Dealing with defeated vampires

[Chroma]

I recently ran an encounter for my players that involved a vampire and her two spawn. My players cleverly defeated them by preventing them from getting back to their coffins after they were reduced to 0hp in combat.

My question is: what happens to the vampires' stuff? They were in gaseous form because of being at 0 hp and their description says that they are "utterly destroyed" if unable to return to their coffins after two hours. Does this mean that nothing is left of them or their gear a la Buffy "dusting" a vampire or does their equipment suddenly fall to the ground? How have other people ruled on this? I'm going to have some treasure situated with the coffins, so "rewards for the encounter" isn't a problem, more curiousity on my part.

 

[Nail]

Could fill in a few more details? How did the PC cleverly keep them from their coffins? Answering that might help answer your question.

 

[Chroma]

Could fill in a few more details? How did the PC cleverly keep them from their coffins? Answering that might help answer your question.

The vampires' coffins were hidden in a chamber that had been sealed off using stone shape with only a few long narrow cracks to only allow a creature in gaseous form access. These cracks were actually in the ceiling of the room the combat took place in and required flying/levitating to get too as well. The PCs eventually discovered this and, during the climactic fight with the vamps, used stone shape to seal the cracks. Once turned to gaseous form, the cleric vampire was unable to cast spells and reopen the cracks, so she and her two spawn were unable to reach their coffins after two hours.

After two hours of being unable to reach their coffins, the defeated vampires are "utterly destroyed" says the MM. Again I ask, do people include their carried equipment in that destruction?

 

[tensen]

I'm going to answer from a non-rules standpoint first.
You already stated that they cleaverly defeated it. Do you think you should penalize the characters for such a cleaverly done thing?

From a rule standpoint... there is nothing that I've found that states a destroyed being includes all their objects. True if it was something they failed their save on, their items will likely go as well. But the destruction of the vampire has little bearing on the items they held.

So I would think the items would cease to be gaseous the instant that the vampire lost the ability to hold that capability. of course depending on where the vampire was at the moment...

 

[Chroma]

I'm going to answer from a non-rules standpoint first.
You already stated that they cleaverly defeated it. Do you think you should penalize the characters for such a cleaverly done thing?

Oh, I'm not looking to penalize the players at all! The treasure for the encounter will be found in the coffin room (if they unseal it and go up there) and they got a good chunk of xp for the encounter as well. This is more looking at a rules interpretation/implementation for the creature since it had never come up before in any encounter I've ever run with vampires... it's always been the stake-to-the-heart approach before. *laugh*

From a rule standpoint... there is nothing that I've found that states a destroyed being includes all their objects. True if it was something they failed their save on, their items will likely go as well. But the destruction of the vampire has little bearing on the items they held.

So I would think the items would cease to be gaseous the instant that the vampire lost the ability to hold that capability. of course depending on where the vampire was at the moment...

I suppose it's the "utterly" in utterly destroyed that I'm asking about. In most cinematic depictions of vampires being "utterly destroyed" such as exposure to sunlight or Buffy-style staking, they seem to flare up and turn to a small pile of ash with nothing left behind... not even smoking boots! What if the players had trapped the gaseous vampires (*excuse me!*) inside the cracks and sealed them within, what would you say happened to the vampires' gear in that case?

This is post-encounter curiousity for the most part.

 

[Kyrail]

I'd have them just fall out of the disapating vampire gas. Save for falling potions if it's a stone floor though.

 

[MerakSpielman]

As the vamps reach the verge of death, I would have them briefly materialize, since their magical power is fading as they die and they're losing their abilities (all this is just flavor text, not supported by any rules)... Then their bodies rapidly decay and crumble to dust, which itself vanishes, leaving their clothing and equipment behind (I've never understood why, in Buffy, dusting a vampire also destroys all their clothes. Probably becuase it's easier to do the special effects that way).

 

[Nail]

Merak beat me to it: Have the dieing vamp briefly materialize before "utter destruction".

 

[cordell]

Stuff falls to the ground, for sure.

Breifly materializing before turning to dust is a great effect. Yoink...

 

[xazil]

I wish I had this suggestion back a few weeks ago when my party destroyed 30 vampire coffins without the vampires being able to reintegrate for us to loot...