[SR4] - Infected Options

[Machiavelli]

At least you can´t get transformed just by being in contact with contaminated body-fluids. Quite Safer, eh?^^

[Zaranthan]

That depends on your definition of safe sex. (Somebody had to go there.)

[Machiavelli]

Right, i´m well known to lower the niveau of a conversations quite quick. After my template you had no other chance to go one step further...so you are not guilty for this.^^

[Rasumichin]

Barring that, maybe its not a vampire that needs to drain your essence to trigger the infection to go active? You could infect yourself with the virus, then find some other way to loose essence.

I'm pretty sure that's not RAI, i'm not even sure it's RAW, but the idea has something intriguing to it...

The assensing table in the BBB says you need 2 hits to determine "The class of a magical subject (fire elemental, manipulation spell, power focus, and so on)." It's always visible, but that doesn't mean it's obvious. Heck, right in your quote: "this may be masked by Metamagic as normal." Masking adds your initiate grade to the threshold of any assensing test against you. How does that work "as normal" if you don't even have to make a test?

Yeah, i totally see where you're coming from and it makes sense that one needs to make an Assensing test to note the infection, but i'm still unsure as to how many hits are needed.
Of course, one could argue that Infection turns the victim into a magical subject for the sake of Assensing and therefore one would need 2 hits to notice the Infection...but specifying a medical condition needs 3 hits...hm.

Personally, i'd rule that it takes 1 net hit to notice that the subject is sick (as usual), 2 net hits to recognize it's a magical disease (or even that it's HMHVV?) and 3 net hits to identify the specific strain.

[Machiavelli]

But can you really specify the kind of desease if you don´t really have a clue about medicine? Maybe you feel that he is sick and even what part of his body has a problem, but how do you know what desease and if it is a poison, a genetic illness etc? This should require a separate medicine / diagnose test.

[Muspellsheimr]

Barring that, maybe its not a vampire that needs to drain your essence to trigger the infection to go active? You could infect yourself with the virus, then find some other way to loose essence.

To become infected with HMHVV I, the infectee must use the Infection power on you, which requires the infectee to use Essence Drain to reduce you to 0 Essence.

In addition, a Vampire (with rare exceptions) cannot infect an Elf, meaning attempting to do so would simply kill the character.

[Malicant]

But who used Infection on the first Vampire?

[SincereAgape]

This entire scenerio could be the basis of an entire run or story arc. I'm pretty sure that somewhere within all of the laborotories, arcologies, under ground silos that some corp isn't putting a poor disenfranchised group of researchers and scientists into creating genetically enhanced vampires using DNA from the infected. So who's to say it can't be done. The great th ings about the SR creatorive teams in the past and present is that the story is left in the hands of the GM.

[Rasumichin]

But can you really specify the kind of desease if you don´t really have a clue about medicine?

According to the Assensing table, the answer to that question is a definitive yes.

[Machiavelli]

Hrhrhrhr...i think this is why it is called "magic". It requires no explanation, it simply works.^^

[Wanderer]

But who used Infection on the first Vampire?

My own pet theory is that HMHVV-I was purposefully created by some talented but ruthless biothaumaturgical researcher back in the Fourth World as a semi-successful attempt to a viral magical genegineering vector that would bestow immortality, magical aptitude, and a rack of useful critter powers to the subject.

[Zaranthan]

But who used Infection on the first Vampire?

As much as I hate WoD, the Cainite theory is seductively simple.

[Starmage21]

As much as I hate WoD, the Cainite theory is seductively simple.

You could use the one from Underworld too. Patient 0 caught a magical disease, which was passed onto his sons. In the sons the virus mutated, and they were able to pass it on thereafter via a bite.

[The Jake]

My own pet theory is that HMHVV-I was purposefully created by some talented but ruthless biothaumaturgical researcher back in the Fourth World as a semi-successful attempt to a viral magical genegineering vector that would bestow immortality, magical aptitude, and a rack of useful critter powers to the subject.

Parting gift from the Horrors?

- J.

[Wanderer]

Parting gift from the Horrors?

Maybe, but I was under the impression that HMHVV-I was something born out of ruthless metahuman ingenuity rather than direct creation of the Horrors. Of course, this does not mean everybody's favored world-munchers did not lend an helping claw in its genesis. IMO there are several good candidates for the creators of HMHVV-I: some Horror cult, the Denairastas clan, the Therans, the Blood Elves.

[Wanderer]

I'm pretty sure that somewhere within all of the laborotories, arcologies, under ground silos that some corp isn't putting a poor disenfranchised group of researchers and scientists into creating genetically enhanced vampires using DNA from the infected.

Oh, absolutely, I bet that multiple corps and organizations are running this project. By the way, this would be my (NPC-only) template for a super-vampire (created by inserting genes from the Goblin, Wendigo and Banshee strains on the Nosferatu strain):

Dracul
Cost: 200 BP

This quality may only be taken by dwarf, elf, human, or ork characters. After purging their organs, Infected characters slowly transform into dracul over a period of a couple of days. They lose all body and facial hair, their skin becomes pale and slightly translucent with veins more visible on the surface of the skin, they lose weight often becoming emaciated, skin taught over wiry muscle, their incisors and canines grow more pronounced and sharper, and their nails harden into claws.

