Blood Pool


 * For the measurement of vampiric energy in Vampire: The Requiem, see vitae.

In Vampire: The Masquerade, the quantity and concentration of an individual's blood is measured by their blood pool, consisting of a number of individual blood points that approximate how nourishing that blood is to vampires. When not in torpor, vampires expend one blood point a night in order to sustain their existence, but blood points can be spent in other ways to fuel the vampire's mystical power. The maximum size of one's blood pool is not related to volume; elder vampires concentrate their blood internally, so a neonate and Methuselah both store approximately ten pints of fluid, even though a pint of Methuselah blood will have more blood points than the comparative neonate blood. Similarly, humans have larger blood pools than cows, although cows have a considerably greater volume of blood.

Blood points are a metagame gauge of a vampire's reserves, and most vampires do not think of blood in terms of discrete "points"; instead they merely know when they are sated, and when they are running low. However, a Tremere scholar devised a method of quantifying the efficiency of a vampire's vitae, using several scales and experimental measures involving waking, Discipline use, healing, and augmenting the subject's strength. Via this research he "discovered" blood points, though he called them "Vitae Efficacy Units", or VEUs. This theory is not widely known, and is too scientific an approach to the Curse of Caine for most vampires to be interested, though Dr. Douglas Netchurch has made extensive use of it in his research into the thin-blooded.

Uses for Blood Points

 * One blood point can heal a level of bashing or lethal damage in a single turn
 * One blood point can raise a Physical Attribute by one dot for a scene, up to one dot above their generational trait maximum. More blood can be spent to raise Physical Attributes even higher, but these enhancements only last 3 turns.
 * Feeding a mortal or animal one blood point makes them a ghoul of the vampire
 * Every blood point fed an individual establishes a stronger blood bond.
 * A number of blood points equal to 8 - the vampire's Humanity rating can be spent to give the vampire the "blush of life", causing their body to function as if it were alive. Those on a Path of Enlightenment cannot use blood points this way. In Dark Ages: Vampire, those on the Road of Humanity need only spend a number of blood points equal to 6 - their Road rating to achieve the blush of life, while followers of all other Roads must spend 8 - their Road rating.
 * Some Discipline powers require blood points to spend to activate the effect.