V1.3

Rules Created by: Taryn and David Elliott

Players handbook created by: Rob Windon

V1.3

Tales of the Vampyres –Players Guide

1

Table of Contents Character Creation 2-3

Were all drama llamas really 3

Magic 4

Specials Rules 5-7

Psychic 5

Super science 5

Demon and half-Demon 5

Vampires 6-7

Werewolves 7

Slayer 8

Skills 9-12

Science 9

Occult 9

Computers 9

Contacts 9

Art 10

Languages 10

Doctor 10

Getting Medieval 10

Kung-Fu 11

Gun-Fu 11

Thrown 11

Dodge 11

Alchemy 12

Archery 12

Additional Rules 13

Fear Checks 13

Coloured Tags 13

What has it got in its pockets? 13

Fighting and Staying Alive 13

The one second rule 14

Get out the way son!! 14

Hit points and 14

damage calls

Don’t die on me man 14

Healing damage 15

Carrying Unconscious 15

Characters

Calls 15

Special Attack Calls 15

Resistible Calls 16

Ref Calls 16

Safety Calls 17

Downtimes and XP 17

A random few notes 18

2

Character Creation

Each character has 10 Creation Points (CP) to spend

at creation which can buy either a special template,

stats or skills.

Stats Each character start with 1 rank in each stat. Stats can

then be purchased for a cost of one CP per rank to a

human maximum of 4 points

Stat Name Stat Description Strength - (Str) How physically strong you are, Adds to

some damage types

Constitution - (Con) How tough you are, hit points are equal to your Con x 5

Dexterity - (Dex) How nimble you are, Base dodges are equal to your Dex. Adds to some damage types

Willpower - (Will) How much force of will you have, Effects Magic and fear resistance.

Skills

Each character starts with 0 points in each skill. Skills

can be purchased for a cost of one CP per rank up to a

maximum of 3 ranks.

Skill Name Skill Description Kung Fu

Str+Kung Fu = unarmed/claw damage call.

Contacts

Provides you with hard to get equipment and materials

Getting Medieval

Str+1 + Getting Medieval = armed melee damage call. At 2+ may ambi

Dodge

+2 dodges per point.

Gun Fu Dex+Gun Fu = ranged damage. Cannot use guns without this skill.

Art

Can interact with objects with RED tags.

Computer

Can interact with objects with YELLOW tags.

Doctor Can heal Doctor score in HP/min with appropriate RP

Languages

Can interact with objects with BLUE tags.

Occult

Can interact with objects with BLACK tags.

Science

Can interact with objects with GREEN tags.

Alchemy can use herbs to create potions with interesting results.

Thrown Str+Thrown = ranged damage. Cannot use thrown weapons without this skill.

Archery Dex = ranged damage. Reusable ammo.

Specials A special costs three CP and each character may only

have a single special applied. Stat Ranks gained from

special can take a character’s ranks over the human

maximum.

Special Name Special Description Vampire

+2 Str, Dex, and Con. Burns in sunlight, cardboard chest syndrome.

Werewolf

In wolf form +2 Str, Dex, and Con. Cannot use non-combat skills in wolf form.

Witch/Warlock

Has Spells (See Magic section).

Psychic

+1 Will, Telekinesis, and Visions from the refs

Slayer

+3 Str, Dex, and Con, regenerate 1hp/5 min. Only 1 Slayer allowed.

Super Science

Begins each game with a super useful gadget.

Demon

+4 attribute points to spend and a special ability linked to their type.

Half Demon

Half demons may appear human but have a secret ability linked to their type

Every player may only play one special in every three

characters that they play, because there are far more

normal human beings than things that go bump in the

dark. A Player cannot have more than 2 characters at

any one time, and only 1 will be the active character,

generating downtimes etc…

3

The advantages of not being special It should be pretty obvious that specials add more to

stats than 3 points would just buy, so why would you

be normal? Well, two reasons; firstly, many of the

specials have drawbacks, some plainly stated in the

rules and some more hidden, such as how people will

react to you, or the number of people who want you

dead just because of what you are. The second reason

is that any character that begins the game with no

specials has a drama point cap of 5, while specials

have a cap of 3, and characters with no specials will

begin each game with +1 drama point.

We’re all drama llamas really (Drama points)

Role-play is about being dramatic; about the big

moments that would make an audience go wow!

Nowhere is this more relevant than in the Buffy system

(which is based on a TV show, and therefore had an

audience it had to make go wow!). This system

contains a mechanic called Drama Points, these are an

expendable resource which characters generate by

being dramatic. So let’s look at how they are earner

and how they are spent. The refs will always be

carrying a stock of drama point tokens, and can award

these to players. Drama points can be awarded for

things such as:

Quotable Quotes: Those one liners that stick with

you, the perfectly timed witty comeback, etc… No

parroting lines from the show make you own new

lines.

Heroic Acts: Those acts of greatness and risk to the

character that stand out.

There is an upper limit to the number of drama points a

character may have at any one time, this is 3 for

characters who have a special and 5 for characters who

do not. Once you have your shiny drama point, what

can you do with it? Well, almost anything you could

make dramatic actually, here are some examples:

Heroic Feat: You automatically succeed at something

you would otherwise fail at, due to running out of time,

not having the right bits, etc…

I Think I’m OK: instantly heal 50% of the damage

you took in the last encounter as you realise it’s just a

flesh wound and all that blood made it look worse that

it is.

Plot Twist: You just happen to have remembered that

book that has the cipher for the puzzle that’s stumped

you, you didn’t leave that important ritual piece on the

table and start the ritual without it, etc… This is not

guaranteed to work, you must ask a ref and they will

decide whether to allow it.

Act of Will: for 1 drama point you may call “resist” on

one magic effect (spells mostly) which targets you.

Saving Grace: If a machine doesn’t work, or you

cannot find the right components, spending a drama

point may allow you a way around this.

Stitch In Time: If you are missing a piece of the

puzzle, a Drama point may earn you a clue as to where

to look.

Leap of Faith: one drama point can be used to call a

time freeze whereby the character can move five

meters away from the source of impending doom

before calling time in.

