The Nosferatu

"I am a vampire. But no, that word has little meaning for one these days. Not specific enough, is it? Undead, vampire, nosferatu, bloodsucker. All these words, you attach to those vile creatures, the ones who rely on their intelligence masters for power. Such a beautiful name to affix to such an ignoble, such an... ugly creature. Let us call my particular portion of the human race nosferatu, as to avoid confusion. Nosferatu. The word is from my native tongue, in which it means vampire. Not that anyone speaks my tongue anymore. Now, they all speak that bastard tongue of the Continent, Euro. But I am rambling, forgive me," the deep soothing voice says, pausing a moment as another voice is heard.

"No, please, I find the story rather... fascinating. Please, continue," this new voice, feminine, older, but still firm. The slight tremble in the voice seems more from fear than old age.

"Is that so? Well, I will continue, though I know you still have reservations about being in this room with me. Especially without your able young guard. But as I have said, I mean you no harm. Hold your crosses or silver if you will. Holy water too. They'll be as effective against me as... as effective as the psi-sword your young bodyguard carries. Where was I? Ah, yes. My race. When I say the word race, I mean it in the same sense as you might consider a black or asian man a different race. Though I suppose that is not thought any more. In many ways my mind is still in the past. Nosferatu. We do, oddly enough share similarities to your 'vampires'..." he says, almost scoffing the word, "which is rather surprising, since we are in no way related. At least, not to my knowledge, which, on this subject, is rather expansive. Now, you of course wonder what are the similarities between us? And the differences. Well, to start, we both need blood. My own can survive on the blood of beasts, unlike the pretenders. We do drink the blood of you breathing folk, as we call you. For myself, it is a purely sexual act, for that is how we make love, and produce offspring. Others, however, drink for the taste, or for the thrill of the hunt, or just so they can make you suffer. We are quite like yourselves. More like you, we are, than like our "cousins." Because, like you, we run the gambit between sinner and saint, devil and angel, psychopath and samaritan. After our birth into blood, we, though physically changed, are mentally almost the same. Same memories, same personality, same quirks, same insanities. But I'm sure I'm boring you with that. You want the real story. What are our powers? I'll tell you, even though it is discouraged you breathers about us. You see, even though by informing you what our powers are, and what we are like, I make us more vulnerable to attack, I also feel we will become better accepted. Our name, the name of a proud race, has been tarnished by these impostors, the bestial bloodsuckers, and I intend to clear it. Do you think that is possible?"

"Anything is possible, my Lord. Especially with humans."

"True. But please, Lord I may be, but not yours. My name will do. Now, as to the sun. The sun is of course a danger. It can kill us, but is not as effective to us as to "vampires." Tough old nosferatu like myself can withstand a fair amount of sunlight, perhaps even travel in it all day, with a wide-brimmed hat, or an overcast day. I can wear the shape of a wolf, a bat, or a cloud of mist like you wear clothes, but only at night. Forget the foolishness with crosses, garlic, holy water, silver, and all that. Even fire is something we don't fear. The one thing we do fear, above all else, is contained in one word. Wood. Wood is the bane of our race. Sunlight might kill us, and if deprived of our home's soil, we will wither away. But more nosferatu die by wood than by any other cause alone. And that, Ms. Tarn, gives a fair summation of our powers. At least I hope it was enough to whet your appetite, and meet me again, for a more complete story."

"Yes, Lord, I believe it has. We will meet again, General Tepes."

From a recording to be used in
an upcoming book by Erin Tarn

The Nosferatu are a race of human variants, similar in many ways to vampires, and in fact, the origin of all the old vampire legends on Earth. Though they have a need and lust for blood, they are not the raving monsters of Mexico. They bow to no intelligence, yet they do have a loose order amongst themselves. It is this, the Hierarchy of Blood, that keeps order in their ranks.

Nosferatu

(Reprinted in part from the Wallachia Netbook)

The nosferatu are a race of vampires, similar to the common "Mexican" variety, but also much different. It is unknown where the first of their kind came from, but it was not from an intelligence, and they have inhabited Earth for at least 1000 years, perhaps longer. Some have theorized that the first was just a very strong willed person, who simply refused to die. One of the oldest living is Vlad Tepes, more commonly known as Count Dracula! In fact, the vampire legends were actually based on nosferatu, not true vampires, who consequently only numbered about fifty to a hundred at any time in Earth's history until now.

Unlike their bestial cousins, there are no distinctions such as master and secondary. All nosferatu are created equal. In appearance, they are most like the master, slightly pale and often lean, generally quite attractive. Like the master, they often are educated, well mannered, and fashionably dresses, especially among the older nosferatu. However, an under fed nosferatu may appear like a wild vampire, ragged and bestial.

