Black Omega
First Post
This is more general RPG, but seems to fit this forum. The system for my new game is Hero 5th Ed. This is the handout I'm giving to my players soon. Take a look and let me know if there is anything unclear, any obvious questions unanswered, etc. For that matter, any comments welcome.
“It’s just like the world we live in – except the creatures of the night – vampires, werewolves, zombies and such – are not the stuff of legend. They are here and now. We co-exist with them, not always happily, not always peacefully.” – Anita Blake
The Campaign World:
July 2005, The Helsing Institute in San Angelo, CA, in a world very much like the normal world. Except the supernatural exists. It has always existed. Ancient cave paintings show dragons. Ancient religions often worshipped vampires. When medieval peasants talked about wolfmen preying on their flocks or witches hexing their crops, sometimes it was the truth. From the beginning man feared the supernatural. Trolls squashed humans and ate them, dragons laid waste to all around them and vampires haunted the night. But with the development of technology that started to change. The Greater Trolls were hunted into extinction and the last known dragon was destroyed by the rifles and artillery of the British Army in 1850. Vampires and lycanthropes were pursued relentlessly and witches were burned. For centuries the supernatural has existed in shadows and most humans could go their entire life never encountering anything unnatural.
Attitudes toward the supernatural started to change in the 20th century. Lycanthropy was discovered to be a supernatural disease that could only be passed on by a wound from the teeth or claws of a shifted lycanthrope (though many people refuse to believe this). Noah Aberdeen found the powers shown by so-called witches were passed on through genetics, not caused by consorting with the devil. In most cases. But the big step was on September 19th, 2003 when in Addison v. Clarke the Supreme court ruled that, for all essential purposes, vampires were people too and were entitled to be treated as citizens of the US with all the rights and responsibilities therein. In 2005 Lycanthropes are a protected minority, witches can be licensed, animating the dead is used in civil cases to determine wills, and vampires are allowed to vote and own businesses. But the monsters remember centuries of persecution and only slowly and coming out into the light.
Mina Harker: Was she in much pain?
Abraham Van Helsing: Ja, but then I drove a stake into her heart and cut off her head.
The Importance of the PC’s:
Moderate in a general sense, but important in the supernatural world. The PC’s work for, teach at, study at, or are associated with the Helsing Institute in San Angelo, CA. Field work for the institute is often fairly mundane. Praeternatural Biology students often study meek creatures like the lesser Western Forest Troll (trollicis auducius). But for special assignments the Institute has special field agents with specialized skills. You. Missions can be anything from hunting a vampire who is killing people, to investigations and fact finding in dangerous situations.
I can kill them all. I can massacre them without even a bit of hesitation, an ounce of regret. Because I am a monster. – Alucard
Campaign Tone:
Morality: Some Good v. Evil, but plenty of gray.
Realism: As realistic as a Hong Kong action movie.
Outlook: Things usually work out. Usually.
Seriousness: Fairly serious.
Continuity: Some single episodes but also some long term story arcs.
Lethality: PCs can die. PCs can lose.
“This is Reality, you cannot survive if you look away from it.” -- Amon
Physical World Description:
San Angelo is taken almost straight from the book, except that instead of superheros there are supernatural creatures. And San Angelo is one of very few places in the US where vampires are testing the waters by going public. Everyone knows the supernatural exists, but most people have never had anything to do with the supernatural in their everyday lives. So much of what the public knows about the supernatural comes from popular books that are not always accurate. Much of the reason recently opened vampires businesses are doing so well is the curiosity factor. This will be most people’s first chance to see a real vampire. Magical Malfeasance (using magic to murder someone) is a crime punishable by death, with the sentence to be carried out not more than 48 hours after the verdict. On the other hand, animating (raising zombies) was legalized in the 1980’s and has become a thriving, if specialized, business. Beyond this, the world is mostly the same. George W Bush is president of the US. Pope John Paul II still leads the Catholic Church, kept barely alive by the best medical technology money can buy.
The real world has changed very little historically. The supernatural has been so far in the shadows that any influence on real world events was subtle. St. George really did slay a dragon. The French Revolution was partially inspired by the peasant belief that the king was enthralled by a vampire. One of the many strange Nazi projects toward the end of World War II was the Millennium Project, an attempt to mass-produce an army of unhuman Nazi supersoldiers. Unless stated otherwise, consider history to be unchanged.
