Hiding Vampirism

[jaerdaph]

Another option/compromise is to have the PC turned during the adventure and let the player continue to play the character, perhaps motivated by a chance of the vampirism curse being lifted by Strahd's death. The PC can attempt to hold on to humanity for as long as they can, struggling with their vampire nature and instincts while trying to assist the other party members.

 

[WayneLigon]

Unless there is some special magic item involved, or he hasn't fully 'turned' yet, or the rest of the party knows and helps him... I don't see it working for even the length of time that an adventure would take. The guy that sleeps all day in his locked room and doesn't come out at night might as well have a big neon sign above his head saying 'Come Kill Me'. Somewhere else, you probably could get away with it but in Barovia? No way.

A lot depends on his alignment and what vampiric weaknesses he has. I'm sure that every new traveller to that area has to partake of the 'traditional' galic roast beef first meal

 

[Ltheb Silverfrond]

Another option/compromise is to have the PC turned during the adventure and let the player continue to play the character, perhaps motivated by a chance of the vampirism curse being lifted by Strahd's death. The PC can attempt to hold on to humanity for as long as they can, struggling with their vampire nature and instincts while trying to assist the other party members.

This could also work as part of the PC's backstory; PC was turned by Strahd before the adventure begins, and possibly contacts the RSoP to aid him. This way the other players won't feel like they are being betrayed. They knew what they were getting into when they decided to help the vampire fight Strahd. Plus this has interesting RP possibilities if you have Libris Mortis; Rules for the amount of feeding the vampire has to do, and the moral dilemma this puts upon the RSoP could make the game a lot more interesting than just a simple dungeon crawl. Maybe the vampire character gives in, and must be destroyed, or perhaps Strahd is slain...

 

[GreyWizard77]

Has anyone ever used the vampire bloodline rules from UA? How well do they work? It might be a way to allow the PC to have some vampire in his blood without throwing the game out of whack.

 

[jdrakeh]

Has anyone ever used the vampire bloodline rules from UA? How well do they work? It might be a way to allow the PC to have some vampire in his blood without throwing the game out of whack.

Good call! I can't believe that this went overlooked for so long -- d'oh!

 

[Psychotic Jim]

One idea I had for hiding vampirism is to equip the vamp with a Ring of Sustenance to substitute for the whole drinking blood thing.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

Another option/compromise is to have the PC turned during the adventure and let the player continue to play the character...

This is an excellent RP hook and would add depth to the game experience, however the problem comes in on the mechanical side of things. If you simply apply the Vampire Template with all its kewl powers.. your talking a +8 LA. So either the character has to be so far below the rest of the group level wize that BAB and Saves all really suck, or so far above the group that the rest of the characters really suck.

My prefered solution is to use a 'Savage Species' like progression that slowly grants powers and allows for a 'partial vampire' that has normal abilities {BAB, etc..} close enough that it won't impact the game and special abilities {all the Vamp stuff} that also dont unbalance the group.

The Libris Mortis Spawn class fills this nitch, and IMHO, add a wonderful metagame stressor that makes the decision to stay a vampire much more interesting...that being any levels spent on the Spawn class either go away or become inactive when 'cured' **.. so the more levels and special abilities the character gains as a Spawn, the less likely a player would want to lose all that and start over.
{not much of a big deal in a one-shot, but in a solid campaign it might mean more. I run Lycanthopes like this using Sean Reynolds 'Blood of the Moon' rules}


**, yes, I know this is not mentioned in the rules, however it only makes sense to me that being 'cured' of being a vampire spawn means you don't get the kewl powers that went with it....


Regarding the UA vampire bloodlines.. they are readily available in my normal Eberron campaign as an option for characters born in Karnath.. but I haven't had anyone take me up on it yet. In theory they are sound.

 

[Nyeshet]

This is an excellent RP hook and would add depth to the game experience, however the problem comes in on the mechanical side of things. If you simply apply the Vampire Template with all its kewl powers.. your talking a +8 LA. So either the character has to be so far below the rest of the group level wize that BAB and Saves all really suck, or so far above the group that the rest of the characters really suck.

On the other hand, you can also play up all the penalties for full vampirism. Can he enter Castle Ravenloft without Stradh's permission, for example? What about the lack of reflection and shadow, the need to sleep during the day, being damaged by sunlight, holy water, and garlic, being damaged whenever his RSoP companion turns other undead, being unable to cross running water or enter non-public dwellings without permission, and so forth? What about the need to drink blood? While some mythos allow for animal blood, I do not think D&D vampires are among them.


All that said, I suppose the idea of a the half-vampire template (in Libris Mortis). With an LA of +2 it is not crippling. Perhaps it could work this way:

A PC is attacked by a vampire. To become a vampire, they must be drained at least 2 levels and have all of their Con drained via blood loss. They then come back as a half-vampire with the Special Attack "Blood Drain." This ensures a need to drink blood. After enough time (or, perhaps, enough blood drained) they become a full vampire - and potentially an NPC.

As they were drained two levels before becoming a half-vampire their power level is about where it was before - so long as there is no quick and easy way to restore their levels. Or, if there is, perhaps this character started a level below the other PCs. Now he is equivalent to a level above - not too overpowering, considering.

The Half-Vampire template does not grant everything a vampire has (such as spider climb, gaseous form, etc), but it does grant some energy resistance (cold and electricity 5), some DR (5 / silver or magic), and some fast healing (2). The Blood Dependency that comes with the bite attack is the real issue, but otherwise the character can walk in sunlight, is not harmed by turning, and so forth.

In becoming a half-vampire perhaps he has merely taken the first step (like Mina in Dracula), and has not yet (like Lucy) become a Vampire Spawn.


The Half-Vampire template is on page 107 in Libris Mortis. I strongly suggest using Blood Drain as an automatic Special Attack for those taking this template, as otherwise the character is gaining multiple advantages with no disadvantages. (Blood Dependency - the only penalty in this template - is not granted unless 'blood drain' is selected among the three choices for the special attack. The other two special attacks are charm gaze and children of the night.)

 

[jaerdaph]

Lots of good suggestions and points in this thread. I agree, the +8 LA might be too much for game balance. I know of two d20 Modern pdfs that let you play vampires, both of which I've used in games and can recommend. I bet they could easily be converted for use in a D&D game:


After Sunset: Vampires (Clockwork Golem Workshop)
This is a hero base class for d20 Modern that lets you start playing a vampire at fiirst level.


Modern: Monstrous Advanced Classes -- The Vampire (Ronin Arts)
This is an advanced class by Bruce Baugh that lets the character grow into their powers over time.

Each of those products has a counterpart for werewolves as well.

 

[evilbob]

I agree with the above post: some very good ideas here, and the +8 LA will throw your party out of whack. Basically either everyone else is level 9 and this guy has 1 HD (and the first time the RSoP uses a greater turn, he's utterly destroyed), or he's overpowered. And yes: that +8 LA is including all the vampiric weaknesses mentioned above. The template is that good.

The half-vampire or whatever it was template sounds like a much better way to go: avoid sunlight restrictions, don't get such a tremendous LA, and keep the party much more in line. I second that idea.

Also, keep in mind that allowing the vamp character, even as a "friendly," means you are severely weaking your RSoP cleric: he'll have to be extremely careful about using his best and most powerful ability, or else he will seriously destroy the other PC. In other words: be sure you think about the ramifications to the rest of the group and not just the one guy (or the campaign world).