How Much Blood Do Your Vampires Need To Drink?

Would you measure it by their body weight in blood per 24 hours?

Or in lives lost (full exsanguination of a human of average height/mass) per month?

How long does a meal that leaves them full, last them? Or do they not get full just as they don't die no matter how long they're starved? What are the ill effects of starvation, or the bonuses of feeding then?

Do they have a society that judges each other as gluttons or ascetics?

I've got a vampire on board a ship whose crew decided not to dock at their destination (because there was a plague cordon) but they don't know where to sail to next. First, she was sipping from a consenting crew member with the stick-in-the-mud captain snarking that she just ate two days ago enough to last her the whole voyage (if it went as scheduled, which it didn't.) (Also, there's a bit of a stigma against being vampire food. I'd say it's the disgust equivalent of treating urine like a drink.) After several events, somebody's going to say ominously, "She'll need to feed soon." Thus far, her metabolism has gone at the speed of Plot. Vampirism is species-specific, so my vampirized human can't drink deer. She can't have vampire superpowers if she's hungry, but I don't know about either zombification, aging, or vicious and furious bloodlust if she starves.

So, I'm just curious what everybody else is doing with their vampires if they have them.

edited 5th Jul '15 12:45:27 AM by Faemonic

"Vampire" in my setting is a Title, not a race. It's someone who reached Grand Master in the Blood branch of the Dark Sorceries tree. Drinking blood is more or less a parlor trick than a requirement.

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

That's cool. So, if they don't drink blood at all, is there stigma? Or if they drink too much, do the other vampires think, "That one is a freak"? Or by Parlour Trick do you mean that drinking blood is for a magic ritual instead of species nourishment?

From a never-fully-developed Urban Fantasy story of mine:

Vampires are much like certain reptiles in that their dietary requirements are linked directly to activity levels. A vampire acting at a quiet, leisurely pace needs to feed about once per week, generally taking half a liter or less. A vampire engaged in strenuous activity may need to feed daily, and one expending power like it's going out fashion (using Blood Magic is the main culprit here) may use up an entire adult human's blood supply in a matter of minutes. Meanwhile, a vampire can also enter a state of hibernation that will stretch out their meals for years or even decades.

Vampires in general are parasitic rather than predatory and they have no particular interest in killing their food supply. Drinking enough to seriously harm or kill a feeding victim is considered a sign of something very dark and dangerous and in many vampire groups that kind of behavior will see the perpetrator dusted very quickly.

A vampire who has gone thirsty for too long or who has suffered traumatic injury may devolve into a feral state, becoming a rampaging monster without the ability to ever feel sated again. Vampires gone feral will drink and drink until there is no blood left in the vicinity, and as such they will tend to have massive amounts of power to burn.

Note that vampires can also subsist on animal blood, but it lacks the potency of a sapient being's blood. A vampire living on animal blood will never feel truly sated, and many of their supernatural abilities will not function properly.

edited 5th Jul '15 5:51:59 AM by MattStriker

Reality is for those who lack imagination.

Dietary requirements linked to activity levels makes sense. Even humans need about 8000 calories to hike or bike around the wilderness, but only 2000-3000 for urban life.

Parasitic but not predatory is a refreshing distinction.

My own vampires basically farm humans, so I'm guessing the ex-human vamps started off as predatory hunter-gatherers and then civilized themselves and kept domestic humans, err...allied with or subsumed other races. Since most vampires are turned rather than born, I guess vampirism is the upper echelon of a culture that is oddly epigenetic in that attainment of that privilege changes the body, or changes to the body create attainment of privilege, which would leave the vampires at a more awkward relationship with the food caste than simply awareness of sustainability or natural disinclination to fatal violence.

I wrote one where it's more of a nutritional requirement than a meal in the first place, and a bit of blood from friends (like, a thimbleful each) is an appropriate and welcome Christmas present.

Otherwise, his nutritional pyramid includes fresh, raw meat, taking the place of one or two servings of cooked meat ordinary humans would need as part of a balanced diet.

