History OurVampiresAreDifferent / TableTopGames

* Masquerade's SpiritualSuccessor ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' goes a step further, and rather than the different clans being subspecies of the main vampire race, they're entirely different creatures who have just enough in common to coexist, making it Our Vampires Are Different... From Each Other.
** It also has vampiric creatures with little resemblance to the clans, things outside their framework - the Mnemovores (memory vampires), the Ghuls (corpse-eating immortals), ''Cymothoa Sanguinaria'' (a particularly nasty human parasite), and more besides.

** Vampires in RIFTS can actually cross water if they are "sleeping" at the time, or restrained in some way. If they are awake, they will feel extreme discomfort or even pain, as well as an overwhelming desire to get somewhere dry.

** And in the Captain Leonatos series, one of the Blood Angels marines is afflicted with Red Thrist, a rare Blood Angel genetic flaw that makes him degenerate into a monster craving blood. When it first activated he was held captive by chaos cultists. He broke out of his cell and killed them all with bare hands before resorting to eating their flesh when their "weak blood" failed to sate him.

* TabletopGame/DragonDice gives us its spin on the vampire - a light mage unit in the undead army with the unique ability to convert killed members of other races into undead. They have mediocre spellcasting abilities and can also perform better in melee than a more focused mage.

* In ''MagicTheGathering'', vampires are a staple rare flyer for black. They often have a feeding mechinic over limited use, given that they don't often get into creature combat. Recent vampires have deal with this by focusing on the bat aspects or by feeding on players. They don't have explict weakness due to creature type.

** The lord of the Vampire's Tower board space demands a blood toll of any player character attempting to cross the space on their way to the Crown of Command in the inner region. This toll can be paid either by removing some of the character's life tokens, or sacrificing one or more of the player's followers.

* The ''{{Warhammer}} Fantasy Roleplay'' supplement "Night's Dark Masters" gets around this problem by simply listing pages and pages of weaknesses and quirks of vampires, from the classics like weakness to sunlight to lesser-known ones like obsessive counting and fear of sawdust, and then simply says that all vampires have some of them but not others. This is neatly explained by the fact that inbreeding and crossbreeding between different vampire clans has accentuated some traits and rarified others.

* [[{{Mortasheen}} Mortasheen's]] [[{{Mons}} non-humanoid]] vampires tend to be mostly based on aquatic life (WordOfGod has it that the virus originated from the sea), and the human ones are said to [[LooksLikeOrlock look like]] [[Film/{{Nosferatu}} Count Orlock]]. They're considered really powerful monsters, mainly due to their incredibly powerful MindControl abilities.

* Vampires in Palladium Games' ''{{Rifts}}'' and other games are the spawn of huge, multi-tentacled {{Eldritch Abomination}}s called Vampire Intelligences. They come in three levels: The Master Vampire, who makes a pact with the Intelligence to become a Vampire, the Secondary, who is created by the Master over a three-day "Slow Kill", and occasionally another Secondary when things go right, and the savage and feral Wild Vampire, which is what happens when a Secondary Vampire's attempt at transforming a human goes wrong. While they can be hurt by silver, wood, magic, or the claws of a [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragon]], actually ''killing'' them requires sunlight, or impaling (staking) them through the heart followed by decapitation (just staking them turns them into a skeleton, but it's really a cheap form of suspended animation; remove the stake and you'll have a live (and ''hungry'') vampire in under a minute.) ''and'' burning both head and body to ash separately. Oh, or [[WeaksauceWeakness running water]]. Not only can they not cross running water, but merely ''touching'' water in motion is dangerous, and can kill them on its own. This makes fire hoses, rain, and even ''water guns'' deadly weapons against them. They must also sleep in or near the soil of their native land; a generous layer of the stuff in their coffin will do. If they lose their soil, and can't get any more before the night is over, they can't sleep, and are easy prey for the rising sun. Finally, crosses ward them off regardless of the faith of the wielder (it's not religious but a property of the Intelligences' [[AlienGeometries hyperdimensional geometry]]), and the touch of a cross will harm them. They are also harmed by the ''shadow'' of a cross falling on them. Many Vampire hunters have taken to taping a cross over flashlights or the headlights of their vehicles for an extra measure of protection.

* ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' also has an entire army of SuperSoldier vampires, the Blood Angels.

** In truly ancient 40k background (from the time of Rogue Trader), there is a mention of an alien race commonly known as vampires. They don't seem to have much to do with the typical vampires, being shapeshifting creatures who feed on psychic energy (their natural form is batlike though).

** This was expanded further in the ''{{Ravenloft}}'' campaign setting, which included a bewildering array of vampires: Not only were the standard type given expanded weaknesses (and opportunities to NOT have those weaknesses), there were also Vampyres (living creatures that feed on blood), Nosferatu (slightly different powers than normal vampires), elven vampires (who kill plants and are vulnerable to moonlight), dwarven vampires... Even the dreaded [[{{Dragonlance}} Kender Vampire]]. ''Van Richten's Guide to Vampires'', rather than dispelling the classical vampiric weaknesses, [[OurMonstersAreDifferent lists less common variations]] and spent a lot of time detailing how vampires got around them: A vampire could not cross running water for instance, but nothing prevented them from being *carried* (including in a carriage); a vampire could not enter a home uninvited, but ''Charm Person'' is a wonderful way of getting an invitation extended. Oh, and if you're thinking of hiding from Strahd Von Zarovich, remember that as the legal ruler of his domain he technically "owns" any house in Barovia...

* [[TabletopGame/DragonDice Dragon Dice]] gives us its spin on the vampire - a light mage unit in the undead army with the unique ability to convert killed members of other races into undead. They have mediocre spellcasting abilities and can also perform better in melee than a more focused mage.

* In ''[[MagicTheGathering Magic: The Gathering]]'', vampires are a staple rare flyer for black. They often have a feeding mechinic over limited use, given that they don't often get into creature combat. Recent vampires have deal with this by focusing on the bat aspects or by feeding on players. They don't have explict weakness due to creature type.
** In Ravnica, most vampires were horrific skeletal or vulturelike creatures, except for the leader of [[spoiler: House Dmir]], but he doesn't exist and neither does the guild. Move along.

** The Vampiress player character in can treat her followers like portable health potions by sacrificing them to heal herself. She can also charm the followers of other players, and is one of the more durable character choices (reflected by having a higher starting life value than most other player characters.)

** The ''Warhammer'' novel ''Literature/{{Drachenfels}}'' expands on this further, from the point of view of its heroine, the Vampire Geneviève Dieudonné. And if that name sounds familiar to fans of the ''AnnoDracula'' series, guess who ''Drachenfels'' author Jack Yeovil is a pseudonym for?

** The ''Warhammer'' novel ''{{Drachenfels}}'' expands on this further, from the point of view of its heroine, the Vampire Geneviève Dieudonné. And if that name sounds familiar to fans of the ''AnnoDracula'' series, guess who ''Drachenfels'' author Jack Yeovil is a pseudonym for?

** Somewhat unusually for a serious modern portrayal, the vampires here actually are averse to garlic. Not to the point that waving around a clove will protect you if one wants to kill you, but the find the smell incredibly unpleasant and avoid even being in the same room with it if possible.

