I have mentioned Vampire Tara in posts in the past, specifically with Cortex and earlier today with Season of the Witch.
Interviewer: Chris [Golden] said you had a great time doing Vamp Tara (for Chaos Bleeds).
Amber: I did. I had such a good time doing that. I think that people were like oh if shes doing vampire Tara then thats bad Tara but its a videogame. To me its a completely different thing than the show.
Interviewer: Can you give us a sample?
Amber: I think it was something like, I cant even remember the words, what she said. But it was very like sexy and you know purry and she made all these like weird noises and when she got killed aaghaa [funny impression that makes everyone laugh] it was very embarrassingly funny and everyone from the Buffy game were just laughing when we did it. It was a lot of fun though.
Kitten Board Interview with Amber Benson, July 5, 2003
Why Vamp Tara?
Why not.
Seriously.
Why not?
I personally have lost count of all the Vamp Tara and Vamp Willow fanfics I have seen out there. Most are excuses to have the girls kill people or act out their pornographic fantasies, or both. Often both. Sometimes at the same time. But all the death, killing and hot girl-on-girl action aside, there are some really good stories out there too.
So if we go with the premise that Willow and Tara are together in every world (and I always do) then it is certain that Vamp Willow must have found Tara and turned her. A great example of how this story could have played out is Leah's One Soul.
If there is a Vamp Tara, then is also stands to reason that she would come looking for Vamp Willow at some point (see Chris Golden's Chaos Bleeds). That and the fact that Amber Benson has said she has always wanted to play a vampire (and got her chance in Supernatural) Vamp Tara seems like a no brainer.
Now the next question arises, should Vamp Tara have a soul or not? The fanfics are about split 50-50. Some start her out soulless, and then gain a soul, others still start her out with a soul and she looses it. Of course by my own rules they cant have the Anamchara quality unless they both have souls, but I am surprisingly neutral on the subject.
In my adventure Through a Glass Darkly Vamp Tara has no soul, but the cast have the option to re-ensoul her (and Vamp Willow) if they choose, or they can stake her.
Going to the (other) experts, Chris Golden makes her soulless in Chaos Bleeds, but Amber plays Lenore with a soul, or at least a moral compass. Its apples and orange to me, or rather apples and different kinds of apples. To take in one last piece of information, vampires in the Ghosts of Albion and Chris Shadow War Saga stories all have souls. So if anything the scale might tipped towards soul, just to accommodate the different points of view.
Personality
So what is Vamp Tara like? Well lets use Vamp Willow as our analogue. Shy, dependable Willow becomes bisexual, raging psychotic killer vampire Willow. So what happens to Tara? Shy, not-large-with-the-butch, fear of rejection Tara, becomes a sex crazed nymphet. Also it is a well known rule that turning evil turns you into a sex fiend, or least prone to wear skimpy clothing and shifting morals (see Raven from Teen Titans, Jean Grey from X-Men, Xena). That being said she is not above killing a few people that piss her off. In One Soul and Through a Glass Darkly one of Vampire Taras first kills are her brother and father. Of course this will depend on the soul or no soul question above. But I can tell you that given the chance my regular Tara player enjoyed playing a tramped out, evil Tara. And lets face it. The look on your players faces when they encounter Tara and then she rips someones head off to drink from the crimson fountain belongs among the joys of being a Director.
Getting Vamp Tara into your Game
Ok, you decided to use Vampire Tara in your game. Congratulations. Now, how do you get her there? The McGuffin often used is the spell gone awry but that is what got us Vamp Willow (both times) so lets be more original.
In my adventure Through a Glass Darkly Vampire Tara casts a spell to find her favourite sex-toy, Vampire Willow. So the spell this time works exactly as she wanted it to. She needs a powerful witch to bring back Vamp Willow, so who better than Real Willow. That way if real Willow fails, Vamp Tara can still just bite her and have a new plaything to train. Trouble is how do we convince Real Willow and Real Tara to do what a bloodthirsty (literally and figuratively) vampire wants them to do? Take a page from Dracula. Vamp Tara manages to get Real Willow alone and put her under thrall. Holding Willow as her hostage (a game she played a lot with Vampire Willow I am sure) and have Real Tara go get the spell needed. In Through a Glass Darkly Tara went off with the ghost of her father, Robert McClay, to find the spell. They cast it, bringing back Vamp Willow and for a special twist (and not a few experience points earned) they re-ensouled her, ensouling Vamp Tara (her Anamchara) in the process. The vamp girls were not very happy about that.
Tara Maclay
Vampire
Life Points 66
Drama Points 10
Attributes
Strength 6
Dexterity 5
Constitution 5
Intelligence 3
Perception 3
Willpower 5
Qualities
Attractiveness (2 levels)
Empathy
Fast Reaction Time (Vampire)
Hard to Kill 4 (2 from Vampire)
Natural Weapon (Vampire)
Reduced Damage (Bullets) 2 (Vampire)
Regeneration (6 Life Points per hour) (Vampire)
Sorcery (3 levels)
The Sight
Vampire
Drawbacks
Adversary (1)
Love (2)
Mental Problems, Covetous (Lechery) (2)
Minority
Skills
Acrobatics 5
Art 3
Computers 2
Crime 1
Doctor
Driving 1
Getting Medieval
Gun Fu 1
Influence 2
Knowledge 4
Kung Fu 4
Languages 2
Mr. Fit-it 1
Notice 3
Occultism 6
Science 1
Sports 2
Wild Card Riding Horses 4
Maneuver Bonus Base Damage Notes
Bite +11 18 Slash/stab, requires Grapple
Grapple +11 Resisted by dodge
Break Neck +11 24
Punch +9 12 Bash
Kick +8 14
Dodge +9 Defense
Axe +10 30
Magic +14 Varies
Armor Value: 2 (Leather coat)
Real Name: Tara A. Maclay
DOB: 11/07/1980, turned to a vampire sometime in 1999-2000
Height: 55, Weight: 125lbs, Eyes: Blue (yellow when feeding), Hair: Dark Blond
Stories
Here are some other stories to use as inspiration.
Leah, One Soul
www.uberwillowtara.com/onesoulcover.htm
Zahir, Never the Twain
www.shadows-and-dust.co.uk/SDFA/Round1/neverthetwain.htm
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