50 Shades of Vampire: Deacon Frost

Back to Vampire: the Requiem concepts. Sort of. I’ve run out of steam for the moment as far as concepts for the Elder game I'm playing in. That's probably because I’ve finished writing up the character and we are now entering the world creation phase of the game.

So this week, I am going to envision a movie vampire in Vampire: the Requiem 2nd edition terms. In this case Deacon Frost from the Blade movie.

Deciphering Deacon Frost

So to build this character, I'm first reviewing what we know about him from the film. From there I can construct the closest analogue in the default setting of Vampire: the Requiem. I see a couple of ways to describe him in terms of clan and covenant but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Our first encounter with Deacon in Blade is a quick cameo as he tours his blood sprinkler dance club (which is apparently a thing). He doesn’t stay long, says nothing, and probably wants to get out before he ruins his suit.

Next up, after Blade vaporizes some security and club goers we learn Blade is after Frost. I feel the need to point out how much I dislike vampires that disintegrate when hit with their bane. It just makes vampires little more than paper tigers. Vampires should be scary. Anyone with some silver bullets and body armor could wipe out dozens of the critters. Not scary.

Our next view of Frost is at the vampire elder meeting. He’s the outsider. The others I would characterize as Primogen of the region or perhaps a council of Invictus elite. He's the rebel however, advocating dropping the first Tradition (i.e. the Masquerade, that vampires should hide from mortals). I could see some Carthian ties based on this.

We also see a lot of talk about pure blood which, while a cool phrase, doesn’t work in Requiem. Maybe I could adapt it to indicate his bloodline was inauspicious or tainted by the sins of his sire. Or perhaps I could use it as a term for a bloodline faithful to a covenant for many generations.

Anyway, from the conversation we learn Deacon is a force to be reckoned with. The council doesn't expel him and they take his scandalous talk without squashing him. So he has status either within the covenant or the city itself. From a design point of view Status (City) seems more fun. It leaves his allegiances open while making his popularity a bit of shield. As for that covenant, it could be Carthian, as he seeks to build a new society, or Ordo Dracul, for reasons we'll see in a moment.

Next scene with Frost is at the archives, where he is translating the vampire holy works. Apparently he’s the first to use computer algorithms to unlock its secrets but I guess someone has to be. We learn he’s not allowed here but again nobody is willing to stop him. Or perhaps the elder who confronts him has a soft spot for our villain. Maybe he is even Frost's sire. That seems appropriate.

Next we discover that Frost likes to throw parties never seems to attend them. He’s obsessed with this ritual he's uncovered from his research. That cinches it for me: Ordo Dracul. He might be a socialite but deep down he wants to become more than a simple vampire.

Later at the party we watch Frost expose his inner beast. In vein of most Hollywood villains, he is a callous killer, willing to sacrifice pawns both human or vampire without much emotion. Refreshingly however he doesn't betray his main henchman or threaten their (un)lives. He manipulates them through actual charisma and positive emotions instead. Still he's lacking in much humanity.

Frost then decides he needs Blade to complete his ritual and become a god. Reinforcing his Dragon status, he works out how to stay in the sunlight longer than most vampires. Something we don't see again in later movies.

The rest of the movie is fun but not particularly important for the purposes of statting him out.

Minions

We will ignore Blade himself.

Frost has several henchmen and allies:

• Quinn, a thuggish vampire who loses a couple of hands through the story but also survives being burnt as well as a lot of other damage. I'd probably give him some Resilience.
• Mercury, a seemingly fast female vampire who I'm not sure actually gets named in the movie.
• Officer Krieger, his familiar (or ghoul) who he later murders.
• Pearl, a grotesquely fat vampire. I'd probably consider making her a member of the Macellarius bloodline.

Disciplines

For the most part vampires in this movie are wimps, with few powers beyond increased strength and speed. They have low levels of Celerity and Vigor at best. Definitely get a Daeva vibe from this crowd.

Other Neat Stuff

Other than pure blood concept, I like the idea of the Book of Erebus, a vampire bible. Requiem has a couple of these already: the Testament of Longinus and the Rites of the Dragon. Those explore the sire-less vampires of Requiem legend. But I like the idea of a text tracing back to the earliest history of the race, piercing through the fog of eternity (even if the Second Edition did away with that concept, much has been lost about the past regardless). Something like a journal passed down through the centuries, heavily annotated in dead languages.

Though mechanically it's not something I want players getting a hold of, the blood god ritual would make a nice goal for powerful member of the Ordo Dracul. It looks like it removes the strix-component of a vampire's soul (based on my reading of ) from elder vampires and combining them into one monster. I'm sure no downsides would manifest from that.

The Zombie

One thing I found interesting was the subject of what happened to Curtis, our heroine's ex-coworker who got infected by Quinn. Rather than become a vampire he turns into some sort of decaying zombie. He's still intelligent but his body doesn't seem to be repairing itself. I kind of like the idea of a new variation on the embrace, something worse than Revenants.

Given the level of decay, I'd guess Curtis only has a limited lifespan before his body suffers a structural failure.He might not have a pulse but he needs his limbs not to fall off. Mechanically I'd expect this creature to be prone to frenzies, both from anger (or frustration) and hunger (presuming that feeding can still 'heal' it).

The result would be a nice horror situation even for normal vampires. Not only is it an undead monster but it has a human intellect trapped in a rapidly decaying body. Add some rumors that the condition is contagious and you have a good story seed.

So for game mechanics, treat the creature like a Revenant (Blood potency 1, sweats out all blood every day, no clan disciplines) but suffering the condition of Soulless (from the God-Machine Chronicle) and they suffer the Nosferatu clan bane. Once they lose all Humanity the rot sets in and they begin to lose physical dots every time they regain Willpower. Eventually they just collapse.

Finally I'd add a rumor that diablerie can postpones the effects temporarily.

Stats

So back to Deacon, here's his stats. I peg him as a Mover and Shaker (75 XP) with a nice spread of skills.

His Investigate skill level and Interdisciplinary Specialty reflect his ability to uncover secrets that have eluded centuries of predecessors.

I kept his Blood Potency low to make him a fairly modern Kindred which reflects his technical skills.

Skill Disciplines are very focused.

Clan: Daeva                   Faction: Ordo Dracul

Mental Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 2, Resolve 3
Physical Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2
Social Attributes: Presence 3, Manipulation 4, Composure 3

Mental Skills: Academics (translation) 2, Computers 3, Investigation 4, Occult (vampire history) 3, Politics 3, Science 1
Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 3, Firearms 1, Stealth 2, Weapons 1
Social Skills: Empathy 1, Expression 3, Intimidation 2, Persuasion (gaining trust) 3, Socialize 2, Subterfuge 1

Merits: Interdisciplinary Specialty (Vampire History) 1, Resources 4, Retainer (Officer Krieger) 2, Safe Place 2, Status (City) 4, Status (Ordo Dracul) 3

Humanity: 5
Mask: Rebel                     Dirge: Scholar
Blood Potency: 1
Disciplines: Celerity 2, Vigor 1, Coil of the Ascendant 5 (Scale: Epidermal Shielding Bath)