Rules for playing vampires in the world of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles
by Peter Wake
This is based on version 1.3.
Chris Doherty edited some sections for
language, clarity, grammar, syntax and spelling.
Beware spoilers for those that have *not* read Queen of the Damned! Stop reading now if you haven't...
These rules are a set of hacks, fixes and patches that turn your VtM rules into something more specific to the world of Louis and Lestat. They don't pretend to be perfect or cover everything, but they should work OK if you're familiar with the books.
In the world of Anne Rice there is no concept of Generation, no Camarilla, no Sabbat and no Clans. Vampires do not Frenzy: there is no Beast and no-one can be Blood Bonded. They do, however, have a Spiritual component that sometimes influences their actions. There is a single 'master vampire' who is very old and Sired all vampires. This is not the same as the Caine situation. The manner in which offspring are weaker than their Sires is not the same as in Vampire: the Masquerade. Anything not explicitly mentioned in these rules is the same as in Vampire the Masquerade.
Vampire feeding is much the same as in Vampire: the Masquerade, except that vampires tend to use more blood simply waking up and powering their undead bodies than the Vampire: the Masquerade vampires, who tend to sink most of it into Disciplines. Not all vampires know about concealing fang marks by using a little of their own blood to heal the wounds (vampire 'saliva' will not suffice). They should take care not to accidentally create new vampires when doing this. Vampires soon develop a clear idea of how close a victim is to death, so accidental creation of vampires in this way is rare. In general, it should be harder for vampires to conceal where they have fed. Fortunately, there are other arteries in the body besides the neck. Feeding from the wrist is most convenient and is easier to conceal wounds there. Removing the hands of murder victims is not just something that the Mafia does.
Characters cannot be Blood Bonded. Drinking another vampire's blood has no such effects; it does not matter how often or how much. Vampires can fall in love and have all the normal emotional bonds that mortals have; these are quite enough for anyone to cope with. Optionally, you may want to keep Blood Bonding. It depends on how you interpret the Chronicles; there is some sort of spirit connection between all vampires, but it is not really the same as a Blood Bond.
You will have to decide for yourself whether ghouls fit in with the Chronicles. From Queen of the Damned, it seems that something akin to a partial transformation into a still living vampire occurs. Certainly there is some sort of 'connection' to the net of vampires, a gaining of spiritual powers and so forth.
It is possible for a vampire to badly lose her self-control, but nothing like the Frenzy of the Beast. Some Disciplines and magicks may invoke Frenzy; they are treated as normal because they introduce a supernatural rage. Otherwise there are no checks for Frenzy, even when facing fire.
Vampires still feel these things. A referee may ask for rolls, but the consequence of failure will not be a Frenzy; it will be the milder human equivalent. The vampire automatically 'rides the wave' if she chooses to, and has the normal chances to fight the emotion. Failure does not bring disaster and botches do not bring Derangements. This is not to say that a vampire in panic is in control anymore than a mortal in panic is in control. It is merely a matter of degree. Vampires can panic when exposed to fire, sunlight and other threats to their unlives. The intensity of the panic will depend on the threat to the vampire's life. The Frenzy rules will work fine, just remember that there is no Beast. Rituals and Disciplines that control the Beast will not work unless their purpose is to induce a clearly defined emotion.
Humanity is treated as in Vampire: the Masquerade. There is no excuse for actions committed while in a state of panic or rage. Botches may lead to Derangements. A vampire that loses all Humanity is madder than a Malkavian, and will soon destroy herself. The character is under control of the Storyteller, who will determine what it does. It will probably become destructive and dangerous before it meets the Final Death. This is what happened to the ' Queen'. The Humanity/Torpor length table applies as normal, as do most other restrictions, except for the daytime action limit (see below).
Vampires are composed of three parts in a symbiotic relationship: the body, the 'human' soul of the vampire and the spirit that ties the soul into the corpse and animates it. The Spirit inhabits and feeds off the vampire's blood. As the vampire gets older, it will find that its body grows less and less 'real' and that it becomes more and more a manifestation of the spirit. Thus, old vampires simply crumble away when destroyed because their body is nothing more than a fine crystalline honeycomb reinforced and animated by the all powerful Spirit blood symbiote.
Spirit is a characteristic that measures the purity or 'Spiritualness' of the vampire's blood. The higher it is, the more supernatural the vampire becomes. The purity of a vampire's blood increases naturally with age as the symbiotic spirit refines and replaces the physical part of the host. If the vampire feeds often and richly on fresh blood, then this process is slowed: more physical material is introduced. If the vampire fasts, then her blood grows more potent and unnatural. When a vampire creates a Childe she must give away some of this spirit force and weaken herself. Vampires that understand this are loathe to do so, but many are not aware of this problem. Vampires can also give their spirit force away to other vampires with weaker force.
