An vnofficial horror supplement for the Genesys Roleplaying Game

GENESYS
 VAMPIRIC
Mysteries
By

S.F. Rattan

HOMEBREW Module

A S X Y F T

The Genesys Roleplaying Game is a collaborative, The Story Spanner is a fan written, unofficial blog about
narrative game published by Fantasy Flight Games. the Genesys Roleplaying Game.

For information about the Genesys Roleplaying Game, For additional homebrew rules, adventure & setting
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Disclaimer
Vampiric Mysteries v1.0 is a homebrew module for the Genesys Roleplaying Game. It is intended for use with a purchased
copy of (and isn’t very useful without) the Genesys Core Rulebook. This work is not intended for sale. Its author is not
affiliated with Fantasy Flight Games.

Art in this document is taken from the public domain. The Story Spanner & Story Spanner Logo © 2018 S.F. Rattan.

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Rules for Vampires
These rules are as agnostic as possible concerning
vampirism’s origins: whether it is a natural disease or
Ultraviolet Resistance
an otherworldy curse. The author encourages other 10 Ability Points.
gamemasters to extend these rules to fit their own settings.
When entering sunlight or other ultraviolet light, a vampire
with ultraviolet resistance need only make an Average
(dd) Resilience check, though the consequences

The Vampire Career remain as described in Ultraviolet Thermogenesis.

A player may choose Vampire as a career for his character Strength, Speed, & Senses
during character creation and treat the following as
Starting Ability. Ranked.
career skills: Athletics, Brawl, Charm, Coercion,
Coordination, Perception, Stealth, and Vigilance. A vampire’s Brawn and Agility are Super-Characteristics
Before spending experience during character creation, a (p.251 of the Genesys Core Rulebook). A vampire also removes
Vampire may choose four of its career skills and gain one up to bb imposed by the darkness.
rank in each of them. A vampire may not have a vampiric A vampire may purchase up to 3 additional ranks
age (years spent as a vampire) of more than 49 years at the of this ability, each time adding b to Perception and
end of character creation. Vigilance checks made in darkness. Each rank costs
ability points equal to the total number of b that would
Creating New Vampires be added by the ability after the rank is purchased.

The narrative process of siring new vampires may vary

widely from setting to setting and is left abstract in
Sanguine Hunger
these rules. If a new vampire is sired during a game, that Starting Ability.
character adds Vampire as a specialization. The newly
A vampire adds 10 points to its strain threshold, but can
transformed vampire may choose three of the Vampire
only recover strain by either hibernating, feeding on
career skills to treat as its own career skills. No free ranks
a living creature, or using talents and spending A in
are awarded in the chosen skills.
combat (though it must spend AA for each point of strain so
recovered). A vampire may purchase talents which reduce
strain, but it may not use them outside of combat.

Vampiric Abilities For every 5 points of current strain (rounding down),

a vampire must upgrade the difficulty of all its Cool,
Discipline, and Resilience checks once.
Every vampire has access to the abilities in this section.
These abilities do not occupy slots on the talent pyramid.
Each item listed as a Starting Ability is possessed by all
vampires. In addition, a vampire earns ability points
based on XP earned during play. Award 1 ability point for
every 50 experience awarded after becoming a vampire
(and not including character creation).

Ultraviolet Thermogenesis
Starting Ability.
When entering direct sunlight or other ultraviolet light, a
Vampire must make a Hard (ddd) Resilience check,
suffering wounds equal to F (ignoring soak) and strain
equal to T. On Y, the Vampire immediately combusts,
suffering 3 wounds per minute (ignoring soak), or per turn
in structured encounters, so long as it remains on fire
(which cannot be put out so long as the vampire remains in
direct contact with the ultraviolet light). If a vampire has fed
within the last day, it adds b to the Resilience check, or
bb instead if it has fed within the last hour.

