Vampires' drinking game?

[Ireth]

Well, after a few hours of working with ideas given here and adding some of my own, I've come up with a game for my vampires to play. And a variation for any humans who might be interested as well.

CORPSE – Vampire Drinking Game

You will need: A deck of 40 image cards in four numbered suits (1-4), plus one (1) Corpse Card; OR a set of two (2) dice numbered 0-5
Players: 2-8
Objective: Be the first to drain your captive human.

Setup:
Acquire a human captive (willingness optional), a table and sturdy chains; chain the captive firmly to the table in a spread-eagle position. Gagging the captive is strongly advised to prevent accidental siring.

Card Game:
Each player is dealt one card. Play begins with the player to the left of the captive's head and continues widdershins (counter-clockwise) around the table. Each player looks at the picture on his or her card, and bites the captive in the corresponding part of their body to drink. Duration of each drink depends on the number on the card (1-4 minutes). If the Corpse card is played, the drinker is free to drain as much blood as possible, even to the point of death. When all players have played their cards, new ones are dealt. Each round ends when the captive dies.

Dice Game:
Play begins as with the card game. Each player rolls the dice to know which bodypart they will bite (see fig. A, below); then one die is rolled to determine the length of the drink (0 and 5 are disregarded). A roll of two zeroes is equivalent to drawing the Corpse card.

Fig. A

Variation for Humans
Photocopy and magnify fig. A, or draw your own for reference. Fill 10 shot glasses with the desired beverage (alcoholic drinks are optional), and place one glass on each of the numbers on the diagram. Play begins as with the vampire game. When a bodypart is chosen, the player drinks the shot, then the contents of the remaining nine glasses are redistributed evenly between the ten. When the Corpse comes into play, the player drinks as many shots as he/she can. The round ends when all glasses are empty.

Note: All variants of the game can also be played with standard playing cards (Ace-10, plus one Joker or other face card) and two standard dice numbered 1-6. The four suits may be numbered 1-4 as players desire, and the face card or Joker equals the Corpse; each 6 on the dice will be counted as 0. Play goes on as normal.


...
*feels morbid* ._.;

 

[ThinkerX]

Minor suggestion:

Tack in a couple of 'loser cards':

With the first, the unfortunate vampire has to drain an animal instead of the human (with the other vampires making appropriate sounds);

and with the other, the vampire looses the right to drain this particular human at all (again to sounds of derision from the other vampires).

 

[Ireth]

Minor suggestion:

Tack in a couple of 'loser cards':

With the first, the unfortunate vampire has to drain an animal instead of the human (with the other vampires making appropriate sounds);

and with the other, the vampire looses the right to drain this particular human at all (again to sounds of derision from the other vampires).

Oooh, that could be fun! ^^ Not sure how that'd work with the dice variant though, since every possible roll equals a certain bodypart or the "corpse". I might have to choose one or the other.

 

[SeverinR]

Can just picture it now,
That one annoyingly perfect vampire spoiling it all with:

"Didn't mommy vampire teach you not to play with your food?"

You know there is one in every crowd.

 

[Ireth]

Can just picture it now,
That one annoyingly perfect vampire spoiling it all with:

"Didn't mommy vampire teach you not to play with your food?"

You know there is one in every crowd.

Heh. I can see the protagonist saying that, though I hope he doesn't come off as annoyingly perfect. I don't want a Gary Stu on my hands.

 

[ThinkerX]

Not sure how that'd work with the dice variant though, since every possible roll equals a certain bodypart or the "corpse". I might have to choose one or the other.

Hmm...dice I'm familiar with run 1 to 6. A roll of two 'ones' is 'snake-eyes'. But...with your system, rolling double zero's puts the vampire in an 'all or nothing' situation. He'd roll a single die again - and so would one of the others. If he beats the other vampires number, then yes, its full drain time. Other vampires number is higher, then he gets tossed. A tie means he gets to drain a rat or something.

 

[Ireth]

Hmm...dice I'm familiar with run 1 to 6. A roll of two 'ones' is 'snake-eyes'. But...with your system, rolling double zero's puts the vampire in an 'all or nothing' situation. He'd roll a single die again - and so would one of the others. If he beats the other vampires number, then yes, its full drain time. Other vampires number is higher, then he gets tossed. A tie means he gets to drain a rat or something.

That could work. ^^

 

[ThinkerX]

I had one more thought here, pertaining to the vampire leader.

