Your Vampires Are Different

Ah, the Vampire Novel and its many writers always find so many different ways to portray those who drink blood. I'm interested to see how those of you who have written vampires into your stories have portrayed them.

Just list their attributes, maybe with a little remark about the one above.

edited 7th Oct '14 8:39:47 PM by Swordofknowledge

"Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake." —Edgar Wallace

My vampires:

• Derive their immortality from a curse of restoration which rewinds time
• Require blood as a "sacrifice" to keep the curse from burning out and killing them
• Spread their condition through tantric rituals (i.e. sex and sexual acts involving the swapping of bodily fluids)
• Possess the usual super strength, speed, and endurance as well as night vision and the ability to smell blood like a shark
• Grow more powerful with age, acquiring new magical abilities such as powerful illusions, mind control, flight, and the ability to summon and command animals, as well as turn into them
• Hunt in packs and possess no real society, organizing themselves instead into distinct families with an "alpha"
• Are very buddy-buddy with lycans now that they no longer need to compete for their feeding grounds
• Are actually much easier to incapacitate than they sound because their initial transformation into a vampire rewires their brain in a way that gives them an irrational fear of religious symbols and a proclivity towards behavioral obsessive-compulsive disorder (this is where the "counting rice" myth comes from)
• Are photosensitive to the point where leaving a vampire out in the sun will actually slowly cook them alive like a human in a radiation chamber (moonlight is also their enemy, as it is merely reflected sunlight)

edited 7th Oct '14 7:47:56 PM by KSPAM

I've got new mythological machinery, and very handsome supernatural scenery. Goodfae: a mafia web serial

The way I do it, Vampires are fine during the day so long as they're not in direct sunlight. So even during daytime, you're not safe if they're about. Got that from Van Helsing I did, wanna try and use it in a not-stupid context.

edited 7th Oct '14 7:58:25 PM by maxwellelvis

Of course, don't you know anything about ALCHEMY?!- Twin clones of Ivan the Great

I'm glad I've already got some people onboard—I actually envisioned this thread just sitting here for days on end

I like your thing with the moonlight; it's something that is often overlooked and it really does make being a vampire kind of a drawback in your mythology, I guess. It's a good and unique idea. I am a little curious as to how they get around seeing as they are vulnerable both at night and during the day.

Good—daywalking vampires are always scary. You really aren't safe anywhere.

I've written two vampire stories; the ones I'm describing are from the older of the two.

• They do not drink blood due to physical thirst or hunger; instead it is a purely mental compulsion that drives them to seek out humans and drain them. They can still find food appetizing but must vomit it up again since their digestive system no longer works.

• They're dead. They have no need to breathe except when speaking, though they tend to do so out of habit. Lighter-skinned people become sickly pale while darker skinned individuals develop a nasty grayish pallor. Either way it is clear on close inspection that they are walking corpses unless they use heavy makeup or other cosmetics.

• They have no blood in their bodies. When they are cut they don't bleed at all. They inflict this on their victims but generally tend to only take as much blood as they need to kill their prey.

• They transform humans by concentrating solely on turning the human into a vampire while draining the body entirely dry of blood. It is extremely difficult since the tiniest lapse in focus will result in a dead victim rather than a new vampire.

• Holy items from any religion are harmful to them. The item in question will glow with white light and the vampire's entire body will be consumed with burning agony. Even if they were to push through the pain, they are literally unable to touch the holder of the holy item, similar to two magnets of opposite poles. All blessed or otherwise sacred items do this but the the radius of the damage to the vampire is greater if the owner of the item's faith is strong. A vampire could not get within ten feet of a devout believer with such protection while they could get within half a foot of an atheist. Prayers or verses from sacred texts are like fingernails on a chalkboard.

• No matter what sexual orientation they were when human, they are both asexual and physically incapable of performing the act.

• They are extremely strong and fast. They can easily break bones or even tear off limbs without thinking about it once they have their hands on a human and can easily catch up to the average mortal in a blur.

• The only way to kill them is completely destroying their hearts. Once fatally wounded a flood of blood will gush from the chest wound as well as every orifice. After this the body will rapidly rot until it reaches the point of decay that a natural corpse their age would. Older vampires eventually disintegrate into dust while the younger leave behind a bloated, stinking carcass or skeleton.

• Their hearts somehow contain all the blood they have ever drained. When it is pierced, all of it leaks out, sometimes resulting in literal oceans of blood from ancient vampires.

• Sunlight will burn newly turned vampires but the damage heals relatively quickly once they find shelter. If they don't, they burst into flames and die. After fifty years it no longer bothers them, though they have a psychological dislike of sunlight from the years of avoiding it. The weakness of the elders is the need to rest in their native soil once in a while, otherwise they begin to slowly decay and rot.

• Cuts and broken bones heal within seconds and even severed limbs can regenerate within the space of minutes. If the heart is torn out of the body, completely intact, it will regenerate completely, using the heart as its core. Limbs separated from the main body will undergo the same process of decay as the body does when killed

• They can control humans with their eyes or voice. With the voice it doesn't so much control the mind as much as it makes their commands sound like the most logical thing in the world to do. Voice hypnosis can be shaken off by strong-willed people but eye-contact is one hundred percent effective.

