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Thoughts on Vampire Culture


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Throwing this one open for ideas:

Thoughts on vampire culture

There are around a hundred 'independent' vampires in Freedom City, freely-roaming predators of the night who feast on the blood of the living. Another thirty or so are part of Melinda's personal household, traveling with her as she moves from nest to nest and acting as her personal bodyguards, lackeys, and slaves.

Roughly eight out of ten are "nightstalkers," the most common bloodline among vampires. They have the typical strengths and weaknesses of vampires in the Freedom City universe. A small minority are daywalkers like Jack, whose ability to walk in the day make them very valuable to vampire society. They had status, quite a bit of status, but they have to earn their status by doing exactly what the queen tells them. They are not allowed to run cities.

Some vampires have souls; some vampires don't. There is no one cause for vampirism, though almost all vampires seem to have some basic connection to der Schattenwelt. The majority of vampires aren't innately evil upon their transformation, but vampire society generally rewards inhumanity and encourages its members to think of themselves as better than people.

Life in the city of heroes isn't easy for vampires. Melinda has survived, even prospered, because unlike many centuries-old vampires she only really goes mad when one of her "people" betrays her in one way or another. She'll happily make deals with supervillans if the situation calls for it and if she can do it without crimping her lifestyle, but she'll sell them out to superheroes (through channels) just as easily. She has plenty of money and plenty of power, the only things she wants out of unlife are blood and some fun.

Melinda rose to power in the city after the Terminus Invasion, which claimed the unlife of the city's previous master Kong Wei. She is fairly powerful for your average vampire, but her main strength is her social networking and her friends. She has minions besides vampires, pets accumulated as gifts and strategies. There are more "vampire junkies" out there than people realize, cultists and Goths who hide their tattoos and scars under long-sleeved shirts when they walk in the day.

Though some relatively powerful vampires, like Jack, live with their households or singly, many of them live in packs. The largest of these, consisting of about twenty 'souls', currently resides in in a large 'McMansion' in Grenville, the relative anonymity of the suburb providing them with perfect cover as they head back and forth into the city every night. Missing pets, and the occasional person, are a common problem in Grenville.

The largest nest inside Freedom City proper is the Theatre District, eleven vampires under the rule of a set designer for Cats. The main rule for vampire culture in Freedom City is caution; they know what will likely happen if the superheroes in the city turn on them. If they can get away with it, vampires can do anything that doesn't specifically contradict Melinda's orders. If the police or superheroes begin hunting them, Melinda will most likely give them up at the first order. She'll protect her people, but not from anything stupid they've done.

Any more thoughts?

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How do Melinda's Vamps, the Theatre District Vamps, and the Greenville McMansion Vamps all view each other?

Is the Cats set designer who rules the elevent Theatre vamps also a vamp, or something else?

Are the Nighstalkers (Standard FC Vamps) and Daywalkers (vamps like Avenger) the only two kinds? Are there other bloodlines (perhaps tied to geographic regions)?

Why do some vamps have souls, but some don't? Is it tied to the specific bloodline (i.e., all vamps of Bloodline X have souls, all vamps of Bloodline Y don't), or is it more individual than that?

Melinda, if played as an NPC (which you seem to be doing a lot of) is going to be limited to five PL 6 Vamps (or ten PL 4 Vamps) active/with her at any one time, per our house rules on Minions.

Speaking of Melinda, why the change in her personality? Iron Age Villains and Vigilantes says she'd be one of FC's greatest villains if not for her complete obsession with destroying Nightrage, but he was destroyed in the Terminus Invasion.

What are the causes of vampirism? Who/what was the first vampire? Was there a true "First Vampire," with all the bloodlines descending/mutating from it, or were there several "First Vampires"?

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Another question:

Roughly eight out of ten are "nightstalkers," the most common bloodline among vampires. They have the typical strengths and weaknesses of vampires in the Freedom City universe. A small minority are daywalkers like Jack, whose ability to walk in the day make them very valuable to vampire society. They had status, quite a bit of status, but they have to earn their status by doing exactly what the queen tells them. They are not allowed to run cities.

Why is Melinda (a Nightstalker) paling around with Avenger (a Daywalker)? What has he done to prove himself to her, to earn his apparent "she treats him better than a moderately useful lackey/pawn" status?

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Another question:

Why is Melinda (a Nightstalker) paling around with Avenger (a Daywalker)? What has he done to prove himself to her, to earn his apparent "she treats him better than a moderately useful lackey/pawn" status?

She treats him better than a moderately useful lackey/pawn? Not from what I've seen.

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