Out For Blood

[Ghostwind]

Out for Blood is a 3.5 source of crunch for vampires and vampire hunters. For those looking for new monsters, prestige classes and organizations, the book holds a lot of utility, especially if you don't own Fang & Fury or Lords of the Night Vampires.

The book starts off with a few ideas about using current skills and a few new feats. The meat of the chapter though is the eighteen prestige classes. Like many other current books, it faces the problem of originality. Curious scientist who hunts the undead? We've got the Arcane Pahtologist. Noble warrior who protects the dead from becoming undead? We've got the Death Guard. Monks who fight undead? Fist of Light. It's not that these PrCs are bad by any stretch of the imagination but without something more to it, the PrCs all seem to blend in a little.

Some strand out due to their origin and might be perfect for a d20 Modern Game. Take the Gothic Pretender, a mortal who 'understands' the ways of the vampires. Perfect for those posers who need a sound thrashing. “Yes, the undead are merely... wait, put down that hammer!” Another good one, the Vamp is a master of disguise and charming others due to their manipulation skills.

Some of the PrCs go a little further by having organizations like the Knights of the Dragon and the Knight of the Phoenix. While not fully detailed in this section, their expanded utility makes them more likely to be seen in play or actually taken as PrCs. This to me is important. With so many PrCs on the market, a PrC by itself isn't enough. Sure, it's nice to have a vampire slayer or vampire servant, but how are they different or how do they get along with others? That was one of the nice things about Mongoose's Ultimate PrC books in that when they had multiple character types that were similar, it was noted.

Because it's such a big pool, how about a section on using other d20 products with vampires or references to them? One of the great things about Mindshadows by Green Ronin is that it references Mindscapes by Malhavok. One of the great things about Redhurst isn't necessarily that it has official settings you can use it in, but that those possibilities are listed for your ease of reference and use.

For GM's, Chapter Two, Creatures, gives some nice options to the monster range and vampire creature. Some vampires might have the Allergen or Taboo vulnerabilities where certain substances repel them or certain areas are off limits to them. Oh course, some might also have Sunlight or Water Vulnerabilities. How about removing a vampire's immunity to vorpal weapons? Nice little options that can be quickly inserted and add some of that traditional vampire slaying methods into the game.

The bulk of the section though is alternative vampires. It starts with the template Astral Vampire, a creature that uses an astral form to hunt down its enemies, and ends with the White Beast, a wolf empowered by positive energy. In between we've got some takes on the classic vampires like the Vampry, the most typical vampire version to the Irontooth Vampire (Upry) that boasts iron fangs and claws. Unfortunately full utility is not made of all the entries. Take the Dhampir for example. Half vampire with a Level Adjustment of +0 (the lowest I've seen for such a character), it has no racial characteristics, instead relying on the reader to do the simple math and using, I'd imagine, a 1st level warrior as an example.

The last chapter introduces the Brotherhood of the Phoenix, the Order of the Dragon, the Resurrection Guild, the Shadow Kingdom and the Watch of Ages. Each one includes history, organization, leadership, recruiting, membership, and encounters. What is not included are rules for using them in a manner similar to using the material in Bastion's own Guildcraft..

There are some ideas for running vampire based adventurers and some ideas on what makes a good vampire lair. While there are new spells introduced, there are no new magic items. The book ends with an index (yeah for Bastion!) and the OGL license.

The art varies from dark almost charcoal like illustrations to solid pen and ink work. My favorites illustrations For me, most of the dark art was just too dark and no details are really visible. I'm not too fond of edgy art that's so dark you can't see it. Phillip Jame's artwork on the other hand, looks great, like a black and white painting. In one instance, the layout was troubled as a graphic on page 77 didn't have it's layer shut down so covers the last few letters of everything pressing against it, but otherwise, layout was solid.

