Game inspirations: Vampire Lepidoptera

Earlier this year, I released a small zine game for Free RPG Day 2024, titled Mists of Rose Manor. Player Characters (PCs) in the game are part of the Seeker Society, a group that investigates strange phenomena in various parts of the world.

The distributed zines were numbered and hand finished! I hand stamped all of these.

In Mists, PCs explore an abandoned mansion with a strange history, and one of the random encounters that might befall them is a swarm of moths that are frustratingly difficult to escape or kill… until you realise that all they want from you is a tiny little sip of blood. (In the game, it doesn’t have to be human blood; the mansion is owned by an experimental botanist who raised a species of plant that produces a sap that acts as blood replacement. There’s also frozen steak in the fridge if your DM doesn’t know thawed raw steaks don’t actually "bleed". hehe.)

Everyone rolls a d6. A swarm of moths will not leave the two Seekers with the lowest rolls. Roll a Lore check to know that the moths are carnivorous and are seeking fresh blood. Find an alternative, or the stricken Seekers -1HP every turn. Extremely hard to kill, but Seekers may attempt once every time they enter a new room, and should describe a new and novel attempt every time.

Of course, this encounter is inspired somewhat by real life nature with moths and butterflies that consume blood/fluids of other butterflies or even vertebraes. These tiny vampires are actually native to Southeast Asia where I’m from!

Milkweed butterflies (the family to which monarch butterflies belong!) in particular have been recorded ripping the skin from caterpillars and other adult butterflies to drink from their wounds (yikes, what a metal image!)

Calyptra thalictri and some other members of the moth calyptra family on the other hand have been recorded sucking the blood of vertebraes! Their proboscis are strong enough to pierce the hides of buffalo and even elephants. Gulp. Fortunately, these moths are not obligate blood feeders; their diet is mostly fruit juices, evidently their blood sucking is just for fun. (Entomologists don’t know for sure why they might choose blood over fruit.)

And if you like something a bit more visual, here’s a video talking about these small blood drinkers!

Just for reference, in my head, the vampire moths that attack PCs in Mists of Rose Manor look more like clearwing butterflies than monarchs, but I think the image of a flood of white fluttery moths swarming PCs has a certain charm to it too.

For some other unusual hematophagous animals, look up vampire finches as well!

Mists of Rose Manor is the first in The Hallway Folios series of games, where members of the Seekers Society investigate strange phenomena and resolve them if they cause danger. The Hallway Folios are very rules-lite, and are designed for newcomers to TTRPGs. Mists was first distributed in a limited run of 80 for Free RPG Day 2024, but this post will be updated when a digital PDF is released.