Vampires that don't suck--hopefully

[jean]

You are going to be a vampire for a long time so you want someone to be a good and interesting companion forn that time. If you come from a noble background then you want to have an attractive, intelligent cultured companion, not some uncultured yobbo or some tramp. Similarly, if you're a thug you'll want similar types around you.

Let us say that a vampire has two urges : feeding and creating new vampires.

It can feed on tramps, their blood and their soul are edible. if slavery is legal, well feeding is even easier ...

But it is true that in order to while away undeath, it needs interesting companions.

These companions might not like being transformed into vampires. They might not like their creator. They might even like to be the supreme leader of the region.

And if too many vampires are creared, there may be a shortage of food...

Cheers

Jean

[Hedgehobbit]

There are a couple of vampire related powers that seem to have been forgotten in recent movies. They might be usable to change the feel of a vampire-centric campaign.

1-Vampires are utterly powerless during the day. And they need to sleep on dirt from where they were buried. Those old vampire movies have vampires lying helpless in their coffins during the day; Van Helsing even uses holy water to ruin Dracula's resting place, forcing him to return to his castle before dawn (no idea on what would happen to him if he didn't make it).

This would help reduce the super-man effect since any shmoe can just walk up and stake a vamp during the day. Plus it will require a Vamp to have plenty of human servants (familiars) to protect them during the day. Each one a potential turn-coat.

2-Vampires are slaves of the vampire that turned them. This essentially gives the GM a way to prevent the PC vampires from getting too far away from his campaign intentions. Maybe by using a VAM vs VAM resistance roll.

3-Killing a Vamp also destroys all vamp he turned. This was always the reason Van Helsing was so into killing Drac as he was the projenitor (sp) of all other vamps. This is another way to force PC vamps to help their NPC creator. It also prevents them from wandering off too much as they need to keep an eye out for their boss. Also, different "nests" of vampires will have its own boss vampire who will, in turn, be loyal to some other vampire whose identity will be a secret to most of the hive to keep enemies from moving up the food chain. Of course, you might want to change the rules a bit to keep all the PCs from just dieing at once. I like the idea that if a Vamp kills his master (pretty tough considering rule #2) then that vamp takes the place of his old master. This is a good way to explain why a Vamp doesn't turn hundreds of people since each one is a potential threat.

One way I can see to run a vamp game would be as if it were a gangster game. Each gang is a group of vampires whose boss is loyal to some other more powerful but unknown vampire. The gangs are fighting other gang who are loyal to yet another vampires. But, all of the gangs are eventually loyal to Dracula who trying to keep all these cold-blooded killers under control and working on some evil master plan. Meanwhile the PCs are working for their gang while secretly plotting to kill their way up the Vampire food chain, eventually killing Dracula himself and taking over the whole show.

Aaron

PS-I'm going to have to step up my plans to watch Dark Shadows.

[Tywyll]

There are a couple of vampire related powers that seem to have been forgotten in recent movies. They might be usable to change the feel of a vampire-centric campaign.

These could work for some vampires mythos, but definitely not all and in general, I wouldn't be real thrilled about some of them (and I don't agree with the last one).

1-Vampires are utterly powerless during the day. And they need to sleep on dirt from where they were buried. Those old vampire movies have vampires lying helpless in their coffins during the day; Van Helsing even uses holy water to ruin Dracula's resting place, forcing him to return to his castle before dawn (no idea on what would happen to him if he didn't make it).

If you are going strictly Dracula, this isn't true. Dracula moved about during the day and in sunlight. Van Helsing states that:

"He can do all these things, yet he is not free. Nay, he is even more prisoner than the slave of the galley, than the madman in his cell. He cannot go where he lists, he who is not of nature has yet to obey some of nature's laws, why we know not. He may not enter anywhere at the first, unless there be some one of the household who bid him to come, though afterwards he can come as he please. His power ceases, as does that of all evil things, at the coming of the day.