Rules for Vampires 1

Uampiric Mysteries
Rabidity injury’s severity rating to heal that injury (once per cycle).
The difficulty of that Resilience check and the ways to
Starting Ability. spend its results are described on the tables below.
While a vampire’s current strain is greater than half its
threshold, its Presence increases once and its Willpower State of Health Difficulty
decreases once (to a minimum of 1). When its current strain Current strain ≤ half of threshold. Easy (d)
exceeds the threshold entirely, it must immediately make
a Hard (ddd) Discipline check. The vampire may Current strain > half of threshold. Average (dd)
continue to act and suffer strain above its threshold, but
Current strain exceeds threshold. Hard (ddd)
must either hibernate or feed soon, suffering consequences
described on the table below.
Result Effects during Hibernation
Result Time until Rabidity & Other Effects S Heal 1 strain (stacking).
Vampire has hours equal to S until it must SS Heal 1 wound (stacking).
S
feed or hibernate. On X, hours become days.
AA This cycle takes 1 day less (stacking).
Vampire has minutes equal to A until it must
feed or hibernate. On X, minutes become TT This cycle takes 1 day more (stacking).
F
hours. If no A were generated, the vampire Heal 1 wound per S and 1 strain per S/A;
must immediately hibernate or become rabid. automatically heal the currently least severe
X
T Vampire suffers additional strain. critical injury. Each additional XX may heal
the next least severe critical injury.
Vampire immediately becomes rabid. On X
or AAA, it may recognize and retreat from May not heal at all unless X is also rolled. This
Y
Y those it cares for or knows well. The vampire cycle only lengthens: 1 day per F/TT.
might still fall into hibernation according to its
other check results.
A rabid vampire is obsessed beyond all reason with
Fangs & Feeding
feeding and cannot recognize anyone. Its hunger has Starting Ability. Ranked.
reached the point of madness and it will feed on any
A vampire has fangs which it may use to feed on another
nearby creature, often until the creature dies. Rabidity
creature by making an attack, recovering strain equal to
persists through hibernation, ending only when a
damage dealt after reducing by the target’s soak. If the
vampire’s current strain is reduced to half of its threshold.
target does not resist the attack, do not reduce damage
A hibernating rabid vampire awakens to feed as soon as
dealt by the target’s soak.
its current strain falls below its strain threshold.
These fangs are treated like a weapon with the profile
Though a player character vampire is still controlled
[Brawl; Engaged; Damage +2; Critical 4; Pierce 2] and are also
by the player when rabid, it must feed on a nearby living
retractile, but a vampire may not retract its fangs while
target or must seek out a target to feed upon if none are
rabid. Retracting or extending fangs, when possible, may
nearby. Speech is primitive, enraged, and desperate. A
be performed as an incidental. A rabid vampire’s fangs
rabid vampire may make a Hard (ddd) Discipline
also have the Vicious 3 quality.
check to retreat from those it knows or cares about, but
At the end of each day, if it has not fed or hibernated
must otherwise try to feed, even upon friends and allies.
during the last twenty four hours and has not already
suffered strain, a vampire suffers 1 strain. Vampires
Hibernation cannot draw sustenance from feeding on other vampires:
they must feed on living targets.
Starting Ability.
To deal damage as strain instead of wounds, a
Vampires may hibernate to heal strain, wounds, and vampire must use Discipline to make the feeding attack;
critical injuries. A vampires hibernates in cycles, falling on Y, the vampire immediately inflicts a critical injury
into a deep sleep, and may only wake from hibernation at and must deal damage as wounds.
the end of a cycle. It cannot awaken at all if its strain or When feeding on a sleeping creature, a vampire
wounds exceed their thresholds. An involuntarily awoken must use Stealth to make the feeding attack. The attack
vampire immediately becomes rabid if its current strain difficulty is based on the creature’s Vigilance pool; the
is greater than half its strain threshold. creature awakens on Y, or if T generated exceed the
A cycle of hibernation takes seven days, though its vampire’s ranks in Stealth.
length may vary slightly. Once per cycle, a vampire may A vampire may purchase up to 2 additional ranks for
make a Resilience check to heal strain, wounds, and its fangs. Each rank costs 2 ability points, and may either
critical injuries. To heal a critical injury while hibernating, increase base Damage by 1, decrease Critical rating by 1,
a vampire may spend a number of S equal to a critical or add a rank to the Pierce quality.

