TEXT: By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 1 
   
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 1 
  TABLE OF CONTENTS 
  ATTRIBUTION 
  3 
  ARTWORK 
  3 
  WHAT ARE FATE THINS? 
  3 
  INTRODUCTION 
  5 
  WHY DO VAMPIRES FRIGHTEN AND EXCITE US? 
  7 
  THE VAMPIRES ORIGIN IN MYTH 
  7 
  THE STRIGOI 
  7 
  VAMPIRES AS NOBILITY 
  8 
  VLAD THE IMPALER 
  8 
  ELIZABETH BATHORY 
  9 
  VAMPIRES AS ANARCHY 
  11 
  VAMPIRES AS NECROMANCERS OR SORCERORS 
  13 
  HAND OF GLORY 
  14 
  GHOULS 
  15 
  VAMPIRES AS DISEASE 
  16 
  THE STRAIN 
  17 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 2 
  VAMPIRES AS A CURSE 
  18 
  TIPS FOR RUNNING HORROR GAMES IN FATE 
  19 
  VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE! 
  20 
  THE X-CARD 
  21 
  RULES FOR VAMPIRES IN FATE 
  23 
  POWER SOURCE AND FEEDING 
  25 
  WHAT POWERS DO THEY HAVE? 
  29 
  CORE OR ACCELERATED? 
  29 
  VAMPIRIC WEAKNESSES AND BANES 
  33 
  SAMPLE CAMPAIGN STARTERS 
  35 
  THE RED PLAGUE 
  36 
  SOCIETY OF THE DAMNED 
  42 
  THE TOWER OF BONES 
  48 
   
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 3 
  ATTRIBUTION 
  This work is based on Fate Core System and Fate Accelerated Edition 
  (found at http://www.faterpg.com/), products of Evil Hat Productions, 
  LLC, developed, authored, and edited by Leonard Balsera, Brian 
  Engard, Jeremy Keller, Ryan Macklin, Mike Olson, Clark Valentine, 
  Amanda Valentine, Fred Hicks, and Rob Donoghue, and licensed for 
  our use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported 
  license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). 
  This work is based on the Fate System Toolkit (found at 
  http://www.faterpg.com/), a product of Evil Hat Productions, LLC, 
  developed, authored, and edited by Robert Donoghue, Brian Engard, 
  Brennan Taylor, Mike Olson, Mark Diaz Truman, Fred Hicks, and 
  Matthew Gandy, and licensed for our use under the Creative 
  Commons 
  Attribution 
  3.0 
  Unported 
  license 
  (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). 
  GRAPHIC FONT 
  Charnel House (http://www.dafont.com/charnel-house.font) was used to 
  create some of the skull graphics scattered throughout. 
  ARTWORK 
  All artwork used in this document is public domain. 
   Front cover: bats-151441_1280.png 
  https://pixabay.com/en/bats-vamps-vampires-dracula-151441/ 
   Back cover frame 
  http://thegraphicsfairy.com/free-public-domain-frame-image-
  fabulous/ 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 4 
   Dracula_-_Vampire.png 
  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dracula_-_Vampire.png 
   dracula-1807616_1280.png 
  https://pixabay.com/en/dracula-vampire-bat-animal-flying-
  1807616/ 
   venice-2092612_1920.jpg 
  https://pixabay.com/en/venice-vampire-mask-carnevale-2092612/ 
  CC0 Public Domain 
   Bela Lugosi as Dracula-2.jpg 
  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bela_Lugosi_as_Dracula-
  2.jpg 
  ADDITIONAL THANKS 
  Many thanks to Mark Nolan for casting his expert eye over this document 
  and giving me some great feedback and suggestions for improvements. 
  WHAT ARE FATE THINS? 
  Fate Thins are an idea inspired by the Fate Worlds 
  books published by Evil Hat Publishing. They are 
  small self-contained starter packs, designed to give 
  you a quick burst of inspiration for running a 
  particular type of campaign using the Fate rules 
  system without breaking the bank. 
  YOU WILL NEED A COPY OF EITHER THE FATE CORE 
  SYSTEM OR FATE ACCELERATED EDITION TO USE THIS 
  SUPPLEMENT, TO SAVE ON SPACE AND COST WE DO 
  NOT REPRINT THE BASIC RULES UNLESS ABSOLUTELY 
  NECESSARY. 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 5 
  Introduction 
  Vampires. 
  The very mention of the word conjures up images of pallid undead 
  creatures, climbing from their graves, eager to slake their thirst for 
  blood. This Fate Thin offers suggestions and guidelines for bringing 
  these undead monsters to your Fate games, whether your player 
  characters are intrepid hunters seeking to drag them screaming into 
  the bright light of day, wish to embrace the darkness and assume the 
  mantle of the undead aristocracy themselves. 
  One of the first games I played when I started roleplaying was the 
  Second Edition of White Wolf’s Vampire: the Masquerade, I’d been a 
  sucker for vampire films—everything from Hammer Horror with the 
  great Christopher Lee to the Lost Boys—for a long time before that 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 6 
  and the opportunity to actually play a vampire in a roleplaying game 
  was too good to pass up. I've got to tell you that those early games 
  were pretty great too. I was lucky enough to get invited to a Sabbat 
  game - ran using the live action version of the Vampire rules - crafted 
  by a very skilled GM. That left me really enthused for the genre. I 
  started off playing simple bruiser combat types and progressed to 
  more scheming conniving vampires as I became more familiar with 
  the system and the background. 
  Fast forward 10+ years and I find myself running a lot of different 
  table top games—mostly online or at conventions—and my taste in 
  rules systems have changed an awful lot since those early days. I 
  don’t spend ages trying to work out the best combination of powers 
  or trying to memorise certain rules, I’m more a fan of simple story-
  based systems that allow me to quickly create a character that I’m 
  happy with and get on with the interesting bit, playing the game. 
  That’s where Fate comes in. 
  I’ve made a lot of videos on my YouTube channel where I talk about 
  my love for the Fate RPG system, so I won’t go into all that again here 
  but—suffice to say—I’m pretty fond of Fate. One of the things that 
  has always bugged me though is a lack of monstrous options, of 
  course you can always make your own and that’s one of the strengths 
  of Fate, but it can be a little daunting to start something entirely from 
  scratch. The aim of these Fate Thins is to provide a starting point and 
  some initial ideas to get you moving in the right direction. 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 7 
  WHY DO VAMPIRES FRIGHTEN & EXCITE US? 
  THE VAMPIRES ORIGIN IN MYTH 
  Vampiric creatures have existed for many thousands of years in 
  different human mythologies, embodying both a fear of death and a 
  perversion of the natural order. Death is a great mystery feared by 
  most of us, there is no way of knowing for certain what happens once 
  someone has died, but once someone is dead, that is how they stay. 
  Vampires turn this natural order on its head, they are people who 
  have perished and yet somehow returned from the realm of death, 
  not as the peaceful guiding spirits we might hope for, but as 
  gluttonous corpse-reflections of their once living selves. 
  FATE CORE OR FATE ACCELERATED? 
  In this supplement we try and cover both builds of the Fate 
  rules system. Where the main text predominantly leans 
  towards one particular build of the system there will be box 
  outs like this one offering advice for converting the rules over 
  to the other build. 
  THE STRIGOI 
  In Romanian legend the strigoi are spirits who rise from the 
  grave to cause mischief; based on early Greco-Roman legends 
  of flesh devouring witches they have many vampire powers 
  such as draining vitality and physical transformation. 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 8 
  VAMPIRES AS NOBILITY 
  Ever since Bram Stoker penned his famous novel Dracula, taking 
  inspiration from the historical warlord Vlad the Impaler to model his 
  titular character on, vampires have had an association with the 
  nobility and the human class system. Having conquered death we are 
  often told that vampires have the ability to dominate the minds of 
  lesser mortals and command the lowly beasts of the earth, combine 
  this with their predilection for preying on the poorer members of 
  society who will not be missed and it is easy to see how the 
  stereotype of the bloodthirsty aristocrat could be twisted into a 
  deathless creature that literally preys on the vital fluids of the 
  common folk. 
  VLAD THE IMPALER 
  Vlad Tepes was a Voivode (Prince) of Wallachia (a 
  geographical region of Romania situated south of the 
  Southern Carpathian mountains) in the 15th Century. His 
  father and brother were murdered when the Regent-
  Governor of Hungary invaded Wallachia in 1447. His father 
  was known as Vlad Dracul (“Vlad the Dragon”) after joining a 
  warrior group known as the Order of the Dragon. 
  Vlad was given his own nickname as rumours of his brutal 
  methods of dispatching enemies spread and stories of the 
  brutal warlord dining amidst fields of impaled enemies, 
  dipping bread in their blood, spread. 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 9 
   
