Power and Weakness Guidelines*

[Zeo DiPaulo]

Part One

To help members better understand Vampiric abilities based on in acquisition type. They are ordered as followed

[/font][/b][li]Bloodline Specific[/li]
[li]Inherited - born/turned[/li]
[li]Inherited - drained[/li]
[li]Regional/National[/li]
[li] Historical/Event[/li]
[li]Individual[/li]
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Bloodline Specific: 

These powers are passed on from parent to child, or from bond sire/mother to progeny (turned). They are specific to the blood line and while there may, in some cases, be similar powers, they are only present in vampires of the bloodline from which they are from (or if a vampire happens to succeed in 'inheritting' the power through draining a vampire with it). Some Bloodline Specific powers are extreme enough in their nature that they make the vampires more respected and feared in vampiric society. These powers are the determining factor in the lines of vampiric royals and nobles. Not every bloodline specific power makes a vampire esteemed in the vampiric community because of it. In cases where a power is that of a royal or noble line, each allows for a number of generational skips (deterimined by how many generational skips can occur with the power still turning up somewhere along the line ) during which any progeny maintains the royal or noble status. Those that have actively inherrited the ability are 'active' royals/nobles

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Inherrited-born/turned: 

These are powers that, like the bloodline abilities, are passed on from parent to child (or progeny). However, these abilities are prevalant in a wider range of vampires, and is not specific to any particular line of vampires. Whether an inherrited ability because active in a vampire can be effected by the life style of a vampire, but even if it does not become active, a vampire can still pass it on if it was inherrited in a dormant state.

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Inherited-drained:

Any ability can be acquired through draining another vampire, however the likelihood of this depends on the power, and the vampire doing the draining. Generally speaking, only one ability is ever inherited at any one time, and which power is not within the control of the vampire doing it. The more powerful the vampire being drained the more likely something will be inherited but that also makes it far less like one will get the chance.

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Regional/National specific:

Regional or national powers are abilities that vampires are likely to obtain given living in a specific part of world or within a given nation. With many national or regional powers this is based on ancestory, especially in vampires from the "old world". However, if a vampire spends a significant amount of time somewhere and developes a very tight bond with his/her location or nation, such a power can be developed. In turned vampires regional and national powers are determined by the turned vampire, not the the one that has turned him/her. Regional powers should be based on the environment of the area in the appropriate time period. For example, a vampire from India is not going to have a regional ability that has to do with the cold, while a vampire from Russia could. National abilities should relate to the values, icons, and practices of the nation in the relevant time period.

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Historical/Event specific:

Historical and event specific powers are both determined by what a vampire has been present to be a part of. In the case of historical, a vampire was a part of a nation or lived in a region where some major historical event or movement has taken place that the vampire has developed a related ability to. No vampire who was not a part of this through at the very least nationality cannot possess an histoical specific ability. Event is a more personally developed power based on what has happend in a vampire's life, but the same principles apply.

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Individual-special/standard: 

Many abilities may be individual based, in other words, your vampire simply has this power. In the case of individual powers, many should be based on a vampire's history, personality and core beliefs if they are specially crafted abilities. Members may ask admin to reserve the right for an ability to be shared with other characters only through the member's approval; however, this ability must be well designed and explained, as well as considerable effort being put into creating it. That being said, members will please refrain from looking for powers to copy from others, even if they have not been aproved be exclusive.

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Once you have read all of the above information, please go to Part Two of this section of the guidelines. 

[Zeo DiPaulo]

Part Two

VAMPIRES/DHAMPIRS

Guide to how many powers to account for:

High Vampires - up to 5

Elite Vampires - Up to 3

Master Vampires - Up to 2

Initiate Vampires - One

Humans - (Pet or Slave only) may have up to two, as long as one of them is non-offensive.

Dhamphirs - One

Lycanthropes - One

Please note that a Dhamphir's single 'special' power will not be as strong as an Initiate's vampire's. Also, a lycanthrope may be strong in comparison to a human or even a dhampir, they do not exceed the power of even an Initiate level vampire, though they could put up a good fight with one if they had to. HUMAN GIFTS CAN BE FOUND IN THE GUIDELINES SECTION FOR THE HUMAN RACE.

