As a Kindred, you play a character that is a Vampire.  They must subsist on the blood of the living.  They have strange powers they can use to force their will on hapless humans.  They can give of their undying Blood to people, turning them into servile blood junkies doomed to cater to the whims of the undead in hope of their next fix.

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This is not a game where you play “good guys.”

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Perhaps your character tries desperately to hold on to vestiges of human morality despite the sordid demands of vampiric existence.  Or maybe they have already adjusted their morality to their new condition, telling themselves that they’re no worse than other vampires after they accidentally kill someone.  Whatever the character’s approach to their morality, it’s very likely they end up doing things the player finds morally repugnant.

 

Using this game to explore moral questions and immoral acts can be interesting and emotionally meaningful.  After all, the character is NOT you, and the game is  NOT real.  You can use it as a fictional space to explore terrible things, and perhaps even have a little fun with them.

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How long does it take for your neophyte vampire to start getting used to hunting for blood?  Do they lie to themselves, insisting that they’re a good person, or do they believe their self-flagellation and guilt somehow makes the killing okay?  You can explore these questions through a character and seek out parallels to real-life issues in your own life and the world at large.

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Stories of redemption are within the scope of this game but redemption is hard.  How do you stay the moral course if you literally have to force your fangs into the neck of a human every night?  Other tales exist, which have different choices.  If you character is a working mother trapped in a vicious, abusive marriage, being Embraced as a vampire can give her power and options she never had before.  For the disenfranchised of the world, becoming a Blood-sucker is like making a deal with the Devil - you get a chance to escape the hell you were trapped in, at the cost of your humanity.

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These sorts of scenarios point into the labyrinth of morality at the heart of the World of Darkness.  Ostensibly good people can commit horrifying acts, and even monsters occasionally commit kindness. 

 

You will come to realize that the blood is your master. You are being consumed from within.  You won’t feel it at first, but then, slowly, you will realize that humanity is a distant memory.  You will know that you lived as them, but it will fade like a dream.  You will only have the memory of a memory, until you are a slipshod effigy of who you were.  The Beast within will wear your skin as long as it gets fed.

 

::: What is a Vampire? :::

 

• Vampires are immortal. TRUE.

  • ​While they can be killed (a very difficult process), they do not age or die from natural causes.

  • They don’t need food such as humans eat, and they don’t need to breathe.

 

• Vampires are living dead and must sustain themselves with the blood of the living. TRUE.

  • ​A vampire is clinically dead — its heart doesn’t beat, it doesn’t breathe, its skin is cold, it doesn’t age — and yet it thinks, and walks, and plans, and speaks… and hunts and kills.

  • To sustain its artificial immortality, the vampire must periodically consume blood, preferably human blood.

    • Some penitent vampires eke out an existence from animal blood, and some ancient vampires must hunt and kill others of their kind to nourish themselves, but most vampires consume the blood of humanity.​

  • Generation does Matter when it comes to Technology. (See Next section.)

 

• Anyone who dies from a vampire’s bite rises to become a vampire. FALSE.

  • ​​ If this were true, the world would be overrun with vampires (and not just in our media).

  • Vampires do feed on human blood, and they do sometimes kill their prey — but most humans who die from a vampire’s attack simply perish.
  • To return as undead, the victim must be drained of blood and subsequently be fed a bit of the attacking vampire’s blood.
    • ​This process, called the Embrace, causes the mystical transformation from human to undead.

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• Vampires are monsters — demonic spirits embodied in corpses. FALSE… and True.
  • Vampires are not demons per se, but a combination of tragic factors draws them inexorably toward wicked deeds.​​

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• Vampires are burned by sunlight. True.
  • Vampires must avoid the sun or die, though a few can bear sunlight’s touch for more than a very short period of time.​

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• Vampires are repulsed by garlic and running water. False.
  • These are myths, and only a very small fraction of vampires are even inconvenienced by them.​

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• Vampires are repulsed by crosses and other holy symbols. This is generally false.
  • However, if the wielder of the symbol has great faith in the power it represents, a vampire may suffer ill effects from the brandishing of the symbol.​

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• Vampires die from a stake through the heart. False.
  • However, a wooden stake — or arrow, crossbow bolt, etc. — through the heart will paralyze the monster until it is removed.​

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• Vampires have the strength of 10 men; they can command wolves and bats; they can hypnotize the living and heal even the most grievous wounds. True and false.
  • The power of a vampire increases with age. Young, newly created vampires are often just a little more powerful than humans.​
  • But as a vampire grows in age and understanding, she learns to use her blood to evoke secret supernatural powers, which vampires call Disciplines.
  • Elders’ powers can often rival those of the fictional Lestat or Dracula, and the true ancients — the Methuselahs and Antediluvians who have stalked the nights for thousands of years — often possess literally godlike power.

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• Vampires have sex. True.
  • It’s a great way to feed, but carnal pleasures don’t mean as much to the Kindred.​
  • Feeding, which vampires call “the Kiss,” is an incredibly intoxicating and erotic experience for Cainites and their victims.
  • Sex is great, but nothing truly replaces the ecstasy of feeding for a vampire.

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(This page will be updated as needed.)

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