  Vampires who carry themselves as nobility in myths and legend tend 
  to embody those qualities that we look for in members of the ruling 
  classes, often having great physical beauty and impressive physical 
  prowess along with social skills to match. However the vampire shows 
  these—otherwise positive—qualities turned to dark and evil ends, 
  where the kind and just landlord, takes his dues from those who work 
  the land for him and in return provides protection and security, the 
  vampire steals life from normal people and sneaks into their 
  chambers unbidden in the night, creeping past mundane barriers. 
  Representing Vampires as Nobility in your Fate Game 
  Actual rules for representing vampires will be presented later on in 
  this Thin, but if you want to have your vampires be the aristocracy of 
  the night then below are some characteristics that you may wish to 
  consider: 
  ELIZABETH BATHORY 
  Countess Bathory was a Hungarian noble-woman and serial 
  killer who is believed—along with servants who acted as her 
  accomplices—to have tortured and killed hundreds of young 
  women between 1585 and 1609. Whilst the precise events 
  surrounding the murders that she committed are lost to the 
  ages, stories of the Countess’ vampire-like tendencies have 
  survived down through the years; the most famous is that she 
  bathed in the blood of her victims to preserve her youth. 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 10 
   Physical beauty: Aristocratic undead are typically capable of 
  appearing as humans, often stunningly beautiful to the extent 
  that they can beguile their victims. 
   Powers of Command: Vampire nobles have great force of 
  personality. This allows them to command the beasts of the 
  land and the air, although often only those who have some 
  sort of association with darkness or predatory instincts. The 
  same force allows them to manipulate the minds of human 
  servants, allowing them to gather followers and thralls to 
  themselves who can go where the vampire themselves 
  cannot. 
   Transformation: Some vampires take their mastery of animals 
  to the next level and are actually capable of physically 
  transforming themselves into night-time predators. 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 11 
  VAMPIRES AS ANARCHY 
  Vampires can also be used to reflect a rejection or abandonment of 
  the social structures and laws of society that we all take for granted in 
  our everyday lives. 
  “Now you know what we are, now you know what 
  you are. You'll never grow old, Michael, and you'll 
  never die. But you must feed!” 
  - Lost Boys 1987 
  We can see this clearly in the classic 1987 film Lost Boys, where a 
  gang of misfits living outside of normal society in Santa Carla attempt 
  to induct a recent arrival into their nocturnal lifestyle.  
  As with most types of vampire, the anarchist vampire embodies our 
  fear of something or someone outside most people’s experience, in 
  this case a creature that—superficially—resembles us but isn’t bound 
  by the same laws and social graces that govern normal life. They 
  embody our base instincts and hungers given free rein to act as they 
  see fit, with little fear of the consequences. 
  Representing Vampires as Anarchists in your Fate Game 
  Anarchist vampires seldom have the far-reaching goals that some 
  other strains of vampire have, unless they are being led by a scheming 
  master vampire. Mostly they simply want to continue their existences 
  doing as they like without obeying any laws or fearing the 
  consequences of their actions, seeking to tear down anything of 
  permanence and stability. To the anarchist vampire, their unlife is one 
  eternal party where they remain young and beautiful forever. What 
  does it matter if they have to burn everyone else down to sustain it? 
   
  
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   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 12 
  Anarchist vampires have the following traits: 
   Aping counter-culture: These vampires often dress to ape 
  members of a non-mainstream culture as a way to distance 
  themselves from normal humans or to strike fear into their 
  choice of prey. 
   A Twisted Family: In mockery of the society that they despise, 
  these vampires tend to form extended broods or families, but 
  they often resemble predatory nests or hives more than a 
  tradition family unit. 
   Monstrous Transformations: When backed into a corner or 
  using their abilities, the monster lurking behind the eyes of 
  a—previously human looking—anarchist vampire will surge to 
  the fore. How you represent this depends on the needs of 
  your game, perhaps their eyes turn the colour of blood or 
  their jaws are distended by hideous fangs. 
   Physical Prowess: Although these vampires tend to lack the 
  mystical abilities of other strains, they display immense 
  physical prowess such as strength, speed or the ability to heal 
  rapidly from injuries sustained. 
   Hospitality Based Weaknesses: Although these vampires 
  despise human society—reviling it as weak—they often have 
  weaknesses based around hospitality, such as the inability to 
  enter a home without first being invited. 
  L 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 13 
  VAMPIRES AS NECROMANCERS OR SORCERORS 
  Necromancy was originally an ancient Greek term used to refer to 
  divinations involving the dead and dead bodies, however it has come 
  to mean any form of magic enabling contact or control over the dead. 
  Given that vampires are a mythical bridge between the two worlds—
  living and dead—and that they share several abilities commonly 
  associated with sorcerers, it is hardly surprising that in many modern 
  stories and myths, vampires themselves are sometimes represented 
  as powerful warlocks and necromancers. Such powers play on the age 
  old fear of the Resurrectionist or grave-robber who disturbs the 
  peace of the dead for their own mercenary purposes, sorcerous 
  vampires are this fear writ-large; a necromantic vampire doesn’t just 
  rob your grave it denies you your rightful rest, compelling bodies and 
  spirits to do its bidding.  
  Representing Vampires as Necromancers in your Fate Game 
  Necromantic vampires are more cunning than some other strains, 
  their rituals take time and patience to conduct, meaning that they 
  tend to play a long game, enacting plans and schemes that may take 
  hundreds of years to play out. 
  Sorcerous vampires have the following traits: 
   Magical powers: These vampires have honest-to-goodness 
  magical powers, although they tend to be focussed around the 
  darker applications of magic such as curses and raising the 
  dead from their graves. 
   Inhuman appearance: Necromantic vampires are concerned 
  with mystical power and arcane study, seldom paying much 
  attention to their physical appearance, this leads to them 
  
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   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 14 
  resembling corpses, often wearing only the tattered remnants 
  of their own burial garments. 
   Apprentices: 
  Sorcerous 
  vampires 
  often 
  have 
  mortal 
  apprentices or servants who they keep on with promises of 
  power and potential immortality. 
   Hidden Lair: Performing arcane rituals requires both space and 
  privacy. Most necromantic vampires have a secluded lair 
  where they dwell and can conduct their foul sorcery away 
  from prying eyes. 
   Need for components: Rituals require rare and exotic 
  components in order to cast; a sorcerous vampire must 
  ensure that they have easy access to these components either 
  via proximity or through a trade agreement with a third party. 
   
