Vampire
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Basic Information

Vampires are according to most folklore and fiction blood-sucking nocturnal creatures of at least vaguely human-like appearance.
It is hard to define a vampire since in legends the attributes of vampires vary greatly, such as Bram Stoker's Dracula versus Stephenie Meyer's Twilight, some traits are more common like others however, but it is unrealistic to mention all traits attributed to a vampire. Here follows some of the more common ones.

Common Strengths

  • Superhuman Resilience (due to the undead state)
  • Superhuman Strength
  • Immortality
  • Shape-shifting (often into animals such as a wolf, a bat, or perhaps a whole swarm of bats and sometimes into a mist or vapour.)
  • Mind-Control/Mesmerizing
  • Sharp/Superhuman Senses
  • Superhuman Speed of Movement
  • Minions

Common Weaknesses

  • Vulnerability to Sunlight
  • Need to sleep in a coffin or other specific object/space
  • Repelled and/or injured by objects considered to be blessed
  • Inability to cross running water or large bodies of water
  • Unable to cross a domestic threshold without being invited
  • Compulsive behavior such as the counting of small objects, or unknitting of all encountered knots
  • Vulnerability to things considered to be blessed, such as crosses, holy water and sacramental bread
  • Required to drink blood.
  • Cast no reflections.

Other powers and weaknesses will depend on setting - and sometimes on the vampire's ancestry. Depending on the Vampire Tropes, sometimes Our Vampires Are Different.

Further Details
Here follows some more in-depth information on the topics discussed above

Strengths
Vampires are Undead Creatures
in most old legends vampires are essentially walking corpses, which has held true even up to recent days. The obvious aspect of it has been downplayed in most recent media however, and now the most common type of vampire looks like a slightly pale human.

Regardless this should (but sometimes seems not to) render them immune to most of the vicissitudes of life - including suffocation, starvation (with the caveat about their need to drink blood), disease and poisoning (with a few rare exceptions and, occasionally, issues of tainted blood) - electric shocks are also unlikely to be all that effective, their tolerance of cold and heat should be improved and it should be a lot harder to knock them unconscious (if it is possible at all)1. Opinions vary on the ability of vampires to heal any damage that doesn't kill them - in some cases, anything non-lethal simply doesn't leave a mark, in others, vampires can heal alarmingly quickly - especially if well fed. A vampire that doesn't have supernatural healing abilities should become disgusting quite quickly. How well it heals may be affected by what caused the damage - specific banes like wood, sunlight, fire and silver may be harder to fix.

Note however that many (but not all) Japanese vampires, especially in fiction, are not at all undead. Demonic entities and parasites have been known to serve in the vampire role in various media, as have actual living creatures with unusual biology.

Vampires have Superhuman Strength
In the most popular legends vampires possess superhuman strength, often to great levels.
Many stories tell tales of vampires with the strength of ten, or even more, men. This is usually justified as an effect of whatever unnatural power keep them animate. This may or may not be correlated to implied secondary powers such as great speed, jumping ability and the like.
While almost all vampires seem to possess this trait, some folklore tales explain that vampires are very weak and frail, and thus must attack sleeping victims to avoid getting overpowered and destroyed.

Immortality
Vampires being dead are in many legends very close to immortal, sometimes requiring complex procedures to dispose of.
For example, a legend might require a vampire must be staked with a special wooden stake2, have its mouth filled with garlic or holy water, and then have the head chopped off, possibly followed by burning of the body and reburying the remains at a crossroad. Other legends make vampires out to be slightly easier to destroy, requiring simply that the coffin is nailed shut, a wooden/iron stake to piece its heart, or simply burning the body. In some cases the vampire may re-constitute from its ashes and can be very hard to dispose of on a permanent basis.
Modern vampires are in contrast usually far easier to get rid of, sometimes easily killed by simply blood-loss or a bullet to the head. Absolute resilience may be a function of age - the younger and more human the vampire, the easier it is to kill.
Most varieties of vampires are unaging, although in some instances vampires become physically less human as they age - although this can be a feature of diet, personality or other, less direct factors that are tied into living for a long time as a vampire.

Minions
Vampires frequently have "Renfields", human thralls who run errands for them and take care of the coffin while the master is sleeping during the day, etc. They could be creepy and pathetic with annoying laughs and bug-eating habits, like the character Renfield from the Bela Lugosi movie, or tough bodyguards who can easily break the head of any hunter who thinks that the vampire is vulnerable in the daytime. They lack the vampire's weaknesses and are totally loyal to him - confusingly, these are sometimes called ghouls.

In many cases, where a vampire is able to spawn other vampires, it will have at least some degree of control over them - and possibly over their descendants as well - the nature and extent of this control varies from source to source, from something like love to a mere forced obedience to spoken commands. Advanced versions may allow the master/parent vampire to drive their progeny around like a puppet. Sometimes the control is a factor of the controller's skill and a vampire that practices controlling his progeny can develop the control far beyond one who focuses on other things. Where the vampiric condition is parasitic, the control may be less that of the master vampire and more of a hive mind amongst the parasites, albeit perhaps with longer established and more concentrated colonies (typically those in older vampires) having more influence.

