Creating an Account
In order to create an account you must register a valid email address with us. You can do this at the Create an Account page. You will see the following form:
Enter your email into the email field and click on the 'Return to hunt the night!' button. If the email address is already in use (an email address can only be registered once) you will be told and you may enter another, otherwise an email will be sent to that address containing your password.
Signing In
To play the game you will first need to sign in. You will need a registered email address and a password. If you've just registered your email address, check your email for the mail containing your password. You should go to the Log In page. There you will see a form that looks like this:
Enter the email address that you registered into the Email field and the password that you received in the Pass field then click on the Enter the Graveyard button. If the email and password matches you should be taken to the Graveyard where you can create and play vampires. You may change your password after you have signed in on the Account page.
Creating a Vampire
You may create a vampire after you have logged in and are in the graveyard. You should see something that looks like this:
You will need to name your vampire, so enter their name into the field then click on the 'Join the Undead' button and your vampire will be added to your graveyard. You should now see something that looks like this:
Vampire Name
Each account is allowed to have a maximum of five vampires created at any time. This is so you can play with the different power combinations until you get a feel for the ones that fit your style.
To enter the game click the Arise from Your Grave link.
Getting Started
Once inside the game you should spend your first three potential points. Potential points grant vampires abilities that can be used in many different situations. Look for these buttons:
These are the five vampiric power categories that you can put potential points into. Click the category you would like to develop, then click the Develop link to place your potential point in that category. The potential point is then converted to a power point, granting you new powers in that category and more points to spend on those powers. You may place multiple points in a single category or spread your points out across multiple categories. For more information on powers and how they work, see the Powers section.
The next thing to do is to start hunting down your prey. Click on the Prey menu button (pictured to the left), then click the Hunt link to begin hunting your prey. You may not have any prey if they were killed by spawn, but you'll get a chance to hunt prey every hour, so don't worry, there will be more soon. You will need to kill prey and drink their blood in order to gain more potential points. See the Prey section for more information on hunting your prey. After you are done hunting all your prey you will be given an amount of time that you must wait before you may hunt again (at most 1 hour).
Once you are done hunting you may exit the game at any time by clicking on the Return to Your Grave link at the top of the page underneath your vampire's name. If you'd like to play some more, create your other four vampires and practice with the different power categories. Be sure to click the Sign Out link in the graveyard once you are done playing to ensure that no one else can access your vampires.
Blood
Blood represents your vampire's health. If your blood level ever drops to 0 then your vampire will die.
A filled blood point looks like this:
An empty blood point looks like this:
Each new vampire starts with three filled blood points. Blood points increase as you gain power points. For every five power points that you gain (including the first three on vampire creation), you will receive one more blood point. Blood points can be lost in combat or from using particular vampiric powers (Fury). You can recover blood by drinking blood from your prey or using vampiric powers such as Animal Blood or Flesh Knit.
Fates
There are three fates that all vampires are inevitably drawn to. These fates and what they represent are:
- Curse - represents how deeply the affliction of vampirism has spread through a vampire.
- Dementia - represents the strains on the sanity of a vampire.
- Infamy - represents the hatred that mortals have for a particular vampire's existence.
If any of these ever reaches 15 (the dots below the fate fill up) then your vampire will die.
A filled fate point looks like this:
An empty fate point looks like this:
Each new vampire starts with zero filled curse points. Curse points go up when you drink the blood of another living creature. The easiest way to get rid of Curse is to Resist Prey from the Prey menu. This has a chance of lowering your curse. There are also some vampiric powers that lower curse (Dominate Curse). In Vahstania a vampire's curse naturally decreases by one point each night (one hour period).
Each new vampire starts with zero filled dementia points. Dementia points go up mostly due to the use of vampiric powers (ie Flesh Knit, Charm, Dominate Curse). Dementia can be reduced by use of vampiric powers as well (ie Reminisce). In Vahstania a vampire's dementia naturally decreases by one point each night (one hour period).
Infamy is most often achieved when the corpses of your victims are found. Some powers also increase infamy because they make the populace more aware of your presence. Infamy can be reduced by spawn consuming your prey or through certain vampiric powers (ie Lure Prey, Decompose). In Vahstania, a vampire's infamy naturally decreases by one point each night (one hour period).