The book is a solid book that needs to go further in increasing it's utility to the audience even if it doesn't mention other 3rd party products by following the same format internally for the guilds. It needs to use racial abilities for the playable characters as the Monster Manual does. It needs to have just a little bit more. GMs will get the most out of the book as the organizations and monsters may add some flavor to the players, but only the feats, spells, and PrCs are aimed directly at them.

For those looking for 3.5 sourcebook on vampires and vampire hunters, look no further than Out for Blood.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

The Embrace of the Vampire...
If ever there were a creature that truly inspired the human imagination, it would be the vampire. Whether folklore and fable painted them as monstrous or misunderstood, the lore of the vampire has emblazoned itself on the fabric of our reality. Their existence has permeated itself in our favorite game…


Out for Blood details 18 brand new prestige classes that benefit players, gamemasters, and vampires. 18 new monsters—ranging from new forms of vampires to those that oppose them—also await discovery. Organizations that serve and shun vampires are also detailed, along with new spells that are sure to add some necromantic flavor to any campaign.

Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons® Player’s Handbook, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This product utilizes updated material from the v.3.5 revision.

 

[trancejeremy]

Out For Blood

A Guide to Vampires and those that hunt them

For some reason, I've always liked vampires. Books and movies, mostly, I'm not much of an angsty person, I usually wear green, not black, and I have a tan. But vampires have always fascinated me, from trashy pseudo-romance novels to Le Fanu and Varney the Vampire of the 1800s to campy stuff like Blackula to the Hammer films of the 60s with Peter Cushing to the Blade movies. In fact, I just bought a copy of the now banned* DVD version of Countess Dracula/The Vampire Lovers. So when I first heard about Out For Blood from Bastion Press, I was very happy.

While Out For Blood is a d20 sourcebook about vampires, (it's the 3rd d20 sourcebook about vampires this year), it's hard to describe just what sort it is. It's not for playing PC vampires, like Lords of the Night (from Bottled Imp) or Fang & Fury (from Green Ronin), it's not quite a monster manual of vampires, it's not quite a guide to killing them.

There are 3 main sections. One on prestige classes (30 pages), one on vampire related monsters (about 50 pages), and 1 on organizations (15 pages). There's also a tiny appendix (with a few spells), and an index.

I am generally not a big fan of prestige classes. So I was somewhat unenthused about this part of the book when I first looked at the table of contents, but I was very pleasantly surprised after reading it. I'm actually going to use some of them! In particular the "Vampire Slayer" is probably the most useful. It's pretty much what it sounds like, though it's not a ninja-style martial arts vampire slayer like the famous one on TV, more like a Paladin.

Other highlights include the "Knight of the Dragon", which is apparently meant to emulate the real-world (sort of) Dracula, Vlad Tepes, or at least is based on him. For instance, one of the abilities gained is "Villain's Feast", which is like the spell "Heroes' Feast", except it has to happen in the presence of someone who dies. Mr. Tepes would often dine while watching people impaled on stakes.

An amusing one is the "Gothic Pretender". While it is funny, it's also a fairly attractive class for PCs to take, as some of the class powers emulate the better traits of being a vampire. (Agelessness, most notably). There's a similar class, the "Vamp" which emulates the more charming aspects of a vampire.

There's a really good mix of classes - some that seem suitable for just about any of the core classes. Even one for the psionic classes.

For the most part, they are all sound mechanically. There are no weird save or attack progressions ( a pet peeve of mine), and most aren't over or under powered. The only real exception to the latter is the Arcane Pathologist. It's basically for arcane spellcaster. In exchange for only improving spell caster every other level, they get 2 more skill points, a d6 instead of a d4, and basically the ability to spontaneously cast "Gentle Repose". Some might find the stoppage of aging in a couple of the vampire wannabe classes to be a bit too much, but that's something that is actually only useful long term (how many people run campaigns that span decades, much less centuries? Not many).

