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Return to Vampire Biology
Abilities HTML
Most of what I list here comes from a variety of sources, including the VHD universe,
Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the White Wolf Game: Vampire: the Masquerade.
Vampire gifts are many and varied. Generally, a Vampire inherits their gifts from their birth parents, or from the individual
who turned them. All of these gifts originated from Dracula, but have been broken down and separated into different family
lines over time. Only those with direct ties to Dracula carry most or all of his powers. Most Vampires carry more than one
of the following Powers but only one, and no more than four will truly stand out as dominant. Rarely will there ever be a
Vampire who is powerful in all Abilities. The only one known to be like this, is Dracula Himself.
There are several categories that Vampire powers fit into.
Telepathic: A Vampire can control people or animals with their thoughts. They can make the individual do things that
they would not otherwise do. All Vampires have this ability to some extent, but those with the Telepathic Power are more powerful
in this area than others of their kind. Count Magnus Lee from the first VHD anime had this ability.
Empathy: A lesser accepted gift among Vampires. It is treated with respect and sometimes feared because of a lack of
control over the emotions one picks up and emits. Since Vampires are naturally VERY emotional beings, one would think that
they would enjoy feeling another’s emotions. In most cases it is true. However, this gift tends to make them hypersensitive
to what people think and say about them. They tend to output more emotional energy and tire quicker because of it. (NL’s
Note: Meier Link May have had a version of this ability, seen when he fought back against D in Bloodlust. D may not have wanted
to kill Meier because of the emotional out put Meier picked up from Leila. Meier slipped in his control over his emotions
and was broadcasting what he picked up around him because of Charlotte’s death!). Most new cases of Empathy need
careful and gentle guidance in order to describe, enjoy and harness the powerful energies that come with being a master of
this ability. Dhampires are uncomfortable getting this Gift, as it is a difficult ability to master, even for most Vampires.
Even Dracula had difficulty training this ability to behave!
Shape shifting: The ability to change shape in order to look like different people or animals. The more common animals
that Vampires change into are wolves and bats, but other animals are possible. They can also become exceedingly large or very
very tiny. They often take on the personality of the animal they are becoming and can change into the creature they want with
a thought or after visually seeing the person/creature they wish to mimic. Some individuals have always known what they were
on the spirit realm and have always been able to draw on this form and become it on the physical realm.
Transmutation of Matter: This is the ability to manipulate fabric, wood and other inanimate objects, as well as one’s
immediate self to do things that are otherwise impossible. Different from shape shifting, but related. Meier Link from the
VHD anime Bloodlust had this ability. It’s a similar idea to the Transformers’ Subspace Pockets. Vampires with this
ability can hide their articles of clothing, armor, weapons, etc. as part of their being, almost like drawing water from a
lake, or dropping liquid into a pool. It is never completely hidden from them and their being can harness this matter with
their will to draw forth what they want at a moment. It is an extension of self, like reaching out a hand mentally and snatching
back what you don’t need or finding cluttersome at any given moment.
Shadow dancing: The ability to use the shadows to move from place to place, or to use as a weapon. It is most deadly
in the hands of skilled experts as one can sneak up behind someone and wound them in ways you’d rather not know. They
cannot work in complete darkness, as one would thing, but they need some sort of cast shadow, ideally from candle or light
cast from a reflective window, such as that from a bar.
Weather Control: Some guys just like to create a nasty thunderstorm to P*ss of the local sheriff on a evidence heavy
case **evil grins** This Ability is typical of the weather created by Dracula in his travels with the romanian ship in Bram
Stoker’s Dracula. Individuals with this ability can manipulate sea water to create storms and high winds, or influence
tidal rises to move their ship into port faster or slower. The cheesy stereotype of Vampires in this universe is often of
a ship coming into port like Stoker’s Dracula did, under the power of its own sails and curtained in mist.
