Hey /tg/, what's vampire biology like? I'm thinking about putting vampires in a melting pot setting, and I'm not sure how to play the specifics. So I wanted to ask what you usually do with vampires.
Do they need to breathe?
They're not usually alive, and can be brought back from with their ashes and blood, so- If they're undead, how do they metabolize blood? Magic?
Does vampirism stops the body's growth?
Who was the first vampire? Can vampires reproduce through other means than turning someone/something? If so, how does that work?
Are they all the same, or are there different vampires?
How intelligent are vampires? How often do they have to feed? What are the consequences for not feeding?
Can vampires use magic? How exhausting is it for them to do something like turning into a swarm of bats?
Can they ingest people food? Can they even taste it?
>>43758747
>No
>It's a metaphor, blood is the currency of the soul, vampires metabolise life force
>Yes
>A progenitor vampire comes about only when a great leader falls to an impossibly profound despair, betraying their followers and drinking of their lifeblood in order to escape their fate. The more people, the more powerful the newborn vampire. Power is diluted as a bloodline progresses.
>There are a few different varieties of similar creatures, but only one actually holds the name 'Vampire'.
>As intelligent as who they were before they turned. They don't have to feed at all, if they don't want to. Results in extreme lethargy, requiring to sleep up to 23 hours a day.
>Vampiric magic is fuelled by blood, but not blood which has been ingested. They usually keep a few vials on their person for these purposes. For this reason, not very exhausting at all.
>Human food and drink turns to ash in their mouth.
>>43758747
>Do they need to breathe?
No
>They're not usually alive, and can be brought back from with their ashes and blood, so- If they're undead, how do they metabolize blood? Magic?
The blood a vampire absorv in his sistem is changed (Magicaly or biologically depends on your flavor) if by magic the act of the bite can be interpreted as a magical ritual for the vampire convert the victims blood once he drain it. Biologicaly works maybe a special organ or the vampires can be like people who have low iron in they're blood (Look it up it's a real disease) and they need to ingest high amount of blood iron, so they wouldn't need to drink blood but would need to eat body part with high iron concetrations like a liver or stuffs.
>Does vampirism stops the body's growth?
This depends to you want your vampires to be a cursed race? Super evolved humans? Or just humans that need to drink blood to survive because their boddy can't produce it? For magical or cursed i like to leave it as stopping body growth and ALL body functions so a female vampire can't bleed when she hits her period. With you want they as a separated evolved part os humanity i don't see the need to restrain that.
>Who was the first vampire? Can vampires reproduce through other means than turning someone/something? If so, how does that work?
Nobody knows it's shrowded in mistery one for the passage of time other for ancient vampires wanting to develop their own power and sometimes shrowded in a vampires culture if you ask a vampire priest of death he would problably sai that he was a god choosen. One thing is certaing what or who ever was the first vampire is or was he's truly powefull. Reproduce for other means again falls on the varient if you want then as cursed demons or a group of humans that evolved in a different way.
>Are they all the same, or are there different vampires?
Vampires are physically the same but with different powers, same way a warrior is different from a mage.
>>43758932
Wait, hold up. If there is both the possibility of a bloodline and a halt of body growth, it means it reaches a ceiling point, then how is that ceiling point determined? Also, vampires can still learn new things, so their brain isn't "frozen" in the state it was when they turn, right?
Can vampire control who they turn? Are there different degrees of turning?
Are vampires virtually immortal by virtue of not growing old? Can they change their physical form?
Vampire the Requiem (or Masquerade, if you prefer) is the go-to resource for handling vampires in RPGs, so if for some reason I needed to know about hte day-to-day functioning of vampires for a game of D&D or whatever I'd just fall back on those assumptions. Which would mean...
>Do they need to breathe?
No, but they can fake it if necessary
>They're not usually alive, and can be brought back from with their ashes and blood, so- If they're undead, how do they metabolize blood? Magic?
If you want to call it that. It's obviously not conventional digestion. If you want to get technical the blood is just a medium for absorbing the spirit/soul/vital essences of the living.
>Does vampirism stops the body's growth?
Yes. A vampire's body always reverts to the condition they were in when they died, so a child vampire is always a child and a fat vampire can never lose weight.
>Who was the first vampire?
