PROINDIE

Credits ce
Writing: Angus McNicholl, Jason U. Walla
icholl, Jason U. Wallace
Development: Carsten Damm, Angus McN
Visual Design & Layout: Carsten Damm
van Winch
Editing: Carsten Damm, Aric Wieder, Dono
Dünne, Stacy Frelund,
Playtesters: Tom Aguirre, Jamie Cole, Jörg
e McG rego r, Angu s McN ichol l,
Nata sha Hing tgen , Scot t and Lizzi
eitze r, Jerem iah Schw ennen, Elle Sundar,
Simon Powell, Sarah Schw
ling
Jason U. Wallace, Aric Wieder, Daniel Weß
ks for supporting us!
Based on Western City by Jörg Dünne. Than
by Vagrant Workshop. All
© 2012 Pro-Indie. Licensed and published
book are protected by copyright.
rights reser ved. The contents of this
cate the Appe ndix for personal use only,
Permission granted to dupli
res written permission
Any other reproduction, even in excerpts, requi
by the publisher.
 Contents MYTHOLOGY
AND SETTING 22
INTRODUCTION 5
Interpreting
About the Game 6 these Decisions 23
UsING This Book 7 Step One:
What is a Vampire?
GAME MECHANICS 8 23
The Source 23
Character 8
Physiology 24
Abilities 8
Feeding Habits 25
Attributes 8
The Dark Rebirth 25
Skills 9
The Dark Curse 26
Dark Gifts 13
The Dark Gift 27
Crypts 13
Vampiric Death 29
Auctions 13
Special Effects 30
Splitting the Pool 13
Step Two: The World
Vetoes 14
of Vampire City 30
Tests 14
The Setting 30
Fumbles 15
Social Standing 31
When Not to
Vampire Society 32
Use the Dice 15
Places of Importance 32
Using Dark Gifts 15
Presence of Magic 33
Conflicts 16
Protocol 51 34
Death is not Welcome
17
Demon Seed 36
Mobs 17
Immortal Overlords 38
Inanimate Objects 18
Pure Blood 40
Monsters and Villains 18
Regaining Lost PREDATORS
Damage Points 19 AND PREY 42
Patch it Up! 19 Playing Mortals 42
Regenerating Step One: Profession 42
and Feeding 19
Step Two: Attributes 43
Magic 19
Step Three : Skills 44
Using Magic 20
Step Four: A Special Item 4 4
Magic Effects 20
Equipment 45
 45 Special Scenes 59
Step Five: Hubris
Activating Hubris Dusk 59
During the Game 45 Midnight 60
Step Six: The Dark Gift 46 Dawn 61
Step Seven : Crypt 46
ADVENTURE
Step Eight: Background 47
POINTS 62
Step Nine: Extra s 48
Adventure
Extras During the Game 49 Point Rewards 62
Relationship Maps 50 Extra of the Night 62
Alternative Rewards 62
PREPARING
A SESSION 51 Spending
AdventurE Points 63
Bidding for Extra s 52
Learning and
Goals of the Night 52 63
Improving Skills
Events of the Night 53 64
Raising Attributes
Creating a Line Gaining New Dark Gifts
of Events 54 64
and Special Items
Bidding for all Scenes 55 64
Tracking Changes
Creating a Season 55
APPENDIX 65
EVENTS Checklists 65
AND SCENES 56
Character Creation 67
Turning an Event
Into a Scene 56 Uses of Blood Tokens
and Symbol s 69
Starting a Scene 57
Character Sheet 70
Getting In 58
EXTRA S SHEETS 71
Getting Out 58
LOCATION SHEETS 72
Ending a Scene 58
Sample Characters 73
Buying Scene Elements 58
EXAMPLE OF PLAY 76
Changing Characters
During a Scene 59
 INTRODUCTION
Forewarned is forearmed, know your enemy or it will slay you dead
and feast upon your life blood.

Father Martin Ellis, Vampire Hunter

Fear the night for ´´ In the halls of power of the

it has fangs! mighty Roman Empire, its lofty
edifice shining over the barbarian
The city is a place of
expanses, corruption is rife.
nightmare and darkness,
Gladiators fight and die bloody
where the worst fears of
deaths, gold and blood flow into
mortals’ hearts stalk them.
the coffers of the powerful. But
Creatures that look like us,
the young are rising, those fresh
but driven by their need to
with the curse are seeking to
feed upon us like lowly cattle
overthrow the old ways… to seize
stalk every shadow… Vampire
the very power of the Caesars!
City is not for the faint of heart.
Whose side will you be on... a
If you choose to come here, mortal,
damned pawn of the Empire or
it will be your end.
in desperation in league with
Vampires have stalked amongst us savages? Fang, claw, and gladius
since our race first turned from inno- rule the night!
cence; they have feed upon our society
´´ Feed upon the carrion of the
like rats, throughout all the ages of
Dark Ages, where vampires ruled
our history. Vampire City provides a
amidst the plague-rattled ruins
new way to bring them to life. Roman-
of civilizations. Feudal lords
ticism and tragedy, sacrifice and ava-
themselves turn to the dark gift
rice, diplomacy and backstabbing, the
to survive the Black Death. Life
depraved and the anti-hero, the gift
is cheap, and serfs are traded as
and the curse, the struggle with mor-
cattle. Deals are signed openly in
tality, and ultimately… surpassing it.
blood, allowing terrors to freely
Come to Vampire City and meet stalk the night.
your destiny, bleeding out your last
´´ The refinement and masks of
in the shadow of a doorway or exalt-
the Victorian era hide a predator
ing yourself in blood… the night is a
of cultural refinement
cruel mistress.
and bloody instinct. It
is an era of affluent

