- For the measurement of vampiric energy in Vampire: The Requiem, see vitae (VTR).
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 Methuselah will have more blood points than the neonate. Similarly, humans have larger blood pools than cows, despite cows having 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. It is through 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.
In Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition, the blood pool has been replaced with a Hunger mechanic.
Mechanics[]
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 said attributes above said limit, but doing so lasts only 3 turns.
- Some Discipline powers require spending blood points to activate their effects.
- Feeding a mortal or animal even one blood point makes them a ghoul of the vampire. Every subsequent feeding (on subsequent nights) establishes a stronger blood bond.
- (8 - Humanity rating) blood points can activate the "Blush of Life" and allow vampire's to simulate being alive to a certain extent. Those who follow a Path of Enlightenment are incapable of doing such. Dark Ages: Vampire differs in that those on the Road of Humanity need only spend (6 - Self-Control) blood points while followers of all other Roads can spend (8 - Self-Control) blood points to achieve this effect (characters without Self-Control can still spend 8 blood points).
References[]
- WTA/cMET: Laws of the Wild: Changing Breeds 3, p. 54-55 (Ananasi)