Kindred Physiology

The State of Being Static

A Kindred’s body is unchanging. The state of the vampire’s body at death is the state the vampire’s body shall remain in for all eternity. This includes hair length, hair color (dye typically fades or seeps out, and hair will tend to revert to its natural shade, unless bleached, in which case, hair will remain bleached) Minor abrasions, blemishes, and slight imperfections are healed at Embrace.

Any changes applied after the Embrace (with a few supernatural exceptions) last for only the night. A Kindred’s body will always, throughout the day, return to its “original” state.

The Modus Operandi …or the Lack Thereof!

“Over time, most of the vampire’s bodily fluids will be replaced by blood — the Kindred sweats a thin sheen of blood when nervous, cries tears of blood when sad, and makes a god-awful mess during sex.”

An important thing to remember is that Kindred can still sigh, flinch, blink, fidget, tremble, ‘get the chills,’ and even suffer from the occasional stress headache, but these are all psychosomatic –- all in their head! Unconscious human acts such as sweating and crying may be enacted without the conscious spend of a blood point, although if done in excess a point may be deducted to naturally signify the loss -- and it IS a graphic, Masquerade-breaking display.

That said, mimicking a heartbeat, warming one's breath or skin, and rousing one's genitals still require the active expenditure of blood equal to 8 minus the character's Humanity score.

(Particularly old vampires, as well as those distanced from their Humanity, tend to lack the physiological/psychosomatic memory to perform such a natural mortal act as crying; they forget how to summon the emotion in the hollow shells that are their immortal forms, requiring them to intentionally manipulate their blood to express appropiately.)

The organs of Kindred no longer function. Therefore, they do not breathe, eat, blush, burp, or use the “little boy’s or girl’s room.” Besides the static moisture of their eyes and their mouths since Embrace, Kindred must perform such actions deliberately and they require the expenditure of blood to active the associated organs. THEY DO NOT COME NATURALLY. Performing these actions for a scene requires an expenditure of blood points equal to (8 minus Humanity); thus, Kindred with Humanity scores of 8 or higher may accomplish these feats automatically, while vampires with low Humanity find the process exceedingly arduous. For instance, a vampire with Humanity 6 trying to breathe must spend 2 blood points to temporarily revive his lungs and simulate the action. The only exception is a Kindred’s need to draw in air in order to speak, but that is NOT the same thing as the act of systematically breathing.

Furthermore, all air exhaled from Kindred – whether spoken or breathed – will be cool, and will not steam in cold air, because a Kindred’s blood does not circulate, and so they are cold to the touch, noticeably cold in some cases. A freshly fed Kindred is flushed, euphoric, and warm for about an hour, but Kindred are naturally room temperature. However, no matter how warm their surroundings are, they will always be colder than mortals.

Kindred are not only colder, they are also paler – pale, in general.. The lower humanity or the lower the amount of blood in a Kindred’s system, in fact, the paler and more “corpse-like” they tend to appear.

Additionally, Kindred never feel tired or fatigued (except perhaps mentally, which is – again – psychological) unless very low (2 points or less) in Willpower. Should they have no (0) Willpower, they are exhausted and unable to function, unable to walk or even crawl. Otherwise, from sundown to sunrise, they’re at their peak. Neither do they require “sleep.” A Kindred’s only “rest cycle” is the death-like state they succumb to during the day.

Last, but not least, a Kindred’s natural scent. There is none! Kindred have no means of producing scent. That said, that doesn’t mean they’re without it. They smell regularly of blood, especially near their mouths and noses, and of the environments in which they spend their time. They’re like tofu, in essence. Other scents, like smoke, perfume, incense, or those of common toiletries (like shampoo or soap) also cling to them as normal.

Remember: It’s All In Your Head!

An important thing to remember is that Kindred can still sigh, flinch, blink, fidget, tremble, ‘get the chills,’ and even suffer from the occasional stress headache, but these are all psychosomatic – all in their head! They’re clinically dead, not brain dead. They still have habits, quirks, psychological issues, personalities, and souls. So play it up!

Bearing

The humane condition itself is what keeps vampires from seeming strange and terrifying to mortals, by maintaining a natural and unconscious sense sense of 'normalcy'. Bearing is a mechanical reflection, a measurement of this vague impression. The greater the vampire's Humanity, the stronger and more resolute the feeling is. The lower, the more eerie and palpably monstrous this impression becomes.

Generally Bearing has little to no impact on their nightly existence, though very high or low ratings impose bonuses and penalties to rolls associated with such -- for Humanity, social rolls for winning sympathy and appearing as just one of the crowd, as well as relevant Disciplines.

• Humanity 10 ...... -2 difficulty
• Humanity 9-8 ..... -1 difficulty
• Humanity 7-4 ..... no modifier
• Humanity 3-2 ..... +1 difficulty
• Humanity 1 ....... +2 difficulty