5
 connoisseurs with the experience both human and vampires, who
of ages that maneuver through seek to challenge the immortal
the parade of high society, monuments erected in modernis-
gorging themselves on high-class tic garb... there is no rest during
hedonism and innocent blood. the night!
Secret wars wage in the late night
Vampire City is a place of bloody
theatres, ornate graveyards, and
shadows cast over human miser y,
palatial bedrooms. Clan moves
where dread creatures hunt the liv-
against clan, and loyalties are
ing and take their lives to secure their
tried, broken, and exchanged… all
own cursed existence. Vampire City
with a tip of the hat, swish of the
is a place of horror, a place of dark-
cloak, and slice of the dagger. It is
ness, and it will claim you if you don’t
the height of gothic decadence.
watch out!
´´ Our modern age hides a nest of
vampires quietly scheming under
our unknowing eyes. Hiding and
pulling strings, dark forces stay
About the Game
Vampire City aims at capturing
hidden and hunt. Fighting over
the feel of vampires, but one put-
connections, territories, and se-
ting your and your friends in control.
crecy, those few mortals who
The themes and violence can be dark
encounter it all are swept up in
and disturbing, the subject matter
the clandestine battle or swept
mature. The players should agree
under the proverbial rug. The day
on their levels of comfort and work
goes on just as we all know, only
together to frame a world and char-
aspiring servants alluding to the
acters that all can interact with and
corrupt in-fighting boiling over
enjoy. Themes can range from horror
after dusk… but then, very real
to adventure to politics depending
threats lurk in the shadows pry-
on your individual tastes.
ing on the unwary.
Vampire City is a roleplaying game
´´ Darkness no longer haunts the
for three to five players without the
shadows but covers the land in
need for a gamemaster, allowing ev-
a veil of shadow. Our time has
eryone to participate in the same ca-
passed and theirs has begun… the
pacity. By limiting players’ resources,
future, dark and dystopian, where
the game gives everyone a fair share
the vampires have stolen the
of the game time and is a truly col-
reigns of power. Humanity, with
laborative experience.
all its technology and advances,
knows it only exists as food... In such a game, the goals the play-
blood is the currency of the new ers set for their characters become
age. You either ally with the dark- paramount, the only real guides to what
ness, hoping to join it, or fall into everyone is seeking to do. It is up to
complacency and hope to the players to choose their own motiva-
live out another night. tions and goals, and direct the action
But there are those towards those ends. Cooperatively,
dissatisfied with the players provide a basic structure
the situation, for play.
6
 There are interesting advantages to
such a gamemasterless arrangement
well suited to the vampire genre. While
respect must be taken to incorporate
everyone, there is no intrinsic moti-
vation for a single party or group of
player characters involved, allowing
considerable freedom for individual
pursuits. Even antagonistic roles can
be incorporated readily, such as major
villains or even a direct opponent like a
vampire hunter! As long as the players
can work in an idea, your imagination
is the only limit.
Vampire City begins a step back
from the characters, with the players
themselves conceiving of the setting
and even the very nature of vampires
in their game using a simple tic-box
system. Such details are agreed upon
in advance, as they form a backdrop
and context for the characters each
player will create. This setting can play
an ongoing role in games of Vampire
City as a season, or be decided on
afresh on each occasion for play.
To manage the inevitable disagree-
ments and differences of prefer-
ence, each player receives a handful
of blood tokens which can be used
to introduce ideas or influence the
direction of the game itself, both in
development and actual play. While
proposing an era to set the game in
or preparing an individual scene, the
players may disagree on how to frame
it. The blood tokens come in here,
with those most willing to spill blood
for their side, winning the bidding and
right to see their ideas happen. Af-
ter each decision or scene, the tokens
spent in such auctions are redistribut-
ed among the players. The player with
the biggest influence at each junction
is the only one not to get any chips
back so that his influence on the
next decision or scene is more limited.
This fluid bidding system helps keep
the spotlight moving among all the
players.
UsING This Book
The rules in this book are divided
into six sections:
Game Mechanics details the various
game mechanics a game of Vampire
City involves, explaining how they
work
Mythology and Setting lets the
group create the background for their
Vampire City games by selecting from
a variety of options.
Predators and Prey details how
to create the characters used in the
game.
Preparing a Session details how
to prepare the game for the night
and weave a storyline for everyone
involved.
Events and Scenes explains how
these work in a game of Vampire
City, explaining how they are woven
together.
Adventure Points covers how Ad-
venture Points are awarded and used
to improve various abilities.
Finally, the Appendix offers charac-
ter, extra, and location sheets, gaming
aids, and an Example of Play.
Remarks look like this and
offer hints and advice on using
the rules.
Examples look like this, show-
casing how the rules are applied.
7
 GAME MECHANICS
There is an order to the universe, a divine plan if you will. But, vampires
aren’t part of that plan, they stand apart from the order of the universe,
avoiding the natural laws and the passage of time.
Finn Carsden, Vampire Philosopher
In order to play Vampire City, each
player needs…
´´ …eight six-sided dice (these can
be shared if need be).
´´ …five blood tokens (red glass
beads, red stones, red poker
chips, pennies, etc).
´´ …one symbol (an ankh, cross,
fang, different colored stone/
chip, etc).
´´ …a pen or pencil.
´´ …a few sheets of paper for
notes.
´´ …a Character Sheet (see p.70)
and two Extras Sheets (see p.71).
´´ …his imagination, his dark
desires, and a sense of fun!
Playtests have shown that
Vampire City is excellent
for groups of three to five
players, but smaller or big-
ger groups should be fine as
well: just prepare to be more
flexible and set aside a
touch more time.
8
Character
Abilities
All characters in Vampire
City have Attributes and
Skills defining their abili-
ties. See the Predators and
Prey chapter for more infor-
mation on assigning values
to these.
Attributes
Attributes describe the character’s
inborn abilities. An Attribute’s Rank
determines the number of dice players
roll to test their characters’ abilities.
Each character has three Attributes:
B od y deter mines how strong,
dexterous, wiry, graceful, quick, or
even just persistent a character is.
This Attribute covers a character’s
physical ability.
Mind covers shrewdness, alertness,
education, general knowledge, intel-
ligence, but also self-confidence or
determination. This Attribute covers
a character’s mental ability.
 Charisma tells how attractive,
charming, or worldly your character
is. This Attribute covers a character’s
social ability.
The Attribute Ranks are:
´´ Rank 1: Abysmal
´´ Rank 2: Below average
´´ Rank 3: Human average
´´ Rank 4: Above average
´´ Rank 5: Legendary
High Attribute ranks don’t neces-
sarily mean that a character excels in
all areas covered by the Attribute, but
there are at least a few areas where
the character is strong.
Damage Points
Each Attribute also has an associ-
ated pool of damage points, called
Body Points, Mind Points, and Social
Points, respectively. These describe
how resilient the character is in each
area of conflict. See Conflicts on p.16
for more information on how damage
points are used.
Extras have Body, Mind and Social
Points equal to their relevant attri-
bute, while the player characters have
twice that amount. Some monsters
and powerful villains can have more.
Body Points are used whenever a
character suffers physical injury—like
falling down the stairs, being kicked
or punched, or even being drowned.
Characters with a high number of Body
Points can endure a lot of punishment
before they fall unconscious.
Mind Points are the character’s
mental reserves and willpower;
these are used whenever a character
suffers mental fatigue from psychic
domination, resisting the effects of
psychotropic drugs, or even trying
to solve mind-bending puzzles. If a
character loses all his Mind Points he
becomes unconscious or otherwise un-
able to function.
Social Points are a little more
abstract than either Body or Mind
Points, but they represent the
character’s ability to resist social
diplomacy, persuasion, and seduction.
A character with a high Social Points
total is far more difficult to lead
astray. Should the character lose all
his Social Points, he is exhausted and
unable to resist any further attempts
to persuade or coerce him.
Skills
When it comes to how well your
character can pull certain things off,
it’s often not just how well he’s natu-
rally disposed (that’s what the Attri-
butes show) but also about how well
he’s been educated and trained. For
this, all characters have skills defining
the areas of expertise they have. Skill
Ranks determine which numbers on a
die count as successes, as described
under Tests on p.14.
Skills are important if effec-
tiveness is what you like in a
character, but you shouldn’t
let them matter too much. If
someone has shown great ro-
leplaying and has been making
an effort, let his action suc-
ceed and skip the Skill Test.
9
 Athletics (Body)
Athletics covers the ability to sprint,
play sports, and generally perform
well in track and field style events.
Bluffing (Charisma)
The character is an accomplished liar,
able to convince others of the truth
of his words while feeding them false
information.
Brawling (Body)
Most people have the rudimentary
ability to fight, but those who are
skilled brawlers often have specific
training in a martial art, or years of
experience in street fights and bar
brawls.
Climbing (Body)
The character is able to ascend trees,
walls or cliff faces and with the right
kind of equipment make and abseil
descent.
Diplomacy (Charisma)
A skilled negotiator is able to help
people come to common ground
and bring about fair and mutually
beneficial results.
Driving (Body)
Depending upon the historical set-
ting of your Vampire City game this
skill may be unavailable or limited only
to a privileged class of people. The skill
covers all motorized vehicles in
the setting from motor-
bikes to trucks.
10
Endurance (Body)
Training the body to endure pro-
longed physical excretion usually for
running marathons or dealing with oth-
er extreme conditions, like the bitter
cold or the blistering heat.
Fashion (Charisma)
A strong sense of fashion can be im-
portant when making a first impression
and this is often a general reflection
of their attire and taste. The character
may even be ahead of the curve, set-
ting new fashions.
Foreign Cultures (Mind)
The character has travelled widely
and experienced many foreign cul-
tures, picking up pieces of the lan-
guage and some customs.
Gambling (Mind)
This is the ability to understand and
play games of chance and skill. Usu-
ally these are card games like poker,
but in some cultures this can be a tile
game like mahjong. Note that games
of pure chance, in which skill plays no
part (like roulette or most dice games),
are down to random chance and this
skill doesn’t help.
Haggling (Charisma)
Making the best deal; knowing what
to say and how to say it to obtain the
best possible bargaining position, and
lower a merchant’s prices for him.
History (Mind)
The character has studied history, or
lived through it attentively.
Interrogation (Charisma) Of course, this skill may be limited by
the setting, medicine in a medieval set-
This skill represents one’s ability to
ting is likely limited to a source of fresh
conduct structured interviews with
leaches or other practices that might
suspects or witnesses, and to exam-
actually do more harm than good. In
ine their testimony through logic and
a hi-tech setting, nanotech or other
deduction to detect inconsistencies.
wonder cures may be available and
provide greater effect.
Intimidation (Charisma)
The ability to convince others that Melee (Body)
the character is a potential threat to
Years of practice have gifted the
them and that compliance with his de-
character with the ability to wield me-
mands is the best way not to get hurt.
lee weapons. This could be fencing,
sword fighting, or the use of a martial
Leadership (Charisma) arts weapon.
As a leader of men the character
is able to rally people and lead them Observation (Mind)
when confusion would other wise
Some people are simply more ob-
reign.
servant than others. A few have been
trained as observers to take note of
Magic (Mind) details that other people might easily
overlook.
Few people believe in magic as any-
thing other than stage trickery, fewer
still train as magician, spending long Oration (Charisma)
years studying occult rituals. More
The character is an accomplished
information on Magic is given on p.19.
public speaker able to rouse the crowd
The Magic skill may not be and manipulate emotions with his
appropriate in all settings words and his message.
and the group should decide
if it will be allowed if anyone
would like to purchase it. See Perform (Charisma)
p.19 for rules on using the Some people have a talent for act-
Magic skill. ing, singing, and dance, perhaps includ-
ing stage fighting.
Medicine (Mind)
Characters trained in medicine can Politics (Mind)
recognize, diagnose, and treat medical
A life in certain circles gifts the char-
problems, including identifying causes
acter with an understanding of politi-
of death. In addition, once per fight
cal theory, policy, and bureaucracy.
they may roll for successes to heal
Body Points up to a maximum of half
the damage caused by hits during one
sequence (see Patch It Up, p.19).
11
 Religion (Mind)
Some people have chosen the life
within the clergy or have been closely
associated with the workings of their
church learning religious practice and
ritual.
Religion is used as a mea-
sure of true faith in settings
where vampires are demonic
and vulnerable to the ef-
fects of faith. Only mortals
can have faith in such set-
tings, although vampires can
certainly have knowledge
and practical ability with the
Religion skill. If you like, you
may decide someone with a
religious Profession does not
necessarily have true faith,
unless they purchase the Re-
ligion skill separately. The
faithless, former priest is a
popular role in vampire litera-
ture, for example.
Repair (Mind)
The character understands how
things work and is able to both repair
and easily disable mechanical and
electronic devices. This skill is limited
to appropriate settings in which me-
chanical and electronic devices are
commonly available.
Riding (Body)
The character is able to handle most
trained riding beasts; usually horses,
but in some cultures this could be an
elephant or other animal. The char-
acter can also control these animals
when pulling a cart, carriage,
or chariot.
12
Sailing (Body)
A character with this skill possesses
practice and experience at handling
all kinds of watercraft, from a rowing
boat up to a sailing yacht.
Sciences (Mind)
A good understanding of the prin-
ciples of the basic sciences: biology,
chemistry and physics, and how their
principles relate to the world. What
constitutes a science may vary widely
in different settings; the science of a
classical Greek era setting will be very
different from a star spanning sci-fi
adventure.
Seduction (Charisma)
T h e c h a r a c t e r i s a b l e t o p e r-
suade a person through the power
of his personal charm and physical
attractiveness.
Shooting (Body)
Some people have honed their skill
with a selection of ranged weapons,
including pistols, rifles, and archery
weapons.
Strategy (Mind)
The character has studied (military
sciences, tactics, military history),
and usually has hand-on experience
in the field.
Swimming (Body)
Some people take to the water bet-
ter than others. The character is able
to swim using a variety of different
strokes.
Survival (Mind)
A practiced woodsman, able to light
fires, forage for food, and find or build
shelter from available resources.
Teaching (Charisma)
Some people are able to dem -
onstrate a particular skill in a way
that makes it easier for others to
understand.
Throwing (Body)
The character has a good aim when
throwing things, be they ninja stars or
valuable vases.
Dark Gifts
A Dark Gift allows a vampire to per-
form a special action. This could be the
ability to melt into the earth to sleep
through the day or the ability to turn
into a bat. Such abilities require no
test and work automatically. Others
might require a mental or social con-
flict to take effect, such as controlling
a potential victim through suggestion
(such Dark Gifts use a relevant Attri-
bute and the vampire’s Profession
Rank to “attack”).
Crypts
A Crypt is a character’s turf, a place
he knows inside and out. A character
can only have one Crypt at a time.
A character gets to roll two extra
dice for any actions performed in his
Crypt. If for some reason a character
needs to change his Crypt (the old one
is burned out by hunters or the charac-
ter no longer hangs out there) a new
one can be selected during the next
session of play.
Auctions
Auctions and the bidding of blood
tokens are used in almost every stage
of the game. They ensure everyone
gets an equal share in the story. In
most cases, you will only enter bidding
if two or more players cannot find a
way to make their different ideas hap-
pen together in play.
In an auction, everyone involved
takes turns throwing blood tokens into
a pool (also called “the pot”). The play-
er who drops the most blood tokens
into the pool wins the auction. Players
may bid until one of them comes out
as the winner. Ties are not possible, if
a player can’t bid more than his coun-
terpart, he loses the auction.
If players want to support each oth-
er in their goals, they are free to give
each other blood tokens, or bid for the
desired outcome themselves.
Splitting the Pool
After each auction the blood pool
must be redistributed back to the play-
ers. The player (or players), who won
the auction never receive blood back,
that is the cost of enforcing their will
on the game world. The blood pool is
split evenly between all the other play-
ers. If the number of chips in the pool
doesn’t split up evenly, the remainder
is left in the pool until after the next
auction.
The blood pool can accumulate
blood points for reasons other than
13
 auctions. At the end of each scene if
there is blood in the blood pool it is
distributed evenly between all players.
As normal, if there are an odd number
of points the excess is left in the pool
until the next split.
So the blood pool is split after each
auction and at the end of each and
every scene.
Feasting Upon Your
Fellow Players
If a player hoards 12 or more blood
tokens, the others can announce a
feast because they feel too weak and
deprived of their chance to actively
take part in the game. The player with
all those blood tokens can try to ex-
plain why he or she needs to save them
so badly (maybe for a huge scene) and
make the would-be blood suckers
reconsider.
If the hoarder’s explanation isn’t sat-
isfactory, they have one more scene to
spend those blood tokens on narration
rights (or just give them away), after
which each blood sucker rolls one die
and takes the number that comes up
in blood tokens from the hoarder. The
player with the fewest blood tokens
goes first, followed by the second few-
est, and so on until the bled player’s
blood tokens run out or everybody got
their share, whichever comes up first.
Vetoes
When a player does not agree with
what someone else is describing, es-
pecially when they are setting
up a scene (see Events
and Scenes, p.56), he
may enforce his right
to veto. The player
14
signals refusal or objection by throw-
ing a blood token into the pool and
speaking the key sentence:
“Over my dead body”
Ideally, players come up with some
sort of agreement or compromise
and continue playing. If they cannot
agree, an auction is called to settle
the dispute and decide how the scene
plays out.
Once someone has successfully
enforced his veto against someone
else’s description, the vetoed scene
or description is banned for the du-
ration of the session and may not be
reintroduced during this game session
(not even in similar form).
In Vampire City, it always
costs you to enforce your will
against your fellow players.
That’s no big deal though,
since your pool of blood to-
kens will replenish as soon
as you lose an auction or a
scene ends.
Tests
If the actions of two characters op-
pose one another, whether in a fight, a
chess match, or while bargaining, a test
is the quickest way of determining who
wins a brief contest. Longer Conflicts
are dealt with on p.16.
Play the beginning of the contest
before rolling dice for an appropriate
skill (see Skills, p.9). In Vampire City,
Skill Ranks tell you how good a char-
acter is at a given skill. Mechanically,
Skill Ranks determine which numbers
on a die count as successes:
´´ Rank 1: Count as success if the
die comes up a 1
´´ Rank 2: 1 or 2 is a success
´´ Rank 3: 1 through 3 count as
successes
´´ Rank 4: 1 through 4 count as
successes
´´ Rank 5: 1 through 5 count as
successes
Players can test skills their charac-
ters do not know. In this case, only 1s
count as successes. This kind of test is
also called an Attribute Test. The value
of the Attribute in question deter-
mines how many dice a player rolls on
a particular test. The number of Skill
Ranks determine which values on a die
count as successes (less than or equal
to the Skill Rank counts as a success).
The player with the most successes
wins the test and narration rights for
the direction the scene takes. Ideally,
the scene is fun to play and everyone
continues to play it to closure. They act
out how the contest develops and why
one of the opponents doesn’t succeed
in the end. Players should consider the
outcome of the test in their further
descriptions.
In case of a tie, the character with
the higher Skill Rank wins. If that’s an-
other tie, repeat the test.
Fumbles
A fumble happens when all dice
come up as failures. In case of a fum-
ble, the winner can ridicule the oppo-
nent while describing the outcome of
the test.
When Not to
Use the Dice
In Vampire City, all tests that are
not opposed automatically succeed.
In other words, characters can jump
from one roof to another, or out of
the third floor of a building and into
the street without having to roll. The
only condition is that they must have
the right kind of skill or Dark Gift to
be eligible for such an action. Though
other players can veto such actions if
they consider them unrealistic or in
violation of the setting (see Vetoes,
p.14).
Start playing first and de-
scribe your story to your fel-
low players. Be active and
react to what the others are
bringing to the game. Vampire
City is more geared towards
roleplaying than rolling dice.
Sure, you might run into situa-
tions where it seems more fit-
ting to leave the resolution to
chance, but if all of you agree
after or during a scene that it
just has to end a certain way,
skip the die rolls and finish the
scene together.
Using Dark Gifts
Dark Gifts are special abilities vam-
pires have. Often, these are simply
used in telling the story, enabling the
vampire to do or survive something
a normal mortal would be unable to.
A list of suggested Dark Gifts is in
the Mythology and Setting chap-
ter (see p.22), where the players
15
 decided together on which to use in
their Vampire City game. Descriptions
are included with those powers, espe-
cially those to be used in combat or in
conflicts.
Whenever a vampire needs to roll
something for use with their dark gift
they use the relevant Attribute and
their Profession Rank as the effective
skill. If a certain skill would be involved
in its use that won’t be covered by
their Profession normally, it could be
argued that such innate abilities would
still use their Profession Rank, or it can
just use the relevant Skill Rank if pos-
sessed. This can be bid upon at the ta-
ble if it becomes a point of contention.
Conflicts
Conflicts cover direct, involved con-
frontations, from physical combat of
all kinds to arguments, from sensitive
negotiations to psychic duels, from a
high stakes poker game to use of ma-
nipulative Dark Gifts or magic spells.
Conflicts (and all kinds of combat)
in Vampire City are divided into se-
quences. A sequence can take seconds,
minutes, or even days, depending on
what kind of situation the players
come up with.
At the beginning of each sequence,
all participants declare what they’re
tr ying to do, and then ever ybody
makes their skill tests at the same
time. The player with the best result
(i.e., the most successes) wins narra-
tion rights and initiative for this fight,
which means that his or her
character goes first. It’s
up to him to tell what
happens during this
sequence and which
16
direction the fight takes. In case of a
tie, the character with the higher Skill
Rank wins. If that’s another tie, repeat
the test between those characters.
Each success deals damage to an
opponent lowering their appropriate
Points (Body Points lowered in physi-
cal combat, Mind Points for psychic or
magical confrontations, Social Points
in negotiations and other social en-
counters). Successes may be distrib-
uted among several opponents, or
they may be used for blocking dam-
age. Note that everyone’s successes
(not just the winner’s) are used to deal
or prevent damage as that character
decides.
In melee combat, each character
may only be attacked by a maximum
of four opponents at the same time.
The conflict continues until one of the
opponents flees, surrenders, or goes
down with zero Body or Mind Points.
Some conflicts may involve multiple
types of confrontations, such as an
ongoing brawl that has a vampire try-
ing to control another opponent in a
psychic duel. Here each victory should
be dealt with individually, but during
the same sequences, with any confu-
sion resolved by a group consensus.
Arguments or discussions are han-
dled in this same manner, but with
Charisma or the Oration skill instead
of weapons skills. Players start by role-
playing the discussion between every-
one involved. Play those discussions
hard. Outtalk each other, and only then
roll the dice. When it feels like some
sort of decision is appropriate, resort
to a conflict. Unlike a physical fight,
however, the weaker party withdraws
from the scene as soon as it runs out
of arguments. This happens when their
Social Points are reduced to zero. Here
the loser doesn’t pass out or die, but
gives into the situation in some way.
Obviously an argument is also over
when it escalates into a fight, and
blows are exchanged instead of words.
Justin Cross has cornered a
scary little vampire girl in a cor-
ner of a room filled with pipe
works; there are no more exits
for her to escape. Matt (Justin’s
Player) declares that Justin,
armed with a flask of blessed
water, will splash it on the child.
John, who is playing the scary
little vampire girl, tries to bluff
the vampire hunter by acting ter-
rified and fearful of the big man.
They both roll dice, Justin has
a Body of 4 and Throwing skill
of 4: Matt rolls 5, 5, 6, 1… only 1
success. The scary little girl has a
Charisma of 5 and a Bluffing skill
of 4; John rolls 1, 2, 2, 5… 3 suc-
cesses. The scary little girl goes
first attempting her emotional
manipulation. Justin hesitates
taken in by the ruse and takes
2 points of damage to his Social
Points. Perhaps she isn’t the
monster he believed her to be?
Now they are ready to go for
another sequence of actions.
Death is not Welcome
A character only dies if that char-
acter’s player agrees. Only dramatic
reasons should tip the scales. A player
whose character has died may create
a new one on the spot with as many
Adventure Points as the previous char-
acter had. Newly created main charac-
ters, however, can only be introduced
in the next session.
As long as their player does not ex-
plicitly say otherwise, a vampire or
other character with zero or fewer
Body Points is simply unconscious or
in a state of dormancy. He or she is
severely injured and has to be taken to
someone for treatment and will heal
Body Points while not being involved
in a scene.
Mobs
A player may call up a mob to sup-
port them during a fight, provided
their presence is plausible. A mob is
made up of several people and may
come in many shapes, like a group of
thugs or officers of the City’s Police
Department. Some vampires might
be able to call up unusual mobs in the
form of a cloud of bats or a pack of
wolves depending on their specific
dark gifts.
Whoever frames a scene (see p.56)
may bring a mob of up to 10 people
into the scene for free. He may add
people to the mob at a cost of one
blood token per five individuals.
Mobs act without direction, and
therefore may go after main charac-
ters and extras alike in each scene.
Each member of a mob has one Point
of each type (Body, Mind, and Social)
and generates one automatic success
in a fight.
Since an attacker may split his suc-
cesses among several opponents
17
 in a fight, a character can take out as
many henchmen as they roll successes.
Other players active in a scene
can call a mob together by holding a
speech and spending one blood token.
The player must make an Oration Skill
Test (or use a similar ability); with the
number of successes representing the
number of people convinced (this is
the size of the mob).
The control over the Mob vanishes
at the end of the scene.
Inanimate Objects
There are times when the characters
may want to break an inanimate object
or barrier. Often this may just be an el-
ement of the story where the dice are
put to rest and the most dramatic ren-
dering is agreed upon and followed. In
cases where the timing or difficulty
seem to warrant a dice roll, the object
is given an effective number of Body
Points to represent how much physical
punishment it can take before yielding.
Anyone may propose how many each
object or barrier should have, subject
to others’ suggestions, agreements,
and resorting to an auction if need
be. Once established, the character
rolls a relevant Attribute or Skill Test
(Body, Melee, Shooting, etc.) with suc-
cesses causing damage and reducing
the object’s effective Body Points.
When these reach zero the object or
barrier is broken or ineffective, and
stops working or allows the character
to pass. Typical values for breaking a
residential door down might be 5, a
cement wall might be 12, while
a window could be 1 or 2.
For breaking small ob-
jects, it often makes
more sense for this
18
to be the amount of damage dealt in
a single blow, so tearing a gun in half
might take a 4, while smashing some
electronics could be a 1 or 2.
Monsters and Villains
The group may choose to come up
with stronger opponents and special
monsters, such as elder vampires,
werewolves, or other mythical beasts.
Monsters and villains can have more
Damage Points (as many as 20 in each
category) and more Ranks in their At-
tributes (multiple 5’s and more). They
often have a couple of Special Items as
well as a Hubris and a Crypt. Those that
are vampires or other mythological or
supernatural creatures will likely also
have one or more Dark Gifts.
They have a Profession (see p.42) at
Rank 5 and an additional...
´´ 5 skills at Rank 4,
´´ 4 skills at Rank 3 and
´´ 6 skills at Rank 2.
If you want to play a monster or vil-
lain in a scene, you must spend your
symbol on it during the Bidding for
Extras stage (see p.) or be called on
by the group to fill the role (and ac-
cept the call).
Watch it with those mon-
sters and villains. Play a cou-
ple of ordinary sessions first
or at least develop some sense
for the appropriate game bal-
ance. Overly powerful oppo-
nents can easily discourage
less experienced players.
Regaining Lost
Damage Points
All characters active in a scene re-
gain two points of all damage types
after it is finished. Absent characters
regain four points in each type for each
scene during which they are absent.
Their current Point totals can never
be higher than twice the relevant At-
tribute for main characters and equal
to that Attribute for extras. Special
monsters, villains, and those with ap-
propriate Dark Gifts may have more
Points than that.
Characters start each session with
their Body, Mind, and Social Points
fully replenished.
Patch it Up!
Once per fight, players may replen-
ish one Body Point by administering
first aid if they are mortals. This does
take a whole sequence (see Conflicts,
p.16).
A character with a suitable Profes-
sion may also try rolling for successes
with his Profession dice to heal Body
Points up to a maximum of half the
damage caused by hits during one se-
quence. The Medicine skill (p.11) may
also be used for this.
Regenerating
and Feeding
Vampires may throw a blood token
into the pool to immediately heal up
to 3 Body, Mind, or Social Points, and
this can be done during combat or at
any time. This cannot raise their
current total above their regular maxi-
mum (see p.42).
Once per opponent, a vampire may
also declare they are feeding for a se-
quence. This requires the use of their
normal melee skill and involves biting
or mauling their opponent (which will
certainly reveal their true nature). They
gain Body Points equal to the number
of points of damage they inflict, in ad-
dition to dealing damage. However,
they cannot use any of their successes
to prevent damage while feeding and
cannot split up their damage against
multiple opponents. Note depend-
ing on the mythology chosen for the
spread of vampirism, such careless
feeding may result in the target be-
ing turned into a vampire themselves!
Magic
The supernatural is a foundation
stone of Vampire City, but Magic
takes this one step beyond and may
detract from the darker or gothic hor-
ror elements of the game. Magic, if it is
used, should more often be subtle and
dark, rather than wiz bang and fireballs
(unless that is what everyone really
wants). That said, these magic rules are
strictly optional. Each group should
agree during the Mythology and Set-
ting stage on what is permissible in
Vampire City; whether or not magic
is part of that is up to you.
M agic c an signif ic antly
add to the setting, but it can
easily take center stage and
take focus away from the dark
gifts vampires have. Be care-
ful when you use it, and try to
19
 find a balance you feel com-
fortable with.
Using Magic
Magic effects are very loose and ge-
neric, so they require some amount of
additional description to make them
come alive. Using the same rules, a
spiritualist or a medium would bring
about effects by talking to spirits,
while a black magician is likely to sum-
mon demons or invoke curses.
Magic may be learned by any char-
acter in Vampire City. It should, how-
ever, add a special touch rather than
dominate the game. Magic is a skill
that falls under the Mind Attribute.
In order to work magic, players spend
a point of Body and a point of Mind and
describe a suitable ritual. The player
rolls the character’s Magic skill. Each
success gains them one point of mysti-
cal energy, called a Magic Point (MP),
which may be spent on the desired ef-
fect (see below).
Powerful magic calls for rituals in
which more than one person spends
his or her life force via Body points
(which may also be gained from blood
sacrifices). Each additional point of
Body spent gains another Magic Point.
The Magic Point total of a magician, ar-
tifact, or monster can never be raised
above ten times the initial value of
that person, thing, or being in this way.
Magic Effects
Magic users may choose between
the following kinds of effects:
T hey c ast a simple
spell and narrate what
it does. The spell’s
20
duration is one hour per magic point
spent on the effect, or if used indi-
rectly during a combat the duration is
one sequence per magic point spent.
The effects of such spells are simple
and generic, such as opening a locked
door, or staying warm and dry despite
the heavy rain.
They cast a spell to obtain informa-
tion. If cast upon an object or a specific
place the spell can reveal a number of
pieces of information about what the
object has been used for or what has
transpired in this place, according to
the number of successes rolled. Using
this on another person is a little harder,
each Magic Point is taken as damage
to the target’s Mind Points, when they
are reduced to ‘0’ the mage may ob-
tain the answer to one question per
remaining Magic Point. If these ques-
tions are not asked immediately they
are lost.
They cast a spell to directly damage
a target. The target loses one Body,
Mind, or Social Point per magic point
spent. When the target is down to
zero, it is knocked out, or otherwise
adversely affected.
They create or summon a creature to
fight for them. As long as the monster
doesn’t fight, it can exist for one Body
Point per day and may perform other
types of manual labor. As soon as it
starts fighting, however, it burns one
Body point per sequence in addition to
any damage it may take. A monster’s
Body points may also be replenished
through further rituals.
They create an inanimate object
for their or others’ use. Simple, non-
mechanical objects require 1 MP, a
gun might require 2 MP, while elec-
tronic devices need 3 MP or more.
Any artifacts granting bonuses like a
Special Item (see p.44) or having other
special properties cost an additional 2
MP to create. As long as these aren’t
used in combat, such items last for
1 day per 1 MP spent (in addition to
those for creating it). In combat, such
items last one round per MP spent on
duration. Further rituals may add to
the duration of its existence.
Summoned Creatures
A construct or monster acting inde-
pendently needs Attributes. It starts
with one free rank in Body, Mind, and
Charisma. Its creator determines how
many Body Points it has (by spending
1 MP for each Body Point), and also
improves its Attributes by spending
Magic Points. Each Rank has to be
bought separately. Mind and Social
Points are equal to the appropriate
Attribute Ranks.
Costs for raising an Attribute are as
follows:
´´ ...to Rank 2: 2 MP
´´ ...to Rank 3: 5 MP
´´ ...to Rank 4: 9 MP
´´ ...to Rank 5: 14 MP
21
 MYTHOLOGY
AND SETTING
Know your enemy or you’re going to be dead meat real fast.

