[Information] Vamp game discussion Room

[roaddog41]

Copied form initial thread

I have been kicking this idea around in my head for quite some time, just have never had the chance to really play it out. Perhaps over this summer or in the fall I would run one.

Group Organization There are two general types of vampire organizations used in fantasy. The lone ultra powerful creature or the coven. Since I prefer group games to solo games, I would use the coven approach. A group of vampires created by a single master, hiding and surviving together.

Changes to the template 1) loss of the energy drain slam attack. Its overpowered, and almost no fantasy novel I have ever read has vapires able to weaken their foes with a touch. 2) When a vampire is brought to 0 hp or below it becomes incapacitated. They do not die, instead they simply can take no actions until their fast healing brings them back to positive hp. In most fantasy I have read vampires don't poof into a gas and flee back to their coffin, they can be incapacitated and then staked. 3) I would be rewriting the killing methods into the folowing three. Staking, burning, or fully imersing in running water for a length of time. 4) A certain amount of time during the day would need to be spent inside a coffin. This amount of time would be inversely proportional to number of HD. A newly risen vamp would need to spend 8-10 hours within their coffin during the daylight, while a centuries old vampire would need an hour or two tops. 5) The dominate person effect would be altered in order to grow in power with time. It would initially start as a mild version of charm person and eventually grow into a dominate monster effect. 6) The drinking of blood would become a survival necessity, with a "blood pool". Every con point of blood drained would add a specific number of points to the pool. The pool would drain slowly over time, and uses of powers like the dominate, fast healing,shapechange, etc would spend a certain number of points. The more HD the more points you can store and the slower they drop with time. 7)Certain other restriction would be added, invitations into private buildings and that kind of thing.

Culture Imagine the Dark Ages, weak feudal governments ruled by corrupt kings leading by perceived divine mandate of their blood line. The monsters of myth and legend, witches, ghosts, demons, and vampires walk the land. Ordinary humans survive by weight of numbers and divine assistance only. Imagine the turf wars, werewolves battle wereboars for contorl of a stretch of forest. A coven of vampires rules a city with an iron fist while a church of pelor or St. Cuthbert tries vainly to free the citizens. The dark is feared, differences are hated, and outsiders are the object of ultimate distrust. A group of motivated individuals, of any race, could gain power.

Plot line As a DM I act in one of two ways. 1) create a long term plotline within which the players can act on their own. The timeline created by me would continue mostly intact no matter what the PCs did, but they can have significant effects on individual parts. For an example glance through the game in my signature. 2)I create a world and the PCs get to do whatever they want. The world is mostly static, and the PCs get to drive their own agenda. This is a much more difficult game to DM since the PCs would be required to work together to drive their own game. I have never been able to get it to work in PbP since players tend to be more hesitant than in a RL game. Still this would be the method that would work best for this game. Which method I would use would depend on the level of dedication, creativity, and communication amongst the players.

Possible directions

1) a type of vampire mafia/yakusa group whose primary challenges would be turf wars and such with other organizations like werewolf packs, vampire covens, witch coveys, and the like. The alignment of the group might be evil, or could just as easily be good. I would actually prefer a neutral approach, wanting to rule their territory and generally be left alone.

2) A group of "reformed" vamps working with a church group. Think Van Helsing except your monsters too. Blade would be a good example, without the day walker stuff

3) A group of vamps, and possibly other monsters, hiding from a large and powerful church organization. Again Van Helsing but form the point of view of the hunted.

4) nomadic group traveling from one location to another hunting prey. Passing through various territories controlled by different groups, some human some not. Perhaps searching for some magical item/artifact


I don't have the time ot begin this game at this time. For most of the directions it could go it would require a very large amount of planning. In a couple of the variants, such as the neutral yakuza idea, the potential players would be able to do a lot of the work. Creating followers, a lair, a variety of legal and illegal buisnesses, NPCs, and even enemy organizations and ideologies.


My proposal: The recruitment of a group of 8 or so players who are willing to spend a month or two creating a campaign world using the above yakusa idea. I would run herd on the development, and devote what time I had. The game would be fairly amorphous, with literally anything you could imagine on the table.
Once I get 8 stated intrests I will apply for a forum and create an application process.

Lets discuss.

Note: This game will not be affiliated with The Eternal Night.

[roaddog41]

These would be the guidelines for the vampires in the game I am proposing. Note these are not set in stone.

