Based on the book "Lost Souls" by Poppy Z. Brite.
IMPORTANT: Vampires in WoS are not traditional. They are born, not made.

A. ORIGIN: Natural

Rather than being a human changed to the undead, these people are another race entirely, born as vampires instead of being sired or turned. Those bitten by a vampire DO NOT turn into one of them but they often use this misconception to attract their victims. Things like crosses, coffins, and garlic are only myths and have no effect on them.

 

Racial traits: Manipulative, charismatic, calculating beings.

 

B. APPEARANCE:

Due to the age-long inbreeding with humans, some can look seemingly normal.

1. Skin: They can be born in any range of skin colors but all seem to possess the same translucent quality where the veins and arteries lying underneath are more visible to the naked eye.

2. Teeth: The younger generations, especially the human hybrids are not born with sharp teeth anymore, but they will most likely file them sharp to feed. The older generations or pure born do have natural sharp teeth that come out for feeding.

3. Aging: When a vampire turns 18, cellular senescence is drastically reduced, if not completely halted, granting decelerated aging. They can begin to show some age if they stop feeding for a long time and desiccate. Vampires can live for centuries.
    

C. FOOD (You can only choose one feeding type, this preference cannot be changed as you are born with it)

       Besides the all-known fact that most vampires feed on blood, they are the types that can feed on other kinds of life forces such as love or beauty. They will seduce their victims and suck the life out of them, leaving nothing but an empty shell. While the younger -most likely human inbred- vampires can survive by consuming human food and drinks, the pure-born vampires will get very sick.

 

1. Blood: This vampire need to ingest the blood of others regularly for sustenance and regenerative purposes. The blood can be human, animal or supernatural, all with different levels of intensity and side effects. Victims either die (needs consent) or are left in a weakened state. Some types of blood have different effects: Feeding on a werewolf will leave the vampire in a euphoric state temporarily, Infected human blood tastes foul and can make the vampire sick to the stomach. Vampire blood has no effect on other vampires but is seen as something intimate.  Victims do not turn into a vampire themselves. 

2. Energy: These vampires can sustain themselves by feeding off the emotions of their victims. They can fully or partially absorb them into their bodies by touch or close proximity. The Vampire seduces its prey, sometimes using compulsion. Targets of the draining often lose motivation due to the sudden loss of intense emotions. This type of feeding does not work on supernatural beings such as werewolves that cannot be compelled.

 

D. ABILITIES:

 

1. Accelerated Healing: Vampires have the ability to heal much faster than the average human as long as they had consumed a regular diet of human blood or energy prior to the injury. This allows them to regenerate tissue and fully recover from injuries such as cuts and bruises in a matter of minutes and more severe injuries such as gunshots or broken bones can snap back into place in only a few hours though they still feel the pain of a wound before it heals. This also gives the vampire immunity to human diseases and infections.

Limitations

- Injuries do not heal instantaneously and can still hurt.

- A vampire cannot heal properly while exposed to sunlight or UV light.

- Critical wounds such as lost limbs cannot be regenerated.

- vampire-human hybrids' healing time is slower than pure breeds regardless of their age. 

 

2. Enhanced Strength:  The vampire strength is augmented, but not to supernatural levels. They can crush, lift, throw, or catch items of great weight. They would be able to lift objects on their own that would normally require multiple people. They could easily overpower the average untrained human but its strength is on par with that of the werewolves before transformation and slowly grow stronger as they grow older.

Limitations

- They possess enough strength to lift over twice one's own body weight to up to 800lb for pure breeds and 500lb for half-breeds.

- Strength is significantly reduced if exposed to daylight or UV rays.

- Strength is significantly reduced if the vampire hasn't fed.

 

3. Enhanced Agility: (not to be confused with enhanced speed) The vampire agility is better than the likes of an ordinary human, enabling them to move with more accuracy. The vampire is able to move in any type of physical way flawlessly. They could be the finest dancer in the world, the best martial artist, the greatest athlete, etc

Limitations

- It can still experience exhaustion.

- It does not necessarily mean they can't get injured in falls from great heights or crashes into walls.

 

4. Peak Human Speed: Vampire speed is faster than the average human but is on par with that of a human at its most enhanced physical peak. They can run up to 30 mph (48 kph) - 35 mph (56 kph) level and swim at 12-15 knots. With this sort of speed, one could catch-up to or outrun moving vehicles, are likely to always be first in running-races and have great reaction speed. Its speed is at the highest limit of human potential.

Limitations

- It can still experience exhaustion.

- Cannot outrun a transformed werewolf.

 

5. Psychic Manipulation: Vampires can compel humans by speaking or looking at them with subliminal seductive power. Each word stimulates the brain's pleasure centers and can mesmerize or convince some humans that they didn’t see what they thought they did. This ability is quite useful when a vampire does something in public that can expose him as a vampire. They can also use this ability to seduce and slave the weak-minded human to do their bidding.