   Self-made vampire: Necromantic vampires are the most likely 
  strain to have transformed themselves into a vampire, either 
  by design or as a result of a miscast ritual. The arcane powers 
  that they wield can take several life-times to master, so it is 
  HAND OF GLORY 
  The Hand of Glory is the dried and preserved left-hand of a 
  hanged man, in old European myths it was believed to have 
  great power when fashioned into a candle using corpse-fat 
  from the hand’s owner. When the candle was lit is was 
  believed to render motionless or unconscious all people in the 
  same building where the candle was placed. 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 15 
  hardly surprising that some driven and insane people would 
  seek to extend their life by embracing vampirism. 
   Skeletons and Zombies: An ability often attributed to those 
  with necromantic powers is the ability to raise the dead into a 
  mindless, subservient mockery of life. Sorcerous vampires 
  have no distaste of dead bodies and find these skeletal and 
  zombie servants extremely useful, they feel no pain and are 
  utterly controlled by the vampires will, providing a disposable 
  workforce that can labour night and day without tiring, 
  sickness or complaint. 
   Ghouls: Ghouls are most often portrayed in modern horror 
  and current RPGs as subhuman, bestial creatures who feed on 
  dead and decaying flesh. Given the waste products produced 
  by many necromantic rituals, it is not surprising that 
  necromantic vampires tend to attract flocks of these 
  creatures. 
  GHOULS 
  Originally ghouls (or ghuls) were monsters or evil spirits in 
  Arabic mythology that were associated with graveyards and 
  the consumption of human flesh. When Antoine Galland 
  translated the Arabian Nights into French the western idea of 
  the ghoul as a monstrous, corpse eater was born. 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 16 
  VAMPIRES AS DISEASE 
  This is an idea that has gained in popularity in more recent stories as 
  the line between vampires and zombies has often been blurred. This 
  can be seen in a number of TV series and books such as Thirty Days of 
  Night and The Strain. The two types of undead share a number of 
  characteristics, both are capable of reproducing by “infecting” others, 
  have tremendous strength and a hunger they can only sate on those 
  who are still living. 
  Representing Vampires as Disease in your Fate Game 
  Games where vampires are being portrayed as a disease or infection 
  are often less about overcoming an individual vampire or nest of the 
  creatures but focus more on survival and discovering the cause of the 
  original contagion. Whether a cure exists for the disease or not in 
  your game, the quest to discover a vaccine can form a strong central 
  theme for a vampiric contagion campaign. 
  This sort of scenario is also great for one-shots or limited runs where 
  the aim of the player-characters is to survive the initial onslaught of 
  the infected and then find a way to escape the contaminated zone. 
  Infection vampires prey on our fear of sickness and disease and of 
  society encountering something that our medical science and 
  knowledge cannot save us from. 
  Infection vampires have the following traits: 
   Huge numbers: In a contagion scenario your player characters 
  will not be confronting a single vampire, by the time that the 
  disease becomes well known, many hundreds of people will 
  have been infected. It will only be a matter of time before the 
  whole human race falls, unless a safe-zone or a cure can be 
  discovered in time. 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 17 
   Bestial intelligence: Infection vampires seldom display the 
  intelligence of the other strains, they are instinct-driven 
  creatures of violence and hunger who seek to either devour or 
  convert anyone that they come across. 
   Scientific explanation: The source of a vampire plague often 
  lies in the realm of science (or at least pseudo-science) rather 
  than the occult. 
   
   Instant infection: Some strains of vampire have to feed their 
  own blood over the course of several nights to a human or 
  systematically drain them in order to propagate their species, 
  not so with the infection vampire. Any person bitten or 
  exposed to the bodily fluids of such a creature will transform 
  into a vampire themselves after a short period unless drastic 
  action is taken. 
  THE STRAIN 
  In Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s 2009 vampire-horror 
  novel The Strain (since turned into a TV series), vampirism is 
  treated as an unholy cross between ancient evil and modern 
  day parasite. Small wormlike creatures in the blood carry the 
  infection between hosts, controlled by an ancient master 
  vampire. You can find more here: 
    
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Strain 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 18 
  VAMPIRES AS CURSE 
  Vampirism has many similarities with a curse as portrayed in popular 
  fiction, it corrupts the mind and the body of the victim and is often 
  inflicted for capricious or unjust reasons on the recipient.  
  You cannot imagine what I've had to endure. I have 
  borne the very wrath of God, chosen to suffer like no 
  man before. 
  - Dracula 2000 
  Cursed vampires are mechanically very similar to the other strains 
  described in this book, the main difference is in the method of their 
  creation; although often capable of passing on their condition in a 
  manner similar to other strains, cursed vampires descend from a 
  single progenitor who was the original recipient of the curse. 
  Representing Vampires as Cursed in your Fate Game 
  One of the most important things to decide when you are portraying 
  vampirism as a curse, is where the curse originated and why it was 
  placed on the ancient ancestor of current vampires. You do not have 
  to define it in exhaustive detail at the start of your game, but having 
  at least an idea will allow you to portray your vampires with some 
  consistency and answer questions that your players might pose 
  during the game. Vampires as a curse is a good background to use if 
  your players actually want to play vampires themselves, because it 
  not only suggests that they may have become vampires without 
  seeking it themselves but it also suggests that there may be a way of 
  atoning or making peace with the curse. 
   
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 19 
  TIPS FOR RUNNING HORROR GAMES IN FATE 
  If you’ve been running Fate games for a while you will probably have 
  heard people saying that it doesn’t do horror games very well, or that 
  it is difficult to run a horror game using Fate, this is not the case. 
  Whilst Fate out of the box is geared more towards high-action style 
  games than it is horror, one of the system’s strengths is that it is very 
  easy to tweak the settings to give your game a certain flavour. 
  There is some great advice on the Fate-Horror Paradox in the Fate 
  System Toolkit by Evil Hat Productions: 
  http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/119385/Fate-System-Toolkit 
  If you are running a game involving vampires as antagonists or 
  protagonists then it’s likely you will have at least some aspects of 
  horror involved, below are some tips for tweaking the system to make 
  it more horror friendly: 
   Use plenty of compels: Compels are used in most Fate games 
  when a character’s aspects make life more complicated for 
  the characters, since horror games often through flaws and 
  weaknesses into stark relief you should make sure to use 
  compels often. 
   Success at a cost: When a person ties an opposed roll or fails a 
  roll the GM has the option of allowing them to succeed but at 
  a major or a minor cost. In a horror game these costs should 
  always involve some element of personal sacrifice or loss for 
  the character involved.  
   Lower refresh/stress tracks: Protagonists in horror stories tend 
  to be more fragile than their pulp counterparts. This is easily 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 20 
  represented in Fate by giving the player character a lower 
  level of refresh to start with or by reducing the size of their 
  stress tracker. Lower refresh will mean that the characters 
  start with less fate points and are forced to rely more on 
  compels to increase their pool of points whilst a lower stress 
  track means that characters can absorb less damage before 
  they start taking consequences. If you really wanted fragile 
  characters you could even eliminate the stress track 
  altogether, meaning that the characters will start taking 
  consequences as soon as they receive damage. 
   Scene aspects: An easy way to create an air of menace or 
  tension in a scene is to create scene aspects, this gives you 
  additional options for compels as the GM and also reinforces 
  the atmosphere that you are trying to create. 
  VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE! 
  The above is an example of a scene or game aspect that you 
  might apply in a vampire contagion/plague scenario; I would 
  suggest writing scene or games aspects clearly and placing 
  them somewhere that your players can see them. In a game 
  with this aspect on the table, the players will know that—at 
  almost any point—the GM can compel the aspect to have 
  them beset by hordes of the infected. 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 21 
  Horror: An intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust. 
  - Oxford English Dictionary 
  Horror in its purist form is something that shocks, unsettles or 
  disgusts us, whether that is a corruption of the natural order, a 
  breakdown of society or numerous other things, whatever jars us out 
  of our comfort zone has the potential to horrify us. Dealing with the 
  fears and potential stress-points of people at your table requires a 
  lightness of touch and a certain maturity, after all you don’t want to 
  alienate your players or drive them from the game. 
   