Though they do not have the highly structured and rigid society of the vampire, the nosferatu do follow something of a pecking order, but not all choose to bow to their popularly acknowledged superiors, though this is usually not a problem, as the superiors are often the most physically powerful.

Unlike that of the vampire, the transformation to nosferatu does not change the person into a non-human monster. The individual retains all his skills and memories, and his alignment. Though no scientific study has ever been made on nosferatu, they are most likely just a very odd human mutation, whose attributes can be passed into certain humanoid races. They are not predators. Generally speaking, they get their blood from love making with a consensual partner (whom is often unaware of having their blood taken). As far as survival goes, animal blood will suffice, but it does not have the taste of that of humans and humanoids.

Alignment: Any
Attributes: The base attributes of the Nosferatu's race plus the following bonuses I.Q. +2; M.E. +3; M.A. +5; P.S. +18; P.P. +10; P.E. +10; P.B. +2; Spd. +12 Note: All attributes are considered supernatural.
Size: As per race.
Weight: As per race.
M.D.C./S.D.C./Hit Points: Nosferatu are bizarre human mutations that are nearly impervious to all weapons, including mega-damage weapons. Fortunately, they have a few vulnerabilities. They have the equivalent of 2D6x10 hit points, plus 2D6 per level.
Horror Factor: As per race, unless known to be nosferatu, then 12, or if is already above 12, then add 2.
P.P.E.: As per race, unless a magic O.C.C.
Average Life Span: Immortal.
Natural Abilities: Nosferatu possess a number of strange powers, in addition to that of their own race. See the descriptions below.
Experience Level: NPC's range from first to fifteenth, average is 1D8+1. Players should start at first level. The nosferatu continues to use its O.C.C.'s experience table.
Psionics: 3D6 x 10 I.S.P., plus 1D4 per level. Has the powers of death trance, alter aura, empathy, mind block, hypnotic suggestion, presence sense, sense evil, deaden pain, induce sleep, and super hypnotic suggestion. Considered a major psionic, requires a roll of 12 or higher to save vs. psionic attacks. Plus any from before the transformation.
Magic: By O.C.C. only.
Hand to Hand Combat: By O.C.C.
Damage:
Killing Bite - 3D6 M.D.
Restrained Punch - 4D6 S.D.C. plus P.S. bonus
Full Strength Punch - 2D6 M.D.
Power Punch - 1D4x10 M.D.; counts as two attacks
R.C.C. Bonuses: +3 to save vs. horror factor, +1 on initiative, +2 to strike, parry, and dodge, and has one extra melee action, impervious to all forms of mind control and the like, and any type of metamorphosis/transforming magic. As nosferatu grow in age, they become more powerful. Add +1 to P.S., P.P., P.E., Spd., and M.E. for every century starting at their three hundredth year. Also add +20 to hit points each century.
Vulnerabilities: The nosferatu have a number of odd vulnerabilities described below.
Physical Description: The transformation to nosferatu makes a few minor physical changes. For one the skin becomes rather pale. It also requires a steady diet of blood to remain warm. Heavy blood consumption will put more color and lividity into the skin, but a difference is still noticeable. The body tends to become gaunt and thinner, unless, again, heavy blood consumption is practiced. Even with mass quantities of it, though, no nosferatu will ever be more than slightly over weight (a fat human made into a nosferatu will become about an average weight within 6 months of the transformation). Eye color changes on a fairly frequent basis, though not always. Nosferatu theorize that the color of the eyes reflects their own soul, as many vampires with a strong sense of self retain the same color, whereas those who's transformation changed them dramatically tend to have drastically different eye color. Sometimes the change is subtle, and often unnatural colors, like red, yellow, violet, and pink appear, or odd shades of normal colors, like really steely grey, or a deep unnatural blue.
O.C.C.'s: As per race.
Allies: Many beings have trouble accepting these quasi-vampire beings as friends, and consequentially, they are often shunned. They tend to seek out other who are shunned (like changelings, or humans in a non-human society, or vice versa) or forge friendships before revealing their true nature. They also have an affinity for wolves, wolfen, werewolves, and bats.
Enemies: Most beings are distrustful of them, and true vampires despise these creatures.
Weapons and Equipment: Varies per O.C.C.