Character Building Guidelines:
Characters start with 100 pts and can add up to 100 pts in disadvantages, no more than 30 pts of disads in any one category. All characters automatically have the Human Characteristic Maximum. The PCs will all be humans but can have special abilities. All characters start with 3/3 Combat Luck (Resistent Defense) that only works when no body armor is worn. Think of character that can work with a team. Going of alone against vampires doesn’t give a long life expectancy. Think of a character schtick. With the points characters have, I’m sure most bases will be covered. By try and think of something that your character is among the best at, or something that makes them unique.
Skill Enhancer: Expert is allowed.
Perks: Characters also have access to the Dark Champions perk list, including False Identity, Fringe Benefits, Improved Equipment Access (Street – 3 pts, Military – 5 pts.) Wealth is limited to 2 pts.
"You still fight better than you speak. Finally, a woman who knows what is important!" – Pai Mei
Martial Arts: Chi powers and all real world martial arts are allowed. When looking at Chi powers think more the Wire Fu movies like Crouching Tiger, rather then Street Fighter the video game.
Cinematic: Characters can use the 'powers as talents' rules from Dark Champions and Pulp Hero to represent some cinematic abilities.
Witchcraft: PC's can be witches (Craft Users). Powers can be bought as a single power or as part of a multipower. All slots in a multipower will be ultra and only one slot at a time may be active. At least –1 in limitations must be applied to the powers. Gestures, incantations, concentration, extra END, and extra time all are particularly appropriate. Most mental powers are appropriate for this, but all powers must follow an elemental theme of some type.
An example of a single power witch would be a witch who could only do Mind Control to induce terror or who could only read the past by touching an object. While a witch with Telekinesis could put a Ranged Killing Attack, Missile Deflection, and straight Telekinesis into multislots. Use of powers is rarely flashy, a pyrotecnic might simply gesture at something while concentrating and it catches on fire, but it’s still obvious where the effect is coming from.
Restrictions: Healing, aids, force fields, telepathy, missile reflection and armor are only allowed by GM permission.
"Give the guy a gun and he’s Superman. Give him two and he’s God!" – Superintendent Pang
Equipment: I’m using the gun list and body armor rules from Dark Champions. All real world weapons, armor and equipment is available. I’m limiting ammo types to Jacketed Hollow Point (standard damage straight from the book) and Armor Piercing (-1 DC, halves body armor). Silver ammo is commonly available but not cheap.
"Your power is impressive. But I cannot be killed by dogs. That which defeats a monster is always a man." - Alucard
The Monsters:
It’s worth noting the monsters rarely act like humans. There are no Iraqi vampires, or American vampires, or Russian vampires. Just vampires. When someone becomes a vampire, they now serve their master, period.
Vampires: Vampires are the most famous of all the monsters. Even a newborn vampire has inhuman strength, toughness, sharp senses, the ability to enthrall the unwary with their gaze, and the need to drink blood. And vampires only grow stronger with time. A small number of vampires are classified as Master Vampires. A 100 year old Master Vampire might be more powerful then a 1,000 year old regular vampire. Master Vampires are the rulers of the vampires, typically have an animal they are associated with, and can bind human servants to gain even more power. Over all the vampires is a shadowy group known as the Vampire Council. Who exactly is on the council is a mystery, they only use titles like The Traveler and The Lover of Death. The Council is the ultimate law among vampires but don’t rule directly. Instead, areas are ruled by a Master of the City. This is used as a gender neutral term and has more than once fooled an unwary vampire hunter who thought he was after a male.
Powers vampires can have include mind control, both direct through their gaze and at a distance against a human they have bitten. Vampire bites burned away by holy water no longer count for this. Master Vampires with an animal to call can control not only that animal, but also lycanthropes of the same type. Some vampires can levitate or even truly fly. Some types of vampires can feed on lust or fear. Others can rot away to look like zombies. Some can simply wave a hand and cut someone by attacking their aura. They can sometimes teleport. Or seem to, it’s unclear if it’s really a form of mind control that simply clouds minds for a moment.