2 Rules for Vampires

Uampiric Mysteries
Near Immortality
Starting Ability.
Vampires do not die of old age. If a vampire is killed
normally, it merely enters hibernation. Vampires only
die permanently if decapitated, incinerated, or pierced
through the heart with a wooden stake.
As vampires age, they become more powerful and
acquire greater control over their feeding and hunger, but
must hibernate for longer periods. For every fifty years
of its vampiric age (not counting its mortal life), a vampire
adds 5 to its strain threshold and increases its normal
hibernation cycle by 7 days. For every hundred years of
its vampiric age, the amount of current strain required to
upgrade the difficulty of a vampire’s Cool, Discipline, and
Resilience checks increases by 5.

Vampiric Talents
Tier 2
These talents may only be purchased and used by vampires.
Where talents don’t fit the setting, the author encourages
gamemasters to remove or subsitute those talents.

Anticoagulant Venom
Tier 1 Tier 3. Active (Incidental).
After making a successful attack with your fangs, your
character may spend AA to grant your next fanged
Retractile Claws attack on the same target another rank of Pierce. Your
character may do so multiple times, increasing the ranks
Tier 1. Active (Action/Maneuver). Ranked.
of Pierce for your next attack.
In addition to fangs, your character has retractile claws
[Brawl; Engaged; Damage +1; Critical 6; Vicious 1]. You may
retract or extend your claws at any time as a maneuver.
Charging Tackle
Tier 2. Active (Maneuver).
Each additional time you purchase this talent for your
character, do one of the following three things: increase Your character may suffer 1 strain to close from Medium
base Damage by 1, decrease Critical rating by 1, or add a to Engaged range with a target as a maneuver. Your next
rank to the Vicious quality. attack this turn has the Knockdown quality.

Unnatural Toughness Cloaked in Shadow

Tier 1. Passive. Tier 2. Passive.
Increase your character’s wound threshold by three. When your character stands still in darkness, checks
made to notice your character are Daunting (dddd),
Vice Grip with the difficulty upgraded by ranks in Stealth.

Tier 1. Active (Incidental).

After making a Brawl attack, your character may spend
A to immobilize the target of the attack (until the end of
the target’s next turn). You may increase the duration of
Immobilized by 1 round per additional AA. On X, you
may also stagger the target, increasing the duration of
both effects by 1 round per additional AA.

Talents 3
Uampiric Mysteries
Tier 3 Sanguine Healing
Tier 3. Active (Action). Ranked.
Your vampire may suffer 1 strain to feed a half pint
Blood Mist (or 0.25 liters) of blood to a willing living creature. The
creature heals 1 wound per rank of Sanguine Healing.
Tier 3. Passive.
However, the healed creature must make a Discipline
When your character suffers wounds above your wound check with a difficulty equal to the your ranks in
threshold, you immediately transform into a faint mist. Sanguine Healing, upgraded once each time this talent
While in mist form, you cannot take damage unless is consecutively used. On F, the character may become
exposed to ultraviolet light or a weapon with the Burn addicted to the vampire’s blood (see “Obsession” on page
or Blast quality. You also cannot take actions and must 244 of the Genesys Core Rulebook) for the remainder of the
spend your maneuvers searching for a place to return to encounter. On Y, the addiction may be more permanent.
solid form and immediately hibernate. For each range
band you travel while in mist form, suffer 1 strain.
Others searching for you will notice, at most, faint red
clouds hanging in the air after making a Daunting
(dddd) Perception check.

