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Soul Reaver Vampire Template
- Thread starter Sylrae
- Start date
guardianfallenangel
First Post
are you talking ancient vampires or those that kain created. there is a difference. the ancient vampires were given a gift at birth, and could by draining another vampire gain their dark gift(s). those that kain created evolved personifiying the 6 dark gifts. if your doing the post kain vampire i would write each clan up as a seperate race. if your doing the ancients i would have a list of the powers and have the character roll for a random one at character creation. then if they want more power, they'll have to track down other vampires and drain them.
Sylrae
First Post
that's an interesting way to do things. I was talking about modeling it after Kain himself's progression. however your idea could work also.
I'll reevaluate this completely and post both most likely. If you have another suggestion then I'll look at that as well.
what would Vorador be?
and the miscellaneous dead vampires you see in soul reaver two are the old style vampires youre talking about?
hmm...
I wonder what could be done.
Would you make them races or templates?
I'll reevaluate this completely and post both most likely. If you have another suggestion then I'll look at that as well.
what would Vorador be?
and the miscellaneous dead vampires you see in soul reaver two are the old style vampires youre talking about?
hmm...
I wonder what could be done.
Would you make them races or templates?
guardianfallenangel
First Post
i would treat original vampires as templates, those after kain should be their own races. when created they have racial traits tied to their sire's dark gift. although they do evolve over time, this could be handled with racial class levels that add to or modify abilities as you see fit. vorador, like kain himself are vampires of the original ancient bloodline. wiki has alot of info on this series, reading whats there might help you out alot
guardianfallenangel
First Post
just regular ol' wikipedia. i look forward to seeing your revision.
Sylrae
First Post
Here's my revision so far. It's not yet balanced and is incomplete, but it's what's already done. feel free to give suggestions on how to add or tweak it.
I'm thinking maybe dark gift uses could cost hit points instead of x/day, since the vampire needs to feed and since thats how they work in defiance.
I'm also not sure how many dark gifts they should get and when. getting dark gifts from killing other vamps should give you plusses to LA. maybe the dark gifts dont need to be balanced together and just need to have LA values assigned to them? I'm not sure.
There are more dark gifts than this as well. Turelim for example, are blind but have a better version of scent. all of the Kain descended vamps dont have gifts defined in this article yet.
I have yet to flesh out their weaknesses as well. This is my 2 hours at lunch amount of work so far.
and I haven't played Blood Omen 2 so I'm not sure how those vampires gain their gifts.
Suggestions and I'll keep working on it in my free time as well.
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Ancients:
Ancients are a race of beings which once dominated Nosgoth, but have been cursed with infertility, vampiric blood lust, and immortality. - these are a race not a template
Ancient Lineage Vampires:
The Ancient LineageVampires were initially created by the Ancients, but they can also be created by other Ancient Lineage Vampires. They gain Dark Gifts based on their individual traits being personified by their vampiric power. Usually they only have one, but they gain it very shortly after becoming a vampire.
Kainite Lineage Vampires:
The Descendants of Kain gain their abilities differently than other vampires. Kain was created through a dark ritual, and as such does not have all the traits carried on from other vampires. The Vampires who trace their lineage to Kain follow a more hierarchical order. They gain their dark gifts and weaknesses according to clan.
Creating a Vampire:
Ancient Lineage Vampire and Kain Lineage Vampire are templates which can be added to any living creature, hereafter referred to as the “base creature”. The base creature’s type changes to “undead”. It uses all the base creature’s abilities and statistics except as noted here.
Hit Dice: Increase current and future Hit Dice to d12. Recalculate Hit Points.
AC: A Vampire of either type gains a natural armor bonus. If the base creature already has natural armor, use the better value.
Turn Resistance: A vampire of either type's turn resistance increases as they gain levels.
Hit Dice Natural Armor Bonus Turn Resistance
1-4 +1 +1
5-8 +2 +2
9-12 +3 +3
13-16 +4 +4
17+ +5 +5
Special Qualities: A vampire retains all of the special qualities of the base creature and those of the undead type, as well as those listed below.
Abilities: As an undead creature, a vampire has no Constitution score.
Skills: Vampires receive a +4 circumstantial bonus to intimidate, which only applies to living creatures. Additionally they gain a +4 bonus to Jump, and maximum jump heights/distances are ignored.