I Have a Plan: A super scientist, witch or warlock

could create or copy a fully powered and functioning

blueprint or scroll respectively, or memorise one that

already exists so that they no longer need the physrep.

Drama Point Resurrection: if a character died while

the player still had drama points then it may not be

curtains quite yet for that character, 3Dp will resurrect

them for next game. 2, for second and 1 for the third,

should the player wish to hang onto the character.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, if you think

adding drama to an action would improve the situation,

tell a Ref, spend the point and see what happens. To

preserve the flow of the game, you can spend a Drama

Point even if a Ref isn’t present as long as one is not

immediately required, but see one as soon as possible

after.

4

Magic

Spells

Witches and warlocks have magic (it’s part of the job

description). Characters with the Witch/Warlock

background have access to the following 2 spells:

Shield of Ra: with a wave of your hand you stop

incoming missiles and ranged monster attacks dead in

the air. If you are within one meter of the target, you

may cast this spell to shield another person. As long as

you see it coming you can repel fire from guns, thrown

weapons, monster attacks etc… (please obey rule 7)

Bolt of Horus: magic leaps from your fingers to strike

your foe. At a range of up to 10 meters you may call

“X +1 damage, Magic X” at a single target you

designate by pointing, where X is your will.

Magic Checks

Most spells can be resisted if you are mentally tough

enough. If you are on the receiving end of a spell with

the phrase “magic X” in the call you are now involved

in a magic check (congratulations, I guess) compare

your Will stat to the number called (the X) if it is

higher than the called number you resist the spell, call

“resist” so the caster knows what has happened. If your

Will stat is equal to or lower than the called number

then the incoming magic is too strong for you and you

take the effects of the spell (usually stated before the

Magic X call). Eg. Billy is a competent but not

spectacular warlock (His Will is 3, and he has the

Warlock special), one night he finds himself in a bad

part of town and sees a nasty looking guy with a knife

walking towards him. Fearing for his safety he casts

Bolt of Horus, he calls “3 damage, magic 3” as his

Will is 3, Mr knife only has a will of 1 as he’s a lowly

thug, and this is not enough to stop the spell. The bolt

slams home and the thug runs off in a panic.

Later Billy is trying to get home and is still a bit wired

from his previous encounter; he is surprised by a girl

who appears out of nowhere and panics, casting Bolt

of Horus before he thinks. Again he calls “3 damage,

magic 3”. Willow is far better at magic than Mr Knife

(her Will stat is 6 because reasons) this is higher than

Billy’s magic 3 call so she calls “resist”. The spell

fizzles harmlessly on Willows aura; hopefully she’s in

a forgiving mood.

Magic Addiction Magic is a drug, it just is, deal with it. Casting too

much of it will lead to addiction, and this has bad

effects. After you cast every 5th spell, you must see a

ref as soon as possible, the ref will inform you of what

happens to you. If a magic user goes 30 mins without

casting a spell they lose a magic addiction effect if

they have any and their spell count resets to zero, if

they have multiple addiction effects they lose the effect

they have had the longest. A character’s WILL

determines how many addiction effects they can

survive at any one time.

5

Specials Rules

Psychic

You are a channel for The Powers That Be (TPTB) to

communicate through. This is a great honour however

it comes at a cost. These visions can be disturbing,

traumatic, painful, and almost always come at

inconvenient times. Your visions will be delivered to

you both in downtime and by refs at events, they will

give you some degree of insight into what the Powers

want of you, and hopefully how to go about it, they

will also be open to interpretation. Fortunately, TPTB

have given a bit of a leg up in bearing you visions and

defending yourself. You gain plus one willpower (can

take over max of 4), which will help you resist the

inevitable fear affects your visions will cause.

You also gain telekinesis. With this you may call your

willpower in ranged damage as you force an unseen

psychic punch at your opponent. This does have a cost

however (just like everything from TPTB), each

psychic punch you send causes 1HP of damage to you

and leaves you with a painful headache.

Make no mistake, TPTB do not see you as an ally, you

are an asset, a tool, and failure and incompetence may

well be punished, but you still provide a large asset to

any group you are with.

Super Science

Sometimes madness or eccentricity breeds true genius,

talents beyond the normal and an ability to construct

amazing machines. A super scientist can build things

straight out of sci-fi, lifelike robots, freeze rays, even

machines which manipulate time.

A super scientist will begin each event with a gadget

agreed upon with the Refs. Super science may also

enhance the results of any gadgets constructed at

events, and some items may even need super science to

be constructed at all.

A super scientist is also able to create a blue-print at an

event that would allow themselves or others with the

Science skill to make a gadget relevant to the plot. It

takes 10 minutes to make a blue-print. Upon

completion, see a Ref for the required cog costs, skill

requirements, and any other component requirements.

Demon and half-demon

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

than are dreamt of in your philosophy". This also

applies to hell dimensions, alternate dimensions, and

even plain old hell, species of demon are as varied as

they are myriad. However, they all stand out in a

crowd, demons look demonic, without exception.

All demon characters must have a clearly demonic

appearance and will struggle to hide it. Due to the

varied nature of demons the exact appearance and stats

of the character must be agreed with the senior ref, but

the overall benefits and cost will follow these

guidelines:

+4 attribute points, which can take a stat over the

human limit of 4.

A unique power linked to the species and concept of

the character.

A weakness linked to the demon species; this will be a

major weakness which will greatly influence the

character in some way.

A demon maybe also, with agreement from the senior

ref, have a unique kill, this will either increase the

severity of the weakness or add another.

Half-demons have it slightly easier, they can withdraw

their demonic appearance in a manner similar to a

vampire (in fact vampires are just a very common form

of half-demon), however certain situations may force

their demonic appearance to the fore. Similar to

demons they receive a species related ability and

weakness; they do not however receive the stat

bonuses.

Remember not all demons are evil, but they do tend to

be.

