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Some Fantasy Standards

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Kid Longshot:
I'm looking for info about tradtional vampires, (i.e. non-Buffy/Dresden) as well as shamans.

What I have a grasp on so far is that vampires universally crave blood, have a pigment thing going on, and have some measure of immortality.

For shamans, I get that they are a medicine man type thing for Native American tribes, as well as a position of some authority in a village. I also base most of my stuff for them on the fact that in one way or another, they deal with the spirits of the dead.

What do y'all have for me?

Darwinist:
Well, I have it on good authority that if you take a perfectly good two by four, whittle down one end into a pointy tip, and then proceed stabbing said vampire in the chest with it... you will either A) piss him off greatly or B) kill it.

What sort of information are you looking for sir? Mating habits... favorite football teams... average life span, number of baseball cards they own? I, for one, know that Shaman are particularly susceptible to STDs. You'd think it would be the Vampires, but no.... its the shaman. They're a horny bunch.

Heh, all kidding aside man, you gotta give a little more for us to go on here. What are you trying to understand about them that wikipedia can't offer?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampires
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaman

Or any general search on the intarwebs.

Kid Longshot:
Well, okay, sorry my question was too vague.

Generally, I'm looking for any abilities they generally have, y'know, or susceptibilities, I need those too. Maybe I should rephrase the question.

What kinds of abilities or weaknesses have you seen that you liked about vamps or shamans? What really hit your cool-o-meter on a high setting? Is it just a vampire's super strength or a shaman's uncanny healing abilities? You guys are Butcher fans, too, so what do you like to see?

Darwinist:
Sorry if that came out rude, it wasn't intended that way. Long day, sarcasm and humor go a long way verbally compared to in prose.

I'm not big into the Shaman side of things. To be honest, I always found the lore to be boring. Nothing I've read or seen on television has been able to make it exciting, fresh, or interesting to me. It's usually "you pissed off the medicine man" and then the big scary indian looking dude does something yawn inducingly boring to you... like shrink your head or something. I guess its the Indian lore side of things that I just can't take seriously.

Vampires are the same way for me. When I think Vampire, I think of bram stokers... or some old guy with greasy hair in a tight form fitting tux. That's why the Dresden books are so refreshing, they don't rely on that crap. There's something unique and fresh about the genre as a whole. They seem like every day people with every day supernatural problems. You meet a vampire and you don't instantly leap to thoughts of what that monster could do to you, you see them as ordinary people. That's what works for me. Something I can relate to.

As for abilities, can't speak for Shammies, but the super strength in vamp's has always intrigued me. It's a side to them that is rarely ever mentioned. You usually see a vamp and they're this stringy supermodel thin geezer. The tip is to take the genre, tip it on its head and see what new you can bring to it. Which is what you appear to be doing by polling our interest, I suppose.

the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:

--- Quote from: Darwinist on August 26, 2009, 12:55:19 AM ---Well, I have it on good authority that if you take a perfectly good two by four, whittle down one end into a pointy tip, and then proceed stabbing said vampire in the chest with it... you will either A) piss him off greatly or B) kill it.

--- End quote ---

It is worth noting that this also works reasonably well on normal humans, and therefore isn't that good of a distinguishing method.

And if you try it on a being that's not vulnerable to this approach, be prepared for it to be peeved with you ruining its shirt.

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