Paul Juran, Vampire Hunter

This chapter details the first task in
the Vampire City game: setting the
stage. Taking the time to set the stage
like this means that Vampire City is
envisioned as being a place that play-
ers and their characters can return to
over several sessions of play. Each ses-
sion building upon the last, introduc-
ing more characters and locations and
more intricate and involved plotlines.
Setting up has two parts, defining
what a vampire is and then, when and
where the game will be set. Below
these steps are laid out in that order:
the nature of vampires first, and the
world they live in second. One rea-
son for this is that the very nature of
vampires may determine what settings
are appropriate… vampires created
by a bio-engineered disease imply a
modern or technologically advanced
timeframe. However, you may find it’s
easier to determine these at the same
time or reverse the order.
These steps are not exhaustive, if
you want an option that isn’t present-
ed then simply add it. An alter-
native method is to define
the world and vampires by
a pre-existing setting, such
as within the setting of a
particular book, film or TV
series.
This all has to be hashed
out between the players be-
fore the can make up charac-
ters. Use the normal bidding
process (see Auctions, p.13)
to establish the facts.
This chapter hosts a few sam-
ple vampire types and sample set-
tings. You may wish to select some
of these to start playing faster. In ad-
dition, there is also a checklist in the
Appendix (see p.65) for you to fill out
and keep on the table to help every-
one remember the choices made and
their impact on play. This sheet can be
especially helpful when returning to
a setting that the players made in a
prior session.
Three friends have gotten to-
gether to play Vampire City,
Paula, Matt, and John. Before
they begin they have each had
a chance to look through the
rulebook and give some consid-
eration to the kind of vampire

22
 game they want to try and cre-
ate. Before entering the creation
process Paula brings up the fact
that she would like to play in a
setting with ‘traditional’ vam-
pires, and the others agree to
the basic premise.
Interpreting
these Decisions
When questions or conflicts about
the nature of vampires or the setting
itself arise during a game of Vampire
City, a quick discussion and mutu-
ally agreeable verdict should occur.
Resort to Auctions (see p.13) if dis-
agreements persist. It can be helpful
to write down such in-play decisions
and possibly come back to reconsider
them at the end of the session or at
the beginning of the next. Remember
to be flexible and to keep things fun
even in such circumstances, as others
may not agree with what you see as
natural or logical consequences of
earlier decisions.
Step One:
What is a
Vampire?
The first task should be to make a
few decisions about what vampires
are in your Vampire City game and
how their limits are defined. There
are countless stories, myths, legends,
books, small screen TV dramas, and big
screen Hollywood blockbusters with
their own peculiar take on vampires
to serve as inspiration.
Traditional Vampires
While even the traditions regarding
vampires are quite varied, the western
world has a certain generic, core pic-
ture of vampires. One can choose such
a package as standard and address
other vampire and setting mytholo-
gies afterwards, or use this merely as
an aid to see what choices might be
available or need to be chosen depend-
ing on your preconceptions.
Such vampires must drink blood
(Feeding Habits: Blood Drinker) and
can’t go out during the day (Dark
Curse: Nocturnal ) as sunlight kills
them. A bite from these vampires can
turn that person into a vampire (Dark
Rebirth: Infection), granting a very long
life (Dark Gift: Immortality) bound to
the limitations of a vampire.
The Source
In most vampire stories the creature
was once a human being that has been
turned after being bitten, but this not
true of all such stories. Some are born
as vampires and never know life as a
human. The source of a vampire’s ori-
gin is important as it tells you a lot
about the kind of vampires that exist
in your Vampire City.
‰‰ Born: Vampires are a separate
species that exist alongside
mankind, they look like us, act
like us, but have a need to feed
on us. They are born as vampires
as infants and know no other life.
This may lead to weird hybrids
(half-vampires and daywalkers).
23
 ‰‰ Cursed: Vampires of this type are
usually created by a powerful curse
or blood magic. Those cast out
from their faith, excommunicated
for their sins, and cursed to an
eternal existence to contemplate
their crimes.
‰‰ Contagion: Vampires are the
product of some kind of disease,
bio-weapon, or other communi-
cable condition by blood. These
types of vampire are often part
of modern or apocalyptic set-
tings, but not always. It is pos-
sible to play a game of Vampire
City set in ancient Rome where a
plague is responsible for the rais-
ing of the dead.
‰‰ Parasite: Vampires are the
product of a parasitic infestation,
perhaps by some form of alien
using the human body as a host.
This could be almost any form of
physical infestation from an alien
parasite that controls the host by
attaching to the brain stem or a
symbiont that enhances the host’s
emotional states without taking
active control.
‰‰ Possession: Vampires are the
product of possession by a
demonic or malefic spirit. The
Vampire may be a fusion of the
human body and the possessing
entity, or one side or the other
may dominate it.
Paula suggests that a ‘Conta-
gion’ is the best way to describe
how vampires have come in to
existence, but Matt is already
di sagreeing and would
like his vampires to be
‘born’ as vampires.
After some dis-
cussion Paula and
24
Matt are ready to start throw-
ing in blood tokens, but John
suggests a compromise, that al-
lows vampires to either be born
or created through a contagion.
Suggesting that it might make
an interesting conflict for their
Vampire City to have those born
to the blood look down on the
more common infected. Both
Paula and Matt like this idea and
everyone agrees.
Physiology
Are vampires alive, dead, or some-
where between the two states? Where
the line is drawn will suggest some
possible limits for their dark gifts and
their cursed weaknesses.
‰‰ Alive: Vampires have a living
body and are subject to all the
normal things that living bodies
need to do.
‰‰ Altered: Vampires are essentially
alive, but their bodies are
fundamentally different to normal
living humans in some way. Perhaps
they may have massively elevated
levels of adrenaline in their bodies
leading to rapid respiration
and hotter body temperatures.
Whatever the difference, it will be
obvious to those who know what
to look for.
‰‰ Dead: Vampires do not breathe,
eat, drink, or suffer diseases that
affect humans (though they may
still carry them). Usually they are
cold to the touch and pale skinned,
often with a bluish pallor.
‰‰ Incorporeal: Vampires are hungry
ghosts; they have no real physical
body, but may manifest a physical/
 solid semblance. This is more com-
mon in Eastern vampire legends.
After a brief discussion Paula,
Matt, and John reach a consen-
sus that vampires in their Vam-
pire City game are ‘altered’
though they appear much like
traditional vampires with bluish
pallor and chilled to the touch
unless they have recently gorged
themselves on blood.
Feeding Habits
How do vampires feed and what do
they feed upon. Traditionally, vam-
pires drink blood, but there are other
options.
‰‰ Blood Drinker: Vampires are
blood drinkers, and must consume
blood on a regular basis in order
to exist. Some may be restricted in
the types of blood they can ingest,
human usually. Some may have
rare pallets and prefer the taste
of a specific blood type, or from a
specific ethnic group or selected
gender.
‰‰ Flesh Eater: The vampire must
consume its victim. It might
consume every scrap of flesh or
have a taste for specific organs,
usually the heart, liver, or kidneys.
‰‰ Life Drinker: The vampire must
feed on the life essence of its
victim. Perhaps this is the soul or
spirit that it feeds on directly. This
usually causes premature aging of
the victim as side effect.
‰‰ Psychic Vampire: The vampire
feeds on emotions, usually power-
ful negative emotions like hate or
fear. Others may be connoisseurs,
teasing various different flavors
from their victims, manipulating
them to feel first one powerful
emotion then another.
Paula and John agree that
‘blood drinker’ is the feeding
habit they want, but Matt again
disagrees wanting them to be
‘flesh eaters’ instead. Rather
than start bidding, the group
again comes to the compromise
that most vampires are blood
drinkers and a few are aberra-
tions that must also consume the
flesh of their victims.
The Dark Rebirth
Are vampires able to reproduce? Can
they turn other humans into vampires
or transfer their curse from one human
to the next?
‰‰ Blood Born: Vampires create
other vampires by sharing their
blood. This often requires a victim
be drained to the verge of death
before being given the vampire’s
own blood.
‰‰ Infection: Vampirism is a disease
that can be transferred by blood
(usually with a bite). Usually, the
victim must be close to death to be
susceptible but powerful vampires
may be so virulent that they must
kill their victims to prevent them
from turning.
‰‰ No Dark Rebirth: Vampires are
unable to turn humans into new
vampires. Perhaps vampires
can only be created through
other means; being cursed,
25
 infected with a parasite, human
reproduction, or mutated in a
lab. This may also be the case if
vampires are solely a separate
species.
‰‰ Ritual: A vampire is created
though specific blood rites and
occult knowledge. Participation in
this rite might be voluntary or it
might be forced.
‰‰ Spawning: The vampire injects an
embryo or egg into the victim that
takes over its host and changes
him into a new vampire over a
period of time.
Paula and John immediately
agree that they want their set-
ting to be ‘blood born’ allowing
vampires a great measure of con-
trol over who they give the gift
of dark rebirth too. Matt is not
convinced and pushes for ‘infec-
tion’, unable to persuade him;
Paula and John win the bidding
and impose their will on their
Vampire City. Matt collects his
blood tokens from the pot and
smiles knowing that he can force
through the next thing that he
wants.
The Dark Curse
All vampires have weaknesses;
some are more obvious than others.
When choosing vampires’ weaknesses
try to relate them back to some other
aspect of the vampires’ being.
26
‰‰ Alien: Vampires are alien crea-
tures not of this world, and as
such are vulnerable to many of the
things we might take for granted.
This type of vampire is vulnerable
to magnetic fields and radiation.
Often certain very high or low-
pitched acoustic sounds can be de-
bilitating for them (like the tolling
of a church bell).
‰‰ Corrupt: Vampires are impure
creations; they find it difficult
to tolerate the essences of cer-
tain curative herbs and shrubs.
Garlic and wolfsbane are the best
known of these. The smell alone
is said to keep such creatures at
bay, but the essence smeared or
sprayed onto the skin causes pain-
ful burns on contact.
‰‰ Demonic: Vampires are demonic
creatures and as such are
vulnerable to the power of faith.
This type of vampire may not set
foot upon consecrated ground
(graveyards and churches). They
fear the sign of a holy symbol
(usually a cross in Western
traditions, but this may be prayer
flags or sacred scrolls in an Eastern
setting for example) and may even
be hurt by touching one. Holy
water is like acid to them, and
anyone with true faith can hold
them at bay.
‰‰ Mystical: Vampires are creatures
of shadow and darkness. They do
not cast a shadow of their own,
nor a reflection in glass, mirrors,
or other means of technological
surveillance. Video cameras and
the like cannot record their voices
or images.
‰‰ Nocturnal: Vampires are nocturnal
and daylight is harmful to them.
Skin contact with direct sunlight is
painful, and will cause the vampire
to burst into flame if prolonged.
‰‰ Supernatural: Vampires are
supernatural creatures and are
harmed by the lunar metal (silver).
Bullets or weapons made of silver
cause wounds that can only be
healed very slowly. Running water
is often a troubling obstacle to
these creatures and immersion in
moving water can be extremely
harmful. Additionally, a vampire
may not enter a private dwelling
without an explicit invitation.
Everyone in the group agrees
that vampires should be ‘noc-
turnal’. Paula would also like to
have ‘supernatural’, while John
would prefer to add the ‘mysti-
cal’ dark curse. This time it is
Matt who is the voice of reason
stating that two dark curses is
fair, but three just feels like too
much. He suggests that ‘noctur-
nal’ be a mandatory dark curse
that all vampires receive but
that each must choose a second
dark curse from any of ‘unnatu-
ral’, ‘supernatural’, or ‘demonic’.
The others agree.
The Dark Gift
All vampires have special abilities
given to them. Here, the players chose
what abilities are universal to all vam-
pires, which abilities are available to
be learned by vampires, and which will
not be available at all in their world.
‰‰ Beast Call: The vampire can
summon creatures of the night
(usually bats), and direct them.
This may be used to summon mobs
of beasts in combat (see p.17
about Mobs).
‰‰ Blood Slave: The vampire is able
to use his blood to enslave mortals.
These blood slaves are able to use
a single Dark Gift (other than this
one) that their master possesses.
Each time a blood slave is made
the vampire’s player must throw
a blood point into the pool. Blood
Slaves are blessed with health
and long-life, provided they are
fed occasionally by a vampire,
otherwise they grow weak and die.
‰‰ Claws: The vampire is able to
turn his hands into claws at a
moment’s notice to enhance their
effectiveness in combat. The claws
grant an additional success in
combat to be used for damage and
not defense, but make holding
small objects more difficult.
‰‰ Day Walker: The vampire is able to
tolerate daylight, but cannot use
any of this other dark gifts while
the sun is up.
‰‰ Dread Form: The vampire is able
to assume terrible forms, usually
some type of half human, part
bat, or part wolf shape. This form
is powerful in combat but draws
a lot of attention. Most mortals
flee in terror. While in this form
add +2 dice to combat rolls, but -2
dice to any social rolls other than
intimidation.
27
 ‰‰ Earth Sleep: Nocturnal vampires
can sink into the Earth to rest
during the day and avoid the glare
of the sun. Alternatively, this gift
can be used to hide from others.
‰‰ Fly: The vampire is able to fly and
otherwise defy gravity, walking
upon walls or ceilings at will.
‰‰ Incorporeal: The vampire is
able to dissolve into a fog-like
insubstantial cloud and drift
slowly unaffected by wind or
other elements. This fog is often
used to pass obstacles that
otherwise would block their path.
In combat, it can be used to flee
and dodge physical attacks while
being unable to attack. In addition,
reforming leaves them open for
a sequence, unable to oppose
attack rolls.
‰‰ Immortality: The vampire is
immune to the effects of aging,
and will live forever unless actually
destroyed.
‰‰ Mesmerism: The vampire is able
to overcome the mortal mind by
making eye contact and giving a
command. This can be resolved as
a psychic attack, as appropriate.
‰‰ Shape Shifter: The vampire is able
to assume the form traditionally
associated with creatures of the
night: usually a wolf, a bat, or
other such creature.
‰‰ Shroud: The vampire may shroud
mortal minds and walk unseen
through public spaces. Conflicts to
find him can be made as opposed
mental rolls, if necessary.
28
‰‰ Supernatural Charm: The vampire
is possessed of a supernatural
charm and personal magnetism
that makes it easy to manipulate
others. His normal Charisma
Attribute may be raised higher
than the normal limit of 5.
Starting characters also begin
with +1 Charisma, and subtract 5
from advancement costs for this
Attribute.
‰‰ Supernatural Intellect: The
vampire is supernaturally clever,
and gifted with savant-level
mental abilities. His normal Mind
Attribute may be raised higher
than the normal limit of 5. Starting
characters also begin with +1 Mind,
and subtract 5 from advancement
costs for this Attribute.
‰‰ Supernatural Vigor: The vampire
is supernaturally strong and
enduring. His normal Body
Attribute may be raised higher
than the normal limit of 5. Starting
characters also begin with +1 Body,
and subtract 5 from advancement
costs for this Attribute.
‰‰ Preternatural Awareness: The
vampire has acute senses and
is able to perceive things that
humans do not.
‰‰ Resurrection: The vampire is
incredibly difficult to lay to final
rest. This ability returns the
vampire to life, allowing his body
to reform from burned ashes or
decapitated parts to regenerate or
reattach. This ability is a one shot,
once used it is lost, and must be
acquired again.
 Having looked through the
list of dark gifts, John proposes
that all vampires in their Vam-
pire City should receive the ‘im-
mortality’ gift for free. Paula
and John also agree that ‘day
walker’ should be excluded but
Matt has been saving his blood
tokens and easily wins the bid-
ding. Together they agree that
all the other dark gifts are ac-
ceptable but that ‘resurrection’
should only be available to vil-
lains and monsters.
Vampiric Death
It is very hard to permanently kill a
vampire, but there a few traditional
ways to do the deed. Careful consider-
ation should be given to their physiol-
ogy, though those with living bodies
are usually more easily dealt with than
those that are true walking dead.
‰‰ Decapitation: Usually the best
way to prevent a blood sucker
from getting back up again. This
method is often less effective
against supernatural vampires
who are capable of resurrecting
themselves (see above).
‰‰ Destruction: Completely
destroying the vampire’s body
by burning it, dissolving it in acid,
or kicking it into an intake of a
jet engine, is usually effective,
but those that are incorporeal or
capable of becoming so can often
avoid this fate.
‰‰ Last Rites: A vampire laid to rest
on consecrated ground by a priest
who performs the last rites has
little hope of rising again. Alien
vampires are often unaffected by
religious rites.
‰‰ Stake through the Heart:
Depending on the mythology a
stake through the heart might
kill a vampire or just incapacitate
him. Sometimes that stake must
pin the vampire to the earth in
order to be effective. With an alien
vampire this may kill the host but
leave the parasite within capable
of infecting others or transferring
to a new host.
‰‰ Sunlight: Nocturnal vampires will
burst into flames upon prolonged
exposure to sunlight, and this may
be even more rapid or occur with
artificial ultraviolet light as well.
Other types of vampires will be
unaffected.
Matt immediately states that
he thinks ‘decapitation’ and ‘de-
struction’ should be acceptable
ways to kill a vampire and that
‘last rites’ should do nothing
and a ‘stake through the heart’
should only incapacitate. John
agrees, but Paula is not so sure,
pointing out that their vam-
pires are altered humans, and
essentially alive so that a large
piece of wood through the chest
should be fatal. The others agree
with her logic.
29