6

Vampires

Cardboard Chest Syndrome (Stakes, Vamps,

and My friend Mr Pointy) Everyone knows that the best way to kill a vamp is a

stake through the heart, and the fastest way to a vamps

heart is through their surprisingly flimsy chests. I mean

seriously, a big buff vamp can take a hit from a

moving truck and keep going, but a primary teacher 2

years from retirement hits a vamp in the chest with a

pencil or a blunt tent peg and POOF, no more vamp. If

a vamp character is hit in the chest with a weapon

representing a stake they take 3 times the damage

called, once reduced to -10 HP the vamp is dust.

Should the vamp still be upright after the hit then

clearly the blow only grazed the heart, but still did a

spectacular amount of damage.

Attacks with these weapons should be announced by

calling “X stake” where X is your normal melee

damage, the vampire you have struck must apply

appropriate multipliers.

The same but not equal (Crafted stakes and

hastily made stakes)

Not all stakes are made equal and the quality of a stake

impacts heavily on its durability.

Named stakes (crafted stakes), such as Mr Pointy, are

built with the purpose of being re-useable, they are

made of good quality hard wood with no flaws in it.

These stakes can be used repeatedly to attack with like

any other melee weapon. A ref will inform you if you

have a named stake. Hastily made stakes are a different

matter. Breaking up cheap pine furniture (or even

decent furniture), smashing convenient wooden poles,

etc., leaves you with a stake that is not particularly

tough. A hastily made stake may be used for a single

successful attack (doesn’t miss and isn’t dodged)

before the stake breaks, splinters, crumbles, or

otherwise becomes useless. You may not use this stake

to make any further attacks with and should hand it to

a ref as soon as is reasonable. Any stake that you have

not been told by a ref is a named stake is automatically

considered to be hastily made.

I’ve just got sensitive skin (Vamps and

sunlight)

Sunlight is bad for vamps, plain and simple. Any

Vamp outside in during sunlight hours takes 1 point of

damage per second. Effects may occur which alter this

(up or down), these will be communicated by the refs

should they become relevant.

Vamps take no damage from sunlight while inside, this

is to avoid difficult calls about windows etc...

You’ve got red on you (vamp feeding) Vamps drink blood, it’s what they do. A vampire

character can initiate a feed on any mortal character by

CAREFULLY placing a hand on the mortal characters

shoulder and calling “strength check X” where X is the

vamps strength. As with other checks if the mortals

strength is higher than the called check number they

may say “resist” at which point the vamp character

MUST take their hand of the mortals shoulder and

role-play being pushed away. If the mortals strength is

equal to or lower than the check then the mortal is

considered to be grabbed, no actual grabbing required,

while in this state the two are considered to be locked

in a struggling grapple (it will be useful if the mortal

somehow acknowledges to the vamp that they are

aware they are grabbed), as such neither character may

move or do anything with their hands/arms/legs, as all

are being used to some effect in the grapple. The

mortal may call for help (or hold a casual conversation

if they want to), the vamp may not speak as his/her

mouth is full. Speaking of which….

Once a vamp has successfully “grabbed” a mortal they

may feed, this is done by calling “draining your blood

1, draining your blood 2, draining your blood 3,…..”

for each count the mortal loses 1 HP and the vamp

gains 1 HP until the mortal reaches 0hp and enters the

dying state, at which point the vamp can drain no more

blood.

Attacks will not necessarily cause a vamp to let go of

the mortal, but any vamp who’s lived more than a day

knows that it’s better to lose breakfast that lose your

life.

I’mma make you juuuust like me. (vamps

making vamps) Vamps can turn mortal characters into vamps during

the course of play. To do so a vamp character must

reduce the target character to between 0 and -9 HP, or

“find” a character who is already in that state and

perform 5 mins of appropriate role-play (feeding blood

etc…), during this time the mortal characters death

count is bound to reach max, this is fine. If this is

successfully done then the character has not died (well,

they did, but they didn’t, ahhh you know the deal) but

returns to un-life as a vampire. Both players must find

a ref and the ref will inform the newly made vamp of

their stat alterations and let both players know if any

interesting effects happen due to who did what to who.

If the 5 mins is interrupted before it is over then the

turning was unsuccessful, if the player who was being

7

turned is healed to above 0hp before they reach their

max death count they are fine, if not healed they will

die as normal.

There is a strong sire bond between a vamp and the

person who turned them, as such if you are made into a

vamp during the course of play the following rules will

apply to you: You will do most things your sire

asks/tells/commands you to, short of killing yourself

for no good reason (this is not an excuse for you sire to

have you fetch and carry drinks all night, unless you

are happy to). You will not attack you sire. You will

not perform actions you believe will place your sire in

danger

Within the bounds of these effects, you are still

yourself however, all be it a demon possessed, blood

thirsty, evil, yourself.

Werewolves

The dangers of fine cutlery

Just as a stake through the heart will mess up a vamp,

the households’ silverware spells bad news for

werewolves, silver weapons deal double damage called

against werewolves.

Attacks with these weapons should be announced by

calling “X silver” where X is your normal melee

damage; the werewolf you have struck must apply

appropriate multipliers.

Is that Fur coming out of your ears?? (Getting

werewolfed) Lycanthropy is bite transmissible, and a lot easier to

catch than vampirism. However it is also a lot less

obvious to begin with. If you are a werewolf and are

actively trying to turn someone (with or without their

knowledge) speak privately to a ref. If you are on the

receiving end of this or a ref sees that you are bitten by

a werewolf in a combat then they may come to you to

brief you on your new and exciting lunar lifestyle.

Werewolf characters who have bought the trait as a

three point merit may transform into their wolf form

when the moon is full and risen, this will be dictated

by the refs. The refs may also inform a werewolf they

have transformed at other points due to plot or role-

play reasons.

Werewolves are not always blessed with self-control,

however, and those who catch Lycanthropy from

another must spend years in training before they have

full control over their curse. Should a character have

the Werewolf template applied to them as a drawback,

then that characters actions under a full moon may be

directed by a ref.

8

Slayer

"Into every generation a slayer is born: one girl in all

the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the

strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and

the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil

and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer."

Well, the legend say one girl in recent years that’s not

been entirely accurate, Billy and Troy have flown the

flag for gender equality in the most unusual of places,

that of the Slayer.

Everything else hold true though, well apart from that

whole incident were all potentials became the Slayer,

so there wasn’t really just one, but that’s all fixed now.

