In The Blood
A Vampire Roleplaying Game
First Edition
©2026 Ordo Octopia
Chapter 1: The Nature of the Blood
In The Blood is a role-playing game where you are a predator forever bound to the crimson essence that both sustains and torments you. The blood is not merely nourishment. It is power, it is memory, it is identity, and it is curse.
To drink is to absorb. To absorb is to become. For a time. Every drop carries echoes of the donor: their courage, their cowardice, their hungers, their gifts, their frailties. A vampire is never truly fixed. You are a kaleidoscope of stolen selves, shifting with every feeding.
Core Axioms
Chapter 2: Key Statistics
Fortitude
Your personal, permanent reservoir of vampiric strength.
Fortitude is what remains when you are starved, when all borrowed blood has burned away.
It is your innate vampiric potency, shaped by your mortal life and the sire who Embraced you.
• Determines your natural resistance to frenzy, sunlight, fire, and other banes.
• Sets your personal maximum capacity before blood begins to congeal and turn toxic.
• Influences how quickly you process and lose borrowed Strength of Blood.
Sensitivity (Sen)
Your attunement to the qualities within blood.
High Sensitivity means borrowed traits manifest strongly and vividly.
Low Sensitivity means borrowed traits are muted and easier to resist—but also weaker when you want them.
• High Sen vampires experience dramatic shifts in personality, urges, and abilities after feeding.
• Low Sen vampires change more subtly and retain more of their core self even when gorged.
Strength of Blood (SoB)
A temporary resource measured in nights (the time until the next sunrise).
SoB determines how long a borrowed trait remains active.
When SoB reaches zero, all absorbed powers and flaws fade, returning you to your baseline self (Fortitude + inherited sire traits).
Chapter 3: Feeding & Blood Capacity
Standard Human Blood (Benchmark)
TABLE ONE (to follow)
Blood Capacity
A vampire can safely hold up to 3 pints of blood at once.
TABLE TWO (to follow)
Overfeeding penalty: Holding blood longer than your Fortitude allows it to process safely causes sickness. The exact threshold is personal and tied to Fortitude + Sensitivity.
Chapter 4: Powers & Flaws
Every donor imparts one Power and one accompanying Flaw.
You cannot accept the strength without also accepting the weakness.
Feeding Limits & Multi-Source Confusion
• A recently fed vampire typically expresses 3 Powers + 3 Flaws (from one dominant source or a harmonious blend).
• A hungry / lean vampire drops to 2 Powers + 2 Flaws.
• Starving → 0 borrowed Powers/Flaws (only Fortitude remains).
Drinking from multiple donors in short succession is possible—but dangerous.
• Each additional distinct source beyond the first adds +1 Power / +1 Flaw (up to your personal maximum).
• Mixing sources creates confusion → disorientation, conflicting urges, eventual psychosis if carried too far.
• High Sensitivity vampires suffer the worst identity fragmentation.
Classic descriptor format:
“He is uncannily perceptive but he is paranoid and jumpy.”
“She is frighteningly strong but she is brutish and slow-witted.”
Animal Blood
Animal blood follows the same rules but tends toward generic, archetypal traits unless the animal was exceptional (a champion racehorse, an alpha wolf, a legendary hunting cat…).
Human and especially vampire blood is far more individual and memorable.
Chapter 5: Rebirth
When a vampire creates a new vampire:
This lottery of lineage helps explain why bloodlines can drift, mutate, and surprise even ancient lineages.
Chapter 6: Summary - Who Am I Tonight?
You wake each evening asking:
• How much blood do I still carry?
• Whose echoes are loudest in my veins right now?
• Which powers make me dangerous tonight and which flaws will betray me?
• How close am I to losing myself completely?
In In The Blood, identity is fluid, power is borrowed, and every swallow is a gamble with sanity.
The night is long. Choose carefully whose life you steal.
Chapter 7: Powers & Flaws Random Tables
When a vampire drinks blood, they absorb one Power and one accompanying Flaw from the donor. These traits reflect the donor’s essence, be they a virtuoso musician granting musical mastery or a paranoid recluse imparting suspicion.
To determine traits randomly (e.g., for generic donors or quick generation), roll a d100 on the tables below. Exceptional donors may have custom or multiple traits at the Storyteller’s discretion.
Usage Notes:
• Roll separately for Power and Flaw.
• Traits manifest based on the vampire’s Sensitivity: high Sen = vivid/intense effects; low Sen = subtle/resistible.
• Multi-source feeding risks psychosis from conflicting traits.
