Playing a Vampire
A fledgling vampire must learn the limits of her existence in short order, because the World of Darkness is a cold, cruel place, filled with dangers. Games such as Mind’s Eye Theatre help characters interact with the world by representing difficulties via a set of mechanics. These rules exist for the purpose of consensual immersion, allowing everyone who plays the game to have a mutual understanding of how their shared reality works. These dramatic systems help you interact with the world and with other players by quickly and directly resolving actions taken by the characters, so that players can focus on the story.
Roleplaying a Vampire
Imagine your first night as a vampire. You can see, hear, and smell things you never previously imagined. You are stronger, faster, and seemingly immortal. Vampiric blood rushes through your veins, enhancing your perception and your mental acuity. You are powerful and cunning. You stand on the edge of eternity, but immortality comes at a price — you must prey upon the living, drinking their blood in order to continue your own existence.
Vampires feature prominently in myths and popular culture. Films and books sometimes portray them as monstrous creatures, swooping out of the darkness to ravish innocent virgins and steal babies from their cradles. Other myths describe them as predators of incredible beauty and sensuality, enchanting men and women alike. A cunning vampire may seduce a viewer in return for a bit of blood and then vanish into the night.
The vampires of the World of Darkness are all these things and more. They are similar to the vampires of myth and cinema, but they’ve deliberately hidden much of the truth from the mortal world, in order to ensure would-be hunters will make fatal errors. Vampires still remember their original lives, but they have moved beyond many of the concerns of mortality. Here are some popular myths and suppositions about the undead — as well as factual information inherent to the World of Darkness:
• Vampires are immortal. While it is possible to kill a vampire, she will not age or die of natural causes. She does not need water, food, or air. For all intents and purposes, a vampire is a corpse, albeit one revived through the magic inherent in the blood.
• Vampires require the blood of the living to survive. While vampires are corpses, they still require nourishment to sustain themselves, and as in the myths, they feast on blood. Not only does blood preserve their undead bodies, it allows vampires to perform amazing and supernatural feats of healing, strength, or speed. Most vampires seek human blood, although some force themselves to drink animal blood (which tastes foul and unsatisfying to a vampire). Some elder vampires must hunt their younger brethren for feeding, as they are no longer able to gain sustenance from human blood. A vampire need not kill her prey; some take only a little blood and hide the evidence of their feeding. A vampire can repair surface wounds caused by her bite simply by licking them.
• Anyone who dies from a vampire’s bite will become a vampire. If this statement were true, the world would be overrun with vampires! Instead, those bitten and drained by vampires in the course of feeding simply die. It takes a very special and purposeful process, known as the Embrace, to create a new vampire.
• Vampires are burned by sunlight. True. Vampires must avoid sunlight or risk death. Vampires are nocturnal creatures, and most find it difficult to stay awake during the day, even if they are well-hidden from the sunlight.
• Vampires are repelled by garlic, they can’t cross running water, and they cast no reflections. These myths are partially true. Some vampires, notably those of a particular clan, cast no reflection. However, vampires are creatures of superstition, and some may avoid these things out of a psychological compulsion.
• A cross or other holy symbol can repel a vampire. Generally untrue. The symbol itself has little power. Instead, vampires fear the faith of the person wielding the symbol — and genuine faith is rare.
• Vampires will die from a stake through the heart. While they cannot die from such wounds, vampires are immobilized by wooden stakes, arrows, crossbow bolts, and similar items that pierce the heart. Once the item is removed, the vampire’s mobility is restored.
Vampire Physiology
Over the first three nights of a newly Embraced vampire’s existence, her body undergoes a series of significant changes:
• Vampires don’t sweat, don’t leave fingerprints, and do not tire from physical exertion. Vampires have an extraordinary amount of control over the blood in their bodies. When a vampire is wounded, she does not bleed unless she specifically wishes it.
• A vampire’s body does not generate its own heat unless she spends Blood to appear human. Without specific effort, a vampire’s body will drift towards room temperature (making her difficult to detect with thermal technology).
• Vampires do not normally eat or drink. A vampire who wishes to hold down normal food or drink must spend 1 point of Blood per hour. When she stops spending Blood, she must expel the food she’s crammed into her stomach. In BAM, food tastes of ashes unless you have the Personal Masquerade merit.
• To stay active, vampires must drink the blood of the living. Each sunset, a vampire must spend 1 point of Blood to wake up. If she fails to spend this Blood, she falls into voluntary torpor.
• Vampires breathe reflexively, pulling air in and out of their lungs in order to smell and talk, but a vampire does not require oxygen to function. If she puts her mind to it, a vampire may hold her breath indefinitely, survive underwater, or operate normally in a room choked with carbon monoxide.
• A vampire’s ability to feel emotion is stunted. The undead often replace higher emotional concepts, like love and marriage, with lower impulses, like lust and sex.
