WEREWOLVES AND VAMPIRES -
by Amanda Brett
Vampires, once human, are supposed to be
struggling with their lose of Humanity. The main idea of playing a
Vampire is not to see how fast you can get Fleetness or to see how many
characters you can PK via diablerie or 'simple' spite.
Werewolves are fighting the LOSING SIDE of a
long and painful war. Their Mother is dying slowly and their number is
dwindling rapidly to a chosen, suffering few. The point is to strengthen
Gaia in all ways, not just by becoming a killing machine bent on
destruction.
The power levels of these races are irrelevant.
These games were NOT meant to be played in conjunction with each other
and get along. The last thing any logical Vampire wants is to be known
to a Werewolf for what they truly are... likewise, one of the worst
things a Werewolf can wish upon themselves is death by association with
Vampires. (Trust me, I know.)
Vampire and Werewolves were written as
antagonists of each other, not bestest buddies who occasionally share a
beer and a good, raw steak. If you notice in the sit-down books, there
are two merits which sometimes get overlooked. They are "Werewolf
Companion" and "Vampire Companion." If you read these carefully, you
might note the mention of the fact that, should someone else of your
race discover this forbidden association, you due for a world of
trouble.
The Vampire traditions state #1 on the list
that revealing your nature to those "not of the Blood" is BAD. You can
die for it.
One of the Litany laws for Werewolves states
that breaking the Veil is BAD. You can die for it. (For reference,
breaking the Veil includes Crinos'ing in front of someone not known to
you -- be they Vampire, Fae, or Mage. What would possess you to reveal
yourself to your enemies?)
Unfortunately, and I know this is hardly ever
the case north of the biggest undefended border in the World, the States
have this NASTY habit of combining their Garou and Kindred games.
Playing at the same time, on the same site with no such sort of
restriction on interaction. For those of you who are sheltered or have
trouble with simple logical math, this causes a LOT of strife. Putting
these two races together is just ASKING for confrontation and bloodshed.
Vampires, by their very nature, are UNnatural....
as in ANTI-NATURE. As in Bad News for Mother Earth... As in -- you get
the idea. While I know a lot of you will argue that some Vampires have
this cute little thing called the Path of Gaia, it's darling really, but
it DOES NOT make you natural. It makes you... a Gangrel with a kilt. ;)
On a general basis, Vampires = Wyrm because the
longer you've been around, the more Banes you start to attract. And
Banes, as we all know, are BAD (if only on principle). And, just as a
reminder for those that might not be aware, Banes are one of the things
Werewolves HATE (as in do NOT like). This would, through logical
association, mean that Vampires = Something the Garou HATE. In case you
haven't caught on yet, Werewolves have this habit of KILLING things they
hate that serve the Wyrm.
* In short, Vampires + Banes = Death via
Werewolves *
(Are you followin' me on this? Is it too
complicated? Let me try it from the other side...)
Werewolves are mortal. They MUST eat, drink,
sleep, breathe and fornicate to procreate. Vampire are immortal
(essentially). They are thankfully exempt from all of those hinderances
save two: drinking (only blood) and sleeping. Vampires can eliminate a
lot of hassle by not having to breath or eat or have sex in order to
increase the number of their race. One of the biggest advantages Vampire
have over Werewolves is procreation. Vampires create their childer, they
don't birth them. No partner required. No nine month "waiting" period.
No sixteen years of development before "adulthood".
Vampires could outnumber the Werewolves by 10:1
if they really needed to. Werewolves can't. Simple as that. As a matter
of fact, the Werewolves are having a hell of a time reproducing at all.
In order to make another Werewolf (and this system isn't even sure fire)
you have to mate with Kinfolk. How many times does this actually work?
The only *real* way to guarantee a Werewolf baby is to mate with another
Werewolf... which will likely kill the mother, cause a severe amount of
trauma for the "child" and HEY! They break the Litany, too! Damn, what a
bargain, eh? To sum up:
* Vampires are Many, Werewolves are Few *
I know I've lost a lot of you by now, so I'll
wrap this up. I would like to close by saying that if you're playing
Vampire just to (PRETEND TO) have Fleetness, Majesty, Puissance, Form of
Mist and/or Cauldron of Blood... you're missing the point (and likely
wasting your time). If you're playing a Werewolf in order to (PRETEND
TO) change into a monstrous killing machine that can rip through anyone
or anything like a back-hoe... you're missing the point (and likely
wasting your time).
Please (pretty please, with sugar on top) at
least attempt to grasp the tragedy in your respective sphere. You're
either dead and bemoaning your lost humanity (after all, you'll NEVER be
human again). Or you're fuzzy and bemoaning the death of not only your
people but your spiritual self and salvation. |