By Jason Darrah (jason_the_vampire@yahoo.com)
What is the life of a real vampire? No mortal could possibly grasp the extent of the feelings involved faced in the unlife. To do so could cause insanity in even the most stable of minds. Ghouls are technically still mortal, and without the emotion-dulling experience of the embrace, most of them live their newfound lives in a twisted, distorted hell, controlled by either their Domitor, or their own fears.
But what if there were mortals who craved the vampiric existence to the extent that they actually gained, lesser versions of course, of some Kindred traits? Such mortals exist. They are known to their fellow brothers and sisters as the Cult of Roses.
Very few outsiders know of the Cult of Roses' existence. To them, the Cult is just a bunch of goths/punks/freaks/whatever with too much time on their hands, living in their own delusional world after reading one too many Anne Rice novels. That is where the outsiders are wrong. They do have Vampiric abilities, and weaknesses. Although they are less potent versions of the strengths and weaknesses, they are still dangerous when provoked.
These cult members are the next thing to vampires. They must drink blood, not to survive, but if they get no blood, after a while they will become weak and sluggish (lower all dice pools by one for every week that no blood is ingested). They do not actually take damage from the sun's rays, but their eyes do become very light sensitive (lower all dice pools by one in bright light), and they will be almost blinded without at least a pair of sunglasses. They take damage the same as a normal human. They are, after all, just . . . human (or are they?). Although the Cultists cannot gain disciplines as well as Vampires can (they cannot go above a rating of 2) they can use them by using blood as a vampire would, but taking damage as a human would from using that much blood. Blood points are regenerated just like humans regenerate blood. In order to learn any disciplines, an aspiring Cultist must first find a willing teacher, which would probably be another, very experienced, Cultist, or a willing Ghoul. Good luck trying to find a Vampire to teach you, it won't happen.
You must be asking yourself by now: "How would someone become one of these creatures?" Or "Why on earth would someone want to play someone with weak powers and weaknesses on top of that?" I don't think that anyone fully knows the answer . . . .
You must understand that it is not easy to become a Cultist. They are extremely rare. What is even more rare is a Cultist with any grasp of Humanity. They come from only the most twisted, demented, obsessed minds in the world (and usually have some sort of Derangement). These people are absolutely obsessed with the idea of vampirism and death that they actually live out the role: sleeping in cemeteries, stalking around during the night, and, of course, drinking blood. So, naturally, many Cultists are, or were at one time, Blood-Dolls. They can almost be considered more vile creatures than even Vampires themselves (many do not have a Humanity higher than 5) for they wanted, desired, and brought on the change willingly. They did not have their change brought on by the damned blood of Caine's Childer.
They damned themselves.
Also, you gain the following weaknesses:
If you had chosen this as a merit, you were one of the more human, sane, Cultists. Most, however, or not. If this is chosen as a Flaw, you gain all of the abilities and weaknesses mentioned above, as well as these flaws:
If you think that that is too many weaknesses, you should realize that it is a 7 point flaw. Also, these are extremely evil, corrupt people.