Nosferatu Powers

The Lust for Blood

The blood lust of the nosferatu is considerably different than that of the vampire. The nosferatu needs the blood of mammals to survive, as we need water. However, they prefer human or humanoid blood, of the opposite sex (or same, depending on the individual's sexual preference), as we might prefer a fine wine. The nosferatu's appearance is dependent on how well he has dined. Basically, a nosferatu has a base age appearance, which is that of how he looked at the time of his transformation. This appearance can be maintained with a pint of mammalian blood a day. For each day the nosferatu goes without, he will appear to age ten years, to a maximum of thirty, so three days. However, for each additional pint consumed a day, he can look ten years younger, for a maximum of thirty. For example, a nosferatu changed at 40 will look 40 as long as he consumes a pint a day. If he misses a day, he will look a little grayer, and a bit more wrinkled, about 50. Another day, and he will start to look grandfatherly, at about 60, and another day will cause him to appear elderly, at about 70. Should he consume two pints in a day, his hair will darken, and he will appear about thirty. Three pints, and he'll look young and vigorous, at about 20. However, this is as far as it goes, as they cannot regress below their physical maturity. The saddest case is that of a child nosferatu, as they will be eternally immature. Lack of blood will cause them to wrinkle and grey, but they will still appear as children.

After three days of blood lack, the creature becomes weak and groggy, all skills and bonuses are halved. After two weeks, the nosferatu starts to grow mad, much like the normal vampire. It will attack any creature it finds, and completely drain them (only exceptions are loved ones and dear friends, the nosferatu will be able to restrain itself). After the draining, however, the nosferatu will become rational again.

However, two or more months of starvation will result in permanent insanity. It will become liken to a wild vampire, killing whatever creatures it finds, even loved ones. It can never go back. The effects are permanent.

Five months of starvation will kill the nosferatu.

The Nosferatu's Bite and the Creation Process

The bite of the nosferatu is not necessarily the deadly or life altering event like that of the vampire is. The nosferatu has three kinds of bites. The first is the killing bite, a simple attack in which no, or very little, blood is taken. Second is the feeding bite. This, when used on animals, is usually deadly, because of how much blood the nosferatu draws. However, though a pint may be deadly to many animals, it is not for most humans. A feeding on a human will leave them weak and lethargic, but alive and not changed to a nosferatu. This is usually done on a human of the nosferatu's sexual preference, but sometimes they must take what they can get.

The third bite is the lovemaking and transformation bite. The blood drawing is not as significant as that of the feeding bite, usually a quarter to half pint, though taken slower and more sensually. However, even the continual lovemaking ritual will not transform a human to nosferatu. In order for this to happen, the breather, as nosferatu often refer to normal humans, must also drink the blood of the nosferatu. A mouthful or two is generally sufficient. And yet, this is not all that is necessary. Even after the consuming of the nosferatu blood, the breather will continue to do just that. To begin the life of a nosferatu, one must stop breathing. Some will kill themselves after consuming the blood, or some were already on the way towards death. Some will live for decades afterwards, in a completely normal life, all the time harboring a secret power in them. The base age appearance of every nosferatu is the age at which they were changed, when they were "born in blood," as nosferatu sometimes say, and not necessarily the age at which their life as a breather ended. In any case, at the end of their life as a breather, they enter a state of suspended animation, usually lasting a few days to a week. During this time, the body alters to its new existence. Attacking the corpse at this stage, even with wood, has no effect. It is only once they emerge, in their new undead life, that they are vulnerable. Even after the first waking, the creature will fall back into states of suspended animation for days, weeks, or months at a time. This generally last for a period of four to six months, after which, the nosferatu is mature, and enjoys full use of his powers.

As a side note, most people willingly being made nosferatu will complete their natural life, as they are usually lovers with the nosferatu, and wish to stay that way for a time. This is a problem, because no two nosferatu can ever be lovers, at least not sexually. They may be in love, but they can never express love physically. Its like incest to them, only worse. The blood of a nosferatu is poisonous to another, causing the drinker to vomit for 2D6 hours, and then fall into a state of suspended animation for 1D4 months. In any case, a nosferatu with a human lover has them live as a human as long as possible, so they can spend as much time together as possible.

Though this is the normal way that people are turned into nosferatu, there are two other, much rarer ways. One is the way it is believed the race originated. A normal human, who is brought close to death, and is on their way to it, gives such a struggle, and such an indomitable will to stay alive, he will by his own will power, become an undead nosferatu. The other way, the rarest of all, is baffling. A human woman, who becomes pregnant in the traditional way, who also is carrying on an affair with a male nosferatu, may give birth to twins, either fraternal or identical. One of the children will be firmly committed to breathing, but the other will draw air only to cry, essentially nosferatu from the womb. Such a person will reach physical maturity at a normal rate, but then cease to age. The really odd part is that each child will have 48 chromosomes, 24 from the mother, and 12 from each father.