Vampires with this gift are powerful indeed!! They can influence the fate of the travelers at the mercy of their waves, though
most Vampires with this gift do it to get their companions home faster. When a Weather Controller gets so powerful that they
could do serious, irreparable damage to the environment and take untold lives, Dracula is often forced to intervene and give
the cloud maker a ‘little talk’. Everyone doesn’t exactly know what happens in the ‘little talk’,
though those who survive it (and most Vampires don’t live that long) suggest it is about the responsibilities of handling
this power. Dracula says he wishes he had someone tell him off in his younger days. Then again, he’s glad there was no-one
around to preach to him!! And where would Vampires be today without someone with his magnitude of power?
Spirit Walking: The ability to travel and walk through the spirit realm as if you were a spirit. It’s much like
OBE and astral projection, only Vampires with this ability can transplant their physical bodies into the spirit realm and
move about as if they were on the physical plane. There are differences, however. All Vampires with this ability can walk
through walls, hide in lakes without fear of drowning (yes ...Vampires in my universe can drown, but they can recover from
this) and can move about almost ghostlike at times of great secrecy. They can visit people in their dreams or mentally in
order to give family members or friends messages. They can only hide themselves in these states and can only bring along a
buddy if they themselves are Spirit Walkers... or dead. Vampires with this gift are more in touch with the natural energies
around them. They tend to be powerful mages / magick wielders. This can make them more vulnerable to energy induced stress,
such as temporary psychosis, but Dracula has improved upon this trait over time. Dracula has ‘upgraded’ this gift
often if he deems a trainee fit for this extra power.
Since Spirit Walkers are able to contact the spirits that make up the spirit realm, they are more powerful than most Vampires.
The only exception to this is Dracula, who did not specialize in this ability but developed it over time in order to improve
the Vampiric race. Now Dracula is among the most powerful Spirit Walkers, both in the Physical and Spiritual realms.
Most Spirits contacting Spirit Walkers are unwilling to aid in the killing of innocents unless it is for the victims’
own safety and the safety of others in the spirit clan. These spirit clans consist of multiple creatures from multiple planes
from multiple millenniums. Spirit Walking is not a permanent change and an individual may remain or leave the realm if they
please. However, Spirit Walking is not allowed as a permanent escape from the real world unless suicidal or the individual
was going to die any ways :-) . There are always exceptions to this rule, and the spirits of the spirit realm are not picky.
Necromancy: The ability to work with spirits of the dead and the released energy of dying victims to create spells,
wards, amulets, etc. etc. etc. Basically the darker aspects of Draconian power and Spirit Walking but without being able to
transfer the self to the Spirit realm. Dracula himself does not prove of this route, but it happened anyway. Dracula will
aid Necromancers as long as he approves of their developments!
Sword Smithing: A very uncommon power that leaves the bearer of this gift the ability to smith magickal items with
an energy only known as Cold Forging. Cold Forging is much like fire, but it burns with the slightest of heat, or none at
all. It’s from this ‘fire’ that the most unusual magickal weaponry arises. Such weapons are very rare, very
powerful and most don’t know what they’re carrying unless activated. Because most Vampires can’t tolerate the
heat and working conditions of a regular forge, Cold Forging was mysteriously granted to individuals with extroridnary potential
and workable talent in smithing.
The weapons created by Cold Forging are painstakingly made and not just ANYONE can be granted one. The weapons, traditionaly
swords of the samurai kind, are passed along from generation to generation. This is especially so in noble Vampire families,
as the weapons are exorberently expensive. It often takes them GENERATIONS to afford a workable BLADE, never mind the scabbard!
In modern ShadowBlood, most Cold Forging is limited to amulets, rings and small personable things that can record one’s
essence before being given to a loved one as a keep sake. However, the old tradition of sword smithing goes on behind closed
doors as all Cold Forgers prepare to make a ‘Garment of Atonement’ for a mysterious being in Dracula’s life.