You've mentioned more than once this character is a first class grade 'A' top of the line psychopath. Still, he has to keep order some how, and it can't be completely arbitrary. So...

a version of the game for the leader, to maintain discipline - keep dissident vampires in line. The leader draws a card, and gets to either bite or mutilate the body region specified by the card. The Beast Card would mean the offending vampire gets put on an 'animal only' diet for a while (maybe determined by a roll of the dice?), while the sword means the offender skated. The corpse card means the offending vampire gets executed. This way, your leader can say - 'It was the cards. The cards determine what happens' thus making it sound more legitimate if you don't think about it.

This would also bring up two other points, one pertaining to the villians background, the other to the story:

1) The whole 'game' system - not just the part I outlined, but the whole concept sounds like something a professional gambler would have come up with. So, at one point, perhaps that is what the villan was? And perhaps, the...event...that turned him into a vampire, was, from his perspective some sort of gamble.

2) You mentioned way back when that your hero had a sort of near brush with the villan, when said villan killed a runaway flunky. Add an element of the 'game' to that. Let your MC hear a phrase to the effect of 'you drew the wrong card' or maybe find the corpse card at or near the scene - maybe without even realizing it at the time. Sort of a chilling foretaste of whats to come.

 

[Ireth]

I had one more thought here, pertaining to the vampire leader.

You've mentioned more than once this character is a first class grade 'A' top of the line psychopath. Still, he has to keep order some how, and it can't be completely arbitrary. So...

a version of the game for the leader, to maintain discipline - keep dissident vampires in line. The leader draws a card, and gets to either bite or mutilate the body region specified by the card. The Beast Card would mean the offending vampire gets put on an 'animal only' diet for a while (maybe determined by a roll of the dice?), while the sword means the offender skated. The corpse card means the offending vampire gets executed. This way, your leader can say - 'It was the cards. The cards determine what happens' thus making it sound more legitimate if you don't think about it.

Holy crap, that's creepy. I like it. XD

1) The whole 'game' system - not just the part I outlined, but the whole concept sounds like something a professional gambler would have come up with. So, at one point, perhaps that is what the villan was? And perhaps, the...event...that turned him into a vampire, was, from his perspective some sort of gamble.

I never pegged Conall as much of a gambler. The story of how he was turned into a vampire has been well cemented both in my head and in written canon (an RP wherein a partner and I played out the event and what followed after), and it is detailed in at least one thread on this very site. Honestly, I think the game would be something one or more of Conall's minions would have come up with to spice up their mealtimes, which Conall encouraged.

2) You mentioned way back when that your hero had a sort of near brush with the villan, when said villan killed a runaway flunky. Add an element of the 'game' to that. Let your MC hear a phrase to the effect of 'you drew the wrong card' or maybe find the corpse card at or near the scene - maybe without even realizing it at the time. Sort of a chilling foretaste of whats to come.

I can't seem to recall the exact scene in question, but I remember two scenes that are vaguely similar. The runaway flunky shows up at the beginning of the novel, though the scene where the villain catches and punishes him (not kills; this is vital) is never shown, because it happens while the protagonist (and only POV character) is miles away and in his grave, halfway through his transformation from human to vampire.

I might have to tweak the game a bit to fit this idea, or vice-versa, because the nature of the punishment as it is right now doesn't fit with the bodyparts shown on the cards. The punishment involved mutilation of the runaway's face, and you'll notice the head is absent from the body cards (mostly to avoid odd numbers of cards, or awkward dice rolls*). A later scene involves the villain catching and nearly maiming the protagonist himself; I'm guessing this might be the scene you're thinking of. I could definitely add in a mention of the Corpse card for added creepiness. ^_^

*I deliberately had the dice numbered 0-5 rather than 1-6 because I figured double zeroes (or double blank faces, if the dice have numerals instead of pips) was an appropriate metaphor for two dead eyes (kinda like "snake eyes" in actual gambling); also because there are only ten numbered parts of the body, so dice numbered 1-6 would be awkward -- you'd never be able to roll a 1 and bite the chest, for instance, and 11 and 12 would be superfluous unless assigned to either the Beast, Sword or Corpse, and even then it would only work for two of the three. Even if I were to divide the body up further to make for 12 numbered parts including the head, it'd still make the number 1 impossible to roll.