Dark Gifts: Dark gifts are where Ancient lineage and Kainite lineage vampires begin to be different. Ancient Lineage vampires gain a dark gift fitting their persona, whereas kainite vampires gain the dark gift of their clan. Dark gifts never use consumable spell components
• Gaseous Form: This Dark gift allows the vampire to assume gaseous form as a standard action at will as the spell cast by a 5th level wizard, but can remain gaseous indefinitely and has a fly speed of 20ft with perfect maneuverability. – not sure yet
• Fury: Also originally possessed by Kain, this Dark Gift allowed the vampire to harness his own rage in the midst of combat and unleash it in a staggering strike, capable of knocking enemies to the ground instantly. The Gift required Kain to be at a certain level of anger and concentration, normally achieved only after blocking numerous attacks. – not sure yet
• Wolf Form: This potent gift allows the vampire to transform into a werewolf like creature as a full round action for up to 5 minutes a day/HD, and can use the ability at will until the time is expended. They gain +2 Str, +4 Dex and +4 Con, gain a claw attack for d4 slashing damage (medium creature), and a d6 bite attack. They can make a full round attack with 2 claws at full Base Attack and a bite at Base Attack +2. Their land movement speed increases to 50 ft.
• Bat Form: The vampire gains the ability to change form into a group of bats. The bats are as in the monster manual except as noted, and have 3 hitpoints. The number of bats is therefore 1/3 of the vampire’s current hit points. The vampire can make this transformation as a standard action, and can stay in bat swarm form for 5 minutes/HD per day, and can us the ability at will until the time is expended. The Bats have the Vampire’s Dex, Int, Wis, and Cha scores, and use the Vampire’s Con for all purposes but hit points. When reforming, the bats come back together and fuse back into the vampire’s form. The vampire’s hit points are determined by the bats’ hit points added together, plus the remainder which may not have been enough to make a bat (1-2 hp). The vampire does not need to use all the bats to reform himself, but takes damage for those he does not use. When in bat swarm form, the vampire can disconnect the swarm, and move the individual bats wherever he wishes. Bats which are killed, or which are left over after turning back to vampire form just disappear, and do not give experience points to their killers.
• Telekinisis: As a standard action, vampires can use Telekinesis as the spell cast by a caster level of their HD. They may use this ability at will. The ability gives a Fortitude save instead of a Will save, and damage dealt from throwing using vampiric telekinesis is modified by (should it be Wisdom or Charisma) bonus. Vampiric telekinesis has no verbal component.
• Swiftness: The vampire gets a speed boosting ability usable 1/day/hd. It is a swift action. Swiftness gives the same bonuses as haste to statistics (+1 to attack, +1 dodge bonus to AC and to Reflex saves. If you don’t get your dex bonus you don’t get the dodge bonus) – for one round. The vampire in essence gets two turns. They get a combat turn when the ability is used, as well as another one when it becomes their initiative. If used during their turn then they get two consecutively. There must be at least one round without swiftness activated between uses.
• Jump: This dark gift imparts a +46 bonus to jump checks (+50 counting regular vampire jump)
• Charm: This Dark gift acts as charm person cast by a caster of the vampire’s HD. It has no verbal or somantic components.
• Berserk: chaos monk strike + move speed + spider climb + levitate + to hit bonus?
• Immolation: Magnus, the greatest of Kain's original lieutenants, possessed this Dark Gift. It allowed him to transform his rage and madness into the ability to scorch his foes using only the power of his mind. Magnus was not only able to use it to obliterate his enemies, but was also able to use the Gift to destroy reinforced physical objects such as pillars and statues. – not sure yet
I'm thinking maybe dark gift uses could cost hit points instead of x/day, since the vampire needs to feed and since thats how they work in defiance.
I'm also not sure how many dark gifts they should get and when. getting dark gifts from killing other vamps should give you plusses to LA. maybe the dark gifts dont need to be balanced together and just need to have LA values assigned to them? I'm not sure.
There are more dark gifts than this as well. Turelim for example, are blind but have a better version of scent. all of the Kain descended vamps dont have gifts defined in this article yet.
I have yet to flesh out their weaknesses as well. This is my 2 hours at lunch amount of work so far.
and I haven't played Blood Omen 2 so I'm not sure how those vampires gain their gifts.
