[CanRay]

There's also the problem that you have Patrick Goodman trying to kill the PC. 

[Lethe]

It turns you into a being that has to feed on living, sapient beings to survive.  (Even ghouls don't have it THAT bad.)  This should not be an uber-cool experience.

Why not? Sure, if you freshly change into a vampire, you will have morals and lots of problems adapting. That's what you probably are referring to.

But you get used to it and after 5, 10, 20 years of continually feeding on living people, your morals are gone. You won't even think about it, you'll just do it, because that's your way of living.

And that's the point where it indeed starts to get uber-cool, and i don't have problems with players playing vampires that were already around for a couple of years. Fresh vampires are not shadowrunning material and will have too many mental issues about their new self.

But i wouldn't let a vampire learn any other powers than given. Adept and mage qualities should cover all things necessary.

[ArkangelWinter]

Even if a vampire remains a white hat 20 years later (which I could see, especially if he was previouslt a priest, monk, humanitarian, etc.), the trouble of finding food is an interesting experience. Does he get in bed with organleggers or slavers and just try to minimize his involvement? Or cherry pick enemies or willing targets and risk starving for his morals?

[CanRay]

Even if a vampire remains a white hat 20 years later (which I could see, especially if he was previouslt a priest, monk, humanitarian, etc.), the trouble of finding food is an interesting experience. Does he get in bed with organleggers or slavers and just try to minimize his involvement? Or cherry pick enemies or willing targets and risk starving for his morals?

Live off Vampires who have already fed?

[Red]

That's DeVries' option of choice.

Personally, I fostered contacts among the penal system and the like, found convicted murderers and rapists on death row, and got some time with them in an isolated location. I'd drain them down to 1 Essence, then let them move along to their well-earned execution. I also took the time to Mind Probe them to find out if I was about to drain an innocent person wrongly accused, or siphon from an already-black soul.

For day-to-day blood, I made friends with DocWagon, street docs and so on for blood packs. Made my Lifestyle more expensive, but that's the smallest of prices to pay for a character with Regen and so on.

I doubt most Vampires go to such lengths, but I felt relatively guilt-free. No propagation of the infection, no innocents harmed.

[JustADude]

I doubt most Vampires go to such lengths, but I felt relatively guilt-free. No propagation of the infection, no innocents harmed.

These days, you just have to take Infertile Infected... which is actually a -5BP (-10BP if you have the Infection power) Negative Quality. Makes you safe to be around, and they pay you for it.

[Red]

I always enjoyed the moral dilemma. The piece I wrote for Boyle had the Vampire narrator feeling the urge to infect a victim. It's a potent and dizzying as anything sexual or addiction-related. And its not like you have any special hold on those you infect, so making spawn is really more of a problem than anything else, since they're just as likely to come after you for vengeance. 

That being said, you're quite right, Infertile makes things much simpler, in general.