  Here are some additional general tips for running horror games: 
   Vary the pacing of your game: If you are continually 
  bombarding your players with monsters and horrors, 
  eventually they will become accustomed to them and they will 
  cease to have any real impact. Alternating your moments of 
  THE X CARD BY JOHN STAVROPOULOS 
  The X Card is an out-of-game device designed to allow a 
  player to signal that they are uncomfortable with a subject or 
  plot in a game with minimal disruption. If you have any 
  concerns or doubts about touchy-subjects for your players, 
  introducing a mechanism like this might be a good way of 
  helping to handle potential situations. 
  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SB0jsx34bWHZWbnNI
  VVuMjhDkrdFGo1_hSC2BWPlI3A/edit?usp=sharing 
   
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 22 
  horror with more mundane and even humorous scenes will 
  cause the horror to hit home far more when it does rear its 
  blood-soaked head. 
   Not all monsters look like monsters: Even in a game where 
  vampires exist, not all monsters are the undead. Human-
  beings are perfectly capable of carrying out horrendous deeds 
  without the influence of the supernatural, one only has to look 
  at history to see the truth of this. If all evil-deeds are done by 
  actual monsters in your game then your game will lose some 
  of its verisimilitude; it can be far more horrific—after taking 
  down the vampire—when you discover that it was willingly 
  being provided with victims by a human noble in return for 
  money or power. 
   The more you know about a monster the less scary it is: 
  Familiarity breeds contempt as the saying goes, a monster can 
  be as disgusting as you like, but if we know all of its strengths 
  and weaknesses the horror of the creature is lessened. Even if 
  your players are portraying vampires themselves, they 
  shouldn’t understand their condition fully, because the 
  unknown can be one of the scariest things. 
   Give some consideration to your playing area: It can be hard to 
  get into the horror-game mind-set if you’re sat in a well-lit 
  room in a comfy armchair. Whilst it’s not always possible to 
  decorate the environment—particularly if you’re at a 
  convention or running a game online—simple things like 
  dimming the lights or using candles can have a great effect on 
  the atmosphere of your game. 
   
  
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  RULES FOR VAMPIRES IN FATE 
  This section of the book offers some suggested rules for representing 
  vampires, both as monsters and potential player-characters in the 
  Fate roleplaying game. There are a few things that you need to decide 
  before attempting to create a vampire in Fate: 
   Origin: Where did the vampires in your setting originate and 
  what sort of strain are they, some suggestions are offered 
  earlier in this book. Having a good idea about this from the 
  start will enable you to portray vampirism consistently and 
  confidently in your game. 
  
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   Power source: How do the vampires in your game power their 
  strange abilities? This is not so vital if you are using vampires 
  as monsters because you can simply decide how many times 
  they can use their abilities based on the needs of your story 
  and the strength of the antagonist. If your players are 
  portraying vampires though or you wish to delve more deeply 
  into the backgrounds of these creatures then you will need to 
  think about how you track the vampire’s remaining power and 
  how they replenish their power levels. 
   Feeding: How do your vampires feed and is this feeding tied 
  into their power source in some way? 
   What powers they have: You will need to decide what sort of 
  strain your vampires represent and—in turn—what powers 
  they possess. 
   Weaknesses: Vampires are defined as much by their 
  weaknesses as they are by their strengths. Anyone hoping to 
  defeat these creatures will need to study their banes and work 
  out a way to use them against the undead. Portraying such 
  things consistently will go a long way towards making your 
  vampires seem more three-dimensional. 
  With the exception of origin—that has already been discussed—each 
  of the factors listed above is given its own chapter on the following 
  pages providing advice and suggestions. 
   
   
   
  
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  POWER SOURCE AND FEEDING 
  There are a number of different ways to represent the vampiric 
  power source—variously presented in myth as blood or other more 
  esoteric fuel—depending on the needs of your game. 
   
  The Simplest Method: Don’t Worry About It 
  By far the simplest method of dealing with vampires and their need 
  for blood is just to not worry about it, create a vampire using your 
  preferred build of the Fate rules system, stunts, aspects, etc and just 
  use blood-drinking, etc as narrative colour. 
  This might work fine for bad-guys in a game—perhaps you just 
  describe the vampire as draining blood when it makes a successfully 
  damaging attack—but is unlikely to stand up to close scrutiny. I’d 
  suggest just using this for mook-style bad-guys, flunky servant 
  DECIDE ON THE IN-CHARACTER NATURE OF THE FUEL 
  Whatever system you decide to use to represent the rules of 
  your vampires feeding, it is important to have an idea how 
  that is going to appear in the narrative of the game. Do your 
  vampire counts delicately decant blood from willing vessels 
  into crystal goblets, gorge themselves to bursting like 
  overgrown ticks or do they feed on fear or the breath of their 
  prey? Having a good idea of how the feeding will appear in 
  the game will allow you to represent it consistently and also 
  may inform the rules choices you make. 
   
  
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  vampires or if you’re running a monster of the week style campaign 
  where research or discovery isn’t the main focus of the game.  
  The Power Pool 
  Using this system your vampires have a power-pool that they can 
  draw on to fuel their powers, old-hands at Fate may recognise this as 
  simply an additional stress track and that’s essentially what it is. The 
  longer the blood-stress box is, the more innately powerful your 
  vampire. 
  Your vampires have an additional stress-track like the one below: 
  BLOOD  
  Each time they use one of their vampiric powers you tick off one of 
  the blood-track boxes, if they do not have any available then they are 
  unable to use their vampiric powers and will be desperate to feed. 
  (OPTIONAL) BURNING UP THE BODY 
  One other option for vampires who have already checked all 
  their blood-stress boxes is that they can continue to use their 
  vampiric powers by ticking off their normal stress and 
  consequence boxes as they burn up their physical body to 
  power their unholy arts.  In a game using this it would 
  technically be possible to wear a vampire down to the point 
  that it takes itself out of action. 
  If you use this option, a vampire burning up its vitality should 
  become noticeably more cadaverous and dead as it does so. 
  
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  WHAT COUNTS AS A VAMPIRIC POWER? 
  If you are using the power pool mechanic then you will also need to 
  decide what counts as a vampiric power and thus necessitates the 
  checking of a blood-stress track box. I would suggest that anything a 
  normal person could do may be taken as a simple stunt and therefore 
  doesn’t require a box to be checked, anything supernatural or of a 
  more occult vein is probably a vampire power. 
  Besides the above considerations I would suggest building vampire 
  powers as stunts, but make them slightly more powerful than your 
  average stunt since the vampire is having to pay an additional cost to 
  activate them. 
  For example: 
  Unholy Strength: A vampire may check blood-stress boxes to gain a 
  bonus on attack rolls, +2 bonus per box checked. 
  REPLENISHING THE POWER POOL 
  If a vampire is spending their power pool to activate their vampiric 
  powers, they will need some method of refilling it, typically this is 
  MARKING VAMPIRE POWERS CLEARLY 
  It’s entirely possible that your vampire may have a mixture of 
  normal stunts and vampire power stunts, it would be very 
  easy to get them mixed up in the middle of a game. I would 
  suggest marking them clearly by writing the vampire powers 
  in red, that way you can see at a glance what is going to 
  require you to check a blood-stress box. 
   
  
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  done by feeding off living blood. When a vampire is a bad guy or is 
  only spending limited time “on-screen” you could simply resolve this 
  by narrative fiat, after an encounter with the PCs the vampire is 
  assumed to have fed off-screen and has replenished their power-pool 
  by the next time they appear. 
  This is a perfectly valid method of handling this, but it does lose a little 
  flavour and most certainly wouldn’t work well for a game where the 
  vampiric condition was centre-stage, or the PCs themselves were 
  vampires. In this case I would suggest that—in this case—a vampire 
  can uncheck a number of blood-stress boxes per level of stress they 
  inflict on an attack. If you want to make it slightly more difficult for 
  the vampire to draw blood then I would suggest saying that a vampire 
  can only draw blood from an attack if first they place an advantage on 
  a foe to represent them being grappled/held or if the foe is incapable 
  of resisting for some other reason. 
  Limited Use Powers 
  Under this system you don’t track specific expenditures of blood/fuel, 
  but the vampire is limited by the number of times that they may use 
  certain vampire power stunts. This operates in a very similar to the 
  way in which Fate Accelerated rules-breaking stunts operate. 
  Essentially the stunt rubric for this would be something like: 
  Because I am a vampire [number] times per session I can 
  [describe something cool the vampire can do using its powers]. 
  This method of handling vampires is a mid-way point between the 
  extremely simple Don’t Worry About It method and the The Power 
  Pool style of play, there’s a little bit of book-keeping and tracking how 
  often a power has been used, but not to the extent that there is with 
  the Power Pool method. You will still need to decide how the vampire 
  
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  feeds/replenishing themselves though if you decide to handle 
  vampires using this method. 
  There are a few ways that this could be handled, I would suggest that 
  when a vampire feeds that it either refreshes all its uses of its vampire 
  power stunts or refreshes a certain number of them. If a vampire 
  getting blood is going to get all their limited power-stunt uses 
  refreshed though this could make them extremely powerful. One way 
  to offset this is to require that they have to drain more stress-levels of 
  blood in order to do this (potential ways of handling this are discussed 
  in the previous section). 
  I 
  WHAT POWERS DO THEY HAVE? 
  In this section of the book we’re going to provide some sample 
  vampire-power stunts to represent common powers possessed by 
  vampires in myth and legend. 
  CORE OR ACCELERATED? 
  Fate Accelerated and Core have slightly different methods of 
  handling stunts due to their use of Approaches and Skills 
  respectively, to keep the size of this Thin reasonable I’m going 
  to present the stunts in a simplified but adaptable form. 
   