• Their eyes stay the same color as they were in life but become uniformly crimson red when using any of their powers.

• Some of the power to Wall Crawl. It isn't an ability that is conferred with age or that can be learned; one either has it or doesn't.

• They will become evil sooner or later no matter how upstanding or moral they are when first turned. Because vampires are immortal, they have an infinite amount of time to slowly view mankind as nothing more than food.

• People such as the homeless, runaways and friendless make better vampires simply because they have less relationships and thus any change in behavior or habits won't be noticed as quickly.

• They have typical elongated canine teeth, but most learn to hide it.

• The process of draining blood is pleasurable for the victim and vampire alike.

• They are not organized in any way—except for the Big Bad's cadre of vampires—but they do have safe-houses all over the world and operate under a mutual code of not breaking The Masquerade.

edited 7th Oct '14 8:45:28 PM by Swordofknowledge

"Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake." —Edgar Wallace

Something from what I've been writing quite a long time ago:

• They've been categorizing themselves into five distinct Houses for quite a long time. Rome/European ones and Chinese/Asian ones mingled together and combined their associated imageries. They're associated with the Horsemen of the Apocalypse and The Four Gods, and thematically related magical powers.
  • The White are called Liches. Like the White Horseman, they manipulate diseases. Like the White Tiger, they are sturdy and resilent as metal. Mostly found Southern Europe.
  • The Red are called Brutes. Like the Red Horseman, they incite rage and fear and disquiet. Like the Vermillion Bird, they metaphorically burn alive with vigor. Mostly found in Southeast Asia, and South America.
  • The Black are called Hags (regardless of sex). Like the Black Horseman, they command hordes of vermin that devour. Like the Black Tortoise, they possess keen insight derived from cold calculation uplifted to psychic prowess. Mostly found in Northern and Eastern Europe.
  • The Pale/Blue are called Serpents. Like the Pale Horseman, they invite the temptations of death, often with 'temptation' being literal. Like the Azure Dragon, they are infused with the celerity of winds blowing through leaves. Mostly found in Northeast Asia.
  • The Yellow are called Masks. Like the mythical Fifth Horseman, they are quite unknown to the masses and can conceal their presence. Like the hypothetical Yellow Dragon or Snake or Qilin, they are masters of their base body and thus shapeshifting. Found just about everywhere or nowhere - it's hard to tell.
• Weakness to sunlight, check. Weakness to fire, check. That's the end of common weaknesses, though. Houses suffer from one additional frailty, and powerful individuals start accruing 'traditional' banes and tells from folklore. (Haven't quite decided on these, though. My main characters never encountered enough of them to figure this out yet, so I didn't plan them)

Plenty of other details, but I don't see them qualifying as 'Different'. I draw a lot from existing lore after all, which included famous works of fiction.

Vampires are to my daemons as werewolves are to my faeries. Daemonization is a curse - - the daemon rots from the inside out unless he drinks the blood and eats the flesh of faeries, halflings, or shamans. The daemon will go insane if he tries to prey on another daemon. As faeries personify life and embody light, so daemons personify undeath and embody fire; whereas faeries are described as "supernatural", daemons are "unnatural".

Daemons may feast on a regular basis and still deteriorate over time. Daemons ravish those they can't devour, tainting them as they were tainted.

A daemon's curse causes him to mutate into a more hideous monstrosity over time.

edited 9th Oct '14 1:46:17 AM by nekomoon14

Level 3 Social Justice Necromancer. Chaotic Good.

The vampires present in Fausto Cross work like this:

• They're wealthy, noble, or otherwise important people who made a deal with a demon who are deemed important to Hell in some way. So instead of going straight to Hell they become human liasons. Essentially, they become eternal servants of Hell until they die, but get immortality and a bunch of powers in exchange.
• As a result virtually all Vampires are Blue Blood, Corrupt Corporate Executive, Noveau Riche, Merchant Prince and such.
• They feed on blood, but the traditional vampire bite doesn't transmit vampirism, it just kills (or severely injures) the victim as the wound ought to.
• They don't die in the sunlight, but they are severely weakened by it. Direct exposure to sunrise kills them, though.
• Vulnerable to silver, garlic, crosses, holy water.
• Can't cross running water without a vessel.
• Brought Down to Normal whenever on holy ground of any kind.
• Ruled by a cabal of vampire nobles. Including, but not limited to: Vlad The Impaler, Elizabeth Bathory, Count Orlok and Lord Ruthven.
• Since The French Revolution onwards they've been on a steady decline, and are very close to extinction in modern days.

"All you Fascists bound to lose."

My vampire:

• Is one of many types of Spirits, specifically of the undead variety
• is unique (or only a few exist at a time)
• is not actually the dead person; when someone dies, their soul is gone. A spirit has possessed the body, taking control of most of the memories, and extrapolating while following it's own desires and limits. In this case, it would be drinking blood, avoiding sunlight, and unable to enter homes. Also maybe other vampire cliches.

edited 9th Oct '14 7:17:04 PM by Ninjaxenomorph

Me and my friend's collaborative webcomic: Forged Men

In one of my tabletop RPG group's settings (basically a blend of Astro City and Freedom City), we've got some Friendly Neighborhood Vampires, most of whom live in a part of town known for paranormal activity, and most have the "leave us alone, and we'll leave you alone" attitude. If there are any "troublemakers", or individuals that act like the stereotype (or as they call 'em, 'Uncle Belas'), they tend to take care of their own.

