SANGROLOU

By DarioCS@aol.com, adapted from the SangroluAD&D monster by Jay Knioum

Description

The Blood Lich, or sangrolou, is truly an abomination: a once-vampire who is as far from its previous state as a vampire is from a mortal. Legends abound in the tomes of long-dead sages but most of them agree the first sangrolou wanted to escape the bounds of the night and forever leave the domain of the Elders.

Sangrolou are the results of particularly arcane Thaumaturgy rituals culminating in the creation of a foul, black potion. Vampires that imbibe this dark potion must succeed a Stamina check (difficulty of 8). Success indicates that they survive and become sangrolou; failure does not indicate death, but something far worse.

Thus, there are two types of sangrolu, Broken and Whole. Whole sangrolu are possibly the most powerful and sophisticated undead. They retain their previous vampiric appearance, and do not have the appearance of walking corpses. Broken sangrolu are horrid creatures of tight, rotted flesh shot through with fat, black veins and exposed yellowing bones. They are more horrible than even the Nosferatu, for the broken sangrolu are forever cursed to decay, with only the blood of mortals to hold back the inevitable.

Broken sangrolu decompose rapidly, losing one Health Level per 24-hour period. Their bodies simply fall apart when they pass Incapacitated this way. The only way to hold back the rot is to drink blood; for every 5 points of blood they drink, they regain one health level lost from rot. However, even when fed, a broken sangrolu is a monster with tight, wrinkled flesh and burning yellow eyes.

All sangrolu in their natural forms continuously emit a thick mist from their bodies that trails behind them when they move. The mist is heavier than air, and slowly falls from their bodies and washes across the ground like a ghostly waterfall. The mist eventually dissipates, but it adds a distinct, haunting aura to the creature. The mist is supernatural in origin, and is not affected by wind, or even submersion.

Nickname

Blood liches, sometimes weird mist guys

Appearance

Aside from the mist noted above, whole sangrolou tend to look like the clan which spawned them (mostly from clan Tremere). However, they tend to be possessed of entrancingly haunting beauty; when dancing, they appear to hang in the air just a split second longer than they should, for instance.

Background

These creatures are especially rare. They are even less of the natural order than vampires are. Before the "Ritual of Ascension" which turned it to its current state, they were vampires of the 7th Generation or lower.

Haven

Whole sangrolou lair themselves outside but near large cities. Typically, a whole sangrolu will inhabit a large country estate, a lonely abandoned barn, or any other place near but outside a populated area. They need never actually venture into a city due to their ability to create Crimson Deaths to feed for them, but they try to remain no farther than 10 miles from such places.

Broken sangrolu need blood much more badly than whole, and tend to more drastic measures. Broken sangrolu tend to set up temporary lairs in places of large populations, but that will escape the notice of the world at large. They will typically take over (or lair in) a prison or asylum, a large ship at sea, frontier villages, or sewers of large cities. Sangrolu also tend toward areas where slavery exists, to easily purchase supplies of blood.

Character Creation

Strangely enough, whole sangrolou often possess the Monster Nature and a more artistic or gentle Demeanor; the reverse is more often true with the broken ones. All sangrolou must begin with a Generation background at 6 (placing them at the 7th Generation) and a Thaumaturgy (or Dark Thaumaturgy) rating of 6 as well.

Clan Disciplines

Dark Thaumaturgy, Nihilistics, Vinculuus, Though not a clan discipline, sangrolou with Protean have different level four and five powers:

**** Form of Man: The sangrolou may alter his or her form at will to match the exact appearance of someone whose blood it has consumed during the last hour. This requires 1 BP to activate. The mimicry is exact but only cosmetic. The sangrolou does not necessarily share the person's aura, mannerisms, etc.

***** Form of Mist: Sangrolou with this power may shapechange into mist instantly, even during combat, with a successful Stamina+Survival check (difficulty 8). A Sangrolou which has Celerity can be an obnoxious foe indeed, as it reforms from mist, strikes, and dissipates back into it ad infinitum.

Weaknesses

Despite their great and mysterious powers, the sangrolou are not without their banes. For some reason, pure lead is anathema to them. Contact with the metal in pure form inflicts an unsoakable, aggravated health level of damage per turn of contact. Weapons made of the substance likewise inflict unsoakable, aggravated wounds. A holy symbol made of lead and brandished by one of True Faith to them is also doubly effective as a hindrance (and inflicts aggravated wounds on contact).

Furthermore, due to their lack of connection with the natural world, animals that are not pure carnivores are terrified of them, and even fellow predators regard them as competition at best. All sangrolou's auras are shot with black veins as if they were diablerists.

Broken sangrolou get an additional 5 freebie points at creation, but have Appearances of 0, in addition to the eternal decay mentioned earlier.

Sangrolou are unable to sire progeny until reaching level 2 in Vinculuus and even these are not true sangrolou, or vampires (see the "Ritual of Ascension", below).

Sangrolou may not take the Inoffensive to Animals, Faerie Affinity, Repelled by Crosses, Repulsed by Garlic, or True Faith Merits and Flaws. Any levels in Animalism or Obeah are permanently lost and may never be regained. Protean is a special case for the sangrolou. While they have lost the ability to change form into that of an animal (although Thaumaturgic Rituals still work in this regard), they gain other abilities.

And lastly, sangrolou have a new statistic: Spirit. This represents their animating force, and begins according to the following formula:

15 - (Former generation of sangrolou)

Sangrolou do not have the Generation statistic anymore, but Spirit represents the animating force and connection to the netherworld they have. Most sangrolou have a Spirit rating of 11. They retain the same equivalent statistics as per the corresponding Generation, but may not engage in the act of Diablerie. Instead, they may consume a living Mage which has an Arete that, when multiplied by two, is greater than their Spirit rating, to improve it. Treat a sangrolou in the Umbra or that is in astral form as having health levels equal to their its rating.

Procreation of the Sangrolou

Those brought into Unlife by a sangrolou become members of whatever the clan the sangrolou was of before the Ritual. However they tend to be especially feral and vicious, having been warped by the dark nature of the sangrolou. If using the "Humanity & Bestiality" rules, they begin with three points of Bestiality, rather than none, and the Berserker merit. Such Progeny of a Sangrolou always results in an 8th Generation vampire of the Sangrolou's former clan under the blood liches' complete control.

/HTML>