"The nosferatu do not die like the bee when he sting once. He is only stronger, and being stronger, have yet more power to work evil. This vampire which is amongst us is of himself so strong in person as twenty men, he is of cunning more than mortal, for his cunning be the growth of ages, he have still the aids of necromancy, which is, as his etymology imply, the divination by the dead, and all the dead that he can come nigh to are for him at command,he is brute, and more than brute, he is devil in callous, and the heart of him is not, he can,within his range, direct the elements, the storm, the fog,the thunder, he can command all the meaner things, the rat, and the owl, and the bat, the moth,and the fox, and the wolf, he can grow and become small, and he can at times vanish and come unknown. How then are we to begin our strike to destroy him? How shall we find his where, and having found it, how can we destroy?"

 - Van Helsing from Bram Stoker's Dracula 

he above passage briefly describes the powers a vampire has at its disposal. Most vampires, like humans, are usually unique in a few ways. Vampires of Folklore usually appears as a ghost to its victims, materialising only when attacking. As they have no true physical form when seen moving, it cannot be harmed physically. Some accounts mention that the vampire produce a great stench that cause diseases such as plagues. In certain cases, a vampire can call out a person's name three times and the person would die before the night is over. If undetected, a vampire can climb up to the belfry of a church and ring the death knell. Anyone who hearing it would die on the spot. Vampires are said to attack livestock too. Anyone eating the meat of an animal attacked by a vampire becomes a vampire too. Anyone killed by a vampire are doomed to become a vampire as well.

Vampires of Fiction have an interesting array of abilities. Since such vampires are animated corpses, most of their powers have to do with a physical aspect. It is said that as vampires grow older, they also grow more powerful. This may mean that either they grow stronger in the powers they already possess or they acquire new powers never heard of before. Due to this unpredicatable element, it is unwise to difficult to categorize their exact powers. Below is a list of the most common powers most vampires have:

Superhuman Strength
A vampire possesses a strength no mere mortal can match up with. They essentially have the strength of ten men. This makes them extremely hard to deal with in physical combat.

Superhuman Speed
As vampires live beyond mortal time, they can phase through a small period of time, enabling them to move faster than what the human eye can perceive. This is also why vampires are said to be able to "teleport". 

Enhanced Senses
As a predator, the vampire is equipped with enhanced senses of hearing, smell and sight. The vampire can see as well in total darkness as humans can see in broad daylight. There are even rumours that vampires possess infrared vision allowing them to track living beings. 

Hypnotism
Probably their most useful weapon, vampires can plant suggestions into anyone meeting their hypnotic gaze. The strength of the suggestions depend on the difference between the vampire's will and that of the victim's. Using this power, vampires can also force victims to forget about the attack. 

Damage Resistence
Vampires are extremely resistant to physical damage. Conventional weapons like blades and guns cannot damage their physical form. Only holy items or weapons made of specific materials can inflict injuries on them. 

Regeneration
Even if a vampire is wounded, their rate of healing is very fast. Most wounds will heal with one night of rest. Only serious wounds caused by holy items would scar them forever. Some even say that a vampire can heal all its wounds by draining all the fresh blood from their victim. 

Animal Control
Vampires can control the minds of bats, rats and wolves found in their vicinity. These animals will obey every command of their newfound master's, even if it brings death. 

Shape Shifting
Vampires can shape-shift into the shape of a bat or a wolf. They can also disperse into elemental vapours, thus allowing them to skip in through door slits or narrow cracks. 

Wall Climbing
Vampires can climb walls without the aid of any equipment. They can climb up or down the steepest walls the way insects do (much like Spiderman), enabling them to seek refuge in places where no mere mortal can reach. 

Magical Abilities
Vampire have limited control over the weather. They could raise a fog or summon a storm to cover their tracks. Older vampires may have other magical powers such as necromancy or alchemy.

Creating new vampires
New vampires created by a vampire master will become their master's slaves. Only victims whom has been chosen to rise by the master vampire would rise as vampires themselves. The specific details of the transformation would be discussed in the next chapter. Vampire slaves have to obey the will of their master. Only when the master is weakened (eg. in daylight), destroyed or if the master consciously releases its control; then the slave could act on its own will.

Immortality
Of course, vampires are immortal. They do not age and die with the passing of time. Although they may appear to have aged when they have not fed for a long time, they will be rejuvenated when they drink a lot of blood. They are also immune to all forms of diseases known to humans. Due to their long "life span", their cunning and intelligence cannot be underestimated as it is one of their most formidable weapons. 

These are just the most common powers. Older vampires are said to be able to direct the elements too. The most ancient vampires are supposed to be able to stand in the sunlight for at least an hour. As their ties with the netherworld grow stronger with age, the effect holy items have on them are lessened. So we can see, the oldest of these monsters are truly formidable opponents along with their accumulated knowledge and abilities. The passage below drawn from Galican folklore says a lot about the vampire's powers:

"The power of the vampire is very great and many-
sided, even in his lifetime can kill people and even eat
them alive; can bring into being, or remove, various
sicknesses and epidemics, storms, rain, hail, and such;
he casts spells on cows and their milk, the crops and
the husbandry generally; he knows all secrets and the
future, etc. Besides this he can make himself invisible
or transform himself into various objects, especially
into animal forms."

There are no set rules governing the powers that a vampire can acquire. Vampire hunters would do well to be more flexible with the rules. Use the information above as neccessary, but always prepare for the unexpected. 

The powers that modern vampires have are not as fantastic as the vampires of folklore and fiction. Most of their powers arise from the ability to channel and manipulate energies. Their main ability is to drain pranic energy without taking fresh blood. Vampires have an aura that causes them to stand out among humans; they tend to capture attention. They have psychic powers limited to their control of energies. Some say that it is possible for a vampire to alter his body's Electromagnetic Field in order to levitate.

When vampires absorb the energy of a human, the human's thoughts may be glimpsed by them. It may be possible for them to read minds if an effort is made to penetrate a human's thoughts. If a vampire can assume control of his/her capacity to handle energy, they can actually give energy to humans. With this ability, a vampire can heal another person through what is known as psychic healing.