Powers
Powers are divided into five different categories that cover the extent of all vampiric abilities. Each category is then divided into five subcategories. The categories and their subcategories are:
Beast - Animalism, Affinity, Shapeshift, Savagery, Hunger
Death - Decay, Disease, Flesh, Animate, Veil
Mind - Telepathy, Glamer, Compulsion, Illusion, Dominate
Night - Obscurity, Deceit, Darkness, Storms, Moon
Sense - Life, Thoughts, Potence, Spirit, Prediction
You may increase your powers in any category by developing that particular category. To develop a category requires a potential point. To spend an potential point on a category, click on that category and then click the Develop link. Each newly created vampire starts with three potential points to distribute among the power categories. Each power category can be increased to a maximum score of fifteen. A vampire gains a new potential point after they have consumed the blood of enough mortals. The number of mortals currently drank from is listed next to the vampire's name in parenthesis at the top of the page. The number of mortals to get the next power point is listed after that.
The green subscript on the power button lists the number of vampiric powers that you have active in that category. The purple subscript on the power button lists the number of power points you have remaining in that power category.
Most powers require you to use power points to activate them. This is not a permanent decrease in your power, rather your max rank remains and a number of points are spent from that. If you have no more points left to spend then you may not activate powers that require power points. Expended power points recover the next night.
An available power point looks like this:
An expended power point looks like this:
Here's an example:
A vampire has put three points in Beast.
Beast
That vampire Extends Claws, which gives them +1 damage to all attacks but requires one Beast point.
Beast
Now the vampire has two points remaining in Beast. That vampire may extend claws two more times or may use other Beast powers that require two or less power points to be spent.
Many powers will increase in effectiveness depending on your power level in a particular category. This effectiveness is based off of your current power point level, so if you expend power points from that category, the powers of that category will decrease in effectiveness.
Here's an example:
A vampire has placed five points in the Night power category. Their night power bar will look like this:
Night
At this level, Call Mists will decrease prey awareness by 20%.
The vampire has used three Night power points in activating Night powers. Their night power bar now looks like this:
Night
Now Call Mists only decreases prey awareness by 10%.
Prey
Prey are the most important aspect of a vampire's unnatural life. Without prey the vampire cannot grow stronger. Only fresh blood of the living will increase a vampire's power and restore a vampire's health. For this reason, the vampire must continuously seek out prey, defeat them, and drink their blood.
When you have prey available to you will be able to tell from the Prey menu button. The small number in the lower right hand corner of the button tells you how many Prey you have left to hunt. By clicking on the Prey menu button you will open up the Prey screen. The Prey screen looks like this:
Prey
These are the options for the Prey screen.
- Hunt - You will enter real time mode and be able to interact with your prey.
- Resist Thirst - This option appears only if you are unaware of what prey you are facing. If you use this, you will let your next prey go (your prey number will decrease by one), but you have a chance of lowering your Curse. The percentage chance of this happening is listed. In the example above, the vampire has a 50% chance of reducing their Curse.
- Ignore Prey - This option appears only if you know what prey you will be facing (Animal Scout and Predict Prey can both reveal your prey before you approach them). Using this causes you to pass over your current prey, allowing them to go unharmed. It's useful if you know that the prey is particularly deadly or not worth your time.
Once you have entered real time mode you will receive a different Prey screen:
orphan
- Attack - You strike your prey with an attack, dealing damage to them.
- Depart - You leave real time mode and return to the original Prey screen. This option is only available if your prey is either unaware, friendly, dead, or has run away.
- Flee - You may attempt to escape from aggressive prey. Your chances increase as you near death. Your chance of success is listed next to the Flee link.
- Greet - This option only appears for those vampires that have the ability to conceal their nature from humans (Mind 3+). You make your prey aware of your presence.
- Converse - This option only appears if prey is friendly to you. Converse with prey has a chance of lowering your Dementia, however, be careful! Some prey will actually increase your dementia from talking with them.
- Persuade - This option only appears if prey is friendly to you. You may attempt to persuade your prey to follow you. The success of this is dependent on the willfullness of your prey.
- Drink Blood - This option only appears with converted prey. You may drink the blood of converted prey. This kills your prey, but sacrifices must be made.
- Search Body - This option only appears if your prey is dead. You may search their body for useful items. Sometimes prey carry things that will complete mysteries or that match up to your words of power.
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This is the information listed with the prey:
- Health - Prey Health is denoted by the red dots under the prey's name. The higher your prey's health, the more hits it will take to kill them. As you damage your prey their health level will go down.
- Courage - Courage is denoted by the white dots next to the heart . The higher your prey's courage, the less likely they will be to run away from you. When your prey's courage drops to zero (there are no more dots beside the heart) they will attempt to flee from your presence.
- Awareness - Awareness is denoted by the white dots next to the eye . The higher your prey's awareness, the more likely they are to notice you.
- Accuracy - Accuracy is denoted by the white dots next to the bang symbol . The higher your prey's accuracy, the more likely they are to hit you in combat.