Suggestions and I'll keep working on it in my free time as well.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ancients:
Ancients are a race of beings which once dominated Nosgoth, but have been cursed with infertility, vampiric blood lust, and immortality. - these are a race not a template
Ancient Lineage Vampires:
The Ancient LineageVampires were initially created by the Ancients, but they can also be created by other Ancient Lineage Vampires. They gain Dark Gifts based on their individual traits being personified by their vampiric power. Usually they only have one, but they gain it very shortly after becoming a vampire.
Kainite Lineage Vampires:
The Descendants of Kain gain their abilities differently than other vampires. Kain was created through a dark ritual, and as such does not have all the traits carried on from other vampires. The Vampires who trace their lineage to Kain follow a more hierarchical order. They gain their dark gifts and weaknesses according to clan.
Creating a Vampire:
Ancient Lineage Vampire and Kain Lineage Vampire are templates which can be added to any living creature, hereafter referred to as the “base creature”. The base creature’s type changes to “undead”. It uses all the base creature’s abilities and statistics except as noted here.
Hit Dice: Increase current and future Hit Dice to d12. Recalculate Hit Points.
AC: A Vampire of either type gains a natural armor bonus. If the base creature already has natural armor, use the better value.
Turn Resistance: A vampire of either type's turn resistance increases as they gain levels.
Hit Dice Natural Armor Bonus Turn Resistance
1-4 +1 +1
5-8 +2 +2
9-12 +3 +3
13-16 +4 +4
17+ +5 +5
Special Qualities: A vampire retains all of the special qualities of the base creature and those of the undead type, as well as those listed below.
Abilities: As an undead creature, a vampire has no Constitution score.
Skills: Vampires receive a +4 circumstantial bonus to intimidate, which only applies to living creatures. Additionally they gain a +4 bonus to Jump, and maximum jump heights/distances are ignored.
Dark Gifts: Dark gifts are where Ancient lineage and Kainite lineage vampires begin to be different. Ancient Lineage vampires gain a dark gift fitting their persona, whereas kainite vampires gain the dark gift of their clan. Dark gifts never use consumable spell components
• Gaseous Form: This Dark gift allows the vampire to assume gaseous form as a standard action at will as the spell cast by a 5th level wizard, but can remain gaseous indefinitely and has a fly speed of 20ft with perfect maneuverability. – not sure yet
• Fury: Also originally possessed by Kain, this Dark Gift allowed the vampire to harness his own rage in the midst of combat and unleash it in a staggering strike, capable of knocking enemies to the ground instantly. The Gift required Kain to be at a certain level of anger and concentration, normally achieved only after blocking numerous attacks. – not sure yet
• Wolf Form: This potent gift allows the vampire to transform into a werewolf like creature as a full round action for up to 5 minutes a day/HD, and can use the ability at will until the time is expended. They gain +2 Str, +4 Dex and +4 Con, gain a claw attack for d4 slashing damage (medium creature), and a d6 bite attack. They can make a full round attack with 2 claws at full Base Attack and a bite at Base Attack +2. Their land movement speed increases to 50 ft.
• Bat Form: The vampire gains the ability to change form into a group of bats. The bats are as in the monster manual except as noted, and have 3 hitpoints. The number of bats is therefore 1/3 of the vampire’s current hit points. The vampire can make this transformation as a standard action, and can stay in bat swarm form for 5 minutes/HD per day, and can us the ability at will until the time is expended. The Bats have the Vampire’s Dex, Int, Wis, and Cha scores, and use the Vampire’s Con for all purposes but hit points. When reforming, the bats come back together and fuse back into the vampire’s form. The vampire’s hit points are determined by the bats’ hit points added together, plus the remainder which may not have been enough to make a bat (1-2 hp). The vampire does not need to use all the bats to reform himself, but takes damage for those he does not use. When in bat swarm form, the vampire can disconnect the swarm, and move the individual bats wherever he wishes. Bats which are killed, or which are left over after turning back to vampire form just disappear, and do not give experience points to their killers.
• Telekinisis: As a standard action, vampires can use Telekinesis as the spell cast by a caster level of their HD. They may use this ability at will. The ability gives a Fortitude save instead of a Will save, and damage dealt from throwing using vampiric telekinesis is modified by (should it be Wisdom or Charisma) bonus. Vampiric telekinesis has no verbal component.
