RACES

HUMANS

Based entirely on the real world species, humans are the most numerous and politically dominant in the world. hey are standard or average in terms of biology and physiology.

KINDRED (VAMPIRES)

Kindred is the most common euphemism for a vampire. The term is most commonly used by vampires who strive to maintain their Humanity. Kindred use the term Kindred and kine to refer to all of humanity.

Embrace: The term embrace refer to when a human is turned into a vampire: During the embrace, a vampire drains a candidate of all their blood and replace it with a small amount of their own. When the 'candidate' rises as a new vampire (fledgling), they're extremely hungry. The lower generation the sire is, the longer it takes for the fledgling to rise.

The vampire who initiates the Embrace is the Sire; the new vampire is the sire's childe.

Biology: When a vampire is embraces, their internal organs wither away, and almost all their body fluids are replaced by blood. Vampires use blood (also called vitae) for a variety of purposes; blood replaces most bodily fluids, so vampires will sweat blood and cry blood under certain circumstances. In addition, vampires can use blood to enhance their physical attributes and use supernatural powers called Disciplines. Blood is used to Embrace, as noted above, and also to create ghouls. Finally, vampires can use blood to heal damage.

Some vampires are able to use their own blood to make their body function similar to that of a human for a short amount of time. This grants them the ability to eat and drink human food (Keep in mind that they are still not able to digest the food, so they will have to throw it up later). This also goes for sexual intercourse. Vampires can get drunk, either by drinking larger amounts of alcohol, or by feeding on a human who is already intoxicated.

Feeding: Vampires have to feed on humans in order to regain their lost blood, and while they can feed on animals, most vampires do not enjoy the taste of it, and older vampires will acquire no sustenance from it. The process of taking blood is euphemistically called the Kiss or feeding. Vampires do not have to completely drain a victim, although frenzying vampires are likely to do so. Vampires can hide the puncture marks of feeding by licking the wounds, making the process fairly subtle.

The feeding process is highly pleasurable for both vampires and their victims. 'Vessels' who are drained regularly can become addicted to the Kiss or feeding.

Physical Appearance: Vampires change considerably once embraces. Physically, they are incapable of eating food, vomiting it up almost instantly. Vampires are generally paler and thinner than they were before the embrace. Once embraced, vampires are locked into a form of stasis: They will never again age from the point of their embrace.

Mentality: When embraces, vampires experience extreme intellectual and emotional changes. The vampire is now a predator and has a raging id often referred to as "The Beast". The Beast reacts to a variety of stimuli, notably hunger, anger, fear. The Beast continuously assaults the character, and if the Beast's demands exceed the character's own capacity to control it, will react in a Frenzy. Vampires can permanently lose control to the Beast and enter a state of permanent frenzy. In this condition, all humanity is lost and the vampire becomes a mindless killing machine.

Physical Weaknesses: Vampires are vulnerable to sunlight and fire, as they burn extremely easily and will burn up almost instantly in sunlight (Vampires can still be out in daylight for a shorter amount of time). Outside of this, vampires are extremely hard to kill - bullets do not cause much damage and their superior strength and speed make them hard to hit, let alone damage in combat. When wounded, vampires can pass into a deathlike stasis called Torpor, which allows them to heal more extreme damage. Torpor can last for centuries depending on the circumstances, and as a vampire gets older, Torpor becomes a more attractive option. Some vampires have been in Torpor for millennia.

Physical Strengths: While not entirely superhuman, vampires are stronger, faster and more durable than the average human. While they cannot lift trucks or move faster than a high speeding car, they could lift a king sized bed with relative ease and move up to three times as fast as the average human.

Generation: Every vampire has a generation, numbered from 1 (the original vampire) to 15. A vampire is always one generation higher than his sire. Generation has a variety of effects – mental powers do not work on vampires of a lower generation, and the lower a generation the more potent a vampire can become. Vampires cannot decrease their generation.

GHOULS

A ghoul is a human who is blood-bound to a vampire. To become a ghoul, a human must drink the blood of a vampire - who then become their regnant - and must continue to do so once a month to feel the full benefits. Ghouls are faster, stronger, heal quicker than normal humans (but not as strong, fast or durable as a vampire), and do not age because of the vampire blood. Ghouls have the potential, just as their Master does, to live forever feeding on vampire blood. Aside from this, a ghoul is a regular human in appearance, biology and physiology.

HUNTERS

A hunter is an ordinary human in most ways: They are generally dedicated to fighting the supernatural and protecting humanity from them. The vast majority of hunters work on a smaller scale, either solo or in smaller groups. Hunters tend to have a form of territory that they protect (A town, city neighborhoods, etc), but given that hunters are not organized, some hunters take it upon themselves to protect whole cities.

While hunters are technically born that way, this does not manifest until later in their lives. It's impossible to know if someone is a hunter until their sixth sense 'manifest'. Commonly, this happens during the mid to late twenties. Sometimes later, but very rarely any earlier. This manifestation only awakens around the presence of a supernatural being (i.e vampire) through contact: This does not happen at any earlier point in life. Only during the manifestation.

Powers: Hunters are completely and utterly mortal: They have no inherent supernatural abilities, aside from the fact that they are more aware than that of a human. This means that hunters have a tendency to be aware of a supernatural entity. While they cannot pick a vampire out of a crowd of humans (Unless they're exceptionally experienced, but this is more so seen in older hunters), they get a sort of "sixth sense", telling them there's something off here.

Hunters, more than any other character type, must rely on wits, caution, and group unity to accomplish their goals.

Some, exceptionally well-trained and experienced hunters can further develop their sixth sense into being immune against certain disciplines: For example, mind control. However, this does not happen for new or inexperienced hunters. This immunity works simply by being in a close proximity to a vampire.

Religious Hunters: A devoted, religious hunter may experience their sixth sense as an angelic voice of sorts (Or a voice coming from their deity) that will prompt them in the direction of supernatural beings.