 

-undead
-d12 HD
-Natural Armor +6
-slam attack, damage according to table
-Blood drain, d4 con damage with grapple check. Gain 5 temp hp
-children of the night, summoning ability (rats, bats, wolves)
-dominate, gaze attack as dominate person
-create spawn, slain by energy drain rise as spawn after d4 days, or con drain can make either spawn or vamp
-energy drain, neg levels to slam attack. 5 temp hp per neg level
-alternate form, bat, dire bat, wolf, dire wolf as polymorph
-DR 10/silver and magic
-Fast healing 5
-gaseous ofrm as spell at will
-resistance cold and elec 10
-spider climb continuos
-turn resistance +4
-+6 STR
-+4 DEX
-+2 Int
-+2Wis
-+4 Cha
-+8 bluff, hide, listen, move silently, search, sense motive, spot
-alertness, combat reflexes, dodge, improved init, and lightneing relfexes as bonus feats
-cannot tolerate smell of garlic
-recoil from mirror or holy symbol that is presented strongly
-cannot cross running water
-cannot enter private building unless invited in
-more than 1 round in sun destroys it
-immersion in running water deals 1/3 max hp damage per round
-wooden stake through heart kills instantly, returns to life if stake is removed
-only rat/bat familiars

I would treat characters as gestalt, with one side required to be full "vampire racial levels".
The vampire class would have d12 HD, Average BAB, Good Fort and Reflex saves, Poor Will saves. The following is my first thought of a table

level breakdown
1-Type changes to undead, gain all undead traits, +2 STR +2 Dex, blood drain, skill bonuses +2, natural armor +2, alertness, lightening reflexes, slam attack, blood pool

2-DR 2/silver ,

3-children of the night 1, Fast healing 1

4-skill bonuses +4, DR 4/silver, gaseous form 1/day

5- nat armor +3, create vampire, Fast healing 2, resistances 5, STR +4 Dex +4

6-alternate form 1/day, DR 6/silver magic, Improved Init, dodge

7-Fast healing 3, spider climb continuos, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +2

8-skill bonuses +6 children of the night 2, DR 8/silver magic, gaseous form 2/day, resistances 10

9-alternate form 2/day, Fast healing 4, combat reflexes

10-nat armor +4, willing minion, DR 10/ silver magic, Unnatural repair 5 STR +6

11-resistances 15

12-skill bonuses +8, alternate form 3/day, gaseous form 3/day

13-children of the night 3, Feed on Fear

14-Int +4, Wis +4, Cha +4

15-nat armor +5, alternate form 4/day, unnatural repair 10, STR +8 Dex +6

16-skill bonuses +10, Feed on Lust

17-Mass control, desecration aura

18-children of the night 4, domination, greater alternate form

19-Wings of the night, Cutting power, Feed from minions

20-skill bonuses +12, nat armor +6, unnatural repair 15, Death's Master

 

A first level vampire becomes an undad creatures. It gains the undead type, and the augmented humanoid/monstrous humanoid sub type. It gains all undead traits

 

At level 1 a vampire gains an inherent bonus to strength of +2. This increases to +4 at 5th level, +6 at 10th level, and +8 at 15th level. Vampires are unnaturally strong, having been known to lift wagons with one hand and punch through walls with ease.
At 1st level a vampire gains an inherent bonus to dexterity of +2. This increases to +4 at 5th level and +6 at 15th level. Vampires are incredibly mobile, possessing viperish reflexes and unnatural flexibility
At 7th level vampires gain an inherent bonus to their mental stats of +2, this increases to +4 at 14th level. As vampires age their mental faculties increase, becoming unnaturally wise, cunning, and convincing

 

Vampires require humanoid blood in order to survive. They drink this blood by puncturing a victim's vein and drinking that individual's blood. A vampire can drain a victims blood by succeeding on a grapple check. With each successful grapple check a vampire can deal d4 constitution damage by drinking the blood of a humanoid or monstrous humanoid. This attack can be used against other creature types bu the vampire cannot process that blood.
For every point of constitution damage dealt in this fashion a vampire can add 5 blood points to its blood pool. A vampire can never have more blood points than its maximum hit point total.
A vampire can continue to bleed a victim once its blood pool is full, but the vampire does not consume this blood.

