FâçTs¹

(These are things that are presented throughout the White Wolf books that have nothing to do with stats or rules but are represented in the stories and excerpts that are found throughout. They are very real considerations that should always be kept in mind when playing a vampire.)

1) Your organs and glands, including your heart, do NOT work. Therefore you do not breathe, eat, sigh, swallow, blink, fart, or pee. Remember this when you are playing - 'She sighs and says…' is WRONG. You do need to draw in air when you speak, but that is not the same as breathing, and that spoken breath will not steam on cold winter air, because…

2) Your blood does not circulate, and your cells do not burn energy, therefore you are COLD to the touch. Only the unobservant will fail to notice this even when just shaking hands. A freshly fed vampire will be somewhat warm for up to an hour, provided they consumed a LOT of blood in the feeding (as in a whole person, 8 to 10 pints, or 8 to 10 BP). If it was only a small amount (a pint or two, meaning 1 or 2 BP) then it makes no difference - you're cold. At best a vampire will feel room temperature, about an average of 70F or 20c, nearly 30% colder than a normal human being.

3) You do not have saliva or any other bodily fluid. The only way to mimic these things is to force blood through the appropriate tissues. All orifices of a vampire are normally dry unless recently lubricated with blood. That means that any contact with these orifices for another person is either a) dry and cold, or b) bloody and cold. Think about that before you kiss, or whatever.

4) The outer tissues of a vampire's body are unusually dry compared to humans, since all endocrine systems have ceased functioning. This means that fire is a real fear for them. A burn for a human is a blistering and cracking of the skin under heat. For a vampire a burn means CATCHING ON FIRE! A vampire can be as easily ignited as the wick of a candle, even with a common match or lighter. The only way to prevent this, as in the Sabbat firedances, is to waste precious vitae (at least a BP) to force blood to near the surface of the skin, and even then it is a risky undertaking. Therefore vampires do NOT smoke or play with matches except with extreme caution.

5) The feeling of being 'tired' for humans arises from a buildup of what are called 'fatigue poisons' in the system. These are waste byproducts in the cells and blood that come from cellular activity, and once they reach a certain level, they impair function and the body shuts down to clean them out. These are the same chemicals that cause 'muscle burn' when exercising. Since a vampire's cells do not function and burn nothing, no such poisons are produced. Therefore a vampire NEVER feels tired or fatigued (save perhaps mentally, which is psychological, not physical). From sundown to sunrise, you are at your peak. You never experience fatigue, aches, stiffness, muscle cramps, or any other side effect of activity. You feel 100% at all times as long as you have a sufficient amount of blood in your system.

6) The vampire body no longer requires human food or drink. It gains no nourishment from these things, and by consequence it will not react to them with feelings of longing when they are present. Food does not smell good any longer, except in purely psychological ways. The vampire body DOES require blood, however, HUMAN blood. Therefore, humans smell like FOOD. No vampire needs to be told the difference between a vampire and a mortal under normal conditions, one strong whiff of either one and the Hunger will supply the answer.

7) Speaking of scent - the human body produces scent in dozens of different ways, from hair oil to sweat to breath to less savory means. The entire combination of scents produces a unique signature smell, just like in any other animal. Vampires have none of these means of producing scent, but it does not mean they are without a distinct smell. Most importantly they would smell like BLOOD, especially near their mouth and nose, and they would smell like the environments in which they spend their time. Foreign scents like smoke and incense still cling to them normally, and if they wear perfumes or use common toiletries like shampoo, then all these smells combined will form a unique scent for each vampire.

8) Last but not least - a vampire's skin is unusually pale and smooth (unless they are of a clan that specifically makes it otherwise). The paleness comes from the fact that there is no blood circulating near the surface. The smoothness comes from the same effect that is observed in corpses where the skin takes on a smooth and waxy feel shortly after death. It is possible for a vampire to waste vitae and make themselves appear more human, but they would not be inclined to do this except when hunting or when absolutely necessary.