  
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  Each of these vampire powers requires a blood-stress box checking if 
  you are using the power-pool method outlined above. If you’re not 
  worrying about how the stunts are powered then use them as is. If 
  you’re using the Limited Use Powers method then you will need to 
  decide how many times per session your vampires can use each of 
  these powers. 
  Physical Powers 
  Vampires are often depicted as having great physical strength, 
  toughness and speed, the powers below represent this. 
  For the Dead Travel Fast. Because I am a vampire I am capable of 
  moving at speeds unimaginable by mere mortals. At any point when I 
  am not physically restrained and it is feasible for me to do so I may 
  spend a fate point to instantly leave a scene. 
  If you’re using the Power Pool method then you may wish to substitute 
  checking a number of boxes to activate this stunt rather than spending 
  a Fate Point, I would suggest checking two boxes minimum. 
  Undead Speed. Because I am a vampire, I gain a bonus on tests where 
  speed would benefit the outcome, +2 per blood-stress box checked. 
  If you are not using the Power Pool method then you may wish to up 
  this bonus to +4 since the vampire won’t have the option of checking 
  more boxes to gain a greater boost. 
  Undead Strength. Because I am a vampire, I gain a bonus on feats of 
  strength or physical combat, +2 per blood-stress box checked. 
  If you are not using the Power Pool method then you may wish to up 
  this bonus to +4 since the vampire won’t have the option of checking 
  more boxes to gain a greater boost. 
  
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  Undead Toughness. Because I am a vampire, I gain an additional 2-
  point stress box. 
  This stunt may be taken multiple times, although you should beware 
  of taking it too many times since it can result in a lengthy-drawn out 
  confrontation if taken to extremes. 
  Mental Powers 
  Some vampires are masters of manipulation and bewildering the 
  senses, drawing shadows around them to veil their presence from 
  their prey. 
  Mesmerise the Prey. Because I am a vampire I gain a bonus on 
  attempts to create an advantage representing my ability to 
  mesmerise or befuddle the senses of my foes, +2 per blood-stress box 
  checked. 
  If you are not using the Power Pool method then you may wish to up 
  this bonus to +4 since the vampire won’t have the option of checking 
  more boxes to gain a greater boost. 
  Taste of the Blood. Because I am a vampire I may check a blood-stress 
  box to gain knowledge of the location of a person whose blood I have 
  tasted and a brief impression of their current surroundings. 
  If you aren’t using the Power Pool method then I suggest assigning 
  this stunt a number of times it can be used per session. 
  Psychic Attack. Because I am a vampire I gain a bonus to attack the 
  mind of my prey using the power of my will, +2 per blood-stress box 
  checked. 
  
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  If you are not using the Power Pool method then you may wish to up 
  this bonus to +4 since the vampire won’t have the option of checking 
  more boxes to gain a greater boost. If you are running a game where 
  separate physical and mental stress tracks are being used then this 
  stunt allows the vampire to directly inflict harm on the mental stress 
  track. 
  Other Powers 
  Some vampiric abilities don’t fit neatly into the categories above, a 
  selection of them are included below. 
  Children of the Night. The vampire is capable of summoning a flock of 
  bats or pack of wolves to aid him. The vampire gains a bonus to 
  create an advantage to represent the aid that these creatures 
  provide, +2 per box checked. 
  If you are not using the Power Pool method then you may wish to up 
  this bonus to +4 since the vampire won’t have the option of checking 
  more boxes to gain a greater boost. 
  Form of Mist. The vampire may shape-shift into a cloud of mist or fog 
  by checking a blood-stress box, whilst in this form it may move 
  normally and seep past most obstacles. It is incapable of being 
  harmed by any substance that is not a specific weakness/bane but is 
  incapable of influencing the physical world in return. The vampire 
  may still speak in this form. 
  If you aren’t using the Power Pool method then simply assign this a 
  certain number of uses or perhaps even just decide that it is an innate 
  ability and can be used as often as the vampire wills it. 
  Shape-shifter. Because I am a vampire I am capable of shifting into the 
  form of a wolf or a bat by checking a blood-stress box. 
  
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  When the vampire shape-shifts it occurs instantly, the vampire may 
  switch two of its approaches or skills to represent the alteration of its 
  physical form. In addition it also gains the aspect “Form of the Wolf” 
  or “Form of the Bat.” The vampire does not have to spend a Fate 
  Point to invoke this aspect, it provides a +2 bonus in any situation 
  where the animal form would be useful and a -2 penalty in any 
  situation where the animal form would be a hindrance. 
  Reverting to human form does not cost the vampire anything. 
  If you aren’t using the Power Pool method then simply assign this a 
  certain number of uses or perhaps even just decide that it is an innate 
  ability and can be used as often as the vampire wills it. 
   
   
   
  VAMPIRIC WEAKNESSES AND BANES 
  Vampires are recognisable by their weaknesses at least as much as 
  their strengths. It is a rare person who doesn’t know that vampires 
  can be killed by a stake through the heart or who has not heard of 
  their aversion to sunlight and lack of reflection. All or none of these 
  weaknesses may be true in your game. 
  There are numerous ways that you could represent vampiric 
  weaknesses in a Fate game, a couple of the more straightforward are 
  suggested below: 
   Aspects: Make the vampires weakness an aspect like BURNT BY 
  THE LIGHT OF THE SUN, SLEEPS DURING THE DAY or CANNOT CROSS 
  
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  RUNNING WATER. Since aspects are always true in a setting, this 
  can be a useful method of representing absolute weaknesses. 
  If a vampire has the aspect CANNOT CROSS RUNNING WATER then 
  they literally cannot do so unless they find a way to rid 
  themselves of the aspect. 
  Weaknesses represented in this way can be compelled as 
  normal and can provide useful research fodder for the would-
  be vampire hunter. 
   
   Reverse Stunts. If you want your vampire weaknesses to be 
  less absolute, but still cause issue for the nocturnal predators 
  then using them in a similar manner to stunts—but imposing a 
  -2 penalty rather than a +2 bonus—may be a better way of 
  doing it. 
   
  Your vampire has a weakness AVERSION TO GARLIC, you decide to 
  make this a reverse stunt, imposing a -2 to the vampires rolls 
  in any scene where garlic is present. 
   
  TOO MANY ASPECTS 
  One thing to be wary of if you’re representing weaknesses as 
  aspects, is having too many of them in the game, remember 
  you also have character, NPC and scene aspects to take into 
  account. Bring too many aspects into a game and a lot of 
  them will not get used in a typical session. 
   
  
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  PAGE 35 
   
  SAMPLE CAMPAIGN STARTERS 
  This section of the PDF provides several mini-campaign starters that 
  make use of the undead in some fashion, each of them provides a 
  general background for the campaign, some suggested aspects and 
  rules for using the particular type of bloodsucker that forms the 
  beating heart of the scenario in question. These campaign starters 
  can be used as-is for one-shot scenarios or can be expanded by a 
  canny GM into a full-fledged campaign. 
  
