(un) live as a vampire in a small village

[Solomon Draak]

Most Princes apply draconian laws about the vampire-human ratio, something about 100.000 - 1.
So, to exist as a vampire in a 200-300 people village looks like an impossible proposition, right?

Well...
mabye not, all in all.

Let's say the vampire ( a Neonate ) chooses an isolated village, small, unimportant, far from big cities and trafficked routes. Somewhere with a butcher's shop and pig / sheep / goat / cow herds.
He uses the power of Vinculum to control the local butcher, finds an abandoned or unhinabited barn, or hut, or even house ( if hidden enough ), sun-proofs it, and it's done.

If he's an high-humanity vampire he can subsist indefinitely on animal blood. Butcheries waste tons of it.
If he's average-humanity he can keep a small herd of blood dolls, mabye alternate animal and human blood.
If humanity is not a concern he can even Embrace some poor soul, stake him, feed him animal blood with a tube and subsist on sweet vampire Vitae.

No princes, no sherifs, no laws, no risks, no need to hunt, just keeping unnoticeable and well-fed. Is it a realistically achievable plan?

[21C Hermit]

Depends on what you mean by realistic, I guess? A Strix flying by to screw with everything is still realistic enough.

[Solomon Draak]

I mean, it's a plan with good chances to work or it has some inherent flaw that I missed?

[Baaldam]

If humanity is not a concern he can even Embrace some poor soul, stake him, feed him animal blood with a tube and subsist on sweet vampire Vitae.

That actually gave me an interesting idea for a high BP elder anywhere: collect or embrace a number of high humanity, low BP kindred.
Subtly use Dominate to further incentive them subsist in animal blood. Now it has a vitae-providing herd as long as it erases their memories of regular feedings on them.

Yes, there's still the chance of vinculum, something one probably does not risk with Revenants, but those can be terribly wasteful of blood long with other issues.

[monteparnas]

I mean, it's a plan with good chances to work or it has some inherent flaw that I missed?

Flaw as in "this actually won't work"? Nope, nothing really.

But flaw as in "it won't be so simple"? Yeah, it won't.

In such a small town you have to take a lot of care 'cause things may be really sensible. Kill 2 people during a frenzy and you just wiped about 1% of the population. So you'll have to adapt to an ambient where anything happening at all is a big thing.

Otherwise, it is pretty doable. Would make for an interesting game, maybe a coterie spread through three or four towns, finding out the pros and cons of such a life.

[Neos01]

It could be useful to take control of the community leader (ghouling or blood bonding)
Without a strong social group backing you everyone (or everything) could pop out to claim your territory.
Also contacts with the medic or mortician could help you cover up "accidents"

[Marcus]

I mean, if you do not consider the psychology of a Vampire who is deciding to spend his eternity in a boring village of 200 people, seeing always the same faces, doing always the same things, I don't see a reason why it shouldn't work. If the vampire is able to keep a low enough profile - consider in a small village voices run fast and the seed of suspicious is something could grow up in a more dangerous thing. You know, superstition is a thing also now days in very small, rural communities.
Also, feeding from a staked vampire would most probably lead to a vinculum which would potentially get the vampire wanting to free the blood-sack.
You could manage to have some retainer spreading the staked vampire's blood on the ground where you have sank with protean to avoid the vinculum, but again, this ritual could be noticed.

[Michael]

Most Princes apply draconian laws about the vampire-human ratio, something about 100.000 - 1.

Well, they do, but there's probably not a ratio. If you read the sample settings it seems a lot more varied than that. Like, Swansea in Wales clearly has a society of vampires, but only the population for about 3 or 4.

As for your idea, it's more or less present in the old Requiem 1e demo. There's an elder who lives in his former home that's been turned into a historical museum (if I remember right), and keeps a childe captive to feed from.

[Solomon Draak]

doing always the same things

Actually, there is one thing - which in truth is many things - that a wise vampire with plenty of time and vitae, and no concerns, should do: train relentlessly .

Since a vampire can learn to use the power of blood to enhance his body and Physical Disciplines without an instructor, doing a workout routine of weightlifting ( Strength, Vigor ), slip rope / speed bag ( Dexterity, Celerity ) , makiwara / wooden dummy ( Stamina, Resilience ), heavy bag / shadow boxing ( Brawl / Fighting Style ), calisthenics / parkour drill ( Wits / Athletics ) is a good way to spend the nights.
To reach 5 in each of those would take decades, mabye centuries.

Not to mention that mabye, just mabye, it is possible to enhance Blood Potency by meditation.
.