 

[robertbevan]

ha ha... i totally thought this thread was going to be about a drinking game to play with your friends while watching a vampire movie.

drink whenever they show a closeup of a woman's bulging neck vein.

drink whenever a vampire tells a girl that they can't be together anymore because he doesn't trust himself around her.

drink whenever a vampire moans about his lost humanity.



that sort of thing. sorry, i don't have anything useful for you. good luck with it though.

 

[ThinkerX]

I never pegged Conall as much of a gambler. The story of how he was turned into a vampire has been well cemented both in my head and in written canon (an RP wherein a partner and I played out the event and what followed after), and it is detailed in at least one thread on this very site. Honestly, I think the game would be something one or more of Conall's minions would have come up with to spice up their mealtimes, which Conall encouraged.

So the leaders top flunky (and first recruit?) would have been a hardcore gambler. This would work. If not looked at very closely, it puts another layer of distance between the top vampire and his brutal 'justice'.

I might have to tweak the game a bit to fit this idea, or vice-versa, because the nature of the punishment as it is right now doesn't fit with the bodyparts shown on the cards. The punishment involved mutilation of the runaway's face, and you'll notice the head is absent from the body cards (mostly to avoid odd numbers of cards, or awkward dice rolls*). A later scene involves the villain catching and nearly maiming the protagonist himself; I'm guessing this might be the scene you're thinking of. I could definitely add in a mention of the Corpse card for added creepiness. ^_^

I had noticed the absence of the head from the chart. Hmmm...maybe the leader has a 'special' set of cards, one that includes the head, just for his version of 'justice'? They'd be kept in some sort of public strong box, except when its disicpline time. Maybe the blank face would be a different color, to further set them apart.

 

[Ireth]

So the leaders top flunky (and first recruit?) would have been a hardcore gambler. This would work. If not looked at very closely, it puts another layer of distance between the top vampire and his brutal 'justice'.

Not necessarily the top flunky, just anyone who got bored at some point.

The leader's actual second-in-command, Luthais, is a good guy, Conall's brother-in-arms both in life and undeath. Luthais was Conall's first victim, purely by accident -- he was mad as all Tartaros when he woke up after being turned, but eventually came to forgive him (after beating the tar out of him first). Luthais stayed with Conall for a long time after that, even when Conall began to lose his mind after turning his second wife into a vampire; Luthais did his best to keep Conall from sliding into depravity as well as insanity, with no success. As the vampires' numbers grew and they began to build and populate the underground city, he made attempts to keep them from drinking human blood, which was thwarted by Conall's practise of feeding them on human captives. Still Luthais couldn't bring himself to abandon his friend, though he became jaded and bitter rather than the forgiving soul he once was.

I had noticed the absence of the head from the chart. Hmmm...maybe the leader has a 'special' set of cards, one that includes the head, just for his version of 'justice'? They'd be kept in some sort of public strong box, except when its disicpline time. Maybe the blank face would be a different color, to further set them apart.

I like that idea. There could be cards with pictures of eyes, ears, nose, or tongue, with various options -- left eye/ear, right eye/ear, or both, for example. Or a broken nose versus a severed one.

 

[ThinkerX]

Hmmmm...

So your leader has a 'strawman magistrate' - somebody with a title that sounds grand and a robe that looks good, but he's really just a vampire card sharp with a key to the box where the 'cards of judgement' are kept.

Head vampire gets ticked off at some other vampire. He has the 'titled vampire' call an assembly. Vampires gather together. Vampire with key unlocks box with great ceremony and lays out the cards. Either he or the top vampire makes a little speech about how the offender gets to 'choose his fate' or some such. Condemned vampire steps up and draws a card. Head vampire inflicts punishment.

This gives the head vampire the *appearance* of playing by rules of some sort while still letting himself indulge in his need for bloodlust. He can point out he did what he did because that is what the card demanded - and the offending vampire is the one that plucked the card! And, as he would be careful to point out, there are even some 'not so nasty punishments' in the deck - a card that means the equivilent of aquittal, another where the offender gets to live off animal blood for a while instead of facing mutilation, ect. He can also claim he doesn't even have a key to the box where the cards are kept! Collectively, it adds more structure to their society. And if he is really interested in a specific outcome, well, the vampire who lays out the cards *will* be a card sharp.

 

[Ireth]

*nods and grins* I like that a lot. Now I'm tempted to have the protagonist witness another vampire being condemned.

card sharp

I think the phrase is "card shark".