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   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
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  THE RED PLAGUE 
  No-one knows exactly how it got started, most of us ignored it at first, 
  thinking it was just crackpots and alarmists, by the time we knew 
  different it was too late and the night-stalkers were amongst us. 
  The world as we knew it ceased to be when a virulent plague known 
  as SANGUINE-B was introduced to the general population, initial 
  symptoms were flu-like, pallid skin and an aversion to direct sunlight. 
  Many people who were initially infected seemed to recover, only to 
  die a short-time later, however they didn’t stay dead. Those killed by 
  SANGUINE-B rose from their graves imbued with a terrible hunger to 
  feed on the blood of the living, driven by vestigial memories of their 
  lives that caused them to seek out those they had loved first of all. 
  The plague eventually went airborne—although it seemed to only 
  affect humans—with only those possessing an innate resistance to 
  the plague safe from transforming into nightstalkers. Now the 
  survivors eke out a dangerous existence, scavenging artifacts from the 
  old world and hunting down the vampires that remain dormant 
  during the daylight hours but who rise when darkness falls, scouring 
  the skeletons of cities looking for fresh prey. 
  Campaign Aspects 
  These aspects are always present in this campaign and can be invoked 
  or compelled during any situation where it makes sense to do so. 
   THE NIGHT BELONGS TO THEM: Night is the most dangerous time 
  for an uninfected human to be walking about, since any 
  building could hide a nest of vampires. Most sensible people 
  board themselves up in houses, cradling guns and weapons 
  close to them as they listen to the howling and screams from 
  outside their fortresses. 
  
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  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
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  This aspect can be invoked by the GM to provide bonuses to 
  the vampires who operate better at night or compelled to 
  justify vampires appearing suddenly from the darkness, 
  perhaps drawn by the smell of blood. 
   THE DAYLIGHT HOURS ARE OURS: The only reason any humans have 
  survived in the long-term is because the vampires are 
  completely averse to daylight, retreating into their lairs to rest 
  in a deep torpor during the sunlit hours. 
  This aspect can be invoked to aid hunters who track down 
  vampire nests during the day, or compelled to disadvantage 
  vampires forced to act during those hours. 
   THE WORLD WE KNEW IS DEAD: Society’s infrastructure has fallen 
  to pieces and what remains is little more than wreckage in the 
  wake of a viral apocalypse. 
  Suggested Aspects 
  Humans in this campaign all have an innate resistance to the 
  SANGUIINE-B virus—otherwise they would have transformed into 
  nightstalkers—but they have all lost friends and family in the horror 
  that engulfed their world and are now forced to survive amidst the 
  corpse of their old lives. Below are suggestions for player aspects: 
   MY WIFE WAS INFECTED AND NOW SHE’S STALKING ME. 
   THOSE BASTARDS TOOK MY FAMILY AND I WANT PAYBACK. 
   THE PLAGUE WAS GOD’S WILL AND MY FAITH MAKES ME PROOF AGAINST THE 
  CHILDREN OF DARKNESS. 
   I SAW THE SIGNS AND STASHED EQUIPMENT AWAY. 
  
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   MY MEDICAL TRAINING HELPS ME UNDERSTAND THE VIRUS AND HOW THE 
  INFECTED BEHAVE. 
   I WAS ONE OF THE SCIENTISTS WHO CREATED THE VIRUS, AND I LIVE WITH 
  THAT SECRET EVERY DAY. 
  Vampires 
  The vampires of this setting are bestial and animalistic, they do have 
  some remnants of their former intelligence but it is mostly 
  submerged by their bloodlust. However, occasionally something 
  causes them to recognise something from their old life, pausing for a 
  few brief seconds before it is washed away in a red tide. There are 
  also signs of a crude pack structure developing among the infected 
  with larger individuals commanding mobs of their fellows. 
  INFECTED MOB 
  Aspects 
   High Concept: BLOODTHIRSTY INFECTED MOB. 
   Trouble: BURNED BY SUNLIGHT, SLEEPS DURING DAYTIME. 
   MAY PAUSE WHEN CONFRONTED BY SOMETHING FROM THEIR FORMER LIFE. 
  Skilled (+2) at: Attacking, moving through ruined buildings, lurking in 
  shadows. 
  Poor (-2) at: Strategizing, working out if someone has set a trap for 
  them, resisting the lure of blood. 
  For anything not listing the vampires roll at +0.  
  Stunts 
  
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  Generic infected do not possess any stunts. However a mob of the 
  infected can attack every person in the same zone as them each turn 
  and receive a +1 teamwork bonus as long as it has more than one 
  member who is currently active. 
  Stress:  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
  A typical mob of infected do not have consequence boxes, a single 
  member can typically take two stress before being destroyed. The 
  mob above reflects an average-sized hunting group of ten individuals. 
  Each of the stress boxes above is worth 1-stress, multiple boxes may 
  be ticked in the same turn. 
  INFECTED ALPHA 
  Only recently sighted, alphas are larger and more powerful infected, 
  some believe that this may be a mutation of the SANGUINE-B virus, 
  leading to the creatures occasionally being called CATEGORY As 
  whereas others believe that the Alphas are simply larger and more 
  muscular hosts infected with the standard virus. 
  Aspects 
   High Concept: INFECTED ALPHA VAMPIRE. 
   Trouble: BURNED BY SUNLIGHT, SLEEPS DURING DAYTIME. 
   COMMANDS LESSER INFECTED, BESTIAL CUNNING. 
  Very skilled (+3) at: Commanding other infected, attacking. 
  Skilled (+2) at: Moving through ruined buildings, lurking in shadows. 
  Poor (-2) at: Resisting the lure of blood. 
  
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  For anything not listing the vampire rolls at +0.  
  Stunts 
   Superhuman strength: If an alpha has fed or caused someone 
  physical damage it gains a +3 to fighting and strength based 
  rolls for the remainder of the scene. 
  Stress:  
  Each of the stress boxes above is worth 1-stress, multiple boxes may 
  be ticked in the same turn. 
  Consequences: 
  Mild (2):  
  Moderate (4):  
  Severe (6):  
  Theme of the Campaign 
  The theme of a RED PLAGUE campaign is one of survival meets 
  guerrilla warfare. The player characters must salvage what food and 
  weapons they can during the daylight hours while looking for 
  somewhere to hide during the dangerous hours of darkness. 
  Some things to think about if you want to expand this campaign 
  setting are: 
   Where did the plague come from? Was it a bio-engineered 
  weapon that got out of control or perhaps a new medical 
  treatment that had unforeseen side-effects? 
   Is there a cure? During the last days of the plague, many 
  scientists working for the CDC attempted to develop a cure, 
  
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  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 41 
  perhaps their research is still out there waiting to be 
  discovered by an intrepid group of explorers. 
   Will the vampires continue to evolve? The appearance of the 
  alphas suggests that perhaps SANGUINE-B has not completed 
  its work and that the nightstalkers may still be evolving. Who 
  knows what freakish society of monsters might bloom in the 
  aftermath of humanity’s downfall? 
   
  J 
  
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   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 42 
  SOCIETY OF THE DAMNED 
  You should feel honoured, so few of the cattle are chosen to be given 
  the gift of immortality. Yes I know that it hurts now, but soon your 
  eyes will see horrors and wonders that you can scarcely dream of. 
  Vampires have always existed in the shadows of our world, keeping 
  themselves hidden from human society for fear that mankind’s 
  inventive spirit and technology might be turned against them should 
  they reveal themselves. Their bloodlines are so ancient that not even 
  the vampires themselves are entirely sure of their origins, occupying 
  their time with political manoeuvring and attempts to manipulate 
  human society from the shadows. 
  Campaign Aspects 
  These aspects are always present in this campaign and can be invoked 
  or compelled during any situation where it makes sense to do so. 
   WE MUST REMAIN HIDDEN: The vampires know that humanity 
  must never have proof of their existence, doing so would 
  imperil the species as whole. 
  This aspect could be invoked when attempting to remain 
  hidden from human eyes or trying to cover up a witness to 
  vampiric activity, it can be invoked when the night-time 
  society punishes those who have broken their oath of secrecy. 
   RULE OF THE ELDERS: Vampires become more powerful as they 
  age and it is typically the oldest of their number who hold the 
  real power in their night-time society. 
  
