Dhampir

A dhampir is another name for a "half-vampire", the product of a human and vampire parentage. Dhampir were originally thought of as an impossiblity, but in the Final Nights, they not only came into being, but became disturbingly more common. Their presence is considered one of the heralds of Gehenna.

Origins of Dhampir
As full-blooded kindred are no longer sexually potent, it is impossible for one of them to parent a child. In the case of a pregnant female who is Embraced, there is an immediate miscarriage. Occasionally, ghouls have been known to become pregnant, but as they are not full-blooded vampires, the child usually comes out ghouled themselves, in which case the child is known as a revenant.

Being unable to reproduce, however, does not nessicarily apply to a thin-blooded kindred of one of the high 14th or 15th generations. Thin-blooded lack the potency of blood that low-generation vampires get their powers from, but their limited abilities also give them some human advantages; one of those is fertility. A thin-blooded can impregnate or become pregnant with a child capable of carrying to term. For the female thin-blooded who must carry the child, the pregnancy is usually quite hard on them physically, as the bodies of the undead are not meant to carry children.

Traits and Culture
Dhampir are very similar to revenants; some say the only difference between them is their parentage and the culture they live in. Revenants are brought up among kindred, while dhampir are usually more comfortable among humans. It is fairly common for dhampir, upon their birth to be abandoned by one or both parents. Many grow up unaware of their parentage or powers. Dhampir are always young, as they are a fairly new phenomenon since the thin-blooded have been around for only two decades. Dhampir are also common targets of the Scourge, limiting their numbers.

The average dhampir will have a blood pool, like their kindred cousins, but cannot make blood bonds, create ghouls, or Embrace; however, they do not have to spend their blood to be active, as their vampiric "blood" is purely supernatural in nature. Dhampir may spend all of their blood pool without touching the physical blood in their body, although they can become exhausted by the act.

Dhampir also have traits common to ghouls. For example, they can spend blood points in the same way, such to raise traits or heal themselves. However, as part of their kindred origins, dhampir are prone to frenzy; they are able to resist much more easily than the average kindred. Dhampir can also learn Disciplines; in theory, they may learn any if they have the right instruction, but the standards among dhampir include Celerity, Fortitude, Potence, Auspex, Dominate, Obfuscate, and Presence, as these are among the more common Disciplines.

Dhampir, officially, cannot become True Mages, Kinfolk, Mummies, or any other combination of themselves and supernaturals.


 * VTM: Time of Thin-Blood, p. 48-49, 81-83