New Skill 

Potence (Con)

Potence represents a vampire's mastery of blood magic. A vampire who invests Proficiency in Potence becomes stronger and more able to utilize the stolen spark of anima that thrums through their veins. 

In general terms, Potence is used in checks specifically related to a vampire's unique powers. All Vampires start with Apprentice (+0) Proficiency in Potence.

Drain Vitae ⬤ ⬤ ⬤

You draw anima by feeding on a mortal. Spend 3 actions to make a Potence check against the Endurance Defence of a target who currently has the Controlled, Helpful, Unconscious, or Paralyzed conditions. You may also use this against a Restrained or Grabbed target, but the target gains a you take a -5 circumstance penalty to this check due to their struggling. 

Sense Living ⬤ ⬤ ⬤ 

A vampire can use their power over blood to call out to the blood in other living creatures. You can substitute a Potence check for an Investigate check to make a Search action, but only to detect living creatures. If your Potence check beats the Stealth DC of an Invisible living creature, they are rendered merely Hidden to you for the rest of the Scene.

Predatory Aura ⬤ ◌ ◌

A vampire is an apex predator, and the living are their prey. This relationship can be incredibly unsettling to humans, who are used to being at the top of the food chain. You can substitute a Potence check in place of your Intimidation check when using the Demoralize action against a living target.

Taste of Blood (1 Minute)

You can discern subtle clues from any blood you taste. Spend 1 Minute to make a Potence check against the Endurance Defence of the target whose blood you are tasting (or a flat DC 15 if the blood is old/unattended).

Abilities

Artes

Blood is life, and life is magic. Therefore, some would argue that blood is raw, liquid magic. And vampires, as masters of blood, are thus masters of magic. 

Artes draw upon a vampire's innate ties to blood to perform supernatural acts. Vampires start with two artes chosen from their bloodline's artes, and can purchase additional artes for 3 experience. 

All artes have an anima cost.

Breath of Life 

A vampire normally appears like a well-to-do corpse. They are pale, they have no pulse, and their bodies are cold and clammy to the touch. 

However, by spending some of the life energy they drained from their human prey, they can ape the effects of being among the living. By using the Breath of Life ability, a vampire can assume the guise of the living for up to one scene or one hour, whichever is shorter. 

While the Breath of Life is active, a vampire has a pulse, a regular metabolism, and even needs to breathe. They would pass any conventional medical examination. Any attempt to discern their undead nature is nigh-impossible without magic. In addition, they reduce the impact of sunlight and fire for the remainder of the scene. 

Of course, the breath of life comes with its own drawbacks. While active, a vampire needs to breathe, eat, drink and can become fatigued. They give up most of their undead immunities in exchange for repressing their weaknesses. 

Breath of Life ⬤ ⬤ ⬤ 

Spend 1 Anima and 3 Actions to send a rush of vitae through your body, allowing you to ape the effects of the living for 1 Hour (or until the end of the current Scene). While active, you have a pulse, a regular metabolism, and pass any conventional medical examination. You also reduce the severity of Sunlight exposure by one step, and you lose your Vulnerability to Fire.

The Drawback: While active, you need to breathe, eat, and drink, and you lose your undead immunity to the Fatigued and Sickened conditions.

Healing

Vampires are metaphysically static, frozen at the moment of their death. Their bodies attempt to return to that state, even if injured. Bones mend, torn flesh knits, and severed limbs regenerate in mere minutes. 

Fast Healing ⬤ ◌ ◌:  Vampires can spend 1 point of Anima and 1 Action to heal 1d8+Constitution Modifier Vitality Points as a single action. 

Medning Wounds (Long Rest): Wound points require more substantial healing. A vampire must spend 3 Anima to heal exactly 1 Wound Point, and this healing is only accomplished during a long rest. 

A vampire does not otherwise heal damage, be it through rest, medical skill, or magic, unless the magic indicates it works on undead. 

Immortality and Torpor

Left to their own devices, vampires are immortal. Unfed, without the spark of life that dwells within human blood, they will fall into torpor, a dreamless sleep that can last decades. But they won't die. 

When a vampire is reduced to 0 Wound Points, they fall Unconscious but do not gain the Dying condition. Their body is already dead; they don't need working organs to continue moving. Instead, any damage dealt to a vampire at 0 Wounds spills over and deals damage directly to their Anima Pool. If a Vampire is left at 0 Wound Points, at next nightfall, they will consume any remaining anima they have, heal exactly 1 Wound Point and awaken in a Frenzy. 

