About Being A Predator

Your Character is a Predator.

Keep that in mind. Your character is a predator. They prey upon others. That is the exact definition of “predator” in the dictionary. Someone or something that preys upon someone or something else or “ruthlessly exploits.” for their own desires and needs. There is no good connotation to that word. It is what it says and your character is a predator.

No matter how you want to wrap it up in your mind, your character is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” They walk the Earth, disguised as a human. The name of the game is “Vampire the Masquerade” and that is not just a title or an allusion to the First Tradition, it is an explanation of what you are playing and how to play it. Your character masquerades as a human, they are an animal, a Beast who has a Predator type and none of the Predator types is “nice.”

As a predator, they hunt. They don’t “feed,” they hunt TO feed. Your character is always hungry and always thinking about the next hunt. This is their life now. Finding victims on a nightly basis in order to allow them to continue their masquerade and exist. It is truly a vicious cycle and make no mistake, they truly are looking for victims. They might want to think that these people or animals enjoy the act, but make no mistake, even those that “consent” are victims. You try losing 2-3 pints of blood and see how good you feel.

Let’s break them down:

Alleycat:

You stalk and overpower your victims. You slink through alleys or prey upon homeless camps and overpower your victim through force. You leave behind a disoriented, injured victim who probably has to simply hope and pray they will recover from this assault. They may die. You don’t know, nor do you care. You got your blood, time to move on.

Bagger:

You steal cold blood. You drink cold, nasty blood. You don’t get to enjoy if only for a moment, the feeling of dominating and being close to a human. You might think this type is “nice” but keep in mind you have to steal a lot of blood. That is usually blood meant to be given to a human in need, perhaps a victim of a car crash or stabbing or a mother who just gave birth and is bleeding to death. This creates victims, even if you wish to think it does not.

Blood Leech:

You can only eat Vampiric blood. Sure, this might be the most “humane” way of existing, but you now need to rely upon obtaining that blood. You need to get close to other vampires and take the thing that keeps them alive. This may mean insinuating yourself into the confidence of another vampire who may be desperate for companionship. It may mean selling yourself to someone of greater power who can give you blood. It may mean kidnapping a vampire and keeping them locked up so you can feed upon them. Of course, that means you need to keep that vampire fed and that means bringing them humans to feed upon and that means…another vicious cycle ensues.

Cleaver:

You are a Gaslighter par excellence. You feed upon your own family- or at the very least, someone’s- you go to extreme lengths to craft an image of being a good family-person, a wonderful friend, a loving parent. Meanwhile, you are using those ties, that love that is freely given to you to take blood and remain alive. You weave tales like, “Aww, I’m sorry you don’t feel well. The flu sure is going around.” and come up with a myriad of reasons of why going to the doctor is fruitless. Congratulations, you truly ARE a monster.

Consensualist:

This type may be making you go, “AHA! These people ALLOW me to feed!” But does that make it any better? Whomever you feed on still needs to be convinced, and again, you try losing 2-3 pints of blood and see how you feel. You are a good liar, or even if you tell the truth, “so, honey…the thing is, I’m a Vampire and need this” you are risking your life and your fellow predator’s lives by revealing yourself to a mortal who may just get the shits of feeling like shit and turn on you.

Farmer:

This type of predator doesn’t take blood from humans- well, until they acquire higher potency and age or get tired of feeling blah and unfulfilled and always, ALWAYS goddamn hungry or, at the very least, get tired of picking fur from between their teeth. Plus, just picture a vampire, slinking around alleys, chasing rats and cats and mice and the errant trash panda for HOURS a night only to finally get done, get rid of the pile of desiccated rodent carcasses (trust me, hunters will know what those piles of drained rats mean) and walk away and STILL be hungry and feeling like bland shit because animal blood doesn’t make a vampire feel powerful. Eventually, as they age and gain power, they give this up in favor of yummy human blood.

Osiris:

You are a celebrity, a cult leader, a preacher, someone who others look up to and want to make happy. What you also are is a liar, a user, another Gaslighter who preys upon the emotions and beliefs of their followers. You are also taking huge risks. Those followers have families who may not like it that their loved one is following this manipulative bastard and may take action. A follower may get jealous of another follower and make trouble. A fangirl or fanboy who goes on Instabook and Snapgrams, “ZOMG LAST NIGHT I MET MY DREAM AND HE MADE ME FEEL SOOO GOOD!” and posts that covertly taken pic of you with blood on your face, or wants to come back again and again, steadily growing more and more convinced they and they alone love you and can see to your “needs.”

Sandman:

Hooboy, this one is a doozy. Put simply and with no further explanation needed: You break into the homes (that could be a house, an apartment, a homeless persons car or tent) and feed on them.

Scene Queen:

This is similar to Osiris in that you are preying upon those who adore you and your status and want to do anything to be close to you in the hopes they can grasp your coattails and move up the ladder of hierarchy and be just as “cool” as you. Of course, they have no idea that this is a false, empty hope and you have NO intention of seeing them succeed. They are food. Nothing more, nothing less.

Siren:

You fuck for food. Repeatedly. You don’t fuck to get off, you fuck to feed. You manipulate, you lie, you may not even be able to get a hardon or orgasm, but you sure as hell can feed and you leave behind a “sated” victim (or so they think) feeling like crap from blood loss. I won’t make the obvious allusion to what you are, I’ll let you fill in the blank, but you are NOT nice. You are an awful person who may pay when one of your victims wants more of you and begins to stalk you and make trouble.

Conclusion

So, to conclude, remember this when you play. Your character is one of the above. There is no real way for YOU to make “nice” and you shouldn’t want to. We are playing Vampires, not humans, not superheroes, VAMPIRES. Your character may want to put a twist on it, they may lie to themselves about it, but the Beast in each of them just laughs, growls and pushes them to do it again. And again…and again…