* In ''UnhallowedMetropolis'', feral vampires with mere animal cunning instead of reasoning intellect are the majority -- sentient vampires are a growing minority, however, due to the phenomenon of Legacies -- a sentient vampire is more likely to create another sentient vampire, that sentient vampire is even more likely to create a sentient vampire, and so on. No matter how long the Legacy, there's never more than a 60% chance of a vampire creating a sentient vampire. Infection is spread through exchange of bodily fluids, but is rare under ordinary circumstances -- there's only a 1% chance of it on each instance of transfer. Large, deliberate transfers of bodily fluids, such as a victim being fed a quantity of the vampire's blood, drastically increase the chances to one in ten. Unless the disease is diagnosed and treated with a complete blood transfusion within a week of initial infection, the infected will never be human again -- those who die of the disease become vampires, while those who survive become dhampiri. Vampires can be killed by enough normal injury, but it takes a large amount of very severe wounds to do so. Any sufficiently dire wound to the head or heart will destroy the vampire, as will outright decapitating them or removing their heart. A wooden stake to the heart will only kill under the same circumstances as any other damage to the heart, but a lesser wound that still manages to stake them will paralyze the vampire. Vampires are not actually harmed by sunlight, but it is uncomfortable to the point of being debilitating -- being out in one of the rare instances of direct sunlight in Neo-Victorian London virtually cripples a vampire, while even being out in the typical overcast weather severely hampers them. Sentient vampires have mind control abilities and are almost invariably sadomasochists who have difficulty not killing someone who shows pain or fear.

* In ''UnhallowedMetropolis'', feral vampires with mere animal cunning instead of reasoning intellect are the majority -- sentient vampires are a growing minority, however, due to the phenomenon of Legacies -- a sentient vampire is more likely to create another sentient vampire, that sentient vampire is even more likely to create a sentient vampire, and so on. No matter how long the Legacy, there's never more than a 60% chance of a vampire creating a sentient vampire. Infection is spread through exchange of bodily fluids, but is rare under ordinary circumstances -- there's only a 1% chance of it on each instance of transfer. Large, deliberate transfers of bodily fluids, such as a victim being fed a quantity of the vampire's blood, drastically increase the chances to one in ten. Unless the disease is diagnosed and treated with a complete blood transfusion within a week of initial infection, the infected will never be human again -- those who die of the disease become vampires, while those who survive become dhampiri. Vampires can be killed by enough normal injury, but it takes a large amount of very severe wounds to do so. Any sufficiently dire wound to the head or heart will destroy the vampire, as will outright decapitating them or removing their heart. A wooden stake to the heart will only kill under the same circumstances as any other damage to the heart, but a lesser wound that still manages to stake them will paralyze the vampire. Vampires are not actually harmed by sunlight, but it is uncomfortable to the point of being debilitating -- being out in one of the rare instances of direct sunlight in Neo-Victorian London virtually cripples a vampire, while even being out in the typical overcast weather severely hampers them.

** This was expanded further in the ''{{Ravenloft}}'' campaign setting, which included a bewildering array of vampires: Not only were the standard type given expanded weaknesses (and opportunities to NOT have those weaknesses), there were also Vampyres (living creatures that feed on blood), Nosferatu (slightly different powers than normal vampires), elven vampires (who kill plants and are vulnerable to moonlight), dwarven vampires... Even the dreaded [[{{Dragonlance}} Kender Vampire]]. ''Van Richten's Guide to Vampires'', rather than dispelling the classical vampiric weaknesses, spent a lot of time detailing how vampires got around them: A vampire could not cross running water for instance, but nothing prevented them from being *carried* (including in a carriage); a vampire could not enter a home uninvited, but ''Charm Person'' is a wonderful way of getting an invitation extended. Oh, and if you're thinking of hiding from Strahd Von Zarovich, remember that as the legal ruler of his domain he technically "owns" any house in Barovia...

** And in the [[Literature/BloodAngels Captain Leonatos series]], one of the Blood Angels marines is afflicted with Red Thrist, a rare Blood Angel genetic flaw that makes him degenerate into a monster craving blood. When it first activated he was held captive by chaos cultists. He broke out of his cell and killed them all with bare hands before resorting to eating their flesh when their "weak blood" failed to sate him.
** In truly ancient 40k backrgound (from the time of Rogue Trader), there is a mention of an alien race commonly known as vampires. They don't seem to have much to do with the typical vampires, being shapeshifting creatures who feed on psychic energy (their natural form is batlike though).
** In JamesSwallow's ''Deus Encarmine'', [[spoiler:Arkio]]'s metamorphosis makes him vampire-like, and [[spoiler:Rafen]], [[CombatByChampion fighting him]]], explicitly thinks that they do not talk of that word: vampire. Later, in ''Red Fury'', faced with Bloodfiends derived from their gene-seed, a Blood Angel and a Flesh Tearer (a successor chapter to BloodAngels) agree that it is vampiric.

* ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' also has an entire army of SuperSoldier vampires, the BloodAngels.

** And in the Captain Leonatos series, one of the BloodAngels marines is afflicted with Red Thrist, a rare Blood Angel genetic flaw that makes him degenerate into a monster craving blood. When it first activated he was held captive by chaos cultists. He broke out of his cell and killed them all with bare hands before resorting to eating their flesh when their "weak blood" failed to sate him.

* Vampires in Palladium Games' ''{{Rifts}}'' and other games are the spawn of huge, multi-tentacled {{Eldritch Abomination}}s called Vampire Intelligences. They come in three levels: The Master Vampire, who makes a pact with the Intelligence to become a Vampire, the Secondary, who is created by the Master over a three-day "Slow Kill", and occasionally another Secondary when things go right, and the savage and feral Wild Vampire, which is what happens when a Secondary Vampire's attempt at transforming a human goes wrong. While they can be hurt by silver, wood, magic, or the claws of a [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragon]], actually ''killing'' them requires sunlight, or impaling (staking) them through the heart followed by decapitation (just staking them turns them into a skeleton, but it's really a cheap form of suspended animation; remove the stake and you'll have a live (and ''hungry'') vampire in under a minute.) ''and'' burning both head and body to ash separately. Oh, or running water. Not only can they not cross running water, but merely ''touching'' water in motion is dangerous, and can kill them on its own. This makes fire hoses, rain, and even ''water guns'' deadly weapons against them. They must also sleep in or near the soil of their native land; a generous layer of the stuff in their coffin will do. If they lose their soil, and can't get any more before the night is over, they can't sleep, and are easy prey for the rising sun. Finally, crosses ward them off regardless of the faith of the wielder (it's not religious but a property of the Intelligences' hyperdimensional geometry), and the touch of a cross will harm them. They are also harmed by the ''shadow'' of a cross falling on them. Many Vampire hunters have taken to taping a cross over flashlights or the headlights of their vehicles for an extra measure of protection.

** This may make it seem that Palladium vampires are weak, but keep in mind that in ''Rifts'' at least, they're capable of tearing tanks apart with their bare hands. Furthermore, nothing not listed above can even ''scratch'' them.

** The ''Warhammer'' novel ''{{Drachenfels}}'' expands on this further, from the point of view of its heroine, the Vampire Geneviéve Dieudonné. And if that name sounds familiar to fans of the ''AnnoDracula'' series, guess who ''Drachenfels'' author Jack Yeovil is a pseudonym for?
** All of the Warhammer novels with Geneviéve are "abnormal" when looking at stereotypical vamipres. And just one thing I'd like to add: The blood-suckers from the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' novels? Those aren't vampires; Geneviéve is a '''real''' vampire. Read any of those Warhammer novels and you'll see what we mean.
** The Vampire Counts of the Strategy game, however, limit Vampires to five major bloodlines: Von Carstein (classic {{Dracula}}-style), Lahmian (classic Literature/{{Carmilla}}-style), Blood Dragon (Fallen {{Blood Knight}}s), Strigoi (ghoulish and savage monsters in appearance and ability but descended from intelligent, benevolent rulers) and Necrarch (MadScientist necromancers).
** These bloodlines are also promeniantly figuring in "Night's Dark Master". It's just that there is always a chance of some sort of randomness in a specific Vampire's weakness (and to keep the players guessing about a Vampiric Antagonist's weakness). To make the players never to always rely on the same tactic against vampires.