When a vampire falls to 0 Anima Points and 0 Wound Points, they fall into Torpor, where they are Unconscious and unable to use any anima to recover consciousness. This liminal state will last 1 week (for player character vampires) or until someone willingly supplies the sleeping vampire with blood, thereby providing them with the Anima needed to reawaken at the next nightfall.

If a vampire in Torpor takes at least 1 point of damage from Fire, Sunlight, or an Execute Attempt (usually decapitation), they suffer their Final Death. Their body rapidly decomposes into ash and bone, and their shade is drawn violently into the Underworld.

Physical Intensity ◌

Legends of vampires speak of creatures faster and stronger than any mortal. By spending 1 Anima at the start of your turn, you gain a +2 Supernatural Bonus to your choice of Brawn, Agility, or Constitution checks (and their associated Defences) until the start of your next turn.

Senses

Vampires are the masters of the night. They have Precise Hearing and Scent and can use Potency to detect nearby living creatures. This keen smell and hearing only applies to living creatures, as Vampires can smell blood and hear heartbeats. 

Vampires can immediately identify another vampire as one of their own through their enhanced senses, unless that other vampire is using the Breath of Life. 

Undeath

Vampires are dead things, holding onto the living world through the spark of life present in blood. But though they walk among the living, they are still, fundamentally, dead.

Vampires do not need to breathe, eat, or drink, and are immune to the fatigued condition, unless using Breath of Life (though they can still become exhausted due to mental and spiritual conditions). 

Unlike other undead, vampires can still be poisoned and catch diseases, due to their reliance on blood. 

In addition, Vampires must still sleep for at least 6 hours per day, or else they begin to suffer. After 24 hours awake, a vampire gains one application of Drained, and gains one application of Drained every 4 hours they remain awake. Unlike other undead, a vampire is vulnerable to spells and abilities that inflict sleep.

Feeding 

Most stories about vampires revolve around one particular facet of the undead: their hunger for the blood of the living. 

To vampires, blood is more than food: it is life, it is change, it is growth, it is potential, it is power. 

Vampires have two means of feeding: violently or subtly. 

Violence: the Assault 

A vampire who wishes to feed violently can unsheathe their fangs in combat as a single action, gaining a natural Bite attack that deals 1d4 piercing damage. 

Against a target that is controlled, grappled, restrained, paralyzed or unconscious, the vampire may unleash their Hunger using the Drain Vitae action.

Non-Violent: the Seduction 

When feeding non-violently, a vampire can choose to cause their victim to feel euphoric. A willing victim gains the Fascinated condition and focuses entirely on the vampire. 

When feeding on a willing victim, the vampire may Take 10 on the Potence check for Drain Vitae, and the feeding deals only non-lethal damage instead of Wound damage.

Blood Supplies 

Vampires most commonly feed upon humans, but they can feed from animals, stored blood, and even from other vampires.

• Human blood is best served fresh and warm, direct from the source. The vampire can safely pull an amount of anima from a human equal to their Constitution Modifier. If a vampire drains more anima from a human than their Constitution modifier, the human gains the drained condition until they heal from the wounds inflicted by the feeding. A vampire can drain a maximum amount of Anima from a human equal to the human's total Wound Points, though this will usually kill the victim and potentially raise them as a new vampire. 

• Cold Blood is far less nourishing for a vampire, but it is far more convenient. A vampire must consume a pint of refrigerated blood or plasma to recover 1 anima point.

• Animal blood is dangerous, as it's nearly impossible to feed upon an animal without killing them. A vampire must feed on a live animal, and gains 1 Anima Point per Size category of the animal consumed.

• Vampire blood, or vitae, is highly efficient. A vampire gains 1 Anima Point per point drained from another vampire without causing negative conditions. However, Vitae is highly addictive.

Non-Human Feeding 

While vampires mostly feed on blood, the truth is most supernatural creatures have a substance analogous to blood that is brimming with anima, which a vampire can also feed upon. Most vampires don't pursue this because of the unpredictability of non-human blood and the dangers posed by supernatural creatures, but desperate times can call for desperate measures.

• Ectoplasm: A vampire who feeds on beings from the spirit world, including shifters, begins hearing the whispers of the spirits and ghosts who dwell unseen in the Material. You gain the benefit of the Spiritual Sense feat until you next rest, but you take a -2 origin penalty to Presence-based checks and Defences as the constant noise distracts you from the physical world. This condition lasts until you next take a Long Rest.