Character creation is much the same as in Vampire: the Masquerade,
except that you do not have a Clan and you do not have any choice
about spending the three points of starting Disciplines. You receive
only four points to spend on Backgrounds; you cannot buy the
Generation background, but you can buy the Spirit trait with Freebie
points instead.
A starting vampire begins with a Spirit of 2 and may spend Freebie
points to increase this rating. Each freebie point is worth 5 Spirit.
Starting Disciplines: Auspex 1, Potence 1, Presence 1, Celerity 0.
Characters may buy extra Discipline points with Freebies according
to the limitations of character development. This may mean that
they will need to spend points on Spirit as well.
Celerity is listed as zero on the starting Disciplines because all vampires have the Discipline, but cannot put points into it until they have a Spirit of 20 or more. Though new vampires are "moving faster" than mortals, they are not fast enough to warrant the power of Celerity. A character with even Celerity 1 is twice as fast as a mortal. However, there is no cost to purchase the Discipline of Celerity. It merely costs 4 Experience Points for the first point. If buying Celerity (through Freebie Points) for a starting character then there is no cost for a 'new discipline', only the extra point cost. Obviously, you must buy Spirit of 20+ first. Use of Merits and Flaws from the Player's Guide is recommended. Most Neonates will probably need the extra points for Spirit. Archetypes should be considered non-optional. Players are advised to buy Humanity fairly high, as it affects much more than under the original Vampire: the Masquerade rules. Starting Spirit is equal to 2. Each Freebie point spent on Spirit buys 5 extra points.
Level 1 - Leaping
The vampire may leap increased distances and heights. Multiply the normal distance per success in Strength+Athletics rolls for leaping by five.
Level 2 - Air
With this power the vampire may cause the air to move as she wills. Nothing above a 'strong' wind is possible, and only in a 30 foot radius of the vampire. The wind may slam doors, blow out candles, put lightweight thrown objects off course and drive rain. Control is not subtle. The vampire cannot be too tricky with the wind. This power costs 1 Power Point per turn to keep running, double that if a strong wind is desired.
Level 3 - Earth
This level allows solid objects or liquids of any material to be moved and controlled. People may be lifted or pushed back, cars thrown, walls blown apart etc. Twenty-five lbs. of material can be affected for every Power Point spent. These points must be spent each turn that the power is being used. If used to do damage, 10 Power Points per point of Strength of the attack must be spent in addition to the Power Points to affect the mass of the target.
Level 4 - Flight
The vampire may fly. The speed limit is the vampire's Spirit multiplied by five in feet per round. The vampire needs many turns to reach top speed and cannot maneuver well. Most tricks require rolls of a new Skill: Flying.
Level 5 - Fire
This allows the vampire to destroy her enemies in a ball of flame. For every Power Point spent, one aggravated wound is done to the target. These hits cannot be avoided by any physical means, but they may be soaked with Fortitude and some magic may protect. Vampires are only safe if they have Protean 10 in operation. The target may also spend Willpower to avoid the damage at a rate of one point of Willpower per wound level.
There is no evidence of traditional shape shifting in the Vampire Chronicles. There is only one option for each of the Protean powers above level six, and only one level below five is usable under these rules. The powers available are: Claws [2], Flesh of Marble [6], Movement of the Slowed Body [8], Body of the Statue [9] (a new power), and Body of the Sun [10].
A Note on Protean 2:
A character with Protean 2 and Potence 2 can easily grip onto stone, brick or wood and support themselves. This allows them to leap or crawl up the side of buildings with great speed. Combined with Psychokinesis, this power is even more inhuman.
Protean 9 - Body of the Statue:
This Discipline is the only Protean level 9 power. This Discipline allows the vampire to slow all bodily and spiritual functions. This results in a state like Torpor, but the vampire does not need to deplete her Blood Pool. To enter this state the vampire must concentrate for at least eight hours, spending five power points every hour, and spend one Willpower point. Once the state has been entered, the vampire need only calculate blood loss (11-Humanity) once every ten years. To leave the state, the vampire must succeed in a Willpower roll against difficulty 9. At the end of a time period equal to the vampire's normal Torpor length she will regain one Willpower point. Power Points can be regained, but they recover their full value only every ten years, rather than overnight. Disciplines which can be used in Torpor may be used while in this state, and the vampire may move very slowly - 4000 times as slowly as normal. The vampire has some consciousness of her surroundings, but things move very rapidly and a Perception+Alertness roll against Difficulty 9 is required to notice any particular thing which is relatively transient compared to the vampire's time scale. The vampire may act at normal speed for a round by making a Willpower roll against Difficulty 8 and spending ten Power Points. The vampire must roll at the start of each round she wishes to act; if she fails a roll, she stops where she is (relative to normal time). She may try again the next round.
