Bloodlust - The Cyberpunk Alternate Reality Sourcebook
Hey! I have some additional thoughts about Cyberpunk Vampires.
In my recent video on the World of Future Darkness crossover for Vampire the Masquerade and Cyberpunk, I briefly discussed the Night's Edge alternate reality sourcebook for cyberpunk.
What I didn't realize was that Night's Edge has another sourcebook called Bloodlust that expands on its ideas for adding vampires to Cyberpunk. I've taken a look at it, and wanted to add some more ideas for what it might add to the Masquerade crossover. Maybe I’ll make a dedicated Night’s Edge-Bloodlust video at some point, but for now I’m putting my thoughts in this post.
First, the fake vampires, mostly the same sort of stuff I mentioned in the video, the things that muddy the waters for those trying to hunt for vampires. MedVamps, CyberVamps & Posers
- Vampire Posers are poser gangs that adopt "vampire" as an aesthetic: could be classic Dracula types with capes or more of a Lost Boys look, or any vampire aesthetic really. May include biosculpting for a pallid complexion and gaunt look, could have implanted fangs.
- CyberVamps are those that keep modifying themselves to resemble vampires until their already unstable psyche shatters and they fall into cyberpsychosis. May have started as a vampire poser, but gone full in for bodily and sensory enhancements, and yes the fangs. Usually homicidal, often delusional enough to believe they are a real vampire and try to drink blood
- MedVamps are essentially just clinically unwell people that believe they are vampires or are otherwise pathologically driven to acts of murder and cannibalism. Social and psychological services are in short supply in Cyberpunk, so there's a nonzero chance of encountering one or two in a major city.
There are also "Goth Gangs", usually composed of teens and young adults, which Bloodlust basically frames as vampire groupies. They get together, give themselves names like "Dredd Bloodkin", spill some blood in a cup around a fire, chant a bit, and then the "Master" drops by to have a drink. Maybe he'll rile them up to attack another Goth Gang working for a rival vampire for some petty vendetta, or throw in the way of some hunters. Gotta get cannon fodder somehow I guess, pickings are slim for fledglings and neonates.
But then there are some interesting additions for how vampires have adapted to the Cyberpunk world: GlamVamps, RadVamps and CorpoVamps:
- GlamVamps are vampires that flaunt their nature almost in the open and make a show of it. If asked directly by the press, they deny it, but they all but openly show off their abilities and thirst for blood. It's always deniable yet blatant, most of the public are convinced its an eccentric act but others find them fascinating. Most GlamVamps can be found in Europe, among the jet set and living the high life, drinking from the decadent rich that pay for the novelty of the experience. They are mostly young vampires that survive by virtue of wealth and connections. Their strange quasi-celebrity status is the major reason why there are so many Goth Gangs, and more than one such groupie has found themselves an abandoned vampire childe after being kissed by a GlamVamp "on tour" as it were.
It's difficult imagining a GlamVamp having a long life in the Masquerade context. The Camarilla would come down pretty hard on such antics, connections be damned. Then again, maybe their proliferation has vampire backing and protection. The Children of Carthagos are dedicated to making the world a place vampires can live in openly. Maybe GlamVamps are part of a strategy to get the kine used to the idea of vampires living among them. Maybe there’s a game of cat and mouse going on with the Children helping them avoid vampire assassins.
V5 has an upcoming sourcebook called “Live from the Succubus Club” about vampire entertainers balancing fame and the Masquerade, so there might actually be some synergy there with the GlamVamp concept.
- Radvamps are vampires that have had too much radiation exposure. Night’s Edge vampires can take more radiation than a human, but eventually they will start to mutate as it damages their bodies and the healing goes wrong. This is how the game justifies having Nosferatu type vampires in this world. RadVamps are generally insane and filled with hatred for humanity, whom they blame for their current deformed state. There are many such vampires in areas that have been subject to nuclear disasters, especially the Middle East in the Cyberpunk timeline.