Masquerade says Cain. I prefer "nobody knows". It's your setting, you get to decide who it is if it's important.
>Can vampires reproduce through other means than turning someone/something? If so, how does that work?
No, they're dead on the inside. If you want to go down that road I guess it'd work the same way as usual, but then your vampires are really just ordinary people-animals with weird dietary requirements.
>Are they all the same, or are there different vampires?
There are many varieties, with unique traits they transmit to humans they convert.
>How intelligent are vampires?
As much as humans. Those that survive for centuries are probably pretty cunning and knowledgeable.
>>43759077
>How often do they have to feed?
One meal a night keeps them healthy and sated, and if they're restrained nobody needs to die. Like anyone else they can go a few days without feeding if they have to.
>What are the consequences for not feeding?
They lose control of themselves and behave like predatory animals. Eventually they go into torpor, but can be revived by fresh blood.
>Can vampires use magic? How exhausting is it for them to do something like turning into a swarm of bats?
As soulless undead beings they can't learn the magic mortals use, but they have their own schools of blood magic that draw on their supernatural nature. Turning into bats is a fairly high level trick but shouldn't be too draining for someone that knows how it's done - something that costs as many blood points as hypnotizing someone or getting an erection.
>Can they ingest people food? Can they even taste it?
They throw up violently after eating it, so they prefer not to. They can taste it though, if they invoke the "blush of life" trick that lets them breathe and pump blood.
>How intelligent are vampires? How often do they have to feed? What are the consequences for not feeding?
They can be as intelligent as any human can and can be equaly dumb, older vampires will have more expirience so a older vampire might not be exactly a wise one he just did it one way and now it trying a different way to survive. A Undead vampire must feed regulary is like your body each day a human must consume food to keep living just apply the same concept with blood, and some vampires can feed just for the pleasure of it, it's not efficient and most of the times they would attract unwanted attetion. The concequences for not feeding is to slowly feel yourself being consumed , lethargy, limbs parts falling or rotting slowly something like when a person is a lepper. It's not pretty.
>Can vampires use magic? How exhausting is it for them to do something like turning into a swarm of bats?
Yes. They use blood to utilize their magic abilities imagine blood as fat, your body consume fat when make great amount of activity, so each action or usage of a vampire magic would be by consuming it's "fat" the blood.
>Can they ingest people food? Can they even taste it?
Some can others can't. Yes they definitly can taste it but it won't ever have the same taste as blood.
>>43758747
>Do they need to breathe?
No.
>They're not usually alive, and can be brought back from with their ashes and blood, so- If they're undead, how do they metabolize blood? Magic?
The blood is a symbol. Their blood-drinking is a magical ritual where they steal life.
>Does vampirism stops the body's growth?
Yes.
>Who was the first vampire? Can vampires reproduce through other means than turning someone/something? If so, how does that work?
Nobody knows and it's no longer relevant.
>Are they all the same, or are there different vampires?
There are several different varieties, but the differences are mostly cosmetic.
>How intelligent are vampires? How often do they have to feed? What are the consequences for not feeding?
Vampires are as smart as humans. They have to feed when they are active; acting like a corpse doesn't require stolen life. They become a real corpse.
>Can vampires use magic? How exhausting is it for them to do something like turning into a swarm of bats?
Vampires don't use magic as much as they are a magical creature. They are essentially an evil spirit animating a corpse through the power of stolen life. Becoming a swarm of bats is difficult because it requires them to bring their body out of stasis.
>Can they ingest people food? Can they even taste it?
No, it all turns to ash and dust.
>>43759071
How do you mean ceiling point?
Vampires can still learn things, but they don't suddenly get improved cognizance.
Yes, vampires control who they turn, because the turning process requires that all of a victim's blood be replaced by that of the turning vampire, which leaves both weakened.
Vampires are immortal except by means of a violent end. Yes, they can change their physical forms, they simply stop aging.
Alright thanks. One more question- Is there any reason why vampires and werewolves to hate each other on principle?
>>43759071
>Also, vampires can still learn new things, so their brain isn't "frozen" in the state it was when they turn, right?
Yes, but they're not any more intelligent than a human. Even with hundreds of years of experience, a vampire doesn't become a quick thinking mastermind unless they already were one. They usually have terrible long-term memory with everything piling up.
>>43759499
That's just shit from World of Darkness.