Everyone suspects this being will be the modern Vampire “Jesus Figure” who will lay a path of enlightenment for
future vampires. He will be a God like his dad, but will have his own views on the world and how it should run. There are
suspitions that Dracula will return as this beings next baby.
Abilities all Vampires Possess: Vampires have the unusual ability to heal at extremely high rates of speed. They will
even regenerate cut off limbs and features. The only way to kill them is to either decapitate them or to impale them through
the heart. The more powerful ones may even need their hearts cut out and burned, and if they are the cause of a particular
human’s illness, the ashes are to be consumed, often with a bit of the human’s own blood. They suffer from almost
no heath problems and some non-Vampires are Embraced to help heal chronic medical problems with no cure. This is considered
a Mercy killing of sorts and these individuals are expected to cut ties from their old lives and start anew as Vampires. This
isn’t as easy as it seems and untold potential Vampires pass on this offer at immortality.
Other traits all Vampires possess include unusual strength (said to be equal to that of 50 men), super speed and super sharp
senses. In my universe they are very much like animals, in that they see, hear and feel in ranges humans cannot comprehend
or notice. They are often the first to see, hear and talk to an approaching individual (done by telepathy) before they are
seen for miles. They also have the ability to mentally control victims from a distance.
Vampires are capable of changing their sight to look at different views of an object. It’s a similar effect as xray
vision, but without the funky lazer beam pupils :-D . Some Mutants possess this ability, but is more common in ShadowBlood
Vampires as a neccessary peculiarity that helps them feed and bite more accurately. They can see through skin to find veins
and arteries, and to a lesser extent, into metal and hide to find suspected weapons.
Unusual Inherited Traits:
Some Vampire blood lines have inherited unusual traits, such as functional wings, extra fangs, feathers or the ability
/ need to absorb energy. These traits are almost always passed onto individuals that are turned Turned by individuals with
these traits. For every new generation born/Turned in these families, the trait fuses itself stronger into the bloodline.
These traits are not very common, but they are well known and individuals having these traits are not seen as different per
say, just possessing a more specialized power.
Wing Wielders can carry wings of almost any size and can use them to fly. They’re usually oversized bat wings that are
exceptionally light (you’d never know that they were carrying extra body mass by the way they stand) and in some cases,
they’re covered with very small feathers almost like down. Most can draw their wings into their bodies the same way Transmutation
of Matter weilders can. Others must wear special cloaks that hide their oversized wings and protect them from potential damage.
Energy Asorbing is quite unusual among Vampires. it has two known forms - Feeding and Absorbing. Absorbing is very different
from feeding, as individuals can do this at will and almost always have it at hand. Feeders have a desperate urge to feed
on energy sources. When denied access to this energy, they suffer from a form of starvation. They become cranky, irratable,
tired and may lose control of some of their abilities. As soon as their hunger is met, they become their placent selves.
Where Energy Absorbers access this energy is a matter of debate. Most admit stealing from natural sources such as pools or
lakes of magickal energy. EAs are often powerful mages, healers and smiths. They can use their harvested energy to increase
their power when using their vampiric abilities. This is a temporary thing, as if they over extend themselves, they end up
feeling drained and emotionally tired.
Extra fangs and feathers are more of a bizarre physical trait than an actual gift. Extra fangs can both aid and hinder feeding,
but their bite is firmer and they can draw more blood at one time because of their extra penetration. Baby Vampires that develop
this physical characteristic tend to be crankier when their teeth grow in because it’s extra uncomfortable. These extra
teeth can be pulled and a mild chemical placed in the hole to slow, if not outright stop, the regrowth of these extra fangs.
Sometimes feeding is uncomfortable with extra teeth and if it causes more problems that it cures, removal is the best course
of action.
Feathers are usually localized to the back or wings and are almost always cosmetic. They do provide some extra warmth to the
wings, but beyond that, no-one is sure why they are there, with the exception of it looking neat :-) .
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