The meat of the book is really the monsters. While there are "only" 18 monsters in 50 or so pages, this is because most are in fact templates, and have both information on how to create a monster using the template, and a sample critter.

Most of the monsters are variations of vampires. Astral Vampire, Barbed Tongue Vampire, Deathgaze Vampire, Irontooth Vampire, Vampyr, Lesser Vampyr, Plague Vampire, Nosferatu, and my favorite, a Vampire Werewolf (actually called a "Volkadlak"). And a few more vampires that don't have vampire in their name, like the Death Ringer.

The "Vampyr" is pretty much just a slight variation on the regular d20 vampire. Same basic general powers, abilities and weaknesses, the specifics of how they work are slightly different in some cases. For instance, rather than having the "Children of the Night" power, which summons a variety of little critters like rats, bats, and the like, the Vampyr has the ability to charm rats and canines. The lesser vampyr is somewhat weaker than that, as the name implies.

Curiously, the Nosferatu is not the bald, rat-teeth like feral vampire seen originally in the movie Nosferatu (and it's semi-sequels, like the Herzog remake and the Malkovich comedy), but a portly, Roman-esque (at least toga-wearing), hedonist. Which is odd, since I was under the impression that the 1920's movie was what more or less defined what a Nosferatu was, at least when it comes to vampires. But something different isn't necessarily wrong.

The Plague Vampire is interesting, because apparently that is the basis for the word "Nosferatu", it was originally something like nosophoros, which mean plague carrier or some such.

There's a version of the Dhampir that is exactly like real world folklore - pretty much a normal human, but able to see invisible vampires, as opposed to the more Blade-ish half-vampire type that have to also drink blood. On the downside, it would be nice if more info on using them as PCs were given. While some bare bones info is provide, it's not clear on somethings, like ability adjustments, and do they get a bonus feat and skill point like humans?

There's also a version of the Chupacabra, or "Goat-Sucker". Kind of weaker than I would imagine, but I guess you don't have too be too tough to kill goats. (Unless they're bah-barians)

The "Volkadlak" (or Undead Werewolf) is pretty much just a critter with both the "Vampyr" (from this book) template and the "Lycanthrope" template added, but also has a couple additional powers, like "Hypnotic Gaze".

The only thing that sticks out as being out of place is the Iron Maiden. It's an iron golem (more or less) in the vague shape of a woman, with spikes on her.

But if you need a variety of different vampires, then this pretty much has you covered. (The Horrors of the Weird West for Deadlands d20 also has plenty of vampires if you need them.)

The last chapter on Organizations is pretty short. Three of them are groups that were first mentioned in the prestige class chapter (they all have prestige classes) - two Knightly orders, and one, The Watch of Ages, which is fairly common in supernatural horror, it's a secret group of people who watch for supernatural critters and studies them. There was one in Highlander (the guy with the walking stick belonged to it), was sort of the basis for the TV show "Poltergeist: The Legacy", was in the Anne Rice vampire novels (I think) and a few more. (Sadly, there isn't one in real life. Sad because it's one of the few things I'm qualified to do).

One of the Knightly Orders, the Order of the Dragon, is the organization of the prestige class like Vlad the Impaler. It's a curious order - in theory, they are a "good" order, as they serve the church of a good god. But in practice they are quite brutal. (Actually, that's apparently where the name Dracula came from - his father was a member of the real world Order of the Dragon, and so Vlad liked to call himself the little Dragon, or son of the Dragon, or Dracula. Most members of the real world one weren't so bad.)

There's a nicer knightly order, the Order of the Phoenix. They are rivals of sorts with the Order of Dragon. There's a real nice picture of the two leaders of the two orders glaring at each other.

There's also an organization of Vampires (though it's just glossed over) and a "Resurrection Guild", which is for grave robbers.

