Roman style campsites vs. vampires

I'm currently playing in a CoS game my friend is running, and we just left off with our characters entering the eastern gate to Barovia. With night quickly approaching as the game came to an end, there was much discussion about setting up camp. After researching Roman legionnaire campsites, I felt confident I had a good setup to protect our horse, carriage, and tents.

And then it hit me: Even though the camp isn't quite up to legion standards (we only have six people to build it), it still has a functioning gate, a trench, and a dirt wall topped with a wooden fence. It may be the worlds most pathetic looking fort, but it probably does constitute a fort. Clearly the interior is not open to the public, so that brings up the question of whether vampires need permission to enter our exceptionally dirty residence. I never really set out to building this with the intention of keeping out vampires, but if it does that is one very welcome side effect!

Yeah when Vampires cant turn into Mist or a bat and fly over/around your fortified camp, you know thats why people lock themselves in at night

Tyranthraxus said:

Yeah when Vampires cant turn into Mist or a bat and fly over/around your fortified camp, you know thats why people lock themselves in at night

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And I was just starting to fancy the chance of rolling perception to overhear a thickly accented barovian voice cursing our building prowess in the middle of the night.

Edit: But perhaps if I dig a hole and put a door on it...

Vampire: May I enter your.... hole?

Player Character: (Bluff to feign ignorance) I do not feel comfortable with this relationship. Please leave.

Vampire:

double post.

Roman style campsites vs. vampires

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That's the strangest gaming thread title I've seen in at least a year. So, um, congratulations?

I find it hard to believe a group of half a dozen adventurers could create a camp with an effective gate, trench, dirt wall and wooden fence "shortly before nightfall". Was magic used?

Cool link on Roman marching fortifications... http://thehistorymanatlarge.blogspot.com/2010/04/roman-army-fortified-camps.html

As for a vampire requiring an invite, would they need an invite to enter a gated town? I wouldn't think so. My understanding is the invite refers to a dwelling.

Jabborwacky said:

And then it hit me: Even though the camp isn't quite up to legion standards (we only have six people to build it), it still has a functioning gate, a trench, and a dirt wall topped with a wooden fence. It may be the worlds most pathetic looking fort, but it probably does constitute a fort. Clearly the interior is not open to the public, so that brings up the question of whether vampires need permission to enter our exceptionally dirty residence. I never really set out to building this with the intention of keeping out vampires, but if it does that is one very welcome side effect!

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I'd be disinclined to allow it, as the concept behind that bit of lore seems more in line with permanent, enclosed structures, as opposed to camps and other temporary setups (however sturdy they may be). I'd also be leery of calling anything that a group of six people could throw up in a few hours a "fort" tho, regardless of other factors. The reason a roman force could do that each night, and do that that defensively, was because they had dozens of men working on it to make quick work you of what would normally take all night to build.

The actual rule for the vampire weakness says that the "vampire can't enter a residence without an invitation from one of the occupants." It's an open question whether a hastily-built fort in the wilderness counts, but since the rules don't define what a 'residence' is** in this context, it's a DM call all the way.

With that said, since the fort is not wholly enclosed, I see a flaw in the above reasoning:

Vampire: May I enter your...hole?

PC: I do not feel comfortable with this relationship.

Vampire: (temporarily turning into a bat and flying to the top of a wall so that he can see the PC) *charm* Now may I enter?

PC: (fails save) C'mon in, buddy! Fancy a drink?

** - Edit: If a DM is looking for guidance on how to define a residence, I'd go with this simple rule-of-thumb. Does it have a hearth? Then it's a residence.

--
Pauper

I would say that the first requirement is that the location counts as a permanent residence. A vistani wagon would count as a residence (as they live there each night), but the surrounding encampment wouldn't count. Likewise, a hastily constructed fort would not count as a residence as it is not someones "home".

In fact, vampires have no problem at all entering most public buildings - which is what I would consider a fort to be (even a more permanent fort). The key word should be private residence (rather than somewhere you happen to be sleeping temporarily). A public building such as an inn would not count as a private residence, however if you are renting rooms in an inn for an extended stay - your private rooms might be considered a private residence (providing you did not have a permanent "home" elsewhere, and the inn was your home).

The same could apply in respect to your fort. The public domain would be fair game - but any private dwellings within the fort might bar entry. The distinction is whether someone considers the structure as their personal dwelling or not (and that takes time before something feels "home").

Vampires in D&D follow closely with the classic vampire lore made famous by the Nosferatu movie. Interestingly enough, the most famous vampire stories actually differ from the popular canon somewhat (with Bram Stokers Dracula and Carmilla both being weakened in sunlight, while only the vampires in Varnie the Vampire and the Vampyre being destroyed by sunlight. The vampires in Anne Rices vampire series draw on both concepts, but cast out many other aspects such as fear of crosses/running water and garlic). As the movie developers failed to secure permission from Bram Stokers wife, they had to make some changes to the vampire in Nosferatu (1929 iirc) which popularized the concept that vampires are destroyed by sunlight.

My personal favorite vampires are those from Brian Lumley's "Necroscope" series (most original vampires I have ever come across, and may have inspired the Goa'uld from Stargate SG-1), but that is a tangent.

I don't think you can keep the Vampire out of the camp that way, but you can keep him out of the individual tents.