Chiropteramorph
Tier 3. Ranked. Active (Action).
Your character may transform into a bat-like monstrosity,
a chiropteramorph, as an action. While in chiropteran
form, you assume the features described below. Where a

Tier 4
feature is unspecified (including characteristics), use your
character’s own stats. Changing into a chiropteramorph
costs strain equal to three times the creature’s silhouette.
With each additional rank of this talent, your
character may transform into a new chiropteran form.
Some chiropteramorphs share the following abilities, but
Blood Mist (Superior)
abilities listed for each rank are unique to that form. Tier 4. Active (Action).
Fearsome. As a maneuver, this creature may force all As an action, your character may activate the effects of
Engaged targets to make a Hard (ddd) fear check. the Blood Mist talent (if purchased) at will. You need not
spend your maneuvers searching for a place to hibernate
Terrifying. Upon first sight of this creature, other
and may return to your normal form as a maneuver.
characters must make a Hard (ddd) fear check.
Upon returning to your normal form, suffer strain equal
to minutes or structured rounds spent as a blood mist.
Chiropteran Form, Rank 1
Silhouette 0. Terrifying.
Flier. This creature can fly, treating the open air as Narcotic Pheremones
normal terrain, but cannot hover (stand still at speed 0).
Tier 4. Active (Incidental).
Your character may spend a Story Point as an incidental
Chiropteran Form, Rank 2
when making a Charm check to add a X result, without
Silhouette 1. Terrifying. Fearsome.
the normally concomitant S result. You may only do
Glider. This creature may suffer 1 strain to become a so if your current strain is more than half your strain
Flyer for the remainder of its turn. theshold. The added X result cannot trigger a Super-
Characteristic.
Chiropteran Form, Rank 3
Silhouette 2. Terrifying. Fearsome. Vice Grip (Superior)
Gruesome Natural Weapons. Your fangs and claws Tier 4. Active (Incidental).
increase their damage and Pierce ratings by 1 and
When using its Vice Grip, your character may increase
decrease their critical ratings by 1.
the duration of Immobilized and (if relevant) Staggered
Natural Armor. Increase your character’s soak by 2. by spending A rather than AA.

4 Talents
Uampiric Mysteries
Tier 5
Cloud of Bats
Tier 5. Active (Action).
Once per encounter, your character may spend a Story
Point as an action to summon a bat swarm, described
below. The bat swarm persists until released by your
character or until it is killed. For each minute or structured
round the swarm persists, your character suffers 1 strain.
The bat swarm does not have its own slot in intiative,
but you may spend a maneuver to direct it performing
either its own maneuver or action. Both you and the bat
swarm may take separate actions during your turn, but
you still may not take more than two maneuvers.

Bat Swarm {Rival}

Silhouette 2.

2 4 1 1 1 1
Br Ag In Cu Wp Ps
Soak Wounds Strain M/R Defense
2 20 — 0 0
Skills: Brawl 2, Coordination 2.
Swarm. Halve the damage dealt to the swarm before
applying soak, unless the weapon has the Blast or Burn
quality (whether or not the quality is activated).
Harry. As a maneuver, the bat swarm may force an
engaged target to make a Hard (ddd) fear check. The
target suffers strain equal to T. On F, the target must
retreat to short range away from the swarm, consuming
that target’s next available maneuver. Your character
may choose the direction of the retreat unless the target
rolls a X and spends it retreating in another direction.
Tiny Claws & Teeth. Natural weapon with the profile
[Brawl; Engaged; Damage +2; Critical 5; Pierce 3].
Paralytic Venom
Tier 5. Active (Incidental).
Hallucinogenic Venom After making a successful attack with your fangs,
your character may spend X and any number of A to
Tier 5. Active (Incidental).
completely paralyze the target. It is immobilized and
After making a successful attack with your fangs, your staggered, totally unable to move, for a number of hours
character may spend AA to impair the target’s senses. equal to A spent alongside the X activating this talent.
The target upgrades all d to c when making Perception Once per hour after being paralyzed, the target may
and Vigilance checks for the rest of the encounter, make a Hard (ddd) Resilience check check to shake
experiencing auditory hallucinations on T and visual off the effects of the venom, adding b for each hour it has
hallucinations on F. already spent paralyzed.
At the GM’s discretion or on a Y, these hallucinations If you have another X to spend, hours become days
may require the target to make a fear check. If appropriate both for the purposes of A spent activating the talent
for the setting, the vampire may describe the precise and for intervals at which the target is allowed to make a
nature of the hallucinations. Resilience check and shake off the venom’s effects.

