By Jay Knioum (madafro@trip.net)
In the World of Darkness, the prevailing (sensational?) theory is that the Chupacabras originated from a Puerto Rican coterie of Gangrel who encountered an alien spacecraft. In the encounter, the aliens (who had been long fascinated with the activities of vampires) allowed/forced the Gangrel to drink their "blood." In the following weeks, under the supervision of the aliens, the Gangrel were mutated into abominations, a mix of the worst traits of the Kindred and the alien invaders.
The story may be more involved than this, however. Puerto Rican Nosferatu hold that the Tremere were deeply involved with experimentation on captured Gangrel, to try to create a servitor race of Kindred to replace their aging Gargoyle bloodline. The Alien theory, they claim, does not hold water, but they cannot explain the extremely frequent sightings of UFOs on the island nation, as well as in other places where the Chupacabras have been sighted, such as Mexico and South American backwaters.
One Malkavian, a biologist in life, suggested at the urging of the gremlins he speaks to that the Chupacabras are the result of a Gangrel's heavy exposure to radiation. Not impossible, perhaps, but the Malkavian's infamous enthusiasm for movies about giant rats and the like prompts skepticism among his peers.
In the end, the origins of the Chupacabras are at best mysterious. Alien abduction, or Tremere experimentation? Perhaps the Technocracy is involved, or perhaps the U.S. Government has agendas in Puerto Rico best left covered up?
However, the facts are these: There does exist in the wilds of Latin America a ravenous, feral bloodline of vampires that go by the name of Chupacabras. At first glance, they seem preoccupied with feeding on livestock and harrying the populace, but their underlying agendas can only be guessed at. Perhaps they are a first step from an alien race to subjugate the world by taking control of vampires? Or, perhaps they are a failure to do so...
Chupacabras have long tails, which they also use during flight, and have large, bulbous eyeballs which have been reported to glow in the dark. They have small mouths with three fangs which they use to great effect in draining the blood from prey.
Obviously, Chupacabras automatically have a Zero Appearance.
Chupacabras automatically fail any roll where appearance is a factor, and add two to difficulties on any Manipulation or Charisma rolls.
Chupacabras are very feral creatures, and are more given to the Beast (which they embrace, rather than suppress) in their natures than other vampires. Thus, all difficulties to their Frenzy rolls are lowered by two, and Humanity always costs twice as much per dot (2 Freebie points per dot of Humanity during creation).
Chupacabras also have a Selective Digestion disadvantage, similar to the Ventrue. They will not feed on humans, period. The reason for this is unknown. Perhaps their mutation makes human blood distasteful or deadly to them. For whatever reason, a Chupacabras will only take sustenance from a warm-blooded animal.
Note: When choosing Flaws for a Chupacabras character, the most frequently occurring one is Twisted Upbringing. It is a rare goatsucker who knows anything of vampire society beyond the Nosferatu or the Gangrel. However, Chupacabras would probably be very knowledgeable about the Lupines, as they call the same forests home.
However, outside of Kindred society, the Chupacabras do butt heads with the Garou of Puerto Rico on occasion. The small size of the island contributes much to the frequency with which the werewolves and the goatsuckers come into contact. In the larger Latin American countries, the Chupacabras tend to stay hidden. The relations between the Garou and this bizarre clan are usually short and quite messy. The Garou tend to find the Chupacabras as Wyrm-spawn, and rarely give quarter when the goatsuckers are encountered. The Chupacabras' alien mindset and primitive nature produce behavior toward the Garou as a carrion eater toward a predator. The Chupacabras watch the Garou closely, but keep a distance.
Nosferatu: They must hide in the shadows, as do we, for the world fears our monstrous face. Use the shadows as they do, as a tool for learning, and fear the light as an enemy. The Nosferatu are our brothers.
Gangrel: We are kindred spirits, but they walk as men while we skulk in caves. We must find a way to make their world ours.
Ravnos: They are nomads hated by the world, as are we, but their tricks make our heads hurt. Trust them only at a distance.
Other Clans: We know little of them, thus we avoid them.
Garou: To be seen by one is to die, but the secrets they hold are worth the risk.
The Chupacabras are very wild, and their havens reflect this.
Still others may manifest rough variations on Dominate, while still others may be able to change their shape like certain Tremere. Some may even be immune to fire (and may well have another weakness...just as deadly), and others may stick to walls like insects.
For these reasons, Chupacabras vitae, naturally, does not behave like the blood of other vampires. It can be spent in the form of Points as normal, and any blood ingested by the Chupacabras will mix and be transformed into the vampire's own. However, it does not mesh with the blood of other vampires, to put it mildly. The following guidelines apply when dealing with Chupacabras vitae:
1. The blood of a Chupacabras cannot be ingested for any productive effect by a vampire of any other clan. In fact, if another vampire takes so much as a swallow of a goatsucker's vitae, she must make a Stamina roll, diff 8, to avoid suffering a painful, debilitating physical mutation.
The mutation will manifest over the course of a week or so, and will do serious damage to the vampire's body. During the week of manifestation, treat the condition as the Permanent Wound flaw (begin each night at Wounded Health Level, unless Blood is spent to heal). Thereafter, the Wound effects recede, but the mutation is treated as a physical flaw with a point total equal to every generation of the Chupacabras from 13 on down. (the lowest generation a Chupacabras can have is 8th...this is the progenitor Gangrel). Thus, drinking from a generation 10 goatsucker produces a 3-point physical flaw.
2. A Chupacabras cannot lower her generation by diablerie. It may be possible (Storyteller's discretion) for enterprising Chupacabras to come up with ways via Permutation to lower their generations but this is very unlikely without outside intervention.
3. The effects of Thaumaturgy on the warped Chupacabras blood is up to the Storyteller, depending on her angle as to the origins of the bloodline. If the goatsuckers are the work of aliens, then Thaumaturgy could have no effect, or wildly variant effects ("...it turned into a what?"). If the Tremere were responsible, then they could have specialized rituals for manipulating the Chupacabras...or at least they may think they do...
1. The bloodline could serve as an excellent bridge for bringing together the Werewolf and Vampire games. The Tremere at the very least would be curious as to the Chupacabra doings and necrology, and the Garou would have an obvious stake (ahem) in rooting them out of their hideouts in the rain forests.
2. Even thought the Chupacabras are very much a throwback to more primitive times, they are still very intelligent creatures, and they are still immortal. They quickly learn things, both about themselves and the world, and could become a dangerous threat if they learn how to control their Permutation to its utmost.
3. The Sabbat could see this feral bloodline as grand chance to cultivate and exploit a "servitor race" of vampires with great destructive power and potentially limitless numbers. Since the Chupacabras hold kinship of a sort with Nosferatu and Gangrel clans, the Sabbat could easily send their antitribu to "teach" the goatsuckers the true ways of the Kindred.
4. What can be said for the Sabbat previously, can also be said for the Wyrm and its minions. To a bloodline alone and confused in a dark world, a clever Black Spiral Dancer with a glib tongue could gain quite a few followers, especially among feral monsters who are hated by Gaia's Garou.
These illustrate the intended role of the Chupacabras...as a stepping-stone to larger stories. The Bloodline, it is important to note, does not yet have any real ideology, dogma, stereotypes, or opinions on the world beyond their animal instincts. Yet, they are still very intelligent creatures who cannot help their curiosity or the wanderlust they inherited from their Gangrel progenitors.
The Chupacabras are ready to spread across the world...is the world ready for them?