Dollieh Sanctuary

I don't know much beyond the very basics of vampire stuff. What should know for a character that is a vampire based day walker?

There are two types of vampitre that i have read about that can walk in the day:
1. Ancients -vampires so old they are not forced to day sleep - usually at least a millineum old

2. The Argeneau Vampires by Lyndsay Sands are Atlanteans with Nanobytes-science gone wrong. The nanobytes were created to cure illness, but the treat aging as an illness and use the person's blood supply as fuel. They can't be removed and the only way to feed the Nanobytes is with regular blood transfusions. When Atlantis sank into the sea, the nanbytes altered the genetic material to give them fangs so that they could get blood directly from other humans. In the 21st century, they run blood banks and have it delivered to the "vampire" population. They usually avoid the sun to linit their need for blood. They still eat food, which also lowers blood use and because it tastes good.

It seems just about every book or movie has their own "rules" concerning vampires. Outside of the "legendary" stuff, vampires are made up creatures so you can pretty much make up your own rules about how they operate.

Agreeing with K2!, since vampires are mythological creatures, you can do what you want with them. It helps to do some research into actual vampire myths around the world, but it's not necessary. Some "vampires" don't actually drink blood at all, but feed off of your energy instead, aka psychic vampires. Then there are different ways to kill them. Not all vampires were killed with a stake to the heart, or by sunlight. Not all of them burn in the sun. The only thread of commonality is that they are usually created from dead things, and even then, it varied so widely. Some cultures believed a vampire would be created if the person died a certain way, and so they were buried with a stake through the heart as a precautionary measure. Other cultures believed that if a black cat or a wolf walked over a fresh grave, the corpse would likewise rise as a vampire. Original vampire myths also did not have them as sex symbols, with lavish castles and elegant Victorian garb. They were literally walking corpses, half-rotted and wearing only what they were buried in; a burial shroud. Many European myths also said vampires were OCD. A good way to prevent a vampire from preying on you and your loved ones was to scatter seeds or pebbles in front of your doorway. The vampire would be compelled to count every seed or stone before he could continue, which also had the added benefit of keeping him there til sunrise, when he would turn to dust or ash. You could also use a woven net the same way. The vampire would untie every knot before moving on. Strings of woven garlic worked too. As the Catholic church gained prominence, crosses were used to ward off the undead, as they were supposedly possessed by evil spirits. Silver was considered a holy metal, and likewise was deadly to vampires. Some vampires didn't prey on blood or energy but were said to steal away children, used as a sort of boogie man. It's only been the last hundred years, give or take, where people started writing about vampires that were not undead, but were created from science gone wrong. I wish I could remember the titles of the books I borrowed from a friend for my research.

Use lots of high end sunscreen, and sparkle - always sparkle!

Hmmm. The counting thing explains Count on Sesame Street. I've heard about certain deaths causing things and having to bury people in a certain way or place back when working on stuff for Xavier. Stake 'em to the ground, cut the head off and stick it by the feet, bury in the shadow of the church or at a cross roads. Helps to learn about the Catholic end.

Sounds like work :p

In regards to animals walking over graves I seem to remember something about white horses, one would be lead through a graveyard and it would refuse to cross the grave of a vampire...or something like that. I took a vampire course in college but its been a while. Running water also restricts their movements in older traditions, as evil cannot cross it. Also some vampires require the soil of their grave to sleep in, in order to survive.

And really the whole daylight killing vampires thing as most people are familiar with it came from the Nosferatu films, Stoker's Dracula was a daywalker. He was weaker during the day and didn't have access to his shape-shifting abilities, but his activities weren't restricted by the time of day.

There are so many variations on vampires nowadays that you can really do whatever you want with them. I mean, Dracula could shape-shift and hypnotize, Anne Rice's most powerful vampires can fly and set things on fire with their minds. So, go crazy. If you need a starting point I'd start with whether they're biological or supernatural and go from there.

It looks like before Stoker drawing on mostly Eastern European sources there were Revenants who could come back from the dead to annoy the living.

I almost forgot to throw a good dose of Irish in to it and found Droch-Fhola (Droc-ola) and some succubus stuff.

There are so many fun ways to spin a vampire character. I made a list for Ivan so I wouldn't contradict myself by accident.