• Glamour: A vampire who feeds on fey is affected by the Breath of Life, for free, until they next take a long rest. During this long rest, you experience psychedelic dreams that may hold visions of the fey's past lives.

• Ichor: A vampire who makes the mistake of feeding upon a horror or another creature from Shadow is struck with an immediate pang of immense hunger. No matter how much anima they gain from the feeding, they are just not satiated. You must make an immediate Willpower check against the horror's Shroud DC at a -4 penalty. If you fail this check, you immediately fly into a Frenzy, as your Hunger seizes control.

• Nama: a vampire who feeds on an elemental or jinn feels the nama burn through their veins. You take 2 points of Vitality damage for every 1 Anima they drain. However, you gain a Resistance 5 to the energy type associated with the creature you fed upon until your next Long Rest.

Downtime Feeding (1 Hour)

In a mixed-origin party, taking time away from the adventure to focus on a vampire's feeding can be a distraction from the overall story. So a vampire can elect to instead use some of their downtime, or resting time, to feed. 

A Feeding check takes 1 hour. A vampire determines the skill they want to use to feed, such as Diplomacy to seduce their prey, or Street Smarts to find a drug den where nobody will notice them, or Survival if they want to track down an animal to eat instead. Make a check against a DC set by the GM (Usually 15). The result is as follows:

• Critical Success: You find an exceptionally suitable victim to prey upon. You regain 2d8+Con Anima from your feeding

• Success: Your hunt goes as intended, and you can feed in relative safety. You gain 1d8+Con Anima from your feeding. 

• Failure: Things don't go as intended. Targets have wingmen, crowds appear in all the wrong places, and, generally, the entire hour is a waste of time. You gain no Anima.

• Critical Failure: Things go sideways. Maybe your prey ends up being a supernatural creature, or, worse, a hunter. You're in for a bad night. Roll a d10 to determine the outcome:

  • 1: The Witness: You were sloppy, and someone not only noticed your feeding, but got away.

  • 2: The Hunter: Your prey was either a hunter or part of a trap by a hunter.

  • 3: The Rival: Your prey was part of another vampire's herd, and you've now made a powerful enemy.

  • 4: The Resistant: Your prey is completely immune to your attempts to feed on them, for some reason.

  • 5: The Afflicted: Your prey is carrying a blood-borne disease, and you're not infected.

  • 6: The Anemic: Your prey has medical complications and dies from your feeding. You've now got a body on your hand.

  • 7: The Occult: Your prey was a spirit, a fey, a jinn or a horror (chosen by the DM). You suffer from the effects of drinking non-human blood.

  • 8: The Fan: Your prey is into vampires, and now wants to know more about you and your nature--perhaps even join you in undeath.

  • 9: The Blessed: Your prey is particularly saintly or protected by some higher power. You take 2 points of wound damage for every 1 point of Anima you drain from the target as the sacred nature of their blood burns you from the inside out.

  • 10: The Damned: Your prey is a demon, or possessed by a demon. 

You can make multiple feeding attempts every night. Each attempt takes 1 hour, and you take a cumulative -4 circumstance penalty on each subsequent feeding check you make over a single night, as you begin to thin the herd and attract unwanted attention. 

The Hunger & The Frenzy

An inhuman, monstrous hunger lurks just beneath the surface of vampires. This Hunger is a vampire's constant companion, reminding them that they are a predator in a world of prey, and that those they interact with are little more than fleshy containers for the anima the Hunger craves. 

Most vampires become accustomed to the Hunger and have learnt to resist its whispers. But sometimes a Hunger becomes impatient with their vampire and decides to take matters into their own hands. This moment, when the Hunger seizes control, is known as a Frenzy. 

Gaining Frenzy 

When faced with a significant threat, emotional trauma, or starvation, you risk losing control to your hunger. You can try to contain your Hunger, but eventually you must confront your inner demon. 

To resist a Frenzy, the GM will call for a Resolve check against a DC equal to 10 + your Potence Proficiency Bonus + Situational Modifiers. There are numerous modifiers that can be applied, but here are some:

• +2: Destruction of your property, a hurt friend, being insulted by a superior, the situation involves your vice, the situation involves a great deal of gore and viscera, or you are currently Wounded

• +4: Death of a friend, a hurt lover, public shaming, the situation involves a moderate amount of fire, you are exposed to sunlight, you are below your Anima threshold

• +8: Death of a lover, you are trapped inside a burning building, you are starving (2 or fewer Anima)

• -2: You can take a moment to calm yourself; you are on holy ground

These are only some conditions that may affect a check's ability to resist Frenzy. 