In addition, some vampires can also control creatures like wolves, bats or swarms of rats to do their bidding. In fantasy, they will frequently command lesser undead as well.

Weaknesses
Vampires suffer in Sunlight
In Hollywood most vampires combust in flames, or otherwise suffer harm in sunlight. This is however little based on folklore, where most vampires disliked sunlight merely due to being nocturnal creatures - although in some folklore sunlight left vampires powerless or even paralysed.

Vampires sleep in Coffins
In old folklore most vampires returned to their coffin when the night was nearing its end, and this was the time when would be vampire-hunters or mobs of peasants would/should strike them, since they were according to most legends defenseless during the day.
This legend is rarely every used in modern media, and is in fact frequently ridiculed by modern vampires

Vampires fear Crosses and other Religious Symbols
In much of the Christian legends unholy beings such as demons or vampires could be turned away or forced to flee via the power of faith, or some symbol thereof. Crosses and other symbols where often used to ward dwellings from creatures such vampires, demons and evil spirits.
Once again, like coffins, modern media vampires often ridicule this legend in various ways and/or try to dilute its religious aspects. If you would rather subvert this trope, try bringing on a transubstantian vampire… . Of course, this may require you to take a theological position - do all religious symbols work or only some? Alternatively you might require True Faith from the symbol user - or at least some religious belief on the part of the user in the power which the symbol represents. Or you can follow Joss Whedon's example and think up a more or less credible explanation3 to avoid taking a theological position. For a more subversive, humourous or just variant campaign a vampire might fear a symbol of anything it feared or betrayed in life - whether religious or political.

Vampires drink blood
At least most of them do - older versions might drain life in other ways (for example by sucking the breath from people's lungs or draining their youth away) and several of the Oriental varieties drain "ki" or "chi" energy instead (possibly by drinking blood, but possibly through biting your shadow…). Some, more bestial versions may eat raw, bloody flesh instead or as well. This may be all a vampire can eat or drink, or it may be capable of consuming more mundane food - although it is unlikely to gain any benefit and may have to vomit it up again later. Transubstantian vampires - if they exist in a setting - are an obvious exception. How much blood is required will vary - sometimes it will only be a small amount which does the victim very little harm and sometimes the victim is sucked dry4. Gorging with more blood than is required may or may not enhance the vampire's powers. Frequency of feeding, as well as volume may be an issue. The blood may have to be human - or animal blood may suffice (sometimes it depends on the age of the vampire) - and vampires may be quite picky eaters if they have the option. In some cases there will be a distinct case of "you are what you eat" about it and vampires that don't feed on humans will take on animalistic characteristics from their prey. What this means for the transubstantians is possibly better not dwelt on too closely for reasons of game balance. Failure to feed generally won't kill a vampire, but the hunger may drive them mad after a while…

Some traditions suggest that a vampire can be weakened or killed if it drinks blood from someone who is already dead … stored blood from the blood bank may or may not be drinkable, but is unlikely to be pleasant for them.

Interestingly the "PHANGs" from The Laundry Files drink blood, not for sustenance but to allow it to form a sympathetic magic bond down which their symbiotes can pass on the consequences of the magic that gives them their powers.

Vampires cannot cross a threshold without being invited in
An old superstition with a surprising resilience in modern media - that the vampire cannot cross the threshold of a home without being invited in. In some cases, the vampire may even require an invitation from one of the household - not just anyone inside. Opinions vary as to why this might be - to some, it's merely a figurative result of the vampire being a mythic allegory for a variety of human sins (and thus requires consent to enter into a person5), in others a result of the aforementioned vampiric OCD or just an unexplained side effect of the vampiric condition -in more subversive cases it only works if the home in question has been properly dedicated/consecrated according to some specific set of rites. It is generally accepted that to require an invitation, the place must be someone's permanent (or at least typical) residence - hotels, rental cottages and the like don't count … university and school dormitories might. Non-human residences aren't usually considered much. Again, this can be subverted, especially in a feudal setting where the vampire happens to be the household's overlord, but anywhere else where it has right of entry. In a modern setting, you may be able to keep your vampire landlord out simply by keeping your end of the tenancy agreement6 … or the fact that he owns the building may mean you're doomed. And, as usual with magic, there may be the added wrinkle that the vampire has to know about a rule before it applies to him (and the GM can play this any way, including for laughs in the right setting). Once given, the invitation may (or may not) be revocable - simply telling the vampire they are no longer welcome probably won't work (but might). Come to think of it, what constitutes an invitation to enter may vary - in some cases, the invitation must be spoken and addressed specifically to the vampire, in others simply putting a "welcome" mat outside allows them in. As so often when dealing with the supernatural folklore is your friend - as long as you're only worried about local hazards. Also, remember that not being able to enter a property, doesn't usually stop a vampire from getting onto your grounds, nor from setting the building on fire and waiting for you to emerge.

