they heal all injuries they sustained overnight.
-|-
-| Compelling Gaze || When they make eye contact with someone, if that person has less than half the vampire's Erudition, that person will feel compelled to obey the vampire's words. This does not work if the vampire's commands are antithetical to their victim's nature.
-|-
-| Claws || The vampire has long, sharp nails that become longer, sharper, and more monstrous claws in times of heightened emotion or when hungry. When attacking with Prowess, they provide a bonus of 1.
-|-
-| Sharper Fangs || This vampire's fangs are always visible. They become especially pronounced and monstrous when in times of heightened emotion or when hungry. When attacking with Prowess, they provide a bonus of 1.
-|-
-| Nimble || This vampire's base Prowess raises by one.
-|}
-===Peer===
+A court is typically led by a Count or Countess. Less formalized courts often eschew this, however.
-Peer traits replace the fledgling traits they require as prerequisites, as they are upgrades to the fledgling traits. They can also choose one additional trait from this list. They lose the ''Overstimulated'' curse, even if they did not choose Heightened Senses.
-{|class="wikitable sortable"
+==The Red Court==
-!Name !! Prerequisite !! Description
+Those who serve The Red Duke most directly, who consider themselves the masters of all the other vampires and courts. While they are the most widespread and powerful, they are also the ones who try to keep the tightest leash on other Blooded and so are the occasional protectors of regular mortals. The Red Court's Count is considered The Red Duke's earthly envoy, or is at least often presented that way.
-|-
-| Bloodsense || Nightvision || This character can sense the presence of creatures with blood in their vicinity (10 meters) without needing to see them or have line of sight on them. This works through walls and other barriers.
-|-
-| Inhumanly Strong || Very Strong || This character is inhumanly strong, capable of feats that defy the limits of a human body.
-|-
-| Vampiric Regeneration || Vampiric Healing || Within moments of feeding, all the vampire's wounds heal and they are refreshed as if from a full day's rest.
-|-
-| Dominating Gaze || Compelling Gaze || When they make eye contact with someone, if that person has less than half the vampire's Erudition, that person will feel compelled to obey the vampire's words.
-|-
-| Bigger Claws || Claws || The vampire has long, sharp nails that become longer, sharper, and more monstrous claws in times of heightened emotion or when hungry. When attacking with Prowess, they provide a bonus of 2.
-|-
-| Even Sharper Fangs || Sharper Fangs || This vampire's fangs are always visible. They become especially pronounced and monstrous when in times of heightened emotion or when hungry. When attacking with Prowess, they provide a bonus of 2.
-|-
-| Vampiric Glamor || Daywalker || When the vampire is in direct sunlight, their appearance always seems normal and mundane unless they have a specific bloodline curse that affects their appearance.
-|-
-| Vampiric Senses || Heightened Senses || For the purposes of perceiving something in their environment, their effective Cleverness is raised by two.
-|-
-| Inhumanly Nible || Nimble || This vampire's base Prowess raises by two.
-|}
-===Elders===
+==The Black Court==
-An elder gets one additional trait to reflect their ascendancy, and their prior peer traits also upgrade. While the traits listed here are upgraded forms of the peer traits, note that the elder would actually work out a unique trait for their character with lore that reflects the bloodline they took over.
+It is a legend among the Blooded that The Eighth Hour never died. That the Hours created The Red Duke and she tried to seduce him in order to gain power over their rebelling creation. That this manipulation backfired, she herself became a vampire, and beholden to the duke. Instead of bending to his will, according to legend, she beget her own rival court in what was then the sparsely colonized hinterlands of the world.
-{|class="wikitable sortable"
+The Black Court presents itself as a rival to The Red Court, and peaceful meetings between the two are rare. The power brokers in both factions hate the other, and reward any action taken against them handsomely.
-!Name !! Prerequisite !! Description
-|-
-| Vampiric Will || Dominating Gaze || This vampire's base Erudition increases by two.
-|-
-| Vampiric Prowess || Bigger Claws or Even Sharper Fangs || This vampire's base Prowess increases by three.
-|-
-| Inhuman Perception || Vampiric Senses || For the purposes of perceiving something in their environment, their effective Cleverness is raised by four.
-|-
-|| Vampiric Grace || Inhumanly Nimble || This vampire's base Prowess raises by three.
-|}