Vampire in play

[generalchaos34]

So Maybe kelemvorite (was he the one dating midnight?) has an exception that some vampires can fight there nature... maybe there is even some sorta angel like profacy about a vamp with a soul saving the world... or mayb the cleric just learns in between adventures that this one vamp is diffrent...

Well.....Kelemvor was under a nasty curse that made it so he could not be the selfless hero he wanted to be. Any time he did something for free he turned into a murderous panther that had to kill before he returned to normal. I think of all the gods out there Kelemvor would support a Vampire who wants to be a selfless hero, using their curse to some advantage, maybe even looking for a cure they desperately want. Lets say when the Doomguide goes to smite said vampire he gets no power, and it is a clear message to his worshiper that this vampire is an exception. Besides, all Kelevorites would know of their deities odd history, maybe even about his curse.

Thats sounds pretty good actually, i may use that in a game! Multiclass Vampire/Cleric of Kelemvor here i come!

 

[CelticMutt]

I just glanced at the compendium for Revenants. Its extremely contradictory in how it describes revenants. They first say that "Revenants do not appear as undead horrors" and then describe an appearance that is pretty clearly that of, uh, an undead horror.

The arms and legs thing aren't that undead - more bird like in appearance. It's really only the face, and that can be covered.

In teh original Dragon article there was a nice section about how the default appearance wasn't the only option, how you could look like a rotting critter like WoW's Forsaken, or look like you did in life instead. Sorta wish that had been included.

Disciple of Shadows gives Darkvision 2, and Alertness gives immunity to surprise and +2 Perception. These represent the vampire's heightened senses.

Er .... why on earth would a Vampire, who gets unlimited range Darkvision at level one, want to take Disciple of Shadows, which gives Darkvision with a range of 2 squares?

 

[Mad Hamish]

Replying to several posts at once :

I disagree with this. Yes, the player could have gimped his character and bought up wisdom and intelligence a little and bought skills that don't actually synergize with the mechanics of a striker very well.

picking up 1 out of 4 or 5 skills hardly gimps a character.

Replying to several posts at once :

And if he'd done that he'd STILL be worse at perception than the human cleric who trains in perception and STILL be worse at history than the human wizard who trains history.

Personally, I find it hard to accept fluff that says "I have this really, really good sense of smell" when the rules say "No, you actually don't".

And I find it hard to believe that my vampire character is strong when he can't smash open a door or open a jar of peanuts .

where exactly does the fluff for the vampire say it has "a really, really good sense of smell"?

Is the vampire being worse at history than the wizard really worse than the cleric being worse than the wizard at religion?

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Is the vampire being worse at history than the wizard really worse than the cleric being worse than the wizard at religion?

1) Perhaps said vampire spent most of his time hunting young maidens in alleys and didn't actually pay attention to the world around him.

Which is, in the case of a PC, probably remarkably accurate.

2) Clerics being worse than wizards at religion really irritates me.

Brad

 

[Klaus]

Er .... why on earth would a Vampire, who gets unlimited range Darkvision at level one, want to take Disciple of Shadows, which gives Darkvision with a range of 2 squares?

Because I'm crazy, that's why!

But hey, now my hypothetical vampire is swimming in feats!

 

[Siberys]

Re: Clerics worse than Wizards at Religion; as a knowledge skill, this actually makes sense to me. Religion is a wide-covering skill representing knowledge about all sorts of religions, plus myths and the undead. The Cleric should know more about *his* religion - represented by a circumstance bonus - but about other religions or the undead? Not necessarily.

 

[Rex Blunder]

A player just played a vampire in my group. It actually worked pretty well. He didn't tell the other characters he was a vampire, even going to the point of obfuscating his class to the other players: "What class are you playing?" "Um, I'm basically a rogue." When people asked why he was drinking the blood of his enemies, he changed his tune and said he was a barbarian. It was pretty funny.

Our vampire actually took one PC into his confidence, and always had to come up with a reason to split the party, ending up alone with that character, whenever he needed healing via a blood transfusion. Notes were passed to the DM.

I think that's the way to play the vampire. It needs to be center staged a little, but most people who want to play vampires are going to enjoy those kind of dramatics.

 

[WalterKovacs]

A player just played a vampire in my group. It actually worked pretty well. He didn't tell the other characters he was a vampire, even going to the point of obfuscating his class to the other players: "What class are you playing?" "Um, I'm basically a rogue." When people asked why he was drinking the blood of his enemies, he changed his tune and said he was a barbarian. It was pretty funny.

Group - "Wait, aren't you unarmed and unarmored?"

Vampire - "... I'm a monk?"

Having played in a group as a chameleon assassin who the group knows as an elven deckhand that teleports around and manipulates shadow magic ... I totally approve of the whole "never identify yourself" technique. All the players know I'm a changeling assassin, so it does become a running gag that the PC's don't know, especially as one of the BBEG's is a Oni Mage. Whenever it appears, my chameleon often goes into tirades about hating shapeshifters. As a liar with 9 intelligence, that seems to be the best way to convince people you aren't one

 

[generalchaos34]

Group - "Wait, aren't you unarmed and unarmored?"

Vampire - "... I'm a monk?"

Having played in a group as a chameleon assassin who the group knows as an elven deckhand that teleports around and manipulates shadow magic ... I totally approve of the whole "never identify yourself" technique. All the players know I'm a changeling assassin, so it does become a running gag that the PC's don't know, especially as one of the BBEG's is a Oni Mage. Whenever it appears, my chameleon often goes into tirades about hating shapeshifters. As a liar with 9 intelligence, that seems to be the best way to convince people you aren't one

kinda like when big "sexually secure" men hate gays? =P

I like the idea, alot, and i think a Monk or a barbarian is the best way to go as far as hiding your true identity as a vampire, you just gotta hope the rest of the players want to play along.

 

[WalterKovacs]

I like the idea, alot, and i think a Monk or a barbarian is the best way to go as far as hiding your true identity as a vampire, you just gotta hope the rest of the players want to play along.

Claiming to be a Revenant Monk that dables in druid (for the changing into different animal bits) is probably enough to explain most of the stuff (the Rev part pertaining to why the cleric's turn undead hurts him). As long as one party member is in on it and willing to give up the surges (and elp with the lying), they can probably get away with most. Heck the whole biting thing can even be explained as the primal beast form "coming out".