Psychic Vampires
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| Psychic Vampirism is as old as human consciousness. Those with the unique condition have been here in the Delaware Valley when the Lenape stewarded the rivers and streams; and before them, to the very first peoples to settle there. It's been known to crop up from corrupted artifacts uncovered in forgotten tombs, or dug out of caves along the river. It's been passed from the aged and powerful to their victims. It's been present from birth, seemingly carried in the bloodlines of some, or randomly appearing in others. No one is quite certain what causes it, but it always takes on a very particular form.
Here in Philadelphia, the urban sprawl of one of the east coast's major cities provides an ample feeding ground. The millions that live here sustain an ever growing population of psychic vampires. And the proximity of each to the other has fostered a semblance of a community among the typically solitary hunters. While no one would consider the society an amicable one, the carving up of territory within the region and the ability to communicate such claims to others has been found valuable by some. Typically the powerful and well established. Those new to the condition, however, often struggle to find a place within the community, and risk the ire of others when they feed their need for Ephemera in someone else's SEPTA train.
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Staff
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Rules and System
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| All Psychic Vampire merits found in Hurt Locker are approved for play. In addition, there is a merit created specifically for the Psychic Vampires here in Philadelphia to reflect the close proximity in which they are forced to congregate in the Gritty City.
Hunting Ground
( to , Supernatural Merit)
Prerequisites: Mortal, Psychic Vampirism
Your character has a claim to a select hunting ground within the Philadelphia Area. This is always a geographic location, though it can be as small as a single building or as large as one of the city's neighborhoods or even one of the outlying townships within the greater Delaware Valley. This claim is nominally respected by the other psychic vampires within the city, particularly those with similar claims of their own. While it does nothing to prevent others from feeding in your territory, it does give you causus belli to go after an offending party should they do so. Further, it provides a steady stream of Ephemera to the Psychic Vampire. Although it doesn't increase the vampire's capacity to hold Ephemera within itself, it can provide up to its dot rating in this merit to a psychic vampire without having to make a hunting roll or risk harming another character. Your character's familiarity with their hunting grounds means that, between scenes, they can draw ephemera from this pool to replenish their reserves, drawing a maximum number of ephemera dots up to their dots in this merit. Once emptied, the pool will refill at the start of the next week, up to your rating in this merit.
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Joining the Psychic Vampires
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| When making a Psychic Vampire, you have a few things you need to decide upon. Firstly, your background needs to include information about your condition. Were you born with it? Were you infected with it by another Psychic Vampire? If so, who? And do you still communicate with them? Does your condition derive from the possession of a rare and powerful relic? If so, how did you come by it?
Consideration should be given to your hunting style, and to your territory if indeed you have staked a claim to any. You should also decide if you interact with or avoid the larger Psychic Vampire society within Philadelphia, although ignoring a secret society of powerful psychic vampires with strong opinions about where and when you're allowed to feed your addiction within their claimed territories is a risky proposition in its own right.
When you are ready to prepare your application, consult our application guidelines.
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Theme and Society
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| What would you do with what is, essentially, immortality? True, as the years pass by, and the cost of your youth and preternatural beauty grow, the costs of your life may begin to niggle at your conscience. How much is your life worth, compared to the damage you cause just by existing? Will there come a point where what you must do just to forestall aging becomes more of a burden than your soul can carry? Or will you become callous as you age, selfish and certain of the value of your life over the lives of all of those you sup from, just to continue to exist?
True, you needn't kill to survive. But you can. You may. And sometimes, isn't that just easier? You can become preternaturally beautiful-- a useful trick when you feed by touch --but you'll run out of suitors at some point. Won't you? And isn't it getting tiresome, leaving a stream of insensate and used up people in your wake? Are you still even a person, or are you becoming a monster? Is there even a difference there worth noting? Humans kill for their food as a matter of course. When you do it, it's usually an accident.
While it's true that all Psychic Vampires are human, not all of them act like it. It's a diverse population, after all. Full of different people afflicted for different reasons. All with different opinions on what it is to exist like this. What's yours? And what lengths will you go to to see that vision through?
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Current Plots
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| TBD
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