| From: | "Gurth" <gurth@******.nl> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Vampire --> SR, part 2 |
| Date: | Thu, 4 Apr 1996 21:55:08 +0100 |
Vampire: The Masquerade provides an excellent background for roleplaying vampires in a
modern-day
setting. For those who like something different, this article and its follow-up attempt to
outline how to place
Kindred into the world of FASA's Shadowrun game: 2055, after the return of magic to the
world and the
invention of cybernetics and the global computer network known as the Matrix. Firm
background knowledge of
Shadowrun is recommended to make the most of the possibilities this cross-over offers.
This, the first article,
gives general adaptions in terms of background material -- how to fit Vampire: The
Masquerade into the Sixth
World; the second article explains how to convert your V:TM character to Shadowrun stats,
in order for players
to be able to use Shadowrun rules while still playing Vampire.
The Awakening
Kindred existed before the Awakening -- it's a simple matter to use Shadowrun's timeline
to bridge the gap
between the World of Darkness and the Sixth World. There is absolutely nothing that needs
to be changed, but
there are some things you should bear in mind.
First, no vampire can have been aware of the coming Awakening. Mana cycles last for around
5,200 years,
most likely longer than any living vampire remembers. If you use the Earthdawn tie-in
(Earthdawn is the
Fourth World, Shadowrun the Sixth), there is an additional point to keep in mind: there
are no vampires in
Earthdawn. At least, not yet; Lou Prosperi (the Earthdawn line developer) once commented
that, if they'll ever
appear in Earthdawn, they would first have to be thought through /very/ well.
The Awakening would probably hit vampires in the face just as hard as it did mortals. As a
side effect, you
could very well have a metahuman vampire who was Embraced hundreds of years before the
Awakening --
when the Awakening came, the magic working on her metahuman genes proves stronger even
than unlife, and
the human vampire "transforms" into a metahuman vampire. Of course this is up to
the gamemaster to decide,
and roleplaying such characters would be a careful exercise for players. What traumas did
their Awakening
leave them with? How do other Kindred of their age react to them? Do they accept their own
new form at all?
Sanguisuga europa
The vampire as most inhabitants of the Sixth World know them, these creatures are a result
of the infection
of a human with the HMHVV. They are not true vampires, even though scientists believe they
are -- indeed,
science (still) accepts them as the /only/ vampires.
Sanguisuga europa, though its existence was never even anticipated by the Camarilla,
proves an excellent
tool to keep up the Masquerade, as proven by the various comments posted in the Shadowland
files earlier in
this article.
Kindred, being immune to disease, have nothing to fear about becoming infected with HMHVV.
The virus
can enter their bodies if they feed off a "common" vampire, or if they let one
of those vampires feed off of them,
but it simply cannot affect their bodies. What will happen is that a Kindred carrying
HMHVV will pass it on to
all her victims.
This raises another point, what if an HMHVV-infected vampire creates a new vampire? The
answer is that
the new vampire will be Kindred, and not a Sanguisuga europa. HMHVV needs more time to
affect the host
than it takes a vampire to Embrace someone.
VAMPIRES AND SOCIETY
The control that vampires have over society had suffered some severe drawbacks due to the
Awakening.
Magicians can easily spot a vampire's aura and thus recognize her for what she is. The
vampires of the 2050s
need to walk a very thin line between exerting too much power and thus become too visible,
and hiding too
much and thus become vulnerable. Nevertheless, still a lot of their power remains intact,
and in recent years
their influence is starting to grow again.
Public services
Most of the public services still remain controlled by vampires; the change from public
services to private
corporation didn't change that much. Only the parts of private police and security forces
using magicians
remain free, as the risk is considered to great. In general it can be said that wherever
there are magicians, the
vampires have retreated. The last decade, however, vampires increasingly try to control
magicians instead of
avoiding them, and this strategy has been used with some success. Some officiers of
LoneStar's Department of
Paranormal Investigations are known to be ghouls, as are some other magically active
investigators from the
FBI. Only Knight Errant remains largely uncontrolled because of their rigorous security
measures and audits.
The Mega-Corporations
Vampires have very little control over the corporations of 2055. The corporations are
truly too big to really
control them, so the best Kindred can manage to do is control parts of them. Because of
heavy security, both
mundane as well magical, the upper echelon largely remains uncontrolled. There are rumors,
however, that an
expecially powerful vampire controls the CEO of Mitsuhama, a rumor strenghtened by the
fact that this
vampire also controls the Yakuza-ties within Mitsuhama. A few corporations are considered
forbidden territory
for vampiric influence:
Firstly the mega-corp Saeder Krupp, because the danger the dragon Lofwyr poses by the
enormous amounts
of power he wields in that corporation, and his habit of making audits in his masked form.
Some divisions are
under influence by vampires, but they walk very softly there.
Secondly Aztechnology. Vampires tried to inviltrate into the upper echelons, but failed.
Some of the
machinations within Aztechnology are known, and these small glimpes greatly worried the
Camarilla, but
although they redoubled their efforts to gain control, so far no successes have been
booked.
The top of Ares is also guarded too heavily to penetrate. It is suspected that its
president, Damion Knight,
has something to do with this.
The Elven Nations
Both Tir Tairngire as Tir na nOg are considered vampire-free. It might be true that
somewhere a few
Kindred still manage to survive, but it is nearly impossible to contact them. All vampires
living in the elven
nations were killed, only a few managed to flee the country. From their reports it is
highly likely that the rulers
of those nations know about the existance of vampires, because the attacks on the vampires
were very well
planned and the attackers had superb magical assistance. Since the elves did not make any
argessive moves
against vampires, the Camarilla views the situation as an armed truce. They still try to
discover how much the
elves know and where they got this knowledge.
The Invae
The invae pose no special threath to vampires. Vampires cannot be infected by invae and in
turn vampires
wouldn't think of feeding from an invae -- the dangers are rather great. An insect spirit
normally only attacks a
vampire when threathened or ordered to do so by an insect shaman or the Queen. Therefore
the collapse of
Chicago in 2055 was more a blessing for the vampires living there, than a danger. They can
now freely roam
the streets again, exerting their power more open. The vampires in Chicago control most
"tribes" and two even
installed themselves as leader of a "tribe." As the Camarilla cannot enter
Chicago anymore (though there are
rumors that Kindred control UCAS Army units stationed there), no one can force them to
obey the Masquerade.
--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
You need us to run your life.
-> NERPS Project Leader & Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Character Mortuary: http://huizen.dds.nl/~mortuary/mortuary.html <-
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