Special Effects
Once a vampire has been put down
you need to know how they will go
out. Some simply dissolve into a pile of
goo. Others explode or implode, while
some burn to fine ash. A rare few just
look like a regular corpse. The means
of killing them should be wrapped up
in their natures and weaknesses, but
additional means may also be decided
on at this junction.
‰‰ Ash Burn: The vampire burns from
the inside out (usually starting at
the sight of the killing wound) and
dissolves into a fine ash.
‰‰ Claimed: The vampire’s body
is reclaimed by the abyss that
spawned it. The corpse might be
dragged away by dark shadow
tendrils, pulled down into the
ground.
‰‰ Dissolve: The vampire dissolves
into a pile of bloody goo as it dies.
‰‰ Explode/Implode: The vampire
explodes/implodes scattering
gobbets of flesh over a wide area.
‰‰ Regular Corpse: The vampire dies
leaving behind a normal looking
corpse, though sometimes these
age rapidly as their long years
catch up to them.
‰‰ Splitter: The vampire splits open
and releases a writhing mass of
insects, worms, maggots, etc.,
which wriggle away in all directions
leaving nothing behind.
Matt proposes that
vampires should ‘ash
burn’, Paula favors
a ‘regular corpse’,
30
while John suggests that each
vampire could have its own
way of going out. After some
consideration it comes down to
bidding. Paula knows that she
cannot win the bidding against
John and so throws her lot in
with Matt in return for a con-
cession. They strike a bargain;
born vampires ‘ash burn’ while
infected vampires simply become
‘regular corpses’ and win the bid-
ding easily.
Step Two:
The World of
Vampire City
As there is a huge variety in vam-
pirism so too are there many ways in
which vampires organize themselves
and their social standing. How do they
interact with mortal society and how
have they concealed their existence
from prying eyes?
The next task is to determine such
roles, as well as the era and place of
the story itself. This involves choos-
ing a time period, the extent of public
knowledge of vampires, the nature of
the vampiric community, and what are
some important places or locales in
the setting.
The Setting
What is Vampire City like this time?
In what time period is your game set?
For those groups who want to be really
adventurous, the setting might start
in ancient times with each session ad-
vancing the timeline through the ages
from historical to contemporary and
beyond.
‰‰ Contemporary: The city looks like
any major city, tall skyscrapers
of glass and steel, dilapidated
ghettos, abandoned warehouses,
trendy clubs, and casinos. There
are suburbs where people raise
families, uptown apartment
buildings, and downtown slums.
‰‰ Fantasy: The city might be a fan-
tastical place, low built wooden
housing within the encircling
protection of a city wall. Or the
domain of some great king with
erected fortifications, great tow-
ers, and places of magical power.
‰‰ Futuristic: The city could be under
a pressure dome on the bottom
of an ocean or on a distant moon.
It could just be an outpost or
atmosphere-processing colony,
with dwellings formed of low
squat buildings rimmed with pipe
works and crawlways. The extreme
conditions keep everyone inside.
‰‰ Historical: The city might be
modeled after some historical
era, perhaps ancient Rome with
its great coliseum, or even 1930s
Berlin with the majestic splendor
of the Brandenburg gate looming
over a rally of the evil National
Socialist Party.
‰‰ Post-Apocalyptic: The city is a
walled and defended city-state
in the midst of the wastelands. It
is built right on top of some valu-
able resource sustaining it. The
standard of living is low with most
people living in filth and squalor,
living in broken down squats or
the shantytown that has grown up
right outside the protective walls.
Paula and Matt are both keen
to play in the ‘contemporary’
era. John briefly suggests play-
ing during the dying days of the
Roman Empire, but decides not
to push it and goes with the
majority.
Social Standing
Are vampires known about in Vam-
pire City or do they hide? How do they
interact with mortal society?
‰‰ Citizens: Vampires exist and are
actually known to the general
population. They may be second-
class citizens, admired by a few,
but generally marginalized and
feared by most. In such settings,
humans often have little reason
to fear them for they are usually
able to consume synthetic blood
products (perhaps the reason
for their acceptance) or feed on
emotions.
‰‰ Hidden: Vampires exist in the
shadows, unknown and unseen by
humanity at large. This is mostly
a protective method, but it helps
when hunting prey that they don’t
know about you or how to protect
themselves from you. Some
shadowy government agencies
may be aware of them, either
hunting them for the public good
or using them for their own ends.
‰‰ Hunted: Vampires are known to
exist but they are openly hunted
by a fearful humanity. Their
continued existence depends on
their ability to blend in and go
unnoticed.
‰‰ Overlords: Vampires rule over
humanity. Everybody knows
31
 that the vampires are behind
everything. Humanity might be
permitted to live free, or they
may simply be farmed for the
convenience of their masters.
The group is again in disagree-
ment, with Paula wanting ‘citi-
zens’, John arguing for ‘hidden’,
and Matt suggesting ‘overlords’.
Having lost the last bidding chal-
lenge John is more than capable
of enforcing his will, Paula sees
the writing on the wall and lets
John and Matt wangle over it,
assured that John will win.
Vampire Society
How do vampires interact with each
other? Do they actually have a society
or a pecking order? Are they loners or
need the company and protection
of others? Are there strict codes of
conduct and etiquette that must be
observed?
‰‰ Blood Lines: Vampires are created
with a blood heritage that is passed
down through the generations.
A vampire answers only to those
above him in the bloodline.
‰ ‰ Blood Packs: Vampires are
not solitary; they operate in
gangs or packs. They may just
live together for protection,
or they may hunt together as a
pack to make it easier to catch
their prey. These packs often
fight amongst each other for
territory and hunting rights.
32
‰‰ Immortal Society: Vampires are
forced to respect those who hold
positions of power. Usually this is
centered upon a leader or author-
ity figure, who extends his power
through his henchmen holding po-
sitions of power in mortal society.
All vampires bow before him, but
plot and scheme behind his back.
‰‰ No Society: Vampires are loners
that don’t work together and
don’t like each other much. They
are usually territorial, claiming an
area of the city and defending it
against rivals.
John proposes ‘immortal so-
ciety’ though the others imme-
diately agree there is further
discussion about the actual
form of this society. John wants
to see a hierarchy based around
‘royal’ blood descended from
certain vampires of legend like
Dracula. Matt prefers something
more a kin to a corporate board
and Paula prefers a council of el-
ders. Matt and Paula realize that
their ideas are very similar and
use this to force John to agree,
he assents without need to go
to biding.
Places of Importance
The last step in establishing the set-
ting is optional, but can help everyone
feel more invested in the locale. Each
player should come up with one place
of importance in the setting, and usu-
ally a place with significance, or distinc-
tive or unusual features. These should
be noted on the checklist (see p.65)
after they are agreed upon, with any
similar places or disagreements going
to an auction, with the loser creating
another place, if necessary.
 These locations are by no means
the only places scenes can be held
later, but serve as anchors in the set-
ting and provide hooks for further
development. In addition, these do
not need to be related to the player
or his intended character in any way;
even if the character wants a hangout
or home, there is another means to in-
troduce that during character creation
(in the next chapter).
Setting scenes in a variety of loca-
tions really helps keep things feeling
different and progressive. For such
places, you can also find Location
Sheets (see p.72) to help keep track
of such places for future meetings in
different adventures.
Some Examples:
‰‰ Ancient Library: A forgotten
section of the public library, the
restricted collection. It is a great
store of knowledge for those who
have access.
‰‰ Desecrated Church: An aban-
doned cathedral with a tall bell
tower standing high over the rain-
washed city streets.
‰‰ En-Vogue Club: The place to be
seen, whether predator or prey,
with pounding music, dry ice
smoke and many easy victims for
the taking.
‰‰ Family Mansion: An ancient
mansion that has been in the
family of some mortal pawn for
generations.
‰‰ Gothic Cemetery: An ancient
necropolis with rows of grave
stones, and many tombs.
‰‰ Secluded Park: An oasis of nature
in the midst of the city. Used
during the day by mortals as they
jog along the woodland paths. At
night they are a hunting ground to
trap the unwary.
Paula proposes an ancient and
crumbling family manor, which
was once the home of a blood-
line of born vampires. Hidden
beneath its decaying walls and
bucking roof is an old wine cel-
lar with a secret access to the
sewer network. The dilapidated
house is a secluded place, as it
is in large garden that has been
allowed to grow wild.
John creates an art gallery,
which while open to the public
during the day, becomes the
exclusive domain of the undead
by night. It is here that the great
and the powerful can meet on
neutral ground, to advance their
political games and manipulate
their lesser pawns.
Matt envisions a cold storage
lockup hung with the bodies of
hundreds of victims, this is the
domain of a particularly vile
vampire blood pack.
Presence of Magic
Optionally, the players may decide
(by agreement or resorting to auction)
that magic is a part of their world. Op-
tional rules for this are included at the
end of the Game Mechanics chapter
(p.19). If used, the place of magic in
the world and any limitations on its
use, intrinsic or otherwise, should be
discussed and agreed upon.
33
 PROTOCOL 51
In 1947 something crashed near Ro-
swell, New Mexico. The commander
of the local airbase issued a press
release that an alien craft had been
recovered, but then quickly retracted
the statement indicated that instead
it had been a weather balloon. In truth,
the Air Force only recovered part of
the craft which broke apart coming
through the atmosphere scattering
debris over a wide area and resulting
in several impact sites.
There were survivors of the crash.
Although the humanoid crew quickly
expired they were merely hosts for
the parasitic intelligences that lived
within them. The first took posses-
sion of a farmhand who discovered
one of the crash sites, while a second
possessed an Air Force Intelligence
Officer assigned to document the
wreckage and examine the biologi-
cal remains of the crew.
These first two have become the
progenitors of a new line of alien par-
asites that possess human hosts and
force them to do their bidding. These
alien p-arasites slowly alter their host
to better suit their own needs over
time. They feed by drinking in raw hu-
man emotions, the more powerful the
emotion the better it is.
The parasites usually enter the
body through the mouth and lodge
in the chest cavity sometimes caus-
ing displacement of other organs as
they grow in size and mature. These
squid-like creatures extend their ten-
tacles throughout the body over time
tapping directly in to the nerve clus-
ters of the victim and learn-
ing how to exert ever
greater levels of con-
trol over their host.
34
The parasites reproduce by implant-
ing embr yos deep inside a human
host. Usually this is done during direct
mouth to mouth contact that allows
the parasite to use its implantation
tendril to reach into the victim’s throat
and implant the spore. The process is
painful for the victim and not easily
disguised as a kiss. In extreme cases a
parasite can leave a dying host and en-
ter a new host through this “dark kiss”.
Since their arrival the parasites have
been fruitful and multiplied, initially
both established their own colonies
in secret. But in time each has become
aware of its rival and has directed their
resources to eliminating a threat to
their nests’ dominance. Recently the
secrecy of both nests has been com-
promised as their covert war led to
their discovery by a federal agent.
There is now an element within the
government that seeks to track and
exterminate the threat these crea-
tures represent to national security
and freewill.
The parasites have spread far and
wide; some have broken away from
their progenitor nests and founded
new hives. Each hive is fiercely inde-
pendent and seeks to establish their
own hunting grounds and secure
access to the resources they need
(people). The city is currently home
to three different and conflicting
nests each with some level of con-
trol in city politics, policing, and the
criminal underworld.
Secrecy is of paramount importance
to the hives and to the federal agents,
if the population at large were to dis-
cover the truth there would be mass
panic. Those who discover the truth
are often recruited or silenced.
Mythology
Information
‰‰ The Source: Parasite
‰‰ Physiology: Altered
‰‰ Feeding Habits: Life Drinker,
Psychic Vampire
‰‰ The Dark Rebirth: Spawning (or
Possession if able to take a new
host)
‰‰ The Dark Curse: Alien, Nocturnal
‰‰ The Dark Gift: Day Walker
(but cannot use other abilities
in daylight), Mesmerism,
Preternatural Awareness,
Resurrection (by parasite taking
a new host), Supernatural Charm,
Supernatural Vigor, Supernatural
Intellect
‰‰ Vampiric Death: Destruction
or killing of the Parasite within
(a stake through the heart can
achieve this result)
‰‰ Special Effects: Regular Corpse
Setting
Information
‰‰ The Setting: Historical (early
1950s America)
‰‰ Social Standing: Hidden (hunted
by covert government agents or
by those who know the truth)
‰‰ Vampire Society: Blood Packs
(organized in to nests or hives
which support each other, but in
conflict with rival nests)
‰‰ Places of Importance: UFO
crash site in the desert. Secret
underground bunker linked
to the city sewers. A Dockside
warehouse where the military
have storied pieces of the crashed
ship under armed guard.
35
 Demon Seed
There are things outside of our ken Over long centuries of neglect, hu-
and beyond our reality that seek entry. manity has lost its way. Forgotten are
They seek to experience existence, to the lessons learned during the Middle
revel in all its experiences and feed Ages when demons were plentiful and
their dark desires and sate their eons plagued the living with calamity and
old hunger. There are few places in the despair. The church and the power
world where demons can breach the of faith were instrumental in turning
defenses long erected to protect real- the tide back then, but man has turned
ity, but there are places where those from pious ways to indulge in hedo-
walls are paper thin and it is in these nism, materialism, and fornication. In
places that a demon can project itself many ways man has started to emu-
across the divide and enter the body late the demons and so allowed the
of a mortal. When they do, there are defenses between worlds to weaken.
consequences.
There is a reckoning coming. There
The city looks like ours, but out there are secret societies that still remem-
the demons play with their meat pup- ber the old lessons, just as there are
pets, hunting human flesh and gorging those who seek to profit from demonic
themselves in the limited time they investments. There are those on both
have before they are sent screaming sides who seek a balance, but the con-
back to their hell. Nobody wants them cept of restraint is not one that sits
within our reality, not us humans, not well with the demons, they serve only
the powers of light, and not even other their own agendas and appetites.
demons.
The good news is that a demon can-
not enter a host that does not willingly
accept it or has not made a pact that
allows the demon to demand posses-
sion as payment. The bad news is that
most acts of possession happen will-
ingly. The dark side of humanity chokes
the city streets with filth. Most street
scum are regular humans, but the se-
rial killers, rapists, and pedophiles are
usually darker beings only clothed in
the flesh of man.

