The Shepherd’s Dilemma

A Portland One-Shot for Paint the Town Red
"Who feeds whom?" — Graffiti on SE 82nd Avenue

Paint the Town Red asks: what happens when you've lived long enough to see every revolution become the new establishment? When you've watched mortals repeat the same cycles of hope and disappointment across centuries?

In Portland's Jade District, vampire PCs aren't community organizers. They're shepherds protecting a flock they also feed from. The affection is real—centuries of watching mortals build and lose everything creates genuine fondness for their brief, fierce attempts at meaning. But the power differential makes true equality impossible.

This one-shot explores that contradiction: vampires who care enough to act, but whose very nature makes them perpetual outsiders to the communities they protect. They're not heroes or villains—they're apex predators with sentimental attachments to their territory.

THE SITUATION

The Threat to the Habitat

Posted this morning on Abuela Rosa's cart: 48 HOURS TO VACATE. The entire Jade District food pod faces demolition for a "Mobility Innovation Hub"—another tech extraction scheme.

For fifteen years, this pod has been prime vampire habitat. Rosa's cart provides late-night feeding opportunities (emotional vampires drawn to family gatherings), neutral ground between territorial disputes, and cover for supernatural activities. The community's tight bonds make surveillance easier—everyone knows everyone else's business.

The Venture Cryptalists want to replace this organic ecosystem with sterile corporate infrastructure. From a vampire perspective, this is habitat destruction—like clear-cutting a forest to build a parking lot.

How the PCs Learn

Option 1: Territory PatrolDuring routine feeding rounds, PCs notice demolition permits. Their hunting grounds are threatened.

Option 2: Mortal Asset AlertSage (baby vampire, works at Powell's) reports through vampire networks: "The pod's closing. Where else can we feed safely in Southeast?"

Option 3: Faction IntelligenceA contact in the Bureau tips off PCs: permits were fast-tracked with supernatural efficiency. Another vampire faction is behind this.

The Stakes

• Immediate: Loss of established feeding territory and safe haven
• Territorial: Other vampire factions claim Southeast Portland
• Practical: Decades of cultivated mortal relationships wasted
• Systemic: Template for destroying other vampire habitats citywide

KEY PLAYERS

Rosa Martinez

65, Salvadoran immigrant, unknowing shepherdThe matriarch whose emotional warmth draws vampires like moths to flame. Feeds three generations, remembers everyone's story. Vampires have been feeding on the joy, grief, and community bonds she creates for years—she's never noticed the pattern of "charming strangers" who appear during emotional moments.

What she represents: Decades of vampire investment in maintaining mortal community infrastructure
What she knows: Every family crisis, celebration, and secret in the neighborhood
Why vampires protect her: She's irreplaceable as an emotional ecosystem engineer

Paloma Martinez

22, Rosa's granddaughter, bridge between worldsDating Sage (vampire) but doesn't fully understand what that means. Thinks supernatural community support comes from shared political values rather than territorial interests.

What she wants: To save the cart through activism she believes vampires share
What she doesn't know: Her girlfriend and supporters see her as beloved livestock
The tension: Her genuine organizing skills make her valuable to vampire territorial defense

Marcus Chen

28, Venture Cryptalist, rival predatorDied in autonomous vehicle accident, now processes "optimization" schemes. Represents different vampire approach: extraction rather than cultivation, temporary profit over sustainable habitat.

What he wants: Quick territorial conquest through development schemes
Why he's dangerous: Rejects sustainable vampire-mortal ecosystems
The conflict: Scorched-earth development vs. habitat preservation

Detective Jenny Okafor (she/her)

34, Portland Police, potential threat Beats includes SE 82nd, knows the community, suspects something unusual about recent developments. Close enough to vampire activity to become a problem if she investigates too deeply.

What she represents: Mortal authority that could expose vampire operations
Why she matters: Could force vampires to choose between exposure and abandoning territory
The dilemma: Useful for stopping rival vampires, dangerous if she learns too much

COMPLICATIONS & ESCALATIONS

Complication Table

Roll d6 when PCs take significant action

1-2: Accelerated Timeline Rival faction pushes harder. Demolition moves up 24 hours. Someone's forcing vampires to act hastily and risk exposure.

3-4: Mortal Awareness Community members notice pattern of "helpful strangers" during crises. Questions about PC motivations arise during community meetings.

5-6: Competing Predators Other vampire factions offer "protection" to the community. PCs must prove their territorial claim or risk losing established feeding grounds.

