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[bryant]

Opinions: do vampires (specifically, Vampire: the Requiem vampires) leave fingerprints?

Also, what are the odds of rolling 25 ten-sided dice and not getting anything above a 7?

Comments

[rmd.livejournal.com]

Also, what are the odds of rolling 25 dice and not getting anything above a 7?

eh? what kind of die?

[bryant]

*stealthy edit*

Ten-sided. Ahem.

[princejvstin.livejournal.com]

The odds of rolling a ten sided die and getting a seven or lower is 7/10

Therefore, to roll 25 times in a row and get that is (7/10)^25

0.013% chance, or a little more than a one in ten thousand chance.

[that-cad.livejournal.com]

Though I am intensely biased, I would say vampires do not leave fingerprints. Natural fingerprints are left behind (let's say at the scene of a crime where two officers are found brutally murdered and their patrol car stolen) due to natural secretions from the fingers' friction ridges. These secretions stop occuring shortly after death. Since vampires are dead, I'd imagine they cannot leave fingerprints behind.

[robotnik.livejournal.com]

I agree - except in circumstances where vampires leave fingerprints in a substance already there - blood, oil, fingerprinting dust.

But if you're doing some kind of vampire CSI deal, vampires would leave DNA in the form of hair and skin follicles, right? Especially if there had been any kind of a struggle.

[that-cad.livejournal.com]

Especially if there had been any kind of a struggle.

Quiet, you.

[bryant]

Well, it's the 80s. CSI hasn't been invented yet.

The question is really more "did they leave fingerprints in the ambulance or in the cop car?" Either would be fairly bad.

[michele-blue.livejournal.com]

Not the ambulance, dangit. I dig the ambulance.

[gconnor.livejournal.com]

Um, yes, and 0.7^25 ?

[head58.livejournal.com]

Well, Jake's fingerprints would be all over the ambulance anyway.

Does this mean I've lost the ambulance? Dammit.

I'd say no to the cop car and probably even the Gremlin. As was noted above, no oily secretions. And no mess or fluids spilled inside the car.

[gregbo.livejournal.com]

Actually, the (0.7)²⁵ figure given is the probability, not the odds.

[st-rev.livejournal.com]

Two ways to handle it:

1) No secretion. If their hands are entirely clean, they won't leave fingerprints, but they may have trouble with fine manipulation because the coefficient of friction of their skin will be so low. The skin ridges are still there, so the potential for physical imprinting is still there, especially if the vampire used supernatural strength to grip something. If their hands are dirty, they'll leave fingerprints.

2) Secretion. If they can still produce tears, saliva, etc., they're still producing oil at some low rate.

Vampires don't cry

[luagha.livejournal.com]

They can only cry tears of blood. This might be stated in Vampire the Requiem flavor text. Similarily, if they want to, uh, 'perform' they have to expend blood, and well.. you know.

These are votes in the 'no secretions' column.

On the other hand, a vampire is an undead thing cursed by god never to see the light of day, doomed to steal the very waters of life on a daily basis like the worst kind of addict, never able to take it freely. Any time there the question is asked, "Normal people have x vulnerability - are vampires immune?" the answer should be 'no.' This is Vampire: The Requiem, not Superheroes who Happen to Drink Blood on the Sly (see Astro City).

-Luagha
Who is actually playing Amber whenever he plays Vampire, except without the whole multidimensional thing and he drinks the blood offscreen

Re: Vampires don't cry

[luagha.livejournal.com]

And I would add that if vampires have no oil secretions then instead of being cold and clammy, you have to always describe their hands as 'cold, and paper-dry.'

Re: Vampires don't cry

[flit.livejournal.com]

Cold and paper dry is kind of neat.

[that-cad.livejournal.com]

If we lose the ambulance I am setting fire to all of Orlando.

[that-cad.livejournal.com]

Likewise, as bryant pointed out, there's really no CSI-type stuff going on in the '80s. So, if they don't find fingerprints, they're kind of fucked. (Though there still might be some witnesses what need killing.)

[cityofbeige.livejournal.com]

With all the speculations of secretion/no-secretion, dirty hands, etc. I'd have to go on the fuzzy side and say that yes vampires can leave fingerprints, but they're harder to detect than fingerprints of normal people.

And BTW, fingerprints are harder to pick up than what you see in CSI*, Law & Order, or whatever the detective/cop show is of the day. Quite a few times there are partial prints, smeared prints, and the fact that everything gets touched by everybody on a regular basis, so there are overlapping fingerprints, or a ton of them at a typical crime scene. Plus, consider that today, computers are used to sort out and match fingerprints, whereas this was not possible with 80's technology. I'd say you figure out some probability and roll for it.



* And oh yeah, it still cracks me up everytime they use "luminol" in that show.

[head58.livejournal.com]

Well, as I said, the ambulance wasn't really properly registered at all, and did have Jake's prints on it so he's likely in a world of hot water. Wonder if I can get points for the Hunted drawback?

Re: Vampires don't cry

[bryant]

See, we're actually playing Frank Miller's Vampire. So I'm thinking that sadly, the no secretions thing is the right way to go. Especially since head58 is now pointing out that they're screwed on the ambulance /anyway/.

Re: Vampires don't cry

[that-cad.livejournal.com]

Way to go, head58.

Re: Vampires don't cry

[head58.livejournal.com]

*sigh* I'll rent the Robin costume on my way to the next game...

Re: Vampires don't cry

[head58.livejournal.com]

More accurately, Jake is screwed. I don't think there's anything with the ambulance to connect it to the others.

Although, everybody else's cars (properly registered?) are sittin right there in front of Jack's place, likely on fire.

Re: Vampires don't cry

[st-rev.livejournal.com]

Tears of blood, sweat of blood, semen of blood, vaginal fluid of blood, skin oil of blood. Simple, and incredibly icky.

Re: Vampires don't cry

[st-rev.livejournal.com]

I had a vampire who retired as Prince of Fort Lauderdale to become an ambulance driver in Los Angeles. He'd learned the first level of Obeah (heal people without making them drink your blood).