** And then there are the Varghulf. They are vamps who give in to their bloodlust and reverted into mindless predaotrs that look like giant bats.

** In one of the [[AllThereInTheManual background novels]], the vampire analogues are still subtly worked in- the newest trainees are locked a casket for an entire year while being transformed, they have many rituals and traditions involving blood, and aren't averse to drinking blood when they get the chance. They also make the [[MethuselahSyndrome longest lived Space Marines]] of them all, quite a feat considering that most marines can live for centuries if they survive that long.

* In ''UnhallowedMetropolis'', feral vampires with mere animal cunning instead of reasoning intellect are the majority -- sentient vampires are a growing minority, however, due to the phenomenon of Legacies -- a sentient vampire is more likely to create another sentient vampire, that sentient vampire is even more likely to create a sentient vampire, and so on. No matter how long the Legacy, there's never more than a 60% chance of a vampire creating a sentient vampire. Infection is spread through exchange of bodily fluids, but is exceptionally rare under ordinary circumstances -- there's only a 1% chance of it on each instance of transfer. Large, deliberate transfers of bodily fluids, such as a victim being fed a quantity of the vampire's blood drastically increase the chances to one in ten. Unless the disease is diagnosed and treated with a complete blood transfusion within a week of initial infection, the infected will never be human again -- those who die of the disease become vampires, while those who survive become dhampiri. Vampires can be killed by enough normal injury, but it takes a large amount of very severe wounds to do so. Any sufficiently dire wound to the head or heart will destroy the vampire, as will outright decapitating them or removing their heart. A wooden stake to the heart will only kill under the same circumstances as any other damage to the heart, but a lesser wound that still manages to stake them will paralyze the vampire. Vampires are not actually harmed by sunlight, but it is uncomfortable to the point of being debilitating -- being out in one of the rare instances of direct sunlight in Neo-Victorian London virtually cripples a vampire, while even being out in the typical overcast weather severely hampers them.

* In ''UnhallowedMetropolis'', feral vampires with mere animal cunning instead of reasoning intellect are the majority -- sentient vampires are a growing minority, however, due to the phenomenon of Legacies -- a sentient vampire is more likely to create another sentient vampire, that sentient vampire is even more likely to create a sentient vampire, and so on. No matter how long the Legacy, there's never more than a 60% chance of a vampire creating a sentient vampire. Infection is spread through exchange of bodily fluids, but is exceptionally rare under ordinary circumstances -- there's only a 1% chance of it on each instance of transfer. Large, deliberate transfers of bodily fluids, such as a victim being fed a quantity of the vampire's blood drastically increase the chances to one in ten. Unless the disease is diagnosed and treated with a complete blood transfusion within a week of initial infection, the infected will never be human again -- those who die of the disease become vampires, while those who survive become dhampiri. Vampires can be killed by enough normal injury, but it takes a large amount of very severe wounds to do so -- a vampire must receive a number of Fatal Wounds to the torso equal to the vampire's (supernaturally enhanced) Vitality before it will finally die of its wounds. Any Fatal Wound to the head or heart will destroy the vampire, as will outright decapitating them or removing their heart. A wooden stake to the heart will only kill on a Fatal Wound, as usual, but a Serious or Incapacitating Wound will paralyze the vampire. Vampires are not actually harmed by sunlight, but it is uncomfortable to the point of being debilitating -- being out in one of the rare instances of direct sunlight in Neo-Victorian London virtually cripples a vampire, while even being out in the typical overcast weather severely hampers them.

** Also, they've created quite a few servitor races for themselves, mostly different varieties of FishPeople, and hunting bats, and some may become a bacteriophage-looking creature called a [[http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/viviphage.htm Viviphage]] with [[BloodyMurder total control over the blood of others]], and which eventually turns into an organic rocket to spread the vampire plauge to other world.

* Masquerade's SpiritualSuccessor ''VampireTheRequiem'' goes a step further, and rather than the different clans being subspecies of the main vampire race, they're entirely different creatures who have just enough in common to coexist, making it Our Vampires Are Different... From Each Other.

