Editing Gladius et Aegis: Arcane Nature Traits (section)

===Other Effects of being a '''Vampire'''===

* '''The Blood:''' You draw power from the Blood, and must record a Blood Pool score on your character sheet. The maximum Blood Pool score you can have is equal to three times your ''Puissance'' attribute. For example, if you have a ''Puissance'' of 3, you have a maximum ''Blood Pool'' score of 9. Each time you use any ''Arcana'', you must spend at least one point from your Blood Pool, up to a maximum equal to your ''Puissance'' attribute. Each Blood Pool you spend adds +1 to your Puissance test for the purpose of that single usage of the ''Arcana''. For example, if you have a ''Puissance'' of 3, you could spend up to 3 Blood Pool in order to roll up to 6 dice on the test. You can only regain blood by feeding on the blood of other creatures. Human blood gives you back 1 Blood Pool point for each pint you take. The blood of creatures with a Puissance score is far more potent, giving you a number of Blood Pool points equal to their Puissance for each pint you take. Animal blood is less potent, requiring two or three times as much blood for the same benefit as feeding on a human. Also, more potent blood tastes better, and animal blood is barely palatable. Volume is not an issue when feeding - the consumed liquid is mystically transformed into your inner essence. A vampire can keep feeding long after his Blood Pool score is maximised: this "gorging" provides no practical benefit, but is intensely pleasurable for the vampire. You can also lose blood through bleeding, but vampiric bodies bleed far less easily than human bodies. For each point of ''Physical Injury'' you suffer, you lose 1 point of Blood Pool. You can't use Arcana without spending Blood Pool. Also, you can't use Arcana between dawn and dusk, regardless of whether you are exposed to sunlight or not.
* '''Stasis:''' A vampire cannot spend XP normally - essentially, at the moment of death he is trapped in a state of metaphysical stasis. While he might gain new memories, he won't learn anything. An eight hundred year old vampire might never master the internet or the telephone or the automobile. Even vampiric powers are fixed in this sense - any powers he begins his existence with come through the essence given by his sire. However, it is clear that old vampire ''are'' more powerful and the reason for this is because the power of their blood can grow, though only in a predatory fashion. To represent this, Vampire characters must track a separate trait called ''Blood Potential''. This score starts at zero, but increases by 1 for every fifty years that pass. Also, if a vampire kills and drinks the last few drops of blood of any creature with a Puissance score, he gains +X Blood Potential, where X is their Puissance score. This is called the "heartsblood" by vampires, and it is by consuming heartsblood of magi, other vampires or any other supernatural creature that vampires can accelerate their growth. Whenever a vampire wants to spend XP, he must spend exactly half of the cost in ''Blood Potential'' instead. For example, if he wants to increase an Attribute (normally cost 20XP) then he must spend 10XP and 10 Blood Potential instead. This is both a boon and limitation for Vampire player characters, as it means they could theoretically advance twice as fast as other players, but might also be held back from advancing till they can make a kill. 
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