Vampires cannot change into animals or change into mist. They must ‘sleep’ during the day, though more powerful vampires wake up earlier than neophytes. Silver bullets hurt most vampires just like regular bullets do humans. Vampires burn easily. Very easily in most cases. Vampires cannot enter a home without being invited, but public places are fair game. Vampires tend to retain the trappings of the time they were created. A 1,000 vampire who was once a Viking likely still has a two handed sword for use in a fight. It’s almost unknown for vampires to use guns or body armor. Holy water burns vampires just like acid. Crosses glow around vampires, creating a light vampires don’t like and burning white hot if touched to a vampire. A human wearing a cross is also slightly less vulnerable to vampire powers. In all cases, only if the person is a believer. An atheist with a cross is a sad sight.
Lycanthropes: Lycanthrope is a little understood disease. A human can only get lycanthropy two ways. By being wounded by the teeth or claws of a lycanthrope in animal form. Or much more rarely through a bad batch of the shot that protects against the disease. If one is infected, that person will change into whatever type of animal attacked him. Werewolves create werewolves, for example. The condition is tied to the moon and all lycanthropes will change under the full moon, but can change other times as well, either fully into an animal or into a hybrid form. For obvious reasons, lycanthropes don’t use body armor.
Lycanthropes are stronger, faster and tougher than normal humans with animal sharp senses. Even in their human forms they can heal wounds quickly, recovering from crippling injuries in minutes or hours. Silver hurts them just like normal bullets hurt humans, however. And the act of shifting can exhaust them, requiring extended rest afterwards. Lycanthropes tend to follow the pattern of their animal type socially. Werewolves and wererats form packs. Weretigers tend to act more alone.
“I’d rather fight ten vampires than one demonic presence. They don’t give a --- about silver bullets.” Anita Blake
Others: There are a few other types of monsters in the world. So rare they don’t merit their own section.
Demons are beings of pure evil. Their appearance is indistinct, simply areas of void, black so intense it hurts to look at. Silver doesn’t hurt them, cold iron doesn’t phase them, fire simply rolls off them. Summoning a demon is the only sort of magic that doesn’t require any natural talent. Anyone knowing the correct rites and willing to sacrifice a human’s body and soul to the demon can summon one. Demons can grant requests and particularly love to be asked to simply kill as many people as they can find before being banished. Some shows of religion can drive a demon away. Buddhist chanting, the Torah, Islamic prayer, Shinto chimes and Christian hymns have all proven effective. And the rites of banishing a demon need time but can also be used.
The Fae still exist in the world, but are very rare. Scientifically classified as Homo Arcanus, the Fae were always mysterious and elusive and with the spread of human civilization, they have withdrawn elsewhere. Exactly where is unknown, but it is suspected that their refuge is extra dimensional. Common Fae have minor abilities in glamour, basically ‘real’ illusions, and are immune to silver, but very vulnerable to cold iron. Fae can breed with humans and their offspring sometimes have minor abilities related to this, even several generations down the line.
There are shapeshifters that are not lycanthropes. At times powerful witches have cursed someone with the ability to turn into a animal, typically harmless and embarrassing. Some natural shifters like Nagas are immortal beings of legend. Such shifters tend to like their privacy, however, and have never been truly studied.
There are more types of undead than vampires. Zombies can be raised by Animators and given basic orders. When fed enough blood some new zombies can even seem human for a time. Until they start to rot. Zombies are strong, tough, and slow. Ghouls simply appear in cemeteries that are no longer hallowed ground. They are typically cowardly carrion eaters who would only attack a human if the human was already unconscious. Typically. Ghosts are the spirits of the departed. Not really the soul, Animators agree that typically leaves after three days. But some spiritual extension of the original person. Ghosts only gain power to effect someone if that person notices and reacts to them. No form of undead likes sunlight, most avoid it even if it does them no physical harm.
The Organizations:
Cognitio Noctem Illustrat (Knowledge Illuminates the Night) – Helsing Motto
The Helsing Institute:
Bram Stoker's Dracula was a sensation when published in 1897, not the least because it was supposed to be based on a true story. Certainly Abraham van Helsing was hunting vampires in England at the time. The fame of the novel helped in founding the van Helsing Institute some years later in 1906, when Abraham had grown too old for hunting and was content to settle down and teach about the supernatural. And about hunting vampires. Abraham van Helsing was ahead of his time in believing most supernatural creatures could be treated as animals. Give a gargoyle or troll room to live in and it’s only dangerous if you bother it, and you’ll gain more by studying it than killing it. Lycanthropes are simply victims of a mysterious disease. But vampires were a different matter. By their very nature vampires hunted humans, and so must be destroyed.