(Vampires do not have special powers in this setting. It comes closer to a minor disability, like poor vision, that they have to account for. It's not Cursed with Awesome or Blessed with Suck, but just plain ol' "Cursed With Suck".)

Quick reference check on bloodsuckers: vampire bats consume half their body weight over a 30-minute feeding time I'm guessing about once a night (and process it so fast that they pee at the same time they're eating), whereas mosquitoes consume about thrice their body weight in blood but (I knew this once, I forgot) only the females ready to lay eggs. Males never drink blood, and both males and females of the mosquito species subsist on plant juices for nutrition. The blood is literally for the eggs, like some strange voluntary reverse menstruation.

Meanwhile, young leeches can feed on eggs, insect larvae, and molluscs. Adult leeches drink any sort of blood, between 3 to 5 times their body weight in about 20 to 40 minutes. They can store it in their bodies for a long time. They are aquatic worms.

Vampirism as a disability with blood as more of a supplement is also refreshing.

I did think that the movie version of Edward Cullen had a moment of strange clarity when he essentially criticized Meyer's worldbuilding as imbalanced: he's sexy enough to draw in his prey, as if anybody could outrun him or fight him off. There are no real downsides to being a vampire over there.

edited 28th Jul '15 5:31:58 AM by Faemonic

I don't intend to ever write a vampire story, but if I did, this is how it would work. All vampires were originally human. There are two types of vampires, "living" and "undead". Living vampires are original vampires who became such through magic and have not yet experienced any sort of mortal injury (living vampires still have mortal bodies, so if they do sustain mortal injury, they become undead). They are capable of magic, and gain a few magical abilities from vampirism, but gain no specific physical ability from vampirism besides being The Ageless. When they drink blood, the victim's remaining lifespan is transferred to them, and the victim will die soon and become an undead vampire. So depending on how young they want to look, if they always feed on young adult victims (ages 16-25) they will only need to feed on human blood once every 20-40 years, but they still have to eat normal food regularly.

Undead vampires were either living vampires who were killed or victims who died from having their bood drunk by a living vampire. Unlike living vampires, the only part of their body that is mortal is their blood. They are physically weaker than humans and cannot regenerate body parts, but the only way to kill them are burning, drowning, and preventing them from feeding for more than a month. They do not need to eat regular food, but they must drink blood once every 28 days, with the victim dying soon after.

Also, when vampires "feed", they do not actually drain the victim but simply swap out their old blood with the victim's fresh blood. Thus, what is actually being consumed is not the blood itself but the Life-Force tied to it.

edited 6th Jul '15 5:17:34 PM by shiro_okami

I'm seeing a lack of mobility between the living and the undead vampires, that's interesting. So, we've got vampirism as a title, a medical condition, a race, and now something in between. This is cool!

Vampires need about a quarter-liter for each day. Starvation symptoms(first weakness, eventually death) start after about three days, if that's all the vampire drank; They can ingest more of it to last longer, storing the mystical quality it has that they need. In addition, they need one human heart for every few months.

The amount of time provided by a heart or a given amount of blood varies, depending on who they came from. The difference is greatest when one is old or dying. These needs aren't affected by activity level, but injury increases the need for blood.

Most vampires are part of a single society, referred to as the Vampire Fiefdoms, where they've set themselves up as a twisted version of the warrior class. Using their physical superiority, accumulated resources and great foreboding castles, they dominate and protect their subjects, who are required to provide for them. Naturally they are deeply entrenched in their positions.

Turning a human into a vampire is a rare event, though not as rare as a vampire dying. A prospective addition is carefully considered by the heads of the house; Aside from being willing, he has to be considered loyal enough, if not to them personally then to their way of life. He needs to be trusted not to disrupt their society; Turning someone without permission, too much wanton killing of their subjects or failure to serve are all likely to lead to him being hunted down and killed. They might also have treaties with neighboring powers to keep each other from killing their people as well.

