Generic vampires
(Blade movies)
Context
This describes the vampires that appear in the first two Blade movies with Wesley Snipes, in 1998 and 2002. You can also refer to our Blade character profile for more context.
Overview
Vampires in the Blade movie series are the result of a viral infection rather than a supernatural curse. Upon infection (inflicted via the bite of a vampire), the human victim changes into a vampire over the course of the next 72 hours.
The infected subject will grow parasitic new organs, including a set of canine teeth that can extend in length at will. The vampire’s body temperature also drops to approximately 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Though the transformation of a human to a vampire is complete after the first three days, it takes a much longer time for a vampire to fully develop its abilities. This development might be governed by the extent of the infection. Some individuals may simply take to the genetic alterations of the vampire virus better than others, just as the resistance to disease among humans varies.
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Propagation
Vampires seem to need to feed fairly frequently (perhaps as often as once a day, though the exact timing is not certain). Therefore, it seems that the average vampire does not pass on the infection or the planet would probably be overrun with them by now.
It is possible that only those vampires who have developed more extensive vampiric abilities have the necessary viral load to pass along the infection. However, it is more likely that vampires take steps to keep the population down.
Many vampires feed indirectly on supplies from blood banks and quite a few victims may die from the injuries inflicted by feeding (accidentally or deliberately) before the virus has a chance to set in.
Vampire strengths
Most vampires simply possess near-superhuman strength and durability and superhuman regenerative abilities. This includes the vampires seen in the nightclub scenes of both movies (including the bouncers, whose only advantage was being armed). There are a lesser number of vampires that have greater durability and incredible (though not superhuman) speed.
Many of these vampires develop combat skills to complement their greater speed. These are often found as guards to vampire dens. Some of Frost’s elite goons (including the twins in his penthouse), Frost’s right-hand man Quinn, and the guards who ambushed Blade during the fight at the start of the second movie fall into this category. Most of the Bloodpack were also at this level of ability.
A few extremely rare vampires reach the full potential of vampiric prowess. They can move with superhuman speed and agility and have strength and durability far beyond human limits. Blade himself and Nyssa of the Bloodpack were among the few vampires seen to exhibit this maximum state of development.
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Zombies and purebloods
Conversely, some people react very poorly to the vampire virus. Such unfortunate individuals make the change, but they now possess minimal intelligence and never fully heal, their necrotic flesh slowly rotting. These shambling zombies are often put out of their misery by other vampires, but some may be kept as pets.
An example of the latter was the hapless Curtis, an assistant of Dr. Jensen’s who was bit by Quinn but only became a zombie.
Vampires can conceive children. Such children are born as vampires and are known as purebloods among the vampire community. Purebloods are considered superior to those who were born human and later turned, but the distinction seems to be entirely social.
Indeed, highly capable turned vampires such as Deacon Frost were just as physically capable as the best purebloods. They were able to rise to leadership positions in the vampire nations as ably as purebloods.
Vampire weaknesses
The strengths of vampires are complemented by a set of weaknesses. Though vampires can usually regenerate even after they have been killed (eventually returning to life), massive damage to their hearts or heads will permanently kill them. Such measures include impalement and decapitation.
Vampires have severe allergies to silver and garlic, the former burning away parts of their bodies and the latter disintegrating them like acid. Exposure to sunlight or any other strong UV radiation source will quickly immolate vampires.
When vampires die permanently, their bodies will quickly burn to ash. This reaction is particularly pyrotechnic if they are killed by UV radiation. Dr. Jensen’s anti-coagulant formula EDTA has been discovered to have an effect similar to garlic, though much more pronounced. Vampires injected with EDTA will quickly suffer massive swelling throughout their body until they explode.
Vampires also need to feed on blood at least once every three days. If they fail to do so, they begin to physically deteriorate and the thirst will begin to override their self-control.
Blade: “You’ve been watching too much TV. They’ve got their claws into everything — politics, finance, real estate. They already own half of downtown.”
Vampire nations
The vampires of Blade have an intricate secretive empire composed of at least a dozen clans. These are referred to collectively as the vampire nations.
The vampire nations are intertwined with human society. This works in much the same way as organized crime is often intertwined with legitimate business and government. The hidden groups exercise a certain measure of power and influence with the tacit consent of legitimate interests in exchange for sharing some of that same power.
Human servants of the vampire nations usually have the sigil of their master tattooed somewhere upon them. This keeps vampires of other clans from feeding upon them and they hope to someday be turned for their loyal service. Vampire lairs are also marked with these sigils.