So now there’s only, well, eeermm…, OK so there’s

three but that’s not the point. What’s important is the

whole destined to battle the forces of darkness.

You are that chosen (OK, one of them), selected by

fate (i.e. The Powers That Be) to battle evil, and

granted superhuman abilities to aid you. Within the

TOTV character base there will only ever be a single

Slayer, if you wish to play the Slayer at some point

you must discuss the request with the senior Ref team.

The Slayer gains far more than any of the other special

character classes, but with this comes an obligation to

be out there finding the things that go bump in the

night and, more importantly, bumping back. A

character with the Slayer special gains +3 in strength,

constitution, and dexterity. They also have

regenerative powers and gain 1 hit point back per 5

minutes when wounded. Finally they gain the Slayers

Sense, an innate ability to sense the presence of

vampires and approximate the number, distance and

direction. When a Slayer can sense vampires a Ref will

inform the Slayer and brief them with relevant

information.

The Slayers heritage is long, tracing back to the First

Slayer, and if appropriate justification and roleplay can

be provided then the Slayer may gain additional effects

or information. If the Slayer wishes to do this they

must consult with a Ref and discuss what they plan to

do and the desired outcome before beginning to allow

the crew time to assess the situation and prepare

appropriate responses. Remember these responses may

not always be purely beneficial.

9

Skills

SCIENCE!

There may be items out there that need repairing; there

may even be things you can build with bits you find.

To achieve these things requires the science skill and

10 mins appropriate role-play. Inform a ref before you

begin such an attempt and the ref will inform you of

the results once you have finished.

Increasing levels of the science skill allow characters

to do more complex things as well

1. You can interact with objects marked with

green dots and construct gadgets.

2. With appropriate tools a scientist of this lvl

can disassemble objects for components.

3. After spending ten minutes study a scientist

can work out how a science gadget works or a

superscientist can work out how a science or

super science gadget works -without needing

to be taught.

Cogs, dials and sprockets are tiny items that are

invaluable to a scientist because all devices require a

set amount of pieces to be assembled. Search about

regularly to see what you can find.

Science and super-science gadgets constructed at

events will break down shortly after the end of the

event, they were hastily constructed and just weren’t

built to last.

Occult

Ancient texts contain powerful magics, scrolls of

power sit forgotten on dusty shelves, and those in the

know are constantly seeking them. There will be

BLACK lammied items in the play area which contain

spells which can be learnt, this requires the occult skill

and 10 mins appropriate role-play. Inform a ref before

you begin such an attempt and the ref will inform you

of the results once you have finished.

Whilst learning a spell is the same for anyone with the

occult skill, casting it is a different matter. If the

character that has learned the spell has the

Witch/Warlock special then they may cast the spell

like any of their inherent magic powers so long as they

are holding the spell. If the person who has learnt the

spell does not have this special the item will be

destroyed in the casting.

Some scrolls may contain rituals rather than spells.

Any character with the occult skill can contribute their

occult level in power towards a ritual, and so

multiple people can cast a ritual. Some rituals may

require additional power. Power has been known to

solidify and show its face to the world in times of

crisis. If you encounter one of these tiny faces then you

can use this item as one power towards the cost of the

ritual. Search around regularly to see what you can

find.

Increasing levels of the occult skill allow characters

access to greater sources of knowledge as well. At an

occult skill of 2 you have access to a few personal

occult tomes. At an occult skill of 3 you have access to

rare occult books in the De Winter Library.

Computers

You know your way around a computer pretty well,

you’re the person your friends, your mum, basically

most people you know, calls when “it’s doing

something funny”. A character with this skill can make

use of computers in game to achieve various results,

from picking up that email from the out of town

Watcher to re-purposing traffic cameras to follow a

target. The level of the characters skill dictates the

extent of what they can achieve.

1. You can interact with objects marked with

yellow dots.

2. You can spend ten minutes on Google fu to

research any given topic.

3. You can also spend ten minutes role play to

hack into a system.

Contacts

You have a link to a person who can get you stuff,

hard to come by stuff, maybe even illegal stuff. When

selecting the contacts skill the player must decide with

the Ref on a particular type of hard to come by item

that their contact can get for them such as ammunition,

alchemical potions, ritual components, fake access

cards and IDs, etc… This is the only type of item that

the contact will be able to provide. At the start of each

event a character with this skill will receive a number

of these items which have been provided by their

contact. They will usually receive the character’s

contacts skill in D6 of the item, however for some

items this may be modified, eg ammunition will have

the dice result multiplied by an appropriate number

(between 2 and 6, depending on whether you are after

pistol rounds, shotgun shell, military sniper rounds

etc..).

10

Art You have a keen eye for the aesthetics of the world, an

ability to see form where others do not and skill in

bringing that form out. Characters with this skill may

attempt to solve puzzles and may even be able to

create art items.

Increasing levels of the art skill allow characters to do

more complex things as well.

1. You can interact with items marked with red

spots

2. You can craft simple items using artist tools

after ten minutes roleplay (freeform but for

example well-made stakes or missing puzzle

pieces)

3. You can use your artistic ability to spend ten

minutes creating geometric patterns on the

ground to reduce the cost of a ritual or

experiment. (Effect based on entertainment

value of the roleplay)

Languages ¿Cómo estás? You are fluent in… well not quite over

six million forms of communication, but you can

always get by when you go on holiday. Characters

with this skill can, with ten minutes of appropriate role

play, translate various scripts and scrolls that may be

found throughout the course of an event. inform a Ref

when you wish to begin translating a text, the Ref will

then bring you an english copy of the text, you must

transcribe this so you have an IC copy of the

translation as the Ref will take back the provided

translation once you are done with it.

The level of skill dictates the age of the languages a

character can read:

1. You can read and speak all modern languages

and interact with objects marked with a blue

dot

2. You can read all classical languages and can

interact with items with two blue dots.

3. You can read all dead languages and can

interact with items marked with three blue dots

Doctor

“Is there a doctor in the house?” A question you have

mixed feelings about. You have some degree of

training in the proper treatment of injuries, be it a

current first aid certificate, St Johns ambulance

training, being a paramedic, or a fully qualified doctor.