The turning procedure takes some cues from knighting ceremonies; Long mental preparation, oaths of loyalty and conduct, and a brief feeding from the neck; It's not physically required for the turning, but it signifies the last time it may be required of them, like the last punch/slap in some knighting ceremonies signifies(if I heard correctly) the last time they would have to sit there and take it.

The families of vampires(not sure how extended) are favored, putting them 'lower on the list'(not sure if there's actually a list) for feeding. When someone is considered for turning, being part of such a family is an advantage, both because of nepotism, and because fewer new people would become favored.

edited 7th Jul '15 4:45:25 PM by ManInGray

Vampires are techninically immortal in Fausto Cross and don't need to drink blood per see, but if they don't drink blood, they'll grow proggressively weaker and start to literally wither away. How long that takes varies from vampire to vampire.

The run-of-the-mill weak vampires tend to need about one person every 6 months or so (though of course, most are just gluttonous and kill a man a week). They'd start withering to death after one or two years without blood.

The most powerful vampires alive, the Blood Court (composed of Vlad III, The Impaler, Elizabeth Bathroy, the Blood Countess, Lord Ruthven and Count Orlok) could withstand centuries without ingesting an ounce of blood, but of course, they kill people on a weekly basis because why the Hell not.

In this verse, vampirism can only be acquired via pact with the Devil, so they're not spreading the plague. They're just killing people.

"All you Fascists bound to lose."

My vampires tend to require "normal" food with the correct balance of fats, proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, trace elements, vitamins etc as well as water and air (got to oxidise that food into energy after all).

Vampiric blood is the agency for transformation into a vampire (blood-borne contagion) but only affects some of those who ingest it at close to the point of death (those it doesn't affect just die) and will make a healthy person ill for a while but then they develop an immunity to the contagion and can never be turned into a vampire at a later stage (makes for some interesting tactics to ensure that potential rivals can never become a vampire - just slip some vampiric blood into their food/drink and you've guaranteed that when they eventually die, they die for good).

Once a vampire, you become functionally immortal but not invulnerable, your body regenerates lost cells naturally like any living human but without the problem of aging and you can heal from serious damage by ingesting the blood of living creatures.

Human or animal blood is required to repair serious damage or to heal at an an accelerated rate, so how much blood they need depends on how badly injured they get. A careful vampire may never need to drink blood throughout their extended lifespan.

Killing the donor is rare - not much blood is needed and it needn't all be got from the same source.

The ones I'm working on are highly variable in exactly how much they need.

Like Deus Dono, mine need blood as part of their diet, but not exclusively. A bare minimum would be about 250 ml a week, but that's sort of like an absolute minimum. Anything less and they get slower, weaker and can eventually slip into a sort of suspended animation to conserve their strength, a condition that can last decades and theoretically even centuries though given how vulnerable they are in the state, they try to avoid such situations.

At the other end it probably comes closer to a litre or a little more a week if they're particularly active under 'normal" conditions. The newly turned or those recovering from extended periods without blood can need between two to three litres a week but rarely for a period of more than three months. It's also possible to store up extra against potential future lean periods.

Enough, hyuk, hyuk

This shall be my true, Start of Darkness

That's interesting to think about, too, since a common biology in any population of being would gain mass eventually and become an ecosystem to consider.

Hah! I like that.

That does make sense.

It reminds me of back in the Buffy The Vampire Slayer days, the vampires would claim that they don't breathe, and then they're shown smoking a cigarette. I could just shut the fridge on that, but then they started saying that they didn't eat and I really had to wonder what was stopping them. Lack of digestion? Just unappealing without flavour because the tongue is dead?

What else do they feed on?

(laughing saxophone)

edited 27th Jul '15 9:46:32 PM by Faemonic

Depends on the vampire. Pretty much a normal human diet. Some like their steak rare, others will punch you in the throat for making the joke. Most abstain from alcohol because they can't get drunk, but that just makes some of them really heavy drinkers and wine snobs. The all groan if anyone makes a "not drinking wine" joke though.

