Wik
First Post
I'd play with the standoff. Make it play out over days, by making the vampire have thralls (if you don't want vampirism to cross creature types, make 'em human. If you want an infected gray render, make sure you alert the pcs to this by having the thralls be creatures).
This comes down to the "we can't go out there or we'll die; he can't come in" situation. Each night, he tries to break down walls, while in the day, PCs build up defences and search for his lair. Each night, you can develop the villain with dialogue - let the players get to know him.
It'd be fun if he didn't communicate with them, but actually left letters pinned to the door that the PCs read each morning (and the PCs could communicate back via letter, maybe?).
This is much better than a single showdown, which is often a lot less fun than you'd think.
This comes down to the "we can't go out there or we'll die; he can't come in" situation. Each night, he tries to break down walls, while in the day, PCs build up defences and search for his lair. Each night, you can develop the villain with dialogue - let the players get to know him.
It'd be fun if he didn't communicate with them, but actually left letters pinned to the door that the PCs read each morning (and the PCs could communicate back via letter, maybe?).
This is much better than a single showdown, which is often a lot less fun than you'd think.