The depredations of Blade and Whistler have had a profound effect on the vampire nations. They have already begun to display their sigils less openly. Tattooed sigil are now often found on the inside lower lip rather than the more traditional (and obvious) locations on the nape of the neck or the back of the hand. Vampire lairs are now marked with sigils whose paints are only visible in infra-red.
The recent death of the vampire nations’ Overlord Damaskinos during the Reaper crisis is likely to exacerbate the disarray of the vampire nations. But it remains to be seen how strongly this will affect the vampire community as a whole.
Older or more prestigious vampires all around the world are adept at using the (secret) vampire language. This serves as a social marker as well as hiding their mutual communication from humans who hear them. New breed will usually not know the vampire language. This tongue vaguely resembles Hungarian, but is actually some sort of mix of Uralic and Slavic languages.
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
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Becoming a vampire
Anyone who suffers at least one RAP from a vampire’s Poison Touch will be infected by the vampire virus. This infection can be halted in the early stages by injection of garlic essence within the first hour (10 APs). But the chances of this succeeding are limited — reroll the Poison Touch attack with it needed to get at least 1 RAP again for the infection to continue.
EDTA has proven to be much more successful in halting the infection. In these cases Poison Touch is rerolled against an OV/RV of 10 or the target’s BODY +1CS, whichever is higher.
If the infection is successful, the change occurs over the next three days (17 APs). The end result is that the subject will get the stats of a typical vampire except for Physical Attributes and Powers that are equal to or greater than a typical vampire’s. In the latter case, add the APs of the relevant stats together using AP math.
Newly changed characters will retain all previous HPs, Powers, Skills and other stats except for whatever exceptions are deemed appropriate by the GM.
A variant of EDTA has even been developed to change a turned vampire back into a human. It was seen in Blade’s rescue of Whistler. The treatment involves a contest using the target’s BODY as both AV/EV and OV/RV as the body fights itself to reverse the process.
The target transforms back into a human being if at least 1 RAP is scored, with the total time of transformation equaling 15 APs minus the RAPs achieved. This process has been noted as being unlikely to work on pureblood vampires as the changes are an innate part of the victim’s genetics if the subject has been a vampire since birth.
The following are generic entries for vampire types of increasing power.
Zombie
| Dex: 02 | Str: 05 | Bod: 06 | Motivation: Psychopath |
| Int: 01 | Wil: 01 | Min: 01 | Occupation: Mindless predator |
| Inf: 01 | Aur: 01 | Spi: 01 | Resources {or Wealth}: N/A |
| Init: 004 | HP: N/A |
Powers:
Analytical smell/Tracking scent: 02, Invisibility: 04, Poison Touch: 02, Vampirism: 03
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Invisibility only works against Thermal Vision (-2FC).
- Poison Touch only affects victims who have lost at least 1 AP of Current BODY due to Vampirism (-2FC).
- Poison Touch does not damage the victim, but rather turns victim into a vampire if it scores at least 1 RAP (x2BC, +2FC).
- Vampirism has No Range and No AV (-2FC).
Advantages:
Conditional Recovery (Can subtract 5 HPs from cost of Desperation Recovery if he drinks blood first, 20 points), Miscellaneous (Vampires can heal normally even after death, unless the killing blow (i.e., the one that reduced Current Body APs to negative BODY) was inflicted on the heart or head (such attacks must be declared as Critical Blows), 100 points), Miscellaneous (Vampires can regenerate lost limbs through normal healing), Stabilization.
Drawbacks:
- Attack Vulnerability (Silver, -2CS to RV).
- Miscellaneous (Essence of garlic attacks vampires as if they were hit with a 6 AP Disintegration attack ; EDTA is the equivalent of a 12 AP Disintegration attack).
- Miscellaneous (UV radiation is a Disintegration attack ranging from 6 APs (UV lamps/flashlights) to 16 APs (UV bomb/full sunlight) — Flash Powers with UV light make a Disintegration attack with APs equal to 3xAPs of Flash).
- Gradual Loss Vulnerability (All Physical Attributes and Powers, lack of using Vampirism every 24 hours (15 APs of time)).
- Miscellaneous (Once the vampire’s Gradual Loss Vulnerability activates he develops an MIA to Blood; every 24 hours thereafter this Drawback is increased by one rank up to a maximum of Catastrophic (at that point the vampire also suffers Minor Rage).
- Strange Appearance (rotting flesh).
