☼ Are created by siring, an incredibly painful process that turns Humans into Vampires.
The body of the victim must be drained of virtually all of its blood, and the victim is then forced to drink the Vampire’s blood. The victim then dies and rises the next night after 24 hours have passed. This newly created Vampire must then feed within 6 hours or die forever.☼ Can only be created from Humans.
☼ Can sire one year after they are sired, though it is incredibly difficult for the first five years or so.
☼ Retain all their memories from life, but these gradually dull and fade away over time and begin to seem like a disconnected dream.
☼ Must drink blood to survive.
The frequency with which they need to feed varies from Vampire to Vampire with age, though consensus is that it must be at least once each week for even the oldest of them. Only Human blood sustains them, though the bloods of other races does have special effects and are like recreational drugs. The blood of Witches, Mages, and Psychics all count as Human blood. Vampires can drink animal blood, though it will only sustain them for an hour or two.☼ Will experience bloodlust if they do not feed enough or on time.
The effects of supernatural bloods are as follows:
Angels: Smooth taste; will remove a Vampire's weakness to silver for 1 hour but leaves a painful cross shaped burn on the body for 24 hours.
Demons: Alcoholic taste; will make the Vampire extremely attractive to others for 1 night and increase that Vampire's sex drive but has a high risk of causing addiction and bloodlust.
Doppelgangers: Watery taste; will allow the vampire to know what race another being is on sight for 1 night.
Dragons: Sour taste; causes the growth of claws for 1 hour but creates extreme hunger pains once the effect wears off.
Elementals: Irony taste; will remove a Vampire's weakness to fire for 1 hour but will cause that vampire to be more vulnerable to burning for 24 hours.
Faeries: Sugary taste; allows a Vampire to use glamor for 1 night but is highly addictive.
Fallen Angels: Minty taste; prevents bloodlust for 24 hours.
Immortals: Acidic taste; heals all wounds and scars instantly.
Mages: Metallic taste; grants the ability to fly for 1 hour.
Mermaids: Vinegary taste; heals any sun related damage instantly but puts the Vampire to sleep.
Psychics: Floral taste; grants the ability to use that psychic's power for 1 hour but causes fatigue and hunger and has a high risk of addiction.
Sirens: Spicy taste; enhances the strength and duration of Vampiric thrall for 1 night.
Vampires: No taste; grants telepathic and empathic link with that Vampire for 1 night but extremely weakens the Vampire it is taken from.
Weres: Foul taste; creates telepathic and empathic link with that Were for 1 night but allows the Were to summon that vampire for 1 week.
Witches: Cinnamon taste; allows the Vampire to know if someone is under the effect of a spell on sight.
Zombies: Muddy taste; allows the Vampire to identify Immortals, Zombies, and Vampires on sight.
They will lash out in rage at anything living nearby and will tear it to shreds in order to feed, and they will continue to do this until their hunger is sated. They do not remember anything that happened during this time when they come out of the frenzy.☼ Possess superhuman strength, speed, and agility as well as heightened senses of vision, scent, and hearing. The older the vampire the stronger it is.
☼ Are capable of Vampiric thrall.
By looking deeply into the eyes of a Human the Vampire is capable of dominating their will and making incredibly powerful suggestions. Upon being released the Human will have no memory of what happened or was said, though they will recall a gap in their memory. The duration and power of this ability varies among Vampires with age but generally is used to make feeding easier.☼ Gain a supernatural gift once they have reached 150 years of age.
This gift is unique to each Vampire, and it is impossible to know what it will be before it manifests. For most it is a psychic power, and the supposed reason for this is that dying and rising once more unleashes the power locked away in unused portions of the mind. For some it is the ability to communicate with and control a specific kind of animal, and for others it may be a magical ability like flight or shapeshifting into a specific animal. The only rule about what it cannot be is anything that will remove one of their weaknesses or fire magic. Please see the Psychics page or go here for power ideas.☼ Cannot go out in the sun.
While it will not vaporize them outright or set them on fire it will badly burn and disfigure them. These injuries can kill, though it takes somewhat prolonged exposure, and they take years to heal without magical aid. Younger vampires burn much faster than older vampires.☼ Are repelled by garlic. They have a natural aversion to it, do not like to be in its presence, and will not feed from someone who has eaten it in the past 12 hours.
☼ Are repelled by silver.
Like garlic, they are averse to it, and it will burn them if they come into contact with it. Silver can also be used to bind a vampire as their superhuman strength does not work against it. They will not usually bother feeding from someone wearing too much cumbersome silver jewelry.☼ Have reflections.
☼ Cannot enter private residences without being invited inside, though they can enter any public building without difficulty. Once a vampire is invited inside the invitation can be revoked, though it must be clearly stated.
☼ Do not need to sleep in coffins, though many prefer it as it keeps sunlight off of them effectively.
☼ Can be destroyed via fire, decapitation, large explosions, being dropped to the deepest depths of the ocean, other creative disposals, or a stake through the heart.
The one caveat with staking is that the material that the stake is made of determines whether the vampire is truly dead or not. A stake made of wood will reduce a vampire to dust; combining this dust with Human blood will revive the vampire. A stake made of silver means absolute death.