Here are their rough background and stats.
History of the Plague Bearer infection
It's possible that creatures such as the plague bearers have existed throughout history, arising whenever the number of plague dead rose high enough.The current crop however originated within the labs of Japan’s sinister Unit 731. There scientists discovered that under stress certain strains of plague bacteria created colonies that acted something like a slime mold. In particular exposure to modern antibiotics caused the disease to organize into something much greater than the sum of its parts. In this form they can devour internal organs and soft tissue, reanimating the remaining flesh to serve as an endoskeleton for their nefarious endeavors.
Not only were these colonies more resilient and aggressive than expected, they also possessed a form of intelligence. Communicating via pheromones, they soon outwitted their "creators". Some infected the administrators involved and directed them to move the operation outside of Japan. When the Soviets seized the facilities, they allowed themselves to become part of the communists' biowarefare program. It soon fell under the influence of the inhuman intelligences they created. Much like their hosts, the plague bearers hollowed out the program and made it their own.
Currently most colonies remain in the former U.S.S.R. and Eastern Europe. A second enclave has spread to the U.S. to control several pharmaceutical facilities. Seeking to become the dominant life form on the planet the infection is slowly removing its weaknesses and preparing the world for a global pandemic.
Pathology
In their natural form, the bacterial colonies resemble a thin black slime. They area capable of surprisingly rapid movement and prodigious strength, able to over power strong men and out race cheetahs.Outside the colony, the individual bacteria can cause deadly infections but lack any intelligence. The bacteria and the colonies can both create tar like spore casings. In this form, the plague is inactive but can endure for centuries even if exposed to sunlight or modest extremes of temperature.
While hard to kill, they do have some crippling vulnerabilities. Salt and highly saline environments cause their cells to desiccate and die. Sunlight, especially in the ultraviolet range, rips their cell walls apart, quickly killing them. Fire is also a hazard. Finally exposure to antibiotic chemicals can destroy them.
Due to their vulnerabilities the colonies prefer to travel within the bleached white corpses of their victims. The process of devouring a host, provides the colony with some of the victim's skills and memories, enough that they can generally pass as human.
Stats
Corpse Form
The form most often mistaken for a vampire, this vessel serves more as a vehicle for the true monster inside. Appearance can vary from a withered and scarred corpse to an ill looking if alive human being.In any case the creature's temperature lies somewhere north of ambient but still well below human normal. It has no heartbeat and has no need to breathe normally.
General Abilities: Aberrance 11, Hand-to-Hand 11, Health 17, Shooting 7, Weapons 7
Hit Threshold: 4 (unnaturally aware)
Alertness Modifier: +1 (heightened smell)
Stealth Modifier: +1
Damage Modifier: +1 (fangs), +1 (claws)
Armor: -2 (mummified hide); all weapons do half damage (rounded down) after armor; guns do 1 damage while shotguns do 2 points of damage at point-blank.
Free Powers: Drain, Field Effect (symptoms of sickness when within Close range), Infection (plague, Health test Difficulty 6), Regeneration (fully regain health each evening), Tracking by Smell (further +2 to Difficulty to efforts to evade), Unfeeling, Vampiric Strength (spend Aberrance for feats of strength)
Other Powers: Hive Mind (lower Hit threshold of an opponent by the number of vampires and other hosts attacking), Mental Attacks (inflict neurological conditions), Necromancy, Spider Climb
Banes: fire, antibiotics (does damage like acid and destroys the vampire at -1 Health), salt (does damage like acid if delivered internally), Gerhard’s serum (causes the vampire to explode as a class 3 explosive)
Blocks: fire, aerosol antibiotics
Compulsions: consume diseased food, flesh, or blood.
Dreads: ultraviolet light, bright light
Requirements: consume human organs weekly
Black Slime
The true monster within each vampire, this bacterial colony moves like oil, effortlessly sliding up and around any obstacle. Nearly indestructible to weapons, it is however highly vulnerable to sunlight, hence the need for a host.General Abilities: Aberrance 15, Hand-to-Hand 9, Health 9
Hit Threshold: 6 (unnaturally aware and supernatural reflexes)
Alertness Modifier: +3 (heightened smell and infravision)
Stealth Modifier: +3
Damage Modifier: +1 (tentacle)Armor: fluid, immune to all damage except electricity, acid and banes.
Free Powers: Drain, Field Effect (symptoms of sickness when within Close range), Infection (plague, Health test Difficulty 6), Regeneration (fully regain health after each scene), Tracking by Smell (further +2 to Difficulty to efforts to evade)
Other Powers: Apportation (in the presence of soft or porous earth), Hive Mind (lower Hit threshold of an opponent by the number of hosts or other infected attacking), Mental Attacks (inflict neurological conditions), Necromancy, Spider Climb, Vampiric Strength (spend Aberrance for any use), Tunneling
Banes: ultraviolet light or sunlight (deals damage as fire, treat as Hurt), fire, antibiotics (does damage like acid and destroys the vampire at -1 Health), salt (does damage like acid), Gerhard’s serum (explode as a class 3 explosive)
Blocks: fire, ultraviolet light or sunlight, aerosol antibiotics
Compulsions: consume diseased food, flesh, or blood.
Dreads: ultraviolet light, bright light
Requirements: consume human organs weekly
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