>>43759405
I meant that they grow, until they reach I don't know- 30s, 40s, and then stop. But it'll probably be a lot simpler to just have them capable of changing their form.
>Hey /tg/, what's vampire biology like?
Depends on the setting.
>Do they need to breathe?
Depends on the setting.
>They're not usually alive, and can be brought back from with their ashes and blood, so- If they're undead, how do they metabolize blood? Magic?
Depends on the setting.
>Does vampirism stops the body's growth?
Yes, because loli.
>Who was the first vampire? Can vampires reproduce through other means than turning someone/something? If so, how does that work?
Depends on the setting.
>Are they all the same, or are there different vampires?
Depends on the setting.
>How intelligent are vampires? How often do they have to feed? What are the consequences for not feeding?
Depends on the setting.
>Can vampires use magic? How exhausting is it for them to do something like turning into a swarm of bats?
Depends on the setting.
>Can they ingest people food? Can they even taste it?
Depends on the setting.
> Do they need to breathe?
Nope
> They're not usually alive, and can be brought back from with their ashes and blood, so- If they're undead, how do they metabolize blood? Magic?
Different kinds of vampires feed on different things, but they basically metabolize life-force out of living tissue in some way. Some drink blood, some eat the whole victim, some feed on bones and fingernails. But in the end I guess the simple explanation is 'magic'.
> Does vampirism stops the body's growth?
Yeah. Furthermore, it deteriorates and alters the body through the centuries. The older a vampire, the more monstruous it becomes.
> Who was the first vampire? Can vampires reproduce through other means than turning someone/something? If so, how does that work?
It's not clear. Some scholars think it was an ancient fallen knight named Virgilius (very much in the vein of Vlad the Impaler, very original I know), others that it is something much, much older, possibly dating back around to the 'Beginning'. There are ancient things out there who sometimes claim responsibility for the existence of vampires but their accounts are mutually contradictory at best.
Vampires in the broader sense of the word are usually only created via turning. Most nowadays however just kill their victim or dismember it so it doesn't turn. Carelessly turning victims attracts attention to them and that's the last thing they need, right now. Rumor has it that there is an alchemical formula that can turn you into something akin to a vampire while retaining your soul in your body. This is theoretically a more 'efficient' alternative to lichdom and it's commonly referred to as 'alchemical vampirism'. But it's just a rumor occultists tell each other to amuse themselves.
>>43759614
> Are they all the same, or are there different vampires?
Many different kinds.
> How intelligent are vampires? How often do they have to feed? What are the consequences for not feeding?
As intelligent as they were in life. Usually a victim or two every night, but feeding on particularly powerful beings makes them capable of going without feeding for days, even weeks. Some may even absorb abilities or spells from them. If they don't feed they regress into a feral, monstruous state until they feed or they enter a death-like state. They remain 'dead' until they sense living creatures nearby.
> Can vampires use magic? How exhausting is it for them to do something like turning into a swarm of bats?
They can. It depends on how old, powerful and well-fed they are.
> Can they ingest people food? Can they even taste it?
They can but it provides no sustenance, nor can they taste it at all.
>>43759535
Oh, no, they don't reproduce naturally.
Bloodline just means they turn others into vampires.
>>43758747
When I think about vampire biology, I go for Blindsight vampires, because they're cool.I like the image of males unable to stand in the same room without ripping each other in shreds.
>>43758747
in my setting
>Do they need to breathe?
The lesser vampires do. The greater vampires don't need to but do anyway.
>They're not usually alive, and can be brought back from with their ashes and blood, so- If they're undead, how do they metabolize blood? Magic?
In my setting destroying a vampires body without killing them properly is a massive nuisance for the vampire as it is a lot of effort and time to regenerate. Most lesser vampires cannot survive the ordeal. Even greater vampires are significantly weakened by it.
They metabolize blood by a mixture of magic and their digestive tract. It still functions despite their membership in the undead club.
>Does vampirism stops the body's growth?
No, but it can slow it similar to how is slows aging.
>Who was the first vampire? Can vampires reproduce through other means than turning someone/something? If so, how does that work?
The first vampire was a unfortunate soul who really pissed off a powerful sorcerer. Not so unfortunate, as it would seem, as the cursed man outlived the sorcerer by a couple hundred years. He did not posses the magic that vampires now posses, and it was only through a century of study that he figured out how to spread his curse.