But essentially a normal human diet plus a certain amount of human blood. Animal blood can be used as a filler or temporary substitute but without human versions it affects them like a particularly nasty vitamin deficiency that hits them right in their enhanced/other abilities.

Roughly a Capri Sun's worth a day in order to stay healthy. Blood substitutes and animal blood both work. However, they only gain powers by drinking human blood. A Vegitarian Vampire is inherently much weaker than a carnivorous one.

Many vampires are Social Darwinists who consider it "natural" to prey on humans and grow in strength. However, most vampire hunters are kind enough to limit their violence to Asshole Victims (basically, they're Serial Killer Killers). They consider it better sport, and for that matter, killing innocents would make put them higher up the Men In Black's hit list.

"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"

I have two main vampires. The first is the "normal" kind seen throughout the galaxy. They need to feed on animal or human blood on a regular basis. When feeding on human blood, it is not necessary to kill, unless they have gone a long time without feeding or have overly exerted themselves. Feeding on animal blood requires so much that a kill is necessary. It doesn't really matter how big the animals is, since killing releases a certain energy that the vampire feeds from. If they don't feed, their powers slowly slip. First the flashy ones like strength and speed. Then their regeneration, and all the while their mind will keep slipping. Eventually they'll be reduced to a ghoul or zombie status. Black magic will become concentrated so instead of the usual they feed then supply blood, only one bite is required. Once reduced to this status, there's no real going back, and the vampire will be a zombie for the rest of its undeath.

The second I have in Almost Night, and are crystal skin "abomination" vampires based on Twilight. They actually don't need to feed at all since they crystalline bodies hold onto the energy from blood more efficiently. They certainly crave it though, and they instinctively drain their victims dry since unlike the normal vampires who need to feed and give their own blood, abomination vampires only need one non-lethal bite.

Both of them have an inherent cruelty streak in them, so a vampire feeding on animal blood isn't doing so out of altruistic reasons, it's usually to lay low since vampires have a bounty. They will also be incredibly inhumane to the animals they kill. Neither of them really get full per se, the excess energy just kind of gets stored.

In the most efficient model, feeding only once a week when the hunger gets worse, enough to be supplied by three relatively healthy people in cycles. Deviating from that plan, it will quickly increase to unmanageable levels.

"..."

My vampires need a lot of blood, mostly because they crave the sugar in blood. But because the amount of sugar in the average person's blood is about a teaspoon's worth, surviving off blood requires a lot of it. So a lot of vampires nowadays just give up any semblance of monstrosity and eat sugary foods to their heart's content.

edited 1st Aug '15 5:07:39 PM by SavvyAngel

A story I was contemplating had blood as an addiction and a source of power. Vampires could get along fine without drinking at all, but their strength would wane, and they would still have to deal with The Craving. But if a Vampire drank blood, probably no more than a pint or two a night, it would give him increased strength and resilience and diminished weaknesses. A Vampire who wants a regular blood supply would need to cultivate a significant group of people to feed on, and hence would be quite old and powerful.

What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.

Since vampires aren't the sparkly angst wagons of contemporary time but rather more akin to biomechanical horrors, vampires need more than just blood to function. they are able to inject a corrosive agent into their victims that slowly liquifies their insides while all that liquid biomass is sucked out to be processed by biochemical fuel cells. They usually need to drain a person a day this way, depending upon activities performed. All this viscera is contained in a pressurized container that upon death depressurized, ensuring that a vampire's death is always accompanied by massive quantities of High-Pressure Blood, no matter how much of their misshapen bodies are replaced with cyberware ripped from their victims. Naturally, acquiring a better power source is the priority of many vampires. However, because they are the result of a nanovirus built to incentivize bloodshed, they can never rid themselves of their blood addiction. Even if they gain a fusion cell, their blood consumption is merely arbitrary but never removed.

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

The vampires in my universe need for blood varies depending on what type of vampire they are. A total of two gallons (the same amount of buying milk from the grocery store for the family) is enough to satisfy their blood lust. But it all depends on the amount of time.