There are some important stat changes that can happen with prey:
- Blood - If your prey hits you, you will most likely lose health, and your Blood stat will decrease. Drinking from prey will return blood to your health.
- Curse - When you drink from your prey, you will receive one curse point, however, if the prey was particularly pure, then the curse will grow even stronger and you will suffer additional points.
- Dementia - If you attempt to Converse with certain prey, your dementia score may increase. Conversing with the right type of prey will lower your dementia score. Also, spirits deal Dementia damage rather than blood damage.
- Infamy - If your prey knows you are a vampire or you did not destroy the body, rumors of your existence will spread. How much this affects your infamy depends on the fame of the prey.
Death
- Curse - Your curse reaches 15 points.
- Dementia - Your dementia reaches 15 points.
- Infamy - Your infamy reaches 15 points.
- Blood - Your blood reaches 0 points.
If any one of these conditions takes place, your vampire will be defeated and you will be brought to the death screen. Each time you log in with that vampire, you will be brought to this screen, until action is taken to either revive or destroy them. Once the vampire is dead, their login will also change.
Deceased Vampire Name
- Delete - You may delete a vampire on the death screen. This permanently erases any of the vampire's information so only do this if you are sure you want to start completely over.
- Revive - You may revive a vampire by expending one credit from your account. The revived vampire will start life again with a decrease in all three fate stats and some blood. Revived vampires do not return at full health.
- Rebirth - If your vampire died from blood loss and they had the Rebirth power, they could use this power to return without expending a credit from your account.
Location
Location represents where your vampire is within the world. Each location has its own set of prey, populace, spawn levels, and quests. You may access locations by clicking on the location menu button (it looks like the image to the left of this paragraph).
Some quests may only be obtained at the crossroads. If you are at a particular location and you have enough prey to spend, you will receive the Wait at the Crossroads link beneath the description of your current location. Having the power of Draw the Damned reduces the number of prey required to use Wait at the Crossroads. If you use Wait at the Crossroads and you meet the requirements of any of the quests for that location, you will receive one of them.
Vampires may travel between locations that are near each other. They may do this by clicking on the Travel link next to the name of the location that they wish to travel to. If you have descriptions turned on, a description of each of the neighboring locations will be listed underneath the location name. Traveling between locations takes a number of nights. During travel, a vampire will not be able to hunt as many prey (Your Prey will be reduced to 30% of origional values) and will not show up in the rankings of any towns.
The subscript in the lower right hand corner of the menu button tells you how long you have until you arrive at your chosen destination. This number will decrease each night that you arise from the grave. Also certain vampiric abilities (ie Bat Form) allow you to travel at greater speeds.
Minions
Minions are your loyal followers. You can access your list of minions by clicking on the minion menu button (it looks like the image to the left of this paragraph). The top number next to the button represents your total number of mortal followers. The bottom number next to the menu button represents your total number of ghouls.
Mortal followers are prey that you have convinced to follow you, whether that be for power or simply to spare their lives and the lives of their family. Each mortal will be listed individually. You may Approach any one of your mortals. Doing so will cause you to enter into a real time situation with the mortal where you can do most of the things you can do during a hunt. An important difference is that, unlike prey, minions begin being both converted and friendly. If you kill you follower to drink their blood or you use certain vampiric abilities, you will lose the follower. Traveling between locations also means that you abandon all followers in one region to establish followers in the next.
Ghouls are deceased mortals that you have brought back from death as flesh-consuming monsters. Ghouls may be used to draw attention away from yourself by using the Scapegoat feature. Vampires with the power of Augment Ghoul may temporarily convert their ghoul into a combat-effective creature and use them to help attack prey. Ghouls are normally very slow, weak, and stupid. For that reason, they are not easily moved from place to place. When traveling you must abandon any of your current ghouls to their eventual death.
Mystery
Mystery represents story and plots within the game. Mysteries often require you to complete certain tasks to solve them. A vampire may be required to kill a certain prey, develop powers to a certain level, be in a certain location, or find certain items in order to complete a mystery. Completing mysteries often have world effecting events, reveal hidden areas, grant special items, or produce trophies that your vampire may flaunt. You may access the Mystery section by clicking on the Mystery menu button (it looks like the image to the left of this paragraph).
The msytery section lists the mysteries that you have not yet solved. You can get a description of each of these mysteries by turning your descriptions on (click the Descriptions link at the top of the page). If you have met the prerequisites to complete the mystery, a link will appear next to the mystery name. Not all mysteries have just one solution, and you will sometimes face a choice with any particular mystery. Completeing mysteries often takes time and thought, so be patient and pay attention to its description to find the solution.