Abraham van Helsing died in 1911 but the Institute was taken over by his son Noel. In 1928 King George V made the van Helsing Institute the official royal agency for hunting vampires in the British Isles. The Institute suffered a setback in 1944 when it was discovered family black sheep Maximilian van Helsing had aided the Nazi Millennium Project, trying to create an army of unhumans to save the Reich. The project was destroyed but to distance them from Maximilian’s treachery, the family name was changed simply to Helsing. In the 50’s Arthur Helsing was knighted in recognition of the service the family had rendered to Britain in the previous decades.
The Helsing Institute has remained focused in the British Empire for most of its history. Over the past decades, the Helsing Institute has settled for sending out teams to investigate the supernatural in Europe and focusing on hunting vampires throughout the UK. When the US Supreme Court made it legal to be a vampire, it was decided to open a branch of the Institute in the Unites States as well, to take this chance to observe vampires when they let their guard down.
"We are Iscariot! In our right hand is a dagger and poison. In our left hand is 30 pieces of silver and a noose. We are apostles and yet not apostles. Traitors and yet not traitors. We are the earthly agents of divine punishment!" - Father Alexander Anderson
The Catholic Church:
The twelve sections of the Vatican are named after the twelve disciples: Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the Lesser, Thaddeus, and Matthias. Each section is headed by a Cardinal and has it’s own assigned areas of responsibility. For example, Section III: Matthew is responsible for the acquisition and safeguarding of artifacts, tomes and relics, holy and profane. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei – formerly the Holy Office of the Inquisition) is a part of the Roman Curia and reports directly to the Pope.
In the shadows of the CDF is an order known as Section XIII: Iscariot. The origin of Iscariot is unknown and mysterious, even within the Church, with frequent references to the Knights Templar, or descendants of Judas Iscariot, as well as countless other theories. Section XIII is responsible for the dirty jobs necessary for the protection of the Church. Right at the top of this list is the destruction of supernatural beings. Often walking hand in hand with the Inquisition, Iscariot made war on vampires, lycanthropes and witches as well as the preternatural creatures that plagued Europe in the past centuries.
Though younger vampires often mockingly refer to Section XIII as ‘Judas Priests’ older vampires know no other group has destroyed more vampires than Iscariot. On November 9th, 1786, called the Day of Cleansing, Iscariot secretly coordinated an assault by their agents and the militaries of every country in Europe save France. Buildings were burned, people died, and by the time it was over nearly 120 vampires are believed to have been destroyed. Much like the Secret Service, Section XIII doesn’t officially exist.
In the present day, Section XIII operates in all predominately Catholic countries as the primary agency to destroy the supernatural, in addition to more secret strikes against those who threaten the Church elsewhere. Iscariot has clashed with the Helsing Institute in Northern Ireland. Section XIII is not welcome in the United States, but that’s never stopped them before. They are on a mission from God.
"Impossible! Humans are superior!" – Zaizen
Humans Against Vampires (HAV):
HAV is a loose coalition of anti-supernatural activists and lobbyists. Their primary goal is to overturn Addison v. Clark, and failing that they lobby for laws to restrict vampires, work against elected officials they see as too close to the vampires, picket vampires businesses, and file harassment suits against vampires. They have many good friends among the religious wing of the Republican Party and the current administration has been public in it’s distrust of vampires. But the war on terror, Iraq and various scandals have kept them to busy to do anything about it. Humans First is an extremist group that takes HAV a step further, using violence against witches, lycanthropes and vampires as well as trying to provoke the monsters into lashing back. HAV officially has nothing to do with Humans First.
Preternatural Action Response Team (PART):
A new division of the San Angelo police department, dedicated to dealing with crimes involving the supernatural. Headed by Detective-Sergeant John Graham, the taskforce is still fairly small and willing to work with outside specialists when needed.
“Do you think the Buddhists have people like us?“ - Sister Yumiko (Iscariot Agent)
Monster Hunting in the rest of the world: Monster hunting tends to follow the character of the country. In the US, individual specialists hunted the monsters. In Europe it’s private agencies like Helsing, associated with the national government. In China, the Temple of the Seven Swords sends out monk/hunters when requested by the government. In Japan Strike Force Zero uses only the highest technology, as well as appearing in it’s very own anime series.
