Because, yeah, "Terrifying" is about right. Charles Stross, of The Laundry Files fame, used the hippo leech as case-in-point when making the argument that "Vampires are not sexy. At least, not in the real world."
@Grubermensch Happily, the video itself is not especially graphic. It's a guy talking, and some pictures of his team wading through South African marshes, and a photo of some dissected hippo meat.
Later on in the video he talks about the time he once ate a leech.
Stross's vampires, for example, are humans who have been infected by a multidimensional parasite that feeds on brain activity. Drinking just the smallest amount of blood creates a symbolic link to the victim so the parasite can feed on someone other than the host.
Laundry Files vampires, therefore, drink just a tiny bit of someone's blood... and the victim eventually dies of dementia.
If a vampire is unable to drink someone else's blood, the parasite eats their brain activity instead.
Lower animals, it appears, don't have the sapience needed for the parasite to feed.
(And the blood of a dead human is worthless, as it provides no link to an active brain.)
Thing is, blood is an awful source of nutrients. That's why real-life blood-drinkers are "small, specialized, and horrifyingly adapted: biological syringes with a guidance system and a digestive tract attached."
@Wrathchild Hi!
So when we look at supernatural blood-suckers, we have to assume (as Stross did) that they're getting something other than physical nourishment from their diet.
And once metaphysical nutrients are on the table, it makes a lot more sense that human blood is special.
Lord Ruthven thrives on exposing the corruption of the nobility, shattering the good intentions of the needy, and driving the desperate to further depravity; the only time he drinks someone's blood, it's a calculated kill for the purpose of driving the victim's brother mad.
While Carmilla regularly drinks the blood of peasant girls, but it's the abusive quasi-lesbian relationship with a noble woman --leeching her vital energy through love and loyalty, not through physical bodily fluids-- that sustains her.
I've seen a couple of their free vids a while back, but the interface was very aggressive about pushing their subscription--to the point that it was getting in the way of watching their free offerings so I could evaluate whether I wanted to give them my money.
I got that experience with Warframe. Every part of the free interface was pushing on me all the things I could have if only I gave them money. It was bad enough I stopped playing.
I've got InDesign Secrets on my RSS feed, and it's a good mix of beginner and advanced content with a decent amount of print-specific stuff. And it's affiliated with Lynda, plugging their free videos.
@BESW Hi. I unfortunately most likely won't be staying long - just attempting to assuage my compulsively-refresh-main-site-after-posting-an-answer cravings.
to be honest it feels like it needs some sort of summary or closing argument, but those are my least favorite parts of essays to write and I don't have the energy right now. Maybe I'll try to add one tomorrow morning.
Does it get any easier to write answers as time goes on? Or, well, more accurately, does the process of writing answers become a more dull and dispassionate one?
For me, the increased ease of answering over time comes from learning how to better share my own experience in ways that others can learn from them, and learning not to try sharing the learning detached from the experience.
ah well....Came to share my glee...one of my players last session got his character drunk and claimed to be singing a kobold nursery rhyme, so I challenged him to write it outside of the session...and he did :P
it is a good fit, but there are others - depends on what types of system they like. Given the ones they've mentioned in the question they seem to be familiar with more traditional ones
I know we don't like "adding my two cents" answers. What's the protocol on whether or not a game recommendation answer is up to snuff? Must it be the best possible answer? Or simply one that meets the criteria of the question?
Grahhh. I know we have a question about how to get people to respond to game organization emails better, but I can't look it up since the site is down.
And so I can't send out my game organization email.
I think that it's reached the point where, while a lot of systems are close to the querent's needs, the criteria are sufficient to identify better and worse suggestions meaningfully.