The level 5 Auspex power, Astral Projection, is replaced with the level six power The Dreaming. The Dreaming is the level five power under these rules. Astral projection as described in Vampire: the Masquerade is impossible for Anne Rice's vampires.
Some things in Vampire: the Masquerade that are not explicitly replaced by these rules are controlled by Generation. A character with a higher Spirit is equivalent to a lower numerical Generation than one with lower Spirit.
A vampire has a Power Point pool which is used instead of Blood Points to activate Disciplines. Blood Points are only used up when a vampire awakens from sleep, for healing, in rituals that use blood and when blood is given to other vampires. The important point is that exerting power does not make a vampire "thirsty". Power Points are recovered only when the vampire sleeps for the night, or during Torpor. A staked vampire cannot recover Power Points in any event. A vampire will recover all of her Power Points in a day's sleep. (If it becomes necessary to know, assume that the rate of recovery is 1/10th of the total per hour of sleep).
The size of the character's Blood Pool is determined from the following table. Blood Points are not used for as much under these rules as in Vampire: the Masquerade.
| Spirit | Blood Points | Power Points | Points Per Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | 10 | 1 | 1 |
| 3-5 | 11 | 2 | 1 |
| 6-10 | 12 | 3 | 1 |
| 11-12 | 13 | 4 | 1 |
| 13-17 | 14 | 5 | 1 |
| 18-20 | 15 | 6 | 2 |
| 21-24 | 16 | 7 | 2 |
| 25-29 | 17 | 8 | 2 |
| 30-34 | 18 | 9 | 3 |
| 35-40 | 19 | 9 | 3 |
| 41-45 | 20 | 10 | 4 |
| 46-50 | 20 | 12 | 5 |
| Per 50 points over 50 | +1 | ||
| Per 10 points over 50 or part thereof | +1 | +1 |
A character can spend the same number of Blood Points per round as Power Points. The value on the Spirit/Blood Points/Power Points/Points Per Round table applies to both of these values.
The Storyteller might think of some minor vampiric ability that is not already covered by a Discipline and is not significant enough to justify a new one. In that case it is always possible to roll Spirit directly. Divide the vampire's Spirit by 200 (round up fractions) and roll that number of dice (from 1 to 5 in most cases). Other Attributes may be added; for instance, Spirit + Empathy to 'feel' someone's emotions (without reading their aura, which is a much more powerful ability).
Characters may learn Abilities normally as in Vampire: the Masquerade. The Disciplines they may have are limited by their Spirit rating (see the table below). This is the list of possible Disciplines. You will notice that certain levels are missing: for instance, Protean 1 is not allowed but Protean 2 is. In this case, the intermediate level must be bought, but it cannot be used. The missing Disciplines do not fit in with the world model and simply do not exist.
Disciplines do not have a Clan and non-Clan Experience Point cost. Instead, each Discipline has a different cost.
| Discipline | Levels allowed | XP cost to start/to increase |
|---|---|---|
| Auspex | 1-4, 6-10 | */7 |
| Celerity | 1-5 | */4 |
| Fortitude | 1-10 | 7/3 |
| Obfuscate | 1-9 | 10/6 |
| Potence | 1-5 | */4 |
| Presence | 1-10 | */3 |
| Protean | 2, 8, (9), 10 | 7/4 |
| Psychokinesis | 1-5 | 15/6 |
* Disciplines are those that all Neonate vampires start with. The Protean 9 Discipline is a new power that replaces Protean 9 from Vampire: the Masquerade - see the section on Protean. Auspex 5 has been changed. Psychokinesis is a new Discipline. Animalism and Dominate are not allowed. Thaumaturgy should only be available to NPCs, such as very old vampires with backgrounds of magical ability. Not all Thaumaturgy will make sense; see the rules that refer to the Beast, Frenzy, Blood Points and so on.