The outcomes of this check are as follows:

• Critical Success: You resist the Hunger entirely

• Success: You resist, but gain the Tempted condition (a cumulative -1 penalty to future Frenzy checks) for the Scene.

• Failure: You succumb to Frenzy

Tempted (Condition)

Tempted is a condition vampires can receive. When Tempted, your Hunger is close to the surface, and you can feel yourself losing control. You take a You take a -1 Circumstance Penalty to any future Resolve checks made to resist Frenzy. Multiple applications of Tempted stack this penalty. You remove 1 application of Tempted at the end of a Scene or after a Long Rest.

The Frenzy 

When in Frenzy, a Vampire becomes stronger, faster and tougher.

• You gain the bonus of Physical Intensity (a +2 Supernatural Bonus to Brawn, Agility, or Constitution checks) without spending Anima.

• You ignore the action-loss penalties of the Slowed, Staggered, or Wounded conditions.

• You may make a Bite attack as a Reaction against any foe you successfully Grapple.

• You cannot make any Presence or Intellect checks (other than Intimidation)

• You cannot concentrate, cast spells or use complex Artes (Artes that take more than 3 actions to activate)

• You are entirely driven to destroy the source of your frenzy or feed on the nearest target. You recognize allies and will not use lethal force against them, but you cannot benefit from their tactical abilities (like Flanking or Aid).

• Redirecting the Hunger while in Frenzy requires a Resolve check against the original DC that triggered the Frenzy. You may make this check as a free action at the start of your round. If you succeed, you gain full control of your actions for the next round. Every subsequent attempt to Redirect your Hunger during a Frenzy imposes a cumulative -2 penalty on that check. If you achieve a Critical Success, you end the Frenzy.

While in Frenzy, a vampire is driven to fulfill the object of their Hunger's desire, whether it is feeding, destroying a threat, or asserting their dominance. The vampire is single-minded in achieving their goals, but not suicidally so. The vampire acts with immediate, forceful, and destructive abandon, not caring about others around them or the long-term impacts of their actions. If someone gets in their way, they will be hit; if someone is hiding behind a barrier, that barrier will be hurled away. A vampire in Frenzy recognizes friend and foe and is willing to take less-lethal actions towards allies. For example, an ally trying to restrain a vampire is likely to be shoved out of the way, while an enemy attempting the same is likely to end up as the vampire's next meal.

Regaining Control

A vampire in Frenzy can regain control under one of the following circumstances:

• Achieving a Critical Success to Redirect the Hunger.

• Your Hunger's objective has been achieved (you have fed, the threat has been destroyed, your dominance has been established)

• You are knocked unconscious.

• The Scene ends.

Weaknesses 

Fire 

Fire often represents purity or cleansing, and, as creatures of corruption, flames do more than physically burn a vampire's undead flesh. Fire, regardless of the source, also damages a vampire's essence, causing grievous injury. You are Vulnerable to fire, meaning you take standard Fire damage to your Vitality, plus 1 point of Wound Damage for every dice rolled, even if you still have Vitality Points remaining.

Torpor

Torpor is the sleep of ages that plagues all vampires. Any vampire who suffers great injury or starvation falls into torpor. This cold, dreamless slumber is like a return to the grave for a vampire. While in torpor, a vampire appears dead: their skin tightens, and their joints suffer rigor mortis. Jiangshi even begin to grow mould over their body. 

A vampire will remain in torpor for weeks, or even decades, as they slowly heal from their injuries and make the most of the lingering anima in their system. The older and more powerful a vampire, the longer they must remain in torpor. 

Player vampires in Secret Wars are typically on the lower end of the vampiric power scale. Therefore, they only have to spend 1 Week in torpor to heal. 

Player characters must spend 1 Week in Torpor to heal. At the end of this week, they permanently lose 1 Proficiency Tier in Potence, but reawaken at full Vitality and Anima.

An ally can feed a slumbering vampire to awaken them early. This deals 1 Wound to the donor and heals the vampire 1 Wound, allowing them to awaken at the next nightfall, without losing a tier of Potence, but causing the Vampire to awaken in a Frenzy instead.

Stakes 

When a wooden stake pierces a vampire's heart, they immediately fall into torpor. 