• Swiftness: The vampire gets a speed boosting ability usable 1/day/hd. It is a swift action. Swiftness gives the same bonuses as haste to statistics (+1 to attack, +1 dodge bonus to AC and to Reflex saves. If you don’t get your dex bonus you don’t get the dodge bonus) – for one round. The vampire in essence gets two turns. They get a combat turn when the ability is used, as well as another one when it becomes their initiative. If used during their turn then they get two consecutively. There must be at least one round without swiftness activated between uses.
• Jump: This dark gift imparts a +46 bonus to jump checks (+50 counting regular vampire jump)
• Charm: This Dark gift acts as charm person cast by a caster of the vampire’s HD. It has no verbal or somantic components.
• Berserk: chaos monk strike + move speed + spider climb + levitate + to hit bonus?
• Immolation: Magnus, the greatest of Kain's original lieutenants, possessed this Dark Gift. It allowed him to transform his rage and madness into the ability to scorch his foes using only the power of his mind. Magnus was not only able to use it to obliterate his enemies, but was also able to use the Gift to destroy reinforced physical objects such as pillars and statues. – not sure yet
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Sylrae
First Post
Vampire Weaknesses:
Water Damage: Vampire's cannot come into contact with water. To a vampire, water is like acid. Damage reduction does apply, however, so water will not immediately kill the vampire. If water does not get to the skin, such as by wearing an oiled leather outfit, the vampire only takes damage for exposed skin, and thus takes less damage. To oil a leather cloak for this purpose costs 5 gold by non-magical means, and must be allowed to set for 24 hours before being usable. The water must be relatively pure to do the damage. Blood does not cause harm to a vampire, nor does alcohol, such as ale, nor do other bodily fluids, such as spit. It would need to be pure water, such as in rain, or a lake. Damage as Below.
Water Damage:
Flask: 1d3+1
Light Rain: 1d8+1
Heavy Rain: 1d10+1
Two Hands: 1d2+1
Face: 1d3+1
Limb: 1d4+1
2 Limbs: 1d6+1
Half Body: 1d10+1
Full Body: 2d6+1
Sunlight Damage: Sunlight also damages vampires, but not as much as water. Additionally, this weakness does not apply to Ancient Vampires - those of Janos Audron's race. This weakness only occurred in their progeny. In Nosgoth, Kain has factories which pump enough smog into the air to reduce the damage taken. Damage as Below.
Sunlight Damage:
Two Hands: 1d2
Face: 1d3
Limb: 1d4
2 Limbs: 1d6
Half Body: 1d10
Full Body: 2d6
Light Modifiers:
Bright Sunny Day: As Normal
Cloudy: 1 step lower
Overcast: 2 steps lower
Smog Machines: An Additional 2 Steps
Time of Day Modifiers:
Water Damage: Vampire's cannot come into contact with water. To a vampire, water is like acid. Damage reduction does apply, however, so water will not immediately kill the vampire. If water does not get to the skin, such as by wearing an oiled leather outfit, the vampire only takes damage for exposed skin, and thus takes less damage. To oil a leather cloak for this purpose costs 5 gold by non-magical means, and must be allowed to set for 24 hours before being usable. The water must be relatively pure to do the damage. Blood does not cause harm to a vampire, nor does alcohol, such as ale, nor do other bodily fluids, such as spit. It would need to be pure water, such as in rain, or a lake. Damage as Below.
Water Damage:
Flask: 1d3+1
Light Rain: 1d8+1
Heavy Rain: 1d10+1
Two Hands: 1d2+1
Face: 1d3+1
Limb: 1d4+1
2 Limbs: 1d6+1
Half Body: 1d10+1
Full Body: 2d6+1
Sunlight Damage: Sunlight also damages vampires, but not as much as water. Additionally, this weakness does not apply to Ancient Vampires - those of Janos Audron's race. This weakness only occurred in their progeny. In Nosgoth, Kain has factories which pump enough smog into the air to reduce the damage taken. Damage as Below.
Sunlight Damage:
Two Hands: 1d2
Face: 1d3
Limb: 1d4
2 Limbs: 1d6
Half Body: 1d10
Full Body: 2d6
Light Modifiers:
Bright Sunny Day: As Normal
Cloudy: 1 step lower
Overcast: 2 steps lower
Smog Machines: An Additional 2 Steps
Time of Day Modifiers:
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