36
Mythology Setting
Information Information
‰‰ The Source: Possession (only ‰‰ The Setting: Contemporary
possible in places where demons
‰‰ Social Standing: Hidden
can enter reality)
‰‰ Vampire Society: No Society
‰‰ Physiology: Alive
‰‰ Places of Importance: The tallest
‰‰ Feeding Habits: Flesh Eater and
skyscraper in the city, designed
Blood Drinker
and built by a tycoon who served
‰‰ The Dark Rebirth: No Dark the dark powers, now is a conduit
Rebirth to the other side. Sanctuary
Chapel, one of the few truly
‰‰ The Dark Curse: Demonic
sacred places left in the city. An
‰‰ The Dark Gift: Blood Slave, asylum of the criminally insane
Mesmerism, Shroud, Preternatural where demons trapped in mortal
Awareness, Incorporeal, Dread flesh are held captive.
Form (their true demonic shape,
all vampire in this setting receive
this gift for free), Immortality,
Supernatural Charm, Supernatural
Vigor, Supernatural Intellect
‰‰ Vampiric Death: Last Rites only
‰‰ Special Effects: Claimed

37
 IMMORTAL
OVERLORDS
The Biblical End Times must be upon
When night comes we need to fear
us for the dead have risen, but a final
an even greater enemy, the undead
judgment has yet to be handed down.
rise from the crypts of their great
In those first days when they revealed
necropolis and hunt through our
themselves a hushed silence settled
streets, they enter our homes and feed
over the city, the quiet before the
indiscriminately.
storm, the calm before the panic set
in. Some people chose willingly to join The Immortal Overlords for all their
the ranks of the undead, while others personal and supernatural power are
sought to protect themselves. Law and not united, they fight amongst them-
order had broken down completely selves, they wrestle for control of
by the end of that first week and they precious resources, access to blood,
with their ever increasing numbers es- feeding grounds, and ownership of the
tablished control, establishing their best pawns.
own order and their own laws.
Beyond the city little survives… the
With the exception of a favored few, End Times saw to that. Rogue vam-
we have become nothing more than a pires prey on anything they can find
source of food. Property to be owned, and there is little to survive upon. It is
branded and marked like cattle, many better for us to remain in the city and
of us were herded into detention fight to take back what is ours.
camps to prevent a mass exodus from
There is a resistance and we are
the city. But where would we have fled
growing, only through secrecy do we
to? This was a crisis on a global scale,
survive, only through unity can we
they were everywhere.
prevail. We can win this but they have
The only respite we have are the all the advantages, we must keep the
few scant hours of daylight, they faith and turn the tide of darkness.
don’t come out in the day and we are
free of them during this time but not
free from their blood slaves that have
sold their humanity for their favored,
protected status. It is they who police
our streets and come for those they
deem to be troublemakers; they drag
us away to the camps or worse.

38
Mythology
Information
‰‰ The Source: Contagion
‰‰ Physiology: Dead
‰‰ Feeding Habits: Blood Drinker
(some degenerates are also Flesh
Eaters)
‰‰ The Dark Rebirth: Blood Born
‰‰ The Dark Curse: Nocturnal;
may also take an extra Dark
Curse (Corrupt, Supernatural,
or Unnatural) to gain an extra
starting Dark Gift
‰‰ The Dark Gift: All Vampires are
Immortal. They have access to
all other Dark Gifts, except Day
Walker.
‰‰ Vampiric Death: Decapitation,
Stake through the Heart,
Destruction, or Last Rites
‰‰ Special Effects: Dissolve
Setting
Information
‰‰ The Setting: Post Apocalyptic
‰‰ Social Standing: Overlords
‰‰ Vampire Society: Blood Lines
‰‰ Places of Importance: The
Necropolis is a huge Vampire
nest at the heart of the city, well
defended day and night. The
Wastes are the dead and dry
wilderness areas surrounding
occupied cities, home to a scant
few hermits. The Sewers form a
network of tunnels that provide
the vampires with a means to
travel during daylight and they
are a boil with the most obvious
warfare between hunting
vampires and human resistance
members, leaving bodies
strewn about their maze-like
passageways.
39
 PURE BLOOD
Vampires are just another ethnic mi- Most Vampires have chosen to keep
nority; the recent development of syn- their identities secret, while those who
thetic blood products has eliminated have come out risk discrimination, vi-
the need, but not the desire, to feed olence, and even final death. But as
on humans. When they announced more information enters the public
their existence at a press conference domain it becomes easier to recognize
the world thought it was a hoax, but one of the walking dead. Many people
a press tour and appearances on late are curious about them, others fearful
night talk shows quickly raised their of them, and some are drawn to them
profile. The media storm ignited de- as moths to the flame.
bate about the status of Vampires as
If there is a murder on the street,
dead people; dead people are unable
Vampires are the default suspects. On
to own property and are not recog-
both sides there is suspicion. If there is
nized by the tax system.
a missing person’s case the police im-
Religious feeling stirred swiftly as mediately visit known Vampire crypts.
lobbying groups’ exerted pressure to The vampire community tries to police
recognize the Vampire as a legal entity itself, informally appointing its own
and to demand rights commensurate sheriffs to keep wayward and undesir-
with the rights of a living, breathing able vampiric elements away from the
human being. With these civil rights media spotlight.
issues now bogged down in judicial
wrangling, Vampires have no legal sta-
tus as yet, therefore killing a Vampire
is not murder and a killer cannot be
tried for murder (though desecration
is possible).
This is a time of great change. Many
people have been attracted to Vam-
pires for their mystery, their power,
and not least their immortality. The
rights movement is opposed by the
religious majority who believe that
Vampires are spawned by the devil
and are a physical manifestation of
evil on Earth.

40
Mythology
Information
‰‰ The Source: Born
‰‰ Physiology: Dead
‰‰ Feeding Habits: Blood Drinker
‰‰ The Dark Rebirth: Blood Born
‰‰ The Dark Curse: Nocturnal;
may also take an extra Dark
Curse (Corrupt, Supernatural
or Unnatural) to gain an extra
starting Dark Gift
‰‰ The Dark Gift: All vampires are
Immortal. They have access to
all other Dark Gifts, except Day
Walker.
‰‰ Vampiric Death: Decapitation,
Stake through the Heart, or
Destruction
‰‰ Special Effects: Regular Corpse
Setting
Information
‰‰ The Setting: Contemporary
‰‰ Social Standing: Citizens (second
class)
‰‰ Vampire Society: Immortal
Society
‰‰ Places of Importance: TV Studio
complex where stories still
break on vampires. A cathedral,
where the core of a particularly
zealous anti-Vampire society
meets and plans its next moves.
A known vampiric crypt inside a
major nightclub. A hot spot of
attraction and suspicion from the
mortal world.
41
 PREDATORS AND PREY
There are two kinds of people in this world, the predator and the prey. You
may think that you are one or the other, but the truth is, it’s all a matter of
perspective. From where I’m sitting you look like prey.
Damien Coltrane, City Elder

Each player in Vampire City con- City they are ready to

trols one vampire (or mortal if you
dare) as their primary character and
one or more extras during the game.
All characters are created using the
steps below.
Characters in Vampire City are cre-
ated first as mortals, and then the
effects of vampirism’s dark rebirth
are added to the mortal shell. Steps
1 through 5 details the mortal stage
of character generation, and Steps 6
through 7 add the vampire’s supernat-
ural edge. Lastly, Steps 8 and 9 touch
on your character’s background and
related extras.
As you create your character,
record the details on a blank
sheet of paper or use a copy of
the Character Sheet from the
Appendix. You can also down-
load it from pro - indie.com,
along with other free material
for Vampire City.
Now that Paula, John, and
Matt have created their
sett ing for Va m p i re
begin creating their pri-
mary characters. We will
follow Paula through the
process as she creates her
main character.
Playing
Mortals
A player may choose to in-
stead play a strictly mortal character.
To do so, he simply follows the steps
outlined in this chapter skipping Step
6, as well as any other references to
Dark Gifts. If desired, and only if the
other players approve, mortal char-
acters may be awarded a number of
additional Adventure Points (say 5–20
AP, see p.62) to help level the playing
field if they have habitually confronted
vampires in the past.
Step One:
Profession
In this first step, the players decide
what kind of characters they’d like

