He's going to be a lot more powerful than a typical SotC named character. Might I suggest reviewing the entry on Doctor Methusaleh? A vampire is - like him - almost more of a plot point.
I thought about that, but I want the Heroes to be able to confront and defeat him, given the right tools and weapons.
That said, I do want him more powerful, and able to take on the entire group by himself. I'm going to bump up his skills, putting his apex skill at Fantastic and building the skill pyramid from there. Also, I'm not going to limit him to five stunts.
Okay, stunts are usually based off skills. So what's his apex skill? Mysteries? That might be a good one for a vampire. It leads into the Mesmerism stunts, which if you want to make him have that power you'll need.
That's exactly what I was thinking. Enthrall is just too good to pass up for a vampire, especially one as powerful and as iconic as Strahd/Dracula.
Classic vampire powers (boy, where's my copy of Ravenloft - packed in a bo somewhere) include gaseous form, flying, being able to turn someone into a vampire/drain blood (although I think that's really an out-of-combat effect for SotC), and command wolves and bats and whatnot.
That sounds about right... Dracula was supernaturally strong and fast (and could climb sheer walls almost like a spider). He had his fangs, and could turn someone else into a vampire through his blood. Also, he had an affinity with nocturnal animals, especially wolves, bats and rats. Finally, he could shapeshift into various forms -- most notably a wolf, a giant bat, and a cloud of mist.
They also have some massive limitations that PCs don't (can't cross running water, can't pass garlic flowers, can't enter holy ground, repelled by crosses, etc). I think Strahd had most of those.
Dracula was weakened, but largely unharmed, during the day. He casts no reflection in mirrors. He is repulsed by garlic, crucifixes, and other holy or blessed items. He has difficulty crossed running water, except at certain times, and cannot enter a place unless invited (but can enter and leave at will once invited).
I would delete any hope of a D&Dish level drain. It would just get in the way.
I agree, though that is easily taken care through clever use of consequences (temporary Aspects on characters that get wounded), and Taken Out declarations (the narration that happens when a character is defeated during a conflict). For example...
Mild Consequence: "Once Bitten, Twice Shy"
Moderate Consequence: "A Pint Low"
Major Consequence: "Vampiric Infection"
A character that is taken out by him in combat could be killed, or could fall victim to the infection that eventually turns the Hero into another Vampire.
To translate these into Stunts, you could either go through a massive list, or you could just make up new Stunts that fill those niches (Vampires Only). That might be the easier route to go since it might be a long list of Stunts.
Along with having Mysteries as his apex skill, you just gave me an idea...
I could just give him several uses of the Rare Artifact stunt, cleverly disguised as "Vampiric Powers" or some such and applied directly to Strahd, rather than a separate magical object. That would give a lot of leeway for creating a handful of powers on the fly as he needs them. Plus, I could get a lot of mileage out of the "Alternate Usage" improvement -- substituting his very powerful Mysteries (aka Vampirism!) skill for other skills when necessary.
I think I would not treat the poisonous fogs of Barovia as his own power, but as an Aspect of the land.
The poisonous fogs are going to be something else altogether...
[Pseudoscience]In an nutshell, the local area of Barovia is encapsulated within a localized pocket dimension slightly out of phase with the rest of the universe. Do to the temporal hysteresis (wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff) of the area, people living there for any amount of time (minutes suffice) cannot leave... They've gone out of phase with the real world and will slowly and painfully die if they try to leave. Something within Barovia is generating the energy field that keeps the whole area out of phase, and it must be neutralized before anyone can leave.[/Pseudoscience]
For Aspects. Hm. Any disad/limitation might work.
There's another thought... A lot of the vampire weaknesses could be Aspects. I like the idea of many of them being things that the players can invoke for their own benefit against Strahd. Like so:
Allergic to Garlic
Nocturnal
"A foul bauble of man's vanity."
...lives beyond the grace of God.