[Ur-Than]

Living in such a village is also a form of long-term investment. If the solitary vampire manages to strikes out an unlife here for a long time, he may expect to see his village grow -in fact he may push to that direction by controlling/encouraging the local authorities, and reap a handful of sweet fruits out of it.

Potentially, a Kindred living there alone could even turn his solitary life into a a powerful bargaining tool with larger communities of Vampires. What if he send a ghoul to a Prince, informing him that he is willing to make troublemakers disappear for ever in exchange of this or that decision in the big city ? Or to the contrary, if he offers a safe spot for a night or two to any Vampire wandering outside of town ? If he has taken the time and had the skill to, he may turn even a very small desmene into quite the alluring death trap or the unsuspecting haven.

A deranged Kindred could also start strange social and familial experiments here. What if he selects one family and tries to make them have children exhibiting some peculiar traits (like minnow eyes, unconventional size, etc.). Plenty of opportunities to do that to, if only to pass time.

And should any outsider try and come here, he'd find a well cultivated and enthranced powerbase for the previous Vampire, with all the bad stuff it may entails for the newcomers. It takes time, effort and a lot of carefulness to build it up from the ground up without the help of already existing institutions, but it also means that our solitary Vamp owes no one and can create it as he sees fit, instead of having to take into account whatever Covenant -if any- he was part of in the big city.

[Neos01]

Actually, there is one thing - which in truth is many things - that a wise vampire with plenty of time and vitae, and no concerns, should do: train relentlessly .

Since a vampire can learn to use the power of blood to enhance his body and Physical Disciplines without an instructor, doing a workout routine of weightlifting ( Strength, Vigor ), slip rope / speed bag ( Dexterity, Celerity ) , makiwara / wooden dummy ( Stamina, Resilience ), heavy bag / shadow boxing ( Brawl / Fighting Style ), calisthenics / parkour drill ( Wits / Athletics ) is a good way to spend the nights.
To reach 5 in each of those would take decades, mabye centuries.

Not to mention that mabye, just mabye, it is possible to enhance Blood Potency by meditation.
.

It depends heavily on the vampire preferences.
A mental inclined one could spend time reading books, for training and entertainment.
With a bit of obfuscation a social inclined one could assume fake identities every 50 years or so, and take an active role in the village community.
I think that the key word here is HUMANITY.
An high humanity vampire would probably engage in less suspicious activities than a low humanity one.
And if things escalates, Dominate can erase memories...

[monteparnas]

I mean, if you do not consider the psychology of a Vampire who is deciding to spend his eternity in a boring village of 200 people, seeing always the same faces, doing always the same things,

I don't think the psychological challenges would be greater for a vampire than they are for a human, maybe even lower instead. But yeah, it takes a tranquility-loving person to live such a tranquil life, undead or not.

One thing to consider is that in a small community you have a harder time cultivating absolute secrecy, but you can also drop the need for such a level of secrecy. The "town secret" is an old and well established trope that this vampire can use to great advantage. No need to blood bond everyone if the village is small enough for there to be no greater threat even when a good chunk of the population knows the truth, especially if you become one of the causes for the town's success and safety, or at least for the top dogs.

You may have cults to yourself in the big city. In a community of 200 the town IS the cult.

Just now I thought of a vampire that sells the town's services as mercenaries, effectively training their young as hunters and bringing profit for everyone. Making the entire town into a heaven, fortress and death trap from a supernatural standpoint.

[Solomon Draak]

That would be feasible and interesting but I wasn't thinking about an ambitious vampire.

More a " I don't want to risk, I don't want to fight, I don't want problems, I don't want stress, I don't want surprises, I want safe and full access to Blood without hunting and effort".
Virtue = Prudence, Vice = Sloth.

---

By the way, training in something you like is fun, so it's compatible with sloth.

[monteparnas]

They would still want to be known by the town in some way simply because it makes things simpler. Be a veterinarian and find one or two common problems that can be addressed with a little supernatural help, and soon you'll be good enough for the community that a "lot" of them may have some idea about you without causing you problems, and you will be able to mingle with them (and keep your Humanity) without worrying too much about changing identities.

Is it a rural town? help with the herds or keep pests at bay with Animalism. Is there a mine or a factory? You can help people caught in dangerous situations and ignore gas hazards. Get any power you have and find a way to be a benefactor for them and you're good to go.

[Solomon Draak]

I guess that would help mantaining sanity and humanity in the long term, too. Not a bad idea.