Vampires cast no reflection
And/or sometimes no shadow. This was based on the old idea that the reflection showed the soul of the reflected person. Obviously this is hard to reconcile with what shadows and reflections actually are. If this trope is being played straight, vampires may also not show up on CCTV, film or the like, which will need a lot of plotting work, subverting it is less congruent with the myths but easier on the sanity, however, a vampire that is secretly very horrible and using a glamour to disguise itself as a human may look very different in reflection.

Appearance
Some vampires look human … others, less so. Corpse like or bestial appearance is also a thing in some cases. This may be a factor of personality - sometimes it is the vampire's willpower or conformation to humanity that keeps them human looking - in others it is diet (a good diet of human blood keeps you looking good, eating animals or going hungry turns you fugly) or an inevitable function of age where vampires start off human looking and gets less human over the years.

Becoming a Vampire:

Transforming into a vampire may be inevitable - in some cultures it may be a curse that you inherit or simply the result of a bad astrological profile. It may be the result of your own sins, or a deal you made with The Devil or it may just be in the blood; either because a vampire has fed on your blood, or because you have consumed their blood … there may be specific rules above that (a common version is the vampire must bleed the victim down to the point of death and then feed them its own blood which then transforms them). There may be a question of whether or not the "parent" vampire wants to reproduce or not - sometimes it is a conscious act of will, in other it's just like passing on a disease. As above, diet may effect the transformation - vampires that don't feed properly may turn into something much, much worse.

Returning the Complement:

In some versions, feeding on vampire blood can have substantial benefits - enhanced strength, speed or healing are typical. This may also be how you become a vampire (as above). It may also be addictive and/or give the vampire control over you. Drinking or injecting the blood may have different effects. Vampires may or may not be able to feed on other vampires - sometimes it is better than human blood, in others it breaks the dead blood rule (as above).

See Also:

Vampires In The News:

Famous Vampires:

Vampire Sub-Types:

And vampire-related monsters.

Sources

Bibliography
1. Dracula by Bram Stoker:Not the first vampire novel, but the most famous. The chapter in which Dr. Van Helsing describes the Undead is considered the classic definition of vampires.
2. BuffyWorld.Com - Buffy can be good inspiration for horror movie-vampires which players will have little qualms about killing (Unless the vampire used to be a friend!)
4. The Other Wiki on Tolstoy's 1839 vampire story "The Family of the Vourdalak" set in a small village in Serbia.
4. I Vant to Upend Your Expectations — Why vampire movies always break all the vampire rules
5. Vampire Hunting Kits - LA Weekly blog has photos of vampire-hunting kits that have been auctioned over the years. Some are movie props or known hoaxes, but some are reputed to be "genuine" artifacts from the 16th to 18th centuries.
6. RPG: GURPS Bloodtypes is one of the best gaming guides to a wide variety of vampire myths from various cultures and eras.

Game and Story Use

  • Folklore vampires are often good and creepy monsters. The concept of a walking corpse coming to drain you of your blood has a similar type of horror value as that of a moaning brain-eating zombie. Player also often expect vampires to be both stronger and more intelligent than zombies, which if used right can make them very frightening.
  • Modern/Hollywood vampires are often intelligent beings who retain much of what they were in life, while having many supernatural abilities, which can make them great antagonists. Many versions are also quite human in behavior, which can create moral dilemmas about killing them. This can depending on the campaign be a good or bad thing.
  • Vampires are sometimes used for player characters in some campaigns. Their functionality as player characters is very variable since there are few set rules for what traits a vampire should have.
  • Player-characters could be vampires, or vampire-hunters. Either end of the equation is open game.
  • Photos of Vampire Hunting Kits could make a good prop, or at least inspire some cool equipment ideas for your game. Real dedicated vampire hunters, especially ones who do so out of religious motivations, are likely to have some fancy tools.
    • Given the variation in kill methods, a serious amount of research might be needed to figure out what measures are needed for a given vampire.
  • The role of the vampire as plague-dog should also not be overlooked - some myths suggest that vampires were often accused of spreading some plague or the other during their nocturnal feedings - and that was before the idea of mosquito vectored diseases was widely understood. In the modern era of the shared needle and it's trail of HIV and Hepatitis infections, the vampire can easily regain this role.
  • Vampires also inherit some of the role of the incubus and succubus (and before them lilitu and older demons) as erotic, nocturnal predators - as such, modern vampires can also have at least a veneer of deviant sexuality.
  • Reconcile the weak vampire/strong vampire dichotomy by relating it to feeding - the weak vampires are the ones that have not fed recently and are frail and corpselike - those that feed regularly look lifelike and are strong, fast and resilient.
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