The art is somewhat mixed quality. On the one hand, some of the art is excellent and almost photorealistic (in particular the art done by Phillip James). On the other, some of the art resemble caricatures, with over-exaggerated features. Not badly done, but the contrast in styles is somewhat striking (and clashes). Some is also line art, that is, not having any textures or shading (ie, shades of grey), just black & white. Also, this could just be my copy, but a lot of the art has come out darker than it should, and there is often little contrast in the picture, making it hard to make details out. It also makes the contrast between the greyscale stuff and line art much more noticeable.

The layout is clean and crisp. I like the font they used for chapter and subject headings - it looks like the letters are dripping blood. Sets the mood, but it's still easy to read, no weird letters that look like other letters.

So this is a very good book, one I enjoyed a lot. While some of the prestige classes are attractive to players, this is ultimately mostly a monster manual sort of book, and will mostly be useful to a DM. While it's regular d20, not d20 modern, if you ever want to run a Buffy: The Vampire Slayer campaign (or something similar), this book would be immensely useful (all you'd need to add is a book on lesbian witches)

What I really liked is how it uses real world vampiric folklore as the basis or inspiration for a lot of things, but comes up with brand new takes. Part of what is fascinating about Vampires is that most of the folklore about them is actually fairly modern, it's evolved over the last century in various forms of fiction.. For instance, sunlight generally never bothered vampires, but in Dracula, Stoker had Dracula weaker during the day. But this eventually evolved into sunlight destroying them (which apparently first showed up in the 1920's Nosferatu). This book had me looking up things in vampire reference books, comparing the historical take to the take in this book. Very enjoyable. At least for me. But I'm the sort that has half a dozen reference books on vampires lying around. (Hey, it beats collecting stamps).

There is some room for improvement, though. For instance, there's a page or so on new skills, or new uses for existing skills. That's fine, but they probably needed to add something like Knowledge (Vampires). That's needed because many of the vampires in the book have differing abilities and weaknesses. While generally speaking, decapitation works as a method for defeating most vampires, that's not always true. A skill for identifying vampire types and their weaknesses would be helpful, and appropriate for vampire hunting characters (and classes)

A-.

While it's an excellent book, if you don't want a book on vampires in general, you probably won't have all that much use for it. It's also not so good if you want customized vampires or vampires as player characters. For that, Bottled Imp's Lords of the Night: Vampires is the best bet, and that is actually a book everyone should have, period. If you have that book, then this book is a good buy, because the prestige classes, particularly the vampire slayer, will be very useful (as their book on vampire slayer types has been delayed for a while). This also complements Green Ronin's Fang & Fury fairly well. Not too much redundant material - really, the only thing the three books have in common is their own take on the Dhampir. And the Dhampir in here is the most true to life, if the most mundane.

If you like vampires, get it.
















* Much like the original version of the D&D module B3, it's not really "banned", so much as recalled. In this case because one of the movies was a bit more R-rated than the box claimed. It's also not so banned/recalled - I spotted a copy today in my local Best Buy (though they didn't have a couple of a weeks ago. Gah - would have saved me $10)

 

[Messageboard Golem]

By John Girgsby, Staff Reviewer d20 Magazine Rack

Initiative Round
Out for Blood is a Dungeons & Dragons supplement from Bastion Press. This 96-page softcover is by E. W. Morton, with cover art by Terry Wolfinger depicting a vampiress hiding from those who would do her harm. Interior artwork is by Cos Koniontis, Danilo Moretti, David Hendee, Edward Bourelle, Jesse Mohn, Marcio Fiorito, and Phillip James. Out for Blood retails for $22.95.

Vampires are, without doubt, the most enduring of the horror icons, and why not? The dramatic imagery of a creature that subsist on the very fluid that sustains the living, the often erotic imagery that accompanies the legends; the vampire is a creature that is, paradoxically, the most feared and most beloved of all “classic” horror monsters. Many among us may entertain thoughts of immortality, but who would be willing to accept the price charged by this curse?

