Vampire Bites in Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy
Here's what could happen to you if you pay for the kickstarter backer tier to be a potential victim on the hunting opportunity table for monster PCs in Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy.
Blood Drain: A Grab or Hold is a prerequisite for this attack. This attack is an exception to the rule that says that a character performing a Hold cannot make actions, so this attack may be done even by a vampire who has another character in a Hold. This attack is rolled using either Athletics or CQC, and is subject to all other regular rules regarding melee attacks.
This attack represents a vampire opening up a large blood vessel in the victim’s body and pressing their lips to it to drink blood. It makes no mechanical difference if this opening is made by their fangs, their claws, or a sharp weapon. They may choose to do 4 Superficial Damage by making a smaller wound and/or targeting a less critical blood vessel, such as the radial or elbow brachial; or they may choose to do 4 Penetrative Damage by creating a larger wound and/or targeting a more critical vessel, such as the carotid, jugular, shoulder brachial, or femoral.
(All of these blood vessels are critical to the human body. 4 Superficial Damage from attacking a “less critical” vessel can still result in loss of consciousness or even death.)
Unlike most melee attacks, this attack takes a lot of time(around 1 minute for Penetrative and around 5 minutes for Superficial), so if there are other characters involved in this combat, they may have multiple turns in the time it takes the vampire to complete this attack, or simply be able to take longer actions during their turns.
In order for the vampire to be considered to have gotten a sufficient amount of blood, the victim must be forced to make an Injury roll as a result of damage from this attack. It doesn’t matter if they get a Full Success, Partial Success, or Failure, it only matters that the damage forces them to make the roll. If the victim is forced to make an Injury roll as a result of this attack, then at the end of combat the vampire gains 1 Composure point. If the victim dies from this attack, this will be 2 Composure Points, even if their death caused them to skip the Injury roll.
During this process, if they are going for Penetrative damage, the vampire must also make a Reflex roll to attempt to remain clean while drinking blood. If they just don’t care about manners, however, they can choose to simply Fail and skip the roll.
Full Success: They do not spill a drop, leaving no evidence on their person that they just drank blood.
Partial Success: They are not fast enough to drink from the wound, and blood spirts onto their face and mouth.
Failure: They are not fast enough to drink from the wound, and blood gets everywhere. On the ground, on their face, on their clothes. This will be very hard to explain.
(Most vampires’ fangs take on a slight curve when they are allowed to grow out long enough, perfect for sinking in behind large arteries and pulling them out, where they can then be used like a straw. This is, of course, very efficient, but always fatal. More conscientious vampires may create smaller cuts or puncture marks in major blood vessels from which to drink.)
(Arterial blood is oxygenated and relatively free of debris compared to venous blood, and as such it is preferred by most vampires.)
(As the vampire bite does have a chance of only doing half-damage, or even zero damage, a vampire may wish to rough their prey up a bit first, doing damage to them to ensure that the actual blood sucking attack causes an Injury roll on the first try. This has the added benefit of getting the victim’s adrenaline going and their heart pumping fast. After all, vampires feed on human suffering as much as human blood.)
(Even though the vampire regains 2 composure points by killing a victim via blood draining, blood from a victim who is already dead carries no nutritional benefits, and does not restore composure.)
These rules are coming in the next Patreon update for Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy.
But you can get the free shareware demo from our website for free!