In terms of powers, we use the Black Court and Red Court versions from The Dresden Files. Simply put, if they were converted pre-17th century, they're Black Court; post-17th, Red Court. Most of the time, the vamps are just background stuff.

Oh, and just like we've got the Ginger vs. Maryann debate, they've got the "Lee, Lugosi, or Oldman" debate.

Embroiled in slave rebellion, I escaped crucifixion simply by declaring 'I am Vito', everyone else apparently being called 'Spartacus'.

Vampires in my RPG (tabletop) are rare enough that each one has a completely separate set of powers, weaknesses, and backgrounds.

The vampiress that my players have most contact with is a ballroom butterfly type, who is comfortable around living people (and thus allows her to keep tabs on them). Her powers are different from the staple vampires:

Casts a reflection in mirrors. No revulsion to garlic or running water. No particular revulsion to sunlight (but it does deactivate her major combat power, see below). No invitation needed to enter houses. This is changed instead to a curse that she cannot physically touch a person without an invitation. If somebody else initiates contact, such as shaking hands or kissing her offered hand, that meets the requirement. Strong autophobia (terror of being alone). Manifests as paranioa-inducing whispers, threats, and vile imprecations in her head. Dispelled (or held at bay) by living company and conversation. Can assume the form of a veil of shimmering light and shadows. This effectively makes her insubstantial as she can crawl under any crack small enough to be dark. She is unable to do this in completely illuminated areas, but indoors these would have to be very brightly lit rooms with no shadows for her to jump to, or outdoors in broad daylight. Cannot shapechange into mist or animals. These are completely out of place for an urban socialite like her. Low-level leeching off of socialization: she regains a healthy skin tone, regains the ability (though not the need) to breathe with humidity and warmth, and exudes body heat. These all require the company of living humans or demihumans around her. The more people around her, the less noticeable her toll is on them individually. If she is with few people, her draining makes them listless, dull, and pale. She cannot turn this ability off. For this reason, men who become her exclusive lovers rarely last long before falling ill and wasting away. Her "sleeping" requirements are different - she must don a unique ballgown and mask, and sit in a narcissistic trance in front of a mirror for hours. The ballgown and mask have personal sentimental significance for her vampirism. (I have not filled in her backstory to account for this, but the coffin-with-grave-dirt motif seems out of place for what sort of spirit she is.) Failure to do this means she has neglected her curse (of vanity and pride) and she begins to age rapidly until she puts it right, "paying off" all the missed hours of self-adoration needed. She has no particular vulnerability to wooden stakes, but this is not much of a bonus for her since she suffers combat damage normally. Her vampirism gives her no boost to Strength, and only a modest boost to Dexterity, meaning that her combat roles are very limited. If she is completely incapacitated in combat, she automatically assumes the shimmershadow form and flees to her ballgown and mask to regenerate. If she is incapacitated in daylight or similarly-illuminated areas, she remains in her corporeal form and bleeds out like any normal human, dying permanently once she suffers lethal damage. This makes her much more vulnerable than most classic RPG vampires. Religious symbols in general do not bother her, except for one specific religion, which has a backstory-specific trigger from her living days.

Her role in my campaign is more like a consummate Mata Hari.

She pays a price for it, though: she is much more fragile than most of her kind, and behaviorally she is forced to associate with humans regularly. Finally, she cannot allow any of them to get too close to her, because of her strict trance requirements. Her ballgown and mask are the equivalent of an irreplaceable coffin and grave dirt, and if anybody finds out her secret, her immortality could easily end with a fireplace immolation.

My vampires (Only two show up, though there are more. These rules are specific to the two of them)

- Have all the weaknesses modern-day audiences are used to. So, burnt by sunlight, must drink blood to survive, hurt by garlic, etc - Do NOT have all the usual powers (especially not the 50000 or so powers some get. I'm looking at YOU, Young Dracula). Most do but these two only have enhanced strength and speed. - The reason for this is it's a tradeoff for their clan's one main power. That is, turning into a dragon. (A distant ancestor was dumb and brave enough to try to drink from one. He managed it, to the amazement of all) - The reason this isn't OP is that these two live in a city, which doesn't have the space to make a dragon form even remotely workable - They're mother and son, but due to vampires aging to about their thirties and then staying that way until they die, they are almost always mistaken for brother and sister - Mummy's boys are VERY common in the vampire world, mostly because being around your parents forever isn't just possible, it's the norm

So yeah. There we are

The last thing you hear before an unstoppable juggernaut bisects you with a minigun.

The ones I came up with do not burst into flames in sunlight, nor are they weakened by it. However, they do have rather sensitive eyesight so bright daylight is uncomfortable on the eyes and glare can be an issue (including the overly bright lighting of most modern cities).

