The Dresden Files RPG

Vampires

The Vampire Courts are some of the most pervasive, widespread groups of monsters out there. Fortunately for the other supernatural factions, they’re riddled with infighting and discord, frequently feuding with each other, and they require rigid levels of protocol and diplomacy in order to function at all.

In practice, the Black Court is drastically understrength when compared to the White and Red Courts (this can be directly blamed on the publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula). The potency of the Jade Court is unknown—a wild card in the deck.

The White and Red Courts hold a lot of power in the modern world. The White Court has infiltrated the media (in particular, pornography and fashion), while the Red Court has worked its fingers into politics and finance. The complicated rivalries dividing each Court means that a Red Court vampire who’s currently up against a White Court rival can often find another White Court vampire who’s prepared to make a temporary alliance against this mutual enemy—and vice versa, of course. In a way, this benefits the rest of the supernatural world, as the Vampire Courts tend to keep each other’s numbers down.

The Black Court

Black Court vampires have all the vulnerabilities that are described in Dracula: holy items, holy water, garlic, fire, running water, and so on. This has left Black Court vampires rather thin on the ground. The ones who have survived are the old, powerful ones, who have the intelligence and the capabilities to avoid public attention and to protect themselves from other supernaturals.

The infrastructure of Black Court vampires is unknown. It may be that, post-Dracula, they are too fragmented to have any hierarchy at all. Their relations with the other Courts are tenuous, as the other Courts have them at a disadvantage and know it. There’s also the problem that Black Court vampires use up the local mortal population when feeding far quicker than the Reds or Whites do; this causes frequent disputes over territory between the Courts.

The Black Court frequently uses “Renfields”: humans who have had their wills broken and been fortified by black magic to act as bodyguards, minions, and cannon-fodder.

The Black Court is not involved in the Vampire War as a cohesive whole, though the actions of individual Black Court vampires have certainly played a part in the conflict.

The Jade Court

There are few details available about the vampires of the Jade Court. Even the other Vampire Courts don’t seem inclined to discuss it. It’s based in Asia, where it is well-entrenched and well-hidden. Either its members are more interested in staying out of the public eye than gaining influence, or they already have so much political and social influence that petty intrigues are no longer significant.

Shiro Yoshimo of the Knights of the Cross had some interactions with them, and it is possible that Ancient Mai of the White Council has some contacts in the Jade Court (or at least knows the protocols for dealing with them).

The Jade Court’s lack of participation (so far) in the Vampire War is a relief to the White Council.

Other Possibilities

The White, Red, and Black Courts are reasonably public in the supernatural world, at least. The Jade Court is more private, but is known to exist.

So what’s out there that isn’t known about? Could there be powerful vampires with different hungers and vulnerabilities who have managed to keep themselves so secret that nobody knows about them? Is there a Blue Court? A Green Court? A Purple Court?

Maybe. Nobody knows.

There are too many vampires to cover all at once.

Meet more of them in two weeks.