 VAMPIRE/DHAMPIR

STANDARD POWERS

Below is a list of /all/ powers that vampires and Dhampirs automatically have - from the lowest to the highest classification. The higher your class is, the stronger these powers are.[/i]

1. Enhanced Strength, Speed, Reflexes and Senses - All vampires/Dhampirs possess these, though the higher a vampire's classification is the more intense these enhancements are.

2. Anticoagulant Saliva (Vampire and Dhampir) - this keeps blood from clotting and allows wounds to stay open for a proper feed.

3. Immortality (Vampire Only) - all vampires will live for as long as they avoid getting decapitated, and will remain youthful in appearance as they do so.

4. Glamour(Vampire Only) - This works only on humans as a standard ability. Glamouring is a form of hypnosis that requires eye contact between the vampire and the human. Once that eye contact is made, a vampire can then use their voices to make a human do his/her bidding.

5. Enhanced Lifespan(Dhampir Only) - though Dhampir do still have a very definite time of death, they can live for up to two or three hundred years.

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CHOSEN POWERS - Vampire/Dhampir

Below is a list of some examples of powers that you may choose for your vampire/dhamphir character. Feel free to make up your own. We do reserve the right to deny any powers that we see fit to.

Blush of Life- this power allows a vampire to appear to be genuinely alive. Your skin has that hint of color, your heart beats at a normal pace and you feel warm to the touch.

Special Bite- While the average vampire bite feels vaguely comforting, your bite has a little something extra - enhancing the sensations or manipulating them in some form or another. *You may only choose this power once.*

Secondary Food Source - Some vampires can feed on various types of energies or emotions in ADDITION to blood. When choosing this power, please be aware that you MUST pick ONE type of energy or emotion and that your character MUST still consume blood.

Retractable Fangs - Your average vampire's fangs are visible and easily defined, but with this power - your fangs retract back into your gums and appear to be, for all intents and purposes, 'normal' human teeth.

Mask - With this power you are able to hide what you are from humans and perhaps even other vampires.

Animal to Call - Your vampire can summon one type of animal to them in times of need. When active, all animals of this type will come to you.

Defy Gravity - Your vampire can walk up walls, walk on ceilings and even fly without wings.


Secondary Form - You can shape shift into some other form. When choosing this power, you can only choose it once, and you must choose from the following forms: Fog, Mist, A sentient pool of blood or acid, A mass of spiders, A mass of snakes, A mass of wasps, A single GIANT spider or snake, a single bird of prey, A mass of bats. *If you have a suggestion for anything else, please let us know so we can consider it.

Natural Disaster - Your vampire can call tornadoes, cause earthquakes, cause tsunamis, or cause volcanic erruptions. Choose one and one only.

Sinkhole - This allows your vampire to absorb into the earth and use it as one would a coffin - a good way to find a safe place to sleep when you are unable to return home
to keep out of the sun's harmful ways.

Daywalker - Your vampire can walk for extended periods of time in the sun's light. This is NOT an immunity, it just takes a bit longer for the sun's rays to take effect.

Dreamweaver - Your vampire can visit a victim in their dreams and feed from them and gain physical sustenance from this dream.

The Illusionist - Your vampire can weave illusions that can entrap a victim, make them see, touch, and taste things that are not there - leading them happily into their death even as your vampire drains them dry...

Eye of the Beast-You can see through the animal of your choice's eyes. This is mostly used as a spying sort of ability. This is not like Animal to Call, where you can summon that animal to do your bidding, but you /can/ exert some level of control over the animal as you use it. ((Needs a bit more explaining too))

Unnatural healing – While all vampires can heal non-severe wounds with relative speed, this power makes it hard to tell a wound was ever delivered in the first place. This power works slower according to the severity of the wound, but usually even the most severe wounds will eventually close up.