42
to portray. They come up with abilities
and traits and find a suitable Profes-
sion for their characters.
Every mortal in Vampire City makes
a living, or is at least trying to, and all
vampires were mortals once upon a
time. The way a character does this is
called his Profession, and all the tasks
a character needs to perform to make
a living are handled by the Profession
entry. Some vampires may have been
in that condition for so long that their
lifestyle as a vampire best describes
their Profession, be it Hunter, Seducer,
Aristocrat, and so on.
Profession covers all skills and ar-
eas of expertise a player can reason-
ably expect from someone working
in that profession. A detective, for in-
stance, knows how to investigate crime
scenes, interview witnesses, piece to-
gether clues, drive a car, and shoot a
gun. A doctor, on the other hand, can
diagnose illnesses, set broken bones,
dispense medication, determine time
of death for a corpse, have a good bed-
side manner to put people at ease, and
so on.
The Profession is used like a collec-
tion of skills and replaces them. For
example, a Doctor does not need to
have the Medicine skill, he uses his
Profession dice instead.
Vampire City does not feature a
predefined list of Professions, as it’s
easy enough to come up with suit-
able ideas.
Main characters and extras both
have their Profession at Rank 4.
Paula wants to play a charac-
ter that has been a vampire for
some time. She decides that her
vampire will be Louise Nevers,
a woman who lived during the
time of the American Civil War
and has survived the cut and
thrust of vampire politics ever
since. She chooses as her Profes-
sion ‘frontiers woman’ reflecting
her mortal life as a small holder
on the wild frontier.
Step Two:
Attributes
There are two ways of distributing
ranks among your Attributes:
´´ One Attribute at three and two at
four (3/4/4)
´´ One Attribute at two, one at
three, and one at five (2/3/5)
Even though that makes ten
points in one case and eleven
in another, it’s not unfair. It’s
just a little more costly to
take an Attribute at five.
Keep in mind any boosts from the
universal Dark Gifts chosen during
the Mythology and Setting stage
(see p.22).
Main characters start with twice
their Attribute Rank in each type of
damage points (see p.8), but extras
only have damage points equal to their
respective Attribute Ranks.
Paul thinks carefully about
her characters Attributes be-
fore taking the second option
(2/3/5). She decides that Lou-
ise has needed to depend upon
43
 her charisma for her living and
places 5 into that Attribute.
It’s a tough choice but she then
places 2 in Body and 3 in Mind.
This gives Louise: 4 Body Points,
6 Mind Points and 10 Social
Points, making her physically
weak but very powerful in so-
cial situations.
Step Three:
Skills
The next step details a character’s
skills. Characters also know how to
do things that are not related to their
Profession. Everyone has hobbies
and other activities they are pursu-
ing, some more arduously, others
less so. These add more depth and
personality to your character. Each
character should pick up to five addi-
tional skills to round out their abilities
(see p.9 for the list of skills and their
descriptions).
Paula thinks for awhile about
what skills are already covered
by her character’s Profession and
tries to pick five other skills that
reasonably represent her other
experiences. She chooses ‘His-
tory’ to represent Louise’s long
life, ‘Bluff’ and ‘Seduce’ from her
experiences during the civil war
and since, and ‘Observation’ and
‘Politics’ to reflect on her ability
to survive the cut and thrust of
vampire intrigues.
44
Next, assign ranks to the character’s
skills to represent their capabilities in
each of them.
Main characters always have four
skill ranks in their Profession. Out of
five other skills they have two are rank
3 and three at rank 2 (3/3/2/2/2).
Paula assigns the following
ranks to her character’s skills:
History 3, Politics 3, Observation
2, Bluff 2, and Seduce 2.
Step Four:
A Special Item
Each main character owns a unique
Special Item. Whether it’s a blessed
water pistol or a skeleton key that
will open any lock—this Special Item
is of supreme quality (or just plain spe-
cial), so that heroes may deduct one
point from the result of a single die
after they’ve made a Skill Test using
the item. For example, using the item
allows them to turn a 5 into a 4. The
Special Item only works on a single,
specific skill.
Maybe you want to have a cellar bar,
an old mansion house, or a private
booth at the opera. Use your imagi-
nation and don’t just go for the advan-
tage a Special Item might give you in
terms of mechanics.
Vampires have an extra option here.
Instead of taking a Special Item, they
can choose an extra dark gift (See Step
7: The Dark Gift, below).
Paula is tempted to take an
extra dark gift rather than take
a Special Item, but then thinks
that Louise would be better
served with a silver hairbrush
 that she can use to augment
her Seduce skill. She writes it in
is one of her few remaining mor-
tal possessions and a link to her
mortal past.
Equipment
Tracking every little piece of equip-
ment is too much hassle for a game of
Vampire City, since it keeps you from
playing. This is why there are no prices
or shopping lists. As a rule, characters
in Vampire City have everything they
need on them or can obtain it without
difficulty (unless it is unreasonable,
or obtaining the item is the focus of a
scene or conflict).
In some cases, it’s more dra-
matic if you can’t get the item
you need right away or if it’s
more difficult to get it. Such
cases should be treated through
narrative and become part of the
story you’re developing.
Step Five:
Hubris
“Hubris” means overconfident pride
and arrogance, a lack of knowledge,
interest in, and exploration of history,
combined with a lack of humility. If
somebody is accused of hubris, it is im-
plied that suffering or punishment will
follow from this behavior. Greek trag-
edy often paired hubris and Nemesis,
the Goddess of Vengeance and Punish-
ment. In the typical Greek tragedy, hu-
bris is the cause of the hero’s downfall,
brought about by his own fatal charac-
ter flaw.”
–Encyclopedia Britannica
There’s no need to turn your game
of Vampire City into a Greek tragedy.
Hubris should make the characters a
little more vulnerable, however. In this
step, players add more personality to
their character by choosing a Hubris.
In Vampire City, Hubris is a negative
character trait or flaw that might work
against a hero during the game.
Here are some examples: Ambi-
tious, Bullheaded, Careless, Calcu-
lating, Cocky, Compliant, Cowardly,
Credulous, Destructive, Distrustful,
Envious, Gullible, Greedy, Hedonist,
Hot-headed, Hyperactive, Inconsider-
ate, Lazy, Listless, Petty, Obsessed,
Over-eager, Proud, Quick to fall in love,
Racist, Self-righteous
If you don’t like any of these
examples, don’t hesitate to
come up with your own. This
game thrives on creativity
and you shouldn’t limit your
imagination!
Paula has no problem seeing
her character as a hedonist or
even compliant. In the end she
chooses to emphasize Louise’s
status as a manipulator of vam-
pire society by making her ‘com-
pliant’, choosing to pull strings
behind the scenes to make things
happen rather than face confron-
tation head on.
Activating Hubris
During the Game
Once per session, a player may ac-
tivate a character’s Hubris by spend-
ing a blood token. The affected
45
 character must then act upon his or
her Hubris, including deeds he or she
would normally avoid. If another player
objects to the activation of the charac-
ter’s Hubris, an auction is held.
Having your Hubris activated by an-
other player is worth an Adventure
Point (see p.62). Players are free to ac-
tivate their Hubris on their own at any
time for dramatic reasons, of course.
Activating your own Hubris
should be worth an Adven-
ture Point. If a player is giv-
ing themselves a hard time to
make the game more interest-
ing for everybody, then that
should earn them a reward.
During a scene, Louise Nev-
ers and Argus Crane clash over
their hunting rights. Louise ar-
gues that the park has ever been
her hunting ground, while Argus
claims it was awarded to him by
one of the elders. Paula takes
the opportunity to activate Ar-
gus’ hubris ‘hot-headed’.
John plays up Argus’ passions
and his obvious anger over what
he sees as elders neglecting their
word. The outburst only seems to
damage Argus’ claims in the eyes
of the council, but he does earn
an Adventure Point.
46
Step Six:
The Dark Gift
If the character is a vampire, he
gains a Dark Gift. The effects of dark
gifts that can be used in combat are
described under the relevant entry in
the Mythology and Setting chapter.
Paula makes a note that Lou-
ise already has the ‘immortal-
ity’ dark gift as result of the
established mythology. Now
she looks through the list for a
gift that would suit Louise’s con-
cept. She decides that Louise is a
shape shifter capable of taking
the form of wolf, an animal that
she had an affinity for during her
mortal days.
Step Seven:
Crypt
This step deals with the chosen resi-
dence of a main character. The Crypt
is where a character feels at ease, a
special place where he spends much of
his time. This might be an abandoned
house, an apartment, or an actual crypt
in a cemetery where the sun cannot
find him. Perhaps it is an area of a park
where the vampire sleeps in the earth
during the day, a bar or club where the
character can usually be found or an
underground tube station where the
character hunts.
Paula decides that Louise has
remained on the land that was
once her smallholding when she
was a mortal. Though the fron-
tier cabin is long gone, and has
 been replaced by a house that
would have been considered
grand a century ago. The city has
encroached over the centuries,
so that her crypt is now in one
of the leafy suburbs.
Step Eight:
Background
Now, the players determine their
character’s backgrounds. How did they
become vampires (or how did they find
out about them if mortal)? How do
they hunt? Where do they come from?
What drives them? What do they long
for? What’s their stance towards other
immortals? Are they religious? Once a
player has a mental image, he should
write down a paragraph or two about
his character’s background.
For some players it’s easier
to play a character after hav-
ing put some thought into
what he or she is like before-
hand. Others, however, would
rather develop their charac-
ter and his or her personality
during actual play. If it doesn’t
feel right, don’t pressure your-
self into writing an extensive
background story. Its fine to
start with a rough sketch and
fill in the details as the hero
develops during the game.
Paula has already begun to
tell her character’s story with
the choices that she has made
so far. Louise Nevers lived dur-
ing the American Civil War, she
was a smallholder and frontiers
woman who had to become self
sufficient when her husband was
called up to fight and never came
home.
Her Dark Rebirth came during
one of the lean winter months
when she offered charity and
shelter to a runaway soldier.
Little did she suspect his true
nature until a hunting party
tracked him down and revealed
him as the beast he was. He
killed the posse sent to recover
him, then offered her freedom
from the privation of mortal
flesh in payment for her charity
towards him.
When she awoke her unlife
had begun and the one who had
made her was long gone. Oth-
ers came seeking the murdered
posse and the runaway, and she
feed upon them. Through the
ages she has adopted the form
of a great silver grey wolf and
prefers to hunt while wearing
that shape.
Though she has ventured away
from her smallholding, she has
always returned. Sometimes
after twenty years other times
after fifty. The city has grown
and swallowed what were once
her lands. Now she walks the city
streets where prey is plentiful,
sometimes in her own shape,
sometimes in that of the great
silver grey wolf. She is recognized
amongst the vampires of the city
as one of the oldest amongst
them and this alone has made
her a force in their politics.
47
 Step Nine:
Extras
After creating their main characters,
players create friends and foes to spice
up the game with personal relation-
ships and a greater variety of charac-
ters in Vampire City. Those additional
characters rarely get the spotlight and
are therefore simply called “extras” or
sometimes “prey”. Every player creates
a friend and a foe of his character.
Extras are created the same way as
main characters, with the following
differences:
´´ Extras are a major factor in
making this game fun. Come up
with only rough sketches at first
and leave some room for players
to develop them as full-fledged
personalities later, when they use
them in the game.
´´ Extras have one of the following
combinations of Attribute Ranks:
´´ T
hree Attributes at Rank 3 (3/3/3),
or…
 …one Attribute at Rank 4, one
at rank 3 and one at rank 1
(1/3/4), or…
 …one Attribute at Rank 4
and two Attributes at rank 2
(2/2/4).
´´ Each extra also has...
 ...a Profession at Rank 4.
 ...one skill at Rank 3.
 ...one skill at Rank 2.
 ...damage points
equal to each
Attribute Rank.
48
An extra may or may not be a vam-
pire; it is up to the player whether or
not the character has received the
Dark Rebirth. If the extra is not a vam-
pire, he skips Steps 6 and 7.
Each extra should be written down
with his or her name and statistics
on an index card or one of the extra
sheets found on p.71 in the Appen-
dix so that it’s easier for everyone to
handle them later on.
Be creative and throw in the
occasional odd thing, like a
telepathic dog or the ghost of
a previous victim now haunting
his main character. Any non-hu-
man or supernatural being that
is able to communicate with
humans has the Magic skill at
rank 2 (for more information
on Magic see p.19).
Paula must now create two
extras, one as a friend and one
as an enemy. These will go into
the collection of extras produced
by the other players and so must
be general enough that they can
be an acquaintance of any of the
other player’s characters.
Paula first creates the char-
acter of Obadiah MacNamara,
a vampire who is about the same
age as Louise Nevers, and who
might have been the one who
gave her the dark rebirth. Oba-
diah was a Union soldier during
his life and met his fate on the
battlefield.
Paula’s next extra is Lillian
Bell a mortal who works as an
auditor in a bank. She has been
investigating financial irregulari-
ties that have led her to uncover
the world of vampires. She is
 both intrigued and repulsed by
her discovery and might use her
knowledge as leverage against
the vampire community.
Paula has created her fron-
tiers woman turned political
vampire manipulator, Louise
Nevers, along with two extras,
Obadiah MacNamara and Lillian
Bell. John and Matt have been
busy creating their own charac-
ters. John has created vampire
agitator Argus Crane, an enemy,
Detective Ben Savage, and a
friend, the immigrant bouncer
Iver Gregor. Matt has chosen to
create a mortal vampire hunter,
Justin Cross as his main char-
acter and his two extras are an
enemy, Chris Becket (a vampire
wannabe) and a friend Angellica
Vale (a spiritualist and mystic).
Extras During
the Game
Sometimes you’re wondering as
a player, “Why don’t we have a guy
around who happens to…”
The kind of thinking and the creativ-
ity behind it gets free rein in Vampire
City when players populate the set-
ting with exciting extras. Players can
come up with characters at any time
during play. If the other players agree,
the new character can also have some
sort of relationship with already estab-
lished characters.
Whoever had the idea for the new
character throws a blood token into
the pool or persuades a fellow player
to pay. He may put the new extra into
the pool for later bidding, or, for one
more blood token, the player can be-
gin playing the extra right away. When
creating a character during play, make
sure that you have enough blood to-
kens left or that somebody else is will-
ing to pay up.
When the new extra leaves play, it
goes back to the pool, ready to be
activated by any player who wants to
assume the role in a later scene.
Spontaneous creation of extras
helps build a pool of colorful charac-
ters to populate Vampire City. Those
newly made extras are up for bidding
at the start of later sessions and may
become attached to any player who
would like to bring them to life for a
particular session.
Playing an Extra
In case of player disagreements over
what an extra can or cannot do, you
may hold an auction to settle the dis-
pute. Whether it’s a mental character-
istic like hot-headedness, or a physical
detail like being particularly tall, how
players add color to their characters
is up to them. They may give an extra
one of their Special Items or deter-
mine that the place where he or she
is right now is actually their Crypt. Un-
like traits and skills, Special Items and
Crypts are not permanently given away
and return to the original owner after
the session.
49
Relationship Maps
All characters are connected through
relationships that form a complex so-
cial fabric. This fabric can be repre-
sented by a relationship map.
Characters are represented by
squares, circles, or actual portraits.
Connecting lines indicate their re-
lationships, labeled with a brief de-
scription of their relationship. Some
examples include:
If you draw the relationship map by
hand, leave some space to expand it
later.
A relationship map is a great
tool to help understand the so-
cial fabric of your Vampire City
game at a glance and to remem-
ber what binds your characters
to each other.

´´ Friend/Lover
´´ Neutral/Army buddies
´´ Friend/Play chess together (may
become an enemy)
´´ Friend/Cheating on … with …
(that’d make two lines then)
´´ Enemy/Being cheated on by …
with … (two lines, again)
´´ Enemy/Hates … because she
killed his dog
 PREPARING A SESSION
The light of reason is as dangerous to us as the light of the sun.
We exist on their fears and when they see clearly there is no fear.

Daska Gregory, Vampire Elder

Once all the players have
their characters, prepare
your gaming materials. Each
player gets five blood tokens
(you can use any token, but red
glass beads are a good choice)
and a symbol (any token symbolic of
the vampire’s origins would be appro-
priate). Then, all players should give
a short introduction about who their
characters are and which extras they
came up with so that everyone has an
idea of what characters are available.
After the introductions are over,
each player chooses an extra other
than his own and writes this charac-
ter down as an acquaintance on his
Character Sheet. This is a person the
main character happens to know, but is
not very close to. This gets the various
characters more closely intertwined.
Finally, all extras are collected
into a pool—just gather them in the
middle of the table or put them in a
bowl where they await assignment
after bidding.
Paula, John, and Matt are fi-
nally ready to begin their unlives
in the Vampire City they have
created. They start by giving a
brief introduction to their char-
acters and then each of their ex-
tras. Each of them must now pick
an acquaintance from amongst
the other extras.
Paula thinks that Louise Nev-
ers is most likely acquainted
with Chris Becket the vampire
wannabe. John has to think for
a while before he chooses Lillian
Bell as an acquaintance for Ar-
gus Crane; perhaps it is through
him that she was prompted to
look into certain dealings at the
bank. Matt wastes no time in
picking Detective Ben Savage as
a potential ally for Justin Cross.

51
 Bidding
for Extras
Not all extras have to be owned or
even used in a scene. The players may
bid for any of the extras characters in
the pool, provided they want to own
them for the entire session. The per-
manent ownership of the extra can
only be fixed at the bidding before
the game starts, but means that player
is the only one who can portray that
character. The pool of blood tokens is
split up right after each auction.
Any characters left in the pool
after this initial bidding can only be
owned for the duration of a single
scene, going back into the pool of
extras afterwards.
Having made their introduc-
tions all the extras are placed in
the middle of the table. Now the
players have an opportunity to
bid for control of the extras for
the whole of the game session.
Paula opens the bidding by stat-
ing that she would like to have
control of Detective Ben Savage,
Matt contests but lets her win
the bidding. John takes control
of Obadiah MacNamara without
challenge and also seeks control
over Chris Becket, again Matt
bids against him but pulls out
and lets John have control.
Matt declines to take control
of any extras, while Paula con-
trols one and John has two.
52
Goals of
the Night
The Goals of the Night determine
each character’s reasons to be in
Vampire City. Players should note
their goal for the night on their char-
acter sheet and keep an eye on it. If a
player manages to accomplish his or
her goal, their character gains an Ad-
venture Point (see p.62). If they don’t,
this might be a good starting point for
a new adventure.
You should always keep your char-
acter’s Goal of the Night in mind when
you get to the next step, which is to
determine the Events of the Night.
Choose the Goals of the Night care-
fully and don’t make them too diffi-
cult. Unattainable goals can spoil the
fun for everybody.
Typical goals for a night may include:
create a new familiar/ghoul, embar-
rass a rival, gain the favor of an elder,
protect a mortal ward, extend your
hunting grounds, or learn the secrets
of a particular dark gift.
The group takes a moment to
think then each notes down a
goal for the night on their main
character’s character sheet,
without telling the others. Pau-
la chooses to ‘uncover a secret
about a rival’, John chooses to
‘recruit new members to his
cause’; while Matt picks ‘hunt
down and destroy a vampire’.
Events of
the Night
The players work together to create
the outline of an adventure. They take
turns suggesting events that happen
during the upcoming night in Vampire
City. One of these events should relate
to their main character’s goals and an-
other, more general, event that prefer-
ably brings in some action.
Others can veto (see p.14) these
events if they don’t like them, and
of course the player (or players) who
would like the event to happen may
start an auction to try and stop such a
veto, if an amicable compromise can’t
be worked out. As events are decided,
players should note them on a piece of
paper or their character sheets. Play-
ers continue to suggest events until
each player has contributed at least
two scene ideas to the outline. Each
of these suggested scenes should be
a very loose concept, at this point
there is no need to add any flesh to
the bones of the idea, leaving things
open to be defined when the scene
is framed.
These events are just very brief de-
scriptions consisting of a few words at
most; the actual act of playing through
of the events occurs during the game
(see p.56) and their outcomes occur
due to the players’ actions at that time
only, not at this preliminary stage. The
examples of events below are literally
all that coming up with events entails
at this point.
Typical events include: a business
meeting, a political rally, a religious
service, an angry young man, a drunk-
en prophet, discovering a werewolf, a
vampire rave, an order from an elder,
feeding in the park, or a run in with a
vampire hunter.
The group decides to go round
the table with each person sug-
gesting two scenes, after which
extra scenes can be added as
needed. Paula suggests ‘a meet-
ing of the city elders’ and ‘hunt-
ing in a city park’. John wants
a ‘confrontation over feeding
rights’ and ‘something in the
dark’. Matt opts for ‘investigat-
ing a bloody murder’ and ‘a roof-
top chase’.
53