The chemicals found in garlic, wild dog rose, ash and a few other plants range from "extreme irritants" to "highly toxic".

They have to eat.

That's real food, with proper nutrients, vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, carbohydrates etc - you can't run a body without them - and they have to consume calories relative to their energy expenditure (which means if they're doing a lot of the superhuman strength or speed of which they are capable, they've got to eat a lot).

They have to drink to hydrate their bodies, just like everyone else.

They have to breathe - the food's not going to oxidise itself.

This means that they can permanently die from starvation, thirst or suffocation just like any living human being - along with the usual things that people traditionally do to kill vampires in movies (fire, beheadings, destroying the heart etc that would also effectively kill humans and most other animals).

So they have all of our "weaknesses" and a few more (garlic etc) that can kill or harm them.

But, being reanimated corpses, they don't age and they can't die of old age. If they're careful, they could theoretically survive until the Heat Death of the universe. Well, maybe not that long, but at least so long as there's a functioning ecosystem to provide them with food, water and air.

That said, there are no vampires known to be older than about 700 years, even though their kind have been around for well over 2,000 years. According to unsubstantiated legend, the longest-surviving one was about 1000 years old at the time of permanent death.

As mentioned above, they are capable of superhuman strength and speed - not faster than a speeding bullet or more powerful than a locomotive but certainly enough to count.

They can heal from damage and injuries that would kill a human, but they need to drink blood to do so (the quantity required being proportionate to the amount of damage they have to heal) - if not injured or damaged, they have no need to drink blood.

Getting blood is easy and need not result in the death of the donors (but if the vampire's a prize cunt, it could).

They are no more "evil" as vampires than they were as humans prior to the change, so not necessarily the "villains".

Most tend to be rich, powerful and influential as embracing vampirism was seen as a way to continue to exert authority rather than ceding it to your offspring and the powerful people who became vampires quickly put in place rules about who could make others and who was eligible to be "turned" to ensure that only the "right sort of people" gained this immortality.

Occasionally "exceptional" people might be recruited from the "rabble" if they display the right attitudes, skills and acumen.

And of course, they tend to get even richer and more powerful/influential as they can play the "long game" with regards to gaining finances and building powerbases and empires.

Manipulators, controllers, "Eternal" rulers, empire builders, long-term corporate CE Os, investors. Possibly fairly benevolent if they've common sense enough to realise that mistreating their subordinates is a losing game, fairly likely self-serving (which can also lead to "kindly" and "helpful" behaviour that counterfeits altruism) and in no hurry to die.

And they don't have fangs. Human teeth are quite capable of drawing blood if need be or there are other, tidier, ways to open up a wound from which blood can be lapped/slurped.

No telepathy, no glamours, no transformations into bats or wolves.

Basically I went with "reanimated corpse" and ignored all the religious stuff (about souls and devils) and fanciful add-ons over the years such as growing pointy fangs and bursting into flames - the former being a corruption of the "elongated" teeth observed in the exhumed corpses of suspected vampires (corpses' teeth become more visible as the gums shrink) and the latter being the construct of a B-movie producer to (thinly) disguise the fact he'd plagiarised Dracula.

The virus that causes vampirism reanimates the corpse and preserves/restores it, gives it some advantages (strength, speed, immortality, healing, better night vision) and some weaknesses (the virus itself is affected by the chemicals in garlic, ash/rose sap etc which is why they affect the vampire) but doesn't magically confer strange powers over people or prevent light from being reflected in mirrors.

edited 30th Jan '15 12:56:02 PM by Wolf1066

Vampires in my stories were driven extinct, due to the Succubi tricking them into believing they were immune to sunlight through a false prophecy the succubi wrote. The succubi killed the vampires in order to appear as if they made a Heel–Face Turn for humanity, when secretly they wanted the humans as slaves for themselves.

Warning: This poster is known to the state of California to cause cancer. Cancer may not be available in your country.

A vampire is a missile.

Nous restons ici.

How did they convince all the vampires to go out into sunlight all at once or otherwise stop the vampires from observing/realising that the ones who did expired despite the "prophesy"?

For mine, there is no Masquerade. Vampires are well known to exist and generally make no secret about their status/condition. Many famous monarchs and other rulers have been vampires, reigning for hundreds of years.

Humans tend to view them as "self-regulating" and therefore not a problem - blood is purchased or tithed when needed so exsanguination-based fatalities are rare and the rules imposed by the vampires on "who" and "how many" tends to stop the world being full of vampires that might need blood to regenerate.

They're also not necessarily "evil", so they don't cause too many problems to the average person (wholly-human serial killers, rapists and other dregs of society are more prevalent than malevolent vampires) who doesn't really have care (or have a choice over) who is in power.