These are just some examples of powers your vampire could possibly have. If you're not fond of any of these, then please feel free to try and make up your own.

LYCANTHROPES

Below you'll find a list of allowable powers for lycanthropes. You may of course, feel free to make up your own if you don't see any recommendations you like.

STANDARD POWERS

1. Enhanced strength, speed, reflexes, and senses. These are stronger than a human's,as strong as a dhampir's but not as strong as an Initiate vampire's.

2. Human Size - lycanthropic forms are generally at least as big as they are when in human form, if not larger. This does not impact things like speed.

3. Acute Healing - lycanthropes heal at an extremely rapid rate - often so rapid that it makes it difficult to recall them being wounded at all.

4. Painless Shift - All lyanthropes shift easily and without pain.

CHOSEN POWERS

1. Bond - This allows a lycanthrope to form a bond with a human, dhampir, vampire or even another lycanthrope that opens up a one way empathic link between them. Consumption of the lycanthrope's blood MUST occur and the lycanthrope must desire the bond to happen.

2. Partial Shift - the lycanthrope has access to teeth and claws in their human form.

3. Multiple Forms - Somehow, you contracted multiple strains of the lycanthropy virus and rather than one being dominant, they all melded together. This allows you to have mutliple lycan forms at your disposal to use. (Max of Three please )

4. Call of Nature - You can call to other lycanthropes in your area, requesting them to aid you.

5. Sixth Sense - You have a certain level of precognition that allows you to know when some things are going to happen before they actually do.

6. Superiority - One of your standardly enhanced senses, strength, speed or reflexes is enhanced FAR beyond that of a normal lycanthrope and could even be on par with a Master Vampire's.

7. The Gift - You have slightly mediumistic abilities that allow you to commune with the dead.

8. The Mask - You can hide what you are from those that can sense it.

9. Dictator - when this power is focused on a single target, that target will do whatever you command it to for up to two hours' worth of time.

Weaknesses

Below you'll find a list of weaknesses - both standard and non-standard. Anything that is standard means that all vampires have them. Anything non-standard means that they are a chosen weakness. All vampires/dhamphirs MUST have all the standard weaknesses and MUST choose at least ONE chosen weakness. If you think of another weakness other than the ones listed, please feel free to use it. PLEASE NOTE: NONE OF THESE WEAKNESSES REALLY SUIT A HUMAN CHARACTER, BUT ALL HUMAN CHARACTERS MUST STILL HAVE AT LEAST TWO WEAKNESSES. HUMANS GET TO MAKE THEIRS UP, BUT ADMIN. RESERVES THE RIGHT TO DENY YOUR CHARACTER IF WE DON'T FEEL YOUR WEAKNESSES ARE ADEQUATE.

STANDARD

Vampires/Dhampirs

1. Stake - while this does not KILL a vampire, it will put them into a state of deep sleep. The vampire will not wake from this state of sleep until the stake is removed. Staking is LETHAL to a dhampir.

2.Sunlight [Vampire only] – Universal weakness. Many do fall into a coma like state at dawn, sunlight is known to be fatal. Death by sunlight is not a pretty or desirous end. It is a slow and painful death, causing skin to blister and peel back and muscle and tissue to turn into liquefied mush. It is an undignified way to go and many a vampire - even the oldest - are known to shudder at just the thought of such a death. (exception to this rule is Thea who has inherited Sun Immunity by drinking the blood of an ancient who had acquired that rare power )

3. Fire – All vampires and dhampirs are weak against fire and are susceptible to burning

4. Decapitation – All vampires and dhampirs receive the True Death when their heads are removed.

5. Invitation(vampire only) – All vampires must be invited into a human's personal dwelling.

6. Dead blood – While vampires and dhampirs can feed off of weaker vampires/dhampirs for sustenance, and if they consume all of a higher vampires blood they can inherit their powers; feeding from a corpse will severely weaken a vampire - sometimes to the point of the vampire dying because of it.