Creating a
Line of Events
After the players have decided on
the Events and Goals of the Night, they
put them into an order that serves
as script for the session. The script
starts with a collectively developed
prologue (see Dusk, p.59) to set the
mood for the session. The scenes are
then placed in an order that allows for
a good rhythm of action scenes and
quieter ones, placing the scene with
the biggest conflict towards the end
(after all, the showdown is usually re-
served for the final reel).
The Line of Events gives struc-
ture to the adventure. It keeps
everyone from being diverted off
at tangents. To build a coherent
story over the course of a ses-
sion, you should align each oth-
er’s events and goals. Remember
that you want to work together
to tell a story that will be fun for
everybody.
The line of events ends with an Epi-
logue (see Dawn, p.61), in which you
sum up what has happened during the
night and find closure for your story.
The group organizes their
scenes and adds a few extras to
get the right mix. In the end they
discard ‘hunting in a city park’ as
it rolls nicely into ‘confrontation
over feeding rights’ and replace
it with ‘a scary little girl’.
54
• Dusk
• Confrontation over feeding
rights
• Investigating a bloody murder
• A rooftop chase
• A scary little girl
• A meeting of the city elders
• Something in the dark
• Dawn
If you have trouble tying
all the events and goals of a
night into a coherent story,
you should reconsider the dif-
ferent elements and exchange
them for more fitting ones.
This might seem a little awk-
ward at first, but makes for a
better flow when playing the
story, because the players will
know what comes next and can
steer the plot accordingly. If
there are any disagreements
about the order of events or
even the inclusion of certain
events, auctions should be
held to settle the situation.
Bidding for all Scenes
Optional Rule: Some players tend to
spend too much time “out of charac-
ter,” preparing the actual scenes. You
can work around this issue by bidding
for all the scenes from the Line of
Events before the game starts, so that
everybody knows where in the story
they are during the game. In this case,
players should also bid for all extras
before the game to save time, get into
a smoother flow, and concentrate on
the story. On the downside, you lose
a lot of creative momentum this way,
since the best ideas often come up
spontaneously during play; sponta-
neous creativity plays a major role in
Vampire City.
Creating a Season
A series of interconnected adven-
tures is called a Season. If you want
to play a Season in Vampire City, pick
an overall goal for all your adventures
and develop a timeline, just as you do
for a single session. All you need to
do is to note down a couple of key
events, which will be the focus of one
session each, so that the story may
develop over six to eight sessions un-
til the finale.
Don’t get into too much de-
tail at this stage, since your
characters’ success or failure
during play will have an impact
on the course of events that
ultimately calls for a change
in the timeline. Adjust the
timeline accordingly, when-
ever you hit an unexpected
direction during play.
When you’ve reached a finale, pick
a new goal and start another sea-
son. You might want to come back to
something that emerged during play
and develop a new goal and timeline
around it. Think of the game as a TV
show or series of movies that you de-
velop yourselves.
Timeline Example
´´ The characters must track down a
kidnapped friend
´´ The characters are caught
between the machinations’ of
two powerful vampires
´´ A vampire hunter tracks down the
characters
´´ The characters must forge an
alliance or stand alone
´´ The characters must discover
what the two vampires are
fighting over
´´ Finale
55
 EVENTS AND SCENES
It’s a beautiful night to die, but then aren’t they all.
Tehn Chu the Outsider
The game is divided into scenes. In
each, one of the players is in charge
of framing the scene. This “Scene
Framer” determines which characters
are present, what the exact locale
is, what the parties involved are up
to, and what kind of conflict should
drive the scene. It is this player’s task
to provide a general direction as to
what the story is going to revolve
around during the scene. How the
scene runs is determined through
the participation and roleplaying of
everyone involved when the scene
is played out.
How large a share each player gets
in a scene and how narration rights
are distributed is determined by an
auction (see p.13), with the goal of
offering everyone an equal share of
the action across the whole session.
A player has the right not to take part
in a scene if he doesn’t want to and
may even buy his character out of the
scene (as described below).
56
Turning an
Event Into
a Scene
As was stated earlier, the
events within the Line of
Events are rather vague and
open-ended. As the game pro-
gresses through each event in
turn, any player who feels like having
a good idea for that scene may start
describing it to everyone else. This
description should include the loca-
tion of the scene, who is there, what
the characters are up to when the
scene begins, which conflict is about
to take place during that scene, and
possibly be its focus. If no one has any
other ideas or objects then this player
becomes the scene framer and every-
one dives in with the story, taking up
their roles.
However, if several players want
to frame a scene for a certain event,
they should each share their ideas and
try to come to a mutual agreement
by integrating their ideas or agree
to run them one after another. If a
compromise or agreement can’t be
reached in a reasonably short time,
an auction should be called to deter-
mine who will frame the scene, and
thus whose vision for it will win out.
Remember the winners should still try
and incorporate others’ wishes and
make it fun for everyone.
Note it’s extremely help-
ful when planning a scene to
think about what is coming up
next in the Line of Events. This
way you can pave the way for
future happenings, and give
your fellow players a natural
lead-in to the next scene.
Starting a Scene
Whoever frames the scene establish-
es some basic ideas about the scene
for the other players. The following
questions should be answered:
´´ Lights: Where is the scene set?
´´ Camera: Who is in the scene?
´´ Action: What are everybody’s
initial goals and/or motives?
It is very easy for new players in
Vampire City to “over frame,” that is
to define what is happening too strict-
ly or to try and place every available
character into the scene. With scene
framing less is definitely more. Just
stick to defining the minimum possible
to get the scene started; if another
player isn’t in the scene to begin with
they can always buy themselves in with
an appropriate character or buy in and
make up a new extra on the spot. Also,
try and mix up where scenes are held
to keep things interesting. Places can
also be named and written down on
Locations sheets (see p.72) to help
remember for the future, even if the
place is made up on the fly in as these
can really draw people into the setting.
In a general sense, these guidelines
describe what the scene will be about
and what direction the story will take.
Paula has won the right to
open the first scene. She begins
by setting the scene in a barren
area that was once a park. The
sun has not long set leaving a
slight glow on the horizon. Many
of the street lights are out and
the park benches have been van-
dalized with graffiti. This park is
not far from Louise Never’s crypt
and it is a place that she regular-
ly haunts, picking off gang mem-
bers. Tonight she is not the only
vampire hunting these grounds.
Paula places her own charac-
ter Louse Nevers in the scene,
though she is hunting in the form
of a great wolf. She also places
John’s character, Argus Crain
in the scene. There are also a
number of potential extras in
the form of the local gang.
Paula sets up an altercation
b e t we e n Lo u i se a n d A rg u s
when they both attempt to
take the same victim. Though
Matt has been left out, he de-
cides to buy himself in and take
control of a new extra (which
he quickly generates), taking
on the identity of the intended
victim ‘Franky “Done One” Dun-
lop’, a local hood.
57
 Getting In
After the bidding for a scene is over,
the players who weren’t invited into
the scene may buy themselves in by
throwing a blood token into the pool.
They can use their main character, an
extra they own, or an extra from the
pool; or they can even create a new
extra (see p.48). If a player wants to be
in, but doesn’t have any blood tokens
left, a generous fellow player can chip
in for them.
Someone who has spent all
his blood tokens has already
had some fun, but play nice
and include your friends in the
game. It pays off for everybody
in the end.
Avoid Overkill!
Each player may only participate in
a scene with one character at a time.
If someone is aiming for a conflict or
scene between his character and one
of the extras he is portraying, then
he should pass this main character to
someone else for the duration of the
scene or put him or her into the pool
for bidding.
Getting Out
Once the framing of a scene is under
way, any player responsible for any of
the characters in the scene may decide
the goal or task given to their charac-
ter doesn’t fit or sit well, and opt out
of the scene. This player simply spends
a blood token and describes why their
character isn’t there.
58
In addition, if a player does not agree
with what someone else is describing
they can exercise their right to veto
(see Game Mechanics, p.8), which
hopefully leads to a mutually agree-
able compromise, but may be resolved
by an auction if necessary.
Ending a Scene
The scene is ended by the player who
has won the conflict that has arisen
during the scene. This player gets nar-
ration rights for ending a scene. If no
conflict arises, or one party actually
wants to lose for dramatic reasons, the
player who framed the scene gets to
end it.
Buying Scene
Elements
Everyone knows those awkward mo-
ments when players are desperately
looking for answers or for something
in the game to make things easier for
them. In Vampire City, players may
throw a blood token into the pool and
add the desired element to the scene.
Players who are not active in the scene
may buy still buy elements of the ac-
tive characters to work with.
Keep in mind not to mess
up the game balance with the
facts you buy or you might
accidentally ruin someone’s
carefully constructed scene.
 Things haven’t gone so well,
the altercation between Louise
and Argus has given their victim
the chance to escape. In hot pur-
suit the two vampires know that
they must bring their prey down
before he can reach help. Franky,
in his terror, has already dropped
his gun, Matt describes him rac-
ing across a rickety old bridge in
the middle of the ruined park.
Paula, knowing that Louise is
‘supernatural’ and cannot cross
running water, she thinks quickly
before throwing a blood token
into the pool. She describes the
river choked with garbage, old
shopping carts, and abandoned
household goods and detritus. It
has been a long time since water
actually flowed through here.
In the shape of a wolf she leaps
from one bank to the next easily
outpacing Argus as she gains on
her prey.
Changing Characters
During a Scene
Players who would like to switch
characters in the course of a scene
describe how and why their previous
character leaves the scene. Then they
throw a blood token into the pool to
activate their new character. Char-
acters that leave a scene in this way
may not return to the scene. Extras
go back to the pool or to their play-
ers, while main characters stay with
their players.
Special Scenes
There are three special scenes in
the game, called Dusk, Midnight, and
Dawn. These come with special rules,
as described below.
Dusk
The game starts with the prologue,
called Dusk, during which no char-
acters are active by default. Players
must buy themselves in with one of
their available characters if they wish
to. This is a way for players to get into
the right mood and find their way into
the game.
The prologue should build atmo-
sphere and draw you into the game.
Try and make it exciting and fun to
get everyone ready to start playing.
By the way, the Dusk scene can be set
at any time of day, but keep in mind
few vampires are active during the
day. The prologue can also be used to
foreshadow the finale of the session.
John has been nominated to
provide the opening flavor for
the evening’s game. He decides
to foreshadow some of the
events by describing the setting
and a group of hooded men dig-
ging up a fresh grave. As they
exhume the body it comes to
life, rising from the dead to at-
tack the group. Though one of
the men falls, they are able to
subdue the risen creature, bind-
ing it in chains before hauling the
body away to a waiting van.
59
 Midnight
Midnight is the thickest part of the
night, it is a time of climax, a scene
where a character resolves a plot point
or defeats a major obstacle to his over-
all goals. It is the time when a player
has the greatest level of control over
his character’s scene.
Despite the name, there are several
Midnight scenes per session—one per
player. A player announces his Mid-
night scene by throwing his symbol
into the pot. If two players want to
have their Midnight scene at the same
time, the player whose symbol is first
in the pool wins narration rights.
When you spend your sym-
bol, keep in mind that with
power comes responsibility,
and the plot needs to remain
engaging for all. If someone
feels you’ve been treating
them unfairly, they have a
symbol of their own to pay you
back later in the game.
Once a Midnight scene has started,
other players cannot actively buy
themselves into this scene unless
explicitly invited or allowed in by the
player framing the Midnight scene.
During your Midnight scene,
you’re taking a considerable
risk. If you don’t reach your
goal, the symbol is spent and
you don’t get those Adventure
Points (see p.62). You want to
build the scene around your
main character and his or her
goals, and don’t want anybody
vetoing or buying scene
elements that you
don’t think fit the
scene.
60
Vetoes at Midnight
A player framing his Midnight scene
does not need to spend a chip to say
“Over my dead body” or use any oth-
er veto. The other players cannot bid
against his or her will. A player in a
Midnight scene should always be fair,
however, and listen to the other play-
ers in case of disagreement.
Matt has thrown his symbol
in to the pot for the next scene.
He composes the scene as the
culmination of Justin’s hunt. He
has discovered the lair of the
vampire child and offers John
the role of the child, and Paula
the role of Detective Ben Savage.
The scene is set in an abandoned
pipe works with many crawl
spaces and places to hide, but
Justin Cross is confident that he
can stop the monster that wears
the flesh of an innocent girl.
Pa u la t ri e s to a d d o t h e r
members of the local police
department to the scene. How-
ever, Matt vetoes “Over my
dead body”, so Detective Sav-
age is off the reservation for
this operation, no backup, and
no witnesses.
Gaining New Special Items
If a character wants to get another
Special Item during the game, the
player has to come up with a Midnight
scene that drives towards a conflict
that centers on the Special Item.
Gaining New Dark Gifts
If a character wants to get another
Dark Gift during the game, the play-
er has to come up with a Midnight
Scene that drives towards a conflict
or encounters that centers upon be-
ing taught, learning, or developing the
desired Dark Gift. If successful in gain-
ing it, the character still needs to pay
the appropriate number of Adventure
Points (5 AP) after the session ends.
Dawn
Once everybody has played through
the Events of the Night (see p.53),
and the goals of the night have been
dealt with, it’s time for the epilogue.
The epilogue, called Dawn, provides
closure for the game and should sum
up the most important participants
and events of the game to conclude
with a satisfying ending.
Paula sums up the events of
the night weaving together the
plotlines linking the creation
of a vampire girl with her own
character’s dispute over hunting
territory. Argus Crane’s quest
for power has been checked,
for now, but the elders are on
the defensive.
As the sun begins to rise the
characters retreat to their vari-
ous places of safety. All except
Justin Cross who stands atop a
building watching the sunrise,
knowing that there are only a
few short hours of safety before
the dark forces are again at work
in the city. He will be ready.
61
 ADVENTURE POINTS
If it didn’t kill you, well that’s likely because you killed it first.
You learn that lesson the first time you are left for dead.
Not many people get a second chance.
Justin Cross, Vampire Hunter

Good roleplaying is a reward in ´´ Voted Extra of the

and of itself, since it lets you have Night: 2 AP
lots of fun along the way. However,
the mental picture and portrayal of
the characters is not the only thing
Extra of
that should improve in the course of the Night
play. Players also get an opportunity
After the players have
to work on their heroes’ and extras’
received their Adventure
skills. That’s what Adventure Points
Points, they vote on who did
are for.
the best job as an extra dur-
ing the session. That player is
awarded 2 additional Adventure

Adventure Points to spend on his extra, which

may be used to improve an Attribute

Point Rewards or Skill Ranks, buying Special Items, or

Adventure Points are awarded at
the end of each session.
´´ Taking part in the game: 2 AP
´´ Having played your character
well: 2 AP
´´ Having been forced to act on
your Hubris: 1 AP
´´ Having reached your Goal of the
Night: 1 AP
a Crypt. Players may also spend their
other Adventure Points on improving
extras. Their skills are improved just
like those of heroes (see below).
Alternative Rewards
Reward good roleplaying and dra-
matic situations in Vampire City. If a
player comes up with an exciting de-
scription or plays his or her character
in a particularly entertaining fashion,
the others should hand out a blood to-
ken as a reward. For each blood token a
player awards to another, an addition-
al blood token is taken from the pool

62
and added to the award. Therefore, it’s
only half the fun to reward each other
if the pool is empty. Each player may
only be awarded one blood token per
player per scene.
Vampire City is about having
a good time with your friends.
Use awards to show your
friends how much fun you’re
having and how much you ap-
preciate their contributions.
Spending
AdventurE
Points
Adventure Points are spent by play-
ers at the end of the session, and may
be used on their own characters or on
any extra they would like. This gives
them a chance to advance and flesh
out their own characters and the ex-
tras that make up the supporting cast.
Learning and
Improving Skills
Characters can improve their skills or
learn new ones. The cost is the same
for heroes and extras.
´´ Learning a skill at Rank 2: 1 AP
´´ Raising a skill to Rank 3: 3 AP
´´ Raising a skill to Rank 4: 6 AP
´´ Raising a skill to Rank 5: 12 AP
Specializations
A character may specialize in a skill
that falls under his or her Profession
for 5 AP. Specialization grants an ad-
ditional die in skill rolls related to this
one skill from your professional field.
Once a character has learned six of
these specializations, the Profession
is raised by one Rank, and the special-
izations are erased.
Your Profession is an um-
brella term for all the skills
it covers. Since it’s almost
impossible to specialize in
all the aspects of any one
Profession, there’s a cap of
six skills here.
Buying Skills for Extras
Skills for these characters may be
bought for one blood token each dur-
ing play, whether they are for one of
your own extras or somebody else’s.
Skills for extras may also be purchased
normally at the end of a session, but
require a player to spend his Adven-
ture Points for him.
If the group wants, players may buy
permanent Special Items or Crypts for
them out of the Adventure Points they
earned. Buying a Special Item or Crypt
for extras costs 4 AP. Anything pur-
chased this way does not disappear
between sessions. Also, a new Dark
Gift can be bought for an extra who is
a vampire for 6 AP.
These rules help you to add
more depth to the supporting
cast over the course of your
game. While it may cost you
a couple more blood tokens
63
 to flesh out your supporting
cast, that’s bound to pay off
in the long run.
Raising Attributes
Players may choose to raise an At-
tribute of a hero or extra, but it’s quite
an investment.
Costs are as follows:
´´ Raise Attribute to Rank 2: 5 AP
(Only extras can have Attributes
at Rank 1)
´´ Raise Attribute to Rank 3: 10 AP
´´ Raise Attribute to Rank 4: 15 AP
´´ Raise Attribute to Rank 5: 20 AP
´´ Raise Attribute to Rank 6: 25 AP*
´´ Raise Attribute to Rank 7: 30 AP*
´´ Raise Attribute to Rank 8: 35 AP*
*Note: Only vampires (or blood
slaves) with the appropriate Dark Gifts
can purchase Attributes above 5.
That’s a lot of AP to spend
and that’s on purpose, since
Attributes cover whole groups
of skills. If costs for increas-
ing Attributes are halved by
a Dark Gift, then round down
if need be.
64
Gaining New
Dark Gifts and
Special Items
Characters must have set up their
Goal of the Night and their Midnight
scene around gaining a new Dark Gift
or Special Item through appropriate
means (see p.60). If they succeed in
this, they still need to pay 5 AP at the
end of the session to fully gain the new
Dark Gift.
Tracking Changes
Make sure any changes in their per-
son are included on their Character
Sheets, being made into a blood slave
or vampire during play is obviously
permanent. They should gain a Dark
Gift from their sire and, if turned into
a vampire, appropriate Dark Curses
and a possible change in their Hubris.
On the back of the Charac-
ter Sheets, note down quirks,
traits, and events and take
some notes after each ses-
sion on what happened to
slip back into the game more
easily next time. It’s worth the
small effort and speeds things
up considerably later on.
 APPENDIX
Why the hell would you not want to be a vampire? We are cool, we are trendy,
we can do freaky shit. Stop your screaming, you’re boring me now. Screw
this—you have just been downgraded to dinner!