"Only at certain times can he have limited freedom. If he be not at the place whither he is bound, he can only change himself at noon or at exact sunrise or sunset. These things we are told, and in this record of ours we have proof by inference. Thus, whereas he can do as he will within his limit, when he have his earth-home,his coffin-home, his hellhome, the place unhallowed, as we saw when he went to the grave of the suicide at Whitby, still at other time he can only change when the time come."

So, coffins and unhallowed places work for him, otherwise he's locked in whatever form he's taken when he last slept (and it might be inferred that he grows weaker without those places, though its not specifically stated).

2-Vampires are slaves of the vampire that turned them. This essentially gives the GM a way to prevent the PC vampires from getting too far away from his campaign intentions. Maybe by using a VAM vs VAM resistance roll.

This is inferred, perhaps, but not necessarily set in stone. I think as a rping game, the more free-will PCs have, the better. However, I do like the idea of the Vam vs Vam resistance roll, so a vampire can shrug off commands from their maker.

3-Killing a Vamp also destroys all vamp he turned. This was always the reason Van Helsing was so into killing Drac as he was the projenitor (sp) of all other vamps. This is another way to force PC vamps to help their NPC creator. It also prevents them from wandering off too much as they need to keep an eye out for their boss. Also, different "nests" of vampires will have its own boss vampire who will, in turn, be loyal to some other vampire whose identity will be a secret to most of the hive to keep enemies from moving up the food chain. Of course, you might want to change the rules a bit to keep all the PCs from just dieing at once. I like the idea that if a Vamp kills his master (pretty tough considering rule #2) then that vamp takes the place of his old master. This is a good way to explain why a Vamp doesn't turn hundreds of people since each one is a potential threat.

I've never seen this anywhere. Dracula is not the progenitor of all vampires, merely one of the greatest. Also, Mina doesn't die when dracula does, and in fact she is only cured because she hasn't fully turned yet.

The other problem with this is the idea of spontaneous combustion of vampires because some unknown ancient gets accidentially unearthed somewhere, which I don't think is necessarily good. The only myth where I have seen this is in Anne Rice, and the only vampires it worked for was the very first vampire, as the 'spirit' of all vampires was connected to her... but they even got around that problem with some work.

One way I can see to run a vamp game would be as if it were a gangster game. Each gang is a group of vampires whose boss is loyal to some other more powerful but unknown vampire. The gangs are fighting other gang who are loyal to yet another vampires. But, all of the gangs are eventually loyal to Dracula who trying to keep all these cold-blooded killers under control and working on some evil master plan. Meanwhile the PCs are working for their gang while secretly plotting to kill their way up the Vampire food chain, eventually killing Dracula himself and taking over the whole show.

[Hedgehobbit]

There is a book called "Vampires: Burial and Death" which explores vampires legends and relates them to how a real human body decomposes. While its interesting (especially where it relates how "staking" started), its disappointing to learn how silly early vampire legends were and little the real vampire stories relate to modern vampire. The author talks a bit about Bram Stoker and speculates on why he changed various things.

Because of that book, all my vampire knowledge is pretty jumbled up and its hard to remember where I first heard of various bits of vampire lore.

Aaron

[Tywyll]

There is a book called "Vampires: Burial and Death" which explores vampires legends and relates them to how a real human body decomposes. While its interesting (especially where it relates how "staking" started), its disappointing to learn how silly early vampire legends were and little the real vampire stories relate to modern vampire. The author talks a bit about Bram Stoker and speculates on why he changed various things.

Because of that book, all my vampire knowledge is pretty jumbled up and its hard to remember where I first heard of various bits of vampire lore.

Aaron

You are totally right, the original vampire is /nothing/ like the modern one. They are more like ghosts or zombies, haunting their former loved ones and all that, which from a roleplaying perspective, is kind of lame.

However, I like your vampire gangster idea, it definitely has some merit.

[Dredj]

Here's the write up for vampires from my other favorite game system: Blood!

• Vampires have double the Blood

Points that they do as non-vampires.

• Vampire blood is thick and viscous

and does not bleed out. While

individual wounds can cause blood

to erupt from their body they do

not continue to bleed from serious

wounds.

