Here are two Faux Vampires as follows: Larissa the Vamphyre and The Dead Man.
Threats that are not as severe as it at first seems serve the purposes to scare the beginning player without being too severe for him, and confuse the knowledgeable player who thinks "But there can't be vampires in this world, the magic bias is too low". Now Wodium's Body Vampires aka 'Wodium's Wamphyres' also serve that purpose, but they are a substantial physical threat whereas these two are more to human scale.
One of the benefits of having so many types of vampires so that you can confuse and bewilder the player. After all the tactics that are suited to dealing with Weeds (kill them quick before they spread) are not suited to Gavin and his cohort who are powerful and resilient enough to make serious preparations and gathering of forces an absolute must if you want to survive (unless you're good at running away). Another benefit is forcing the conscientous player to investigate--Should he just kill every vampire he meets? Is the vampire he meets that claims to be repentant and someone who is trying to be good just good at lying, or are they actually seeking redemption?
One Faux Vampire (Larissa) is more suited to a game of "Let's Help the Poor Mentally Disturbed, but Dangerous Person." The other Faux Vampire (The Dead Man) has gone way past that into EVIL.
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Larissa the Vampyre aka Lucretia aka Lisabelle Kieran Morgan-Jeffreys
Persuasion 1@9
Charisma 2@1
Animal Magnetism 2@3
Strength 1@6
Agility 1@9
Stamina 1@5
Resistance 1@5
Density 1@1
Flexibility 1@8
Hand/Eye 2@1
Intelligence 2@1
Intuition 1@8
Education Level 2@1
Willpower 2@2
TV 1@5
DV 1@6
RSV 1@10
MSV 1@8
Dance is a 0@2 Mag skill which she has at 2@1. She is a dedicated dancer at nightclubs which is her typical aerobic activity three-four nights a week for several hours.
Actress is a 0@2 Mag skill which she has at 1@8. She is a Major (Sophomore) in the Theatre and Performing Arts at the local university. She is on the Dean's List. She is very good at lying, acting innocent, acting seductive, pumping up the melodrama (which she is very fond of), mimicking voices, and assuming identities.
Streetwise or Survival: Urban is a Mag 0@1 skill. She has it at 1@8. She knows where to score drugs, how to buy fake ID cards, which streets to avoid at what times because creeps hang out there.
Use Talons is a 3@3 Tech skill she has at 1@8. She has long metal talons she can put on her fingertips. They do Annoying Damage, but she is trained in a related skill. NOTE: She has used these as a way to inject sedative into her prey. This sedative is a Damage Rider if used. The target rolls a Simple Stamina check or passes unconscious in 1d10 rounds for 2d10 minutes. A poor success indicates that the target is extremely woozy.
Strike for Vital Spots is a Bod Skill of Intensified Damage at 7@3 which she has at 1@5. This raises her damage category for fist, mace, or talons by one. It has a -10 Situation Modifier, and requires a ten second 'sizing up the target' preparation time.
Use Teeth is a Tech 3@3 skill which she has at 1@8 skill level. She has a set of stainless steel inset fangs which she can take in or out. She has trained with them for throat-strikes on a mannequin she keeps at home. This attack is Dangerous at -50 unless ambush in which case its 20 Sit-mod.
Soft Feet is a Stealth type skill which is 0@6 body. Her skill is at 1@5. Due to her dancing and streetwise she's learned to walk softly for a short distance. Using this skill lasts for one minute. She uses this to heighten melodrama, or she envisions using it to sneak up behnd someone and drink their blood.
Intimidate with Fangs is a form of Posturing skill which is Psi 8@0. She has it at 1@5 skill level. She lets out the Full Crazy inside her, and flashes her fangs in the night. The effect is spooky, and very scary. Opponent must make a Difficult Willpower check to not be taken aback, or even flee. Larissa is obviously emotionally overwraught for five minutes afterwards.
Larissa is a well-to-do college student (rich if inattentive parents who thought buying a trip to Aspen for a week was a fair trade for missing Sunday dinner) who believes that she is a vampire. She is human.
She is heavily into Goth culture although a fair number of them find her 'way freaky', but thats mostly among the girls because the guys like her for her looks.
She has not yet killed anyone, although she has found a few dead bodies of homeless people and accident victims, and made them up to look like vampire kills.
She is mentally disturbed although she does a good job of hiding it.
