The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

There are four ways to become a vampire, but only the first is common.



Turning

A human must be turned to become a vampire. This is typically called the “Vampire Wedding”. First the vampire bites the human and drinks his blood, but not enough to kill. Then the vampire cuts itself to let the human drink its blood. Finally the vampire will drink from the human again, killing him or her. This must happen immediately during the “Wedding” and if the human is killed by any method other than the vampire’s bite he or she will not be become a vampire. The next evening the human will rise as a vampire. The fledgling vampire should have blood available immediately upon rising. The blood can be given or the fledgling can be made to kill for the blood. If the fledgling does not have blood within six to twelve hours (depending on its constitution), its heart will stop and it will die.

The new vampire is the same type as its sire (except for Demon-Vampires): that is, a Lilith-vampire (or Lillith herself) begets a Lilith-vampire, a Tepes-vampire begets a Tepes-vampire, and a Nosferatu (or Kern himself) begets a Nosferatu.



A person can be forced or deceived into becoming a vampire against his or her will. This is especially the case with Tepes-vampires, since they can hypnotise their victims. While the broad stereotypical powers and weaknesses associated with vampires in the movies correspond to Tepes-Vampire abilities, Lilith-vampires can also use trickery, deception, or force to sire a vampire.



Drinking the blood of the vampire causes a type of sedation in the victim and thereby renders him or her helpless to the second, fatal bite.



Magick

A sufficiently powerful practitioner can turn someone into a Lilith-vampire. Essentially, the practitioner performs the vampire wedding using ritual athemes and goblets rather than the bites. The process still requires blood from a vampire. The victim still has to die before rising to unlife.

Ritual

There is a ritual spell that can turn a human into a Tepes-vampire. It requires invoking the unknown name of God and thereby risks complete retribution from the forces of magick and nature.

The ritual was used only once, on a monk guilty of betrayal. The ritual succeeded to the extent of turning the monk into a vampire, but immediately afterward the invokers spontaneously exploded. The current whereabouts of the victim, now a Tepes-vampire, are unknown.



Deep Curse

There are two types of deep curse, both rather rare. One can only be imposed by the Old Ones, ancient, very powerful, non-humanoid demons. Lillith and Kern are both under such deep curses, accounting for both their powers and natures.

The other type happens when magick and nature (or God) imposes a deep curse on an individual for violations of his own self-nature or conscience, thus creating a new lineage of vampires. Dracula has been so cursed, so far the only such instance.



A vampire does not necessarily have to kill directly after it is sired. This is left up to the sire vampire. Some are like parents and wish to nurture their “children”. They will feed them and gradually introduce them to the concepts of “the Hunt”. Others make their fledgling kill directly after being “born”. The psychology is that the new vampire will need to kill in order to survive, so it might as well start hunting as soon as possible. Others vampires will leave their sired fledglings on their own. This is mostly done as revenge upon a mortal enemy, but some vampires just don’t care. They will leave their children to fend for themselves. Lilith-vampires seem to be more prone to be nurturing types.



Morphs and practitioners can be turned into vampires.



However, morphs are rarely turned because it will change the morph into an extremely dangerous creature. Most morphs kill in order to survive, just like humans. Morphs generally do not need to kill humans in order to survive and most are content taking only what they need. A vampiric morph goes insane with the bloodlust and goes on a rampage, killing humans, other morphs, and even other vampires. So, this practice is considered a taboo.



A practitioner can be turned, but the resulting change in the person’s focus (from the Craft to the Hunt) will limit the practitioner’s abilities. Even if a powerful practitioner is turned, the individual will lose much of its interest in the Craft, and centre its attention on the blood Hunt.