7. Death of Clan Master/maker (vampire only unless a dhampir is bound to a clan)- all vampires are bound to their clan master and/or maker. If your vampire's clan master or maker is killed, your vampire may not survive their death. If the vampire is very young and weak, the vampire will die. If the vampire survives, that vampire will be left effected in a very negative way (ie: emotional bereftness, insanity...etc.). This is not necessarily as extreme for Dhampirs, but any dhampir that IS bound to a clan master or mistress will still feel the effects of their death in some way.

CHOSEN WEAKNESSES - VAMPIRE/Dhampir

1.Running Water – Some vampires cannot cross running water.

2. Holy Symbols – Some vampires were very religious before being turned, or were raised in a largely religious area. This could result in certain holy items being used to weaken the vampire.

3.No reflection – Sometimes vampires do not have reflection in a mirror or other reflective surface.

4. Soil of home lands – A vampire can only travel away from their homeland if they have soil from that homeland on their person.

5. Mental Mortality – Not all vampires can handle the mental burden of living forever. Although their bodies are capable of withstanding the passing centuries, their minds just cannot comprehend such drastic changes. They usually become reckless and even paranoid, either putting themselves or the clan in danger, the latter being means for the clan to put them down.

6. Silver - While most vampires don't have any particular sensitivity to silver, there are some that do.

7. Power Susceptibility - Your vampire is particularly susceptible to this type of influence.

8. Garlic - Like the old world superstition says, garlic repels you.

9. Haunted - One of your past victims haunts you viciously, and makes your life a living hell.

10. Offensive to Animals - There's something about you that makes animals flee.

11. Bound - You owe someone, somewhere big time. This might not be your maker, but rather someone outside of your maker.

CHOSEN WEAKNESSES - LYCANTHROPE

1. Slow Healer - You heal human-slow.

2. Hair-trigger Shift - Your shift is brought on even with the slightest emotional upheaval.

3. Territorial - Your space is yours, and you simply don't take kindly to others that may find their way into it.

4. Bound

5. Known Lycanthrope - You are a known lycanthrope, and this makes it difficult for you to find employment or to even just live among humans..

6. Missing Sense - In your lycan form, you are missing one of your senses. It can be your sense of smell, sight, touch or taste..

7. Old Injury - You have an old wound from a past fight that plagues you and makes it difficult for you to move without pain in both your forms.

8. Addicted to the Blood - Somewhere along the line, you got a taste of a vampire's blood, and now you crave it night and day.

9. Cowardly - In your lycan form, you are more prone to flight than fight.

10. Technodrain - For some reason, electronically run things just don't seem to work properly around you. You drain batteries in cars, watches, clocks quickly and lights occasionally short out, drawing attention to you constantly.

11. Repellant - something about you repels other animals. Perhaps you have a particularly strong scent, or perhaps there's just something unpleasant about your aura.

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TAKEN BLOODLINE POWERS

Please Note: These are all bloodline abilities and therefore are not available for any other character to use. 

[li]Aura of Intrigue (Hasselt Bloodline)

[/li]
[li]Bestial Call (Helgison Bloodline)[/li]
[li]Bite of Ecstasy (DiPaulo Bloodline)[/li]
[li]Call of Storm (Brauer Bloodline)[/li]
[li]Death Whisper (Thea's Bloodline)[/li]
[li]Emperor’s Charm (Brauer Bloodline)[/li]
[li]Eyes of Osiris (Brauer "Inherited" Bloodline)[/li]
[li]Mass Glamour (DiPaulo Bloodline)[/li]
[li]Mortalis (Brauer Bloodline)[/li]
[li]Secondary Form – Wolf (Brauer Bloodline)[/li]
[li]Sun Immunity (Persephone "Inherited Bloodline")[/li]
[li]Unified Stance (Brauer/Hasselt Bloodline)[/li]
[li]Vampiric Glamour (Hasselt Bloodline)[/li]
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If you have read all of the above rules, please include the phrase  "Power concedes nothing without a demand."  in the appropriate spot in your joining info.