You allowed your child to join the vampire hunters against your better instincts. A decade later, they return home for dinner with a vampire spouse.
“I was already a hedonistic creature, but with you around I can barely tear myself from this bed.”
Write a piece about someone getting hit while they're already down (literally or metaphorically)
to the casual observer it may look like i'm trying to summon a demon but anyone who knows me will realize that i am simply calling my wife
Gets into: A Fight ⚜ ...Another Fight ⚜ ...Yet Another Fight
Hates Someone ⚜ Kisses Someone ⚜ Falls in Love
Calls Someone they Love ⚜ Dies / Cheats Death ⚜ Drowns
is...
A Ballerina ⚜ A Child ⚜ Interacting with a Child ⚜ A Cheerleader
A Cowboy ⚜ A Genius ⚜ A Lawyer ⚜ A Pirate ⚜ A Spy
A Wheelchair User ⚜ A Zombie ⚜ Beautiful ⚜ Dangerous ⚜ Drunk
Funny ⚜ In a Coma ⚜ In a Secret Society ⚜ Injured ⚜ Shy
needs...
A Magical Item ⚜ An Aphrodisiac ⚜ A Fictional Poison
A Coping Strategy ⚜ A Drink ⚜ A Medicinal Herb ⚜ A Mentor
Money ⚜ A Persuasion Tactic ⚜ A Quirk ⚜ To be Killed Off
To Become Likable ⚜ To Clean a Wound ⚜ To Self-Reflect
To Find the Right Word, but Can't ⚜ To Say No ⚜ To Swear
loves...
Astronomy ⚜ Baking ⚜ Cooking ⚜ Cocktails ⚜ Food ⚜ Oils
Dancing ⚜ Fashion ⚜ Gems ⚜ Herbal Remedies ⚜ Honey
Mushrooms ⚜ Mythology ⚜ Numbers ⚜ Perfumes
Roses ⚜ Sweets ⚜ To Argue ⚜ To Insult ⚜ To Kiss
To Make False Claims ⚜ Wine ⚜ Wine-Tasting ⚜ Yoga
has/experiences...
Allergies ⚜ Amnesia ⚜ Bereavement ⚜ Bites & Stings
Bruises ⚜ Caffeine ⚜ CO Poisoning ⚜ Color Blindness
Facial Hair ⚜ Fainting ⚜ Fevers ⚜ Food Allergies
Food Poisoning ⚜ Fractures ⚜ Frostbite ⚜ Hypothermia
Injuries ⚜ Jet Lag ⚜ Kidnapping ⚜ Manipulation ⚜ Mutism
Pain ⚜ Paranoia ⚜ Poisoning ⚜ More Pain & Violence
Scars ⚜ Trauma ⚜ Viruses ⚜ Wounds
[these are just quick references. more research may be needed to write your story...]
Writing Resources PDFs
One of my favourite questions for figuring out a character’s motivations is which qualities they most fear being assigned to them. Are they afraid (consciously or unconsciously) of being seen as stupid? Ungrateful? Weak? Incompetent? Lazy? Cowardly? Intimidating? Like they actually care? etc.
It’s such a fun way to explore into who they are, why they do what they do, what they don’t do out of fear, and how they might be affected by the events of the story. And I love when characters have negative motivations—trying to avoid something (in this case, being seen a particular way) as much as they’re trying to achieve a goal.
!!please credit/tag me!!
“Shit. Shit, shit, shit, c’mere.”
“Someone get the medic. Get the medic!”
“Hey, hey, shhhh. Shhhh. You’re okay.”
“You did so good. Don’t worry, you-you did so good.”
“Here, lean on me. I can carry you.”
“We’re gonna fix you up, brand new. I promise.”
“No. No, stop. Stop talking like that. You’re gonna be fine.”
“Okay. Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do—fuck.”
“I know, I know it hurts.”
"I don't care. I'm not leaving you."
“I’m going to lift you up, okay? Tell me if it hurts.”
“Where are they? Where are they?!”
"I would believe that you're fine, but you have a goddamn knife sticking out of your leg, so."
"You just watched them die."
"This is going to hurt, okay?"
"God, I'm so sorry, it'll be over soon, I promise."
"How many fingers am I holding up? ... I don't have six fingers."
"Stop. No. Wake up. Wake up! I said wake up!"
"I came as soon as I heard."
“Get away! You’re hurting them!”
“Please be okay. Please be okay, please be okay—”
“Shit. Shit, that’s a lot of blood.”
“You dumbass. Don’t do that. Ever again.”
"Help them! Please!"
"You scared us all back there. I... Including me."
"[name]? [name], this isn't funny. Stop... please..."
"Breathe... breathe. Look at the stars, kid."
"It was supposed to be me... please, no, [name], please..."
"Tell me where it hurts, and be specific."
“You’ll be fine.” *silence* “You’ll be fine. Hey! Wake up! Please. Please wake up…”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
that specific brand of vampire media that’s like “you’re a late 90s-early 00s vampire in a leather jacket and sunglasses in some sleazy underground goth club that’s playing electro industrial/aggrotech/goth rock music” ruined me on all other vamp media, I too want to be a vampire in a leather jacket & sunglasses in some sleazy underground goth club that’s playing electro industrial/aggrotech/goth rock music
When the players are about to visit a new town, pre-generate several NPCs who fit the demographics of the town, but don't give them jobs. Your town is Mostly human, with a number of halflings and gnomes? Make a list that's mostly humans with some halflings and gnomes mixed in, with names that match the vibe you're going for and maybe the barest description + a quirk of some sort.
So the list would look something like this:
Ophelia Bracegurdle, older Halfling woman who laughs a lot
Norabecka Johnson, a young human woman who seems tired
Geraldofinio Babblecock Nimsy, gnome gentleman who takes pains to maintain a fabulous mustache
Etc.
Then, when the players are like, "Can I go to the blacksmith?" You look at your list of NPCs and the one at the top is Ophelia Bracegurdle. She's your blacksmith now. Then they want to go to the tavern, where Norabecka is the innkeeper and Geraldofinio is a patron having a drink at the bar. He's using a straw so he doesn't mess up his mustache.
If they had gone to the inn first, Ophelia would have been the innkeeper with Norabecka as the patron, and then Geraldofinio should have been a blacksmith with some sort of mustache guard to keep the sparks off.
Making the list ahead of time doesn't take much time, and you can often re-use the people you never got to at the next town.
Your world will seem vibrant and interesting and like you have everything planned out.
Have fun!
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