Note:
Zombies are unfortunates who succumbed to the vampire virus but did not complete the change. Instead, these shambling mockeries exist in a half-dead state, slow and nearly mindless yet possessed of vampiric strength and endurance. Zombies are usually dispatched by other vampires, though a vampire lord might keep one or two around for entertainment.
Typical vampire
| Dex: 05 | Str: 05 | Bod: 06 | Motivation: Psychopath |
| Int: 03 | Wil: 03 | Min: 03 | Occupation: Clan servants/thugs |
| Inf: 03 | Aur: 03 | Spi: 03 | Resources {or Wealth}: 004 |
| Init: 011 | HP: 005 |
Powers:
Analytical smell/Tracking scent: 03, Invisibility: 04, Invulnerability: 04, Poison Touch: 02, Ultra Vision: 03, Vampirism: 03
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Invisibility only works against Thermal Vision (-2FC).
- Invulnerability only works versus Aging Acceleration attacks (-6FC).
- Poison Touch only affects victims who have lost at least 1 AP of Current BODY due to Vampirism (-2FC).
- Poison Touch does not damage the victim, but rather turns victim into a vampire if it scores at least 1 RAP (x2BC, +2FC).
- Vampirism has No Range and No AV (-2FC).
Skills:
Some typical vampires have Weaponry (Firearms, Melee)*: 05
Advantages:
Conditional Recovery (Can subtract 5 HPs from cost of Desperation Recovery if he drinks blood first, 20 points), Miscellaneous (Vampires can heal normally even after death, unless the killing blow (i.e., the one that reduced Current Body APs to negative BODY) was inflicted on the heart or head (such attacks must be declared as Critical Blows), 100 points), Miscellaneous (Vampires can regenerate lost limbs through normal healing), Stabilization.
Drawbacks:
- Attack Vulnerability (Silver, -2CS to RV).
- Miscellaneous (Essence of garlic attacks vampires as if they were hit with a 6 AP Disintegration attack; EDTA is the equivalent of a 12 AP Disintegration attack).
- Miscellaneous (UV radiation is a Disintegration attack ranging from 6 APs (UV lamps/flashlights) to 16 APs (UV bomb/full sunlight) — Flash Powers with UV light make a Disintegration attack with APs equal to 3xAPs of Flash).
- Gradual Loss Vulnerability (All Physical Attributes and Powers, lack of using Vampirism every 24 hours (15 APs of time)).
- Miscellaneous (Once the vampire’s Gradual Loss Vulnerability activates he develops an MIA to Blood; every 24 hours thereafter this Drawback is increased by one rank up to a maximum of Catastrophic (at that point the vampire also suffers Minor Rage).
Connections:
Vampires usually have a Low Connection to their particular clan.
Note:
Most of the vampires encountered in the movies fall into this category. Even most of the thugs and guards in vampire lairs are only typical vampires with the optional Weaponry skills and either guns or melee weapons. Priest and Verlaine of the Bloodpack were also typical vampires, presumably with additional skills and/or connections that made them useful to the team.
Vampire warriors
| Dex: 07 | Str: 06 | Bod: 06 | Motivation: Psychopath |
| Int: 04 | Wil: 05 | Min: 04 | Occupation: Bodyguards |
| Inf: 03 | Aur: 04 | Spi: 04 | Resources {or Wealth}: 006 |
| Init: 018 | HP: 015 |
Powers:
Analytical smell/Tracking scent: 04, Invisibility: 04, Invulnerability: 06, Jumping: 01, Poison Touch: 04, Ultra Vision: 04, Vampirism: 04
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Invisibility only works against Thermal Vision (-2FC).
- Invulnerability only works versus Aging Acceleration attacks (-6FC).
- Poison Touch only affects victims who have lost at least 1 AP of Current BODY due to Vampirism (-2FC).
- Poison Touch does not damage the victim, but rather turns victim into a vampire if it scores at least 1 RAP (x2BC, +2FC).
- Vampirism has No Range and No AV (-2FC).
Skills:
Martial Artist*: 07, Weaponry (Firearms, Melee)*: 07
Advantages:
Conditional Recovery (Can subtract 5 HPs from cost of Desperation Recovery if he drinks blood first, 20 points), Lightning Reflexes, Miscellaneous (Vampires can heal normally even after death, unless the killing blow (i.e., the one that reduced Current Body APs to negative BODY) was inflicted on the heart or head (such attacks must be declared as Critical Blows), 100 points), Miscellaneous (Vampires can regenerate lost limbs through normal healing), Stabilization.
Drawbacks:
- Attack Vulnerability (Silver, -2CS to RV).