Characters with this skill can treat wounded characters

and recover their hit points.

The level of skill dictates the speed you can restore HP

to a character.

1. You restore 1 HP per minute of role-played

treatment.

2. You restore 2 HP per minute of role-played

treatment.

3. You restore 3 HP per minute of role-played

treatment.

For further rules on who you can treat, and what you

need to do, see the healing section of the combat rules.

Getting Medieval (Do you like my new axe?)

A characters getting medieval skill not only adds to

their damage but also dictates what sizes and

combinations of weapons they may use.

0. May use a short (18” or under) one handed

melee weapon in their main hand to call Str

+1.

1. May use any single-handed weapon up to 42"

in their main hand to call Str +2.

2. May use single-handed weapons (up to 42”) in

either, or both hands to call Str +3.

3. May use single handed weapons (up to 42”) in

either, or both hands, to call Str +4 or a two

handed weapon to call Str +5.

11

Kung-Fu Contrary to what the song claims, not everybody was

in fact Kung-Fu fighting, many were just flailing,

while a small few saw the difference and moved with

true grace, you are among that graceful few and can

actually hold your own while unarmed. Characters

with this skill may make unarmed melee attacks

following the rules in the Combat section.

Increasing levels of the Kung-Fu skill allow characters

to do more complex things as well.

1. A character may call their Str +1 in unarmed

damage.

2. Str +2 damage and the character can parry

weapons and blows with a bracer.

3. Str +3 damage and the character can call

*stun* along with their damage call on striking

an enemy once per encounter.

Gun-Fu Whilst firearms are rare some people know how to use

them. The military man/woman, the shooting club

member, the gun nut, the criminal element. Whatever

your reasons, with this skill you know how to hit a

target smaller than a barn door without risking injuring

yourself. A character requires this skill to use firearms

and their level in this skill indicates both their accuracy

and the types of firearms they are skilled in.

1. Call dex +1 with a handgun. Starts with 1

spring powered NERF pistol as physrep.

2. Call dex +2 with a shotgun/rifle or handgun.

Starts with 1 spring powered NERF pistol or

rifle as physrep.

3. You can dual wield handguns and call dex +3

with any firearm. Starts with 2 NERF

physreps, one of which may be motorised, the

other must be a spring powered pistol.

Ranged attacks with guns cannot be dodged or parried

if they succeed in hitting their target. Characters will

begin with loaded weapons plus two full reloads of

ammo for each weapon they begin with.

There are other downsides to guns however. Guns are

not easy to acquire in the UK and are very illegal in

most circumstances, so they will be hard to get hold of

in downtimes and unless a character has a solid

background reason at generation as to why they would

have a government permit to carry a firearm the

weapon will be unlicensed and illegal. This will have

an impact if the authorities turn up. It may even be that

the gun you have was used in previous crimes you are

unaware of. Also, modern ballistics mean that bullets

can be traced to specific firearms, a potential problem

for all but especially for characters with legal,

government issue, weapons as the ballistic data for

them will already be on file with the owners name.

Access to the higher levels of this skill may be

restricted by the Refs.

Thrown The trick is not in hitting the target, it’s in hitting it

with the right end of the knife, or axe, or whatever else

you’re using. You have mastered this trick and as such

will always have gainful employment in the circus. A

character requires this skill to use a thrown weapon to

any effect and their level in this skill affects both their

damage and their versatility in these weapons.

1. Str +1 with any thrown weapon.

2. Str + 2 with any thrown weapon. You can use

your off hand to dual throw.

3. Str +3 with any thrown weapon. You can use

an approved larp safe thrown stake to call

stake damage on a vampire with a ranged

throw.

Thrown attacks can be dodged or parried if they

succeed in hitting their target.

Dodge

The greatest defence against an attack is to ensure it

doesn’t hit you in the first place, be it the graceful

ballet of the oriental martial artist, the bob and weave

of the boxer, or the terrified flailing dive of the fleeing

geek… all are valid if they work. While a characters

Dex stat provide some dodges from natural talent and

flexibility, the dodge skill represents a level of

training, practice, or personal experience in not being

where the hurt is. Each point in dodge provides +2

dodges to a character up to the usual skill max of level

3 (+6 dodges). The dodge skill does not affect the

recharge rate of a character’s dodges (see Get out the

way son!! in the combat section).

12

Alchemy Mystically brewed concoctions or carefully prepared

pharmaceuticals, alchemy allows you to create potions

to aid you and your group in their endeavours.

Healing, poisons, firebombs, all are the produce of

alchemy.

Dorian Fade can teach a character about alchemy

should someone wish to enquire of him in their

downtime. This skill cannot be bought at start up.

Pre req for this skill at least one point in either occult

or science.

Ingredients are required for potions and may be found

around the site in the form of lammies or items marked

with orange dots.

Alchemical mixtures must contain at least two

ingredients but may contain more. Additional

ingredients may improve the effects of the resulting

product.

1. Can use ingredient lammies and items marked

with orange dots, and can spend 10 mins rp to

make a potion that can heal 10 HP or

equivalent effect.

2. 10 mins rp makes 2 potions or a single potion

with higher potential. You can add or remove

effects to potions.

3. 10 mins rp makes 3 potions or an airborne

potion that would have a mass effect with a

diameter of 10 meters.

Anyone with this skill may freeform potions from

ingredients lying around. Effects contingent on

ingredients, skill and entertainment value of the role-

play.

Archery

Many great heroes have been skilled with a bow,

Robin Hood, William Tell, That chick from the film

about being hungry. You are trained in this ancient and

noble art of pushing long sticks through people from

far away.

Arrows are a reusable ammo type, after recovering an

arrow you must perform a safety check on it to ensure

it is still in useable condition, if it is you may use the

arrow again. This provides an archer with the

advantage of needing to worry much less about ammo

conservation than someone with a gun.

A character requires this skill to use bows or

crossbows and their level in this skill affects both

damage and additional abilities they may use.

1. Call Dex +1 in damage with a bow.

2. Call Dex +2 in damage with a bow. May also

make a call of disarm once per encounter on a

successful hit.