Though not the first appearance of such a creature (the vampire legend has endured for at least 2,000 years in some form or another), it was undoubtedly Bram Stoker’s Dracula, published in 1897, that brought the legend to life for so many (though vampiric tales of horror had been around for well over 100 years before his time). Since that time, the vampire had fascinated and thrilled us. It should surprise no one that is has become one of the most popular foes in many Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, most notably in an adventure written by Tracy and Laura Hickman that would spawn over 30 novels and an entire campaign setting; Ravenloft.

Out for Blood is billed as “a guide for vampires and those that hunt them.” It is neatly divided into three chapters, Characters, Creatures, and Campaigns, and an appendix. We’ll examine each of these in turn. The book is written to utilize the 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons rules.

Chapter One offers a wealth of character options, applicable to both PCs and NPCs. Four new uses for skills are introduced; Identify Blood for Craft (alchemy), Decrypt Message and Encrypt Message for Decipher Script, and Necropsy for Heal. Identify Blood is a primitive form of blood typing, not quite as sophisticated as modern methods (nor should it be), and Necropsy is a primitive autopsy. The other two should be self-explanatory.

Only two new feats are presented in Out for Blood, and that surprises me. Feats are usually among the most sought-after content when it comes to new mechanics. The two presented here are intended for those who can, as a class ability, channel positive or negative energy. Blot the Sky forces a cloud to pass over the sun or the moon, while Part the Clouds has exactly the opposite effect. The mechanics for handling contrasting effects of this nature (i.e., when two areas affected by these feats overlap) is interesting; each part must make a turning/rebuking check, with the low roller losing concentration and the effect.

Where Out for Blood is short on feats, however, it is strong on prestige classes, with 18 new ones presented here. These classes present a good mix, with some intended for vampires, some for humans, and others that just fit the flavor of the subject (such as the blood hunter). Some of these classes, such as the gothic pretender or the fortune teller, may even be appropriate for d20 Modern campaigns. The arcane pathologist and the vampire hunter are reminiscent of Stoker’s Von Helsing and Harker, respectively.

Chapter Two takes a step forward by dividing the vampire into subtypes. These creatures are still vampires, as described in the Monster Manual, but often have very different abilities. It also adds four new extraordinary abilities; Allergen (a substance or thing which can hold a vampire at bay), Taboo (representing that a vampire cannot enter certain areas), Sunlight Vulnerability, and Water Vulnerability (both of which should be obvious). These have been specifically added as special qualities because not all of the vampiric subtypes may possess these traits.

Three optional rules are also described here. The first offers a new look at vorpal weapons and their effects on these particular undead. After all, in many legends, decapitation is a sure means of defeating or even destroying a vampire. The second option makes vampires vulnerable to starvation, thirst, and fatigue. Though this may seem odd, consider that in many stories, a vampire that does not feed for a long period may grow catatonic, or even die. The final option permits vampires who are active for many decades or even centuries to become more powerful as time passes.

In all, there are 18 new creatures presented in Chapter Two, and not all are vampires. Many, however, are, most in the form of templates. The astral vampire, the barb-tongued vampire, the deathgaze vampire, the death ringer vampire, the irontooth vampire, the kuang-shi, the lesser vampyr, the nosferatu, the plague vampire, the vampyr, and the volkadlak (undead lycanthrope) are vampire templates. The white beast (or black beast) is not a vampire, but is a template that can be added to any animal. Non-templated new creatures include the callicantzaro, the dhampir, the chupacabra, the lost soul, the grave soil (elemental), and the iron maiden. Vampiric templates include information on both repelling and destroying these creatures, and may include an optional rule (such as the undead lycanthrope’s virulent lycanthropy, which permits the disease to be transmitted through eating the flesh of a lycanthrope or any animal slain by one.