Powers Table (d100)
1. Empathic healer
2. Master swordsman
3. Arcane knowledge
4. Empathic intuition
5. Strategic mind
6. Silver tongue
7. Harmonic resonance
8. Storm caller
9. Telepathic insight
10. Silent stalker
11. Unbreakable focus
12. Unyielding resolve
13. Elegant duelist
14. Acute senses
15. Telekinetic nudge
16. Inspirational orator
17. Fearsome roar
18. Speed reading
19. Puzzle solver
20. Berserker fury
21. Kinetic intuition
22. Chameleon mimic
23. Tireless worker
24. Athletic prowess
25. Fortunate escapes
26. Prophetic dreams
27. Battle tactician
28. Master archer
29. Adrenaline junkie
30. Lightning reflexes
31. Sensory acuity
32. Loyal protector
33. Vampiric allure
34. Contortionist flexibility
35. Mathematical genius
36. Regenerative vitality
37. Fearless explorer
38. Rhetorical mastery
39. Illusionist trickster
40. Superhuman strength
41. Empowered by rage
42. Intuitive tracker
43. Hypnotic gaze
44. Aura of authority
45. Magnetic personality
46. Celestial sight
47. Eloquent speaker
48. Weapon improvisation
49. Commanding presence
50. Code breaker
51. Inventive genius
52. Encyclopedic knowledge
53. Artistic vision
54. Pain tolerance
55. Voice of command
56. Elemental affinity
57. Precognitive hunches
58. Aura of calm
59. Resilient endurance
60. Photographic memory
61. Detect lies
62. Persuasive liar
63. Explosive speed
64. Animal whisperer
65. Iron stomach
66. Radiant confidence
67. Dream walker
68. Unseen mover
69. Shapeshifting affinity
70. Lockpicking expert
71. Charismatic leader
72. Shadow blending
73. Master forger
74. Night owl endurance
75. Fleet-footed runner
76. Scholarly wisdom
77. Soulful performer
78. Beast tamer
79. Unparalleled musical talent
80. Poison resistance
81. Unshakable courage
82. Seductive charm
83. Voice mimicry
84. Lucky gambler
85. Eidetic recall
86. Creative improviser
87. Night vision
88. Stealth mastery
89. Crowd controller
90. Void walker
91. Polyglot linguist
92. Wall crawler
93. Iron will
94. Healing touch
95. Master negotiator
96. Primal instincts
97. Graceful acrobat
98. Pack hunter
99. Venomous bite
100. Camouflage expert
Flaws Table (d100)
1. Guilt-ridden conscience
2. Impulsive spender
3. Beast within
4. Grandiose fantasies
5. Paranoid delusions
6. Delirious confusion
7. Naive gullibility
8. Erratic moodiness
9. Insatiable hunger
10. Obsessive compulsion
11. Gullible trust
12. Brittle bones
13. Self-sabotaging
14. Manic depression
15. Hedonistic indulgence
16. Claustrophobic panic
17. Emotional volatility
18. Crowd aversion
19. Perfection paralysis
20. Delusional grandiosity
21. Hallucinatory visions
22. Blood frenzy
23. Anxiety spirals
24. Obsessive jealousy
25. Memory lapses
26. Violent temper
27. Pyromaniac urge
28. Doom prophet
29. Bipolar swings
30. Physical clumsiness
31. Berserker blackout
32. Narcissistic vanity
33. Greedy hoarder
34. Moral cowardice
35. Easily manipulated
36. Compulsive gambler
37. Gambling ruin
38. Indecisive waverer
39. Self-destruction
40. Stealing habit
41. Codependent attachment
42. Arrogant superiority
43. Blind berserker
44. Explosive outbursts
45. Petty vengefulness
46. Financial recklessness
47. Decadent corruption
48. Fire obsession
49. Superstitious dread
50. Ego inflation
51. Foolish superstitions
52. Sadistic cruelty
53. Lazy procrastination
54. Chronic insomnia
55. Masochistic self-harm
56. Crippling phobia of fire
57. Compulsive liar
58. Trust issues
59. Codependent leech
60. Jealous envy
61. Self-doubting weakness
62. Addicted to vice
63. Physical frailty
64. Manipulative deceit
65. Stubborn inflexibility
66. Vindictive spite
67. Fragile constitution
68. Phobic aversions
69. Agoraphobic isolation
70. Uncontrollable rage
71. Vengeful grudge-holder
72. Socially awkward
73. Reckless impulsivity
74. Allergic sensitivity
75. Cowardly flightiness
76. Forgetful absentmind
77. Hypochondriac fears
78. Smothering love
79. Panic attacks
80. Mad visions
81. Hypersensitive nerves
82. Hopeless despair
83. Cruel whims
84. Paralyzing doubt
85. Spiteful revenge
86. Schizoid detachment
87. Pain-seeking
88. Gluttony for blood
89. Night terrors
90. Slothful inertia
91. Kleptomaniac thief
92. Rage blackouts
93. Pessimistic gloom
94. Gluttonous excess
95. Inflexible dogma
96. Depressive lethargy
97. Terror-haunted
98. Social phobia
99. Allergy to silver
100. Rigid perfectionism
TO BE CONTINUED ... MORE TO FOLLOW
THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS
Future Developments to include;
RENAISSANCE WORLD SETTING : 1515 AD
includes chapters on;
CASTLE & VILLAGE
POLITICAL NOBILITY
FAITH & FURY
DEALING WITH THE DEVIL
WITCHES, WEREWOLVES & WOODSMEN
DEMONS, IMPS & FAE
THE NEW WORLD
CAMPAIGN OF CENTURIES
and
ILLUSTRATIONS
Y • I I • K WORLD SETTING : 21st Century