• People who become Vampires gain

+10 Strength, Stamina, Agility,

Perception and Pain Threshold.

• Vampirism is transmitted via the

rules in the Disease entry.

• Animals can be made into Vampires.

Attack Hit Parry Actions Damage Blood Critical

Bite 45 - 4 1d6+1d4 Razor Bite 1

Claw 65 75 1 1d4+1d4 Blade Knife 1

• Vampires have retractable fangs

and their fingernails can be used as

claws. Other than seeming pale and

being cool to the touch they appear to

be completely human.

• Vampires do not age.

• Vampires do not die at ‘0’ Blood

Points or suffer any other effects of

blood loss. They merely slip into a

death-like coma until the next dusk,

when they arise, ravenous.

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• Vampires can be endlessly mutilated

but can only be killed by being

staked, burnt or beheaded. Staking

requires an aimed attack at the

chest with a wooden weapon causing

at least ten points of damage.

Beheading can occur as a result of

Critical Hits or can be accomplished

with an aimed attack at the head

with a large bladed weapon that

causes fifteen points of damage in a

single hit.

• Vampires can mesmerise a target

with a contested Willpower roll, this

is a ‘fine opposition’ check. Only one

target at a time can be held in such a

way.

• A Vampire’s bite attack requires that

they first grapple or incapacitate the

target. Vampire feeding is not pretty

or elegant and leaves the throat torn

and bloody. The vampire drinks the

Blood Points that they cause from

their damage, adding them to their

own pool.

• Vampire’s lose a Blood Point every

new dusk, prompting them to feed

occasionally.

• Vampires cannot drink animal blood

or any substitute such as artificial

blood. The blood must be fresh,

real blood and preferably from the

vein. While medical blood packs

can be drunk the taste is foul to a

Vampire, much like UHT milk tastes

flavourless and foul compared to

normal milk.

• Sunlight burns Vampires for 1d6

burn damage per turn they are

exposed and does Critical hits as per

Burn 2.

• Holy symbols require the Vampire

to make a Willpower check or move

away.

• Physical contact with holy symbols

or splashes with holy water cause

a Vampire 1d8 Hit Points and do

Critical Hits as per Burn 1.

• Only established and respectable

mainstream religions with millions

of followers have an effect upon

Vampires. (A million members is an

arbitrary number used to establish

legitimacy. If you wish to have

Scientologist Vampire hunters then

by all means allow it).

Fear Effect

While Vampires are romanticised and

glamorous the reality is something

unromantic and rather more bloody, at

least when the Vampire has to feed. Their

fangs are razor sharp and the bites they

make are not neat and tidy, they are

slashes across the throat at which the

Vampire gulps in an often rather messy

way. Still people are acclimatised to what

they believe Vampires to be, not what they

really are, the revelation of Vampirism

therefore causes less ‘psychic shock’ than

many horrors while the discovery of a real

Vampire victim provides considerably more

shock than normal. Discovering a Vampire

requires a Willpower check or the loss

of 1d4 Mind Points may occur, finding a

victim requires a Willpower check at -10%

and may cause the loss of 1d6 Mind Points.

Common insanities accompanying

encounters with Vampires include

paranoia, delusions and obsessive

compulsive behaviour as well as homicidal

lunacy and haematomania.

Description

A Vampire appears to be completely human

most of the time. They are extremely pale,

growing paler with age until they achieve an

alabaster-like and inhuman whiteness but

at younger ages they can pass for human

easily enough and, when older, they can

cover up their complexion with makeup.

105

Vampires often also have lustrous hair and

extremely bright eyes. They do not breathe

or blink unless they make a conscious

effort to do so, or they breathe in order to

take in air so they can talk. When they

cry they cry pinkish tears of plasma rather

than salt tears, or blood. All their bodily

fluids are similarly replaced by plasma or

blood.

