Vampire Bestiary

Upper_Krust · Feb 29, 2012

Hey there Hammerheadd mate!

Hammerheadd said:
What is an example of a mega size (or bigger) monster?

Something like Godzilla (or any of his major foes), Talos (movie version), Kraken (from Clash of the Titans), Cloverfield monster etc.

Giga-size would be something like Typhon, Mahisha, truly mountain sized monsters.

Khisanth the Ancient · Mar 5, 2012

Upper_Krust said:
Something like Godzilla (or any of his major foes), Talos (movie version), Kraken (from Clash of the Titans), Cloverfield monster etc.

Giga-size would be something like Typhon, Mahisha, truly mountain sized monsters.

Are these sizes supposed to be an order of magnitude bigger each time? (So if a Gargantuan monster is 50 feet tall a Mega-size one would be 500, a Giga-size one a mile tall?)

But I know you've mentioned Tera-size as planet-size before (what book is that slated to appear in, if any, BTW?) which is a lot more than one order of magnitude above mountain-size.

Or does it scale up increasingly like Gargantuan -> x10 -> Mega - > x100 -> Giga -> x1000 -> Tera etc?

--

Also, I know Alzrius posted that he got a draft: what's the current status on VB part 1? (and is the Table of Contents in the October preview still the one for the current book?)

Upper_Krust · Mar 5, 2012

Howdy Khisanth mate!

Khisanth the Ancient; said:
Are these sizes supposed to be an order of magnitude bigger each time? (So if a Gargantuan monster is 50 feet tall a Mega-size one would be 500, a Giga-size one a mile tall?)

But I know you've mentioned Tera-size as planet-size before (what book is that slated to appear in, if any, BTW?) which is a lot more than one order of magnitude above mountain-size.

Or does it scale up increasingly like Gargantuan -> x10 -> Mega - > x100 -> Giga -> x1000 -> Tera etc?

No its x10 (Castle), x1000 (Mountain), x1,000,000 (Planet), x10,000,000,000 (Star) etc.

Tera-size would be detailed when I outline the Mega-size rules. Although the question would become where would I have an example of such a monster and at the moment I am unsure where that will show up.

Also, I know Alzrius posted that he got a draft: what's the current status on VB part 1?

Almost certainly a release Thursday/Friday of next week (give or take a day). But don't tell anyone I said that.

I only work 1 more day (tomorrow) until Friday night next week. So that should easily be enough time to tie up all the current loose ends. *Fingers crossed*

(and is the Table of Contents in the October preview still the one for the current book?)

Off hand I can't recall, I'm sure its fairly similar ish, though maybe not exact.

Khisanth the Ancient · Mar 7, 2012

Upper_Krust said:
Howdy Khisanth mate!

No its x10 (Castle), x1000 (Mountain), x1,000,000 (Planet), x10,000,000,000 (Star) etc.

So the distance between scales increases ... OK.

Tera-size would be detailed when I outline the Mega-size rules. Although the question would become where would I have an example of such a monster and at the moment I am unsure where that will show up.

So what would a Tera-size monster be? Megaliths (basically living planets) and Draeden (planet-eating Jupiter-sized tentacled things) from the BECMI Immortals Set? Ymir, Cipactli, and other 'world was made from their bodies' monsters?

So that should easily be enough time to tie up all the current loose ends. *Fingers crossed*

So what still remains to be done?

Upper_Krust · Mar 9, 2012

Hiya mate!

Khisanth the Ancient said:
So the distance between scales increases ... OK.

Yes.

So what would a Tera-size monster be? Megaliths (basically living planets) and Draeden (planet-eating Jupiter-sized tentacled things) from the BECMI Immortals Set? Ymir, Cipactli, and other 'world was made from their bodies' monsters?

Draeden would only be Giga-sized.

Alklha would be Tera-sized. Unicron from Transformers. Ego the Living Planet (Marvel Comics). Ghroth (Lovecraftian)

There are not that many examples I can find. So its not something I imagine will see a lot of use. There are lots of Mega-sized monsters and a few Giga-sized, but probably only a handful that are Tera-sized.

So what still remains to be done?

The adventure needs finished and a few sentences in other places need fixed.

