Where does Vampire’s mythology diverge from popular belief?
where do the conceits ring true? The following statements
outline real-world legends of the undead, clarifying their truth
or falsity in the World of Darkness.
Vampires must sustain themselves on the blood of the
living: Fact. For the Kindred, the act of feeding becomes highly
sensual. The vessel feels ecstatic when it happens, and the
feeding vampire undergoes a heady rush as well. Certain vampires
sustain their undeath by drinking the blood of animals,
but rarely for long, as either their tastes or the needs of their
cursed bodies force them to seek human blood.
Vampires are “immortal”: Myth and fact. Although
vampires do not appear to age, and some survive for centuries,
the Kindred use the word “undead” rather than “immortal.”
Vampirism is a curse, not a blessing. It does carry
with it great power, but the state of being a vampire also
brings with it numerous detriments, not the least of which
include the internalized rage of the Beast and feeding on
human blood.
A vampire’s prey becomes a vampire: Myth. You do not
necessarily become a vampire if you’re bitten or killed by a
vampire. It takes a conscious act of will, known as the Embrace,
to create a new vampire. Indeed, a vampire leaves
little to mark her passing if she is careful. All a vampire
must do to hide the wound left by her feeding is to lick it
when she’s done.
Vampires have every manner of supernatural power,
such as turning into animals, flying and wielding the
strength of a dozen men: Fact. While these powers are not
universal, vampires have unique abilities known as Disciplines,
which can grant individual undead capabilities such
as these and more.
Vampires can have sex: Fact. While the act of feeding
replaces all physical urges, vampires can still indulge in sex
and even take pleasure from it. Curiously, however, the
emotional aspect of sex vanishes after the Embrace. A vampire
might enjoy the physical sensation of sex, but no more
than she enjoys a particularly savory smell or the touch of
a luxurious fabric.

A wooden stake destroys vampires: Myth. Vampires aren’t
destroyed upon being staked, they’re held in stasis. A vampire’s
body slowly withers and turns inward while trapped in this
state, desiccating and becoming ever more corpselike.
Vampires don’t show up like normal people on camera
or in mirrors: Fact. Vampires show up with their features
obscured in photographic media (including video footage)
and in mirrors. They can temporarily counteract this effect,
but the “default” is a sort of occlusion. The same is
not true for voice recordings; vampires’ voices are captured
normally on those.
Sunlight burns vampires: Fact. As part of their curse,
vampires recoil at the touch of the sun, its vital rays scorching
their undead flesh. Vampires typically spend the daylight
hours in the cold sleep of undeath, and only the most
resolute can shake off the weight of the day’s forced slumber
for even a short time.
Garlic and running water repels vampires: Myth. Such
notions are nothing more than old wives’ tales, cultural biases
or perhaps the banes of certain bloodlines of Kindred.
Vampires are repulsed by crosses and other holy symbols:
Myth — almost. While such is not generally the case,
the devout sometimes do affect the Kindred with miraculous
aspects of their faith.
Vampires’ souls are as dead as their bodies after they become
undead: Myth and fact. While a vampire might believe
that he feels an emotion, what he actually feels is the echo of
mortal emotions that the remnants of his soul apply to his
current experience. That is, a vampire who feels angry might
indeed be angry at the subject of his ire, but the resonance of
the emotion actually comes from some situation the vampire
dealt with in life. This condition results in many strange situations.
A vampire who has never experienced a given emotion
before becoming Kindred might be emotionally confused,
while a vampiric artist might create a work of “art” that is
awkwardly devoid of any true emotional insight.