Though it is a very rare occasion, it is possible for the process to be reversed, and the transformation to nosferatu be nulled. To do so, however, something must strongly tie the person to their breathing life, such as a loved one, a child, et cetera; furthermore, the individual must have a strong will (M.E. of at least 18) and must not be a fully mature nosferatu yet (four to six months).

Also important to note is that the sharp canine fangs of the nosferatu retract into the upper jaw, and only come in to feed, or when the undead is sexually aroused, similar to an erection in a male. Also, on a related note, the sexual organs of the nosferatu will perform satisfactorily, but all nosferatu are infertile.

The Power of the Hunter

The nature of the nosferatu is such that the creature becomes a hunter. This gives it the powers of all the predators of nature, including heightened senses and reflexes, which result in certain abilities. The skills of prowl (55%), track (60%), detect ambush and concealment (50%), land navigation (60%), track animals (55%), and track by smell (65%) are instilled by instinct, but do not change unless the skills were already possessed or are deliberately learned (chosen at a level advance) after the birth to blood.

Other Powers of the Nosferatu

The psionic, summoning, and metamorphosis powers of the nosferatu are identical to that of normal vampires, except a few differences. During daylight hours (during which the nosferatu is somewhat more functional than the vampire) the nosferatu is frozen in man form and cannot shape shift, and loses all his summoning powers. Psionics, however, can still be used. Also, the creature can summon rain storms and snow storms, not like the elemental spell, but like summoning a normal storm. It will last for a normal duration and spread over a normal area. It costs no P.P.E., but is taxing and can only be performed once a week. Also, it takes a few hours before the effects appear.

The Cure

The ability of the nosferatu known as the cure is very powerful indeed. It is the ability to cure vampirism, but there is a catch. To cure vampirism, they must be converted to nosferatu. To do so, a nosferatu must pin down a vampire, so help might be necessary. Then, the nosferatu must slit his own wrist, and force feed the vampire his blood. The vampire will be racked with pain for hours, convulsing, vomiting, flailing arms, but when it is over, the vampire will become a nosferatu. He will instantly be flooded with the memories of his human life, and his personality and alignment will be restored. The ability always works on wild and secondary vampires, and has a 5% chance +5% per century of life of the nosferatu to work on master vampires. When this happens, all of that master's vampires will immediately fall into suspended animation, as if they had been staked. The intelligence then has 48 hours to find a new master, or all of the vampires will perish.

Limited Invulnerability

Like the true vampire, the nosferatu is completely invulnerable to almost all attacks. A punch, a sword stab, a gun shot, a laser blast, an explosion, will all have no affect upon the nosferatu. Energy blasts, electricity, explosives, bullets, blades of steel, acid, radiation, disease, etc., do absolutely NO damage! Alcohol, drugs, anesthetics, poisons, toxic gases, fumes, smoke, fire, heat, and cold all have no effect whatsoever. Furthermore, unlike their demonic cousins, they take no harm from silver, herbs like garlic and wolfsbane, the cross, or any other religious symbol, and rain and water of any kind (holy or not).

The impact of a rail gun, explosion, or the power punch of a robot or supernatural creature, may knock the nosferatu off its feet (losing one melee attack). Energy blasts and bullets will damage the nosferatu's clothes, but will pass straight through the creature, doing no damage (leaving holes in both sides of clothing). The slash of a sword, likewise, will cut the clothing, but will meet the undead flesh like a brick wall. Most magic and psionics are effective, though they do one quarter the equivalent damage in hit points.

Super Regeneration

Like the vampire, the nosferatu takes damage from certain types of attacks, especially wood. These attacks do damage to the nosferatu's hit points. When the hit points of the creature reach zero, they will drop unconscious, and are vulnerable to attack. However, the nosferatu will recover quickly, coming around within 3D6 melee rounds, with full hit points. The nosferatu's limbs can be severed by weapons of wood, but they will reattach or reform within an hour. If the head is severed, the hit points are effectively dropped to zero, and has the same effect as normal, but the unconsciousness last much longer, up to 5 hours, after which the head will reattach itself. Hit points are regenerated at the rate of 2D4 per melee. Some weapons not made of wood may be able to make physical injuries to the nosferatu, but do no damage. These would include razor sharp instruments (though it my take a while, and they may well become dulled by their use) or extremely heavy things, such as huge pieces of metal from cars, boats, or other pieces of debris. These could even sever the creature's head, but the head will reattach almost immediately, and the nosferatu suffers no damage. Any wound, whether caused by wood or anything else, will clot within half a melee (7 seconds), and fully disappear within 3 melees, though it may scar. Scars heal slowly, sometimes taking decades to be rid of. No healing is possible during daytime hours, unless the nosferatu is in its deep slumber in the dark.

