Vance (Fallout 3)

Vance is the 41-year old, mysterious leader and guide of the Family. He adopts outcasts with cannibalistic urges from all over the Wasteland into the Family. At the start of Fallout 3, he is trying to train his charges to drink blood as if they were vampires, as opposed to eating human flesh. His followers have described him as having a "sixth sense" about people who are good candidates for the Family. Vance is encountered during the Blood Ties quest. Despite appearing shady, and being disliked (although not personally) by Evan King, he is fairly cordial towards the player, and shows no hostility should you state your intentions of taking Ian West away from Meresti.

He is equipped with the Shishkebab, and wears Vance's Longcoat Outfit.

After completing Blood Ties, Vance will teach the player the ways of the vampire, netting them the Hematophage perk.

Vance is quite a smooth talker, who chooses his words carefully and weighs the actions of those who he is dealing with; in other words, be prepared for tough Speech checks if you want to come to terms with him.

To gain positive karma and friendship with the family, you can make a deal with Vance. You can have the citizens of Arefu donate the family a periodic supply of bloodpacks to keep them sustained and to prevent them from harassing the town.

Upon completing Blood Ties, Vance awards the player his copy of the Shishkebab Schematics, no matter what dialogue options are chosen.

Vance states clearly and repeatedly throughout the PC's discussions with him that, besides their ability to drink blood, he and the Family have no other relations to Vampires as commonly portrayed. This means that he can't turn into a bat and that he does cast a reflection in a mirror. Both of those were specifically mentioned by Vance in his talks.

Statistics
Vance has a very high amount of health, being significantly tougher than a standard human NPC. His durability is slightly less than that of a Joinable NPC Companion and (with his armor), slightly more than that of a Super Mutant Brute. In addition, he wields a powerful "flaming sword" melee weapon (Shishkebab) that can kill you in just a few hits. Combat with him can be difficult, if the player choose to deal with The Family violently.

Appearances
Vance appears only in Fallout 3.