“It’s just like the world we live in – except the creatures of the night – vampires, werewolves, zombies and such – are not the stuff of legend. They are here and now. We co-exist with them, not always happily, not always peacefully.” – Anita Blake
The Campaign World:
July 2005, The Helsing Institute in San Angelo, CA, in a world very much like the normal world. Except the supernatural exists. It has always existed. Ancient cave paintings show dragons. Ancient religions often worshipped vampires. When medieval peasants talked about wolfmen preying on their flocks or witches hexing their crops, sometimes it was the truth. From the beginning man feared the supernatural. Trolls squashed humans and ate them, dragons laid waste to all around them and vampires haunted the night. But with the development of technology that started to change. The Greater Trolls were hunted into extinction and the last known dragon was destroyed by the rifles and artillery of the British Army in 1850. Vampires and lycanthropes were pursued relentlessly and witches were burned. For centuries the supernatural has existed in shadows and most humans could go their entire life never encountering anything unnatural.
Attitudes toward the supernatural started to change in the 20th century. Lycanthropy was discovered to be a supernatural disease that could only be passed on by a wound from the teeth or claws of a shifted lycanthrope (though many people refuse to believe this). Noah Aberdeen found the powers shown by so-called witches were passed on through genetics, not caused by consorting with the devil. In most cases. But the big step was on September 19th, 2003 when in Addison v. Clarke the Supreme court ruled that, for all essential purposes, vampires were people too and were entitled to be treated as citizens of the US with all the rights and responsibilities therein. In 2005 Lycanthropes are a protected minority, witches can be licensed, animating the dead is used in civil cases to determine wills, and vampires are allowed to vote and own businesses. But the monsters remember centuries of persecution and only slowly and coming out into the light.
Mina Harker: Was she in much pain?
Abraham Van Helsing: Ja, but then I drove a stake into her heart and cut off her head.
The Importance of the PC’s:
Moderate in a general sense, but important in the supernatural world. The PC’s work for, teach at, study at, or are associated with the Helsing Institute in San Angelo, CA. Field work for the institute is often fairly mundane. Praeternatural Biology students often study meek creatures like the lesser Western Forest Troll (trollicis auducius). But for special assignments the Institute has special field agents with specialized skills. You. Missions can be anything from hunting a vampire who is killing people, to investigations and fact finding in dangerous situations.
I can kill them all. I can massacre them without even a bit of hesitation, an ounce of regret. Because I am a monster. – Alucard
Campaign Tone:
Morality: Some Good v. Evil, but plenty of gray.
Realism: As realistic as a Hong Kong action movie.
Outlook: Things usually work out. Usually.
Seriousness: Fairly serious.
Continuity: Some single episodes but also some long term story arcs.
Lethality: PCs can die. PCs can lose.
“This is Reality, you cannot survive if you look away from it.” -- Amon
Physical World Description:
San Angelo is taken almost straight from the book, except that instead of superheros there are supernatural creatures. And San Angelo is one of very few places in the US where vampires are testing the waters by going public. Everyone knows the supernatural exists, but most people have never had anything to do with the supernatural in their everyday lives. So much of what the public knows about the supernatural comes from popular books that are not always accurate. Much of the reason recently opened vampires businesses are doing so well is the curiosity factor. This will be most people’s first chance to see a real vampire. Magical Malfeasance (using magic to murder someone) is a crime punishable by death, with the sentence to be carried out not more than 48 hours after the verdict. On the other hand, animating (raising zombies) was legalized in the 1980’s and has become a thriving, if specialized, business. Beyond this, the world is mostly the same. George W Bush is president of the US. Pope John Paul II still leads the Catholic Church, kept barely alive by the best medical technology money can buy.
The real world has changed very little historically. The supernatural has been so far in the shadows that any influence on real world events was subtle. St. George really did slay a dragon. The French Revolution was partially inspired by the peasant belief that the king was enthralled by a vampire. One of the many strange Nazi projects toward the end of World War II was the Millennium Project, an attempt to mass-produce an army of unhuman Nazi supersoldiers. Unless stated otherwise, consider history to be unchanged.