Eternal Life

Nosferatu are effectively immortal, though, of course, they can be killed. But barring that, they will live forever. Most don't last for as long as millennia, the oldest and powerful are generally about one to two thousand years old. Many meet their end at the hands of mortals earlier, often due to their extreme over confidence.

Abilities Natural to Nosferatu

Differences Between Normal Vampires and Nosferatu

To Kill a Nosferatu

Like the vampire, the nosferatu has a handful of odd weaknesses, that seem trite compared to their powerful abilities. They are immortal, impervious to disease and most weapons, all mind controlling or transformation psionics or magic, and all attack spells and psionics, though they can be used to contain or incapacitate. Yet mere sunlight can disintegrate the poor creature, and it cannot rest without the soil of its homeland. Wood can have the most disastrous of all.

Wood

Of all the weaknesses of the nosferatu, this is the most devastating. Wood, as a stake, spear, or bullet, through the heart of the creature, will kill it instantly. It does not need to remain lodged in, just needs to pass through. Young nosferatu will often scream in pain and clutch their heart, while blood pours out from the wound. After a while, they are still, and move no more, ever again. Their bodies decompose like normal. Old ones, over 300 years old, will crumble to dust as soon as their heart is punctured by wood.

Wood can be used to cut the creature, decreasing its hit points, or be used as a cudgel. Furthermore, strike with a wooden club to the head is likely to knock the nosferatu out for twelve hours (75% chance) and disable all powers for twenty-four hours. Worse, it may (20% chance) cause temporary amnesia, lasting for 2D6 days. With amnesia, the nosferatu will forget its nature, and not be able to use its powers until he regains his memory. This can be facilitated by another nosferatu or a human in the know reminding the nosferatu what he is.

Most wood tipped bullets are imbalanced suffering a -1 penalty to strike, on an already difficult target. However, for some reason, a wood, which is native to Italy known as lignum vitae (in Latin, it means "wood of life"), applied on a lead-cored bullet, has exceptional balance, +1 to strike.

All weapons made of wood inflict twice normal damage to their hit points. Those made of lignum vitae do three times damage.

Water

For the most part, water has no effect on the nosferatu. However, they cannot pass over large bodies of water at high tide by their own will. It is not fear, but just a peculiarity of the creatures nature. They must be transported in a vehicle, or fly over it as a bat, high enough that the clouds hide the water.

Sunlight

The light of day can turn the nosferatu into ashes in seconds. A young vampire (under three hundred years) will be destroyed instantly by direct sunlight. Overcast light, indirect winter or northern sun, or shade created by a wide- brimmed hat can be tolerated, but the creature becomes fatigued easily and all combat bonuses are halved. Older nosferatu can survive direct sunlight for about fifteen minutes, but after that, they must seek shelter or be destroyed. Overcast light, indirect winter or northern sun, or shade created by a wide-brimmed hat is perfectly tolerable for the old ones, allowing them to function at full capacity (though they lose most of their powers just because it is the daylight hours). The Globe of Daylight spell has no effect whatsoever upon the nosferatu.

Unlike vampires, the nosferatu can function perfectly indoors during the day, and can usually put off sleep for up to three days if need be.

Soil of the Homeland

To get rest, the Nosferatu must sleep on the soil of their homeland. However, this is different than the weakness of the vampire. The nosferatu must sleep on soil of their home country (how the supernatural powers know where political boundaries lie is unknown), and it is not that of their transformation, but of their true birth. They need enough to cover the entire surface area of their body. Without the soil, the creature will not be able to sleep, no matter how hard he tries, and will die within three to five days.

Dwellings of Others

A nosferatu cannot enter the dwelling place of another unless he is first invited in. The invitation need not come from one of the residents, only from an individual who is in the house. Sometimes the exact definition of a dwelling is a little obscure, but jail cells and such are generally considered dwellings, hotel rooms are not. Inhabited caves are, abandoned homes are not. Once a nosferatu has been invited into a home, he may leave and come back as often as he wishes, even if the inhabitants of the house change. However, if a previously uninhabited house becomes inhabited, even if the nosferatu had bee in the house when it was uninhabited, he requires an invitation.

To the Hierarchy of Blood for Nosferatu

By Paladin42