Many of the succubi imitated vampires and adopted the likelinesses of vampirekind, while also providing a dissenting voice against those who insisted the prophecy was fake. The common belief amongst all the vampirekind was only the "undeceivable and determined" could walk amongst the sunlight. (In the story lore, one vampire, the Atlas of Fire, walked into morning sunlight, and was set ablaze, but refused to run to the dark the entire day, instead facing the sun and asking it for the honor to see it and the determination to survive it. When the sun set, and rose again, he was immune to the burn of the sun, and became the first vampire to "leave the darkness behind.") Wanting to channel his feats, many vampires entered the light of the prophecized day, believing the easily deceived and undetermined (those unlike the Atlas of Fire) died in the process. The ones they saw unaffected by the sun were actually disguised Succubi. Eventually all of the purebreeds were killed by this plot (and other events like assassination), and all of the vampirespawn were outcompeted and hunted down by non-vampires.

Warning: This poster is known to the state of California to cause cancer. Cancer may not be available in your country.

Boy, are vampires different in Occupied Space. They're inspired by this image◊ by this guy.

• Vampires come from a nanovirus originally capable of making superhuman transhumans with surprising stability, but got corrupted by a terrorist organization centuries ago.

• Although they cast reflections in mirrors, their sensors don't pick this up. All they see in a mirror is a shadowy blur. For some reason, seeing themselves on a live feed doesn't have the same effect.

• Early stage vampires generally look like something between a Nosferatu and a metal fetishist. Many a vampire have suffered death by orbital strike after being mistaken for a host of HIVE.

• Vampires feed on blood due to a psychological disposition made to keep them killing, but they can convert biomass into energy with built-in fuel cells. However, in order to evolve they need to consume cybernetics and nanotech. If enough tech is consumed, then they can eventually pass for a normal cyborg or even an unaugmented human. Most late stage vampires make full use of reactors found in normal cyborgs so that they no longer have a physiological need for biomass.

• Their main powers outside of what they assimilate are the result of their Swarm, a field of nanomachines and insectoid drones that provide various effects and can be augmented with assimilated nanotech. The effects vary and include things like metamaterial cloaking, laser refraction, climate control, and even spawning Grey Goo entities.

• Vampires can keep the viscera it has collected pressurized for easy storage. However, when a vampire is killed the blood and gore will instantly depressurize, sending Ludicrous Gibs and lots of High-Pressure Blood everywhere.

• Late stage vampires can extend their Swarm into Transnet and even the Noosphere. Basically, they become latent hackers and/or Transistors.

• No, vampires aren't sex gods. Vampires lose their reproductive organs and sex drive upon conversion. It doesn't help that even the most well developed infiltrators have a fluctuating case of Uncanny Valley, while normal vampires are just plain unconcerned with looking pretty. In addition, they lose the ability to feel remorse for killing.

• Along with assimilating cybernetics, vampires can manufacture cybernetics unavailable to normal cyborgs. One of the most valuable pieces of necroware, as these enhancements are called, is the Black Carapace armor. This is made up of multiple layers of diamondoid, carbon nanotube, lead, tungsten, and grey goo capable of withstanding unheard of amounts of punishment and repairing itself from almost nothing. Those few who survive encounters with Black Carapace equipped vampires are guaranteed to hold on to as much of the armor as they can pry off.

• They are capable of creating drones out of any organism they wish, but prefer humans or war organisms. By injecting their victim with a mind altering nanotoxin. Some vampires gain the ability to alter their drones with their own nanotech, but these drones are unable to be converted into true vampires without going brain-dead.

• The Department of Anomaly Recovery and Containment (DARC) is known to "recruit" any vampires they can salvage from raids on their hideouts. The neural reprogramming allows them to function in normal society, but they lose the ability to assimilate cybernetics as well as their latent psychic abilities. For this reason, they exclusively go after vampires that have developed advanced cybernetics and necroware.

• There's no true way to overcome the bloodthirst, but the Department of Anomaly Recovery and Containment are able to spoof it in their psychological reprogramming. For reprogrammed vampires, every day is a battle to avoid relapse. Once they relapse, there's no going back and their assimilation capabilities are lost forever.

• Vampires that don't keep up with their blood diet will slowly revert to an earlier stage until they're merely Geiger-esque animals that are bound to be mistaken for HIVE and bombarded from orbit.

• The most powerful of the vampires become Humanoid Abominations with a completely alien consciousness. these beings are armed with impossibly advanced cybernetics, psychic abilities beyond most human psykers, and an impregnable Swarm wielding anomalous physics.

edited 17th Feb '15 4:23:09 PM by MaxwellDaring

INSIDE OF YOU THERE ARE TWO WOLVES. BOTH OF THEM WANT YOU TO SHOOT ELVIS.

Thanks for that.

Damnit, 'ed

edited 30th Jan '15 9:08:20 PM by Wolf1066

Mine are animated by black magic, and as such pretty much lose their conscience the second they're turned. No Friendly Neighborhood Vampires unless there's something in it for them, and even then, they usually have outlets for their cruelty.

Mine also follow most of the rules. A stake through the heart kills them, as does sunlight, decapitation, and they're as flammable as kerosene (which is especially troublesome since they live in a world with energy weapons). Immortal and unchanging unless killed and they get more powerful with age. Cremate themselves to dust when killed, so it's actually kinda dangerous to stake a vampire unless you wear armor.

A "Vampire" is just "someone" who studies Blood Magic to the exclusion of the other Necromancy sub-branches.

Now everyone pat me on the back and tell me how clever I am!