Character Building Guidelines:
Characters start with 100 pts and can add up to 100 pts in disadvantages, no more than 30 pts of disads in any one category. All characters automatically have the Human Characteristic Maximum. The PCs will all be humans but can have special abilities. All characters start with 3/3 Combat Luck (Resistent Defense) that only works when no body armor is worn. Think of character that can work with a team. Going of alone against vampires doesn’t give a long life expectancy. Think of a character schtick. With the points characters have, I’m sure most bases will be covered. By try and think of something that your character is among the best at, or something that makes them unique.
Skill Enhancer: Expert is allowed.
Perks: Characters also have access to the Dark Champions perk list, including False Identity, Fringe Benefits, Improved Equipment Access (Street – 3 pts, Military – 5 pts.) Wealth is limited to 2 pts.
"You still fight better than you speak. Finally, a woman who knows what is important!" – Pai Mei
Martial Arts: Chi powers and all real world martial arts are allowed. When looking at Chi powers think more the Wire Fu movies like Crouching Tiger, rather then Street Fighter the video game.
Cinematic: Characters can use the 'powers as talents' rules from Dark Champions and Pulp Hero to represent some cinematic abilities.
Witchcraft: PC's can be witches (Craft Users). Powers can be bought as a single power or as part of a multipower. All slots in a multipower will be ultra and only one slot at a time may be active. At least –1 in limitations must be applied to the powers. Gestures, incantations, concentration, extra END, and extra time all are particularly appropriate. Most mental powers are appropriate for this, but all powers must follow an elemental theme of some type.
An example of a single power witch would be a witch who could only do Mind Control to induce terror or who could only read the past by touching an object. While a witch with Telekinesis could put a Ranged Killing Attack, Missile Deflection, and straight Telekinesis into multislots. Use of powers is rarely flashy, a pyrotecnic might simply gesture at something while concentrating and it catches on fire, but it’s still obvious where the effect is coming from.
Restrictions: Healing, aids, force fields, telepathy, missile reflection and armor are only allowed by GM permission.
"Give the guy a gun and he’s Superman. Give him two and he’s God!" – Superintendent Pang
Equipment: I’m using the gun list and body armor rules from Dark Champions. All real world weapons, armor and equipment is available. I’m limiting ammo types to Jacketed Hollow Point (standard damage straight from the book) and Armor Piercing (-1 DC, halves body armor). Silver ammo is commonly available but not cheap.
"Your power is impressive. But I cannot be killed by dogs. That which defeats a monster is always a man." - Alucard
The Monsters:
It’s worth noting the monsters rarely act like humans. There are no Iraqi vampires, or American vampires, or Russian vampires. Just vampires. When someone becomes a vampire, they now serve their master, period.
Vampires: Vampires are the most famous of all the monsters. Even a newborn vampire has inhuman strength, toughness, sharp senses, the ability to enthrall the unwary with their gaze, and the need to drink blood. And vampires only grow stronger with time. A small number of vampires are classified as Master Vampires. A 100 year old Master Vampire might be more powerful then a 1,000 year old regular vampire. Master Vampires are the rulers of the vampires, typically have an animal they are associated with, and can bind human servants to gain even more power. Over all the vampires is a shadowy group known as the Vampire Council. Who exactly is on the council is a mystery, they only use titles like The Traveler and The Lover of Death. The Council is the ultimate law among vampires but don’t rule directly. Instead, areas are ruled by a Master of the City. This is used as a gender neutral term and has more than once fooled an unwary vampire hunter who thought he was after a male.
Powers vampires can have include mind control, both direct through their gaze and at a distance against a human they have bitten. Vampire bites burned away by holy water no longer count for this. Master Vampires with an animal to call can control not only that animal, but also lycanthropes of the same type. Some vampires can levitate or even truly fly. Some types of vampires can feed on lust or fear. Others can rot away to look like zombies. Some can simply wave a hand and cut someone by attacking their aura. They can sometimes teleport. Or seem to, it’s unclear if it’s really a form of mind control that simply clouds minds for a moment.
