Logistics of staking a vampire?
- Thread starter brcarl
- Start date
Thurbane
First Post
My 2 coppers: as stated above, I'd count it as a coup de grace if the vamp is incapacitated - in combat, I'd use the optional auto-kill critical rules in the DMG...rolling a double 20, from memory...
Just as an aside, I often wondered why vampires in shows like Buffy didn't take to wearing breastplates to stop those pesky wooden stakes...
Back ontopic, do wooden arrows and bolts count as stakes?
Just as an aside, I often wondered why vampires in shows like Buffy didn't take to wearing breastplates to stop those pesky wooden stakes...
Back ontopic, do wooden arrows and bolts count as stakes?
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frankthedm
First Post
Once you remove that metal tip! Ther used to be rules for inferior wooden weapons somewhere.Thurbane said:
The Ironwood spell might be a decent idea to look into.
IMG Weaker Vampires' fast healing can not heal a peircing weapon wound's until the weapon itself is pulled out and are vulnerable to crits from peircing weapons and can be killed outright if the crit from a slashing weapon would have put thier HP total at -10. If the slashing weapon's crit damge is not enough to do this, then only normal damge is suffered.
The stronger ones have DR that is Magic Silver* or Good Wood and still have to fear crits as lesser ones do.
Really Potent Vampires [the only ones with life draining claws] are immune to crits as standard undead
IMG Mithral = Silver
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There are no official rules. My solution would be to call an attack with a wooden weapon that would have killed the vampire had it still been alive a successful staking. (With reservations - see below.)
The "would have killed it" part is important, as it prevents any oddities when players try to stake other creatures.
)
A CDG is always a "hit", so in the coffin the vampire must succeed on a CDG Fort save (as if it had been alive). If it fails, the stake has reached the heart. (Bonus on damage for a mallet maybe?)
The "would have killed it" part is important, as it prevents any oddities when players try to stake other creatures.
Staking a vampire in combat should be very difficult. If the players insisted on going for the perfect strike I'd give the vampire increased AC and/or a miss chance to hit to reflect the added difficulty of hitting the heart. (This means that vampire hunters will want to beat up the vampire for a while before bringing out the stakes... Now where have I seen that before?
)A CDG is always a "hit", so in the coffin the vampire must succeed on a CDG Fort save (as if it had been alive). If it fails, the stake has reached the heart. (Bonus on damage for a mallet maybe?)
This topic got a lot more debate in another forum where I posted it, and here's the conclusions I came to:
In D&D 3.5e, vampires are "old school" bad guys who are basically indestructible save a few very specific weaknesses. If you're looking to mow them down a la "Blade," work with your DM to insure s/he's got a weaker version to throw at you.
Along similar lines, you can't stake a vampire through the heart during combat. The logic behind this is roughly akin to why you can't try to, say, cut someone's head off or otherwise make a "called shot" (as noted above). The combat system simply doesn't support this cleanly.
Due to the vampire's various abilities (blood suck when grappling, change to vapor at will, immune to paralysis and sleep), attempting to stake a vampire before it is reduced to zero HP (thus forcing it to flee in vapor form to its coffin) will end in frustration.
If you want to / must kill a vampire outside of its coffin (say, because you don't know where that is or you can't get to it), try sunlight or running water.
In any case, thanks for all of your input!
In D&D 3.5e, vampires are "old school" bad guys who are basically indestructible save a few very specific weaknesses. If you're looking to mow them down a la "Blade," work with your DM to insure s/he's got a weaker version to throw at you.
Along similar lines, you can't stake a vampire through the heart during combat. The logic behind this is roughly akin to why you can't try to, say, cut someone's head off or otherwise make a "called shot" (as noted above). The combat system simply doesn't support this cleanly.
Due to the vampire's various abilities (blood suck when grappling, change to vapor at will, immune to paralysis and sleep), attempting to stake a vampire before it is reduced to zero HP (thus forcing it to flee in vapor form to its coffin) will end in frustration.
If you want to / must kill a vampire outside of its coffin (say, because you don't know where that is or you can't get to it), try sunlight or running water.
In any case, thanks for all of your input!
Ltheb Silverfrond
Explorer
Generally, allowing players to called shot vital organs is a bad thing, because they may eventually realize they can just take 2 weapon fighting and or rapid shot and spam instant-kill moves. (Or the equivalent, if you don't allow it during a full attack)
Yea, staking a vampire in combat would pretty much be futile. I would say, if you really had to do it, that the stake be treated as an improvised weapon (-4 to hit, 1 point of damage plus strength Mod) and would additionally require a Critical Hit (Natural 20 required most likely) and would automatically bypass any damage reduction the vampire may have. I would also say that trying to stake a vampire after the first failed attempt will impose a penalty to the attack roll of some sort (-2?), as many have said, the vampire will not be too happy that you are trying to kill him, and may succeed.
Yea, staking a vampire in combat would pretty much be futile. I would say, if you really had to do it, that the stake be treated as an improvised weapon (-4 to hit, 1 point of damage plus strength Mod) and would additionally require a Critical Hit (Natural 20 required most likely) and would automatically bypass any damage reduction the vampire may have. I would also say that trying to stake a vampire after the first failed attempt will impose a penalty to the attack roll of some sort (-2?), as many have said, the vampire will not be too happy that you are trying to kill him, and may succeed.
Three_Haligonians
First Post
Don't forget that the Vampire entry in the MM states that if the stake ever comes out the vampire becomes active again. To me, this favours the "Bram" style of vampire: finding it when it is resting in its coffin and staking it while it lies helpless, rather than the "Buffy" style: stabbing it quickly in the heart with something wooden and watching it go *POOF*.
It also completley prohibits the idea of using an all-wooden projectile to stake from a distance as the rules say that after striking the target, the projectile is destroyed.
But if you really can't get that scene from Blade out of your head - let the PC's do that kind of stuff with Vampire Spawn, or even Wights and leave the hammer and stake business to the actual Vampires (you know, the necromancer wizards with the template!
)
J from Three Haligonians
It also completley prohibits the idea of using an all-wooden projectile to stake from a distance as the rules say that after striking the target, the projectile is destroyed.
But if you really can't get that scene from Blade out of your head - let the PC's do that kind of stuff with Vampire Spawn, or even Wights and leave the hammer and stake business to the actual Vampires (you know, the necromancer wizards with the template!
)J from Three Haligonians
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