Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Fianyarr Race: Dhampyr


The male Dhampyr
(The Witcher)

Campaign World: Fianyarr.

Nicknames: Reavers, Caulborn, Fangtouched.

Appearance: The touch of death turns all Dhampyr's hair white, their skin pale, their incisors to become fangs and causes their eyes to change to a pale and unnatural colour (anywhere from red to yellow).

Demeanor: Death has touched them and death will never leave them alone.  They can take the life's spark from those around them to stoke their own fires and feel an urge toward the night.  They tend to have a macarbe bent, ever aware of life's fragility and attracted by the smell and taste of lifesblood, though they are by no means torn towards evil they can no more turn their backs on death than we can turn our backs on ourselves.

Rumors: In some places, Dhampyrs are treated kindly as victims of circumstance who are nonetheless sensitive to death and all of its permutations.  Such people are often ushered into lives where they tend to the dead as gravediggers or morticians, perhaps even as executioners or chirurgeons.  For some strange reason, they are particularly revered when they become midwives or guides - as those who can see the boundaries between life and death are considered the best for such roles.

In other places, Dhampyrs are thought to be born without souls and so in some place it isn't a crime to kill or enslave them.  Due to this treatment, Dhampyrs are often hidden by their families, brutally dismembered, or sold to the highest bidder.  As they are often thought to be both exotic yet somehow plain in appearance and as no communities of Dhampyr exist to protect them from such a fate, they often fetch quite a high price in the slave markets in such lands.


Racial Abilities

Attribute Bonus: +1 to either Composure or Strength.

Weakness: The sun's brightness is cruel to a Dhampyr's eyes and though they can see no better in the darkness than most, they do see more poorly under the bright light of the sun.  They take a -2 to all Perception checks made in the sunlight (or equivalent light).

Mouthful of Sin
The Dhampyr can take life's vital essence from another by spending a Glamour and making a bite attack.  They may do this once per session and will heal either one lethal damage or two bashing damage for every point of damage dealt to their victim.  Innocents (Morality 7 or higher) cannot be affected by this as the innate humanity within the Dhampyr rebels from benefiting from their pain in such a way.  (Changeling Oni Kith: Winter Masques page 110).

Fangs
The Dhampyr has fangs which deal 2 lethal damage on a bite attack.  Of course, to bite they must first successfully grapple their foe.  (Changeling Gristlegrinder Kith: core book page 118).

Sap The Vital Spark
A Dhamphyr can touch the skin of a mortal being and sap their very life energy - causing terrible head aches and blood noses - once per scene for every point of Wyrd they possess.  With this power, they may spend a point of Glamour to deal one lethal to their victims in order to heal one point of lethal or bashing damage or downgrade a point of aggravated damage into lethal (Changeling Leechfinger Kith: Changeling the Lost page 106).

Charnel Sight
The Dhampyr's affinity with death means that he can spend one point of Glamour to see and hear the unquiet dead for the rest of the scenee (Changeling Gravewight Kith: Changeling the Lost 106).

Racially Restricted Merit
(****) Death Stains: The Dhamphyr can spend a point of Glamour to see the stain of death upon a place, object or an individual for a single scene.  While they can't be sure if the deaths were caused by the person or location or simply have touched it before, they can at least have a good sense of how many have died in connection to it.  They can also tell when a person is at death's door and approximately how long they are likely to survive.

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