The first true vampire was the cursed man's adopted daughter.
Vampirism is spread via magic cast upon human individuals. A vampire cannot create new vampires accidentally.
It is fairly common for powerful vampires to give the "gift" of vampirism to servants. These vampires are weak compared to their masters, though they can gain power over time and occasionally surpass their masters.
Most vampires treat their servants pretty well.
>Are they all the same, or are there different vampires?
They are people, each with distinct personalities and tastes.
>>43761351
>continued
>Are they all the same, or are there different vampires? (part 2)
their exact abilities vary from vampire to vampire, but the basic premise is the same for all of them. They feed off blood, age very slowly, regenerate, and can use magic.
>How intelligent are vampires? How often do they have to feed? What are the consequences for not feeding?
As intelligent as they were before they were a vampire. Their power and ability to function can diminish if they go too long without feeding.
A vampire who hasn't fed for a week will start to have uncontrollable impulses and using magic will be very difficult. Feeding regularly again will restore most, if not all, of their abilities.
After a month they become more of a beast than a person. After two months most of their powers and faculties are irreversibly lost.
After three to five months or so the cravings for blood stop, but at this point the vampire is nothing more than a mindless undead.
>Can vampires use magic? How exhausting is it for them to do something like turning into a swarm of bats?
They can absolutely use magic. It isn't too exhausting provided they are well fed.
>Can they ingest people food? Can they even taste it?
All can ingest people food. Most can taste it. Some really enjoy it. Lesser vampires still need to eat regular food too.
For greater vampires, the cravings for regular food are gone, but their body can still process it. Some insist eating helps them stay energetic but it isn't strictly necessary for them.
>>43758747
As with any other facet of a fantasy world, Vampires are generally a malleable concept that you can present in whatever form you want.
Make them all little girls in frilly dresses that shoot lasers everywhere, make them fuckin' love donuts, make them all big buff blonde men that manipulate time. It's your setting.
Just make sure to follow a few basics.
Sunlight should fuck them right up at the very least, if not kill them outright. The most lax setting I've seen allowed only greater vampires to walk in the daylight unhindered, and even then most of their abilities were closed off or heavily limited.
The sun should not make them sparkle.
Taking in blood should be important for them, if not necessary for life (or unlife, as the case may be). Whether that blood is simply a means for taking in life-force, or the blood itself is what's important, that's up to you.
They should generally be powerful beings, with extreme physical strength, magical strength, or both.
This can be changed up a bit, but they tend to be long-lived as well, and with long life comes wisdom. They might not care for the petty politics of people whose lifespans are minimal in comparison, but they'll still know their shit about the world at large, and the oldest might posses ancient knowledge thought to be lost to the ages.
If you change too much, it ceases to be a Vampire, and there's nothing wrong with just taking someone's advice from this thread, but don't be afraid to get creative either. A lot of the fun in making a setting is giving common things your own unique twist.
>>43758747
>>43762445
As a side note, though: avoid the loli vampires.
The whole "looks like a child but is really X years old" is a concept I still kinda like for certain cases, and vampirism halting the effects of aging is perfectly reasonable; but loli vampries have been done to death. The horse is barely recognizable at this point.
>>43762445
>>43762532
The difficulty with using 'loli vampires' is covering new ground that doesn't end up in tryhard territory. The paths are so thoroughly beaten that it's hard to do something new and interesting, and going off the well-traveled roads risks driving it into the Fetish Bogs, Edge Hill, or Weebshit Canyon.
>>43763968
>Fetish Bogs, Edge Hill, or Weebshit Canyon
Those are some fucked-up landmarks.
>>43758747
>Do they need to breathe?
Technically no. Most do since that is a very hard habit to break.
>They're not usually alive, and can be brought back from with their ashes and blood, so- If they're undead, how do they metabolize blood? Magic?
Vampires are actually the most lifelike of undead (in might setting, undead are defined as either a corpse that is animated like a golem or beings who have gained theoretical immortality) and still have blood as well. Blood contains life force in my setting but few can process it to gain lifeforce directly.
>Does vampirism stops the body's growth?
No but it does stop aging. The few vampires who want a childlike body (why would one?) can learn magic to turn into a childlike form but this actually makes one easier to kill in combat.