Powers: Compulsion, Enhanced Senses (Hearing, Smell, Low-light Vision, Thermographic Vision, Vision Magnification (1)), Essence Drain, Fear, Immunity (Age, Pathogens, Toxins), Infection, Influence, Mist Form, Natural Weapons (Bite/Claw: DV Str/2+2P, AP 0), and Regeneration. Moreover, the maximum Essence the character can drain is equal to three times its natural maximum Essence. Additionally, all characters with this strain are magicians; the character loses any other quality that gave them a Magic attribute, if any, and gains the Magician quality (or Mystic Adept quality, if they were previously adepts) at no cost. The character’s Magic attribute does not change.

Weaknesses: Allergy (Ferrous Metals, Moderate), Allergy (Sunlight, Mild), Allergy (Wood, Moderate), Dietary Requirement (Metahuman Blood), and Essence Loss (every 6 months).

[Neraph]

Oh, absolutely, I bet that multiple corps and organizations are running this project. By the way, this would be my template for a super-vampire (created by inserting genes from the Goblin, Wendigo and Banshee strains on the Nosferatu strain):

Dracul
Cost: 200 BP

This quality may only be taken by dwarf, elf, human, or ork characters. After purging their organs, Infected characters slowly transform into dracul over a period of a couple of days. They lose all body and facial hair, their skin becomes pale and slightly translucent with veins more visible on the surface of the skin, they lose weight often becoming emaciated, skin taught over wiry muscle, their incisors and canines grow more pronounced and sharper, and their nails harden into claws.

Powers: Compulsion, Enhanced Senses (Hearing, Smell, Low-light Vision, Thermographic Vision, Vision Magnification (1)), Essence Drain, Fear, Immunity (Age, Pathogens, Toxins), Infection, Influence, Mist Form, Natural Weapons (Bite/Claw: DV Str/2+2P, AP 0), and Regeneration. Moreover, the maximum Essence the character can drain is equal to three times its natural maximum Essence. Additionally, all characters with this strain are magicians; the character loses any other quality that gave them a Magic attribute, if any, and gains the Magician quality (or Mystic Adept quality, if they were previously adepts) at no cost. The character’s Magic attribute does not change.

Weaknesses: Allergy (Ferrous Metals, Moderate), Allergy (Sunlight, Mild), Allergy (Wood, Moderate), Dietary Requirement (Metahuman Blood), and Essence Loss (every 6 months).

Crucify him at night, and wait for the sun to finish him off. Bwahahaha!

Seriously though, that's simply retar-diculuously powerful. And why hasn't anyone here thought about some HMHVV strain for dragons or other critters? Can you imagine a vampiric barghest, for example?

[Zak]

Seriously though, that's simply retar-diculuously powerful. And why hasn't anyone here thought about some HMHVV strain for dragons or other critters? Can you imagine a vampiric barghest, for example?

Been there, done that. My players still hate me for that particular run. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rotfl.gif)

[Wanderer]

Seriously though, that's simply retar-diculuously powerful.

Yeah, it does. But, you asked a real super-Infected, and I gave you one. I honestly meant it as an NPC-only template (yet I statted it out like it was a PC quality since I strongly believe that defining everything like it were PC stuff helps game balance a lot in the long term), the kind of unstoppable cutting-edge experimental combat monster you may expect to emerge from secret megacorp/policlub lab on HMHVV. It assumes the researchers in question are rather successful at their genetic optimization effort. Sorry If I forgot to make my intent clear.

If you instead wish something that IMO would be more suitable as a "Prime Runner"-level PC option, suitable for a high-powered campaign, here it is. It assumes that the researchers are still fairly sucessful at improving the Nosferatu strain with genes from the Wendigo strain, but added genes from the Banshee and Goblin strains do little more than making the super-strain compatible with almost all metahuman types.

Dracul
Cost: 185 BP

This quality may only be taken by dwarf, elf, human, or ork characters. After purging their organs, Infected characters slowly transform into dracul over a period of a couple of days. They lose all body and facial hair, their skin becomes pale and slightly translucent with veins more visible on the surface of the skin, they lose weight often becoming emaciated, skin taught over wiry muscle, their incisors and canines grow more pronounced and sharper, and their nails harden into claws.

Powers: Compulsion, Enhanced Senses (Hearing, Smell, Low-light Vision, Thermographic Vision, Vision Magnification (1)), Essence Drain, Fear, Immunity (Age, Pathogens, Toxins), Infection, Influence, Natural Weapons (Bite/Claw: DV Str/2+2P, AP 0), and Regeneration. Moreover, the maximum Essence the character can drain is equal to three times its natural maximum Essence. Additionally, all characters with this strain are magicians; the character loses any other quality that gave them a Magic attribute, if any, and gains the Magician quality (or Mystic Adept quality, if they were previously adepts) at no cost. The character’s Magic attribute does not change.

Weaknesses: Allergy (Ferrous Metals, Moderate), Allergy (Sunlight, Moderate), Allergy (Wood, Moderate), Dietary Requirement (Metahuman Blood), and Essence Loss (every 6 months).

[Rasumichin]

Seriously though, that's simply retar-diculuously powerful.

In fact, it's like a nosferatu without the nifty attribute modifiers, mist form and 50 BP more to pay for the quality, plus the option to choose it if you're not a norm.

And why hasn't anyone here thought about some HMHVV strain for dragons or other critters? Can you imagine a vampiric barghest, for example?

Actually thought about HMHVV making the jump to carnivores and planned to stat out CVV for added feline, canine and ursine goodnes, but i'll wait until Running Wild comes out before i put any effort into that.

[Machiavelli]

Joke: what about an vegetarian-flaw for an vampire? That would be fun for the GM^^