Vampires are users, and that is the difference between the joy of sex and the sin of lust. Their embrace is pleasurable, perhaps, but actively bad for the one embraced. And yet, there are those who seek out vampires, wishing to be one, wishing to be used abjectly and in turn using. Intimacy becomes hierarchy.
Turning vampires? It's the classic operation, with the cross or the Magen David... I can't really improve on that ritual. But the sin of the vampire means that a failed attempt to turn brings the would-be Van Helsing under the vampire's charm, no saving throw. If you look into those eyes and blink, the eyes look into you.
And after Stoker, Murnau, Rice, White Wolf, Hamilton, and Meyer, and a hundred more, if you can't think of something creepy and sexy to do with your vampires, I'm certainly not going to give you a table.
Happy Halloween!
I'm actually kind of tired of the sexy, superhero-type vamps. Especially these new ones that seem to be able to withstand the daylight no prob, and give off sparkly lightshows when they die. I will admit that vampires in my games (whether fantasy or Sci Fi) have been more of the sexy type than nosferatu over the years. In a recent OD&D session I did (based on Tegal Manor) sort of tried to return to a more ghostly kind of vampire, more demonically possesed spirit kind of thing, but still, she was hot chick. Guess I can't escape it.
ReplyDeleteI am with Brunomac on this, the super sexy vamp that can't die and is always pretty is boring. Jim Butcher did a great job in his Dresden Files about the Red Court vamps being pretty when they have on their skinsuits. Yes, they can be sexy, but just under the surface is something very nasty, non-human and vile.
ReplyDeleteSome of them want to use you
ReplyDeleteSome of them want to get used by you
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused
I like the idea that vampires look like what people want to see. Those who know what to look for see the Uncanny Valley effect of waxy pallid skin, predatory eyes, and slobbery red maw for the horror it is...
ReplyDeleteJayson: Indeed, that would be a good trick. Those who have lust succumb to the vampire's manipulation of it. Kind of like seeing what you want to see in Internet relationships ....
ReplyDelete