>Who was the first vampire? Can vampires reproduce through other means than turning someone/something? If so, how does that work?
The first vampires name has been lost to the passage of time. A typical ambitious mage trying to escape death and made deals with some nasty entities to reach these goals. Vampires can reproduce with each other and humans but they are incredibly infertile. Fucking a double digit number of times a day can still take years to cause conception. Dhampirs are cursed to be a scourge against the vampire kind because the first dhampir came from a union between a vampire and a paladin of the god of death. Death was pissed, cursed the offspring of every human/vampire pairing and the first dhampir killed both her parents.
>Are they all the same, or are there different vampires?
Cut from the same cloth. However they are still individuals who have different personalities.
>>43765786
>How intelligent are vampires? How often do they have to feed? What are the consequences for not feeding?
The same intelligence as when they were turned. One could possibly never have to feed if they eat regular food but they can't digest a lot of things that humans can. In fact, feeding excessively is what has consequences since that can cause the vampire to devolve into a bestial state.
>Can vampires use magic? How exhausting is it for them to do something like turning into a swarm of bats?
All vampires have magical potential even if they started out as someone who has none. It still must be developed and trained, one doesn't become a vampire and then immediately learns how to cast spells. Turning into a swarm of bats is a rather overcomplicated spell but it isn't unique to vampires, is quite difficult because you are essentially splitting yourself into several consciences.
>Can they ingest people food? Can they even taste it?
As said before, yes.
one unique idea from Vampire the Masquerade:
The maximum power of a vampire is based on how many generations away from Cain(the original vampire in VtM) they are
i.e Cain is the 1st Generation, vampires he creates or "sires" are 2nd Generation, vampires the 2nd Generation sire are 3rd Generation etc with each generation having less powerful blood than the one before it.
In game terms they have less blood in their system and they can spend less blood per turn(blood is used for healing and vampiric powers like super speed,extreme strength, invisibility, hightened senses, blood magic etc)
>1st and 2nd Generation nobody knows the extent of their power or what remains of them
>the 3rd Generation or Antediluvians have godlike powers but they are said to be all sleeping for long ages in torpor. legend says they will rise from torpor and drain the blood of all vampires to quench the unholy bloodlust they have build up during their sleep
>4th Generation or Methuselahs are thousands of years old and it is said they have near godlike powers and that they are nearly unkillable. most are missing(most likely in torpor) but a handful are awake
> 5th-8th Generations or Elders are powerful centuries old vampires who hold almost all the highest positions in vampire society
>9th-10th Generations or Ancillae are middling power players that are usually 1 to 2 centuries old
>11th-13th Generations comprise Neonates and Less Ancillae. they are less than a century old and hold little power in vampire society
Going with the snowflake setting I've been using for my recent games.
>Do they breathe?
Yes, but they don't need to. Breathing is autonomous like with humans.
>They're not usually alive, and can be brought back from with their ashes and blood, so- If they're undead, how do they metabolize blood? Magic?
Everything a vampire consumes is metabolized and used for energy, but lifeblood contains the greatest amount of nutrients and energy for them. The thirst for blood is ever present, but that's just a natural thing like the breathing above. Some like to bathe in blood, while wouldn't be caught dead (hehe) drinking the blood of a filthy human.
>Does vampirism stops the body's growth?
No, but it does reduce growth and aging to a very slow rate.
>Who was the first vampire? Can vampires reproduce through other means than turning someone/something? If so, how does that work?
It is believed that Menos, the mad god of the dead, was the first vampire.
His worshipers followed his practices of drinking blood and consuming living creatures, and studying and examining the undead.
Whether by the god blessing his loyal children or by simply being close to him, Menos' followers slowly began to lose their humanity and became a species of demons with undead abilities known as vampires.
Ever since Menos' imprisonment by the other gods, hunting vampires has become something that many of the other gods' followers, especially those with domains over life and whatnot, are tasked with doing.
>>43767748
>Are they all the same, or are there different vampires?
There are True and False vampires.
True ones are the descendants of those first of Menos' worshipers that turned into demons.
False vampires are people turned into vampires via magic or by being cursed by a vampire (usually through a bite). These are sometimes the most common and are shunned by their True cousins.
