GURPS Blood Types


GURPS Blood Types is a 128-page soft-bound book compiled by Lane Grate and published in 1995 by Steve Jackson Games as a supplement for the third edition GURPS role-playing game system. It contains biographies and gaming statistics for 23 vampires, vampire-like beings, and guidelines on creating more for various campaign settings.

Contents

The three broad types

GURPS Blood Types breaks vampires and vampire-like beings into three broad types:
Mortal Vampires--Living beings who have become vampires through some pact or deal. Generally they are not undead.
Undead--Once living beings who have come back from the dead to feed on the living
Spirit and otherworldly beings--Otherworldly parasitic beings that masquerade as a member of a mortal race.

Vampire Types

Those with a ^ can be active in daylightAdze^, supernatural entity vampire from central Africa mainly Ghana and Togo.Alien^, otherworldly vampire—may or may not be supernatural in nature.Astral^, mortal vampire found around the world. Some examples are Bebarlang of Southeast Asia and Philippines and the Chordewa of Bangal hill tribes.Baital^, supernatural entity vampire from India.Ch'iang Shich, undead vampire from China.Civateteo^, an undead vampire of Mesoamerica. Another variant of this from the same region is the Langsoir.Gaki^, supernatural vampire-like being from Japan—may either be animated corpse or otherworldly spiritGhul^, Mortal vampire from Arabian folktalesGothic, undead vampire made famous by Dracula and most of the movie variants inspired by itHalf-Vampire^, Mortal vampire that is usually a servant or slave to the Gothic typeHigh-Tech^, Mortal vampire created via super scienceHuman^, Mortal Vampire who feels the need to drink another's bloodIncubus (Demon)/Succubus^, supernatural vampire-like entity that drains life via sexual contact rather than bloodLamia^, undead/supernatural entity from ancient Greece.Lilitu^, supernatural entity vampire from ancient Mesopotamia. Given their name and nature they may have connection to Adam's first wife.Loogaroo^, Mortal vampire of HaitiModern, Updated version of Gothic vampire typeNosferatu, In the context of GURPS Blood Types it is the vampire seen in the film NosferatuPenanggalen^, Female mortal vampire of Malay Peninsula. Male counterpart in Berma is the Kephn Can only feed at nightStrix, Mortal vampire of ancient RomeUsrel, Undead child vampire of Poland. If not properly destroyed can rise again as another type.Vampir, Traditional undead European vampire of the Slavic nations. Usually attacks in astral form and is more likely to be a peasant than nobelVyrolakos^, Traditional undead European vampire of the Balkan nations. Usually attacks physically and in the legend would often take human mates and have families. Tympanios is a precursor variant that was less insane and did not depend on blood

Publication history

Blood Types is a GURPS game supplement, published as a 128-page softcover book by Steve Jackson Games and designed by Lane Grate. Editing was by Jeff Koke and Scott Haring, with illustrations by Dan Smith and a cover by Tim Bradstreet.

Reception

Rick Swan reviewed GURPS Blood Types for Dragon magazine #227, and rated it a 5 out of 6. According to Swan, Blood Types "belongs on the shelf of every horror aficionado who's had his fill of recycled Bela Lugosis".

Reviews