Vampires cannot change into animals or change into mist. They must ‘sleep’ during the day, though more powerful vampires wake up earlier than neophytes. Silver bullets hurt most vampires just like regular bullets do humans. Vampires burn easily. Very easily in most cases. Vampires cannot enter a home without being invited, but public places are fair game. Vampires tend to retain the trappings of the time they were created. A 1,000 vampire who was once a Viking likely still has a two handed sword for use in a fight. It’s almost unknown for vampires to use guns or body armor. Holy water burns vampires just like acid. Crosses glow around vampires, creating a light vampires don’t like and burning white hot if touched to a vampire. A human wearing a cross is also slightly less vulnerable to vampire powers. In all cases, only if the person is a believer. An atheist with a cross is a sad sight.
Lycanthropes: Lycanthrope is a little understood disease. A human can only get lycanthropy two ways. By being wounded by the teeth or claws of a lycanthrope in animal form. Or much more rarely through a bad batch of the shot that protects against the disease. If one is infected, that person will change into whatever type of animal attacked him. Werewolves create werewolves, for example. The condition is tied to the moon and all lycanthropes will change under the full moon, but can change other times as well, either fully into an animal or into a hybrid form. For obvious reasons, lycanthropes don’t use body armor.
Lycanthropes are stronger, faster and tougher than normal humans with animal sharp senses. Even in their human forms they can heal wounds quickly, recovering from crippling injuries in minutes or hours. Silver hurts them just like normal bullets hurt humans, however. And the act of shifting can exhaust them, requiring extended rest afterwards. Lycanthropes tend to follow the pattern of their animal type socially. Werewolves and wererats form packs. Weretigers tend to act more alone.
“I’d rather fight ten vampires than one demonic presence. They don’t give a --- about silver bullets.” Anita Blake
Others: There are a few other types of monsters in the world. So rare they don’t merit their own section.
Demons are beings of pure evil. Their appearance is indistinct, simply areas of void, black so intense it hurts to look at. Silver doesn’t hurt them, cold iron doesn’t phase them, fire simply rolls off them. Summoning a demon is the only sort of magic that doesn’t require any natural talent. Anyone knowing the correct rites and willing to sacrifice a human’s body and soul to the demon can summon one. Demons can grant requests and particularly love to be asked to simply kill as many people as they can find before being banished. Some shows of religion can drive a demon away. Buddhist chanting, the Torah, Islamic prayer, Shinto chimes and Christian hymns have all proven effective. And the rites of banishing a demon need time but can also be used.
The Fae still exist in the world, but are very rare. Scientifically classified as Homo Arcanus, the Fae were always mysterious and elusive and with the spread of human civilization, they have withdrawn elsewhere. Exactly where is unknown, but it is suspected that their refuge is extra dimensional. Common Fae have minor abilities in glamour, basically ‘real’ illusions, and are immune to silver, but very vulnerable to cold iron. Fae can breed with humans and their offspring sometimes have minor abilities related to this, even several generations down the line.
There are shapeshifters that are not lycanthropes. At times powerful witches have cursed someone with the ability to turn into a animal, typically harmless and embarrassing. Some natural shifters like Nagas are immortal beings of legend. Such shifters tend to like their privacy, however, and have never been truly studied.
There are more types of undead than vampires. Zombies can be raised by Animators and given basic orders. When fed enough blood some new zombies can even seem human for a time. Until they start to rot. Zombies are strong, tough, and slow. Ghouls simply appear in cemeteries that are no longer hallowed ground. They are typically cowardly carrion eaters who would only attack a human if the human was already unconscious. Typically. Ghosts are the spirits of the departed. Not really the soul, Animators agree that typically leaves after three days. But some spiritual extension of the original person. Ghosts only gain power to effect someone if that person notices and reacts to them. No form of undead likes sunlight, most avoid it even if it does them no physical harm.
The Organizations:
Cognitio Noctem Illustrat (Knowledge Illuminates the Night) – Helsing Motto
The Helsing Institute:
Bram Stoker's Dracula was a sensation when published in 1897, not the least because it was supposed to be based on a true story. Certainly Abraham van Helsing was hunting vampires in England at the time. The fame of the novel helped in founding the van Helsing Institute some years later in 1906, when Abraham had grown too old for hunting and was content to settle down and teach about the supernatural. And about hunting vampires. Abraham van Helsing was ahead of his time in believing most supernatural creatures could be treated as animals. Give a gargoyle or troll room to live in and it’s only dangerous if you bother it, and you’ll gain more by studying it than killing it. Lycanthropes are simply victims of a mysterious disease. But vampires were a different matter. By their very nature vampires hunted humans, and so must be destroyed.