Faction Responses

If PCs work through mortal systems:

• Venture Cryptalists escalate development pressure
• Bureau creates new bureaucratic obstacles
• Detective Okafor becomes useful ally but asks uncomfortable questions

If PCs use supernatural abilities openly:

• Mortals notice impossible coincidences, demand explanations
• Rival factions report "sloppy operations" to vampire authorities
• Community trust wavers as people sense manipulation

If PCs embrace territorial conflict:

• Open vampire warfare threatens to expose all supernatural activity
• Mortal casualties become inevitable collateral damage
• City authorities investigate "gang violence"

Escalation Track

Turn 1: Eviction notice, 48-hour deadline
Turn 2: Health inspector finds mysterious "violations"
Turn 3: Utility disconnections begin
Turn 4: Security guards "secure the property"
Turn 5: Demolition equipment arrives
Turn 6: Forced removal begins

Each PC success delays track; each failure accelerates it.

RESOLUTION PATHS

Victory Conditions

Territorial Success: Feeding grounds preserved, rival factions deterred
Sustainable Victory: Community preserved with ongoing vampire influence
Pyrrhic Victory: Community saved but vampire exposure threatens larger operations
Failure: Habitat destroyed, community scattered, rivals claim territory

Approach Options

Habitat PreservationMethod: Work through mortal systems to block developmentVampire Angle: Use supernatural abilities to manipulate legal processesCost: Requires ongoing investment in mortal political relationshipsRisk: Deep engagement increases exposure chances

Territorial DefenseMethod: Direct confrontation with rival vampire factionsVampire Angle: Assert dominance through supernatural combatCost: Violence risks exposing all vampire operationsRisk: Mortal casualties, authority investigation

Strategic RelocationMethod: Help community relocate while maintaining vampire accessVampire Angle: Guide mortals to new territory vampires can controlCost: Abandons established relationships and investmentsRisk: Other vampires claim abandoned Southeast territory

AccommodationMethod: Negotiate with Venture Cryptalists for continued accessVampire Angle: Accept junior position in new territorial arrangementCost: Reduced feeding opportunities, dependent statusRisk: Rivals may renege once development is complete

The Shepherd's Dilemma

Each resolution forces PCs to confront fundamental questions:

• How much mortal agency are they willing to respect vs. manipulate?
• What level of community disruption is acceptable to preserve vampire interests?
• When does protection become predation?
• Can vampires genuinely care about mortals without ultimately using them?

LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES

Community Bonds

Success creates stronger vampire-mortal connections, but based on hidden power dynamics. PCs gain influence but must maintain deception about their true nature.

Faction Relations

• Venture Cryptalists: Remember interference, target PC operations citywide
• Old Guard: Either approve of territorial defense or condemn modern attachment to mortals
• Anarcho-Punks: Invite PCs to join broader resistance, not knowing their true motivations

Personal Growth

PCs confront the contradictions of caring for people they also exploit. Some may embrace the predator role, others may seek ways to minimize harm, still others may flee the moral complexity entirely.

Epilogue Seeds

• Rosa teaches PC to make pupusas (genuine affection within exploitative relationship)
• Paloma discovers Sage's true nature (trust vs. betrayal in interspecies relationships)
• Marcus Chen questions whether extraction or cultivation better serves vampire interests
• Detective Okafor's investigation threatens vampire operations across Portland
• The pod becomes model for sustainable vampire-mortal ecosystems

RUNNING NOTES

Session Length: 3-4 hours
Tone: Morally complex urban fantasy with genuine affection shadowed by predatory reality
Key Themes: Power differentials, genuine care within exploitative systems, territorial protection vs. community agency

The Shepherd Metaphor: Emphasize that PC care for mortals is real but inherently unequal. Like ranchers who genuinely love their cattle while ultimately serving their own needs.

Moral Complexity: Avoid clear heroes/villains. PCs can act benevolently while acknowledging they're still apex predators. The community organizes effectively but remains unaware of supernatural dynamics.

Vampire Integration:

• Supernatural abilities serve vampire territorial interests, not mortal liberation
• Success preserves feeding opportunities and habitat, not community self-determination
• Long-term vampire sustainability requires stable, thriving mortal communities
• Individual relationships can be genuine within larger systems of exploitation

AFTERWORD

This scenario reframes vampire-mortal relationships through the lens of centuries-old beings who've transcended traditional moral frameworks while retaining emotional attachments. PCs aren't heroes or villains—they're complex predators whose survival depends on maintaining healthy prey populations.

The community organizing happens, but driven by mortal agency rather than vampire altruism. Vampires support it because stable communities provide better long-term feeding opportunities than chaos and displacement.

This creates different gameplay: instead of "how do we save the community," it becomes "how do we preserve our territory while managing the moral complexity of caring for people we also exploit." Victory isn't measured by community liberation but by sustainable vampire-mortal ecosystem preservation.

The game's themes of entropy and cycles remain intact. Mortals build, lose, rebuild—vampires endure and adapt. But affection can exist within that framework, complicated and compromised but genuine within its limitations.

CREDITS

The Shepherd’s Last Stand is an unofficial supplement for Paint the Town Red by Zachary Cox and SoulMuppet Publishing. This work is not affiliated with SoulMuppet Publishing and is published under the terms of their third-party content policy.