Tomas Salvatore, Vampire Recruiter

Feeding Habits
‰‰ Blood Drinker
‰‰ Flesh Eater
‰‰ Psychic Vampire

Step ONE: What ‰‰ __________

is a Vampire? The Dark Rebirth

The Source ‰‰ Blood Born
‰‰ Born ‰‰ Infection
‰‰ Cursed ‰‰ No Dark Rebirth
‰‰ Contagion ‰‰ Ritual
‰‰ Parasite ‰‰ Spawning
‰‰ Possession ‰‰ __________
‰‰ __________

The Dark Curse

Physiology ‰‰ Alien
‰‰ Alive ‰‰ Corrupt
‰‰ Altered ‰‰ Demonic
‰‰ Dead ‰‰ Mystical
‰‰ Incorporeal ‰‰ Supernatural
‰‰ __________ ‰‰ __________
65
 The Dark Gift Special Effects
‰‰ Blood Slave ‰‰ Ash Burn
‰‰ Claws ‰‰ Claimed
‰‰ Day Walker ‰‰ Dissolve
‰‰ Dread Form ‰‰ Explode/Implode
‰‰ Earth Sleep ‰‰ Regular Corpse
‰‰ Fly ‰‰ Splitter
‰‰ Incorporeal ‰‰ __________
‰‰ Immortality
‰‰ Mesmerism
‰‰ Shape Shifter
Step Two:
‰‰ Shroud The World of
‰‰ Supernatural Charm
‰‰ Supernatural Intellect
Vampire City
‰‰ Supernatural Vigor The Setting
‰‰ Preternatural Awareness
‰‰ Contemporary
‰‰ Resurrection
‰‰ Fantasy
‰‰ __________
‰‰ Futuristic
‰‰ Historical
Vampiric Death ‰‰ Post-Apocalyptic
‰‰ __________
‰‰ Decapitation
‰‰ Destruction
‰‰ Last Rites Social Standing
‰‰ Stake through the Heart
‰‰ Citizens
‰‰ Sunlight
‰‰ Hidden
‰‰ __________
‰‰ Hunted
‰‰ Overlords
‰‰ __________

66
 Character
Creation
Step one:
Profession
How does your character earn a
living? After deciding on a vocation,
which represents a collection of skills
Vampire Society they know to accomplish it, heroes
come with 4 Ranks in their chosen
‰‰ Blood Lines Profession.
‰‰ Blood Packs
‰‰ Immortal Society Step Two:
‰‰ No Society Attributes
‰‰ __________ The Attributes are: Body, Mind, and
Charisma. The number of ranks in an
Attribute determines how many dice
you roll for a skill check in any of the
Places of Importance skills covered by the Attribute. Heroes
come with…
‰‰ __________
…one Attribute at three and two
‰‰ __________
at four (3/4/4)
‰‰ __________
…one Attribute at two, one at
‰‰ __________ three, and one at five (2/3/5)
…Body, Mind, and Social Points
equal to twice each respective At-
Presence of Magic tribute rank

‰‰ __________
‰‰ __________
‰‰ __________

67
 Step Three: Skills
Pick five Skills not covered by your
Profession, two are Rank 3 and three
at Rank 2 (3/3/2/2/2).
Step Four:
A Special Item
Pick a Special Item that allows your
hero to lower the result on one die
by one for one particular skill, or that
adds color to the game (like a night
club or a safe house).
Step Five: Hubris
Pick a Hubris for the character, a
fatal flaw or weakness for them. Ex-
amples: Ambitious, Bullheaded, Care-
less, Calculating, Cocky, Compliant,
Cowardly, Credulous, Destructive,
Distrustful, Envious, Gullible, Greedy,
Hedonist, Hot-headed, Hyperactive,
Inconsiderate, Lazy, Listless, Petty,
Obsessed, Over-eager, Proud, Quick
to fall in love, Racist, Self-righteous.
Step Six:
The Dark Gift
Every vampire has a dark gift that
gives him a supernatural edge over his
prey. See the Mythology and Setting
chapter on p.22.
Step Seven: Crypt
This step deals with the chosen resi-
dence of a main character. A character
gets to roll two extra dice for
any actions performed in
his Crypt.
68
Step Eight:
Background
Who is your character and what
makes him or her tick? What happened
to him or her in the past? Most impor-
tantly, how did he or she become a
vampire or learn about their existence?
Write up a brief paragraph addressing
your character’s Background.
Step Nine:
Extras
Create one friend and one foe for
your hero. Extras are a major factor in
making this game fun. Come up with
only rough sketches at first and leave
some room for players to develop
them as full-fledged personalities
later, when they use them in the game.
If the extra is not a vampire, he skips
Steps 6 and 7 above.
´´ Extras have one of the following
combinations of Attribute Ranks:
 Three Attributes at Rank 3
(3/3/3), or…
 …one Attribute at Rank 4, one
at rank 3 and one at rank 1
(1/3/4), or…
 …one Attribute at Rank 4
and two Attributes at rank 2
(2/2/4).
´´ Each extra also has...
 ...a Profession at Rank 4.
 ...one skill at Rank 3.
 ...one skill at Rank 2.
 ...damage points equal to
each Attribute Rank.
Uses of Blood Tokens
and Symbols
Blood tokens and symbols can be used for a number of things dur-
ing a game of Vampire City. The following is a list of those uses with
page references to where they are further described.
First, blood tokens can be used in the following ways:

´´ Freely given to any other player for them to use normally (Game
Mechanics, p.8)
´´ Given to others as a reward for good/entertaining roleplaying!
(Events and Scenes, p.56)
´´ Used in bidding in auctions (Game Mechanics, p.8)
´´ Used to veto (Game Mechanics, p.8)
´´ To opt out of a scene that was just framed (see Events and
Scenes, p.56)
´´ To create an extra during play, and use them (Predators and
Prey, p.42 and Events and Scenes, p.56)
´´ Buy a skill for an extra during play (Adventure Points, p.62)
´´ Buy into a scene with a hero or extra (Events and Scenes, p.56)
´´ Switch characters during a scene (Events and Scenes, p.56)
´´ Buy additional facts during a scene (Events and Scenes, p.56)
´´ Regenerate damage (3 Body Points worth), if a vampire (Game
Mechanics, p.8)
´´ To pay for making a mortal into a blood slave (Mythology and
Setting, p.22)

Second, a player’s symbol can be used in the following ways:

´´ To own and play a villain or monster as yours (Game

Mechanics, p.8)
´´ To declare your Midnight scene and gain extra control (Events
and Scenes, p.56). Midnight Scenes need to be used to get a
new Special Item or Dark Gift (Events and Scenes, p.56 and
Adventure Points, p.62)

69
Character Sheet __ __ __ __ __ _
Name __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ _
Player __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

Attributes Body Point s __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

_
Body __ __ _
Mind Point s __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
Mind __ __ _
Social Point s __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
Ch ari sm a __ __

Profession Rank __ __
__ __ _
Name __ __ __ __ __ __ __

Skills Rank S__ki__ll s Rank

__ __ __ _ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ _ _ __ _
__ __ __ __ __ _ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ _ _ __ _
__ __ __ __ __ _ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ _ _ __ _
__ __ __ __ __ _ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ _ _ __ _
__ __ __ __ __ _ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ _ _ __ _

l Item
Crypt Specia
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ _
__ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ _
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ _
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __

Relationships Foe __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
_
Friend __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ _
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
Others __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

__ __ __ __ __ _
Goal of th e Day __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
 Extra
Extra
Name ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
__
Special Item ___ ___ ___ ___ _
Profession Name ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___ ___ _ __
Friend Special Item ___ ___ ___ ___ _
___ ___ ___ ___ _
Foe Profession ___ ___ ___ ___ _
___ ___ ___ ___ _
Location Friend ___ ___ ___ ___ _
___ ___ ___ ___ _
Foe ___ ___ ___ ___ _
Attributes Location ___ ___ ___ ___ _
Body ___ _ Body Pts ___ _
Mind ___ _ Mind Pts ___ _
Attributes
Charisma ___ _ Social Pts ___ Body ___ _ Body Pts ___ _
_
Mind ___ _ Mind Pts ___ _
Skill Rank Charism a ___ _ Social Pts ___ _
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _ ___ _
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _ Skill Rank
___ _
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _ ___ _
___ _
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _ ___ _
___ _
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _ ___ _
___ _
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _ ___ _
___ _
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _ ___ _
___ _
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _ ___ _
Notes ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ _ ___ _
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
__
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Notes
__
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
__ __
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
__ __
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
__ __
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
__ __
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
__ __
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
__
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
__
 Location __ __ __ __
Location __ __ __ __
Name _ __ __ __ __
Type _ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
Name _ __ __ __ __
Type _ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ Brief Description
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
Brief Description __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
es
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ Distinctive Featur
__ __ __ __
es __ __ __ __ __ __ __
Distinctive Featur __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
onships
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ People and Relati
__ __ __ __
onships __ __ __ __ __ __ __
People and Relati __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
Pl aces
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ Relative to Other
__ __ __ _
Places __ __ __ __ __ __ __
Relative to Other __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ _
__ __ __ _
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ _
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
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__ __ __ __ __ __ __
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__ __ __ __ __ __ __
Sample
Characters
The following characters require
corresponding modern-day Mythol-
ogy and Setting choices, or may need
to be adapted accordingly.
Bruiser
Profession: Street Thug (4)
Body: 5 Body Points: 10
Mind: 3 Mind Points: 6
Charisma: 2 Social Points: 4
Skills: Athletics 3, Endurance 3, Ob-
servation 2, Gambling 2, Strategy 2
Special Item: Extra Dark Gift
Hubris: Bloodthirsty
Dark Gifts: Dread Form, Claws
Crypt: Gambling Den (Club Markovic)
Background: Runs a gambling den.
Likes mafia style high-stakes poker,
in the back of the club.
Friend: Garibald
Body: 2 Body Points: 2
Mind: 2 Mind Points: 2
Charisma: 4 Social Points: 4
Profession: Mafia Gambler (4)
Skills: Diplomacy (3), Fashion (2)
Background: Bruiser’s perennial cli-
ent and friend, makes his living off
gambling and deals made out of Club
Markovic.
Foe: Dustin
Body: 4 Body Points: 4
Mind: 3 Mind Points: 3
Charisma: 1 Social Points: 1
Profession: Vampire Hunter (4)
Skills: Medicine (3), Driving (2)
Background: EMT driver turned dedi-
cated vampire hunter, who is trying
to solve the string of violent deaths
that all seem vampire related, that he
thinks are tied to the sleazy Bruiser,
but he can’t prove it yet.
73
 Sam
Profession: Investigator (4)
Body: 3 Body Points: 6
Mind: 4 Mind Points: 8
Charisma: 4 Social Points: 8
Skills: Shooting 3, Sciences 3, Driving
2, History 2, Survival 2
Special Item: Sherlock Holmes’ Mon-
ocle (Observation)
Hubris: Wandering Eye, Hopeless
Romantic
Dark Gifts: Mesmerism
Crypt: Small office building
Background: A private investigator
that got too close to a vampire dur-
ing a murder investigation. Now, a
vampire himself, he tries to keep his
sanity and make amends by continuing
to fight crime and solve cases.
74
Friend: Maureen
Body: 2 Body Points: 2
Mind: 4 Mind Points: 4
Charisma: 2 Social Points: 2
Profession: Mortician (4)
Skills: Sciences (3), Religion (2)
Background: An old friend of Sam’s
who helps him with cases that involve
dead bodies… which has been on the
rise since his Dark Rebirth, and does
some unofficial forensic stuff for
him. They have a slight crush on each
other, but haven’t expressed their
feelings yet.
Foe: Cpt. Berkley
Body: 3 Body Points: 3
Mind: 3 Mind Points: 3
Charisma: 3 Social Points: 3
Profession: Police Captain (4)
Skills: Diplomacy (3), Sailing (2)
Background: Breathing down Sam’s
neck more than he likes, Cpt Berkley
is a constant thorn in his side, espe-
cially about touchy investigations and
cover-ups.
Prowler
Profession: Park Ranger (4)
Body: 4 Body Points: 8
Mind: 3 Mind Points: 6
Charisma: 4 Social Points: 8
Skills: Melee 3, Brawling 3, Politics 2,
Medicine 2, Diplomacy 2
Special Item: Extra Dark Gift
Hubris: protective about nature
Dark Gifts: Beast Call, Shape Shifter
Crypt: Garden Park in the middle of
town, with a few caves
Background: A park ranger from over
a century ago. The city expanded
into his old grounds and he still lives
there in the caves now, having taken
a turn to be more involved in vampiric
politics (now that the world has been
overrun with them.)
Friend: Liz Peterson
Body: 2 Body Points: 2
Mind: 2 Mind Points: 2
Charisma: 4 Social Points: 4
Profession: Veterinary (4)
Skills: Leadership (3), Riding (2)
Background: Rough and tumble girl
veterinary helping Prowler in protect-
ing animals.
Foe: Derek Sherk
Body: 2 Body Points: 2
Mind: 2 Mind Points: 2
Charisma: 4 Social Points: 4
Profession: Police Enforcer (4)
Skills: Politics (3), Haggling (2)
Dark Gift: Incorporeal
Background: Vampire contesting
Prowler’s park for his own hunting
grounds.
75
 Example of Play
We join Paula, John and Matt dur-
ing their first session of Vampire City
as they are about to enter the second
scene, “Investigating a Bloody Murder”.
Paula: I framed the last scene, so
one of you two should take this one.
Matt: Okay I’ll take it. No objections
John?
John: All yours.
Matt: Okay scene two: Investigating
a Bloody Murder. The lights come up
on a warehouse in the harbor district.
The City PD have several cars parked
outside with their lights still flash-
ing. One of the uniforms is stretching
“crime scene” warning tape across the
road and a young rookie is being sick
on the sidewalk.
A battered old sedan drives up and
Justin Cross gets out, he has some
trouble trying to cross the tape line
but is then waved through when De-
tective Savage recognizes him.
“Glad you could come Father, crime
scene is held up on another job and
I wanted you to see this before they
sta rted bagging ever yt hing u p. I
think this falls into your area of spe-
cial interest.”
Matt: Okay so that gives us every-
thing? Justin and Savage are in the
scene, the objective is to uncover
some clues. John if you want you can
buy yourself in, perhaps as a cop or a
reporter on a tip or something.
John: I’ll wait and see how it plays out.
Matt: “Okay Detective, let’s take a
look at what you got.”
Paula: “It’s not a pret-
ty sight.”
76
Detective Savage leads the way as
he pushes past some of the uniformed
cops that are standing around. The
scene inside the warehouse is a griz-
zly one. Amidst an area free of pack-
ing crates several bodies hang on meat
hooks. Blood and more is splashed
around, in the gloom it’s difficult to
see precise details.
Matt: Justin moves slowly about the
scene taking care not to stand in the
congealing pool, “This isn’t typical be-
havior, too much waste.”
(Matt throws a blood token into the
pot.) “Detective, can you shine your
torch over here.” Justin pulls a pen
from his pocket and nudges something
small on the floor, a fang. “Someone
left something behind.”
Paula: “No they didn’t, that looks
like it came from one of the victims.”
Detective Savage shines his torch to
illuminate jaws of one of the corpses,
“The eye teeth have been pulled, as a
trophy perhaps?”
John: You just established a fact
Paula, you need to pay for that.
Paula: Yeah, sorry.
(Paula throws a blood token into the
pot.)
John: I’m going to buy something in
too, there are foot prints in the gore
and before you can examine them
properly there is a shout from one of
the cops. He drags a hobo out from
behind a row of crates. And I’m buying
in as the hobo.
(His blood points go into the pot,
and he quickly writes up some details
for Whiskey Mick.)
“No, no officers, wasn me, wasn me!”
 Matt: “Looks like we might have a “Whoever she is, she’s a midget; look
witness.” at that shoe print, looks like a child’s.”
Paula: “Calm down, you got nothing Paula: Well I guess this will fit to-
to worry about if you just tell us what gether well with that scary little girl
you saw.” scene we have coming up later. I think
we can just about wrap this scene up
John: “Wasn me, I never saw nothin. I
then, or are there any other clues you
was just sleepin it off back there, I didn
need to find.
see nothin.”
Matt: Yeah we need something that
Paula: As much as I hate to resort to
is going to point us in the right direc-
it I think it’s time for Detective Ben to
tion to find this creature.
interrogate the witness, who wants to
play good cop, bad cop? Paula: We don’t have to play out
every aspect of the investigation,
Matt: Bad cop, worse cop you mean.
you guys can always make inquires
Paula: Ben has a Charisma of 3 and between scenes so that you work out
interrogation should come under his where to go.
profession as a detective, so I get 3
Matt: True, but I think she will be
dice with 4s counting as successes.
someplace close, perhaps even watch-
The dice hit the table: 1, 3, 5. Two suc-
ing us right now.
cesses, so I reckon our hobo is due us
some answers. John: The crime scene guys are arriv-
ing now, so that will cut your unofficial
John: “Was me that called the cops,
investigation short. Time to move on,
she said it was time, please don hurt me.
you can always come back when the
She said you wouldn hurt me and I’d get
scene has been documented.
my reward if I did good.”
Matt: Let’s have a look at those
footprints, time to buy another fact.

77