Staking a vampire through the heart requires a targeted melee attack at a -5 to the attack roll. If the attack hits and deals at least 5 points of damage, the vampire has been staked. The vampire immediately enters Torpor as if they had 0 Wounds and 0 Anima, and this Torpor does not end until the stake is physically removed.

Sunlight

The light of the day is denied to vampires. Some attribute this to the judgment of God, others to the nature of vampires as creatures intrinsically tied to the night. Regardless of this bane's origin, a vampire exposed to the sun will begin to burn under the light of day, as their flesh chars, smokes, and sloughs away. 

The exact amount of damage a vampire takes is related to their age and their power, and the intensity of the daylight. The damage is dealt directly as Wound Damage, bypassing Vitality entirely.

Using Breath of Life moves the damage down one level of intensity. 

For player character vampires, the rate of damage is as follows:

• FULL EXPOSURE: 1 point of wound damage per round if they are fully exposed, during a bright, cloudless day

• MODERATE EXPOSURE: 1 point of wound damage per minute (10 rounds) if they are mostly covered (revealing only the barest amount of flesh), or if it is an overcast day

• MILD EXPOSURE: 1 point of wound damage every 10 minutes if they are both mostly covered, and it is an overcast day, or if the vampire is out during a particularly intense storm or in thick fog.

• MINOR EXPOSURE: 1 point of wound damage every hour if a fully-covered vampire uses their Breath of Life ability on a heavily overcast or stormy day.

The damage dealt by sunlight cannot be decreased below 1 per hour except through powerful magics. It can be increased above 1 per round in certain specific conditions. 

Bloodlines

A vampire inherits the bloodline of the vampire who turned them and raised them into undeath. 

You choose your vampire's bloodline at character creation. It cannot be changed later. Your bloodline has a specific weakness, or bane, as noted under the Bloodline Weakness section of this page. 

Bloodlines also provide you with an advantage. On character creation, you gain two artes associated with your bloodline. You also gain a +2 bonus to one of two abilities that your bloodline favours.

• Alukah: Intellect or Spirit

• Jiangshi: Constitution or Spirit

• Strigoi: Brawn or Presence

• Valravn: Brawn or Cunning

• Vetala: Agility or Presence

Alukah, the Firstborn

• Bonus to Intellect or Spirit

• The Sacred Bane: Alukah are the eldest bloodline of vampires, descended, according to legend, from Cain himself. Alukah thus suffer the traditional weaknesses of a vampire to an even greater degree. You treat Sunlight exposure as one step worse. In addition, you are Vulnerable to Radiant damage and Blessed weapons (taking Wound damage, exactly like Fire).

Jiangshi, the Hopping Dead

• Bonus to Constitution or Spirit

• The Rotting Bane: Jiangshi suffer more from their dead nature than other vampire bloodlines. Rigor mortis sets in more easily, and during torpor, mould grows over their flesh. It is clear to even the Sleeping that there is something "off" about a jiangshi. You take a permanent -2 origin penalty to Dodge Defence due to rigor mortis. Activating Breath of Life costs you 2 Anima instead of 1.

Strigoi, the Nocturnal Nobility

• Bonus to Brawn or Presence

• The Prideful Bane: The Strigoi are the nobility of the night, descended from rulers such as Vlad Dracula and Elizabeth Bathory. But just as glory is in their blood, so is madness. You take a permanent -2 origin penalty to Resolve Defence. In addition, you cannot cross the threshold of a private dwelling uninvited without suffering crippling psychic pain that inflicts a -2 penalty to all checks while you remain inside. Finally, you are repulsed by garlic (suffering a -2 origin penalty while within 1 Range of it). A strigoi trying to enter a home uninvited, when that home has been warded with garlic, takes a cumulative -4 penalty to all checks. 

Valravn, Hel's Beasts

• Bonus to Brawn or Cunning

• The Feral Bane: The first valravn were warriors cursed by Odin, and the spirit of battle continues to flow in this bloodline. You take a permanent -2 Penalty to Composure Defense, and a -2 penalty to resist Frenzy. When your Anima pool drops below half your maximum, your fangs reflexively bare themselves, inflicting a -2 penalty to all Presence-based checks.

Vetala, the Breath-Drinkers

• Bonus to Agility or Presence

• The Hedonist Bane: The Vetala are obsessed with beauty in all its forms. When confronted by extreme beauty (art, a person, music), you must make a Resolve check or become Fascinated. Exposure to holy prayers or mantras inflicts 1d8 Vitality damage per minute and forces a Frenzy check.