| Spirit | Disciplines allowed |
|---|---|
| 1-20 | Auspex 1, Potence 1, Presence 1, Fortitude 1, Protean 2 |
| 21-40 | Potence 2, Fortitude 2, Celerity 1, Presence 2 |
| 41-80 | Potence 3, Fortitude 3, Celerity 2, Presence 3 |
| 81-200 | Fortitude 4, Presence 4, Psychokinesis 1 |
| 201-250 | Auspex 2, Celerity 3, Potence 4 |
| 251-300 | Presence 5, Obfuscate 2, Fortitude 6 |
| 301-350 | Auspex 3, Presence 6, Potence 5, Psychokinesis 2 |
| 351-400 | Celerity 4, Fortitude 7, Obfuscate 3, Auspex 4 |
| 401-450 | Presence 7, Obfuscate 4, Auspex 6, Psychokinesis 3 |
| 451-500 | Celerity 5, Fortitude 8, Obfuscate 5, Auspex 7 |
| 501-550 | Protean 8, Auspex 8, Obfuscate 6, Presence 8 |
| 551-600 | Auspex 9, Obfuscate 7, Presence 9, Fortitude 9, Psychokinesis 4 |
| 601-700 | Auspex 10, Obfuscate 8, Presence 10 |
| 701-850 | Fortitude 10, Obfuscate 9, Psychokinesis 5 |
| 851+ | Protean 10 |
Vampires may raise attributes above 5 only once they have 500 Spirit or more. This usually equates to great age, but not always.
For every ten game years that a vampire is in play, its Spirit will increase by one. For every five years that a vampire is in Torpor, its Spirit will increase by one. This is mutually exclusive to the above; a vampire in Torpor is not 'in play'. One Experience Point buys one Spirit point - this is accomplished through fasting and drinking less often. Spirit may be increased by drinking the blood of a higher Spirit vampire. The victim need not be killed. Every Blood Point drunk is worth 1 Spirit Point. A vampire cannot drink more points than his Blood Pool limit will allow before his Spirit is increased. The victim's Spirit cannot be reduced below one by this process. If the victim's Spirit is reduced to one then no more Spirit can be gained by drinking their blood. Neonates should find it impossible to drain a Methuselah, and would have to feed several nights in a row to increase much in Spirit. Also, once a victim's Spirit has been drained to the level of the drinker, no more Spirit can be drained by that individual.
Example: Rogatian the Diablerist captures the ancient Madelline. He imprisons her and begins to feed. Madelline has a Spirit of 411 and 57 Blood Points; Rogatian has a Spirit of 220 and 37 Blood Points. If he waits until he is very low on blood and begins drinking, he could drain up to 37 Spirit and Blood Points at once, leaving him with 257 Spirit and 41 Blood Points, and her with 374 Spirit and 20 Blood Points. The next night he somehow contrives to do the same. After his second feast, he now has 298 Spirit and 45 Blood Points. Madelline is left with 333 Spirit, no Blood Points, and two Aggravated Wound Levels. The next night he cannot drain more than 35 Spirit, because that would drain her to 298 (his starting level). He can, however, drain as much blood as his body can hold.
For every Blood Point that a vampire gives her Childe during the Embrace, the Childe gains one Spirit Point. She must give at least one, but she may opt to give much more. Mechanically, this is treated as if the Childe were Diablerizing his Sire and all Diablerie rules apply. The Childe does not have a Blood Point limit on this first drink, but the Childe must have less Spirit than the Sire at the end of the process. The Sire is in control at all times during the Embrace. The process of the Embrace burns all the Blood Points, so the Childe will have no blood in her Pool when the Embrace is finished.
Example: Lestat decides to make Louis into a vampire. Lestat has 124 Spirit and has a maximum Blood Pool of 28 Blood Points. He has only 25 Blood Points on the night that he creates Louis. He gives Louis 24 Blood Points. Louis will have a Spirit of 24. Lestat now has one Blood Point and Louis has none. Louis has a 16 point Blood Pool because of his spirit of 24. If Lestat had been full of blood, he could have created a vampire with 28 Spirit. After embracing Louis, he has a Spirit of 100 and a Blood Pool of 25.
Optionally, a vampire can imbue a single Blood Point with up to half her Spirit when creating a Childe. You may consider this more appropriate.
These rules assume that when a vampire gives away Spirit it is gone
permanently and must be regained by the normal means. We present
these optional rules for those who prefer to see the great and
mighty vampires remain that way.
If a vampire's Spirit is sharply reduced, due to Diablerie, creating
strong Childer, or for some other reason, the natural strength of
the blood will tend to reassert itself. Make a note of the maximum
Spirit that the vampire has managed to continuously maintain. If
her Spirit is ever reduced below this value, it will tend to return
to it. The speed of return is up to the Storyteller.
Method One:
At the end of each year that passes while the vampire's Spirit is
below the recorded level, average the vampire's current Spirit with
her recorded Spirit and make that the new value (round fractions up).
You may find this a bit slow for your campaign, in which case you
can change the time step to a month or even a week.
