"Healing" a Vampire??

[Matafuego]

Hello Everybody.

One of my player´s has gotten into the idea that it is possible to "heal" a vampire from vampirism.
The reason being he suddenyl felt he was falling in love with a female vampire (npc) in the game and wants to find a way to break her curse.
The campaign is high magic and almost epic (18-19th level) and the Player in question is a Duelist / Swashbuckler.
One of his friends is a soon-to-be saint from a "Pelor" type deity, who´s highly regarded by his faith and the world, and the Duelist went to this Cleric for advice.
He told him that if it was true love that was in his heart then he would help him find a cure for his loved one but if not he would have to destroy the vampire being that it (she) was an insult to LIFE.
The Duelist agreed on this and now is trying to find out what are his true feelings for her and what are her true feelings towards him.

Now here´s where I need your help.
I want it to be possible but i don´t want it to be easy nor do i want it to be part of a "standard" ritual.
The Duelist is not actually in LOVE right now but he can be, given time. Now he is discovering his love for this girl. And so is she, after almost a century of vampirism she´s finding out feelings she though forgotten and feels weird about them. She´ll fall for him or not depending on his way of dealing with her.
I need ideas concerning the ritual and the way of finding-out and expressing True Love (tm). I don´t just want the player to say "yes I truly love her" but something more RP Fulfilling (and luckily the players all want the same thing and not an easy shortcut)

Your help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you very much for reading.

Lucas

 

[Bagpuss]

I would have it involve the player having to sacrifice his characters life in order for the vampire to become mortal again.

That will be a the real test. Make it absolutely clear that its the only way and there won't be and DM fudge at the end to save his character.

Of course once he's committed to that course of action if the vampire actually learns to love him she and discovers the cost involved she won't let him do it, and may take her own life to save him (perhaps regaining her soul in the process).

Of course the ease of resurrection in D&D pisses all over plotlines like this (so you'ld have to specify that the spell will fail on either of these characters from then on).

 

[Hand of Evil]

Wish ?

 

[WayneLigon]

The 'Lost Boys' method of killing her sire might be useful. Maybe also killing any vampires she's made over her long life, and the ones they're turned, thus wiping out the stain on the world she's created. Once those are done, which might be a long quest in and of itself, then he must give her life by letting her drain him completely. If his love is pure and true, his heart will continue to beat for the time it takes her to return his blood, giving both of them true life. If his love is not pure, it will wither, and he will rise as a powerful and very evil vampire, damning them both permanently. Or maybe they have to walk out into the dawn together - if his love is true, it will protect her. Otherwise, she'll flame out into ash and he'll be cursed in some way (perhaps rising as a vampire when he dies).

 

[Bagpuss]

If the NPC vampire is the only one with something to lose it isn't really a test of the player's/character's love.

 

[Klaus]

Well, by the rules you could kill the vampire, then cast Raise Dead, Ressurrection or True Ressurrection on the corpse. If the vampire turns to dust, you might either need a Wish to reform the body, or use True Ressurrection, which doesn't need the deceased's remains, as long as she is undeniably indentified (name, date of death, pr somesuch).

If you want a sacrifice, have the PC pay the XP cost. Maybe even give up a level or three to power the spell.

 

[PatrickLawinger]

Well, by the rules you could kill the vampire, then cast Raise Dead, Ressurrection or True Ressurrection on the corpse. If the vampire turns to dust, you might either need a Wish to reform the body, or use True Ressurrection, which doesn't need the deceased's remains, as long as she is undeniably indentified (name, date of death, pr somesuch).

If you want a sacrifice, have the PC pay the XP cost. Maybe even give up a level or three to power the spell.

Yeah, present rules could probably handle this, particularly if you have lvl 18-20 characters. Wish, miracle, etc. should all be able to accomplish something like this on a "willing" subject, but that is always up to you.

I'd probably make them use a miracle and have the god require some sort of special task in return.

Obviously, if you want to create a special circumstance, ie. ritual, for the casting of a wish or miracle, go for it.

Patrick

 

[Funeris]

Hmmmm.....

Couple thoughts since you don't want it to be easy...
I think that it depends on the view of vampirism in your world...is it a physical ailment? is it a curse upon the soul? do vampires even have souls?

If vampires do not have souls...then I would assume it would be impossible for the vampiress to fall in love. Lust, probable...Love, not so.

In my homebrew, vampirism is treated as a duality of souls. The original person's soul is imprisoned within its own body...damning it to a life of inflicting pain and suffering. While the other soul...the cursed portion of the soul dominates the body and mind. Because of the cursed portion (which is passed from sire to fledgling) the body shows physical symptoms of the curse.

Very Anne Rice-ian in my homebrew.

So...how would I let a player go about a vampirism reversal? I think that it would require a god/goddess's intervention. Perhaps the blood of a God could 'cure' the vampire. Imbibing the blood would heal the taint and remove the extraneous soul.

If vampires are intrinsically linked to all of their progeny, then this could 'cure' all of those as well...resulting in many, many, many enemies being made instantly.

To convince a god to donate his blood would take a helluva lot. But perhaps Pelor would do this once the love is proved true. Or maybe the character has to steal the blood of a god...perhaps leading the player toward an evil alignment. OR, if you like political intrigue, maybe the player needs to petition the god of Death and a god of Life and try to strike an agreement to win back her life.

Whichever route you ultimately decide (and I want to know...so post it here ) I think if the cleric just tries to wish or miracle the vampirism out, it should fail horribly...perhaps pushing her into a blood rage where she injures her love and/or the cleric. Especially since, if that is the case, when/if your players ever come up against a BBEG that happens to be a vamp...they'll just wish he wasn't and poof...no more awesome battle.

The cleric should have to ask his God how it could be done...or delve through a lot of lore (with a wizard to aide) to find a solution. It should be difficult and never accomplished before.

Come up with a list of answers (and false solutions). Then, let your players find them.

Just my 2 coppers.

~Fune

 

[LordVyreth]

If I remember right, you can actually resurrect an undead directly without destroying the undead form, but the undead has to be willing. Being either mindless and/or evil, that's almost never the case, but it is possible. If you're trying to go the True Love angle, it's a more satisfying explanation than just hacking up the vampire and casting resurrection on the remains.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

The Duelist must willingly allow her to drain his blood while she is willingly immersed in running holy water (could make a quest to find a source of running holy water, maybe specific to the god of Love or some such). When the Vampire only has the temporary HP from draining her love remaining, the curse will be lifted. Hope he has enough Con to withstand it.