Mesopotamian Vampire

[Railstar]

First thoughts… Reaction Penalties:

Callous = -3 “on any skill roll made to interact with those who have suffered the consequences of your character’s Callousness in the past”. Also past victims react at -1.

Selfish = -3 to the target’s reactions towards you.

I figure with extended contact these would add up.

Things like Split Personality or Phantom Voices would give -3 reaction rolls when seen reacting to them.

Compulsive Carousing is probably on the list somewhere, and the -1 reaction penalty will probably apply to serious relationships sooner or later.

Personality Change is the Quirk-level Split Personality for events under her control.

Anyway, the point being that these are things that do come up sooner or later. On any given meeting, they might not be an issue.

I’d imagine Gula, aside from being her master in terms of Reprogrammable or Duty/Patron, is also an Enemy: Watcher or even Rival… actually the personality changes would work really well as Disadvantage Embellishments for Enemy or Duty – extra disadvantages triggered by her Enemy’s Frequency of Appearance.

‘Evil’ disadvantages:

My reflex is something like Bloodlust to represent an instinct to go for the kill, but she has Pacifism: Reluctant Killer, so those probably don’t go well together. Uncontrollable Appetite is a thing, possibly even Gluttony to represent overindulgence, which is an act that becomes far more selfish considering she is draining life from other people to do it.

Compulsive Scheming is a possibility. Being deceptive is probably a way of life for her now, considering her boss. Paranoia? A lot of really horrible behaviours can be things the aggressor perceives as self-defence, due to them being essentially an unreliable judge of what is self-defence or not.

Lots of fairly strong traits in real-life are only Quirks in GURPS terms. Quirk level Jealousy, Intolerance, Ill-Advised Hobby can include a lot of really unpleasant behaviours.

Rather than direct cruelty… how is she on the topic of enslaving people? For instance, would she use her powers or her blood to enthral people? If she would actively seek to turn other people into addicts to make them serve her? Heck, if she got attached to someone, would she use her blood to make them into an addict in order to force them to like her? Doing stuff like that to acquire friends or lovers would certainly count as “evil”.

Particularly if she is willing to enthral people to be “expendable” friends or lovers, since she’s taking away their choice, forcing them to be her friends or lovers, while aware Gula will make them suffer for it.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Railstar

Callous = -3 “on any skill roll made to interact with those who have suffered the consequences of your character’s Callousness in the past”. Also past victims react at -1.

Selfish = -3 to the target’s reactions towards you.

Some version of these probably suit her while Gula is watching, because even though she may not actually be Callous or Selfish, she tries to act that way, which would give the Reaction penalties.

Originally Posted by Railstar

I figure with extended contact these would add up.

Yes, especially as Callous and Selfish impose a penalty to victims, which would presumably apply even after she's changed back to the warm and cuddly personality.

Originally Posted by Railstar

Things like Split Personality or Phantom Voices would give -3 reaction rolls when seen reacting to them.

Seems appropriate.

Originally Posted by Railstar

Compulsive Carousing is probably on the list somewhere, and the -1 reaction penalty will probably apply to serious relationships sooner or later.

I'm torn. Ahhusha might have had it in life (accidentally failed to mention it when listing Disads above), but she also might just have had Quirks related to her favourite activities. It doesn't require an actual compulsion to choose activities that you enjoy over those that might eventually bring social advancement, riches and power. Importantly, she probably did greatly enjoy feasts, for the music, food, intoxicants, flirting and conversation, but would have been just as happy to enjoy one or more of these things in private with a friend or lover.

In modern terms, while she was alive, Ahhusha would have had no compulsion to go clubbing every single night, she'd have been perfectly content with Netflix and chill, playing videogames while getting high, going shopping or getting a massage while gossiping. She enjoyed the company of others, but actually prefered one-on-one interaction over group activities (though she doesn't avoid those, either).

I guess it sort of depends what we define as sufficient to meet the definition of 'carousing'. If staying in for a night smoking weed and giggling with her best friend over gossip or dropping (the fantasy equivalent of) acid and screwing for an entire, psychadelic night qualify, sure, she had it in life. If these activities were insufficient and she needed more people around for it to qualify as 'carousing', she didn't, really.

Originally Posted by Railstar

Personality Change is the Quirk-level Split Personality for events under her control.

