How long does the embrace take?

[James_Nostack]

I'm thinking of starting a 1:1 game immediately after a neonate receives the embrace, and I'm wondering how much time would have passed. Obviously I'd go with whatever seems to offer the most story possibilities, but I'm curious if there's a rule about this, or what people use in their own games.

[tsusasi]

It depends on the players and ST. What kind of knowledge are the ST and players expecting to have in the setting? Most of my players are already experienced players and aren't interested in playing through being taught the game mechanics over and over, but have no qualms about playing characters that don't know the full intracacies and limits of their abilities much less the other clans and covenants, so if thats the case and you're starting them at the bottom rung then probably start a few months to a year or so after the character has been formally recognized by kindred society.

[Kerensky]

There's no hard and fast rule in Requiem. I would base it on what sort of mood and atmosphere you're trying to achieve. Something romantic? A tender Embrace where the childe returns to life to suckle on the sire's wrist. Horror and despair? The childe wakes up in his or her own grave, nights after they were murdered for their blood, with no knowledge of the world into which they've been reborn. (Bonus horror: they're a revenant.). Or any combination of the two. I've used multiple. Once, a character was embraced by her sire, post-frenzy. He was going to give her the choice and turn her if she accepted, but she made him lose his temper before he thought she was ready and he killed her. That led to an... interesting dynamic.

[Rose Bailey]

2d10 minutes of feverish sucking at the vein or the artery or the sippy cup.

1d10 hours of seizures, chills, and vomiting pink foam that looks unsettlingly like you ate a bath bomb.

1d10 days of sleeplessness, abdominal pain, sudden sleep, dry mouth, and sensitivity to both natural and artificial light.

3d10 whole damn life of figuring out what the shit to do now.

...

....obviously, a caring relationship with one's sire is going to help with handling all that.

[Maseiken]

“Whole damn life” indeed.

[Deinos]

....obviously, a caring relationship with one's sire is going to help with handling all that.

I do love allusions to tender relations between sire and fledgling...

[Tabanese]

...snip...

That long, eh? Always assumed it was a 'blood in, dramatic beat, new vampire'. I watch too much TV. :P

[Tessie]

That long, eh? Always assumed it was a 'blood in, dramatic beat, new vampire'. I watch too much TV. :P

To be fair the process described in the book doesn't have to take more than two turns (though generally multiple turns are required for the exsanguination, but the act of turning would only take a single turn). Obviously there's a natural adjustment period after such a thing depending on the victim's ability to psychologically adapt to their new state, but there's nothing to suggest that it would take any time at all for the effects of the Embrace and the full vampire package to fully manifest (except for posthumous Embraces, of course).