Your Vampire and You: a User's Manual
General Mechanics:
Unlike your standard mythology, he's not quite "dead"; blood pumps and circulates, neurons fire, you can't sustain an existence without its basic operations, after all, even if you're essentially an animated corpse kept alive by a Christianity-fearing virus). He's got a pulse, consequently, and a heartbeat, and he even breathes, only they're all depressed enough to be generally accepted by the medical community as "incompatible with life" -- they're enough to maintain the body, keep it running and operating, but if the average person tried to live that way they'd long since be dead because it's just not practically sufficient.
Newly made vamps -- fledglings, like Ed for example -- tend to be particularly bloodthirsty and are hungry almost constantly for the first month or so while their human bodies shed what's left of their human lives and adjust to the rigors of a vampiric existence. They tend to have very short shelf lives if left to their own devices because they don't have the un-life experience to know where their limits are, or how to adequately control their urges as needed; comparatively few make it through the first months, but those that do tend to stick around for a while.
Turning:
The turning process, for its part, is fairly similar to the usual mythology; the Sire drains the prospective Childe, or nearly, anyway, and when the victim dies he or she is inevitably reborn a vampire, forever connected to the one who turned him or her until they're effectively released from the bond. One bite won't do it unless it's a complete draining, but repeated exposures will, only the process is much more gradual; see what happened to Doris, for example -- she wasn't a true vampire, but when Charley tried to break her out she turned to dust in daylight all the same.
The Blood is the Life:
Vampire blood on its own also has some special properties, namely enthralling humans, bending them to the vampire's will for as long as the blood's still in their system, with the added benefit of giving them some vampiric qualities, namely a taste for rare meat and mildly raised strength and stamina. Whether or not the mortal actually ENJOYS being a thrall varies from individual to individual. The blood can heal damaged tissue as well, but this tends to be something they don't use unless they have to.
According to the Fright Night mythology, there are several varieties of vampires rather than only one. Jerry comes from a particularly long-lived breed given to nesting under the earth, building entire tribes of Children rather than living out solitary existences. General abilities are the same as in most mythologies; increased strength, hearing, and sense of smell, as well as heightened reflexes and accelerated healing.
They also have three "forms"; one where they look human, aside from the pale skin, one where their eyes turn black, their fangs sprout, and they grow claws, and the final monstrous form, with a mouth full of shark teeth and features twisted to match.
Weaknesses:
All the old standards apply; immediate death can be caused by a stake to the heart, beheading, or sunlight. They're also vulnerable to crosses (although not as much as you'd think, it mostly depends on the strength of faith of the one brandishing it), and holy water or holy items. They also can't be seen in mirrors or on video.
Modifications (applies to only):
The weaknesses mentioned above are still in full force, obviously, but he'll also have checks on strength and durability to keep him manageable; movie canon states his is a particularly difficult breed to kill, they tend to be the Energizer Bunny of vampires (he's already had his head nearly severed and continued on like it weren't no thang, for example, and Jerry was squished by a car for miles and still managed to tear the damn thing apart and shake it off, so there's precedent). Consequently, he'll need to be pretty well de-powered to compensate. Strength's on par with your average, in-shape adult male (so stronger than his build would indicate but not INHUMANLY so), heal time's tripled, and things like spider climbing and crazy gymnastics are off-limits. The vampire blood properties are dampened too; the healing component still operates the way it always has, but consuming it will only hold a mortal in thrall for 20 minutes (more or less), depending on general will and stubbornness of the one in question -- particularly determined and strong-willed individuals (or ones with some measure of immunity to Glamour) might only be effected for 5 or 10 minutes, while the weaker-minded might be subjected to a half hour.
Fun Facts:
- Ed's Jewish. Yes, he's still vulnerable to crosses, not Stars of David. He doesn't get it either.
- Ed needs to nest under the earth at night. Yeah, that's right. He sleeps in a pile of dirt. (Which on the Barge will consist of a large crate filled with dirt; his floor? SUCH A MESS.)