3. Call Dex +3 in damage with a bow. May use

IC wooden or silver tipped arrows.

13

Additional Rules

Fear Checks

The world is full of scary things, and not everyone is

mentally equipped to deal with them. When a

frightening event occurs a call will be made (usually

by a ref) of “Fear X” as with a magic check if you

have Will greater than the called number you are

unaffected and call “resist”. If your Will is equal to or

lower than the called number you are overcome by fear

and quite frankly freak out, you must spend the next 1

min roleplaying some form of appropriate fear

response (get away, hide, freeze, etc…) after that

minute is up you have calmed down enough to cope (in

some way) with the situation and may act normally.

Coloured Tags

Certain skills allow players to interact with tagged

items or location boxes with specific coloured tags on

them; these will be dotted around and indicate that a

person with the appropriate skill can glean more info

from the situation than the untrained eye can.

If you encounter a box with a coloured tag on it which

your skills allow you to interact with you may open the

box and read the information sheet within, you must

then return to sheet and may not move the box.

If you encounter a lammie or item with coloured spots

on then these spots will be followed by information, if

you have the appropriate skill at a level equal to or

greater than the number of spots of that skills colour

you may read this information, otherwise please try to

ignore this text on the lammie. If you find a tagged

object, you have found it whether or not your character

is able to use it.

What has it got in its pockets? (searching) A downed (on 0hp or below) or unresisting character,

NPC or PC, may be searched to find out what they

have on them. To do this requires both hands to be

free, you must be close enough to the target that you

could touch them (although you should only touch

them if the player to be searched is comfortable with

it) you must then loosely role play searching them for a

count of 10 “searching 1, searching 2, searching 3….”.

At the end of a successful 10 count a searched

individual must hand over all IC items they have about

them to the searching player.

Fighting and Staying Alive Combat Fights happen, such is life.

There may well be moments when a character must

fight to defend themselves, either from supernatural

terrors or from other characters, combat in this system

will be a LARP style with melee weapons represented

by cored foam and latex weapons (LARP weapons)

and firearms represented by NERF guns.

When fighting an opponent in melee combat you must

successfully strike an opponent with an appropriate

LARP safe melee weapon, you must pull your blow so

the it lands with negligible force (remember whilst

your character may be hitting a character or monster,

you are actually hitting one of your friends who is

playing that being, and you don’t want to hurt them).

You must avoid aiming for the head or sensitive parts

of whoever you are fighting and must not thrust with

any cored weapon. You must not strike another

character with the pommel or hilt of your weapon. You

must not grab or trap an opponent’s weapon when they

are wielding it. You must only throw a weapon if it has

no perceptible core and you know the weapon is

approved for throwing by a ref. You must not use

firearm phys-rep as a melee weapon; these are usually

made of hard things and are not safe for melee combat.

Unarmed combat is simulated by GENTLE open

handed touches with the only target area being the

upper arm (shoulder to elbow). You may not kick.

Claw combat must use a relaxed open hand and

horizontal strikes, out to in, with the target areas being

the upper arm (shoulder to elbow), the abdomen

(below the diaphragm to above the pelvis), and the

outside to the upper leg (hip to knee).

Ranged combat is simulated using NERF guns, bows,

or small un-cored LARP safe throwing weapons, with

such attacks wait and see if your attack hits before

calling damage, if you miss with the attack you deal no

damage. You must avoid aiming for the head or

sensitive parts of whoever you are aiming at. Special

care should be taken when using NERF guns at close

range as the darts hurt more up close and there is a

danger of striking your target with the gun at point

blank range. NERF darts must not be modified in any

way.

All weapons must be checked and approved usable (we

don’t use the S word, feel free to ask Dave why in

person) before being allowed in the play area. Small

14

un-cored weapons might be approved usable as thrown

only and not as a melee weapon. Stakes are a slightly

more complex matter, they should be uncored and stab

safe, and are used as a melee weapon primarily. They

can only be thrown if they have been passed as thrown

safe and then only by a character with the thrown skill

at 3. Stakes cannot be used to parry with for safety

reasons, the IC justification being that a small wooden

stick just isn’t up to the job of stopping a sword or the

likes. Special care should be taken when attacking with

stakes to ensure injuries do not occur. All stakes are

subject to weapons check.

The one second rule

You can only call damage once each second.

This rule also applies to all other calls in the game

except RESIST and DODGE.

As part of the play balance of the game, you may only

strike an opponent once per second. You may parry or

feint as fast as you wish, but you must leave one clear

second between each strike. This is called the “one

second rule”.

The one second rule exists to allow you to legitimately

ignore blows that follow each other without drawing

breath. It is not intended to be measured with

stopwatches, rather it is intended to give every player a

reasonable basis for what is an acceptable repetition of

attacks.

While a character with the Getting Medieval skill at 2

or higher may wield two weapons at once, the one

second rule will apply to all your attacks, not one

second per weapon.

The one second rule encompasses magic as well as

other aspects of combat. You cannot fire two pistols at

once, or wield a sword and cast a spell at the same

time because you must leave one clear second between

each call that you make. Any call counts, even one

doing no damage. The only exceptions are the RESIST

and DODGE calls.

Get out the way son!! (Dodges)

Dodges represent your character twisting out of the

way at the last second. A Dodge may be used to negate

all damage and effects from a melee, unarmed or

thrown weapon attack that you see coming and

successfully strikes you, to indicate you have used a

dodge to negate the attack call “dodge”. Attacks with

magic, telekinesis, and firearms cannot be dodged.

Dodges may not be used against firearms or magic

attacks, or against melee or thrown attacks which catch

you by surprise (commonly attacks from behind).

The rate at which a character recovers dodges is

dictated by the characters DEX score, the higher the

DEX the faster the recovery.

At an event, a characters Dexterity determines how

quickly they recuperate after a battle.

Characters with DEX 1 reset their dodges every 60

mins

Characters with DEX 2 reset their dodges every 50

mins

Characters with DEX 3 reset their dodges every 40

mins

Characters with DEX 4 reset their dodges every 30

mins

Characters with DEX 5 reset their dodges every 20

mins

Characters with DEX 6 reset their dodges every 10

mins

Hit points and damage calls

Every character can call their strength +1 as damage

with a short (18 inches or under) melee weapon.