Definitely not under Ahhusha's control. Controlled by Gula, mostly, and in a different sense, by the evil symbiote spirit which keeps blood circulating through her dead body.

Originally Posted by Railstar

Anyway, the point being that these are things that do come up sooner or later. On any given meeting, they might not be an issue.

Fair enough.

Originally Posted by Railstar

I’d imagine Gula, aside from being her master in terms of Reprogrammable or Duty/Patron, is also an Enemy: Watcher or even Rival… actually the personality changes would work really well as Disadvantage Embellishments for Enemy or Duty – extra disadvantages triggered by her Enemy’s Frequency of Appearance.

Yeah, that works. Or I could take Split Personality with a Limitation for stressful circumstances not forcing a chance, but her Enemy being able to do so.

Of course, I might just take Split Personality between her 'normal' personality and who she'd be under the influence of her evil spirit, with an Enhancement to represent that her Enemy can also afflict a third version of her personality. Something to consider.

Though, of course, in her internal experience, she's always the same person. The things she does while under the direct control of Gula, the influence of her evil spirit or because she feels Gula paying attention to her, they usually make her feel awful and guilty. Unless she's avoided feeding for so long that she's suffered mental degeneration, she's never 'really' Callous or Selfish, she just acts that way out of fear that otherwise Gula will punish her and the person she showed warmth to.

Originally Posted by Railstar

My reflex is something like Bloodlust to represent an instinct to go for the kill, but she has Pacifism: Reluctant Killer, so those probably don’t go well together. Uncontrollable Appetite is a thing, possibly even Gluttony to represent overindulgence, which is an act that becomes far more selfish considering she is draining life from other people to do it.

Definitely not Bloodlust.

Uncontrollable Appetite works, as she had to make Self-Control rolls when presented with blood she craved, but she was fairly good at resisting (under normal circumstances). Of course, given that she has historically been prone to try to avoid feeding altogether (she doesn't want to kill people and she thinks blood is gross, unless she is very hungry or sexually aroused), she has had many instances where the SC roll has progressively grown worse until she gives in.

Originally Posted by Railstar

Compulsive Scheming is a possibility. Being deceptive is probably a way of life for her now, considering her boss.

Ironically, considering her circumstances, a random roll dictated that she was much worse at Acting than might be expected. Sure, she has it at skill 13, which is decent, but represents only a 2 point investment.

In play, I often roll dice to give a generic sense of whether an NPC is good or bad at something, compared to what might be an expected average for someone in the role they occupy in the adventure. If the NPC becomes more important, I'll try to rationalise the various results into a coherent character. Ahhusha was more or less a random encounter, but now seems to be important to the PC... for reasons.

I guess I'll justify her relatively modest (for someone who has spent 23 years really needing them) Acting and Fast-Talk skills as her having been really straight-forward and forthright in life. She was extremely pretty, sexy, talented, well-born, affluent and in a cushy position, which tended to make most people treat her well even if she was honest about her feelings and didn't try to fake any she didn't feel.

That's not to say that she eschewed any kind of manipulation, of course, just that she'd do it with people she actually really did like and desperately wanted to like her, so she'd use Carousing, Connoisseur (Fashion), Current Affairs, Makeup or Sex Appeal (all of which she is good at) to influence them.

Originally Posted by Railstar

Paranoia? A lot of really horrible behaviours can be things the aggressor perceives as self-defence, due to them being essentially an unreliable judge of what is self-defence or not.

Nah, she's still fairly naive for someone in her position.

Originally Posted by Railstar

Lots of fairly strong traits in real-life are only Quirks in GURPS terms. Quirk level Jealousy, Intolerance, Ill-Advised Hobby can include a lot of really unpleasant behaviours.

Indeed. She'll certainly be jealous of the time and attention from people she likes, to a greater degree than is normal. She's open-minded rather than intolerant, but she might certainly have a range of Ill-Advised Hobbies. To a degree, her making friends with mortals can be construed as one.

Originally Posted by Railstar

Rather than direct cruelty… how is she on the topic of enslaving people? For instance, would she use her powers or her blood to enthral people? If she would actively seek to turn other people into addicts to make them serve her? Heck, if she got attached to someone, would she use her blood to make them into an addict in order to force them to like her? Doing stuff like that to acquire friends or lovers would certainly count as “evil”.

