Vampires are creatures of the cities, for the most part, and rarely interact with beasts of the wild. Indeed, most animals fear the Children of Caine, hissing or snarling, as the unnatural creatures approach. Nonetheless, certain vampires, particularly those with the Animalism Discipline, employs animals as companions, spies or soldiers. Then, too, animals are occasionally changed into ghouls, particularly by the vampires of Clan Gangrel and Nosferatu.
For the most part, normal animals are best described with only Physical Traits. Few have Intelligence scores higher than 2, or Perception scores lower than 3. Social Traits, of course, are purely subjective. Damage inflicted by animals is lethal, althought small creatures might inflict bashing damage at the Storyteller or player running the scene's discretion. Any of the beasts below can be turned into ghoul retainers with occasional meals of vampire blood; such companions gain Willpower, a dot of potence, a blood pool of 10, and some "trained" Abilities that wild animals lack. Assume that any Trait in parenthesis is instilled through human contact and training; an animal in the wilderness does not have these Abilities unless there's something magical about it. Animals who's health levels include Incapacitated can survive longer than those without it — others die when they run out of health levels. The Blood Pool Trait reflects how many points of a feeding Cainite can drain from a beast. Note that animal blood is far less satisfying than human vitae; some animals that have more blood than a human actually have lower blood pool ratings.
Beasts
Alligator
Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 2, Stamina 4, Willpower 3
Health levels: OK, OK, OK, -1, -1, -1, -2, -5, Incapacitated
Attack: Bite for 7L dice; tail slap for 6B dice.
Abilities: Alertness 2, Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Stealth 3
Blood Pool: 5
Note: Alligators and crocodiles have one soak die of armor, usable against bashing or lethal damage. Big reptiles (Nile or estuarine crocs) might have higher Strength, Stamina and damage scores.
Bat
Attributes: Strength 1, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2, Willpower 2
Health levels: OK, -1, -3
Attack: Bite for 1L dice.
Abilities: Alertness 3, Dodge 3, Stealth 2
Blood Pool: 1/4 (1 blood point equals four bats)
Bear
Attributes: Strength 5, Dexterity 2, Stamina 5, Willpower 4
Health levels: OK, OK, OK, -1, -1, -1, -3, -3, -5, Incapacitated
Attack: Claw for 7L dice; bite for 5L dice.
Abilities: Alertness 3, Brawl 3, Intimidation 2, Stealth 1
Blood Pool: 5
Big Cat
Attributes: Strength 4/5, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3/4, Willpower 5
Health levels: OK, -1, -1, -2, -2, -5, Incapacitated
Attack: Claw for 4/5L dice; bite for 5/6L.
Abilities: Alertness 3, Athletics 2, Brawl 3 (Intimidation 4, Stealth 3)
Blood Pool: 5
Note: This template represents a leopard, panther, jaguar, or other "smaller" big feline. Traits to the right of the lash represent a tiger or lion.
Bird (large)
Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, Willpower 3
Health levels: OK, -1, -1, -2, -5
Attack: Claw for 2L dice; bite for 1L (desperation).
Abilities: Alertness 3, Athletics 2, Brawl 1, Dodge 2, Intimidation 2 (Brawl 3, Empathy 4, Intimidation 4)
Blood Pool: 1/2 (1 blood point equals two large birds)
Note: This template can represent a hawk, crow, raven, owl, or even vulture. A bird can typically fly at 25 to 50 MPH.
Cat
Attributes: Strength 1, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, Willpower 3
Health levels: OK, -1, -2, -5, Incapacitated
Attack: Claw or bite for 1L.
Abilities: Alertness 3, Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Dodge 3, Climbing 3, Intimidation 2, Stealth 4 (Empathy 2, Subterfuge 2)
Blood Pool: 1
Dog
Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, Willpower 5
Health levels: OK, -1, -1, -2, -2, -5
Attack: Bite for 5L; claw for 4L.
Abilities: Alertness 3, Athletics 2, Brawl 3 (Dodge 3, Empathy 2, Intimidation 3, Stealth 2)
Blood Pool: 2
Note: These Traits reflect a large hound, such as a mastiff or hunting dog. Smaller, domestic canintes will not be as formidable.