Yay! I've been just delving into this subject. Please feel free to give feedback, as I'm interested in this topic but haven't read a lot of vampire literature (I'm looking more at monsters as a whole.)

-Highly photophobic; they can be very easily blinded so most of the time they'll either wear sunglasses or "light-resistant contacts". They are very pale too, and because of their skin chemistry their sunburn actually looks black. However, they don't die by actual burning but of heat stroke instead. It's worse because they also don't sweat very much.

-Vampires will take blood from any animal that has it. They have periodic states of high cravings, and during those times it is really important to have stocks of blood around or else they will get the blood from the first things they see.

-Vampires have a set of retractable fangs that appear during their cravings. As mentioned above, they won't have to use them unless they don't have any blood on them.

-Because of their light sensitivity, they tend to avoid mirrors (this hasn't been a major issue...they usually just use smaller mirrors).

-They also have hemophilia; this can be reduced through therapy.

-Although vampires are not immortal, they can undergo hibernation to keep them intact. Although this technically increases their lifespan, it does not necessarily increase the time that they actually spend awake. (credit to Ars Thaumaturgis for this one...thank you!)

-They can't turn into bats, although there is an exception.

-Stake through the heart...would YOU live with a stake through the heart?

-Vampires can reproduce with other vampires but not with others; most vampires would identify themselves as "asexual" even though sexual relationships are possible.

-You are either born a vampire or you get vampire virus transmitted through your blood. Vampires aren't corpses, although due to hibernation they are often mistaken to be.

edited 31st Jan '15 5:20:27 PM by Coujagkin

1. The Sunlight. All vampires can walk in daylight, though as predator the day is not their natural time. It stings in their eyes and eventually they grow pale because they don't need pigment. 2. Drink bloods. Blood is just blood. Its not a substitute nor drug. Vampires doesn't feel ecstatic or aroused, it's just food. They only drink humans blood and that of animals because their instincts are wired to consider humans their first choice of prey.

3. Evil. Instead of killing all the time they are generally enemies of all human beings. Even if they don't have to feed on people, because they are hardwired to detect “prey” and see humans as prey their mentality is a biological substitute for “evil”. 4. Eat food. Vampires can eat food to hide. Vampire longevity and regeneration require a lot of protean so they can't sustain themselves on human food. So vampires do piss. Piss is waste from purifying blood. So its all the vampire does on the bathroom.

5. The blood type. Vampire blood is the mysterious fifth blood type. A A blood type that is not only compatible with all other blood types, but that also makes any blood type compatible with any other blood type. And prevent immune system collapse. 6. Biology. Vampire have a living biological digestion. But it looks more like that of a leech. It is specialised on sucking blood out of anything that enters between its lips and the entrails. So a vampires lips and his tongue sticks and throat is full with leech like meat that sucks and bites into any flesh that gets there. Fat tissue stores oxygen as well so the vampire doesn't have to breath. If a vampire only drink blood his body forgets how to digest food and his body appear falsely like that of long starved human. A vampire doesn't need all the vital organs so he can survive comfortable as little more than a skeleton, with muscles and leathery skin. Likewise vampires can grow obese by drinking a lot of blood but its not fat but blood and some sort of concentrated oxygen and antibodies. They will stink of rotten blood. 1. The Sunlight. All vampires can walk in daylight, though as predator the day is not their natural time. It stings in their eyes and eventually they grow pale because they don't need pigment. 2. Drink bloods. Blood is just blood. Its not a substitute nor drug. Vampires doesn't feel ecstatic or aroused, it's just food. They only drink humans blood and that of animals because their instincts are wired to consider humans their first choice of prey.

3. Evil. Instead of killing all the time they are generally enemies of all human beings. Even if they don't have to feed on people, because they are hardwired to detect “prey” and see humans as prey their mentality is a biological substitute for “evil”. 4. Eat food. Vampires can eat food to hide. Vampire longevity and regeneration require a lot of protean so they can't sustain themselves on human food. So vampires do piss. Piss is waste from purifying blood. So its all the vampire does on the bathroom.

5. The blood type. Vampire blood is the mysterious fifth blood type. A A blood type that is not only compatible with all other blood types, but that also makes any blood type compatible with any other blood type. And prevent immune system collapse. 6. Biology. Vampire have a living biological digestion. But it looks more like that of a leech. It is specialised on sucking blood out of anything that enters between its lips and the entrails. So a vampires lips and his tongue sticks and throat is full with leech like meat that sucks and bites into any flesh that gets there. Fat tissue stores oxygen as well so the vampire doesn't have to breath. If a vampire only drink blood his body forgets how to digest food and his body appear falsely like that of long starved human. A vampire doesn't need all the vital organs so he can survive comfortable as little more than a skeleton, with muscles and leathery skin. Likewise vampires can grow obese by drinking a lot of blood but its not fat but blood and some sort of concentrated oxygen and antibodies. They will stink of rotten blood.