Weapon skills and spells can allow additional damage.

Each character starts the event with a number of hit

points equal to 5 times their Con stat.

If you take damage you are expected to role-play

appropriately, this includes ongoing roleplay of your

injuries (if you are half max hits you should be feeling

pretty rough, under a quarter left? You’re having

trouble keeping upright without the adrenaline of

combat).

When HP reaches 0 you are unconscious but not dying,

however your HP can go into negative numbers, and

that’s where the real trouble starts. Once you HP are

between -1 and-9 you are dying (and still

unconscious). Dying takes 5 minutes, when you start

dying you start a slow count from 0 to 300 by saying

“Dying 1, dying 2, dying 3…” You remain in the

unconscious and dying state until your HP has been

raised to 0 and an unconscious state until your HP are

raised above 0. If you are not healed to 0 HP within

this time your character is dead. If your HP ever

reaches -10 you are instantly dead as your body is

torn/blasted to shreds.

If, when reduced to 0 or less hp, you feel that the area

you are in is not safe for you to lie in (due to

continuing combat, rocks, nettles, etc..) you may

swoon/stagger to a safer area. Please do not abuse this.

After receiving a blow that reduces you to 0 or less hp

you take no further damage from hits until you are

fully on the ground. This is to allow people to move to

safe areas and to lie down safely without being

incidentally reduced to -10 hp and killed.

If you wish to deliver blows to a character who is

down to “finish them off” and reduce them to -10 hp,

please use dramatic swings to make it obvious you are

attempting to execute them.

15

Don’t die on me man (staunching)

A character without the doctor skill may still be of

some use to a dying character. Any character may

attempt to staunch a dying characters wounds, this

requires both hands and most of the staunching

characters concentration. Staunching effectively

doubles the dying characters death count, while you

are staunching a character you take over their death

count for them, from the number they were on, but say

“staunching your wounds 1, staunching your wounds

2, staunching your wounds 3,…..”, this take roughly

twice and long per number to say as the dying count,

thus extending the time a character may remain in this

state. Should the staunch be stopped for some reason

the dying character continues their death count as

normal, from the number you reached.

Characters being staunched may be moved but not by

the staunching character, others must do it.

Characters may be healed and staunched at the same

time, as long as it is by two different characters.

Healing damage

Any character with the doctor skill can treat a

wounded or dying character. You can heal your level

in doctor in HP per minute to a target you role-play

medical treatment on (no treating yourself, tough!).

This roleplay does not need to be continuous stitching

and bandaging of the patient, and can include

monitoring vitals and ensuring the patient rests, thus

allowing you to continue roleplaying with others rather

than spending 20 minutes head down bandaging a

warrior.

Yes, all supernatural specials, even vamps, can be

healed.

No, you cannot spot a vamp or a werewolf while

healing them.

Appropriate healing props are encouraged.

When roleplaying this skill please do not physrep with

medical supplies which are adhesive as there are

allergy considerations, and the adhesive can damage

people's props and/or costume.

Once a character is healed, any bandages may be

removed and the physreps re-used for further healing.

All characters will recover their full HP by sleeping

overnight.

Carrying Unconscious Characters

An unconscious character may be moved at walking

speed by any combination of characters whose strength

totals 4 or more. Unconscious characters may never be

moved at more than a walking pace, and players

should take care when doing this (do not carry

players).

Calls

Special Attack Calls

Some attacks will have effect calls attached. Calls and

their effects are listed below:

Stun- this effect causes a character to role play being

stunned for ten seconds. They can take no aggressive

action during this time.

Disarm- this effect causes the struck character to drop

their weapon. The weapon cannot be recaught as it

falls. If you are wielding two weapons you drop the

weapon in your on hand.

Sleep- this effect causes a character to immediately fall

asleep. For the first 10 seconds you cannot be awoken

as the magic/venom/potion courses through your

system, after that it is a natural sleep that lasts up to 10

minutes but during which time you can be awoken

normally.

Knockout- You are out cold, something just hit you so

hard your brain has decided to turn off for a bit. This

lasts 5 minutes, during which time you cannot be

awoken.

Mute X- you cannot speak, or make any noises with

you vocal chords. The X part of the call will be the

duration of the effect, this could be seconds, minutes,

or hours

Blind X- you cannot see anything. The X part of the

call will be the duration of the effect, this could be

seconds or minutes. When roleplaying this effect do

not actually close your eyes unless you are in a

completely safe situation, instead look at the floor so

you can see where you are walking and roleplay

blindness. Remember, safety first.

16

Paralysis- this effect instantly freezes the target in

place for 5 minutes. During this time the character is

aware but unable to move by themselves, they are

however poseable by any character and will remain in

the new pose (please use this fact in a reasonable way

and avoid causing the targeted player discomfort, lest

you find yourself in a similar situation).

Holy- this effect indicates that the damage source is of

a divine nature, this damage will only affect certain

types of creature, the undead for example. Creatures

and characters who are affected by this damage will be

briefed before each game.

Infernal- this effect indicates that the damage source

is of an infernal nature, this damage will affect most

types of creature, including humans. However

followers of the dark powers may be immune to this

damage type. Creatures and characters who are not

affected by this damage will be briefed before each

game.

Flaming- this effect indicates that the damage source

is burning or heat based, this damage affects most

characters normally (however appropriate roleplay

response is encouraged), however certain types of

creature may take additional effects or damage from

this attack type. Creatures and characters who have

additional effects from this damage will be briefed

before each game.

Cold- this effect indicates that the damage is from an

extremely cold source, this damage affects most

characters normally (however appropriate roleplay

response is encouraged), however certain types of

creature may take additional effects or damage from

this attack type. Creatures and characters who have

additional effects from this damage will be briefed

before each game.

Stake-this effect indicates that the damage is from a

wooden stake, this damage affects most characters

normally (however appropriate roleplay response is

encouraged), however certain types of creature may

take additional effects or damage from this attack type.