Yeah, I think her need for validation and acceptance is strong enough by now so that she doesn't shy away from using any method to make people like her as much as she likes them. After all, her undeath has been particularly terrible for her and she doesn't get many chances at love or friendship, so she'll tend to be pretty obsessive about it when she does.

While she might have balked at feigning affection or lying to get people to like her, she has never had any trouble with seducing people she likes in any way she can, so she can ensure that they'll like her back. And she'll have lost many of the compunctions she used to have about not deceiving her friends. She might not like doing so now, but when weighed against a chance of losing someone?

Originally Posted by Railstar

Particularly if she is willing to enthral people to be “expendable” friends or lovers, since she’s taking away their choice, forcing them to be her friends or lovers, while aware Gula will make them suffer for it.

I don't think she's into consciously deciding that her friends and lovers are expendable, but a combination of a constant need for friendship, validation and approval and the fact that Gula is possessive of her means that she finds herself continually seeking close relationships with others and then seeing this being used to hurt them.

Ahhusha probably is aware that she should force herself to stop caring about what others think of her and get over her need for intimate friendships, beyond whatever twisted thing she has with Gula.* She just can't force herself to do it, which no doubt contributes to her Low Self-Image.

*Who doesn't view her as a lover or friend, but as a prized possession. There is still an element of friendship, because Gula is human and makes some emotional connection with the person who does her hair, talks to her about her day, helps her select outfits and jewelry, occasionally provides sexual services, etc.

[Icelander]

Here are the positive effects, aside from regaining 1 HP and 1 FP for each 1 HP and 1 FP drained from the vampire, I've tentatively assigned to consuming the blood of Mesapotamian vampires:

1 HP/FP = Night Vision 1; Acute Touch +1; Per +1.
2 HP/FP = Night Vision 2; Acute Touch +1; Acute Taste/Smell +1; Per +1.
3 HP/FP = Night Vision 3; Acute Touch +2; Acute Taste/Smell +1; Per +1.
4 HP/FP = Night Vision 4; Acute Touch +2; Acute Taste/Smell +2; Per +2.
5 HP/FP = Night Vision 5; Acute Touch +3; Acute Taste/Smell +2; Per +2.
6 HP/FP = Night Vision 6; Acute Touch +3; Acute Taste/Smell +3; Per +2.
7 HP/FP = Night Vision 7; Sensitive Touch; Acute Taste/Smell +3; Per +3.
8 HP/FP = Night Vision 8; Discriminatory Taste; Acute Smell +3; Sensitive Touch; Per +3.
9 HP/FP = Night Vision 9; Discriminatory Smell; Discriminatory Taste; Sensitive Touch; Per +3.
10 HP/FP = Darkvision; Discriminatory Smell; Discriminatory Taste; Sensitive Touch; Per +4.

The levels are not cumulative. The effects last until the next morning and then start to fade at the rate of one level per hour. Direct sunlight will remove any effects in seconds and any kind of daylight, even on an overcast day while wearing heavy clothing, will remove them at the rate of one per minute.

Consuming more than 10 HP and FP of blood will not provide further effects, but will add one hour/minute/second per extra HP/FP drained until the effects start fading.

As a general guideline, I'm assuming that a pint of blood contains about 5 HP and 5 HP, though this holds more true for the first pint or two. Some of the greater risks for losing more blood once you have already suffered blood loss will be reflected in the fact that once someone hits -FP, they'll lose 10 HP per extra pint.

Thoughts?

[Railstar]

Something else I dug up that might be useful for the earlier discussion, having recently found my copy of Technomancer... It's from 3e, but Toxic Zombies suffer Draining (Cerebral +100%), for losing IQ instead of HP. However, restoring IQ requires 1 full brain per IQ point.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Railstar

Something else I dug up that might be useful for the earlier discussion, having recently found my copy of Technomancer... It's from 3e, but Toxic Zombies suffer Draining (Cerebral +100%), for losing IQ instead of HP. However, restoring IQ requires 1 full brain per IQ point.

Thanks!

This shows it's valid to change the loss from HP to mental attributes. The exact rate of loss and recovery are then merely a matter of adjusting the Limitation value to taste.