7. Becoming a vampire. The first and some current once where born as what they are. Until puberty or late 20th ies, they gradually have anemia and are mentally weak. Vampirism doesn't activate until they suffer a severe physical trauma like an near death experience or a fatal wound or heart attack at old age. This would start a superhuman regeneration that triggers the transformation into a full vampire under which time it falls into coma appearing dead. Much of the vampire biology is still in the blood have been absorbed by virus that can infect humans and turn them into weaker form of vampires. 8. Evolution of the Vampire Vampires evolved from cannibals who already adapted their digestion system and immune system so they wouldn't get sick from eating human meat and could efficiently digest meat like predators. Chances of survival increased if humans wouldn't see the cause of death, so they specialized drink the blood. 9. Sexuality. Born vampires are infertile only have sexual organs until they turn then they fade and drop of. Old vampires have no reproductive organs. The species eggs and seamen are replaced by reproductive DNA carrying virus and blood cells which has many side effects appearing much like syphilis or aids. A male vampire must first infect a woman during intercourse so the virus impregnates her only if she will die from what appears like a sexual transferred disease.

10. Powers. Vampires can regenerate any wound and change appearance using DNA from their victims. They are instinctive good manipulators and can fake hypnotism. Because they also carry animal DNA they can manipulate and train animals. They can transform into animals traits slowly as long as it does not violate the conservation of mass. Such as night vision eyes, or huge ears and claws. All these features disappear if they wants to turn into skeletons. They are stronger, faster, and more enduring. They enjoy pain and feel no pleasure nor empathy but they have their own set of alien emotions.

11. Immortality Vampires age but they are immortal. They can change their appearance to young or old but they age mentally. Vampires that are more than hundred years old, are little more than a collective mind between blood born bacteria, insects and worms on the level of delusion of having consciousness. Some even wake up as if they had amnesia for ever or at least they remember how to talk in their clearest of moments.

12. Morality. Vampires have no baser urges. They are not moral symbols for human dilemmas. Their existence is nothing like that of the monstrous of humanity, they are not greedy,lustful or cruel. If they don't kill all the time they simulate human consciousness only to survive and when they simulate human consciousness its only then that humans beings can see their own evil reflected in them. Humans idea of evil incarnate is the closest thing to a framework we have to understand them and thats when the vampire try to act human. They are like a haunted house that echoes. 7. Becoming a vampire. The first and some current once where born as what they are. Until puberty or late 20th ies, they gradually have anemia and are mentally weak. Vampirism doesn't activate until they suffer a severe physical trauma like an near death experience or a fatal wound or heart attack at old age. This would start a superhuman regeneration that triggers the transformation into a full vampire under which time it falls into coma appearing dead. Much of the vampire biology is still in the blood have been absorbed by virus that can infect humans and turn them into weaker form of vampires. 8. Evolution of the Vampire Vampires evolved from cannibals who already adapted their digestion system and immune system so they wouldn't get sick from eating human meat and could efficiently digest meat like predators. Chances of survival increased if humans wouldn't see the cause of death, so they specialized drink the blood. 9. Sexuality. Born vampires are infertile only have sexual organs until they turn then they fade and drop of. Old vampires have no reproductive organs. The species eggs and seamen are replaced by reproductive DNA carrying virus and blood cells which has many side effects appearing much like syphilis or aids. A male vampire must first infect a woman during intercourse so the virus impregnates her only if she will die from what appears like a sexual transferred disease.

10. Powers. Vampires can regenerate any wound and change appearance using DNA from their victims. They are instinctive good manipulators and can fake hypnotism. Because they also carry animal DNA they can manipulate and train animals. They can transform into animals traits slowly as long as it does not violate the conservation of mass. Such as night vision eyes, or huge ears and claws. All these features disappear if they wants to turn into skeletons. They are stronger, faster, and more enduring. They enjoy pain and feel no pleasure nor empathy but they have their own set of alien emotions.

11. Immortality Vampires age but they are immortal. They can change their appearance to young or old but they age mentally. Vampires that are more than hundred years old, are little more than a collective mind between blood born bacteria, insects and worms on the level of delusion of having consciousness. Some even wake up as if they had amnesia for ever or at least they remember how to talk in their clearest of moments.

12. Morality. Vampires have no baser urges. They are not moral symbols for human dilemmas. Their existence is nothing like that of the monstrous of humanity, they are not greedy,lustful or cruel. If they don't kill all the time they simulate human consciousness only to survive and when they simulate human consciousness its only then that humans beings can see their own evil reflected in them. Humans idea of evil incarnate is the closest thing to a framework we have to understand them and thats when the vampire try to act human. They are like a haunted house that echoes.

(This is my first ever forum post, hooray for me)

Anyway, back on topic, vampires are a very interesting subject to me indeed, and I am working them into a few of my stories. They usually fall into three different categories:

Traditional vampires: These are the ones that either drink blood or eat the victim's flesh. They don't really have a set way to kill - or if they drink blood, a place to bite. These are the only types of vampires that have fangs.

Psychic vampires: These drain the victim's energy through their very aura. They may do this through an extended hand, gazing into their eyes, or touching them in some way. Some require the assistance of some sort of magical item.

Sexual vampires: Also known as incubi/succubi, these drain their victims through sexual intercourse. There has been much debate over whether these really are vampires, but I personally categorize them as such, since they seem to have a lot of the same characteristics.