Creatures and characters who have additional effects

from this damage will be briefed before each game.

Silver- this effect indicates that the damage is from a

silver weapon, this damage affects most characters

normally (however appropriate roleplay response is

encouraged), however certain types of creature may

take additional effects or damage from this attack type.

Creatures and characters who have additional effects

from this damage will be briefed before each game.

Resistible Calls

As a brief reminder, there are two other calls that will

be commonly used to cause roleplay effects, these are

Magic X and Fear X. If you characters Will is greater

than the number called then your character resists the

effects of the call, in the case of Magic X, the damage,

or in the case of Fear X, the fear effect.

Ref Calls

There are several OOC calls that may be made during

the event; these can be split into ref calls, which tend

to affect the game state or allow the refs to do things,

and safety calls, which inform people about real world

issues that have arisen. Safety calls may be made by

any player, monster, or ref, and should always be

heeded immediately, do not use these calls as a joke.

Time In: Once time in has been called then if you are

in the IC area you are considered to be IC and should

role-play your character unless you have reason not to

be (Spell effects, being dead, refs, etc....) and are

indicating the fact by raising your hand or wearing a

yellow arm band.

Time Freeze: If you hear time freeze called then you

must freezing in place, close your eyes and wait to be

given further information. This call is used to allow

refs to give players information on an event that has

just occurred which all would be aware of, or for refs

to set up some occurrence which we do not have the

budget, safety, or dark arts to do in real time. One

everything is ready a ref will give a countdown and

call time in, you may then open your eyes and respond

to any information or changes as if they had just

occurred instantaneously.

Time Out: At the end of the evening a ref will call

time out to bring the game to an end, this indicates that

the game is over and will not be restarting that

evening, feel free to relax, de-kit, etc... The battle is all

over, for now.

17

Cut Scene: All characters are bound in place and can

take no actions other than watching what occurs; this

will often be used to allow refs/monsters to enact a cut

scene that the characters cannot do anything about.

Barrier: Creates an invisible circular barrier at

approximately 10 meters from the source which all

characters cannot cross until the refs inform players

that the barrier has dropped, those inside are trapped

inside, those outside are stuck outside. Melee attacks,

ranged weapon attacks and spells may not pass

through.

Safety Calls

Man Down: If someone is actually hurt, everyone

should shout MAN DOWN at the top of their voices. If

you hear someone shout MAN DOWN, be careful.

Don't rush in and stand on the injured person! Also, try

to make sure a first aider knows about the injury!

Fire: In the highly unlikely event that something

actually catches fire for real you should shout FIRE, If

you hear someone shout FIRE then immediately leave

through the appropriate safe fire exits, a ref or fire

warden will locate the fire and assess and deal with it

appropriately.

Tescos: If a player calls this then they have become

OOC uncomfortable with the situation that they are in.

Players should pause and allow they player who made

the call to move out of the area, or suggest a way of

continuing the role-play in a way they find

comfortable.

Downtimes and XP

There's no xp system in Tales of the Vampyres. This is

because it lets the team keep an eye on where players

are headed and allows players to introduce new skills

into the system, rather than just buy pre written ones-

for example if someone spends a season working as a

joiner- we might write up a 'mr fix it' skill and add it to

the rules and begin writing some plot including it.

While the game is a fledgling we see no reason to not

allow players the chance to shape it. Within reason.

After each event players will have downtimes where

they write in explaining what they're doing over the

months and the plot team will reward them with either

plot/ skill/ attribute or drama point. (Or multiple)

A skill lvl at 2 is college level so may take multiple (2-

3) downtimes or an amazingly written story from the

player; whereas lvl 3 skills would be postdoc level

knowledge-so will take multiple (3-4) down times as

it's years of study.

We are restricting players from taking multiple skills at

max lvl so that players are encouraged to work

together to solve plot

Only a single stat increase may be gained each year as

developing these is a slow process.

Downtimes should be sent to

Haunted.Thunder@gmail.com no later than four weeks

before the next event, to allow time for proper

responses.

Downtimes can be short and sweet if a players time is

limited, however a lengthier downtime, that reads as a

story, may yield more fruitful results than a mere

couple of sentences. If a downtime is not received

from a player, they simply miss out on character

progression for that period, as they come to terms with

the reality of what had happened during the event.

18

A Few Random Notes

Just as in the table-top game, some characters are

White Hats, some Heroes and some are experienced

Heroes. The world is unfair, and some people are more

skilled than others, because they’ve been doing what

they are doing for much longer. For this reason some

characters have been given additional start up points to

reflect their skills.

Props- Player should bring props appropriate to their

skills. Doctors may bring bandages or surgery kits,

Occultists and alchemists may bring generic

paraphernalia, computer geeks may bring laptops,

artists may bring sketchpads or notebooks,etc….

Whilst generic items are acceptable, any item with a

specific/stated impact such as defib paddles,

cryptological software, powdered rhino horn

suspended in monkey blood, etc.. will require an

appropriate contacts skill and ref approval. Do not

assume refs can or will provide the basic generic props

though, please bring your own.

Never be afraid to try a cool idea – Cool ideas often

lead to the greatest moments, and the Refs are

interested in helping you all tell an awesome story. Just

because this rulebook doesn’t explicitly state that a

skill can do a certain thing does not mean it cannot

(within reason). Never be afraid to ask the Refs if you

can do a thing. If you have a plan and it is reasonable

the Refs will usually try and find a way to make it

work.

Story over system - Sometimes a Ref will make a call

or allow an effect that is inconsistent with the rules, or

outright breaks them. This happens when the story

needs a thing to happen but the rules don’t want to let

it. When this occurs the story will win 99% of the

time.

The Ref in charge of actuation loves you, the Ref in

charge of actuation hates you- When players come up

with encounters that we have not written up in the

encounter list but they really want to do it makes us

happy, it means we have engaged players who are

having fun, BUT… this means we suddenly have to

find a time slot, stat and encounter, kit up and brief

monsters, and then set the encounter up for you to go

too. This takes time so pretty please bear with us while

we do this, it may even take an hour or so. We will do

our best to give you a time scale as soon as possible.