Type 1: Lesser Vampires These are the vampires who get the short end of the stick in becoming vampires. They get all of the immortality but none of the awesome perks like the abnormal powers, attractive appearance and weakness that doesn't kill them. In short, they are basically Nosferateu looking humans who will die instantly the moment they touch sunlight. As for blood, they need it every eight hours to survive; if they don't receive such supplement, they go into a feral frenzy desiring blood which somehow increase their over fighting prowess ten times. These vampires will die after going 3 days without blood. Blood to them is all a part of survival.

Type 2: Regular Vampires Unlike the type 1, these vampires retains their normal "human" appearance and have enhance physical abilities. They can also stay out in sunlight for only 30 minutes. Pretty much, these guys are the common idea for a vampire is. As for blood, they require to drink blood every 24 hours and would last only a week without it. Pretty much consuming blood is the equivalent to humans needing sleep; it is best for their health to have a routine in drinking blood.

Type 3: Vampire Lords These guys are even more enhance then the previous vampires. In addition to looking normal and being super strong, these vampires are even more stronger then the previous types, have psychic powers, are insanely good looking, and sparkle in sunlight (okay, so does the type 2 vampires; and even the type 1 which can be described as being engulf by the glitter reducing them to ash). Anyway, they can stay out in the sun for only four hours but it will negate all of their special powers to the point of being a strong as the Type One but as durable as the Type Two. They need the desire amount every week, and would die after a month; however, thanks to their belief that they are superior they only get some either if they are nearing death or are just bored and need to toy with humans. Pretty much, its a mix of social darwinism and ego tripping with these guys when it comes to wanting blood.

Type 4: Vampire Gods (or something higher, I think the name is not subtle enough) Okay to describe these guys imagine what if a female saiyen have sex with a Pillar Man and gave birth to that unholy child of pure fabulous carnage. That's what these guys are. So in addition to the powers vampire lords gain, these guys can transform into stronger forms of themselves, have an elemental power, and can fly (most vampires under these guys can't do that). They can stay out in sunlight for 8 hours, meaning they can just pose there menacingly as their skin glitchen without a care in the world (though, it does reduce their strength to that of a type 2 vampire and can still be killed through normal means, same could be said for Vampire Lords and Normal Vampires in the sunlight; they all lose their immortality boost). They need blood every one month, and would die after going half a year without it (though it is best they get blood within that time span, or else their frenzy could lead to them turning into hulklike bat monsters going on a rampage). Oh, and everytime they drink blood they become stronger then normal; so blood to these guys is basically a steroid addict needing more juice.

Thankfully these vampires are a rare breed so the people in my story don't have to worry about them. Unless say they all decided to get together forming a Legion of Doom with the sole purpose of ruling over humanity in the name of vampire empowerment ala Soviet Union Russia, then that could suck ba . . . oh shit, that is part of the plot to my story I thought up for them.

Don't Judge me, need more views: https://www.deviantart.com/big-k-2011 | https://bigk1337.newgrounds.com/ | https://twitter.com/BigK64133

In my universe, vampires are not undead creatures but are biological predators with supernatural origins, similar to vamps in Blade and the Strain. I've designed vampires as being humanoid predators who have existed alongside humanity since they were created. Vampires look no different visibly from humans, but they have numerous internal differences that set them apart from them.

Vampirism is a virus that exists within the bodily fluids of a vampire and can be transmitted through a bite or ingesting vampire blood. But the virus is weak and can be easily fought off by a healthy immune system, so in order to turn a person, the vampire must either drain their victim to near death or the victim must be so weak that their immune system is unable to fight off the vampire virus. This virus is fast acting, with an incubation period of six to twelve hours, and within 24 hours the victim is already undergoing the change. During this process, they suffer symptoms similar to the flu. After 24 hours, the victim awakens as a newborn, and very thirsty, vampire.

