Vampirism and Lycanthropy

>>51924723
Didn't CSI cover vampires?

>>51924723
Magic

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>>51924753

I don't normally use the idea of them as a virus and just have werewolves be undead and the result of wildlife animals possessing humans, a human killed by a werewolf is a corpse that can be offered for the ghosts pack and when the pack is out of ghosts then it stops working.

But i'd use parasites. They've been shown capable of altering hosts. Vampires would be a sentient virus that uses a corpses brains and memories while adjusting the body using its own chemical skills.

>>51924753
>This
Don't bust your head trying to explain shit in a fantasy setting

>>51924753
I ain't gotta explain shit.

>>51924723
Vamparism is a magical virus, Lycanthropy is just pure magic.

>>51924723
i wouldn't, because it wouldn't add anything to the game. they're curses; magical diseases. just like the folklore.

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>>51924723
Actually, this gives me an idea:
I just finished watching a series on The Broad Street Pump, a cholera outbreak in London wherein it was discovered that cholera was travelling through the Thames and into the water supply.

What if I put together a story (not enough material for a whole campaign, maybe a few sessions of a sidequest) wherein a precinct within a city had an outburst of vampirism caused by some Vampire blood in the water supply.

Like, some people in this town (specifically, those who get their water from a specific well/pump) suddenly get stricken with vampirism and they don't know why. Local authorities are convinced one of the townspeople must be the brood master and begin prosecuting left and right.

Only question is, how to I convince the PCs to look deeper than "Help the local authorities shake down the townspeople looking for the Brood Master"?

>>51927242
If you really have to, you can take a page from Gumshoe: Always give the players the important clue, no matter what they do. It's like quantum ogres on steoroids.

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Vampirism and lycanthropy are examples of what is known as anathemic pathology. A combination of a supernatural, and often divine, curse paired with some form of pathogen which manifests as an alteration of a patient's soul and body. In lycanthropy's case, it is a bacterium that contains elements of wolf morphogenic information; which passes through body fluids, most notably within saliva and blood, thought the rare case of passing by reproductive fluids is not unheard of.

The first phase consists of the initial infection, the symptoms resembling that of a minor infection. An easy, but not completely trustworthy, way to figure out if you have been infected is a quick healing would which will often heal in half the time it normally would. For best results, always see a doctor to have some form of anticursal and rabies shot applied. It could mean the difference between a new scar, degenerating into a terrible disease, or the possible loss of life of family members and friends along with containment.

Phase two consists of roughly monthly transformations into a wolf-like creature which seeks to emulate attributes of your average hungry Canis lupus. The initial transformation is calorie intensive and tends to leave the newly formed wolf hungry, resulting in them usually escaping out of now unfamiliar territory and filling its belly at the soonest possible time. This phase can last anywhere from a couple months upwards of several years, depending on how perceptive and lucky the infected individual is.

Phase three is the final phase and becomes a permanent and irreversible infection. Usually by this time the infection has spread through all of their body, with only a simple mental trigger left to initiate the final phase. Upon acceptance of their new abilities and form, the individuals morphogenic field fully meshes with that of the invading wolf spirit elements. At this phase only very powerful thaumaturgy can reverse such effects.

>>51924723
The Strain did a pretty interesting job of giving vampires a pathological explanation while preserving a supernatural element. Parasitic bloodworms that are actually fragments of a fallen angel, del Taco does it again lmaoooo

Lycanthropy in the sense of shifting back and forth is a bit too fluid to be anything but magic.