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  This aspect can be invoked when an elder confronts a younger 
  vampire or by a younger vampire who is showing respect to an 
  elder member of their species. It may be invoked to cause 
  problems when a character is commanded by an older 
  vampire or is forced into action they might find distasteful. 
  This aspect can be invoked to aid hunters who track down 
  vampire nests during the day, or compelled to disadvantage 
  vampires forced to act during those hours. 
  Suggested Aspects 
  In this campaign, the player characters are newly created vampires, 
  mortals who had their life-blood drained by an immortal and who 
  were tainted by the curse of vampirism. Below are suggestions for 
  player aspects: 
   A FRIEND KNOWS I’M A VAMPIRE, AND THEY’RE STILL OUT THERE. 
   MY “DEATH” IS A MATTER OF PUBLIC RECORD. 
   I JUST CAN’T LEAVE MY OLD LIFE BEHIND. 
   MY CREATOR IS A MONSTER WHO TORTURED ME. 
   I AM HELD IN THE THRALL OF AN OLDER VAMPIRE. 
  Vampires 
  In this setting the players portray vampires. Characters are created as 
  normal—using either Fate Accelerated or Fate Core rules—with the 
  following exceptions: 
  
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   Blood is the life. Each character has a blood track in addition to 
  their normal stress and consequences, by default a vampire 
  has as many blood track boxes as they do stress boxes. 
  Each time a vampiric power is used the character must check 
  one of their blood boxes. If they cannot do so then they may 
  still use their vampiric power but they gain the aspect 
  RAVENOUS THIRST FOR BLOOD that the GM may compel. If the 
  character already has this aspect then the GM gets a free 
  invoke of it. 
   Thirst for Blood. In order to replenish their blood pool a 
  vampire may uncheck 1 box for every 2 points of stress they 
  inflict on an opponent or a helpless victim. 
   Burnt by Sunlight. When a vampire is exposed to sunlight the 
  GM makes an attack roll as though the sunlight were 
  physically attacking them. The modifier for this roll depends 
  on the amount of exposure. 
  Exposure level 
  Modifer 
  Minimal/Sunset 
  +2 
  Brief exposure to full sunlight 
  +4 
  Full exposure to full sunlight 
  +6 
   
   Vampire Master. Each vampire that has been created has a 
  master, the one who made them. Work with your players to 
  discuss their relationship with their master, is he kind or cruel? 
  Is their master a monster or a twisted father figure? 
  
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  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
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   Thralls. Every vampire can feed their blood to a mortal, making 
  it easier to bend them to their will. If a character does this and 
  ticks 2 blood track boxes they gain a +3 on all social based rolls 
  related to that person for the rest of the session. The person 
  will also be supernaturally compelled to keep the vampires 
  existence a secret and will not endanger them willingly. If the 
  player wishes to keep the thrall for future sessions than they 
  must re-pay the blood track cost. 
  VAMPIRE POWERS 
  Vampires possess powerful abilities known amongst their kind as arts, 
  these are built in the same way as normal stunts—and have the same 
  cost as normal stunts—from Fate, save that they grant a +3 bonus 
  rather than a +2. However, the vampire must tick a box of their blood 
  track to use them or risk becoming ravenously thirsty for blood. Some 
  sample vampire powers are offered below: 
   Vampiric Strength: The character gains +3 to rolls involving 
  hand to hand fighting, strength and athleticism. 
   Vampiric Speed: The character gains +3 to rolls involving speed 
  or movement. 
   Mental dominance: The character gains +3 to create 
  advantage rolls when manipulating someone socially. 
   Flight: The vampire may fly short distances. Checking a blood 
  track box allows them to move up to three zones as a single 
  action without having to roll. Checking three blood track boxes 
  allows them to instantly leave or enter a scene where feasible 
  and flight would make this possible. 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 46 
   Hidden by Shadows. In any scene where there is shadow or a 
  darkness related aspect the vampire may spend 1 blood track 
  box in order to gain a +3 to rolls related to stealth and 
  concealment. 
  Theme of the Campaign 
  The theme of a SOCIETY OF THE DAMNED campaign is one of change, 
  loss and transformation. The player characters have been plucked 
  from the world they knew—possibly against their will—and thrust 
  into a strange, alien society whose rules they must learn or pay a 
  heavy price. 
  Some things to think about if you want to expand this campaign 
  setting are: 
   Old ties. What happened to the characters old life when they 
  “died”, have their families moved on or are they still searching 
  for them? Although elder vampires encourage younger 
  members of their species to cut themselves off from their old 
  lives, it is not always possible or desirable. 
   Topple the elders. Vampiric society is static, many older 
  vampires were created in bygone days when social mobility 
  was almost unheard of and their society reflects this. 
  However, some younger vampires are becoming disenchanted 
  with this, they seek to upset the status quo, topple the elders 
  and claim power for themselves using their knowledge of the 
  modern world and its technology to help them do so. 
   Freedom from the curse. Some vampires miss their old lives or 
  lament that they are forced to prey on the living. There are old 
  legends of vampires who somehow threw off the curse and 
  returned to their old lives, or became something greater than 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 47 
  a vampire, retaining their powers but free of the lust for 
  blood. Perhaps your character will be the one to find this 
  precious secret? 
  M 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 48 
  TOWER OF BONES 
  Look at it up there, squatting on the hill like an evil presence 
  overhanging the entire area, they say that when the moon is full you 
  can hear screams from the Baron’s many victims echoing down into 
  the valley. 
  Tower of Bones is a fantasy based scenario—although it could be 
  adapted for other genres—where a small village is being terrorised by 
  an evil necromancer residing in a crooked hilltop tower. 
  Campaign Aspects 
  These aspects are always present in this campaign and can be invoked 
  or compelled during any situation where it makes sense to do so. 
   NO-ONE GOES TO THE TOWER AND COMES BACK ALIVE: The locals in the 
  valley have all heard stories about brave and foolish heroes 
  venturing to the tower, eager to prove themselves against the 
  necromancer within. None were seen again. 
  This aspect can be compelled if the PCs attempt to persuade 
  locals to accompany them to the tower. 
   THE AREA AROUND THE TOWER IS HAUNTED BY MONSTERS: The Baron’s 
  experiments have created all manner of undead monstrosities 
  that inhabit the area around his tower. This could be 
  compelled to have these monsters show up when the players 
  are in the appropriate zone or a particular academic character 
  could invoke the aspect to suggest that they have studied the 
  legends. 
   