Limitations

- This ability only works on humans. You cannot mesmerize or slave to another supernatural.

- Eye contact is required.

- Humans who have ingested or are wearing vervain are immune to compulsion.

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6. Night Vision: They have excellent night vision, the ability to see in low light conditions or even total darkness.

Limitations

- May be sensitive to sudden flashes of bright light.

- It might take some time for the eyes to re-adapt to regular light.

- May cause eyes to glow/reflect light

 

 

E. WEAKNESSES:

 

1. Severe Physical Damage/Trauma: A vampire can not recover from great bodily harm or the removal of a body part. The heart and the spine are two important elements that can not be regenerated because they are the main elements for the flow of blood and other organ's restoration. The brain can be damaged but regenerates after a while. A vampire cannot survive decapitation or removal of the heart.

 

2. Sunlight/UV Rays: human-vampire hybrids are less sensitive to the light than pure breeds and are able to walk outside during the day with only some minor cover-ups but even prolonged exposure to indirect sunlight can debilitate them and cause painful sunburns. Most abilities are weakened or halted by the exposure. UV Rays are especially harmful to pure Vampires, depending on factors (i.e. the intensity of the light, length of exposure to it). The effects may range from merely causing the vampire to sizzle or steam to incinerating them instantly.

 

3. Vervain:  It has a unique effect on vampires when it comes in contact with their skin. If a vampire makes physical contact with vervain in any form, it will burn them. If a vampire ingests vervain, the vampire's throat and digestive tract will be burned and they will become feverish and extremely weak. If a human ingests or holds vervain somewhere in or on the body (e,g, holding it in a hand or pocket, wearing it in jewelry), the human is protected from vampire compulsion and entitled to free will.  This is not necessarily deadly in small amounts, there is the possibility of major injury with enough exposure.

 

4. Wood: Wounding a vampire with a wooden weapon such as wooden bullets will incapacitate them, and it will take longer for them to heal their injuries than if the wounds were caused by any other substance. Stabbing a vampire through the heart with a wooden stake will result in instantaneous and permanent death.

 

5. Starvation: All vampires need to feed on some form of life-force, but exact amounts and quality vary, as well as the consequences of not feeding. Some may feel nothing more than normal hunger, others age, weaken rapidly and enter in a type of desiccated coma. Some enter a ravenous feral state that ends only after they have fed.

 

6. Fire: Vampires are highly flammable and sensitive to fire, and will quickly burn and die from it if the flames are not extinguished in time. This quality has been proven to be useful in disposing of the remains of a dead vampire without any physical evidence.

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7. Mountain Ash (Rowan): When used properly, Mountain Ash can form an impenetrable invisible barrier to keep supernatural creatures in or out.

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8. Magic: Vampires are susceptible to the powers of witchcraft.
 

F. BLOOD DOLLS:

A blood doll is a human who freely lets vampires drink from them. Frequently found as members of subcultures such as the Goths, blood dolls seek a perverse thrill from the vampire's Kiss (bite), but their tendency to actively seek out vampires to give it to them means that they unwittingly walk a very thin and dangerous line with their lives. Some blood dolls do this willingly but some are compelled.

G. VAMPIRE BLOOD EFFECTS

Vampire Blood, also known as V, is the highly addictive blood of vampires. Different from human blood, vampire blood is what gives vampires their various abilities and is their literal life essence. If vampire blood is consumed by a human in a small dose (one or two drops), it will heighten their agility, increase strength, make an intense sexual experience, and cause hallucinations.

 

If the blood is taken in a large dose, it causes several different effects, such as healing someone who has injuries, even if they are dangerously close to death, and metaphysically or spiritually bond the drinker with the vampire in question. If taken in a large dose when there is no injury on the human, they will have an extremely increased libido.

 

The vampire community has kept the healing properties of their blood a secret from the human community, as it will encourage humans to hunt vampires for their blood. Some humans and other supernaturals who are aware of this quality keep some vampire blood handy just in case they or someone they know are horribly injured.

Limitations

Vampire blood have no effect on werewolves.
 

H. MATING
          It's well known that vampires can mate with humans, but for a human female to have a child from a male vampire is different. The whole pregnancy will be equal to a normal pregnancy, except the birth. The unborn vampire will try to eat his mother's insides to find his way outside, something a normal woman is not likely to survive.

They cannot crossbreed with other races besides human

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I. VIEW OF OTHER RACES

 

Supernaturals generally coexist with humans due to their shared origins and appearances. Their existence remains a myth by most of humanity which makes it easier for them to commingle with their human cohorts without detection. Most avoid exposure to the public because of the past prejudices that have led to the hunt of their species. Attitudes towards other supernaturals vary from individual to individual. It is really your character's personal history that can determine what kind of relationship it wants to have with other races.

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  Revised Dec 2019