Method Two:
Pick some arbitrary time span to spread the recovery over and
allocate points evenly during that time.
In either case if the vampire gains some Spirit from somewhere that puts her back up to or over her original Spirit, then the recovery procedure is halted, the Spirit having reached its natural level. There is no equivalent 'dissipation' of stolen Spirit.
Vampires must spend (11-Humanity) Blood Point(s) when they awaken
each night. If they do not want to spend the Blood Points, they may
spend a point of Willpower instead. This allows vampires to control
their hunger. The less human vampires have less control and use more
blood instinctively. A vampire cannot go below zero Blood Points
from hunger. If she is about to lose more Blood Points than she has,
she must spend a Willpower point instead. If she has no Willpower
left, then she loses all remaining Blood Points and enters Torpor.
A vampire on zero Blood Points is not necessarily in Torpor, however
(see Torpor).
The reference in the books to the slowing of the heartbeats does not
mean that vampires cannot drink vessels dry, it simply means that
they must stop the joy of the Embrace - the linking of spirits -
before the last drop is drunk, and that they should not try and
drink from a mortal at the moment of death. A mortal who is
'drained' will usually not suffer spiritual separation for a minute
or two after death. Vampires have a sense for this and can avoid
being sucked into death with their victims.
A vampire on low Blood Points (less than 10% of his Blood Pool) must
make a Humanity or Willpower roll (player's choice) at the sight of
blood, or have a strong desire to drink. This does not mean that
they Frenzy, only that they have a strong desire. It is possible to
suppress this desire by spending a Willpower point. If the desire
is restrained, the vampire will probably regain control. Once they
have more than 10% of their Blood Pool in their system, the hunger
subsides.
It is possible to have zero Blood Points under these rules. There
is no special effect, except hunger. See also the section on combat.
Vampires sleep during the day because spirit activity is suppressed
by the sun. Powerful spirits (and vampires) can act during the day,
although vampires do tend to catch fire if they aren't careful.
Vampires below Spirit 500 cannot awake during the day. Lesser
creatures may act during the day, but only with simple instincts. A
vampire may grab and kill an attacker, perhaps even drink from them.
They may not speak, walk about or otherwise stir from their resting
place - except perhaps to roll out of the path of sunlight
instinctively. There is no dice pool limit for Humanity, but the
difficulty of acting instinctively while asleep is high: any action
attempted during the day has a Difficulty of three higher than
normal.
The mighty vampires can awake for short times during the day, and
can perform some actions in a sort of sleep haze, without awakening
at all. Whatever they do, they are restricted to a number of dice
equal to (Spirit-500) divided by 50, rounding fractions up. There
is no dice pool limit for Humanity. To awaken at all, the vampire
must make a Stamina+Fortitude roll. Base the Difficulty on the
stimulus. If they do not awaken, they may still act instinctively.
How much they can do is up to the referee. They can move very
slowly under semi-conscious control; any rapid action is limited as
for lesser vampires unless they awake. One might assume that
older/high spirit vampires automatically have the Light Sleeper
Merit.
Claws are available from Protean 2; they increase damage from
Brawling attacks. They also decrease the Difficulty of climbing.
They do not do aggravated wounds to vampires; neither do fangs.
They may wound Lupines (if there are any) at the Storyteller's
option. In this world, only fire, sunlight and possibly acid do
aggravated wounds to vampires. What wounds Lupines (if there are
any) is up to the Storyteller.
A vampire may be killed outright by decapitation or removal of the
heart or brain. Decapitation requires 3 successes on the to-hit roll,
and the attack must do three unsoaked wound levels. The attacker
must also be using an appropriate edged weapon. It is harder to
remove the heart so it is not generally a useful tactic. An
Incapacitated vampire is easy to decapitate, as the attacker may
accumulate successes and the Difficulty is generally much lower (of
course, it depends on what else is going on). Optionally the
attacker may remove the heart instead; the procedure is the same.
Staking uses the same rules as Vampire: the Masquerade. It is
harder to remove the heart of a staked vampire, mainly because there
is a stake through it. The victim is still immobilized, however,
and ripe for decapitation and other nasty things. A staked vampire
is treated as Incapacitated for purposes of how hard they are to
kill.
A vampire may still die from aggravated wounds. A vampire does not
die from extreme wounding that causes her to run out of Blood
Points. A vampire that runs out of blood after being Incapacitated is
in Torpor, and does not die unless one of the other causes of death
occurs, such as taking an aggravated wound, being beheaded, and so on.