Talents 5
Uampiric Mysteries
A Vampire’s Accoutrements
Bloodline Tome Daytime Clothing
Rarity 7+. Encumbrance 1. Rarity 2. Encumbrance 3. Armor.
A book or scroll containting the history and secrets of Clothing appropriate to the setting which covers a vast
a vampire clan, coven, or bloodline. It may also include majority of the wearer’s skin, protecting her from the sun.
spells or other magical knowledge collected and preserved A vampire wearing specially prepared clothing may add
by vampires over the centuries. b to any Resilience check made due to sunlight or other
Possession of a bloodline tome grants Knowledge ultraviolet light.
(Vampires) as a career skill, or an appropriate knowledge
skill for the tome’s particular clan, coven, or bloodline. In
a magical setting, the tome may also include unique spells
Holy Water
and rituals. A character who has studied a bloodline tome Rarity 4. Encumbrance 1+.
in detail may retain Knowledge (Vampires) as a career
Water blessed by the priests or other representatives of a
skill, even if she no longer possesses the tome.
deity in a given setting. May be poured on a vampire to
inflict strain or, if stored in a breakable container, thrown
Blood Pack at a vampire within a short range. One pint or one quarter
liter of holy water has the profile [Damage +3; Critical 5;
Rarity 4+. Encumbrance 0+.
Burn 3]. The skill used for the attack is either Ranged,
Small, portable containers filled with blood. In a modern Ranged (Light) or Brawl, depending on the setting.
or future setting, they may be plastic packets of blood
used in hospitals. In a fantasy setting, they may be vials,
beakers, or other glass containers. Though vampires
Silvered Mirrors & Weapons
prefer to consume blood warm, blood packs must be Rarity 3+. Encumbrance 1+.
stored at a cool temperature—in a refridgerator, root
A vampire’s reflection does not appear in a mirror made
cellar, ice box, cavern, or cave—to prevent the blood from
from silver or silvered glass. In other settings with mirrors
clotting and spoiling.
made from other materials, a vampire’s reflection may or
As a rule-of-thumb, a vampire recovers 1 point of
may not appear in mirrors that do not use silver.
strain per pint of blood in a blood pack (or 2 points of strain
Weapons made with silver (e.g. swords or arrowheads)
per liter). These approximations allow gamemasters to
gain the Burn quality when used against Vampires. X
tailor blood pack sizes to suit a particular setting.
rolled attacking a vampire with such a weapon may cause
the vampire to catch fire as it can in sunlight (page 1).

Wooden Stake
Rarity 1. Encumbrance 1+.
A sharpened piece of wood, capable of killing a vampire if
used to pierce the heart. Wooden stakes can be improvised
from broken table legs or other other pieces of wood (using
the improvised weapon rules from page 109 of the Genesys Core
Rulebook). Wooden stakes prepared in advance may have
either of the following profiles. Used against a vampire,
any wooden weapon gains Pierce 2.
Coffin Short Stake. Small, sharpened stake no larger than a
Rarity 3. Encumbrance 8. dagger or shortsword. Takes about half an hour to craft.
[Brawl; Engaged; Damage +1; Critical 5]
A sealed container in which to sleep during the day or
enter hibernation cycles. Vampires sometimes fill their Sharpened Staff. Wood spear or quarterstaff sharpened
coffins with dirt or soil from their homeland. If a coffin at one or both ends. May be thrown at short range. [Melee;
contains soil from near the site where a vampire was Engaged; Damage +2; Critical 4; Accurate 1, Defensive 1]
made, that vampire’s hibernation cycle length while
resting in the coffin is halved.

6 Equipment
Uampiric Mysteries