Vampires

[chronodragon]

Does somebody know a good website where i could information about vampires, to make a game design? I'd like to know everything about Vampire classes, crucifix and amulets, powers, dark and light forces, etc. Whatever is related to vampires and could help to define characters, buildings, enviroments, quests, etc.

Thanks on advance! :D

[Eero Tuovinen]

Short answer: Vampires can be perceived as cultural mythology, and you can basicly make them up. There is no real vampires, so anything goes. Just make up what you need and tag the name on it.

More seriously, you could roughly divide the vampiric myths to two categories: European and others. Assuming that you talk about the European variety, the most common styles one sees in fiction are the following:

- The folklore vampire. For this you should familiarize yourself with the Eastern European (Romanian, Bulgarian) and Balkanian folklore, as those are maybe the most fruitful areas. Also consider that actually vampire is just a name for the restless dead, and actually similar night-creatures come up in all mythologies. Use the one you like. This should result in a grim, realistic take, I would think.

- The victorian vampire. The single most important book would be Dracula by Bram Stoker, so read that and if something is left unanswered, take a look at the others (for most of which the English names escape me) like Varney the Vampire. This is your mothers vampire, a romantic bloodsucker symbolising the beast within.

- The Anne Rice vampire. Obviously, read Anne Rice's My Interview with a Vampire and Vampire Lestat (of which the latter may be more illustrative). This is fundamentally the same vampire as in Vampire: the Masquerade, so if you come from there, no need for more reading, just drop the background, keep the logistics (superpowers, secret society) and put in whatever gave you the idea of making a vampire game. Gives a modern, "I'm too cool for my own good" vibe.

- The exotic types. These include different experiments, like psychic vampires, alien vampires and such. Not really usefull for you, as you could as well make your own. The idea in using a predefined monster like a vampire is to stick to the tradition, not break it. Right?

For these all, the best resources are not in the web. You're best off going to a library and getting the books indicated; a couple of good folklore books about vampires are undoubtedly available wherever you are. Dracula should also be there. Probably you'll get Stephen King's Salems lot, and I'd be surprised if they lack all Anne Rice. And get the games others have written about vampires: V:tM and Precious Fluid come to mind, one for a defining and another for an exotic take.

Anyway, if you are really serious about it, do write a little more about your intentions. Despite my newbie appearance I have some little understanding about this place, and the best results come from being serious yourself. And you do talk about tabletop roleplaying, right?

[chronodragon]

Thanks, you gave me a lot of information. But for what i need, maybe i don't stay just with vampires. Looking on the Internet i found this resource:

http://www.pantheon.org/areas/bestiary/articles.html

I need more monsters, and to set a relation between them, about what do they need. Are they looking for a way to reproduce and bring more evil? Or do they want to destroy every human life?

[Ben Lehman]

I need more monsters, and to set a relation between them, about what do they need. Are they looking for a way to reproduce and bring more evil? Or do they want to destroy every human life?

BL>  They want the same two things that all monsters through history have wanted -- to stay alive and to save the world.

yrs--
--Ben

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

Chronodragon, it strikes me that you're not really making your game yet. You're speculating about what the game is about.

That's actually a good thing, but I hope you can see that there's no possible way that we can help you with it. "Monster" means something special to you, and you have to find a way to articulate this so that others can understand it.

Once you get there, then we can help you with all sorts of things in building a good role-playing game. But we can't get you there. I suggest taking some time on your own, writing down a whole list of things that turn you on about "monsters," and then thinking about role-playing with those things turned on High.

But until then, discussion here isn't going to make any difference.

Best,
Ron

[hix]

Really this is just restating Ron and Eero, but here's a couple more points for figuring out your vision for this game:

1) Another couple of vampire sources to look at would be the Preacher graphic novels by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series, a (pretty crappy) novel by Christopher Pike called Season of Passage about vampires from Mars, Vampire Hunter D (anime), and Carrion Comfort (short story and novel) by Dan Simmons.

2) Then compare these and all the other sources that have been suggested. Make lists. See what elements of the vampire myth have been adopted or ignored - and how these changes alter our attitudes towards the vamps. How do these different emphases on "What is a vampire" make you feel while you're reading/watching the stories? What are the elements that really interest you?

The wider you read and compare, I think the more it'll encourage you to really take the vampire (or whatever monster) myth and make it your own.

Steve.