For the purposes of healing an aggravated wound, the 'Blood Points
per Round' rating of the vampire is the limit to the number of Blood
Points that can be allocated to heal aggravated wounds per night.
It takes seven Blood Points to heal an aggravated wound. Therefore,
a Neonate will probably take a week to heal an aggravated wound. As
in Vampire: the Masquerade, it also costs a Willpower point to heal
an aggravated wound. Fearsome vampires may be able to heal more
than one aggravated wound per night; all that is required is that
they have an allowance of 14+ Blood Points per Round, that they
spend the Blood Points, and that they use the required Willpower
points.
Obviously, aggravated wounds are healed more slowly than in Vampire:
the Masquerade. In cases where the vampire has also lost many Blood
Points, the scarring and disfigurement will not go away until the
vampire has healed all the wounds and completely filled her Blood
Pool. It follows that even though older vampires can sustain
terrible wounds that would destroy a mortal or Childe utterly, it
takes a long time to recover from such wounds.
When a vampire has been Incapacitated, she loses a Blood Point for
each further wound, as in Vampire: the Masquerade. If she takes
wounds while Incapacitated and at zero blood points, she suffers the
Final Death.
If a vampire can have zero Blood Points, then there must be some other way to explain death by Diablerie. The answer is that a vampire with zero blood points takes aggravated wounds when blood is drunk thereafter. Vampires have more blood than the recorded points. For every complete multiple of the 'Blood Points per Round` allowance that is drained from them while at zero Blood Points, they take an aggravated wound. Therefore, they can be on negative Blood Points and still be 'alive'.
Example: If the vampire can spend three Blood Points per Round, then every three Blood Points beyond zero drained from her will inflict one aggravated wound. If she started unwounded and was reduced to seven Blood Points below zero, she would take two aggravated wounds.
This only applies to loss of blood. A vampire cannot go into negative Blood Points by any other means. Wounds can sap a vampire's blood once Incapacitated, but in that case Blood Points cannot go below zero. A vampire with less than zero Blood Points is inevitably in Torpor or dead. A vampire with zero Blood Points is only in Torpor if she is also Incapacitated or has no Willpower remaining.
A vampire can voluntarily enter Torpor by using up all of her Blood Pool and Willpower. This is easily done; the vampire simply sinks to zero Blood Points by not feeding and then spends Willpower not to feed until she has none left. A vampire can enter torpor by being reduced to negative Blood Points due to Diablerie, or by being Incapacitated and having zero Blood Points left. Once she has slept out her Torpor, as determined by her Humanity, the vampire is 'reset' to zero Blood Points and if Incapacitated, is automatically healed to Maimed. She may then leave Torpor by spending a Willpower point. (She also regains all her Willpower points from sleeping out her Torpor, also see below). Such mystical healing is due to the character's spirit feeding off of other energies than blood. A vampire cannot voluntarily enter Torpor unless she has no Willpower points left. When Lestat entered Torpor, he was in such a state of depression and defeat. When a vampire has been in Torpor for the correct length of time for her Humanity, she regains all of her Willpower points. She may then come out of Torpor. If a vampire is in Torpor, the Storyteller should not give her any Willpower back for 'end of story', or the Torpor rules would break down. A vampire cannot end her personal story while she sleeps in Torpor; Torpor is not an end, it is an interlude.
These rules make for a very different game. Vampires can be killed
more easily at the lower levels because of their weaker
Disciplines - they cannot even heal an aggravated wound. At the
higher levels they become much more dangerous because their Blood
Pool and Spirit are separate, and activating powers does not mean
losing damage absorbing capability.
Sadly, all characters are much more alike. The absence of Clans and
many of the Disciplines makes specialization less likely and new
Disciplines are very costly. This does allow more opportunity for
characters to develop through roleplaying because they are not
limited by Clan mindsets.
Humanity should be more important from a roleplaying standpoint.
Though there are extra mechanics to encourage this, the restrictions
on character development by numbers should encourage character
development through characterization.
The sorts of scenarios that one might expect to play are very
different. Politics tend to be less important. Only in the larger
groups of vampires, such as in Paris, would there be political
activity on the same scale as the Camarilla. The personal horror of
the vampire's struggle to cope with existence becomes more important.
If you want characters to advance as rapidly as in Vampire: the
Masquerade, you must give out more Experience Points. Many
Experience Points have to be sunk into increasing Spirit and
Disciplines are generally more expensive.