>How intelligent are vampires? How often do they have to feed? What are the consequences for not feeding?
As intelligent as a human, but usually with more time to spend learning if they want.
Now semi-undead, semi-demonic creatures, they don't need to feed that often but it's a habit they can't get rid off. They don't have to kill humans to eat and don't need much blood, but killing the prey results in more blood.
Those that don't feed will eventually succumb to their craving for energy and will hunt prey actively, go on a food-seeking rampage, or in extreme cases wither to the point where they enter a form of stasis.
>Can vampires use magic? How exhausting is it for them to do something like turning into a swarm of bats?
Sure they can. As they have a natural knack for it, necromancy is easy for them but other kinds are fine too. Turning into several bats would require some mid-level spell though.
>Can they ingest people food? Can they even taste it?
They can. It is consumed as normal and they can taste it as normal. Doesn't give as much energy as lifeblood, but it does the trick.
>>43758747
1/?
>Do they need to breathe?
Nope. In fact they can't. Even when they fake it in front of mortals, it's just them moving their chest up and down.
You can uncover a vampire by getting them going about a topic they're really into. They'll start talking and they'll forget to pause for "breath". Karaoke against a vampire is a bad idea as they can hold some retarded long notes.
>Do they metabolize blood?
It's not so much metabolized as absorbed directly into their "essence". Since vampires don't have a soul the way humans do. By the way. Vampires don't lose their soul upon turning. It actually fuses with their body. This is why they can absorb blood and other magical energies so efficiently as well as take physical damage from spiritual sources.
BTW, on that part about "can be brought back from with their ashes and blood" That doesn't bring the vampire back. When you get dusted, you can't be resurrected. However, since those are still the remains of the person that was the vampire, Reincarnation spells still work if you have enough of the remains. Get sweeping.
>>43768327
2/?
>Does vampirism stop aging?
No. a steady supply of blood does that. A starved vampire or one that drinks irregularly looks far older than one that keeps themselves well fed. However, while a vampire can de-age themselves by drinking regularly, they can only ever look as young as when they first turned. In this way, a vampire can somewhat adapt their appearance overtime without magical aid. As well, vampire aging is note like human development as it is purely degenerative. A "lolipire" or whatever you call them will never grow any taller unless they do it with magic.
>Who was the first Vampire?
The following is a fable that vampires tell. Roughly 6,000 years ago, there was a King who feared Death so much that he offered to sacrifice every subject of his kingdom just to appease Death that He might never visit the King again. Death was amused by the man’s fear and agreed on the condition that the King kill each citizen himself. To do this, Death granted him many powers: Great strength, the ability to change his shape into beasts and mist, powerful magical ability, and of course: blood fueled immortality. The king promptly set about slaying his subjects with wild abandon and his armies quickly turned on him. When the sun rose, he burned in its light and perished. Those who were unlucky enough to survive his rampage became the first vampires. This story is mostly used to teach the value of discretion and the importance of hiding from humanity. There is a second part however that isn’t told, but it’s convoluted and I don’t have it laid all the way out yet.
>>43768335
3/4
>Can vampires reproduce without turning humans?
Male Vampire + Mortal Woman = Dhampir
Otherwise, no. Female vampires are sterile because they are dead. Male vampires can mimic semen using blood magic, but a living womb is needed to carry the infant to term. Because of this there is no such thing as an “accident baby” Dhampir. Their parents (more often their vampire father) wanted to make a Dhampir. For this reason the mistrust towards Dhampir is well founded.
>Are they all the same, or are there different vampires?
There are as many breeds of vampire as there are types of men. Generally, I rule it that any vampire lore works somewhere in the world as long as they conform to the other rules.
>How intelligent are vampires?
As intelligent as they were as humans with the added years of experience.
>How often do they have to feed?
About a human’s worth of blood a month. In populated areas a vampire can live comfortably without having to kill humans. Provided he doesn’t have to compete for his food. A vampire in the wild can live off animal blood, but it leaves them weaker and they require about three times the amount.
>What are the consequences of not feeding?
Aging, waning powers, dip in sanity and eventually frenzy, permadeath. The more times a vampire frenzies, the less likely they are to come out of it each time. A vampire that loses themselves to it goes feral and becomes a ghoul. Typically other vampires will put them down when this happens. Poor Pyter.