RadVamps obviously don’t fit well within the Masquerade context. Kindred are reanimated dead bodies that mystically revert to their embraced state to heal. They don’t have the cellular activity to develop cancer or mutation, only a supernatural semblance of life. However, there might be some ideas worth using here. I don’t actually know if there’s any official lore for radiation in Masquerade, so feel free to correct me. Maybe prolonged intense radiation exposure (far beyond the human limit) has deleterious effects on a kindred’s mental state despite the physical damage healing (we don’t want to steal the Nosferatu’s thunder), causing them to lose their minds until they become Wights at the extremity. A Wight is a vampire that has lost themselves entirely to the Beast, being reduced to bloodlust and feral instincts. Maybe the constant damage from the radiation creates a feedback loop of constantly needing to feed that spirals out of control. So if you want a reason for there to be a bunch of Wights in the Middle East, there you go.
- CorpVamps are vampires that live as creatures of the corporations, regarded by other vampires as pathetic. In Japan they’re called the Yorozaibatsu, the corporate family of the night. They’re integrated into the corporate hierarchy and generally act as hitmen for the boss, turning those selected for their loyalty to the corp to maintain their stable of corporate vampire assets. American CorpVamps are a lot more backstabby, viewing their condition as a way to better climb the corporate ladder and stay there for a long time.
Now to apply the Masquerade filter: Imagine this, you’re a young Militech Corpo recently embraced to a clan like the Ventrue or Lasombra, and suddenly a Militech rep from a division you’ve never heard of shows up offering you an alternative to diving headfirst into the world of vampire politics you don’t understand. You’ll get money, a steady supply of blood, the shiniest toys, and career prospects as long as you come into the fold and use your powers for the corps benefit. If anything can protect you from weird vampire sect politics, it would be the corp you know and whose ladder you’ve been trying to climb your whole life, right? Or maybe you’re a Caitiff on the street that got sloppy with the Masquerade and Biotechnica offered to take care of it for you if you work for them now. Vampires of all sects probably find the idea of kindred working for kine in such a way demeaning, and probably hunt them on principle for the Masquerade breach at least. Maybe the Children of Carthagos have their hands in such arrangements though, another way to integrate kindred and kine. Or maybe the elders don’t actually care too much, they own the corp after all.
Watchman Gaming
Bloodlust - The Cyberpunk Alternate Reality Sourcebook
Hey! I have some additional thoughts about Cyberpunk Vampires.
In my recent video on the World of Future Darkness crossover for Vampire the Masquerade and Cyberpunk, I briefly discussed the Night's Edge alternate reality sourcebook for cyberpunk.
What I didn't realize was that Night's Edge has another sourcebook called Bloodlust that expands on its ideas for adding vampires to Cyberpunk. I've taken a look at it, and wanted to add some more ideas for what it might add to the Masquerade crossover. Maybe I’ll make a dedicated Night’s Edge-Bloodlust video at some point, but for now I’m putting my thoughts in this post.
First, the fake vampires, mostly the same sort of stuff I mentioned in the video, the things that muddy the waters for those trying to hunt for vampires. MedVamps, CyberVamps & Posers
- Vampire Posers are poser gangs that adopt "vampire" as an aesthetic: could be classic Dracula types with capes or more of a Lost Boys look, or any vampire aesthetic really. May include biosculpting for a pallid complexion and gaunt look, could have implanted fangs.
- CyberVamps are those that keep modifying themselves to resemble vampires until their already unstable psyche shatters and they fall into cyberpsychosis. May have started as a vampire poser, but gone full in for bodily and sensory enhancements, and yes the fangs. Usually homicidal, often delusional enough to believe they are a real vampire and try to drink blood
- MedVamps are essentially just clinically unwell people that believe they are vampires or are otherwise pathologically driven to acts of murder and cannibalism. Social and psychological services are in short supply in Cyberpunk, so there's a nonzero chance of encountering one or two in a major city.
There are also "Goth Gangs", usually composed of teens and young adults, which Bloodlust basically frames as vampire groupies. They get together, give themselves names like "Dredd Bloodkin", spill some blood in a cup around a fire, chant a bit, and then the "Master" drops by to have a drink. Maybe he'll rile them up to attack another Goth Gang working for a rival vampire for some petty vendetta, or throw in the way of some hunters. Gotta get cannon fodder somehow I guess, pickings are slim for fledglings and neonates.