Vampire: the Masquerade can represent more or less every vampire you could hope to find in fiction (except the various psychic vampires and energy drainers of SF). Because of this, some rather odd non-vampire-like characters can be created. In addition, it does not model the specific mechanics of the world of the Vampire Chronicles very well. It is obvious that the Toreador were inspired by Anne Rice's vampires, but they are not a faithful representation. Hopefully, these rules will discourage players from building odd collections of powers before they have the classic vampire abilities. Unfortunately, many of the Vampire: the Masquerade powers are not really applicable to the Vampire Chronicles, being drawn from entirely different backgrounds.
Though these are not the best rules that could be constructed to
represent the world of the Vampire Chronicles, they represent a sort
of minimal effort that allows most of the Vampire: the Masquerade
rules to be used without much change. The Storyteller system is
probably not the ideal medium for playing this sort of thing, partly
because of its granularity and partly because of the strong flavour
of the existing Vampire system. An ideal set of rules would be
constructed from scratch. In the world of the Vampire Chronicles,
there is no concept of Disciplines and there is a very smooth
progression in most powers. Presence is clearly modeled on the Anne
Rice world view. Potence and Celerity fit in well; level one Auspex
owes her a debt. The other powers fit less well. The higher levels
of Disciplines could have been within the realms of the Queen,
Lestat, or the twins, but the information in the books is sketchy at
best. Some things seem to feel good, others do not. Generally, some
effort is required to make the various Disciplines fit the examples
given in the Chronicles. None of the special Disciplines from the
expansion rules are included, as none of them fit the world view of
the Vampire Chronicles. There is no evidence of shapechanging, and
while the vampires are very good at hiding themselves, whether or
not his is the same as Obfuscate is debatable.
The most important thing for me was to get away from Generations.
There was no such concept in the books, though there is mention of
the 'web' that joins all vampires in Queen of the Damned. The
single shared spirit effect can be ignored in normal play. The
Spirit numbers are sufficiently large to reduce granularity; they
also allow for a bit more scope of difference down at the starting
character end.
The Archetypes are difficult to define, perhaps because the characters are not shallow stereotypes. No doubt people will have their own ideas about these characters. The Merits and Flaws are, at best, poor approximations. A careful reading of the Chronicles will be much more useful as a guide to these characters. Bear in mind that 3 and 4 are high values for a normal human trait.
Nature: Caregiver Demeanor: Bon Vivant Spirit: 24 Power Points: 7 Points Per Round: 2 Blood Pool: 16 Physical: Strength 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2 Social: Charisma 3, Manipulation 2, Appearance 3 Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 4, Wits 3 Virtues: Conscience 4, Self Control 3, Courage 3 Talents: Alertness 1, Athletics 1, Brawl 1, Dodge 1, Empathy 3, Leadership 1 Skills: Horsemanship 1, Etiquette 3, Music 1, Stealth 2, Survival 1 Knowledge: Bureaucracy 2, Finance 3, Investigation 3, Law 2, Medicine 1, Occult 1, Politics 2, Science 1 Disciplines: Celerity 1, Auspex 1, Potence 2, Fortitude 2, Protean 2, Obfuscate 1, Presence 2 Merits/Flaws: Code of Honour, Soft Hearted Humanity: 7 Willpower: 6
Notes:
Louis is in the range of playable characters. His vampiric resilience is
represented more by his ability to heal rather than in high
Stamina/Fortitude. This applies to the other characters as well.
Gabrielle, during her early travels with Lestat
Nature: Loner Demeanor: Loner Spirit: 41 Power Points: 10 Points Per Round: 4 Blood Pool: 20 Physical: Strength 1, Dexterity 3, Stamina 1 Social: Charisma 3, Manipulation 2, Appearance 3 Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 4, Wits 3 Virtues: Conscience 4, Self Control 3, Courage 5 Talents: Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Dodge 2, Intimidation 1, Leadership 3, Subterfuge 2 Skills: Horsemanship 1, Etiquette 3, Music 1, Stealth 3, Survival 3 Knowledge: Bureaucracy 1, Finance 1, Investigation 2, Law 1, Medicine 1, Occult 2, Politics 1 Disciplines: Celerity 2, Auspex 1, Potence 3, Fortitude 3, Protean 2, Obfuscate 1, Presence 3 Merits/Flaws: Common Sense, Fast Learner Humanity: 5 Willpower: 8
Notes:
Another playable character. Gabrielle is well read and intelligent, but has
yet to develop much concrete knowledge about the world. She understands
people well, but does not need them.