- Miscellaneous (Essence of garlic attacks vampires as if they were hit with a 6 AP Disintegration attack; EDTA is the equivalent of a 12 AP Disintegration attack).
- Miscellaneous (UV radiation is a Disintegration attack ranging from 6 APs (UV lamps/flashlights) to 16 APs (UV bomb/full sunlight) — Flash Powers with UV light make a Disintegration attack with APs equal to 3xAPs of Flash).
- Gradual Loss Vulnerability (All Physical Attributes and Powers, lack of using Vampirism every 24 hours (15 APs of time)).
- Miscellaneous (Once the vampire’s Gradual Loss Vulnerability activates he develops an MIA to Blood; every 24 hours thereafter this Drawback is increased by one rank up to a maximum of Catastrophic (at that point the vampire also suffers Minor Rage).
Connections:
Vampire warriors usually have a High Connection to their particular clan.
Notes:
This is a rarer form of vampire, distinguished predominantly by slightly greater physical ability and combat skill. It’s possible that most vampires never reach this category simply because they are content in their natural physical superiority to average humans and never bother to push themselves further.
Examples of vampire warriors include the martial artist duo Blade fought in the hallway in Deacon Frost’s building, the guards in the lair at the start of the second movie, and most of the Bloodpack.
Vampire elite
| Dex: 09 | Str: 07 | Bod: 07 | Motivation: Psychopath |
| Int: 06 | Wil: 06 | Min: 06 | Occupation: Servitor |
| Inf: 07 | Aur: 06 | Spi: 06 | Resources {or Wealth}: 010 |
| Init: 028 | HP: 030 |
Powers:
Analytical smell/Tracking scent: 06, Invisibility: 04, Invulnerability: 10, Jumping: 02, Poison Touch: 06, Ultra Vision: 06, Vampirism: 05
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Invisibility only works against Thermal Vision (-2FC).
- Invulnerability only works versus Aging Acceleration attacks (-6FC).
- Poison Touch only affects victims who have lost at least 1 AP of Current BODY due to Vampirism (-2FC).
- Poison Touch does not damage the victim, but rather turns victim into a vampire if it scores at least 1 RAP (x2BC, +2FC).
- Vampirism has No Range and No AV (-2FC).
Skills:
Acrobatics*: 09, Martial Artist*: 09, Weaponry (Firearms, Melee)*: 09
Advantages:
Conditional Recovery (Can subtract 5 HPs from cost of Desperation Recovery if he drinks blood first, 20 points), Iron Nerves, Lightning Reflexes, Miscellaneous (Vampires can heal normally even after death, unless the killing blow (i.e., the one that reduced Current Body APs to negative BODY) was inflicted on the heart or head (such attacks must be declared as Critical Blows), 100 points), Miscellaneous (Vampires can regenerate lost limbs through normal healing), Scholar (The vampire nations), Stabilization.
Drawbacks:
- Attack Vulnerability (Silver, -2CS to RV).
- Miscellaneous (Essence of garlic attacks vampires as if they were hit with a 6 AP Disintegration attack; EDTA is the equivalent of a 12 AP Disintegration attack).
- Miscellaneous (UV radiation is a Disintegration attack ranging from 6 APs (UV lamps/flashlights) to 16 APs (UV bomb/full sunlight) — Flash Powers with UV light make a Disintegration attack with APs equal to 3xAPs of Flash).
- Gradual Loss Vulnerability (All Physical Attributes and Powers, lack of using Vampirism every 24 hours (15 APs of time)).
- Miscellaneous (Once the vampire’s Gradual Loss Vulnerability activates he develops an MIA to Blood; every 24 hours thereafter this Drawback is increased by one rank up to a maximum of Catastrophic (at that point the vampire also suffers Minor Rage).
Connections:
Elite vampires have a High Connection to their particular clan and a Low Connection to the vampire nations as a whole. Elite purebloods’ Connections to all of the vampire nations are usually High.
Note:
These vampires are few and far between, representing the peak of vampire physical celerity. Only Deacon Frost, Nyssa, and Assad from the movies fell into this category.
Damaskinos would also be an elite vampire, but his physical abilities would be greatly reduced due to his extreme old age. A quick solution to generate stats for such an elder would be to swap the Physical and Mental Attributes, add linked Charisma, and drop Jumping.
Source of Character: Blade and Blade II (movies).
Helper(s): Peter S Piispanen, Nick Yankovec, Sébastien Andrivet, Shane Rasmussen.