Sheaffer suffers from Intellectualization, which does not not prevent him from functioning night to night. It is in fact only a minor exaggeration of his mortal personality. When he was mortal, Shaeffer had a fascination with knowledge in all it's forms, but history and philosophy hold a special place in his life. He would have spent entire life researching some piece of esoterica but he was foolish enough to wander into the wrong part of Los Angeles and was cut down by a drive-by shooting. His sire, whomever he was, was the last thing he saw before his first death.