 

At first level a vampire gets a +2 miscellaneous bonus to bluff, hide, listen, move silently, search, sense motive, spot. These bonuses increase to +4 at 4th level, +6 at 8th level, +8 at 12th level, +10 at 16th level, and +12 at 20th level. Vampires are inherently aware of minutia missed by many others. This allows them to notice the hidden, to conceal their presence, to lie convincingly, and to read the lies of others.

 

At first level a vampire gains a natural armor bonus of +2. This increases to +4 at 10th level, and +6 at 20th level. As vampires age their skin and flesh begins to resemble ivory. It becomes paler and harder until it is hard as stone. In very rare cases a vampire's skin can turn black instead, resembling obsidian. There is no noticeable difference in the protective value merely a different appearence.

 

Vampires gain the following feats as bonus feats at various levels, indicating an increase in their abilities. Alertness, Lightening Reflexes at 1st level. Improved Initiative and Dodge at 6th level, Combat reflexes at 9th level.
As vampires become more and more aware of their surroundings their reflexes and reaction speeds improve.

 

At 1st level vampires gain a slam attack according to their size. The table is listed in the MM. If they already have a natural attack they take the better of the two. The unnatural strength and durability of a vampire allow it to make excellent use of its body as a weapon.

 

At 2nd level a vampire gains DR 2/silver. This increases to DR 4/silver at 4th level, DR6/silver and magic at 6th level, DR 8/silver and magic at 8th level, and DR 10/silver and magic at 10th level. A vampire is highly resistant to most types of physical damage, the combination of their tough flesh and speedy healing serves to reduce most wounds to mere scratches and to heal those scratches incredibly quickly.

 

There are four versions of this special ability. At level 3 the vampire gains the ability to summon d3+1 rat swarms.
At 8th level the vampire gains the ability to summon d3+1 bat swarms. The number of rat swarms that can be summoned increases to d4+1.
At 13th level the vampire gains the ability to summon 3d6 wolves. In addition the number of rat swarms increases to d6+1, and the number of bat swarms increases to d4+1
At 18th level the rat and bat swarms gain the fiendish template, and the wolves gain the dire template.
This ability can be used once per day, and can only summon a single type of creature. For example a 14th level vampire can summon d6+1 rat swarms, d4+1 bat swarms, or 3d6 wolves. These creatures arrive in one minute, and fight for their summoner for an hour.

[spoilerbutton="Fast Healing"]
At third level vampires gain fast healing 1. this increases every other level up to a maximum of 5 at 11th level.
Will finish this up at a later date. My bed is calling me. Night all

[Neil]

The thread that spawned this one was full of many interesting ideas. I like this one best because it steps away from the gothic so... I'm interested!

I know any potential start date is some distance off which is good as, well to be frank I've never played a 'vampire' so have no really given any thought as to the 'emotional' consequences of 'the change'.

What would help me with character ideas would be a knowledge of how the change is effected in the world you propose - the traditional bite on the neck, a sorcerous rite, a genetic predisposition/mutation...

All of these have implications for how characters were brought together to form this new 'yakuza' cell. Also a clue as to the setting would be helpful - modern day alternate earth, a fantasy/cyberpunk amalgam...

I hope these questions help get your creative juices flowing.

Regards,
Neil

[roaddog41]

I'll include the creation info as I finish the vampire "class" progression. A brief take on it would be vampiric bite, followed by a 1-3 day waiting period where the person is dead, then the vamp rises into undeath.


As for the setting, my idea is a Dark Ages type with very low magic and equally low technology. Alchemy would be the most common source of power... and I would probably increase the power of holy water, alchemists fire, and similar substances.

However the setting creation will be a collaborative venture between myself and the group of 8 players that are eventually chosen. What setting is to be used would be mostly up to the players.

What kind of setting would you want?

[scree]

I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand what you mean by 'gestalt'. Would you treat the race of vampire as another class? As in a level 8 character would be a level 8 sorcerer who is a vampire, or a level 4 sorcerer/level 4 vampire? Either way I'm very interested.

[roaddog41]

An 8th level character would have one side of their build full vampire, and the other side of the build a character class or combination of them.

Basically I am eliminating the need for racial HD and EL, by virtue of running the game as gestalt.

If you want to know more first read the gestalt rule variant in unearthed arcana. Check the SRD

[Aosaw]

Here's the direct link, for ease of access: Gestalt Rules

I'm definitely interested, but I don't know if I have enough time to devote to another game.