>>43768351
4/4
>Can vampires use magic?
Yes, but no healing or divine magic except under special circumstances or if their god likes vampires. Most don’t. The magic they do have though is scary strong and they have blood magic which lets them do a bunch of at-will type things like seizing up the veins of people they’ve fed from and turning them into a meat puppet. This is done without mind control, so you get to be fully aware of who the vampire is making you attack. Seriously, if a vampire drinks from you, hold off for a few days before assaulting his lair you retarded hunter.
>How hard is turning into a swarm of bats?
First, you need to get the hang of both mistform and batform. Then you go into mist form and then shape your particles into bats. It’s wicked hard, generally useless beyond looking cool, and more than one neonate has killed themselves trying to pull it off. Idiots. Just mistform. It’s useful enough on its own.
>Can they ingest people food? Can they even taste it?
Human food tastes normal to a vampire but don’t swallow it or you’ll spend the next hour or so puking up all the blood you could’ve been drinking instead. And yes, you can taste what your human happy meal ate last. So splurge on their dinner if you’re the polite type. You’ll both have a better evening that way.
Damn, that was a lot of effort for a wall of text nobody will read. Shoulda looked for pictures to pair with all the parts. Can we get more vampire pictures?preferably more of Remilia?
>>43758747
>Do they need to breathe?
No.
>If they're undead, how do they metabolize blood? Magic?
May as well ask how they move and talk and all that jazz, while you're at it. It's stupid to get too hung up on the biological processes for something that has as its fundamental conceptual basis a defiance of our understanding of biology.
So, yeah, magic, if you want to call it that.
>Who was the first vampire?
Personally, I'm not a fan of the whole "all vampires can be traced back to a single original progenitor" idea. Vampires can be created by ways besides being turned by another vampire -- generally as a curse for breaking some taboo, or deliberately by a ritual involving consumption of human blood (sort of like becoming a lich, but a lot easier). The majority of vampires are made by other vampires, but there are a number of different bloodlines, and figuring out which has the most ancient and prestigious progenitor might be difficult given how easy it is for an ancient and powerful vampire to bullshit his actual history.
>Can vampires reproduce through other means than turning someone/something? If so, how does that work?
Vampires can mate with humans. A male vampire with a human woman produces a dhampir, basically a human with toned-down versions of typical vampiric strengths/powers and maybe some slight hints of vampire-style weaknesses (eg, they sunburn easily and have a mild allergy to garlic). A human man with a female vampire makes a twisted monster, usually dangerous, no two instances really the same. Nine months of gestation inside an unholy walking corpse does not do good things for the development of the child.
>Are they all the same, or are there different vampires?
Vampirism affords a wide spectrum of possible benefits, but the extent to which those benefits come out depends on the individual's predispositions and effort to develop them. And certain bloodlines may be more predisposed toward particular abilities (and ideosyncratic weaknesses).
>>43768456
>How intelligent are vampires? How often do they have to feed? What are the consequences for not feeding?
They're as intelligent as any human of their experience would be...provided they keep fed. The frequency of feeding depends on the age and activity level of the vampire; freshly-created vampires must feed daily, but older vampires can go for a couple weeks if they don't use their superhuman powers too much, and if necessary a vampire can hibernate in his coffin for months or even years without needing to feed. Starving vampires find themselves losing their sanity and intelligence, becoming more and more deranged until they degenerate to being simply vicious, bestial predators. This deterioration is reversible if the vampire is adequately fed, but only to a certain point. After too long without blood, the damage to the vampire's intelligence and sanity is permanent.
It's presumably possible for a vampire to starve to death, but this is pretty much unheard of as the degeneration to a bestial state usually provides both the single-minded motivation and the increased physical capabilites (over and above the already-formidable vampiric capabilities) to slake their thirst before they would actually die from it.
>Can vampires use magic?
All vampires have a certain knack for influencing the minds of mortals, with hypnotic charm and commanding presence and such, as well as the potential to change shape into various creatures of the night or even a cloud of mist. It takes practice to master and develop these abilities, however. Many vampires also make use of their long lifespans to master magic of the same sorts practiced by mortal mages, and whether because of the power in their unholy blood or simply the increased time available to practice, they tend to be pretty good at it.
>>43768461
>How exhausting is it for them to do something like turning into a swarm of bats?