Chapter Three is devoted to helping the DM to integrate all of this new material into his or her campaign. It does so by presenting five fully detailed organizations (called Blood Brotherhoods) that may have arisen in a campaign that features vampires heavily. Each is presented in great detail, with history, organization (including hierarchy, membership, religion, alignment, secrecy, and symbol), leadership, recruiting, how one goes about joining the group, and a typical encounter. The group represent a fair mix of goals and causes; the Knights of the Phoenix are a band of crusaders who strive to keep a beacon of hope cutting through the darkness of the world, where the Order of the Dragon are a fallen order once devoted to the tenets of good, but now little more than a collection of butchers. The Resurrection Guild specialize in the (often illegal) procurement and sale of dead bodies (whole or in pieces), the Shadow Kingdom is a secret society of vampires that seek to take their place as rightful heirs to the world, and the Watch of Ages work to insure that they do not succeed.

This chapter also discusses the relationships between the factions if one or more exist simultaneously in the campaign (and why not?). There are also 25 adventure hooks to draw characters into conflict with different types of vampires. Finally, a brief look at typical vampire lairs. Though this is really little more than a collection of suggestions to place an encounter with one of the bloodthirsty undead, it does spark some good ideas for adventures.

The Appendix presents a new domain, Blood, and a handful of spells appropriate to the genre. There is a second appendix that provides a very short list of resources.

Critical Hit
Three things come to mind right off. First, Out for Blood is designed to be very compatible with other vampire works. Instead of repeating what has been done elsewhere, E. W. Morton has designed new material that nicely complements what has gone before. You’ll find it very easy to implement this book in conjunction with Green Ronin’s Fang & Fury, for example. I find that’s a big complaint among d20 consumers—the “sameness” of products (“Do I really need another elf book?”)—and Out for Blood does a good job of avoiding this trap.

Second is the flexibility of the product. A lot of what is found here is equally applicable whether you’re running a D&D campaign or a d20 Modern campaign. The content is not exclusive by genre or even game systems. Some of the templates found here can be easily and readily converted to GURPS, by way of example. If you use vampires in your campaign, this is an excellent supplement.

Finally, the templates themselves show great variety and flexibility. Kuang-shi, for example, are not affected by lawful good holy symbols the way that other vampires are (I’m not going to tell you what does affect them; as a Dungeon Master, I feel that it is necessary to maintain the mystery of an unknown monster). Likewise, each template has a particular means by which it can be destroyed or prevented from rejuvenating, and that which affects one may not affect another. This permits the GM to tailor the vampire to the knowledge that his or her players possess.

John’s Hot Pick
I’d have to cite the undead lycanthrope as my favorite addition to this product. Quite some time ago, I created such a character in a Villains & Vigilantes game I was participating in, and I’ve always thought about creating such for D&D. It’s good to see that someone else had the same idea. Kudos!

Critical Fumble
A few minor things, mostly. First, section 15 should list all of the sources used in the production of the work, including the title of the work itself. It’s a small omission, but a vital one if you want to protect your efforts by copyright. Secondly, I’m not fond of the layout, mostly because the chapters are not clearly differentiated from one another. The font used is only slightly larger than in other areas of the book, and while this conserves space, I like for my chapters to be clearly marked, to make it easy to skim to a particular chapter. Though the chapter is found in the form of a small header at the top of the right-hand page, I’d like to see them more clearly defined. Maybe some of the space lost by doing so can be regained by reducing the margins on the top and bottom of the pages. Is a 1½” margin here really necessary? Most books seem to do fine with 1 inch.

Coup de Grace
On the one hand, there’s nothing really new about a book of vampires, but on the other hand, there’s plenty of original stuff to be found here. If you use the bloodsucking undead at all in your campaign, then you’d do well to consider this supplement. It has a good table of contents and a well-defined index. Everything herein is designated as Open Game Content with the exception of the artwork, which varies from excellent to acceptable.

To see the graded evaluation of this product and to leave comments that the reviewer will respond to, go to The Critic's Corner at www.d20zines.com.