She has a few friends who are almost as nutty as her, but less inclined to take action.
She is heading toward being a full-blown serial killer.
She has a history of doping up guys by dropping pills in their drinks, taking them back to her 'house of the dead' and giving them a seriously twisted mind-trip courtesy of hallucinogens, female charm, and lots of really freaky props. No one she has so 'vampired' has come forward to the police although kidnapping and mental torture were involved because they feared being made a laughingstock, and they knew they were out of their head on drugs, and at least one (the only one who really knows her real name) thinks she really is a Vampire.
She has her friends help her with these kidnappings as well. So she's on her way to starting her own cult as well.
One possibility is for her to have seen the verser arrive, and she decides to start playing mind games with him over the next few months...
Or she may decide to kidnap the verser.
Or the verser may find a dead 'kill'.
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Stanfield Fitzwarren aka The Dead Man aka The Dead aka Field aka Lord of Darkness aka Prince of Darkness.
Persuasion 2@2
Charisma 1@3
Animal Magnetism 1@6
Strength 1@8
Agility 1@7
Stamina 2@1
Resistance 1@5
Density 1@1
Flexibility 1@10
Hand/Eye 2@1
Intelligence 2@5
Intuition 2@2
Education Level 2@4
Willpower 2@3
TV 1@7
DV 1@7
RSV 2@2
MSV 2@3
Field as he is typically known is attempting to get his doctorate in chemistry. His high Ed Level reflects the truly vast array of other data his manically inquisitive mind has picked up on the way.
He became a doctoral candidate because that is what his mother wanted. Along the way, he discovered how useful high social position, and a rigourously trained mind with an absurd amount of skills could be in his true profession. Still, he hates his mother for making him learn all that. And one day, he's going to muster the courage to explain to her how he really feels instead of lying through his teeth, and saying he loves her.
Stanfield does not love anything, except himself. He is a narcissist with a sociopath's conscience. He wants to live forever in his 'good-looking body' (he goes to the gym daily), and takes all manner of vitamins for his health. But, inside he is 'dead'. Nothing truly excites him, but the spill of blood and the Hunt.
When he read of vampire legends of beings who lived forever, hunted, and were very good-looking, and had the power to, when they exerted their will, to bend others to their will...he had an intellectual flash. They were talking about people like him.
He was very persuasive when he wanted to be, but otherwise cold (he gets lots of second dates at the gyms he attends, but few thirds as most women sense something cold about him after some time). This angers him in a cold way, and he takes out his anger by hunting.
In order to become a Vampire, he constructed a 'Black Ritual' where he pledged his fealty to Dracula and to the Previous Holders of the title Prince of Darkness. After this, he considers himself a vampire.
Most people he simply jabs in the neck with a cocktail of anti-coagulants and strong sedatives, and then nicks their jugular and sits down to watch them drain while taking a small sip now and then. But that is because most people he considers to be 'boring'. It is likely that a verser he would consider to be fascinating, and he would spend weeks trying to figure the verser out, and playing mind games with the verser.
Elaborate tricks, framing them for the murders he committed, leading them to think someone else is responsible, telling them he is Russian royalty and the KGB is sending assassins to kill him......He is very inventive, and will play like a cat with a mouse for as long as he can if the verser is interesting.
Chemist is a Tech skill he has at 2@2.
Use Syringe is a Tech 3@3 skill he has at 2@1.
Fool Lie Detection is a P 2@0 skill which he has at 2@3. Most of the time, he rolls his Persuasion checks normally. However, any time when he rolls a Persuasion check specifically to convince someone of a lie, he is allowed a skill check in the event that the attribute check fails. Normally, the failed persuasion roll would mean that the victim doesn't believe the lie, but if Stanfield Fitzwarren succeeds at a P2@0 Fool Lie Detection skill roll, the victim is required to succeed at an Intuition check (RS = simple/difficult/none) in order to see through the lie.
Of course, it's possible that someone could believe that Stanfield isn't intentionally lying but still not believe that the statement is true (that is, that Stanfield is sincere yet mistaken); that could be determined by GE roll, or perhaps by relative success from the initial Persuasion check.
Fool Self Into Believing Lie is a 1@0 Hypnosis variant whereby he convinces himself that his lies are true. He has it at skill level 1@8. If this succeeds, any lie detection that depends on the subject's belief should fail automatically, without any need for further rolls. If it fails, he still gets to use his P2@0 defense.