Vampires possess razor sharp fangs (top and bottom canines) and claws which they use for both feeding and fighting. Both have evolved to be retractable. Their digestive system has changed to process only a liquid diet, and will only accept blood and liquids like water, coffee and soda. Vampire eyes are just as varied as human eyes, but when angry, hungry or aroused their sclera turns pitch black and their irises turn blood red with black pupils. Their hearts beat once per minute, and vampire blood appears black as opposed to the normal red of human blood.

Vampires sustain themselves on blood, mainly human blood for full nutritional value. They can survive on animal blood, usually the blood of mammals, but it is not as healthy or nutritional and can weaken a vampire over time. Drinking reptile blood is even less healthy. Vampires cannot digest solid foods and their body will violently reject it if they try to eat it. A vampire requires a few liters of blood to survive, but they do not need to feed frequently. A single human can keep a vampire fed for a week or two. Without blood, a vampire will become significantly weaker before dying of starvation.

Vampires possess superhuman physical and mental abilities. The average vampire is 3 to 5 times stronger than a human, and can run at 25 to 30 miles per hour, while leaping about 10 feet in height. Their senses are boosted to superhuman levels, able to hear, see, touch and smell things imperceptible to humans. Their minds are similarly capable of processing multiple things at once to better handle their enhanced senses. They possess a strong and durable bone structure that can withstand hard impacts from great heights. Vampires also possess superhuman healing abilities, able to survive injuries that could kill a human and even regenerate lost limbs or critical body parts and organs.

Vampires age slower than humans, and can live for hundreds, even thousands of years. They can die of old age, but most vampires die long before then due to their dangerous and violent lifestyles.

Contrary to myth, not all vampires can shapeshift, turn into mist, or possess hypnotic abilities. Older vampires have been known to develop unique singular abilities that can range from mental powers like telepathy, telekinesis and hypnosis, to physical powers like shapeshifting or even elemental manipulation. A vampire only develops one supernatural power over the course of their lifetime, though why and how is still a mystery that is widely debated.

Vampires mainly reproduce through infecting and turning humans, but they can also reproduce sexually. Vampires born as they are called purebloods. Natural reproduction is rare among vampires however due to vampire birth rates being so low that a vampire couple will at best have one or two children in their lifetime.

Vampires have numerous weaknesses. Sufficient enough physical force can severely injure them enough to be fatal, and they are most vulnerable in their eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Sunlight does not kill a vampire, but prolonged exposure can severely weaken them to the point of dehydration and loss of strength. Vampires are allergic to silver, and if it gets into their system it can be poisonous; wounds caused by silver heal slower than normal. Fire is a good way to negate a vampire's healing abilities, and like silver, wounds caused by fire heal slower.

Vampire society is strictly hierarchal. At the top is the vampiric royal family, upon which a queen rules the entire species, and her throne will be inherited by her daughter and so forth. Below the royal family are the noble clans, pureblood families with several smaller families affiliated with them. At the bottom are mainly common purebloods and turnbloods, former humans. Such vampires usually form small groups or covens that usually consist of 2 to 4 vampires at a time, though larger covens are not unheard of.

The vampire race owes its origins to Nyx, goddess of darkness and sister to Hemera, goddess of light and mother of humanity. When Hemera created humanity, the mortals shunned Nyx out of fear and worshipped only Nyx. Enraged, Nyx cut her wrist and let her blood flow, forming a woman from her blood in her image. The woman's name was Lilith, the first vampire, who was made to be stronger, faster, and keener than humans, and possessed claws and fangs to defend herself. Lilith was born with a hunger for the blood of humans, and even animals, and Nyx had also given her the ability to create more of her kind through biting them. In time, Lilith increased the numbers of her race to sufficient numbers, and gave rise to the first vampires of the species.

in my story featuring vampires, i needed to make them killable without much emotional baggage, since the protagonist is a vampire hunter. so mine are more like animals!

they look a bit like big, mutant bats, and are exceptionally strong. they have very muscular legs and clawed hands. their whole diet is meat & blood, so they mutilate victims, gorging themselves on as much food as possible. theyre a species adapted to hunt mankind and other large mammals.