Nyeshet
First Post
It's been a while since I fully read Dracula.
I think the idea of Con drain comes from the bit about Lucy seemingly becoming infirm / weak and slowly dying of this mysterious anemic malady. As she never recovered, the designers of D&D 3e seemed to think it should be considered Con Drain rather than Con Damage.
How long was Lucy considered infirm before dying? As I recall Dracula visited her 2-4 times before she died, but at the time everyone believed it was some disease from which she was not recovering. If it occurred over the course of several weeks, then Con Drain would be needed to explain why she never recovered from the prior visit by the time of her next visit. If, on the other hand, it occurred over the course of about a week, then Con Damage could work just as well. She could have taken 4-5 damage, healed 1-2, then taken another 4-5, healed again 1-2, and then finally taken 4-5 a final time and died from lack of Con / blood, or something to that effect.
[Edit]
Okay, I looked through my copy of Dracula.
The first attack upon Lucy was Aug 11th. She somehow 'sleepwalked' out of her home, down the road, and alongside the cemetary next to the church. Mina found her and - briefly - saw a white face with glowing red eyes next to Lucy. Then a cloud passed over the moon, and afterwards Lucy was alone but was having difficulty drawing in breath.
Lucy died on Sep 20th - a full 40 days later. Ironically enough, most middle age vampire stories and legends held that one who became a vampire arose from their coffin 40 days after their 'death' (why forty, I don't know). Perhaps Stoker knew this, or perhaps it is an interesting coincidence.
In any case, Lucy was bed-bound for almost the entirety of the period. At one or two instances she attempted to 'sleepwalk' again, but she was prevented by the closed (and sometimes locked) door. She was not awake, and she readily returned to bed when directed to it by someone in or near the room that realized she was out of bed, but otherwise it resembles the vampire's ability to Dominate. Actually, it probably was Domination, and Dracula was wily enough to realize that most would not think it amiss if Lucy were merely sleepwalking and - like most sleepwalkers - readily returned to bed if directed. And those few times they didn't catch her I imagine he paid her another visit.
The question now is, "How many visits did he pay Lucy?" If it was but a couple times - the first and the last - then it is almost certainly Con Drain, for how else could she not have recovered over the course of 40 days? If it was multiple times - perhaps once or twice a week, and he drained her only partially on purpose during those visits - then perhaps it could have been Con Damage. In such an instance she could have lost, say 6 Con initially, then been drained of 1-2 Con each time she started to recover. On a few instances she was drained of 2-4 Con, but those were far apart, and she kept recovering until Dracula finished her off.
Its too late to read through the hundred or so pages necessary to get the answer (or at least a guess) of how often she was visited. (In specific, I intend to look for any mention of a sudden relapse / worsening condition or any mention of finding the window open one morning or seeing an unknown man in the room - although I do not recall off hand any instance of the latter.) I'll check tomorrow.
I think the idea of Con drain comes from the bit about Lucy seemingly becoming infirm / weak and slowly dying of this mysterious anemic malady. As she never recovered, the designers of D&D 3e seemed to think it should be considered Con Drain rather than Con Damage.
How long was Lucy considered infirm before dying? As I recall Dracula visited her 2-4 times before she died, but at the time everyone believed it was some disease from which she was not recovering. If it occurred over the course of several weeks, then Con Drain would be needed to explain why she never recovered from the prior visit by the time of her next visit. If, on the other hand, it occurred over the course of about a week, then Con Damage could work just as well. She could have taken 4-5 damage, healed 1-2, then taken another 4-5, healed again 1-2, and then finally taken 4-5 a final time and died from lack of Con / blood, or something to that effect.
[Edit]
Okay, I looked through my copy of Dracula.
The first attack upon Lucy was Aug 11th. She somehow 'sleepwalked' out of her home, down the road, and alongside the cemetary next to the church. Mina found her and - briefly - saw a white face with glowing red eyes next to Lucy. Then a cloud passed over the moon, and afterwards Lucy was alone but was having difficulty drawing in breath.
Lucy died on Sep 20th - a full 40 days later. Ironically enough, most middle age vampire stories and legends held that one who became a vampire arose from their coffin 40 days after their 'death' (why forty, I don't know). Perhaps Stoker knew this, or perhaps it is an interesting coincidence.
In any case, Lucy was bed-bound for almost the entirety of the period. At one or two instances she attempted to 'sleepwalk' again, but she was prevented by the closed (and sometimes locked) door. She was not awake, and she readily returned to bed when directed to it by someone in or near the room that realized she was out of bed, but otherwise it resembles the vampire's ability to Dominate. Actually, it probably was Domination, and Dracula was wily enough to realize that most would not think it amiss if Lucy were merely sleepwalking and - like most sleepwalkers - readily returned to bed if directed. And those few times they didn't catch her I imagine he paid her another visit.
The question now is, "How many visits did he pay Lucy?" If it was but a couple times - the first and the last - then it is almost certainly Con Drain, for how else could she not have recovered over the course of 40 days? If it was multiple times - perhaps once or twice a week, and he drained her only partially on purpose during those visits - then perhaps it could have been Con Damage. In such an instance she could have lost, say 6 Con initially, then been drained of 1-2 Con each time she started to recover. On a few instances she was drained of 2-4 Con, but those were far apart, and she kept recovering until Dracula finished her off.
Its too late to read through the hundred or so pages necessary to get the answer (or at least a guess) of how often she was visited. (In specific, I intend to look for any mention of a sudden relapse / worsening condition or any mention of finding the window open one morning or seeing an unknown man in the room - although I do not recall off hand any instance of the latter.) I'll check tomorrow.
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