Abraham van Helsing died in 1911 but the Institute was taken over by his son Noel. In 1928 King George V made the van Helsing Institute the official royal agency for hunting vampires in the British Isles. The Institute suffered a setback in 1944 when it was discovered family black sheep Maximilian van Helsing had aided the Nazi Millennium Project, trying to create an army of unhumans to save the Reich. The project was destroyed but to distance them from Maximilian’s treachery, the family name was changed simply to Helsing. In the 50’s Arthur Helsing was knighted in recognition of the service the family had rendered to Britain in the previous decades.
The Helsing Institute has remained focused in the British Empire for most of its history. Over the past decades, the Helsing Institute has settled for sending out teams to investigate the supernatural in Europe and focusing on hunting vampires throughout the UK. When the US Supreme Court made it legal to be a vampire, it was decided to open a branch of the Institute in the Unites States as well, to take this chance to observe vampires when they let their guard down.
"We are Iscariot! In our right hand is a dagger and poison. In our left hand is 30 pieces of silver and a noose. We are apostles and yet not apostles. Traitors and yet not traitors. We are the earthly agents of divine punishment!" - Father Alexander Anderson
The Catholic Church:
The twelve sections of the Vatican are named after the twelve disciples: Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the Lesser, Thaddeus, and Matthias. Each section is headed by a Cardinal and has it’s own assigned areas of responsibility. For example, Section III: Matthew is responsible for the acquisition and safeguarding of artifacts, tomes and relics, holy and profane. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei – formerly the Holy Office of the Inquisition) is a part of the Roman Curia and reports directly to the Pope.
In the shadows of the CDF is an order known as Section XIII: Iscariot. The origin of Iscariot is unknown and mysterious, even within the Church, with frequent references to the Knights Templar, or descendants of Judas Iscariot, as well as countless other theories. Section XIII is responsible for the dirty jobs necessary for the protection of the Church. Right at the top of this list is the destruction of supernatural beings. Often walking hand in hand with the Inquisition, Iscariot made war on vampires, lycanthropes and witches as well as the preternatural creatures that plagued Europe in the past centuries.
Though younger vampires often mockingly refer to Section XIII as ‘Judas Priests’ older vampires know no other group has destroyed more vampires than Iscariot. On November 9th, 1786, called the Day of Cleansing, Iscariot secretly coordinated an assault by their agents and the militaries of every country in Europe save France. Buildings were burned, people died, and by the time it was over nearly 120 vampires are believed to have been destroyed. Much like the Secret Service, Section XIII doesn’t officially exist.
In the present day, Section XIII operates in all predominately Catholic countries as the primary agency to destroy the supernatural, in addition to more secret strikes against those who threaten the Church elsewhere. Iscariot has clashed with the Helsing Institute in Northern Ireland. Section XIII is not welcome in the United States, but that’s never stopped them before. They are on a mission from God.
"Impossible! Humans are superior!" – Zaizen
Humans Against Vampires (HAV):
HAV is a loose coalition of anti-supernatural activists and lobbyists. Their primary goal is to overturn Addison v. Clark, and failing that they lobby for laws to restrict vampires, work against elected officials they see as too close to the vampires, picket vampires businesses, and file harassment suits against vampires. They have many good friends among the religious wing of the Republican Party and the current administration has been public in it’s distrust of vampires. But the war on terror, Iraq and various scandals have kept them to busy to do anything about it. Humans First is an extremist group that takes HAV a step further, using violence against witches, lycanthropes and vampires as well as trying to provoke the monsters into lashing back. HAV officially has nothing to do with Humans First.
Preternatural Action Response Team (PART):
A new division of the San Angelo police department, dedicated to dealing with crimes involving the supernatural. Headed by Detective-Sergeant John Graham, the taskforce is still fairly small and willing to work with outside specialists when needed.
“Do you think the Buddhists have people like us?“ - Sister Yumiko (Iscariot Agent)
Monster Hunting in the rest of the world: Monster hunting tends to follow the character of the country. In the US, individual specialists hunted the monsters. In Europe it’s private agencies like Helsing, associated with the national government. In China, the Temple of the Seven Swords sends out monk/hunters when requested by the government. In Japan Strike Force Zero uses only the highest technology, as well as appearing in it’s very own anime series.