In the mean-time, I think a lot of vampire games take the setting into the quasi-modern era (cf. Twilight, V:tM, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Underworld, etc). It might be interesting (read: more original) to run vampires in a homebrew "high fantasy" setting (i.e. There Are Dragons, not There Are +1 Longswords In Every Shop).

It ultimately depends on what you want to do with the game, though. If you want to examine the emotional and psychological subtleties of being a centuries-old vampire who "can't die", then a modern setting might prove a better genre, since it's closer to what people already know.

On the other hand, maybe a modern setting would be uncomfortable because it's what we already know; we might feel less comfortable with exploring unusual themes.

Then again, I've never played a vampire campaign before, so I don't really know.

[roaddog41]

While it might be fun to run such a game in a modern, 2010 type setting. I am not familiar with things like D20 modern and the like that are set up to handle those mechanics.

I had proposed a Dark Ages type setting with very low magic. A +3 sword is an artifact, spellcasters are rarer than rare and most get their power from summoning demons through the use of some type of ritual. Dragons, and other monsters of lore would exists... but would be highly rare.

Another interesting feature... should vamps be out in the open or secret. If out in the open you would have a large group of willing "food" that want to become vampires. Deal being you get to feed as much as you want, and if they pass they add to the coven. Vamps would be expected to protect their "city" and keep law and order. That would make the "benevolent evil" work pretty well. Basically the idea that you treat most of your people well so that they will support you in your battles for wealth, power, and territory. And if they cross you... then the thumbscrews come out.

[Aosaw]

I think that makes sense.

Right away, I'm considering a blind character (using this flaw). To make her functional, though, I'd need to find some way to give her blindsense (or blindsight) as soon as possible. My first thought was to make her a sorcerer (or a dragonfire adept) with the Draconic Senses feat (and a few others; with four draconic feats, it grants Blindsense out to 30 feet). This would require that she be not only one of those very rare spellcasters, but also one of those highly rare people who has interacted with a dragon (or whose ancestors did).

I like the "out in the open" idea. But maybe it should be more of an "widely known, but officially does not exist". Sort of like a cult; everybody knows it's there, but no one talks about it.

[roaddog41]

I'll leave character ideas off in the distance till the setting gets created


Perhaps something like a Yakusa or Mafia.

Everyone knows they are there, but they don't officially exist. A modified protection racket where the coven protects some loactiaon, a town or city, in return for protection money and probably willing food. If anyone knows about you there will be some "vamp wannabees" unless you kill em all.

[Rosstafar]

The idea of a clandestine agreement where the mortals look the other way whilst the vampires use their powers to "protect" them is oddly fun, it's a sort of off kilter take on traditional vampires that I like quite a bit.

I also love the thought of vamp' aspirants ala the Les Enfants du Sang from Preacher, so long as they didn't pop up too often (that would be annoying).

[roaddog41]

Hmmm, not entirely sure what Preacher has to do with it. Have not read the series.

Basically my idea for the aspiring vampires is that they would be the daytime eyes and ears of the coven, as well as a convenient source of food. The deal being you vamps will protect them even better, give them power in the community, and if they please you.... make them into vampires eventually.

Most of them would be lvl 3 and under NPC's without much in the way of skill or combat power, just walking provender and people to keep an eye on things when the coven is sleeping and/or busy

[Rosstafar]

That was just me drawing a line between vampire wannabees to "bunch of death obsessed kids wanting to be vampires", there's a group like that in the comic. So the vampire-mortal relationship would be similar to the dynamic in blade?

[Neil]

If vampires are 'in-the-open' and have an acquiescent territory, surely all 'territories' would need vampires to protect them from the other territories. I.E. everywhere has vampires and vampires are a necessary evil; the logical consequence being vampires are/become a warrior nobility.

[roaddog41]

@Neil

In a way, but not just vamps. Lycans, witches, sorcerers, dragons, and various other things that go bump in the night. Try to think gangster. A coven would be the populace's protection against random violence by a neighboring territory, but they would need to pay for that protection. The payment could come in many forms: gold, willing donors, labor, keeping their secrets, and anything else you can think of.

Vamps are common, high level vamps are not. Lycans would tend to kill them, as would the populace since low level aka young vamps don't have much self control when they get hungry. A level 1 vamp needs to feed twice a day, and they are not typically all that choosey about their prey. Gets them killed.