Khisanth the Ancient · Mar 11, 2012

Upper_Krust said:
Draeden would only be Giga-sized.

Ah, you're right - I had mis-remembered them as thousands of miles long, they're not that big.

Alklha would be Tera-sized.

Is that the moon-eating dragon thing?

Unicron from Transformers. Ego the Living Planet (Marvel Comics). Ghroth (Lovecraftian) There are not that many examples I can find.

Megaliths from the Immortals set literally ARE planets (like Ego and Ghroth), so they should be Tera-sized.

IIRC the old 1st edition Cthulhu Mythos D&DG stats listed Azathoth as star-sized.

So its not something I imagine will see a lot of use.

Probably not.

Upper_Krust · Mar 11, 2012

Hey Khisanth mate!

Khisanth the Ancient said:
Ah, you're right - I had mis-remembered them as thousands of miles long, they're not that big.

They are only a mile or two in diameter but with tentacles that reach out 10-20 miles or so.

Is that the moon-eating dragon thing?

Click to expand...

Yes.

Megaliths from the Immortals set literally ARE planets (like Ego and Ghroth), so they should be Tera-sized.

Click to expand...

I don't own the Immortals Set (always keep meaning to pick one up on ebay) but I have a vague familiarity with all the monsters therein.

IIRC the old 1st edition Cthulhu Mythos D&DG stats listed Azathoth as star-sized.

Click to expand...

That would be Peta-sized.

Probably not.

Click to expand...

Indeed.

Incidentally I expect 100% text completion on the Vampire Bestiary within 24 hours. Just leaving me the maps to complete.

Click to expand...

Khisanth the Ancient · Mar 12, 2012

Upper_Krust said:
Hey Khisanth mate!

Khisanth the Ancient said:

Ah, you're right - I had mis-remembered them as thousands of miles long, they're not that big.

Click to expand...

They are only a mile or two in diameter but with tentacles that reach out 10-20 miles or so.

You're right.

Yes.

Cool.

I don't own the Immortals Set (always keep meaning to pick one up on ebay) but I have a vague familiarity with all the monsters therein.

That would be Peta-sized.

Ah, ok.

Incidentally I expect 100% text completion on the Vampire Bestiary within 24 hours. Just leaving me the maps to complete.

Great!

--

So Nosferatu have been bumped down to Paragon tier now? In that case, what's your vision for the higher types of vampires in 4e (where the Nosferatu, Welkin, and - IIRC - Varcolac were in 3.5)? Are there still Welkin & Varcolac?

Upper_Krust · Mar 12, 2012

Hiya mate!

Khisanth the Ancient said:
So Nosferatu have been bumped down to Paragon tier now?

Most of the Nosferatu are (low) Epic Tier, but the 'standard' Nosferatu would only be Level 18. I currently have 7 different types of Nosferatu detailed...and that's not counting some other special monsters related to them.

In that case, what's your vision for the higher types of vampires in 4e (where the Nosferatu, Welkin, and - IIRC - Varcolac were in 3.5)? Are there still Welkin & Varcolac?

I'm sure I have this all mapped out somewhere (in the Vampire Bestiary: Castle Dracula there are a few pages on both Vampire Religions & Deities as well as What vampires come from which planes.

Nosferatu are from the Shadowfell.
Varcolac are from the Feywild.
Strigoi are from the Abyss.
Wendigo are from the Elemental Chaos.
Moroi are from the Astral Plane.
Pitris (Vampire Intelligences) are from the Far Realm.

Every plane has their own vampire...including the higher dimensions/planes and the space in between.

The classic vampire progression now goes something like:

Vampire < Nosferatu < Vetala < something < something < something.

...to put that into perspective, Alabaster would be a Vetala (albeit a powerful one)

Other vampires are related to deities:

Visages = Orcus
Dakini = Kali
etc.

Some vampires are composite monsters:

Nosferatu = Vampire + Mummy
Varcolac = Vampire + Werewolf
...and yes there are Mummy + Werewolf and Vampire + Mummy + Werewolf variants detailed too. But I'll keep them to myself for now.

In 4E, a Welkin may turn out to be a type of (very powerful) Wight. I'm still working on a few ideas.