Horse
Attributes: Strength 4/6, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3/5, Willpower 2/4
Health levels: OK, OK -1, -1, -2, -2, -5, Incapacitated
Attack: Trample or kick for 6/7B dice; bite for 3L dice.
Abilities: Alertness 3, Athletics 2, Brawl 1 (Brawl 3, Empathy 2, Intimidation 2)
Blood Pool: 3/4
Note: Horses typically fear the undead, but can be trained as mounts. The Traits to the right of the slash or in parentheses represent a Clydesdale or similar large stallion.
Pig/Boar
Attributes: Strength 2/4, Dexterity 2, Stamina 4/5, Willpower 3
Health levels: OK, OK, -1, -1, -2, -4, Incapacitated
Attack: Bite for 2/4L dice; boars gore for 5L dice.
Abilities: Alertness 2, Athletics 2, Brawl 2 (Intimidation 2)
Blood Pool: 3/4
Note: Traits to the right of the slash or in brackets represent boars.
Rat
Attributes: Strength 1, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3, Willpower 4
Health levels: OK, -1, -5.
Attack: Bite for 1L dice.
Abilities: Alertness 2, Brawl 1, Dodge 3, Stealth 3
Blood Pool: 1/4 (4 rats equal one blood point)
Note: Rats are often turned into ghouls and used as spies and guards by Nosferatu. They often attack in swarms (See the rules below).
Wolf
Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, Willpower 3
Health levels: OK, -1, -1, -3, -5, Incapacitated
Attack: Bite and claw for 4L dice.
Abilities: Alertness 2, Athletics 1, Brawl 3, Dodge 1, Stealth 2
Blood Pool: 2
Note: Vampires who turn into wolves move at double normal running speed.
Packs and Swarms
Although the Traits listed above detail individual creatures, some animals attack en masse. Also, it's quite atmospheric for a vampiric elder to overwhelm his victims with rodent or cainie minions. If a swarm of hornets or horde of rats accosts the characters, use the rules that follow.
Instead of trying to determine what each and every member of a pack or swarm does, simply roll to see if the swarm itself harms a character. Narrate the results from there.
Each beast is given a listing on this chart, below. Roll the damage dice pool listed once per turn (difficulty 6), and allow the characters to try and dodge or soak the result. This damage is lethal, or possibly bashing in the case of small or weak creatures. Packs attack once per turn per target, and act on the initiatie given on the chart.
If a character dodges, he can move normally for the remainder of the turn. Otherwise, his attackers slow him down to half his usual movement speed. If they score more than three health levels' worth of damage in a turn (after the character soaks), or of the player botches an appropriate roll, the character is knocked down and overrun. He can only move a yard or two per turn and the swarm's damage difficulty falls to 5. Efforts to get back up and continue moving have higher than normal difficulties (typically difficulty 7 or 8).
The health levels listed reflect the amount of damage it takes to disperse a pack or swarm. An additional two health levels destroy the attackers completely. Pistols, rifles and small melee weapons (knives, brass knuckles, bottles, claws, bare hands) inflict a single health level per strike, no matter how many attack or damage successes are rolled (that is, the strike hits only one creature). Shotguns, submachine guns and large melee weapons (swords, staves, boards, chainsaws) do normal damage (each damage success rolled eliminates one health level of the swarm as a whole), as do large area attacks (molotov cocktails, frost storms, gusts of wind, explosions). Swarms and packs don't soak.
Depending on the size of the pack, two or more characters might be affected by it and can attack it in return. Anyone who helps an overrun character can be attacked as well. A human can outrun some packs or swarms (those consisting of rats or bugs), but can't hope to outrun others (such as hyenas or birds).
| Animal | Damage | Health Levels | Initiative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small bugs | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| Large bugs | 2 | 7 | 3 |
| Flying bugs | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Birds, bats | 4 | 9 | 5 |
| Rats | 3 | 7 | 3 |
| Large rats (1ft or more long) | 4 | 9 | 3 |
| Feral cats | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Wild dogs | 6 | 15 | 4 |
