Vampiric frenzy is related to your character self control, it is the beast trying to take control, and your character will feel it every time he or she is under stress or in peril. The beast is primitive, instinctive. In this state, the character loses control of himself, as he gives into the darkest instincts of the vampire nature, generally unwillingly.

If he is hungry he will do anything to feed, regardless if feeds off a lover, or a friend, or an enemy. None of that matters for a vampire in frenzy, it has no etchnics. He will feed from whoever is the closest to him, even if that means the death of the vessel.

A vampire struck by fear will commit any atrocity to remove himself from the source of his terror, regardless of the consequences. The character completely surrenders to the basest aspects of his Nature, shunting aside the demeanor most commonly presented to those around him. He is, in short, the Beast.


Among the Camarilla, succumbing to frenzy is seen as weakness, a humiliating loss of control. Vampires who frenzy often, and especially in public, run the risk of social rejection or worse. Though many among the Camarilla Kindred are monsters through and through, the laws of the Masquerade and simple civility require that the Beast be kept in check; those who cannot do so are not vampires, but animals, and should be put down for the good of all. Among the Sabbat, frenzy is seen as a natural urge, like mortals' needs for food and sex. Sabbat vampires deride the Camarilla's attitude toward frenzy as that of weak-willed fools who cannot accept their true predatory nature. Accordingly, Sabbat typically seek not to prevent frenzy, but to control it and use it to their advantage.

A frenzy can be induced by many things, but great rage or hunger are the most common provocations. It is dangerous to deny or humiliate the undead. For this reason, vampires of the Camarilla commonly veil slights and threats in webs of double-talk and subtlety, that they not suddenly trigger an outburst in Elysium or conclave.

A vampire in frenzy gains several temporary benefits from the state. Vampires in frenzy completely ignore penalties inflicted by injury until the frenzy ends. Once the frenzy is finished, the pain comes back and the crippling effects of the wounds take hold again. All difficulties to Dominate a frenzied character are increased, and all difficulties to resist the effects of Dominate are reduced as well. Lastly, characters in frenzy are immune to the detrimental effects of Rotschreck.

Though there are few things that can kill a vampire - and though many among the Damned claim to loathe their immortality - certain sources of injury frighten all vampires. Sunlight and fire can bring about a panicked flight-or-fight mentality. While under the spell of this Rotschreck, a vampire flees in blind panic from the source of her fear, frantically lashing out at anything in her way regardless of any personal attachments or affiliations. Rotschreck is in most ways similar to any other frenzy; just as the Beast sometimes seizes control in times of anger, so too in times of great fear.

Relatively innocuous stimuli, or stimuli directly under the character's control, are unlikely to induce Rotschreck. For example, a character who sees a lit cigarette in a nightclub, or a screened-in fireplace in an ally's home, might grow uneasy, but is unlikely to succumb to the Red Fear. If that same cigarette is pointed threateningly at the vampire, though, or the fireplace suddenly flares up in a draught....

Failure to avoid Rotschreck means the vampire flees madly from the danger, making a beeline for safety and tearing apart anything or anyone that gets in her way. Any attempt to restrain a vampire suffering from the Red Fear results in an immediate attack, just as if the character were suffering from a frenzy.