Lestat, at the time he Embraced Louis
Nature: Bon Vivant Demeanor: Gallant Spirit: 100 Power Points: 17 Points Per Round: 6 Blood Pool: 25 Physical: Strength 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 4 Social: Charisma 4, Manipulation 2, Appearance 4 Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 3, Wits 3 Virtues: Conscience 3, Self Control 3, Courage 5 Talents: Acting 3, Alertness 2, Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Dodge 3, Empathy 2, Leadership 2, Streetwise 1, Singing 4 Skills: Horsemanship 1, Etiquette 2, Melee 2, Music 2, Stealth 3, Survival 2 Knowledge: Finance 2, Investigation 3, Law 1, Vampire Lore 2 Disciplines: Celerity 2, Auspex 1, Potence 3, Fortitude 4, Protean 2, Obfuscate 1, Presence 3, Psychokinesis 1 Merits/Flaws: Over Confident, Light Sleeper, Daredevil Humanity: 6 Willpower: 7
Notes:
I think that Lestat's Willpower was at a low ebb throughout the events in
with the Interview Vampire. I think that as a mortal and in Queen of the
Damned, his Willpower was much higher. I have assumed that Lestat's
performance talents were as much a consequence of his good social traits as
his abilities.
Lestat did cavalier things, but he was primarily self indulgent in this
period.
I think that this sort of character is about at the limit of what you would
let players run.
Lestat, during his association with Akasha
Nature: Cavalier Demeanor: Gallant Spirit: 750 Power Points: 82 Points Per Round: 19 Blood Pool: 90 Physical: Strength 7, Dexterity 6, Stamina 6 Social: Charisma 4, Manipulation 3, Appearance 5 Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 3, Wits 4 Virtues: Conscience 4, Self Control 3, Courage 5 Talents: Acting 3, Alertness 2, Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Dodge 3, Empathy 2, Leadership 3, Streetwise 2, Singing 4 Skills: Horsemanship 1, Etiquette 2, Melee 2, Music 2, Stealth 3, Survival 2, Drive 3 Knowledge: Finance 2, Investigation 3, Law 1, Vampire Lore 5 Disciplines: Celerity 5, Auspex 2, Potence 5, Fortitude 7, Protean 8, Obfuscate 3, Presence 9 (Love, Enrage, Mind-numb, Heart of the City), Psychokinesis 5 Merits/Flaws: Over Confident, Light Sleeper, Daredevil Humanity: 5 Willpower: 9
Notes:
At this point Lestat is becoming aware of his responsibilities as a being of
tremendous power. Ultimately he chooses what we perceive as good. Hence
the Cavalier nature.
Akasha, during her association with Lestat
Nature: Visionary Demeanor: Visionary Spirit: 1000 Power Points: 107 Points Per Round: 24 Blood Pool: 115 Physical: Strength 10, Dexterity 10, Stamina 10 Social: Charisma 7, Manipulation 5, Appearance 8 Mental: Perception 5, Intelligence 4, Wits 6 Virtues: Conscience 0, Self Control 4, Courage 6 Talents: Acting 1, Alertness 5, Dodge 1, Leadership 3, Intimidation 5, Subterfuge 4, Seduction 3 Skills: Ancient Egyptian Etiquette 3, Stealth 1, Style 3, Public Speaking 2 Knowledge: Investigation 1, Occult 3, Vampire Lore 5, Ancient Egyptian Law 3, Grasp of 20th century 2, Astrology 1 Disciplines: Celerity 5, Fortitude 10, Potence 5, Protean 8, Psychokinesis 5, Auspex 10 (Clairvoyance, The Dreaming, Eagle's Sight, Sense Emotion, Souls Scan, Pulse of the Canaille), Obfuscate 7 (Mind Blank, Cloak), Presence 9 (Love, Mind Numb, Mask Empathy, Heart of the City) Merits/Flaws: Over Confident, Light Sleeper, Higher Purpose, Concentration, Fast Learner, Dark Fate Humanity: 0 Willpower: 10
Notes:
It's hard to pick Archetypes for Akasha because she's completely mad.
Akasha doesn't make conscience rolls, she is too far gone to feel any sort of
remorse.
Akasha's abilities are generally poor as she learned few skills in her days
as a mortal; she was a noble and needed only social skills to get by. As a
vampire, she had little need of any skills. After her awakening, she was so
powerful that she had no need of mortal skills. Akasha is too inhuman to
have Empathy with anything or anyone and was cruel and selfish even in life.
In terms of game play, vampires of this power level are probably best handled
as plot devices.
I've done my own thinking upon what is possible in the Vampire Chronicles with regards to Disciplines, and I do not agree with several of the interpretations given.
The classical Disciplines all of Anne Rice's characters possess are: Auspex, Celerity, Potence, Presence.
Several turns to psychokinetically fly at full speed? Akasha
demonstrated instant acceleration, and Lestat showed no lag...
Chalk this one up to game balance, I think.