Common traits among all vampires I work with:

• They only have fangs if they drink blood - and even then, they still may not.
  • Sometimes they will have sharp claws instead.
• Garlic will not kill or repel them, but some (particularly the sexual variety) may be allergic to it.
• They are usually bothered by sunlight, but won't burn or sparkle in the presence of it.
• When they are injured, they can recover on their own, but it might take some time depending on the severity.
• The way to kill most vampires is by first impaling them (usually with a wooden stake, though anything sharp will work), then decapitating them (not always necessary), then burning them and either scattering their ashes in water, or pouring holy water over the ashes.
  • Incubi and succubi will also be destroyed if they have sex with one of their kind.
• Crosses, holy water, and other religious/magical items may work against them if they have been properly consecrated and the universe allows for use of such items.
• They almost invariably can see well in the dark and survive cold temperatures.
• They are usually cold to touch - unless they are of the sexual variety, in which case they need to constantly monitor their temperature and scent.
• Most vampires behave in a very impulsive, almost monster-like fashion. However, some of them have something that ties them to their previous life, and as a result act more like regular people. This something can be a curse, a special mark provided by the one that turned them, or a memento from their life.
  • Vampires with a memento are a special case, called Anima Memoria, where the memento holds their very soul (like a horcrux). I am currently working on a story that revolves around the Anima Memoria concept. One of the vampires is a succubus whose memento is a pendant given to her by the incubus who raped her; another is a psychic vampire whose memento is the lyrics to a song she wrote during her life.
• Besides all the above characteristics, vampires don't look too different from the average human, nor do they have any special powers beyond what enables them to prey upon people.

So, besides the two Anima Memoria vampires mentioned above, I currently only have one other true vampire as a major character in a fictional work (a fantasy). This vampire (a traditional one complete with fangs) is also very good at divination and carries around an athame as a main weapon - but only because she was that way in her life. To keep her sanity, she must be watched over by her best friend. Most other vampires there are easily manipulated and more impulsive, and are frequently made into pawns under the Big Bad.

A few of my other characters have vampire-like characteristics. One of them has the psychic draining typical of a psychic vampire, but otherwise is just an ordinary human. Another has a tooth sticking out, pale skin, aversion to sunlight, and a compulsion to drink blood - but this is because she's from a place of eternal night and has consumed a poisonous herb which conferred strange compulsions upon her (she's actually of a more elfin race). One of the Mons in another of my stories is based off your average Hollywood vampire - fangs, red eyes, bat ears, a winged cape, devil-like features...

Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.

My vampires:

The "Standard" vampires

For the most part, they look exactly human.

The clan of vampires featured prominently in my project are your Friendly Neighborhood Vampires. Mostly.

They have much higher stength, stamina, and durabilty as compared to humans. They can utilize Super-Speed or Super-Strength, with a price. They can regenerate. However, becoming a vampire doesn't cover preexisting conditions.

Vampires usually only need to drink blood to recover lost blood.

They don't have any Weaksauce Weaknesses. Easiest way to kill them? Loss of blood.

If a vampire utilizes the clan's forbidden spell...

The "Reverent" vampire

Monstrous in appearance, reaching a height of fifteen feet. Has a pair of large bat-like wings. Each limb ends in long, razor-sharp claws.

Possesses monsterous strength and rapid regeneration.

edited 9th Apr '15 3:00:13 AM by WillDeRegio

Vampires in Lucas & Lace, my high fantasy trilogy, are one of the numerous factions in Thraxis & Tromomir's army in the second book. As such I don't have near as much detail for them as some of the other entries here provide. Anyway:

Vampires are dead, and have to feed on life in order to stay on this side of death. The longer they go without feeding, the more their bodies rot, and the more their minds degenerate, until all that's left is a winged, fanged skeleton with no mind of its own. When fully fed, they have skin and hair the colour of rot, hollow eyes that swirl with Chaos energy, full bat wings with which they can fly for short periods of time, fangs and tusks in the mouth, and far greater strength and durability than a normal person. They can vampirise other animals, though turning a person is a longer, more complicated process, and one that I never actually have carried out on page. Once turned, a vampire is bound to the one who created it, and has to fill out his or her will. They're killed the same way you kill a normal person, though given how strong and durable they are, additional force is a requirement. Kill the head vampire, and all the others die too.

The main group of vampires in the book, the Night Riders, are several thousand years old. There are twenty of them, and they're bound to Lucien Threespear, an undead tribal chieftain and demon worshipper turned vampire. They favour bone weapons and armour, all etched with magical runes.

There are also lesser beings, known as revenants, which are essentially corpses reanimated by Chaos and given some vampiric features (fangs, tusks, badly stunted wings), and a bestial mentality. They do not, however, have the intelligence of a genuine vampire and they continue to rot away even if they've fed. Below them are the walking dead, which are reanimated corpses in the vein of classic stupid, shambling zombies. Both revenants and walking dead may be dominated by an actual vampire and bound to him, in which case they gain some vestiges of his intellect, at the cost of dying if he does.

edited 14th Apr '15 4:10:53 PM by AmbarSonofDeshar