However, this skill has a downside in that the user temporarily believes things that aren't true (and may thus take actions that aren't in his best interest - "Go ahead and search the cabinet, officer, I've got nothing to hide; here's the key").
With this skill, he can easily lie to a lie detector as he betrays almost no signs of lying. Indeed, with preparation, he can talk himself into believing his own lies temporarily which gives a .
Run is a Bod 3@6 skill he has at 1@8. (He runs five miles daily on the treadmill at the University Gym.)
Jump is a Bod 5@1 skill titled Reaching Jump which he has at 1@9. (He has practised the urban sport of rooftop running in preparation of the day he might have to flee.)
Low Single Hurdles is a Bod 5@2 skill that he developed as above at 1@5.
Climb is a Bod 1@8 (He has noticed how few people look up, and so has on occasion climbed to find a proper ambush spot.)
Ambush is a Tech 0@3 skill he has at 1@6.
Use Knife is a 3@3 Tech skill he has at 1@5. He carries a Swiss army knife he uses for this purpose. It does Annoying Damage -10 Sit-mod.
Religion is a Mag 1@0 skill which he has at 1@5. His religion is Vampirism. His prophets are the previous Princes of the Undead. His holy books are the lore of the vampire. He does not know the name of his deity, but he prays to Vlad Dracul who he believes is a personal representative of the Darkness he serves. Obviously, this is an Anarch religion. Its also a very personal religion he made up himself.
Black Ritual is a Ceremony of 'Envampirification' which dedicates the caster to the Vampire Kingdom throughout time and space. It is a Mag 1@1 skill Ceremony NOS which he has at 1@3.
It makes any plea to conscience or morality possessed by the caster a Difficult challenge to begin with. It attracts the favorable attention of Evil. It causes the caster to 'be' as much a vampire as it is possible in the world they are in (That is, it has variable effects in higher magic worlds). This is a Coronation ritual, and the caster will be recognized by others in the know as a Prince of Darkness.
Time: Midnight on a night without a moon (the end of the casting)(+10). Place: Atop the grave of a murderer who escaped punishment in this life, and lived to a ripe old age before dying unrepentant +15). Time spent: Six hours +35. +8 for Religion as its Holy Magic. Material items: A rope used to hang a man which laid in a sacred circle and later is burnt(Appropriate material +5)(+8 X2=+16). Cocaine which is also laid in a sacred circle and snorted regularly(+5 X2=+10. Alteration of mentality and weakness +10). Speaking is a mantra of the names of former vampires and the names of the victims he intends to take which is repeated over and over with small breaks for sips of human blood (+20) to lubricate the throat (blood which is laced with LSD(More alteration of mentality with risk of death from drug interatctions +10)).
Variable Effect: -40
Throw Fear: Reduce Morale is a 1@1 Mag skill. with Intimidating Stare (appropriate action +5), and thirty seconds (1/2 baseline for -10), and only one action for -10 at a skill level of 1@9. +8 for Religion as its Holy Magic.
This is a Magic skill suited for a low-magic world.
Bring Terror: Penalize Checks is a 1@4 Mag skill. The intimidating stare (appropriate action +5) and the loud proclamation (neccessary to be heard +5) "I am the Lord of the Night, the Dead Walk among you!" (+10 as it amounts to a confession of utter madness or vile evil). He rarely uses this as it amounts to a confession of guilt. The skill is thus a relatively unpractised 1@3, but it is effective when it works. +8 for Religion as its Holy Magic.
Both 'Fear' and 'Terror' he picked up after the Black Ritual. It worked. He did contact Evil, and they accepted his fealty, and gave him a couple boons. It is possible that they might warn him or help him in some other way if he is seriously threatened. However, the direct influence that the supernatural can have in his world is limited.
He has killed a number of people, but he's smart enough to realize he needs to hide it. So he fakes accidents, sets houses on fire with bodies inside, and hides bodies in a cave he found.
His preferred targets are young females, and people who irritate him, but he's smart enough to realize he needs to blur the picture. So he uses a computer program to pick out other targets. The program is designed to defeat pattern-matching programs which might hunt for him.
Also, if he figures out the verser's nature, he's methodical and courageous enough to get a blood sample, and inject himself while electrocuting himself in the hope of versing out.
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One demented melodramatic and one serial killer served up as new opponents for the verser.