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 49 
  Suggested Aspects 
  In this campaign, the player characters are fantasy heroes who intend 
  to rescue the valley from the nightmarish Baron who preys on the 
  populace and sends his undead monstrosities to be-devil the 
  population. 
   I’VE STUDIED THE UNDEAD AND KNOW MANY OF THEIR WEAKNESSES. 
   I WIELD A SWORD ONCE HELD BY THE PALADIN SIR ARTORIUS. 
   I WAS CURSED BY AN ANCIENT WISE-WOMAN. 
   MY FAMILY WAS TAKEN BY THE BARON, PERHAPS THEY STILL LIVE. 
   THE VALLEY IS MY HOME, I WILL NOT SURRENDER IT TO MONSTERS. 
  Vampires 
  In this setting the only actual vampire is the Baron. An ancient 
  necromancer cursed by the gods to never leave the valley. However, 
  the Baron has spent many years researching and using his 
  considerable knowledge to find a way to break his curse and regain 
  his freedom. Many of the peasants kidnapped are used to slake his 
  thirst for living blood. Their bodies are transformed into gruesome 
  undead servitors that he sends out on errands. 
  MOB OF LESSER UNDEAD MONSTROSITIES 
  Lesser undead generally appear as skeletons held together with 
  leather thongs or zombies, complete with rotting flesh. They shamble 
  about on whatever simple tasks the Baron has assigned them. They 
  will take any opportunity to attack the living as long as it doesn’t 
  directly contradict their orders. 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 50 
  Occasionally one of the undead may be someone that the PCs knew in 
  life. The HEY! DON’T I KNOW YOU? Aspect can be compelled to represent 
  the psychological advantage this might give the undead in question. 
  Aspects 
   High Concept: MOB OF NEAR-MINDLESS UNDEAD. 
   Trouble: FERAL INTELLIGENCE. 
   HEY! DON’T I KNOW YOU? 
  Skilled (+2) at: Attacking, ignoring social or mental opposition. 
  Poor (-2) at: Anything involving movement, speed or intelligence. 
  For anything not listed above the undead roll at +0. 
  Stunts 
  Lesser undead do not possess any stunts. However a mob of the 
  lesser undead can attack every person in the same zone as them each 
  turn and received a +1 teamwork bonus as long as it has more than 
  one member who is currently active. 
  Stress:  |  |  |  |  |   
  A typical mob of infected does not have consequence boxes, a single 
  member can typically take two stress before being destroyed. The 
  mob above reflects an average-sized mob of six individuals. 
  Each of the stress boxes above is worth 1-stress. Multiple boxes may 
  be ticked in the same turn. 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 51 
  GREATER UNDEAD MONSTROSITY 
  Occasionally the Baron is able to get his hands on a particularly large 
  specimen or is able to boost his necromantic powers when the stars 
  are right. This results in huge, lumbering mounds of rotting muscle 
  that are often sent to support his less capable troops.  
  Aspects 
   High Concept: HUGELY STRONG MINDLESS UNDEAD. 
   Trouble: MINDLESS AND CLUMSY. 
  Very skilled (+3) at: Fighting, destroying scenery. 
  Skilled (+2) at: Throwing or smashing heavy objects, resisting damage. 
  Poor (-2) at: Anything to do with speed, intelligence or movement. 
  For anything not listed above the undead rolls at +0. 
  Stunts 
   Superhuman strength: A greater undead gains WEAPON: 2. 
  WEAPON 2 
  A Weapon value adds to the shift value of a successful hit. So, 
  if you have WEAPON:2, it means that any hit is worth 2 more 
  shifts than it would normally be. This counts for ties, so when 
  you’re using a weapon, you inflict stress on a tie instead of 
  getting a boost. That makes weapons very dangerous. 
  
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   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 52 
   
  Stress:  
  Greater undead monstrosities do not have consequences. Each of the 
  stress boxes above is worth 1-stress, and multiple boxes may be 
  ticked in the same turn. 
  WIGHT LIEUTENANT 
  Many brave warriors have attempted to bring the Baron to justice, 
  but they have all failed. Resurrected into a grim half-life they now 
  serve as his lieutenants, acting as his eyes and ears. 
  Aspects 
   High Concept: EVIL AND CUNNING UNDEAD LIEUTENANT. 
   Trouble: THE BARON SEES AND HEARS EVERYTHING THROUGH ME. 
   I AM A SKILLED WARRIOR WHO COMMANDS LESSER UNDEAD. 
  Great (+4) at: Protecting the Baron. 
  Good (+3) at: Melee fighting and commanding lesser undead. 
  Fair (+2) at: Using battle tactics, defending themselves and provoking 
  player characters. 
  Average (+1) at: Ranged combat, resisting attempts at provoking or 
  infuriating them. 
  For anything not listed above the Wight Lieutenant rolls +0. 
   
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 53 
   
  Stunts 
  Bodyguard: Designate a character, place, or object to guard. 
  Whenever that thing is attacked and you are in the same zone, you 
  can spend a fate point to redirect the attack to yourself. You gain 
  ARMOR:1 against this attack. 
   
  Stress:  
  Each of the stress boxes above is worth 1-stress, multiple boxes may 
  be ticked in the same turn. 
  Consequences: 
   
  Mild (2):  
  H 
   
  ARMOUR 1 
  An Armor value reduces the shifts of a successful hit. So, 
  ARMOR:2 makes any hit worth 2 less than usual. If you hit, but 
  the target’s Armor reduces the shift value to 0 or below, you 
  get a boost to use on your target but don’t do any harm. 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 54 
  BARON VON BLOODSTEIN 
  The Baron is an ancient necromancer who was cursed by the gods for 
  daring to steal the secret of immortality. Now he spends his nights 
  locked inside his own rotting corpse, forced to feed on blood and 
  confined to a small provincial valley.  
  Aspects 
   High Concept: VAMPIRIC MASTER OF THE NECROMANTIC ARTS. 
   Trouble: I CANNOT LEAVE MY TOWER DUE TO THE GODS CURSE. 
   I HAVE STUDIED THE OCCULT FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS AND ONCE 
  CHALLENGED THE GODS. 
   ALTHOUGH MY BODY IS DECAYED IT POSSESSES UNHOLY STRENGTH. 
   MY STAFF ALLOWS ME TO FIRE BOLTS OF PURE DARKNESS. 
  Great (+4) at: Lore, Fight. 
  Good (+3) at: Shoot, Investigate, Will. 
  Fair (+2) at: Deceive, Provoke, Physique, Stealth. 
  Average (+1) at: Athletics, Contacts, Rapport, Resources, Crafts. 
  For anything not listed above the Baron rolls +0. 
  Stunts 
  Undead Shield: Whenever the Baron is attacked, he can spend a fate 
  point to divert the attack to a nearby undead minion. 
  
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  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 55 
  Dark Arts: Because the Baron is a master of the necromantic arts he 
  gains a +2 on any Lore rolls to create advantages related to use of 
  magic or necromancy. 
  This Tower is A Part of Me: The Baron may spend a Fate Point to de-
  materialise in an acrid cloud of smoke and re-appear anywhere in the 
  tower. 
  Stress:  
  Each of the stress boxes above is worth 1-stress, multiple boxes may be 
  ticked in the same turn. 
  Consequences:  
   
  Mild (2):  
  Moderate (4):  
  Severe (6):  
  Theme of the Campaign 
  The theme of a TOWER OF BONES campaign will be familiar to many 
  role-players since it casts their characters as brave heroes, attempting 
  to free oppressed villagers from the forces of evil. 
  Some things to think about if you want to expand this campaign 
  setting are: 
   Why do the villagers remain? Since the Baron is confined to 
  the valley why don’t the villagers simply up stakes and move? 
  Is it simply a matter of not wanting to lose their homes or do 
  they have some deeper ties to the Baron? 
   Why was the Baron cursed? We’ve left the precise reason for 
  the Barons curse vague, suggesting that he attempted to steal 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
   © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 56 
  the secret of immortality and was cursed for it, however, this 
  does not have to be the case, if you’re looking to expand this 
  mini-campaign starter you should give some thought to the 
  reason behind the curse and what god it was that placed it. 
   Who was the Baron when he lived? Before he became a 
  necrotic vampire the Baron was a living, breathing human, 
  perhaps he once ruled the valley? Researching the Barons past 
  is an excellent way to discover his weaknesses and find a way 
  of defeating him. 
   How can the Baron free himself from the curse? Assuming that 
  it is possible for the Barons researches to free him from the 
  curse, what bizarre occult ceremonies and rare ingredients 
  does he require and can the player characters stop him before 
  it is too late? 
   What will the Baron do with his freedom? If the Baron does 
  free himself from the curse, what will he do afterwards? Will 
  he destroy the valley or simply leave it behind? 
   
  C 
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
  PAGE 57 
   
  THE TOWER 
  Since this adventure involves the player characters potentially 
  exploring the village and the valley, we enclose below a simple zone 
  map that can be used for the adventure. 
  Words in Red are aspects that apply to certain zones. 
   
   
  Any zones connected by a line can be moved through as normal, 
  player characters can move a single zone without a roll, moving more 
  will require one. 
  Some additional locations have been added to the map for the GM to 
  flesh out on their own, for example the shrine may belong to the god 
  who originally cursed the Baron, or perhaps it was a shrine the Barons 
  own god before he forsook worship of the deities. 
  The bandit’s camp could also become a more central part of the 
  campaign, perhaps the player characters can find some useful 
  equipment here or notes from previous people who attempted to 
  take on the Baron. 
   
  
  By Night We Thirst 
   
   
  © Copyright John Alan Large 2017 
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/FATE (fudge) [multi]/By Night We Thirst.pdf