But then there are some interesting additions for how vampires have adapted to the Cyberpunk world: GlamVamps, RadVamps and CorpoVamps:
- GlamVamps are vampires that flaunt their nature almost in the open and make a show of it. If asked directly by the press, they deny it, but they all but openly show off their abilities and thirst for blood. It's always deniable yet blatant, most of the public are convinced its an eccentric act but others find them fascinating. Most GlamVamps can be found in Europe, among the jet set and living the high life, drinking from the decadent rich that pay for the novelty of the experience. They are mostly young vampires that survive by virtue of wealth and connections. Their strange quasi-celebrity status is the major reason why there are so many Goth Gangs, and more than one such groupie has found themselves an abandoned vampire childe after being kissed by a GlamVamp "on tour" as it were.
It's difficult imagining a GlamVamp having a long life in the Masquerade context. The Camarilla would come down pretty hard on such antics, connections be damned. Then again, maybe their proliferation has vampire backing and protection. The Children of Carthagos are dedicated to making the world a place vampires can live in openly. Maybe GlamVamps are part of a strategy to get the kine used to the idea of vampires living among them. Maybe there’s a game of cat and mouse going on with the Children helping them avoid vampire assassins.
V5 has an upcoming sourcebook called “Live from the Succubus Club” about vampire entertainers balancing fame and the Masquerade, so there might actually be some synergy there with the GlamVamp concept.
- Radvamps are vampires that have had too much radiation exposure. Night’s Edge vampires can take more radiation than a human, but eventually they will start to mutate as it damages their bodies and the healing goes wrong. This is how the game justifies having Nosferatu type vampires in this world. RadVamps are generally insane and filled with hatred for humanity, whom they blame for their current deformed state. There are many such vampires in areas that have been subject to nuclear disasters, especially the Middle East in the Cyberpunk timeline.
RadVamps obviously don’t fit well within the Masquerade context. Kindred are reanimated dead bodies that mystically revert to their embraced state to heal. They don’t have the cellular activity to develop cancer or mutation, only a supernatural semblance of life. However, there might be some ideas worth using here. I don’t actually know if there’s any official lore for radiation in Masquerade, so feel free to correct me. Maybe prolonged intense radiation exposure (far beyond the human limit) has deleterious effects on a kindred’s mental state despite the physical damage healing (we don’t want to steal the Nosferatu’s thunder), causing them to lose their minds until they become Wights at the extremity. A Wight is a vampire that has lost themselves entirely to the Beast, being reduced to bloodlust and feral instincts. Maybe the constant damage from the radiation creates a feedback loop of constantly needing to feed that spirals out of control. So if you want a reason for there to be a bunch of Wights in the Middle East, there you go.
- CorpVamps are vampires that live as creatures of the corporations, regarded by other vampires as pathetic. In Japan they’re called the Yorozaibatsu, the corporate family of the night. They’re integrated into the corporate hierarchy and generally act as hitmen for the boss, turning those selected for their loyalty to the corp to maintain their stable of corporate vampire assets. American CorpVamps are a lot more backstabby, viewing their condition as a way to better climb the corporate ladder and stay there for a long time.
Now to apply the Masquerade filter: Imagine this, you’re a young Militech Corpo recently embraced to a clan like the Ventrue or Lasombra, and suddenly a Militech rep from a division you’ve never heard of shows up offering you an alternative to diving headfirst into the world of vampire politics you don’t understand. You’ll get money, a steady supply of blood, the shiniest toys, and career prospects as long as you come into the fold and use your powers for the corps benefit. If anything can protect you from weird vampire sect politics, it would be the corp you know and whose ladder you’ve been trying to climb your whole life, right? Or maybe you’re a Caitiff on the street that got sloppy with the Masquerade and Biotechnica offered to take care of it for you if you work for them now. Vampires of all sects probably find the idea of kindred working for kine in such a way demeaning, and probably hunt them on principle for the Masquerade breach at least. Maybe the Children of Carthagos have their hands in such arrangements though, another way to integrate kindred and kine. Or maybe the elders don’t actually care too much, they own the corp after all.
2 days ago (edited) | [YT] | 17