A Vampire’s psychology, motivation and

behaviour is profoundly impacted by the

change to Vampirism. Vampires are not a

very social species outside of the familial

‘brood’ with a social structure much more

akin to that of wolves or other predators

with a strict hierarchy coming about

through strength and experience. Newly

created Vampires will stay with their

creator for a short time before moving on to

establish their own residences and feeding

habits. While Vampires occasionally come

together to fight a common enemy or to

discuss shared history there is no Vampire

community and they cannot long tolerate

the presence of a rival.

Vampires, as such, are no longer social

creatures and this results in a profound

lack of empathy for other living things. To

a human they appear sociopathic, placing

no value on anything other than their

own survival and existence. They are not

sociopathic, they are simply an entirely

different species post-infection and can no

longer be judged by human standards. As

such they also lose many human values

when it comes to art, music and other

creative abilities. Lacking empathy but

having greater perception Vampires value

photography and other hyper-realistic art

forms, preferring the technically proficient

to the emotionally satisfying. Their own

tastes are for the graphic and blunt, an

appreciation for journalistic photography

would be more likely than an appreciation

for artistically shot nudes or even brutally

frank pornography.

When staked or beheaded a Vampire does

not instantly age or crumble to dust. They

simply appear to be a dead human being

with some rather peculiar physiology,

particularly the fangs and claws. This may

cause questions to be asked of fearless

Vampire slayers who do not know how

to dispose of a body properly. Vampiric

blood retains its potency to infect even post

mortem and the vector of the disease can

survive even in truly ancient blood unless

that blood is burned or exposed to sunlight.

[sladethesniper]

While I do love the idea of non-lame monsters, I am a bit confused by re-imagining old monsters when that idea has been done before with pretty good results. Are you wanting to Modify Monsters for a homebrew game or make a New Game with New Monsters?

Why not take Vampire:the Masquerade (or the whole WoD) and change the rules set...say each dot = 20% (or 10% depending if you want powerful vampires or Epic Bad A$$ vampires)...dump the stuff that is lame (angsty emo kidz) and keep the good stuff (clans, disciplines, backstory) and go from there. The rules were lame (unless you like handfuls of dice), but the creative work was pretty good.

It would seem a lot less work doing that, than re-creating an entirely new setting. The only benefit of re-imagining Vampires is to publish it as your own. If you are going to for simply a free setting...or a home brew kit bash, just chop up other games backstories...

For ghouls, use the ones Pagan Publishing did in Delta Green...

For most other "classic" monsters, there are some very good ideas in Ravenloft.

There is a lot of leeway to go from Goth to Emo to Splatterpunk with minor adjustments.

I shall now await the flames :thumb: although I do not mean to cause offense...simply opinions...which is pretty much all I am useful for most of the time anyway.

-STS

[Dredj]

While I do love the idea of non-lame monsters, I am a bit confused by re-imagining old monsters when that idea has been done before with pretty good results. Are you wanting to Modify Monsters for a homebrew game or make a New Game with New Monsters?

Why not take Vampire:the Masquerade (or the whole WoD) and change the rules set...say each dot = 20% (or 10% depending if you want powerful vampires or Epic Bad A$$ vampires)...dump the stuff that is lame (angsty emo kidz) and keep the good stuff (clans, disciplines, backstory) and go from there. The rules were lame (unless you like handfuls of dice), but the creative work was pretty good.

It would seem a lot less work doing that, than re-creating an entirely new setting. The only benefit of re-imagining Vampires is to publish it as your own. If you are going to for simply a free setting...or a home brew kit bash, just chop up other games backstories...

For ghouls, use the ones Pagan Publishing did in Delta Green...

For most other "classic" monsters, there are some very good ideas in Ravenloft.

There is a lot of leeway to go from Goth to Emo to Splatterpunk with minor adjustments.

I shall now await the flames :thumb: although I do not mean to cause offense...simply opinions...which is pretty much all I am useful for most of the time anyway.

-STS

Actually, I totally agree with you. One of the reasons that I started this thread was to separate the wheat from the chaff--what people think is worth keeping for vampire characters and what doesn't work. And if some truly unique ideas show up, then that would be a major bonus.