Depends on how much they've worked at developing such abilities. Inexperienced vampires would find such a feat simply impossible, while very old vampire lords could do it a fair number of times before they start to feel worn down by the effort.
>Can they ingest people food? Can they even taste it?
They can, though it tastes unpleasant to them. And unlike blood, which is fully absorbed by the vampire's body, anything else they ingest isn't digested at all. It comes back out in the same state it went in, less the ravages of decay depending how long it's sat there. For beings that are used to never having to use a toilet, this makes eating a rather distasteful affair, and most prefer to do it as little as possible, strictly to keep up appearances among humans when need be. And those that do often prefer to vomit at the first opportunity rather than wait for it to pass out the other end.
Some vampires have been known to weaponize this quirk of vampire physiology, though, deliberately letting food fester in their gullet (even for weeks; they experience no reflexive need to void their digestive tract unless it fills to the point that they can't even take in blood) to produce noxious gases to breathe at others. Some even claim to be able to draw power from their blood to make the fumes outright caustic, beyond what mere natural fermentation alone could do. Most vampires consider this practice utterly repulsive and undignified, however, and the few who do it are outcasts even by vampire standards.
>>43758747
>Do they need to breathe?
Vampires are the highest form of undead, corpses possessed by demonic spirits. Breathing isn't necessary but still common.
>They're not usually alive, and can be brought back from with their ashes and blood, so- If they're undead, how do they metabolize blood? Magic?
They're powered by a demonic compulsion to feed. They don't actually metabolize anything they consume.
>Does vampirism stops the body's growth?
This varies on a case by case basis. Generally, yes, but many vampires are also adept shapeshifters and can simply transform into an older version of themselves.
>Who was the first vampire? Can vampires reproduce through other means than turning someone/something? If so, how does that work?
The first vampire...probably some Dracula knock off. Vampires cannot reproduce; they can only infect. Their demonic nature drives them to "feed" on living things. This feeding generally leaves corpses with bits of demonic essence inside. This essence matures and possesses the corpse. In the event that a feeding doesn't kill the host outright, then the demonic essence will likely corrupt their soul, turning them into another vampire.
Note: Not all spawn are vampires, some are zombies or ghouls.
>>43758747
pt 2
>Are they all the same, or are there different vampires?
Each is unique, but they all fall under the same category.
>How intelligent are vampires? How often do they have to feed? What are the consequences for not feeding?
This is very dependent on the individual. Some are predatory monsters, some are bloodbathing aristocrats. The only consequence for not feeding is getting hungry. The hunger will eventually drive even an originally good-aligned vampire to kill.
>Can vampires use magic? How exhausting is it for them to do something like turning into a swarm of bats?
They use the same mana-based magic as anyone else. No one can turn into a swarm of bats. Why would you even want to?
>Can they ingest people food? Can they even taste it?
Yes and no. They'll only do it if they're trying to pass as living.
>>43758747
>Do they need to breathe?
If they want to talk.
>They're not usually alive, and can be brought back from with their ashes and blood, so- If they're undead, how do they metabolize blood? Magic?
Magic.
>Does vampirism stops the body's growth?
Yes for the most part.
>Who was the first vampire?
Depends on the setting.
>Can vampires reproduce through other means than turning someone/something? If so, how does that work?
Mama vampire and papa mortal love eachother very much and mama vampire eats a dozen people to be all flush with blood, then papa mortal puts his wing wang in her hoo haa and she'll eat a few dozen more hobos because she's eating for two now to remain all flush with blood till a tiny cursed little baby is born.
>Are they all the same, or are there different vampires?
Difference is best.
>How intelligent are vampires?
Depends on the vampire.
>How often do they have to feed?
As often as they want which is pretty often.
>What are the consequences for not feeding?
Insanity, weakness, looking like you're way past your expiration date.
>Can vampires use magic?
Why not, they're magical by default.
>How exhausting is it for them to do something like turning into a swarm of bats?
Ask a vampire.Moderately.
>Can they ingest people food? Can they even taste it?
Usually no but sometimes yes. Doesn't provide nourishment so despite tasting good the hunger remains.
Ultimately vampires are just like normal people. Greedy unnatural monsters that desire to feast on the whole world regardless of others to fuel their own petty whims, lusts and desires.