** All of the Warhammer novels with Geneviéve are "abnormal" when looking at stereotypical vamipres. And just one thin I'd like to add: The blood-suckers from the ''Twilight'' novels? Those aren't vampires; Geneviéve is a '''real''' vampire. Read any of those Warhammer novels and you'll see what we mean.
** The Vampire Counts of the Strategy game, however, limit Vampires to five major bloodlines: Von Carstein (classic {{Dracula}}-style), Lahmian (classic {{Camilla}}-style), Blood Dragon (Fallen {{Blood Knight}}s), Strigoi (ghoulish and savage monsters in appearance and ability but descended from intelligent, benevolent rulers) and Necrarch (MadScientist necromancers).

** The old [=GURPS Supers=] had as a sample character Nightflick, a vampire who rejected his sire and only needs to feed during the full moon-- retaining almost all of his human traits and personality, he becomes a SuperHero. He can fly in the form of a man-sized bat, bullets pass ''through'' him without harm, and he hides his identity while vigilante-ing by dressing up as... a vampire. Pale makeup, black cloak, fake fangs, [[RedEyesTakeWarning red contacts]], speaks in VampireVords, etc., the Full Lugosi.

** If the container holding a Red Merchant's is opened or broken, the Red Merchant's soul flees and their body is destroyed.

* ''{{Everway}}'' supplement ''Spherewalker Sourcebook''. Queen Sunset the Undying, ruler of the Red Merchants, [[SoulJar removes their souls and places in a receptacle]], which causes them to become a form of vampire. The newest are called Knights, and with time (at least 50 years) they can become Barons or Baronesses, and even Dukes or Duchesses.

* In ''UnhallowedMetropolis'', feral vampires with mere animal cunning instead of reasoning intellect are the majority -- sentient vampires are a growing minority, however, due to the phenomenon of Legacies -- a sentient vampire is more likely to create another sentient vampire, that sentient vampire is even more likely to create a sentient vampire, and so on. No matter how long the Legacy, there's never more than a 60% chance of a vampire creating a sentient vampire. Infection is spread through exchange of bodily fluids, but is exceptionally rare under ordinary circumstances -- there's only a 1% chance of it on each instance of transfer. Large, deliberate transfers of bodily fluids, such as a victim being fed a quantity of the vampire's blood drastically increase the chances to one in ten. Unless the disease is diagnosed and treated with a complete blood transfusion within a week of initial infection, the infected will never be human again -- those who die of the disease become vampires, while those who survive become dhampiri. Vampires can be killed by enough normal injury, but it takes a large amount of very severe wounds to do so -- a vampire must receive a number of Fatal Wounds to the torso equal to the vampire's (supernaturally enhanced) Vitality before it will finally die of its wounds. Any Fatal Wound to the head or heart will destroy the vampire, as will outright decapitating them or removing their heart. A wooden stake to the heart will only kill on a Fatal Wound, as usual, but a Serious or Incapacitating Wound will paralyze the vampire. Vampires are not actually harmed by sunlight, but it is uncomfortable to the point of being debilitating -- being out in one of the rare instances of direct sunlight in Neo-Victorian London virtually cripples a vampire, while even being out in the typical overcast weather severely hampers them.

** The Vampire Counts of the Strategy game, however, limit Vampires to five major bloodlines: Von Carstein (classic {{Dracula}}-style), Lahmian (classic {{Camilla}}-style), Blood Dragon (Fallen {{Blood Knight}}s), Strigoi (ghoulish and savage monsters) and Necrarch (MadScientist necromancers).

** The Vampire Counts of the Strategy game, however, limit Vampires to five major bloodlines: Von Carstein (classic {{Dracula}}-style), Lahmian (female temptresses), Blood Dragon (Fallen {{Blood Knight}}s), Strigoi (ghoulish and savage monsters) and Necrarch (MadScientist necromancers).